dryfter
@dryfter@lemm.ee
- Comment on A VPN Company Canceled All Lifetime Subscriptions, Claiming It Didn’t Know About Them 11 hours ago:
I learned my lesson about “lifetime” thanks to SiriusXM.
When Howard Stern got lured to SiriusXM they offered a deal where you buy the receiver and pay $500 for a lifetime subscription with unlimited transfers to different receivers. Fat forward to 2017ish when I bought my last car that had the receiver built into the radio and tried to transfer to the new one. I was told that was the last time I would be able to do that and in the future I’d be paying a $75 transfer fee and be forced into a monthly subscription.
Lifetime is a hoax.
- Comment on butt mogged these zoomers today 2 days ago:
As a nearly 50 year old dude, never heard of it either
- Comment on If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, that means we've got an escape route 5 days ago:
Stairway to Heaven / Highway to Hell
I agree with your version of entering hell being a trap door. Heaven would look like an alien abduction.
- Comment on When making recommendations to someone getting into a genre we know we usually recommend them the best examples of it... 5 days ago:
I think that’s very subjective to each person doing the recommending and also the person wanting said recommendations preferences.
- Comment on People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies 1 week ago:
I don’t know if it’s necessarily a problem with AI, more of a problem with humans in general.
Hearing ONLY validation and encouragement without pushback regardless of how stupid a person’s thinking might be is most likely what creates these issues in my very uneducated mind. It forms a toxically positive echo-chamber.
The same way hearing ONLY criticism and expecting perfection 100% of the time regardless of a person’s capabilities or interests created depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and attempts specifically for me. But I’m learning I’m not the only one with these experiences and the one thing in common is zero validation from caregivers.
I’d be ok with AI if it could be balanced and actually pushback on batshit crazy thinking instead of encouraging it while also able to validate common sense and critical thinking. Right now it’s just completely toxic for lonely humans to interact with based on my personal experience. If I wasn’t in recovery, I would have believed that AI was all I needed to make my life better because I was (and still am) in a very messed up state of mind from my caregivers, trauma, and addiction.
I’m in my 40s, so I can’t imagine younger generations being able to pull away from using it constantly if they’re constantly being validated while at the same time enduring generational trauma at the very least from their caregivers.
- Comment on Saint > Pope 1 week ago:
St. Upid I was born and raised as a Catholic, did my time in Catholic school until I graduated high school. Too many years later (more than I care to admit) and several different beliefs later I still automatically don’t see the abbreviation and see the “Saint” instead. It was ingrained in my damn DNA.
I was like… Saint Upid? huh? Then it hit me and I almost busted a gut laughing so hard.
- Comment on Please consider supporting Lemmy development 1 week ago:
So right now I’m not in a financial situation that I can even possibly think about donating.
My general issue with FOSS is the guilt trip I go on when devs plead for donations – that’s MY issue, not any of the dev teams – but it plays a part in not using FOSS as much as I would like. I don’t want to sell my soul, but that’s about all I have to give right now so free ad-supported services and software are where I tend to lean to these days.
However, I am trying to put as much focus on supporting less shitty humans and buy locally whenever I can now. I didn’t realize the views of the devs of Lemmy until a few days ago and I’m a little concerned to be even using Lemmy as a whole as it shows some level of tacit support for the devs and their beliefs. If they weren’t open about it, obviously this wouldn’t be an issue but since it’s out in public it’s an issue.
I swear I have a point to all this…
Is Lemmy funded just by direct contributions from users or do instances take extra money from their donations and funnel it down to the main project?
If anyone is familiar with the various 12 Step programs, this is pretty much how those main programs get funded. The local meetings take donations that pay for the rent and any other expenses and then donate left over funds to the main service organization while keeping a reserve for emergencies.
If I were in the position to donate, I would feel much better donating to Lemmy.ee rather than the main project considering their views on certain political issues. I would not be directly donating, but if the instance donated extra funds I might be ok with that. It just feels different for some reason.
