Mine is mostly mp3, and the player is MPV. I would not notice higher quality amidst the street noise or listening through laptop's subpar speakers anyway.
Yandex is pretty much as evil as Google but on a smaller scale. I appreciated it for allowing easy burners, but recently I have not seen options to register any new account without a phone number.
If you are into collecting, that is. I am kind of triggered by the binary "physical vs. non-owned" because physical is not for everyone, if I was dead set on paying and the media was not available DRMless, I would rather buy a digital copy plus pirate a DRMless one corresponding to it. Buying a disk only to throw it out after ripping is wasteful. If you keep them, they take up too much space and are too inconvenient to use compared to a few external drives.
I mean, disks take up a ton of space - not everyone is comfortable with that either. If I did that, I would have had to throw out or bother selling the disks.
Once the original media is gone so it the right to watch it.
But who would check that? A raid? This is so pointless. You are not using it, you have paid for it, you are just occupying space with a useless piece of plastic...
*What rights do you have to the digital movies, TV shows and music you buy online? That question was on the minds of Telstra TV Box Office customers this month after the company announced it would shut down the service in June. Customers were told that unless they moved over to another service, Fetch, they would no longer be...
I don't like physical copies. For convenience, I would be ripping it anyway, and then what? CDs and DVDs take up way too much space, then I would have to eiher throw a perfectly working disk away (which just feels bad) or bother selling it (which is not even guaranteed). I understand it if you're into the collecting aspect, but I am personally not. If I was really set on paying for the media, I would rather go for a DRMless purchase. Or if it is not available, do it like with my Steam games - buy a DRMed copy and then pirate a DRMless one corresponding to it.
Session is also sus because you effectively cannot host a node, last I have seen. They claim it is "against a Sybil attack" but all it does is making sure only people wih large disposable funds can have nodes, and the effect might be the exact opposite.
Simplex is more interesting in this regard because while I am concerned with initial centralization (the default servers), they made hosting your own easy. But I personally stick with imperfect yet trusty XMPP.
Last I have seen, it still requires a number to register - it just doesn't have to be public.
What gets me the most is the requirement of a smartphone to register. No way I am trusting my non-public chats to a phone, so that means either Waydroid/VM (which creates issues with copypasting) or signal-cli (which is fairly inconvenient).
Not quite Europe, but here we have mandatory KYC on simcards too (you can get an illegal anonymous one still, but this is a different story). Guess what, it does nothing to prevent simswapping, it very much still happens.
I've been a social media hermit for the past 3 years but recently I've given up and created a few accounts across different apps again. It's unreal how strict the requirements are now....
Unless you mean "accidentally being somewhere in the background of a stranger's photo", yes. I usually opt out of being photographed, was never forced into this.
By the way, the earlier posted article https://restoreprivacy.com/protonmail-discloses-user-data-leading-to-arrest-in-spain had an update starting at the paragraph with title Update: Statement from Proton and additional commentary
I do not blame Proton for complying with a request - it is a completely expected action from a company. However, I would blame them for advertising that makes them seem safer than they are for people who don't know better.
Browsing the web I came across this (meta) search engine. From the first glance, it seems promising and giving quite a good results to my searches. Definitely better than Google, Bing or DDG, which tend to be full of SEO/ads/AI bullshit these days. Does anyone use it?...
No thanks, I would rather not have to use Waydroid and deal with Google's services because of course you didn't make the app available on your website or on F-Droid.
Oh, nice! Where was the VPN server, if you remember? Also heard of it being possible on a real Android device, but not on an Android VM so even harder to fake.
I do pirate games that I buy on Steam - just to have a backup copy in case something happens to my account. I want to truly own my media. Nonetheless, this is the only place I have paid for media since we ditched the DVD player)
I really want an mp3 player right now - my last one broke and I don't want to carry a phone instead. But it seems like they're either ultra-cheap, overpriced or don't have features I need (like Bluetooth). It is so sad that the midrange audio players pretty much disappeared now. So instead looking as DIY projects, cannot believe.
