While this is nice, I would really like to see more fully independent options that are not just a proxy for Google/Bing. I realize that is a lot easier said than done, but this kind of solution is not providing a real alternative in anything but name only. Google/Microsoft fully control the APIs being used. so this only exists so long as those they are trying to provide an alternative for allow them to exist. Which will not scale if they are anything but a blip on the radar.

Oh I don’t disagree, it is worth it. I ended up paying for it myself before I switched to Joplin. I just went down a rabbit hole of realizing I technically could self host the backend and stubbornly tried to make it work well beyond what was good sense at the time. 😅

Sounds to me like Amazon is reducing the value proposition of their product. For me, additional roadblocks to being able to enjoy something they way I want when I have paid for it reduces the value of the product itself.

For example, if a DRM free book in an standards compatible format costs $20, then the DRM version I can still download for offline viewing is worth $10. The DRM version I can’t download is now worth more like $1-$5 depending on how badly I would want to read it while still supporting the author.

And yes, ebooks from the major sellers aren’t worth much to me and I rarely rent (because you’re not really buying) them.

It is a really good app. But was a pain in the ass to keep the archive in sync using multiple different platforms without paying for their sync addon in my experience. You can roll your own sync with stuff like Syncthing, cloud storage, etc. But the archive had a bad habit of seemingly finding ways to get out of sync.

Because X is owned by a pro-hitler probably Holocaust-denying shit heal.

How quickly most companies have walked back all of the “moral” stances they have taken over the last few years, all within just a few weeks of the political winds changing, should be a lesson to everyone that there is no such thing as an ethical publicly traded company.

They will do what they think will make the most money for the shareholders, no matter what. If you want them too “pay”, the only choice is to stop giving them money.

There is a better chance that user reporting for this will be disabled more so than it is that this would make a difference. You know that right?

If this latest drama with Apple Maps (and Google Maps) is what pushes someone over the edge to looking for more user respecting options then the people further gone than I would really be comfortable getting used to. Both companies regularly do much more than should do more to turn you off.

There might be things that are better these days in the technical sense. But there is always value in having something “good enough” that is freely available and compatible with nearly everything that has speakers to use to keep those technically better yet more expensive options in check.

Isn’t a single teacher or statement. But how I was generally treated by the institution.

I am somewhere on the spectrum and/or have some kind of learning disability that makes the formal learning environment very hard for me.

I was tested as a kid back in the 80’s, but they said I didn’t score bad enough to be diagnosed and that I was just slow essentially.

So the school system stuck me at a desk in the back corner of the classrooms with a divider between me and the the rest of the room and more or less treated me like a leper.

Whatever the official diagnosis, I ended up getting into computers and turns out I am really good at it. So now I make a six figure income doing something I am interested in.

The experience ingrained in me a deep hatred for formalized education, especially when it comes to my son (who is officially diagnosed as autistic). I have a very hard time taking anything my kids teachers say seriously and as anything more than the rantings of a narrow minded fool. Thankfully, my wife being the wonderful person that she is keeps me in check with that. And reminds me not to think my experience at my backwater school was the norm. And I think she has been right this far thankfully.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

Them stop talking Mark.

For me: Jellyfin, Audiobookshelf, Keepass, and Aegis

Makes me glad I continue to use the free Google and MS Office options and keep my cloud storage with a service that is dedicated to just storage.

Cuts down on all of the forced price increases due to the AI mess the MBAs need to justify the expense of.

I couldn’t care less about 8k since I can’t even see streaming 4k content without using a platform infested with DRM.

Making bail is the least of his concerns in there. He will be lucky if he doesn’t get “Epstein’d”.