Not to discount this helpful and important information but, for the people you’re trying to direct this to, I genuinely don’t think it matters. This administration has thrown out habeas corpus and due process. And they have done this because a substantial portion of the population voted in favor of kicking people out who don’t look like them. It’s called Nationalism. And with that comes Fascism.

The core identity of the United States is disintegrating by public opinion. The one thing that brought pride to generations of Americans is being driven out and replaced with the same reasons people had left other countries in favor of the US. It’s gut-wrenching.

So, yeah, get your papers but don’t let it fool you into believing it protects you.

Hah - also funny to look at “only about 50% of US citizens have a passport” to understand exactly why we’ve turned into Nationalists.

Big Tech doesn’t run social media. It runs algorithmic advertising platforms.

The majority of people using algorithmic advertising platforms are not content creators, they’re consumers (if you’re reading this, you’re probably not in the majority). They have no interest is active participation in “social media”. They’re in it for the entertainment, the distraction, the memes, the algorithm telling them what they should care about. You can’t remove this feature and expect these users to find content for themselves.

You can argue the pros and cons all you want, your reasoning may be factual and altruistic, but you will not get a substantial portion of content consumers to migrate to platforms that require more effort. They know what they’re signing up for. They have no interest in “reclaiming social media”.

Bluesky and Mastodon are fantastic platforms that, in my opinion, revive some of the core tenants of social microblogging. But this is like comparing a bulletin board system (BBS) to the Yahoo! homepage. Some people want to be involved, some people want to be told.

One of these platforms offers a greater profit making opportunity than the other. If one allows people to make money and another does not, what’s the motivation for the most influential of creators to embrace the latter? And then what’s the motivation of the consumers to embrace a platform that lacks the most influential creators? (Again, if you’re reading this, you likely aren’t a member of the majority.)

I bought a media management and consumption platform running on my own server using my own clients. For what reason do I need a relay service to watch content in my house on my server?

So what is the move for them?

Plex has a two-pronged VOD service. They have ad-supported “live television” and they have content to rent.

I don’t know if that’s enough to sustain them but I don’t really care. I’ve been a PlexPass owner for over ten years. I have only asked that they resolve bugs and made requests for things like proper organization of classical music (which they’ve explicitly stated they will not consider).

You do bring to light something I hadn’t considered; that they see Plex as a business model. From my perspective, I want to buy a fully developed product with the expectation of bug fixes and security patches etc over time. I genuinely can not think of a single thing the developers have added to the service that I’ve used in the past ten years.

So, what kind of business model charges money to do things that don’t have an apparent impact on the user experience?

Plex has been one of my most used applications in the past decade. However, it has its limitations and they are actively imposing more limitations on the experience in favor of “a sustainable business model”.

The issue is that their sustainable business model is interrupting the users’ sustained use of a platform they’ve already paid for. I’ve had to go through all of my devices and disable all auto-updates to ensure I do not get the “New Plex Experience”.

What we should be asking is why “selling a product” is no longer a business model.

What I’ve done for home videos and recorded programming is to use the VHS/DVD combo to transfer the video to DVD then rip the DVD to my computer using Handbrake (MacOS). The quality of the transfer is as good as I can hope for.

It’s an easy, almost enjoyable process. I get the option to watch the VHS or I just let it go overnight or while I’m otherwise occupied (doesn’t tie up my computer in realtime). I get an additional, smaller, hard copy of the media. Once I get a handful of DVDs, I can let my computer rip them to my NAS to watch using Plex.

Plenty of sub-$100 VHS/DVD combos on eBay.

Caveat: Purchased movies may have copyright protections. I have the original Star Wars VHS tapes but couldn’t transfer them.

Back in the early 2000s I used (I think) an El Gato EyeTV Video to Firewire peripheral to rip to my Power Mac G5. I was never super crazy about the quality of the transfer. The video always looked like, “I used my computer to transfer this”. I have to assume things are better these days. I feel like this process depends more on your computer and your software where as the VHS > DVD method is a bit more “aligned”. I could be wrong. I mean, the adapters are like $10-$20. They seem too cheap to be trust worthy.

first results on Google

That’s your first problem. Higher ranked results on Google are either ads or “reputable” organizations (corporations). Google isn’t there to help you, it’s to help them.

Does Foxit no longer have a free PDF editor? Apple computers have a built in PDF editor. I mean, it depends on what you mean by “editor” though. If you want to manipulate the elements of a PDF, that’s obviously an advanced function. Yeah. It’s called capitalism. womp womp.

You might find some useful tools here. It’s mostly a list of self-hosted tools but there’s some web tools there too. https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted?tab=readme-ov-file#software

This might be helpful for what you’ve described https://www.photopea.com/ and you can try searching https://alternativeto.net/ for alternatives.