- Comment on xkcd #3084: Unstoppable Force and Immovable Object 1 week ago:
I’m driving. I lose my brakes and can’t slow down as if my gas pedal is stuck (unstoppable force). I’m on a road that stops at a T intersection and there’s a concrete wall to keep people from going straight when they are moving vertically towards the T intersection (immovable object).
The car just goes right through the concrete wall with no damage?
Replace the concrete wall with a wooden fence. Technically the fence is immovable, but the car is going to smash right through that thing.
So is this about clarifying what exactly the objects are? I’m not smart enough for this one and am so confused…
- Comment on Study: Hopeful homebuyers need income of nearly $117,000 to afford typical home in U.S. 2 weeks ago:
looks at pay statement
looks at $117,000 needed to “afford” a house
looks back at pay statement and realizes the income works out to very close to 10 times LESS
😐
I knew I was poor, but damn dude.
- Comment on What are some FOSS programs that are objectively better than their proprietary counterparts? 3 weeks ago:
I can guarantee you I would again waste countless hours just spinning stuff around again if I tried using it now 😆
- Comment on The first folding e-reader is smaller than a paperback 3 weeks ago:
While that sounds cool to me, it kind of defeats my main purpose of switching to an e-reader in the first place. I have trouble holding physical books for a long time due to hand pain. I had a similar issue with the e-reader, just not as bad, until I put a PopSocket on the back of it. Now I can hold it with the PopSocket resting in-between 2 fingers and can read significantly longer.
- Comment on What are some FOSS programs that are objectively better than their proprietary counterparts? 3 weeks ago:
Man this is a trip I remember Beryl and when it turned to Compiz. I spent way more time than I care to admit just spinning stuff around and playing with effects than accomplishing anything of meaningful value.
- Comment on This is real 3 weeks ago:
I didn’t notice who posted it on X until I read your comment and I just…I’m shocked I am shocked by this because I feel like I’ve been getting numb to the stupidity of the last ~4 months
- Comment on LG TVs’ integrated ads get more personal with tech that analyzes viewer emotions 3 weeks ago:
I want one too! Only because I love Lego 😆
- Comment on LG TVs’ integrated ads get more personal with tech that analyzes viewer emotions 3 weeks ago:
Jokes on them, I have facial paralysis!
- Comment on ICE Just Paid Palantir Tens of Millions for ‘Complete Target Analysis of Known Populations’ 4 weeks ago:
- First they came for the “illegals” (i.e. anyone not born in this country or born to someone not born in this country) via database of green card and visa holders and other immigration databases and then disappear them
- Next they come for SSDI and SSI recipients (not retirees) via the that database and they put these people on the DMF and then disappear them
- Then they come for the protesters that are arrested or have been arrested at protests and then disappear them *Then they get health insurance companies to share their databases and come for people identify as a different gender than they were born with and disappear them
And now I have to stop because I’m making myself depressed even more.
- Comment on Apple shipped five plane-loads of iPhones and other products in three days to beat US tariff deadline 4 weeks ago:
That’s good to hear, because back then that wasn’t the case. I know no matter what model iPhone I get, if it’s new then support is the same for every model from that year.
- Comment on A 'US-Made iPhone' Is Pure Fantasy 4 weeks ago:
- Comment on Apple shipped five plane-loads of iPhones and other products in three days to beat US tariff deadline 5 weeks ago:
The only good thing about most Android phones is that you can install a different version of Android devoid of all things Google and get an interface that isn’t Samsung. That’s my plan when this subscription crap comes around or the phones are too expensive that I can’t afford them anymore. I’m too tied into Apple’s ecosystem with mail, iCloud, and Music.
Also, buy some other brand that’s cheaper because Samsung makes garbage and don’t support their hardware unless they’re flagship. Admittedly, it’s been almost a decade since I’ve had anything but an iPhone, but I had a couple Samsung Android phones were an update broke the phone and Samsung wouldn’t release a fix because it was an update from Google. One in particular was a Samsung Moment on Sprint where it would enter into airplane mode silently and still look like it was connected to services until you went to use said services. They refused to provide an update to resolve the issue.
