What do I recommend? Even a used desktop or laptop would be perfect to run Linux and have a TV PC. Cheaper and also just as effective. All hail Windows 11 for making the future brighter on that front too; with Microsoft pushing forced obsolescence!
I had a bunch of parts kicking around. Literally pieced together a PC with an old FX 6300 CPU and an RX 570 for my mom to watch her live news and TubiTV. Works great.
It’s why I removed the voting function by using Ublock. Because it is so pointless. Not like this site has a karma rating system like ‘Dead Readdit’; thank goodness for that. But yeah, people doing that just shows how damn conditioned they are. Really, as Linus Torvalds says, social media is a cancer on the Internet.
And nice! I use KDE Neon for my desktop. And my media server only uses a 4 TB drive (with a 128 GB SSD for the OS). To be frank, there isn’t much I really want to download and keep these days. Even got myself a 130 GB stash of corn because all there is on the mainstream is shitty SpicyFans garbage. So, I am glad I chose to archive TV shows, movies, anime and so on that I liked years ago. It’s all hosted on a old Lenovo Think Centre from the Vista days, running Manjaro of all things. It was a neat project that ended up being very useful in the end.
But yeah. To me, much of the Internet is just dead to me now. Especially since I mainly only use RSS feeds now.
Add to that the awesome blessing of living where most people go only on expensive vacations, own my business with my wife, and get to enjoy beach, pool, large backyard with 3 dogs and own my time.
Nice. I am also doing something somewhat similar; beach volleyball at the park. But also archery.
Like you say, losers scrolling mindlessly in social networks seeing what the corps want them to see, getting controlled, and then crying like little removed because “we need someone to do something about all this we’re addicted to” instead of growing some balls and taking control of their lives.
My kids spend all day at school, and all afternoon and weekends outside. Guess who’s kids will be tough enough when they grow up to lead the sheep.
I remember Zuckerberg himself saying that he didn’t allow his kids to use Facebook. Why people never took that as the most clear warning they would ever get is beyond me.
Too on the mark. Complaining because they don’t realize how far in the rabbit hole they are in. It’s an endless cycle. Drama is what fuels engagement. Engagement nets profit. That’s what all the mainstream platforms are about. And then you have people like the original poster carrying that to decentralized platforms like this.
Well, that’s silly. I’d never do business with a bank that doesn’t have a physical location in the town or city that I live (or anywhere). That’s way too fishy. Not to mention, scary and uncertain if you ask me.
I’d much rather have a few good friends who want to socialize with me, over a bunch who couldn’t give me the time of day; due to their social media addiction on the smartphones.
Doesn’t matter. It all just reinforces that people, even on decentralized platforms, are losers on a hamster wheel.
And it all just reinforces that people online are losers. That’s all I am being reminded of; even on a decentralized platform like this. No wonder I took excessive steps to filter all big tech and mainstream social media on my home network by using things like Pihole, and also my own hosted SearXNG instance to filter search results. Because it’s all designed to be just like a hamster wheel. That’s all it ever can be.
I’ve made a rule. Not only does the people I hang out with have to be able to call me and pick up the phone, but anyone who is staring at their smartphone constantly, while they are supposed to be hanging out with me, I stop hanging out with. Because clearly they are too busy wasting time on social media.
Well, I don’t care what people think. I chose it (a flip phone and MP3 Player) for my peace of mind these days.
If they want to be big tech pawns and continue their circle jerk of drama, like the original poster, then that’s fine. And if people I engage with in public can’t be bothered to pick up the phone like a normal person to talk, then I just move on. Because clearly, they’ll never step outside of their smartphone. Not that you really can engage socially with those people to begin with; as they are so addicted. Just like the drug addicts.
I guess it is funny. And Japanese isn’t an easy language to pick up. But anyway, yeah. I chose to filter out all the noise online and get my life back. Going to archery today in fact.
Speaking of noise, I think just as soon as I made this account, I’m just going to delete it. Because people on here like to complain for the drama when you offer practical solutions (the solution really is removing big tech from your life at this point); as it’s a byproduct of many people conditioned to using the mainstream social media. A lot of them have the same mentality, like the original poster. It’s an endless circle jerk I don’t want to waste my time on.