The original ipod looks very cool btw, even if I would never use one myself - way too large.
Why necessarily "used"? Also I have this exact thing already. I just wanted a device that has no cell connectivity option and thus no tracking, and also (maybe even more importantly) - is smaller and lighter. Going for sports with a phone is inconvenient af.
What I looked for were product categories. Ye, seen these models. $200 is very, very expensive for me, it would be weird to spend on a player more than you would on a phone.
Crypto IS usable as an alternative to regular card payments though. If it gets illegal - what do we have left for online payment? Bank system, which is very hard and illegal to use anonymously, and is subject to sanctions/seizures/whatever. There is cash by mail, which is not always feasible. GNU Taler looks interesting, but seems like it not implemented much yet.
I personally use it for my domain name and a VPS. Not exactly illegal or requiring personal information.
As for cards that "you can buy in brick and mortar stores" - a) they will be affected by the same sanctions as normal cards, b) not even a thing in a lot of places (like, the only ones I have seen here are only sold at certain banks and only payable with a bank card). But yea, might indeed work well in certain cases!
On a phone, I actually rarely get stuck for hours. Not only because most of my personal data has to stay off of it (it cannot have LineageOS or similar), but also because it is inconvenient af. No keyboard, small screen, everything is slow. The problem of infinitely going into rabbit holes solves itself, while on the laptop there has to be a lot more self-control - it is far more comfortable.
Yes, I am aware. But nonetheless it is far easier to use anonymously/pseudonymously than "traditional" payment. Like, exchanging BTC/LTC from Monero, and buying said Monero via a non-kyc method as well. And whatever protections you want to layer, depending on how much effort you think "they" would spend on you.
What? Remembering myself as a preteen, even if I didn't consider microtransactions as a no-no, I don't think I would be able to do it anyway. Preteens don't have bank cards. If we are talking about begging their parents - I don't think it would have worked either. Mine, just like average parents, would have probably thought spending money on games was stupid and not allowed it. That is the reason I had pirated Minecraft too - just like most kids around me.
I used free Spotify in hopes of finding new music, and the experience was very subpar. It wants you to enable DRM, the web interface is the laggiest I have seen, and the button to "not recommend this song anymore" doesn't exist. Also recommendation, the whole reason I tried the service, are just meh.
I also cannot imagine having your main music collection on streaming and not locally.
Statcounter reports that Windows 11 continues to lose its market share for the second month in a row. Windows 10, meanwhile, is gaining more users and is now back above the 70% mark.
I honestly don't even distinguish 10 from 11. For me, both are not acceptable on my machine, both have to be fought during daily use. Most problems of 11 originated in 10 and were already too severe.
I use GrapheneOS ony phone and a Mac with the security options as optimized as possible. For most of my emailing etc, I use Tuta and Proton. There are instances however, where having a Google account is beneficial (some apps for example won't download from Aurora store in anonymous mode)....
The thing I wonder about is whether such an account can stay in your possession even after you no longer have the sim. Where I live, the simcards that don't require ID are illegal and thus you cannot guarantee that you'd stay in possession of it permanently. And even if it were legal - you'd have to be adding or spending funds to retain the sim.
Yea, I got this from your comment. I was wondering about different jurisdictions where this is not as easy - thought someone in the comments had such an experience.
I am skeptical about listening not only because it was not proven, but also because almost the exact same result is achievable via much, much simpler and omnipresent means.
Pixels are completely unaffordable new, still overpriced when secondhand and only really cost normally when EOL. This is just sadly not an option for many people, so Lineage seems more accessible and realistic.
Uber's new shuttle service sounds a lot like a bus route ( qz.com )
Those Silicon Valley geniuses have done it again!...
Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code to enable collaborative development of its legendary player for Windows ( about.winamp.com )
Telegram CEO calls out rival Signal, claiming it has ties to US government ( www.theregister.com )
[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]
Are right wingers creating FUD around Signal? ( hachyderm.io )
‘My whole library is wiped out’: what it means to own movies and TV in the age of streaming services ( www.theguardian.com )
‘My whole library is wiped out’: what it means to own movies and TV in the age of streaming services ( www.theguardian.com )
*What rights do you have to the digital movies, TV shows and music you buy online? That question was on the minds of Telstra TV Box Office customers this month after the company announced it would shut down the service in June. Customers were told that unless they moved over to another service, Fetch, they would no longer be...
Chat Apps, Government Ties, and Transparency – Threema ( threema.ch )
Why the state monopoly on identity is worse than Big Tech ( medium.com )
Stack Overflow Users Are Revolting Against an OpenAI Deal | WIRED ( www.wired.com )
Members of the software developer community have reported deleting or altering their posts to prevent them from being used by OpenAI.
Instagram locked my account and forced me to appeal and send a picture of my face, so I sent a picture of Shrek. They deleted my account
I've been a social media hermit for the past 3 years but recently I've given up and created a few accounts across different apps again. It's unreal how strict the requirements are now....
Does self-hosted VPN make sense?
Hey all,...
Encrypted services Apple, Proton and Wire helped Spanish police identify activist | TechCrunch ( techcrunch.com )
By the way, the earlier posted article https://restoreprivacy.com/protonmail-discloses-user-data-leading-to-arrest-in-spain had an update starting at the paragraph with title Update: Statement from Proton and additional commentary
Does anyone use https://presearch.com/ ( presearch.com )
Browsing the web I came across this (meta) search engine. From the first glance, it seems promising and giving quite a good results to my searches. Definitely better than Google, Bing or DDG, which tend to be full of SEO/ads/AI bullshit these days. Does anyone use it?...
Telegram founder and CEO alledges signal has backdoors, they don't provide reproduceible builds, etc.
Here's what he said in a post on his telegram channel:...
"Everything being a sleek App, instead of being a clunky website. Which is definitely the way to go." - Mrwhosetheboss
(timestamp-link) iPad Pro M4 Hands on - Why I just bought it....
Proton Mail Discloses User Data Leading to Arrest in Spain ( restoreprivacy.com )
Prime Video subs will soon see ads for Amazon products when they hit pause ( arstechnica.com )
As if the Prime Video app couldn't get any worse.
How to opt out of the privacy nightmare that comes with new Hondas ( sherwood.news )
I used an original iPod in 2024, and it was pretty fun ( www.spacebar.news )
The Bitcoiners were wrong: a blog post about privacy and bitcoin, and how they failed to design a cash alternative ( unfathom.ing )
Rubén Baler, neuroscientist: ‘We are guinea pigs. Our attention has become a profitable commodity’ ( english.elpais.com )
Proton Mail Discloses User Data Leading to Arrest in Spain ( restoreprivacy.com )
Why people don't talk about Google Maps' privacy issues ( www.youtube.com )
Title is editorialized because the original is, frankly, clickbait garbage
„If companies were to do the right thing, they would lose the most valuable customers on earth, preteen kids” ( english.elpais.com )
YouTube's war against third party apps is just as ridiculous as its war on adblockers ( www.androidpolice.com )
[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]
Windows 10 reaches 70% market share as Windows 11 keeps declining ( www.neowin.net )
Statcounter reports that Windows 11 continues to lose its market share for the second month in a row. Windows 10, meanwhile, is gaining more users and is now back above the 70% mark.
Creating dummy Google accounts
I use GrapheneOS ony phone and a Mac with the security options as optimized as possible. For most of my emailing etc, I use Tuta and Proton. There are instances however, where having a Google account is beneficial (some apps for example won't download from Aurora store in anonymous mode)....
People left seriously creeped out after woman shares how to find out everything Google knows about you ( www.uniladtech.com )
What is Windows 11 'AI Explorer'? Everything you need to know about Microsoft's upcoming defining AI PC feature (including it always watching you) ( www.windowscentral.com )
Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says ( arstechnica.com )