Change your password, and hopefully you don’t use the same password across multiple accounts. Since you’re asking, I assume you do. (Not shaming, just informing)

It would be best practice to use a different email and password for every account you create, and enable MFA. Email aliases work great for this, and use unique randomly generated passwords for everything. A password manager will help you create, remember, and fill these fields for you so its not cumbersome. There are many good ones, I personally recommend Bitwarden. You can get pretty far with their free version, but I recommend paying to get the authenticator built in, so you can auto fill MFA codes.

If you can’t afford this, or want to keep the codes separate (not all your eggs in one basket) then download the Aegis authenticator app. Its free and very good.

I’ve always been amazed at how this is little known and fully accepted by people and authorities. It was even covered (albeit changed for entertainment value) in the show Goliath season 2.

I do not have that drawer. Mine is at least twice as full.

Sorry to say, your wife is right. Sorry to say, even if she is wrong she is right.

I would add to the conversation with the questions;

Should all information be known? Just because something doesn’t need to be hidden doesn’t imply that it should be known broadly. It’s not okay for somebody to know what color underwear I’m wearing right now.

Is all information equal in value? Presuming one kind of data point is okay to be public does not mean that all data points are okay to be public. My address is public record (unfortunately) but that doesn’t mean my social security number, ID number, and passport number should be public as well.

I get that, and I’m sort of saying that. The only difference is that I’m not calling for profit businesses wrong. In agree that its a non sustainable model for social media from the users perspective, but it’s a very sustainable model from the company perspective.

But that’s why I choose differently now. And others might choose differently when the platform gets to be in a poor state.

The key here is I can’t make that decision for others. Now or later. If you want people to go to another platform, then build a better platform and market it better.

Nothing is “wrong” with it. Its just a different platform.

The “problem” is that its just a different platform. Nothing is really different. It’s like choosing Pepsi over Coke. Its a choice and maybe one is flavored more to your liking, but they are both full of the same ingredients and unhealthy with continual ingestion.

I haven’t used it either, because I didn’t like Twitter or X. Today I suspect Bsky is fine, because it hasn’t been around long enough to become toxic or to censor discussions etc… Just give it time, it will get there.

The issue most people are bringing up is that there are “better” platforms (i.e. fediverse) that aren’t getting any traffic instead.

I can understand this, but the flip side is that the voices promoting the fediverse usually arent very compelling either in voice or ease. Think of it like somebody wanting to buy a PC. One person says to get Linux (and arch of course) because it’s the best and you’re a fool to get anything else. Here, take it and figure it out. Another person says to get a Mac, because it can do everything you need it to do, easily and without work, plus has added features you didn’t even think about that seem useful to your life. And if you get stuck they have a genius bar to assist. So people choose Mac. Similarly people are choosing Bsky because it’s easy and straightforward.

This is the true answer, especially for such a broad question.

You dont need to be fancy about it either. When I started I downloaded a years worth of credit card transactions and put them in a spreadsheet. I took the time to go line by line and assign a category for it.

Then I made a chart and could visually see where my money was going. On top of that I then calculated each category as percentage of my annual salary.

It’s very eye opening. Even things that aren’t an issue at least I now know that so don’t need to feel worried/guilty about it.

Alien Isolation is one of the greatest games. It does start slow, but they’re just setting you up for the nightmare ahead.

This is gold

Exactly. I write well enough. I only use AI if I’m just stuck for words and want to get a suggestion. Sometimes it’s good enough, sometimes it’s way off base, but was enough kick to get things going in my brain.

I’d appreciate some added AI to give suggestions occasionally, but it needs to be implemented well. I hate when Word tells me to phrase something differently as if it 100% correct. No, I worded it that way because that’s how I want to say it.

The real damage will be when everybody starts sounding alike because there are defined acceptable ways to say things.

I’ve worked the video game industry and I’ll point out a few things.

Trump was president before, and imposed this tariff before. Console and peripheral prices did not go up. There were specific meetings discussing this, and nobody raised prices.

Not that it necessarily will be the same thing this time around, but look at the current prices of things like PS+ and the PS Pro - before tariff increases - and realize if they want to increase prices on you they just will. They aren’t looking for an excuse.

Additiinally, the amount of shenanigans that transpires with the video game industry is crazy. The amount of PS4 consoles sold in Canada would mean every single household would have 3.5 consoles in it. Spoiler, they don’t, all the consoles were sold into the US at cheaper prices because of the dollar conversion rate. They Gray market is the step child nobody wants to talk about, but they love the added sales numbers. It will continue to exist and balance out the market.

Print out and laminate this entire post.

I remember when the EGAs came about. Damn, it was like stepping into the future. But I didn’t have a color monitor so it didn’t matter. I was probably more envious than your friend.

I’ll second the recommendation for GrapheneOS. One of the available options I use is to keep mic, camera, and location off at all times until I need them. That simple toggle ability changes your privacy stance greatly.

Prefect. It can click buttons and complete tasks.

No sir, I did not accept your terms and conditions, my browser did.

I don’t think anything is un-addictable (making up words here). I do agree that the social media mindset and fedi are not compatible though, basically because of the algorithm concept.

At the end of the day I hate all social media because they feed me what they think I want to eat. Regardless of how well they do that I hate the concept because I want to decide for myself what I want to partake in. Fedi allows that without getting in my way.

I’m interested to see how they handle customer service. The article points out shipping as a big part of Amazon’s success but customer service and return have been too. Point being, I’d rather order some random no name brand shirt from amazon because I know I can easily return it if the fit isn’t right. Will amazon push this service on the vendor? Sort of like the eBay model.

I tried a handful, and the one I liked best is Thunder. There were aspects I liked about Voyager too, but Thunder was set up better in my opinion.

Privacy is important because it gives you control over your life; details, info, thoughts, emotions…

I recently met a guy out of town at a trade show. We were both in the same show, grabbing some snacks, and I complimented his hat. We started talking, a little this, a little that. Eventually we parted ways. On the outro we introduced ourselves by first name only, more as a BTW side note because we might run into each other again. Why am I telling this story?

Because I forgot his name almost instantly and really only remember his hat. I know nothing about the guy. He knows nothing about me. But wouldn’t it be weird if I didn’t just remember his first name, but I knew his last name too? Where he lived, worked, shopped for groceries, sexual orientation, he last time he ordered pizza and what toppings were on it, how he voted last election, etc… If I knew all that about him, I could have a much more in depth conversation with him. And even if I had no mal intent and simply wanted to give him better experiences in life…that’s not my decision to make. He didn’t ask for that. And it’s freaking weird.

But that’s what has been made normal in our lives. Privacy helps keep your life…well, private.

Then the rabbit hole goes deep on nefarious uses. And it’s not “its possible” to do this, but rather “it’s being done” (with absolutely no doubt or argument).

That’s a legitimate point. So the question is, is she changing her opinion because of massive personal growth in a mere 4 years or is she changing her opinion because it’s what she thinks voters want to hear? (Hint: she’s a politician)