Libb

100% this :)

Disclaimer: very satisfied user of Waterfox talking ;)

But I believe Mozilla is making a fundamental mistake.

I believe that too, but I’m no millionaire CEO either.

Some will argue that AI browsers are inevitable, that we’re fighting against the tide of history. Perhaps. AI browsers may eat the world. But the web, despite having core centralised properties, is fundamentally decentralised. There will always be alternatives. If AI browsers dominate and then falter, if users discover they want something simpler and more trustworthy, Waterfox will still be here, marching patiently along. We’ve been here before. When Firefox abandoned XUL extensions, Waterfox Classic preserved them. When Mozilla started adding telemetry and Pocket and sponsored content, Waterfox stripped it out. I like to think that where there is want for a browser that simply respects you, Waterfox has delivered.

Long live Waterfox.

This may sound silly to say, and it probably is, but to me it’s almost impossible to imagine I could one day stop being a Firefox user. I mean, my first Web browser was Mosaic, I followed it when it turned into Netscape, which I then followed as it became Netscape, before morphing into the giant Mozilla T-Rex, and finally becoming Firefox.

Take back the Web, I believe(d) in that. Heck, I still have one of their T-Rex t-shirt dedicated by a few of its devs.

I also have a chromium-based browser (Vivaldi) but Firefox has always been home to me (edit: so seeing it moving away from what I care for is not a great feeling). I’m so glad forks like Waterfox exist because if it was not for them, for the first time ever I would not know what browser I can trust.

Thx, I had not considered those aspects.

I don’t know about companies, but there are still people out there that write content and share it online without using any slop. And I’m pretty sure they would not mind if more people would take the time to stop by, to read their content (blog or whatever) and maybe to say hi. And this would not cost anyone a cent.

Edit: clarification.

• Avoid (edit: centralized/closed) social media like the contagious dumbifying plague it has become,
• get my news from a selected few news sources (from opposing sides, so I never risk thinking they’re right just because they say things I want/like to hear). And only paid-for news,
• read books (classics, poetry, plays, essays,…),
• write, to put a semblance of order in my own thoughts,
• take long walks, daily.
• Spend quality time with my spouse.
• Listen to music.

Same, but that’s not a dedicated music player.

Is it not? May I ask if there is a specific reason?

I will admit I also use mpv like my default video player, but it still is my default audio player and use it like one, with playlists and stuff like that ;)

mpv. I have very simple taste.

Thx :) The community focus on journaling, but there are so many more things to talk about. I’m quite happy to see a new community dedicated to pen and paper, even more that I’m still unable to spend time on that poor journaling community and probably won’t be until at least February or even March.

A question for those who have a partner, how did you manage to do it and how long did it take?

I/We did not ‘do it’ if by that you mean deciding to meet someone to become a couple, be it for one night or for a lifetime. For us, it happened and it seems to be holding quite well after 25 years together and counting ;)

How did it happen? We were into some similar interests and we started chatting about it (online, back in the late 90s, before apps and algorithm), no dating, no nothing, just chatting about that common interest. And enjoying our conversations. One day, we decided to meet IRL as the opportunity arise and, well, it clicked. We enjoyed that time together and decided to try another time, and then a third. And then we both agreed it would be nice (and much simpler too) if we moved together.

it’s hard for me to communicate with people on the street.

You’re right, it is hard. For anyone. You probably should not do that to begin with.

I mean, one may (or may not) meet people on the street (or anywhere else) and then one may (or may not) start having a conversation with them, and then… But most of the time, people are not on the street waiting to be ‘communicated’ with, and the few that do they are probably doing it for the money.

One needs to spend time with people with whom one has some shared interest for a conversation to have a chance to get anywhere. One also needs to be ok with those person not be willing to have discussion or spend time with them as they may have other plans and/or interests. It’s ok to being told ‘no, thx’, it’s not a failure.

So, the question is mostly this: what are your hobbies and passions? Because that’s where you should try to meet other people. It helps a lot to know you have some common interest, even more so when you’re shy.

I’m an introvert

My spouse and I we’re both introverts. It would be an understatement to say I’m shy as fuck. And so is she, just worse. But it seldom is an issue for me, provided I have something to talk about with the other person. No matter how deep or thin the topic is as long as it helps me stop feeling like it’s about me (which it never is, btw) and more about whatever is the subject of our conversation. Even asking for directions or… commenting to your question ;)

As far as dating goes, no matter how unpopular this seems to be considered nowadays, I think it also helps a lot to not have expectations regarding who the other person should be (physically, morally, financially and so on), and how she should behave (the should do this and that, say this and that, think this and that). We all are different, we all have flaws. And we can all be going through some hardship, at times.

Like I said, my spouse and I have been together for 25+ years but there are still today things she does I don’t like, and people she likes I don’t like (and don’t waste my own time with). And it’s same with me. We’re not glued together, even though I’ve read Plato I don’t believe we ought to become ‘one’ as a couple. And that’s fine. We also had our fair share of issues, as a couple, and that too is fine.

