tl;dr Corporate internet's aversion to online privacy tools add so much inconvenience that it is starting to make me think that going back to the old ways of actually accomplishing something in-person or over the phone is better. Have you experienced the same thing?

tl: Those of us who have taken steps to protect online privacy are well aware of the headaches that come with it. You have to prove your human all the time because only sketchy people use VPN. Emails you send get blocked when it is not from one of the major providers. Websites break because you choose a non-chromium based browser with blocker add-ons. We spend a lot of time proving to the machine that we are human. We begrudgingly go through all those steps just for the chance that it reduces the amount of information on us that will get collected.

But what if instead of grinding through all of that to prove we are human to a machine, we instead just communicate with another human?

Here's an example of what I mean. Today I was buying train tickets online, and because of one or more of these privacy safeguards I take the website was kind of broken and really slow. I kept at it, growing impatient to do something in 20 minutes for what used to be less than 5. One of the error codes suggested I call to book my train online, but I ignored it and kept going the online route because that used to be the most convenient method.

I think next time I might actually listen and try calling the number to book it in the beginning. I have done it in the past to change a booking, and it wasn't that bad. Or maybe I will swing by the train station and book it in person since I work near the area. Either way, I think being more privacy conscious online makes being online so inconvenient that interacting with people sounds like a way better option. And maybe that is not a bad thing.

What do you all think? Is there anything that you can think of where the terrible form the internet could be encouraging you to actually interact with people instead?

Alt text: Top half of image has Lavar Burton refusing the text that says "Trump's Board of Peace." Bottom half of image is Lavar Burton agreeing with the text that says "Trump's Bored of Peace."

For those who are not familiar with USA revolutionary history, the Boston Tea Party was a riot against an increase in tax on imported tea imposed by the king of England without any consultation with the British North American colonies. The actual complete phrase was "No taxation without representation." The irony is, many Trump supporters are not saying anything about Trump's unilateral decision to impose tariffs, bypassing the representation Congress is supposed to provide.

Alt text: A two panel comic. Top panel has a title of 1776, and a white man is yelling angrily. The word bubble says "Pay a 3% tax on tea and paper. Screw that! Revolution!" The bottom panel has the title Now and a white man looking despondent. The word bubble says "Pay 40% of your income. Sure that's totally fine."

The middle comment really shows how they never viewed them as a person to begin with.

Alt text: A comic with three panels. The top panel pictures a brown skinned person with a t-shirt that says "Illegal Alien" on the left, and a white person on the right holding a to go coffee, with a calm city skyline in the background. The white person's word bubble says "Look, I feel for you, but you should've come her legally." The middle panel shows a caricature of the illegal alien shouting and waving a Mexican flag, with masked protestors in the background throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and the white person looking frightened. The bottom panel has the illegal alien on the left still holding a Mexican flag and a smile on his face, and the white person on the left with an annoyed look, while police and civilian cars are burning in the background. The word bubble of the illegal alien says "Did I change your mind?" The word bubble of the white person says "Yes, I don't feel for you anymore."

Alt text: The top panel has a button on the left is labeled "We live on stolen land" and a button on the right labeled "Borders are just imaginary lines." The panel beneath it has a picture of a man labeled as "The Left" wiping off sweat, unable to choose.

A family member of mine who is full MAGA shared this meme with me. The Right does not seem to understand that while land cannot be truly owned, it can be in use by people, and other people can forcefully steal it from them.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/31534144

Alt text: Wrestler AJ Styles laughing with a label of "Trump sending in the military." Unbeknownst to him his opponent, The Undertaker, is standing behind him menacingly with the the label "Mass of protesters coming off the sidelines."

Alt text: Wrestler AJ Styles laughing with a label of "Trump sending in the military." Unbeknownst to him his opponent, The Undertaker, is standing behind him menacingly with the the label "Mass of protesters coming off the sidelines."

Alt text: An image of Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants facing left with the caption "MAGA: Gun rights are necessary for people to fight back against the government." Another image of Patrick facing right with the caption "Also MAGA: Send the military to crush the people fighting back against the government."

Alt text. A picture of Bane lifting Batman in the air. Top text reads “Me: Trying not to use words I painstakingly learned in college to make a document accessible.” Bottom text reads “Readability tool: Victory has defeated you.”

I came across this website that focuses on highlighting books that are out if print but still worthy of reading, if you can find them. The most recent post (Feb. 29 2024) talks about the various reasons books become neglected.

Mathematically they're equivalent, but the feelings could not be further apart.

This book was compelling to read not because of any sense of mystery, of which there is some, but because I wanted to learn more about what the characters were thinking as the author cycled through all their different perspectives.

This part of the article was the really infuriating part to me:

"In fact, his research shows that by square footage, there is more housing for each car in this country than there is housing for each person. In 2016, Bloomberg reported that there were more three-car garages being built than one-bedroom apartments."

It is a good read for those that enjoy young adult novels with a good balance of comedy, drama, and discussing some heavy subjects.

My full Review on a Bookwyrm instance linked in this post.