Have fun with the koi pond!
Given my time observing druggies, you are so on the mark on that one. What was I thinking bothering to tell that guy anything?
Music? Get an MP3 player. Navigation? Get a paper map. Want less stress? Learn to not rely on a smartphone. This is what people fail to understand. People functioned before smartphones were even a thing. People, especially younger people are just too conditioned to think outside the box.
Or, continue to deal with the smartphone rat race. It’s that simple.
I’m glad I can use unlocked phones in Canada. And I was able to use a custom ROM on the Pixel 3 to remove every trace of Google. But honestly, the XP3Plus just spares me such a headache from modern tech. If I am being blunt, I don’t want to deal with anything big tech at all now. So, I am also glad I never got a career in IT. Tech of today is just so full of shit. It’s all locked down, boring and manipulative.
A technique? Yeah. It’s called keeping your WIFI off and mobile data off. As in disconnect completely. You’ll regain your time and sense of autonomy, and your phone will last a lot longer on a single charge.
Same thing applied when I still had my Pixel 3 phone; it also lasted 2 weeks. I used it literally for nothing but calling. Other than that, it was left on the table untouched, and completely disconnected. Until the screen somehow broke inside and wouldn’t turn on, making me decide to just stop using smartphones altogether as they are just too fragile. Not to mention, high maintenance; which I didn’t want to deal with anymore.
What a shitty law. Is this in the UK? If so, figures.
Well, if the bank apps only support Android and iPhone, you’re pretty much hooped. Aren’t you? A Linux phone won’t help you.
So, the only option is to use the smartphone for nothing but the silly app. Or, do things the old way. Go to the bank and do your banking there.
Then just use the flip phone for the everything else.
Being bored… It’s how I got back into writing and doing digital art again. Along with picking up Japanese again, and getting back into archery and even beach volleyball at the park. And coincidentally, it was because I not only filtered big platforms with my PiHole server and my hosted SearXNG instance (by filtering my search results of all big tech and huge platforms), I also turned to RSS feeds to avoid any future algorithm manipulation.
The getting rid of the smartphone (for a flip phone) was just the cherry on top; as I wasn’t using it for anything else but for calling by then.
All that helped give me my creativity back. If only Ulrich could see through the charade, he’d have a lot less stress over this smartphone rat race. Because in all truth, smartphones have steadily become not worth it.
Someone will eventually make a better phone OS,
I’m not hoping on that; especially if big tech is involved in anything that becomes mainstream. The best option is just to avoid the mainstream.
but in the short term it seems smart to move to a dumb phone and offset everything else to a device tou can actually control.
That’s the real point I am making. But people who put their entire life into their phone are incapable of this. And that’s what’s depressing about all of this. Because of addictive social media algorithms, people hinge their entire lives on their phone.
You act like a typical social media addict (policing comments that weren’t even directed to you; along with being unable to resist commenting). Guess it’s clear why you can’t bear to live without a smartphone, huh? Keep going. You’ll only prove my (and youmaynotknow’s) point more. But really, I thought you said you were done with me earlier. Isn’t that what you said? Well, I said my piece as far as things one can do. Time for a block. You got enough attention from me.
Enjoy keeping up with the smartphone rat race! 😂
You act just like a typical social media addict. Now it’s clear why you can’t bear to live without your smartphone. 😂
Cool. Well, I am deleting this shithole of an account. I’m already getting banned from other communities, because people can’t handle the hard truths about me pointing out their smartphone addiction. Meanwhile, they want to complain more about how Google is abusing them. Well, I took the initiative; I went back to a flip phone with no mobile data.
I’m already getting the impression of mainstream social media snowflakes on this platform as a whole. I really hate what the Internet and people on it has become. You can’t say anything and must walk on eggshells. Strong reminder to not bother with any social platforms at all. Makes me glad that I block all mainstream crud with my Pi Hole server and filter search results with my hosted SearXNG instance.