I second this. Either ddg has come a long way with sesrch results or Google enshittified theirs to oblivion. Maybe it’s both. I only use Google search for really obscure stuff that ddg has a hard time fetching. And more often than not Google fails as well.

How do you even curate a fb feed. When I tried that I got an algorithm that shoved “recommended” posts down my throat that got worse the further down I scrolled. Not to mention looking for posts older than a day is a pain because they’re not chronological. AND the cherry on top is when you finally reach the place where that post might be and the page just decides to reload. Awful, awful user experience.

Few places have secure DMs.

Oh, the patent expired? No problem, we’ll just methylate the structure, see that it makes no difference and put it out on the market as a new drug. Or maybe take the active part of a racemic mixture and half the dosage. Same drug double the patent. Semisynthetic insulin is even worse in that regard.

I love FDroid but no way in hell is my banking app going open source and uploading there. I can use the website instead of the app but I doubt that’s the case for everyone.

I backed up my data and downloaded the iso before going to work, once I get home I’ll give it a shot.

I just want my computer to do what it’s told. Putting it to sleep and turning the mouse off doesn’t mean it should wake up, download and apply updates and remain awake only for me to find the search bar appeared again and a big red dot telling me what the former orange president of a country one continent and an ocean away said about something.

I used linux mint long ago. My biggest worry about a linux system is my Nvidia card.

My coworker opened edge when they added the new ai bullshit and thought the desktop was infected by a virus and started panicking.

Removing all the popups at work about scheduled updates, news, ads in a workplace with 8 desktops and zero people who speak English is my favourite past time. Thanks Microsoft.

Also that post prompted me to remove windows from all my devices that still run it. Not that I didn’t think of it yesterday.

I’m familiar with debian-based Linux distros and run Xubuntu on my travel laptop. It occasionally freezes and needs a forced reboot but otherwise runs ok. Any suggestions on what to install on this more powerful one? I use it for gaming but play older games.

R****t felt like the place for tech savvy people when I first joined a decade and a half ago (I feel old now). It was confusing and I had no idea how to use it but the content was better than 9gag which was hugely popular at the time. Felt the same way about the fediverse half a year ago. Now it’s all natural to me.

Lately my cat starts meowing while standing at the shoe dresser. As soon as I go there he tries to climb on my shoulders. I bend over a bit and he climbs on my back and wants me to go around the house. I was enslaved as soon as he entered our home.

No, because after a Friday half the time comes the dreaded 13 hour shift which sucks my energy enough to not be able to do anything on Sunday.

Healthcare is a bitch sometimes.

I follow hashtags that I like and if I like a person’s posts I’d check their profile out and follow them. I also look at who interacts with my posts, and give them a follow as well, if I want their interests to show up on my feed. I also follow a couple of a.gup.pe groups. Bookstodon is a fun one, I got some cool suggestions there. They were also integrated with lemmy but I haven’t seen them work well here for now.

My cat is so food motivated he eats absolutely everything. Obviously has a preference for wet food with gravy so I buy a bunch of different flavours in bulk but he’s happy to eat the same thing every day. He also loves olives, bread (wholemeal more than white, sourdough has an advantage too. Local bakery bread is where things are really at. Supermarket bread is a mixed bag, he usually ignores it because it’s crap), seeds, nuts, potato chips, lentils, hummus, yogurt, and grass.

Don’t get me wrong, Bucharest and Sofia are rather LGBT friendly as long as you know where you’re safe. (I’ve only visited both for a couple of days on a number of occasions). I can’t speak about other cities but the Orthodox Church is really strong in Romania. Bulgaria on the other hand has soccer extremists/fascists who are particularly dangerous and tend to mob on their targets so it’s hard to even find the culprits by the authorities… Not that they even bother unless it’s a murder.

In fact I had a mob of Bulgarian hooligans in Bucharest of all places yelling “Look dude Rapunzel!” pointing at me (I present masculine but have rather long hair). I felt realy threatened and uncomfortable but I realised they didn’t know I spoke their language and I was in a crowded place so it all passed.

Bulgaria is an example. The LGBTQ+ community is discussed only during the annual pride parade. Sofia is rather liberal but the rest of the country is highly conservative. The people in power are likely in favour of marriage equality (or most don’t care that much so they just vote with the flow) but it’s a political suicide given the opinion of the most active voters. If you decided to run a country-wide poll, most people would be against gay marriage. The general attitude is “I don’t mind gay people as long as they’re not in my face”. Except many have stronger opinions than that. Especially men.

Speaking of men, the Balkan macho culture created a fear of gay people (literal homophobia). On a regular basis I hear men speaking about being afraid of being raped by gay men in certain situations (think massage rooms, men’s locker rooms, bars).

Football hooligan extremists are especially dangerous because they go on witch hunts for marginalized groups and would attack (and sometimes murder) anyone who looks gay, Turkish, ir has a darker skin colour just for sport. There are still partly unresolved murders of LGBT youth commited a decade ago.

In fact I’m surprised about Greece, they must be the first ortbodox christian country to legalize same sex marriage and they’re very religious compared to us.

Also meal prep for work. Healthier and saves money (5% of my net income per month in my case)

As an eastern European nearing their 30s in a situation much less extreme than yours - do not fall for “patriotism”. I do not mean the “go and fight for your people” type. That takes guts and mentality I do not possess.

I mean the “doing X is unpatriotic” type. Usually comes from “patriotic” formations who follow a certain narrative and work for the interests of other countries. Look for buzzwords like traditional values, us vs them, targeting a group of people as a whole, claiming to get back “what is ours” (territory lost centuries ago, not currently occupied land). Big social media presence coupled with self-produced “reports” and “news articles” (bonus points if they have their own mass media channels) are also a giveaway.

Thank you but I won’t let your aggressor, through puppet parties, dictate what about my attitude and views is patriotic and what isn’t.

Lately when I’m looking for tutorials, my search results are overwhelmingly weird question and answer style “articles”, akin to chatgpt prompts, some of which are barely related to what I’m looking for. I’m having a hard time looking for articles written by a human. In fact oftentimes I question whether or not the article is written by a machine or a person who sucks at writing.

And what exactly makes humans superior? In a couple of hundred years we did what millenial cataclysms couldn’t do. The human superiority will be in the fossil record as a microscopic toxic line. If anything we’re the worst species that has ever emerged on this planet.

Snakes in many cultures are seen as the embodiment of wisdom. They also stabilize rodent populations for example and are hunted by raptors. If snakes disappear tomorrow, there goes your human superiority. See also Mao’s war on sparrows and the millions starved after showing their superiority over the tiny birds.

I understand no argument would change your mind on the matters, especially on the Fediverse, but I really hope you read about this from different angles.