Generally, it just seems like you need to work on your skills to search the internet for what you need. AI is very helpful but not 100% reliable. This is the first result I got with free PDF editor https://www.sejda.com/pdf-editor

Personally, as someone who hasn’t had a FB account for well over five years, it’s super weird to me that you need it to “keep up with family and friends”. You’re using a data harvesting, advertising, and propaganda platform to conduct personal communications. There was a time when this was done using nothing more than the United States Post Office and the telephone. So, we probably have the technology to keep in touch today while excluding Facebook.

In response to your concern with privacy controls: it’s not federated and I can only assume they’re being honest about privacy, you might consider looking at Vero. It has up-front tools to control who sees what.

Still, I would encourage people to minimize their reliance on any platform owned by someone else to maintain relationships. At someone point, something will break, will be hacked, will go out of business. Do you think Facebook will exist for 25 to 50 years from now? When it goes, all your photos and videos and conversations go with it. When someone dies, all the memories they’ve captured are gone. Hashtag: bring back photo albums.

The problem is that Facebook isn’t just about keeping up with your friends and family. It’s an engagement platform designed to keep your attention by showing you memes and “news” and videos and ads that it knows you like. Most people have become addicted to this slow and steady stream of dopamine. You’re not going to get people off their crack addiction by substituting it with marijuana.

As these social platforms become more powerful, it’s up to each of us to personally find the strength to wean ourselves away from these platforms that once promised socialization but have quickly become little more than propaganda and influencing and ad-serving machines.

It’s great we’re seeing some alternatives but, aside from a small cohort, most people are not going to find the likes of Bluesky, Mastodon, or Lemmy engaging enough to give them that hit that they’re used to.

All hail the algorithm.

Personally, I used to be the early adopter who was on all these platforms well before most of the public heard about them. In recent years, I’ve either deleted or stopped using my social accounts (or have chosen to use less engaging ones, like Lemmy). This has given me more time to live a life.

Boredom is something I embrace. Rather than turning to a screen to occupy me; I’ll take a nap, make some tea, journal, go for a walk, do some cleaning, build something, practice something, read a book or comic. It’s not as dynamic, for sure, but I get to experience and learn more about myself instead of needlessly observing the lives of others. Boredom offers a renewed sense of self and humanity. Frankly, I’m afraid younger generations won’t know what benefits and beauty boredom has to offer.

How the fuck is Lemmy supposed to serve as an open alternative to corporate controlled social media when the mods ban discussing one of the most impactful events of the day? You should be begging people to talk about politics here. Unsubbed. EDIT: AND BLOCKED. If I wanted to hang out in a fascist community I’d join twitter.

I’ve been in the home automation business for over 25 years. Can confirm that smart lighting is the absolute best investment.

I’ve installed and programmed lighting systems for over $100k but have personally spent less than $250 for Ikea devices for my apartment. Just the ability to dim and set the color of the lights at certain times of day is key for me.

Controlled Lighting isn’t only about convenience, it’s about setting a mood. You can set a warm dim scene to be more calming or a bright white scene for cooking or cleaning.

Not sure why you think this.

You just reiterated what I said.

If you were to rip a Bluray to your computer, you’re legally not permitted to watch that movie if you’re no longer in possession of the disc.

=

You can legally rip a Bluray for backup purposes. If you sell or give away the Bluray, you have to delete the backed up copy.

Technically, if the FBI were to ask you to prove ownership of a digital copy and you had lost the disc, it would be illegal to retain that digital copy.

Bypassing DRM is illegal because the DMCA explicitly prohibits the circumvention…

Yes. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a law that covers copyright protections.

Everyone should generally assume that unless you have something tangibly in your hand, you either do not own it or you may very easily and/or suddenly lose access to it. You could test this by trying to access the content without having to sign in to something.

All these streaming and subscription services should be considered ease of access conveniences. In other industries, you pay a premium for something to be prepared for you to consume. In the subscription industry, you’re paying less because you’re not paying for the content but for a license to temporarily consume the content (and probably because your info is being sold to advertisers).

Fun Fact: If you were to rip a Bluray to your computer, you’re legally not permitted to watch that movie if you’re no longer in possession of the disc. This is because you’re not purchasing the content of the disc but the license to view the content. Decrypting DRM is illegal not based on whether you own the content but because the DRM encryption itself is separately copyright protected.