In summary: being shy did not prevent me to meet girls. What did was not knowing what to talk about with them, and then my fear of being rejected. And then my expectations. The day I got rid of that fear and expectations, taking the action of meeting new people for what it truly is (an opportunity) it went better. Because it’s an opportunity to try, and maybe to fail and maybe to learn something new in the process (improving oneself), instead of not even trying and to certainly not succeed and to not learn anything new, quite the contrary: fear of action and rumination won’t help anyone grow/feel better.

edit: missing words.

Thx for the podcast, I did not know it.

Here is a link to the relevant episode, for anyone interested: https://www.searchengine.show/what-do-trigger-warnings-actually-do/

thx for this fine demonstration.

Do you feel content warnings are beneficial?

Nope. Quite the contrary.

But it may be worth mentioning I’m getting old (nearing my 60s) and I have been educated in a now remote time where the idea that being confronted with hardship and with failure is what would help us learn to overcome them. Not being shielded from them.

do you thing there are better ways to address dark topics?

Confront shit ideas with better ideas. The rest, any form of censorship or control, never works, never did and I doubt will ever.

Heck, aged 16 my best friend and I decided to read Mein Kampf in order to understand how that ‘Nazi’ stuff managed to seduce so many people. While we were reading it, as seriously as we would have read any other book, we just discussed it freely meaning without fear of being judged (‘being cancelled’ one may say nowadays): we would point out stupid shit as well as things that seemed not, to young us at least, not that stupid trying to confront them through a free and open discussion. Decades later, I can safely say it was one of the best cure against me ever risking getting ‘seduced’ by those shit ideas and the hate they thrive(d) on.

I don’t use Windows or Adobe and things like that (I use Linux and before that I was running a Mac), but for VSCode you may consider using VSCodium instead which is the exact same app (the same source code, running the same extensions) just without MS telemetry.

https://vscodium.com/

Thx for the clarification, very much appreciated.

Dude, that was merely a pun (sorry, not sure about the english word here: a wink at the printed version of those ‘fairy tales’ that have been legally shared through books for centuries). But whatever you say, have fun with your ‘shrooms’.

There is quite a lot of choice & variety.

To only mention a handful of public domain classics: Grimm’s Fairy Tales are an obvious choice (think Sbnow White, Cincerella, Hansel & Gretel and so, so many more (quite hardcore to be honest), Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Barry’s Peter Pan or even things like Ovid’s Metamorphosis (hard to beat, imho, even if many won’t like it being categorized as a fairy tale and would prefer ‘mythology’). Talking mythology, one coudl also consider reading some Norse mythology (the ‘Edda’, and sagas), and so on.

No need for mushrooms, one can easily (and legally, at least for the time being) open a book ;)

I’ve heard various rumors,

There is also information

I don’t know what to do, I’m scared.

1. Don’t listen to rumors.
2. Cross reference all info you think is worth your attention.
3. Panic is not an answer, or it most certainly is the worst one. Instead, make a clear list of what you consider a threat to you (yur privacy, family, whatever)… for that you will need 1 & 2 to be sorted out. Then, for each threat consider your options and decide for you next action—not in a general sense ‘I should find a way to fight against that phone spying on me’ but the exact next/first step you need to do in order to solve a specific issue.

For example, unless we need them (which seldom happens) we do not keep our phones with us at home all the time, they’re stored in a small closed box, that is stored in the laundry room (whose door is also closed and which is also the remotest room from our living spaces and bedroom in our apartment, it’s also the noisiest room when we do laundry.)

My phone has gaffer over the front facing cam. No idea if that phone can record through gaffer (I doubt it can, but I don’t know for sure) but at the very least the gaffer is a barrier between that phone and my privacy.

I store almost no personal data (as little as possible) on that phone, almost no apps (and no games or social). They, whoever they happen to be, can scan through that phone as much as they fancy, be my guest. And, yes, that also means I’m not doing a lot of the stuff I could easily do. So be it, that’s a price I’m willing to pay.

Not related to bots but more about account deletion, something I’ve been wishing for a long time is to make a separation between a user being able to delete their account if they fancy so and their content actually being removed. Content could just be anonymized or, at least, if the content is to actually be removed, a placeholder should be put in its place because when they delete their account not only do they delete their own posts but they also delete all comments made by other participants which is unfair and can also be a real loss as some comments are really interesting.

Many years ago, we decided we did not want to cut trees anymore for the purpose of decorating our place, and since we also did not want to use a plastic one I did what I had to do by… painting a small one on top recycled cardboard that I cut to shape.

It’s really small (the fat red-bearded dude doesn’t overwhelm us under gifts either, maybe it’s because he hates our tree?). It looks like a kid’s version of a Xmas tree, some people would call it ugly as fuck, I say it is unique. We can easily (dis)assemble it & store it (takes no space at all), it never shed, we never lose or break a decoration, and setting it up with all it’s decorations is just a matter of sliding one piece of cardboard into another, for its trunk/foot ;)

Despite it being made out of cardboard and being painted with gouache it’s sturdy, only needing a touch of fresh paint every now and then. The previous one lasted something like 11 years before I had to make a new one, this year.