Even huge companies like Google have encountered roadblocks trying to expand broadband services because of regulations.

PC launchers though is one that can be started even by you on Windows or Linux with the difficulty being getting customers as opposed to whether you are even allowed to make a launcher in the first place.

Companies still fear piracy so DRM isn't going anywhere, and companies are still reluctant to release games on PC.

Hate of monopolies is one I have when a company uses their position to make products worse than it was before like Sony and Nintendo moving to charging for multiplayer. And it's a monopoly on a platform they don't control. There's no regulatory body preventing launchers from popping up like broadband expansion being blocked by government lobbying like traditional monopolies.

When steam shifts in bad direction I'll complain too. For now I haven't found reason to complain about Steam. I like the product Steam offers simple as that. I don't care about the personalities of the CEO or how much money it makes. It's not some checkmark of X is Y so must hate.

Having rich family versus none provides a safety net that lessens the consequences of risk taking, and sets a baseline of how bad your life can get.

It's like playing a game with check points versus one that has you start at the beginning if you die. You still have to do all the hard work to reach your goal yourself, but those retro style non check point games are incredibly hard compared to games with check points, saves, or cheating with save states.

It pushed me more towards degoogling. Was already using newpipe on Android and ignoring the YouTube app, and now I'm on freetube on desktop. No need for Google account anymore to look at the feed I want.

I was using newpipe x Sponsorblock on Android exclusively, and now on desktop I've moved to freetube. Never did get the pop up telling me to remove Adblock but decided to make the jump early.

Waiting years has been my new normal for games because I'm cheap, and it helps save on hardware costs too due to pushing back the time frame for when I start needing a more powerful system to play them. It's a win win.

Just in case people aren't aware Nova was acquired by Branch. Putting it out there so people can decide whether that matters or not.

https://www.androidpolice.com/nova-launcher-acquired-by-branch/

Suggesting discord as a competitor to reddit is dumb when discord does not pop up in search results containing information that may provide the solution. Might as well call WhatsApp a competitor to reddit then.

The fediverse is something I'm excited for and it's still in it's infancy so it'll be intersting to see how it plays out as it starts getting more polished and user friendly.

Despite the doom and gloom of AI I think it's been really cool, and one area I've seen it help is for my relatives where instead of me having to solve basic tech issues AI has helped. When it develops into a full on companion that will do things it asks them to I'll be bothered less and less.

And yet some want to hear meta out before deciding whether to federate or defederate from them.

I've relied on https://isthereanydeal.com to see if sales of games are actually a deal. For electronics I've used https://pcpartpicker.com to see price trends. https://camelcamelcamel.com for Amazon.

And now looks you've brought another tool to the arsenal with https://fetchnotifs.com.

Awesome.

Did anyone use reddit thinking it was private? With stuff like push shift and way back machine people shouldn't be posting stuff they aren't comfortable sharing anyways on a wide open message board.

Always weirded me out the people who'd treat their reddit accounts like Facebook.