I do not use Google products or use FB or most social media and family looks at me as if I am from Mars. Some do not even know what Linux even is. If I installed it on their machine and didn’t tell them what it was, they would just think it is “another” Windows.

Once a non-tech guy asked how I find stuff if I did not use Google Search. Another thought that I used Terminal, not because I need it but because I wanted to look Retro.

To plenty computers or tech in general are not their thing.

Read about Operation Condor. Its actions, repercussions and number of deaths due to it, and continue to pretend the USA follows Democratic Values™. And this is just but one example.

They are just better at PR than most. You are walking proof of it.

Ha. Autocorrect strikes again! Fixed it and Thanks, for pointing it out.

At best, it was for a while a Representative Democracy. Where people gave their vote to other people to vote for them.

The fact that most Americans think the US is not an oligarchy, today, is a testament to the power of the State and their corporate media to propagandized their own citizens. It is very rich for them to point to other country’s Oligarchies and somehow absolutely fail to see their own. Or worse, call it some weird type of conspiracy to call out or point out reality.

I mean, it is not like it is not obvious if one takes a step back or two and looks at it objectively.

All part of the current US/NATO approved Overton Window, friend.

Caring for your Privacy and the general privacy of society in the aggregate, given the increasing data mining, collecting, advertising and other trends is the normal mindset.

Getting propagandised and brainwashed into thinking that paying, with your own money for literal microphoned devices operated by for-profit-focused Corps that will listen in and record you so as to give you lazy weather updates or help you play a song, or purchase knick-knacks online in exchanhe is the crazy take.

Getting you to feel ackward is the point of peer-pressure and their Marketing. Just ignore it. You are not in the wrong.

Albeit Lemmy can too be a bit of an echo chamber at times, I find, in general, that the platform as a whole is way more open minded, and by extention, its users too, than or over Reddit.

Which their bias on most subs and janny overreach became, specially in the last few years suffocatingly annoying. Coming here was refreshing in comparison.

Gradually? By 10’s launch, it was already adware/spyware. 11 is not even attempting to hide it, if you look at it objectively past the PR.

Ukraine was supposed to have democratic elections. The current regime’s mandate ended in June. Since then, they are in power illegally and by sheer Presidential decree, for democracy, you see.

Ivdea Delenda Est

“It is what it is.”

It is lazy, circular, a cop out and means next to nothing. Vague enough to pass as a wise quip, to some. It is not.

Also not so much a saying per sé, but people who use quotes of famous people at the bottom or ends of emails. As if that implies a personality. If you are going to use something you think sounds smart, at least try to come up with that something yourself.

Whether people read as a hobby or not. As it implies a type of interest into the world around them.

And as a lesser second, what they read.

The fact Dick Cheney, a war criminal along with Bush Jr. and her ‘graciously’ accepting of it, is not sending massive warning horns and bells to the average Dem, OE to her own campaign should be enough to see they have lost their own plot. They are out of touch and just screaming, orange man bad, does not fix their own problems. Many people are not enough of a blind ideologues to not see that.

They are pushing for Trump’s border wall. Like come on.

This has been done for decades. It is PR 101, and it is done to indoctrinate and subsequently normalize XYZ onto the average consumer/citizen.

In Marketing, you get taught that the average person has a memory of 3 to 6 months for issues like this, at the most. So, if you can afford to stretch something for longer, than acceptance on average, will always go up. Attention span are short. In other cases, it alleviates any cases of legal liability. Since no one can say they were not warned.

I knew that 23andMe would eventually breaker to that. Told people not to do it. Oh, well.

I opted out of LinkedIn and PayPal, but I wish I didn’t have to use them. Plus I do not fully trust them to respect the option, too.

In fairness, no one who understands how Laws actually work says that. Problem is that most people just do not care.

I got people saying I was silly paying a bit more for when I wanted to use some VPS boxes located in not 14 eyes countries.

Personally, I got a large dumb flat TV and use a small PC attached to it with Linux with all the privacy trimmings, VPN, etc. Use a browser, like Librewolf or FF with ArkenFox, along with Freetube on it which we control with KDEConnect from our phones. Once you setup the proper commands on it, it is fly and forget. You can pick a stripped, privacy focused distro, too. Most of my PCs/phones are on WiFi but for that box I plug it to the router via cable, directly, for faster display speeds. You can download other media software and run it through, if you wish.

Power usage is minimal or at least I do not see my power bill go up substantially, or noticeably. Have had this type of setup for over 15 years. Never had to worry about microphones or cameras as there are none to worry about. No terms to agree to that will get changed on a moment’s notice, either. No spying or dialing home. Sometimes, the best way to win is just to not play their games. Have 0 complains.

It is the same with Google Fonts. Everyone uses them, so your browser will have to ping Google Servers to get them. Even blocking them, puts you in a smaller bin of users since most people do not block them, which can help them profile you.

I got lucky and forced everyone I keep mostly on touch away from Gmail and into either my Nextcloud instance chat and/or Signal, XMPP or Delta Chat. Which are on mobile.

Another user mentioned PGP, great in theory, but most people I know do not use it and will not touch it. They think it is too complicated, which is not. But people are lazy if they do not care about privacy. I got lucky that I made most switch.

Discovery was trash. Lasted until season 2 but the plot holes and inconsistencies and bad writing was too much for me. Not to mention the 'member berries. And the key jangling, and tech ahead of its time breaking all manner of canon. Agreed the over emotional stuff came off as trite and out of place for what was essentially a space navy.

So, they can detect anomalies all over the milky way? In real time? Writers said that Klingons represented Trump supporters? Why? Or, with the baddies destroyed they didn’t have to travel in time. So why did they? Capital ships manoeuvring like borderline fighters? Plot contrivance from the writers? Okay. TNG or DS9 had their flaws but it was superior writing and seemed to be written for adults or did not insult its audience’s maturity, regardless of age. Discovery seems to have been written for kids or emotional teens. Lots of pew-pew action, too.

Seen shows where the writers --as they recalled-- originally removeded about this. Made writing harder, since it was more difficult to write plots, but fuck that, it made them think outside the box, which made for some excellent episodes Re: grander ideas and nuanced takes on many subjects. Most, if not all, have come around to seeing Gene was definately ahea of his time and came to agree, too.

However DS9 was excellent, even though it diverged from Gene’s formula.