If it’s your understanding that Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2002 “had nothing to do with 9/11”, you are grossly mistaken.

https://www.congress.gov/107/plaws/publ243/PLAW-107publ243.pdf

That is not what I recall. What I do recall was both republicans and democrats having serious concerns that the government knew something we didn’t and that we were attacking a country for the president’s personal vendetta. This is based on my personal interactions with friends, family, and coworkers, as well as national and local news and newspapers. Granted, I’m from central NJ so perhaps we on higher alert and more “purple” than the rest of the country.

batshit insane morons

Was it birtherism or just Sarah Palin?

I think we can say most of our modern conspiracitardacy was fairly quiet till the social media wave.

I fully agree that social media has made things worse in this, and almost every, regard. Though, I’m trying to understand the mindset of Americans in 2001, not today, not post 2008.

The conspiracy around 9/11 was that the government knew more than they were telling us. That perhaps they were well aware of the event, possibly took part in it, and/or used it to manipulate public sentiment for invading Iraq for no other good reason or perhaps (ok, this I admit is crazy) setting up a new world order where we give up our rights for the sake of “national defense”. There would be no Wikileaks if there was no 9/11.

I admit this are a bit fringe-sounding but we were all aware of this back then. Didn’t most people believe there was some plausibility in these theories?

Don’t most people today believe the government knows more about 9/11 than they’ve told us?

The only person you’re fooling here is yourself.

Are the dudes fragile looking or not? Do they look dehumanised or not?

This is not for you to tell others what they should or should not look like.

Adding the fact that you’re so obsessed that you’re reading the comments from girls who want to date them is a very clear sign that you do have some issues to address. This is not healthy or normal.

It seems like you are the fragile one, or at least your ego is. You feel that your masculinity is threatened by the amount of power held by others whom you perceive to be weaker than you. You’re insecure in yourself when everything you believe to be what a man is supposed to be is perhaps working against you. The matter is that what’s actually working against you is your toxic presumption of what a man is supposed to be. I’m sure there are plenty of women (and men) who find you very attractive and appreciate the masculinity you can bring to a relationship. These people probably aren’t fans of Kpop stars so you have nothing to worry about.

It’s very, very odd that you’re fixated on this.

I dunno man, if you are a girl wouldn’t you a dude that, yeah, he’s attractive but also that looks manly? That can physically protect you? And that does not has a doll face?..

It’s a band. Not a dating game.

If anyone’s obsessed with something, it appears you’re obsessed with things you claim not to enjoy. Sounds more like you have some personal insecurities you should be addressing.

I don’t understand the obsession with Taylor Swift. Although, other than “Shake it off”, I wouldn’t recognize any of her songs. I’m a middle aged straight guy and have every one of Billy Eilish’s records. I think she’s talented and I like her vibe. My 77 year old uncle was the biggest Cindy Lauper fan I’ve ever known. My 80 year old uncle is super conservative and loves broadway musicals. My white suburbanite senior mother basically only listens to black jazz and R&B music.

To offer some sort of reasonable answer though, a lot people just do what other people are doing. I’ve never watched most of the popular tv shows like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad or Sopranos. Most of the people I know watched these shows so they were able to bond as a community to reflect on a shared experience. Moreover, I do not understand the obsession with Donald Trump or how anyone could ever consider electing hims as president one time, let alone a second time.

The fact that you believe any woman is interested in a musician who could physically protect them is just bonkers. Believing “manly” is defined by a person’s ability to be protective is also concerning. There’s more important and fulfilling things to direct your attention towards in life. If you’re unable to move on from this, I would suggest you may need to discuss this with a therapist to see if you have something troubling you.

By permitting advertising.

“Normies” are not “microbloggers”. Most people just want to follow what their friends and family and news organizations and “influencers” are posting.

My biggest gripe with the fediverse (indirectly) is that all the information I would get on Twitter about my city is not available to me - concert announcements, restaurant specials, road closures, major news, hobby meetups, etc. They’re posting on Facebook and Instagram (which is IMO the worst of all social platforms) and slowly adopting Threads. My issue with these platforms is mostly regarding the algorithm deciding what it thinks you want. This is driven by advertising.

Twitter didn’t really pick up steam until celebrities and news outlets were posting and engaging on the platform. Then they pushed hard for ads to increase revenue and expand features and stability (for better or worse). Then they just got greedy. Then they were sold for the dumbest amount of money in the history of sales.

Getting normies here means getting influencers here. Influencers want to make money for being assholes. If you don’t want influencers and ads here, don’t ask for the normies to come. Accept the beauty of this micro micro blogging platform. If you want to share outside the open fediverse, embrace cross posting to the closed platforms. That’s kind of the whole point of it. You can post in your tiny little corner while still engaging with the more popular platforms.

TL;DR: be careful what you wish for.

Because it’s not flipping, it’s reflecting.