- Comment on New modelling reveals full impact of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs – with the US hit hardest 5 weeks ago:
> Fuck
That’s an understatement, more like
spoiler
Forget about a recession, the U.S. is headed directly towards a possible depression and bringing Canada down with it if those numbers are even remotely true. That’s almost 1-2 months salary wiped out for 1/3 of households in the US when most of those people are living paycheck to paycheck.
- Comment on 90s band alignment chart 1 month ago:
I’m apparently blind as a bat 🤦🏻♂️
- Comment on 90s band alignment chart 1 month ago:
I was about to make a comment about how blatantly stupid this chart is leaving out many bands (Nirvana, Tool, Pantera, etc) and getting alignments completely fucked up (NIN, No Doubt, L7…). Then I looked at the community it was posted in.
Well played @ickplant@lemmy.world. Well played. 👏🏻
- Comment on You are not living in reality if you do not see the huge difference between THEN and NOW 1 month ago:
If there is a country that will take me I’d go in a heartbeat. But I am unable to work and don’t have the financial means to just up and move. The ones that do have the ability to do that are either doing that already or are in the process of destroying the US.
- Comment on You are not living in reality if you do not see the huge difference between THEN and NOW 1 month ago:
No clue what my parents’ house could be worth, they’re still living in it too. I do know they paid something like $30,000 for it in the 70’s and it might be worth 5-10x more than that now – if not more due to inflation. Cars were also $5000 or so then, and now the average price of a car is $30k-$50k on the low end.
Due to…several traumatic issues and for my own mental health…living with them isn’t an option and now that I’m on SSDI I can’t really take any of their money or it messes with my SSDI and I went through too much for too long to do anything to risk it within my control (government shenanigans these days might leave me without income and a home but that’s out of my control now). I have one sibling who has a family of their own much like how it was when we were kids but they are struggling to make ends meet in this economy too.
- Comment on You are not living in reality if you do not see the huge difference between THEN and NOW 1 month ago:
LOL I was born into a middle class family with at least one generation on each side born in the US. Dad worked at the local factory, mom was stay-at-home, had a dog, nice house, and two cars – living the American Dream.
Then all the factory jobs went away, I couldn’t handle college, and I job hopped for a while and got lucky landing a decent paying gig that lasted for 13 years until I went on disability. Up until then I was barely making ends meet living in a studio apartment with a used hand-me-down car that I got when my grandfather passed away.
Now I’m on SSDI and live in a subsidized studio apartment and rely on the city bus for transportation to appointments. Living the dream.
- Comment on DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse 1 month ago:
I’m on SSDI (and Medicaid and HUD housing) and have been having insane anxiety the last month and a half to the point that I’m wondering if I’ll even get paid in April. I regularly check my SSA account online to make sure my direct deposit is still freaking scheduled. Missing a payment could mess up all of my other benefits as well.
I know the fuck up is coming, but I don’t know if I can handle another few months hoping they don’t fuck up the migration if they don’t fuck up just paying people first with all that’s been going on.
I’m pretty sure Im not the only one in this situation who can’t handle the stress of this bullshit.
- Comment on You are not living in reality if you do not see the huge difference between THEN and NOW 1 month ago:
Back when I was working, I had a job that paid close to 3x what McDonald’s was paying at the time. I could barely afford a studio apartment. And that was 5-10 years ago, it’s even worse now here in the US.
- Comment on You are not living in reality if you do not see the huge difference between THEN and NOW 1 month ago:
Meanwhile Gen X:
- Comment on Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account 1 month ago:
Ok, so this solidifies my desire to never buy a Windows PC/laptop and why my switch to Mac was a good choice a few years ago. However Mac gaming is nowhere near where it should be right now and I was thinking about getting a cheap Windows laptop for games that aren’t available on Mac.
I remember a push a few years ago to get some linux distros pre-installed on some OEM hardware but I didn’t hear much of anything past the hype. Anyone have any good OEM brands that have linux installed instead of Windows and are relatively affordable?
- Comment on Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying 1 month ago:
I’ve set up a community specifically for release updates from the Rayhunter Github at !Rayhunter@lemm.ee if anyone is interested
