I really don’t like tech radar articles. There’s no real information there. I know almost nothing more than just reading the headline. Clearly they mean a restructuring bankruptcy as there are mentions of future plans. But the headline makes it sound like liquidation.

I would add to the conversation with the questions;

Should all information be known? Just because something doesn’t need to be hidden doesn’t imply that it should be known broadly. It’s not okay for somebody to know what color underwear I’m wearing right now.

Is all information equal in value? Presuming one kind of data point is okay to be public does not mean that all data points are okay to be public. My address is public record (unfortunately) but that doesn’t mean my social security number, ID number, and passport number should be public as well.

I agree that it helped with adoption. In a way I wish they still had it so I could get my text messaging family to use a messaging app instead.

The flip side was, if somebody tried signal and didn’t like it and uninstalled it, then any SMS message to them from signal went to their signal account that they no longer had installed so they didn’t get it. You had no way of knowing so it really sucked.

I agree. I need to trust where the OS (or any software) comes from. I’d rather get a legitimate windows copy and then debloat it and turn off telemetry and other BS myself. Then I know I’m good on both counts. But apparently the IoT LTSC version is legit, not a cracked copy. This is the first I’ve ever heard of it.

People need to be civil. On every platform they have shown that they can’t be (or have no good reason to choose to be).

Moderation is the key, but moderation is challenging. That’s why self moderation (keeping yourself civil) is very important. Which loops us back to the beginning.

I get that, and I’m sort of saying that. The only difference is that I’m not calling for profit businesses wrong. In agree that its a non sustainable model for social media from the users perspective, but it’s a very sustainable model from the company perspective.

But that’s why I choose differently now. And others might choose differently when the platform gets to be in a poor state.

The key here is I can’t make that decision for others. Now or later. If you want people to go to another platform, then build a better platform and market it better.

Nothing is “wrong” with it. Its just a different platform.

The “problem” is that its just a different platform. Nothing is really different. It’s like choosing Pepsi over Coke. Its a choice and maybe one is flavored more to your liking, but they are both full of the same ingredients and unhealthy with continual ingestion.

I haven’t used it either, because I didn’t like Twitter or X. Today I suspect Bsky is fine, because it hasn’t been around long enough to become toxic or to censor discussions etc… Just give it time, it will get there.

The issue most people are bringing up is that there are “better” platforms (i.e. fediverse) that aren’t getting any traffic instead.

I can understand this, but the flip side is that the voices promoting the fediverse usually arent very compelling either in voice or ease. Think of it like somebody wanting to buy a PC. One person says to get Linux (and arch of course) because it’s the best and you’re a fool to get anything else. Here, take it and figure it out. Another person says to get a Mac, because it can do everything you need it to do, easily and without work, plus has added features you didn’t even think about that seem useful to your life. And if you get stuck they have a genius bar to assist. So people choose Mac. Similarly people are choosing Bsky because it’s easy and straightforward.

My sister in law is vegan. She is the most normal person about it I’ve ever met. She doesn’t talk about it unless it comes up in conversation in a normal way.

She doesn’t proclaim it, because its part of who she is it isn’t the whole of who she is. She also understands that other people’s choices are theirs and she doesn’t need to convert them, or defend her own position.

When we have family gatherings, we try to accommodate with food offerings, but she says we don’t need to and always brings her own food and extra to share. This is important because she’s self sufficient and doesn’t expect anybody to adjust their life to match her choices. Likewise, between diets and allergies we as a family just always ensure people know what is in what.

These are just simple examples. My point being, I don’t think of her as vegan. I think of her as my sister in law. Be a normal person and its all good. If its not, then that’s not on you. There are jerk vegans and jerk non-vegans. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t tolerate jerks in return.

This is the true answer, especially for such a broad question.

You dont need to be fancy about it either. When I started I downloaded a years worth of credit card transactions and put them in a spreadsheet. I took the time to go line by line and assign a category for it.

Then I made a chart and could visually see where my money was going. On top of that I then calculated each category as percentage of my annual salary.

It’s very eye opening. Even things that aren’t an issue at least I now know that so don’t need to feel worried/guilty about it.

I don’t really subscribe to the whole race thing. Its a culture thing.

And even more important is the food. Can you cook me a traditional xyz meal? Delicious. I love that you’re xyz.

That’s just another reason to be disappointed to find out that you’re British.

I got started with aliases on anonaddy (now just Addy). After using a while I jumped into using my own domain, this is the real game changer.

Aliases are great and do their thing, but owning your own domain let’s you move everything all at once if you need to.

For instance, when proton added aliases I tried it out. I just redirected my MX records and was done. I didn’t like how they handled the header data because it broke a majority of my filters, so I switched back. Again, a simple setting adjustment and done.

For the record, I’ll probably switch everything over to proton eventually, but at the time didn’t want to recreate my filters. It makes sense to have all email controls under your email provider.

Exactly. I write well enough. I only use AI if I’m just stuck for words and want to get a suggestion. Sometimes it’s good enough, sometimes it’s way off base, but was enough kick to get things going in my brain.

I’d appreciate some added AI to give suggestions occasionally, but it needs to be implemented well. I hate when Word tells me to phrase something differently as if it 100% correct. No, I worded it that way because that’s how I want to say it.

The real damage will be when everybody starts sounding alike because there are defined acceptable ways to say things.

I’ve worked the video game industry and I’ll point out a few things.

Trump was president before, and imposed this tariff before. Console and peripheral prices did not go up. There were specific meetings discussing this, and nobody raised prices.

Not that it necessarily will be the same thing this time around, but look at the current prices of things like PS+ and the PS Pro - before tariff increases - and realize if they want to increase prices on you they just will. They aren’t looking for an excuse.

Additiinally, the amount of shenanigans that transpires with the video game industry is crazy. The amount of PS4 consoles sold in Canada would mean every single household would have 3.5 consoles in it. Spoiler, they don’t, all the consoles were sold into the US at cheaper prices because of the dollar conversion rate. They Gray market is the step child nobody wants to talk about, but they love the added sales numbers. It will continue to exist and balance out the market.

Print out and laminate this entire post.

I remember when the EGAs came about. Damn, it was like stepping into the future. But I didn’t have a color monitor so it didn’t matter. I was probably more envious than your friend.

I’ll second the recommendation for GrapheneOS. One of the available options I use is to keep mic, camera, and location off at all times until I need them. That simple toggle ability changes your privacy stance greatly.

Prefect. It can click buttons and complete tasks.

No sir, I did not accept your terms and conditions, my browser did.

I don’t think anything is un-addictable (making up words here). I do agree that the social media mindset and fedi are not compatible though, basically because of the algorithm concept.

At the end of the day I hate all social media because they feed me what they think I want to eat. Regardless of how well they do that I hate the concept because I want to decide for myself what I want to partake in. Fedi allows that without getting in my way.

I’m interested to see how they handle customer service. The article points out shipping as a big part of Amazon’s success but customer service and return have been too. Point being, I’d rather order some random no name brand shirt from amazon because I know I can easily return it if the fit isn’t right. Will amazon push this service on the vendor? Sort of like the eBay model.

I tried a handful, and the one I liked best is Thunder. There were aspects I liked about Voyager too, but Thunder was set up better in my opinion.