This isn't a request for recommendations on how to set this all up, that ship has sailed and all a learning process to be improved on. So what I'm asking is if there is a way to guarantee VSCode program files and appdata content so I can plug in the USB for the meeting and double check/setup the settings so nothing gets mucked up from my PC's setup for the software.

I feel like its set up as it should be but with the way windows just face fucks every sti (sextually transmited integrationfeature) it has into everything it touches, I would feel more confident testing on an environment without VSC installed. It isn't important to anything I'm doing in that I'm not running any code or demonstrating any scripts its just the platform I used for creating a project outline and a universal launcher or interface for the content of the project. (again, I can do a whole other post for people who want to tell me all the ways I should've done this better. I acknowledge I'm n00b as fuck. Just hoping for a brief insight and will decide whether or not it'd be worth doing based on doability difficulty and time to setup.

goal of ask: not fuck up the settings for my desktop while launching vsc from USB to test that vsc and related content doesn't import or use my desktop vsc's files for profile/settings/config/etc ALL WHILE also avoiding the asklemmy scenario where we go through the who setup step by step for how to fix my current setup. That scenario will be c9ming Wednesday or later depending on your local theater show times.

edit: The root cause of this post is that I have a reoccurring problem everytime I'm asked anything to the sentiment of do you want to do xyz to your user profile or to all users using all files globally on every planet... if you can't tell I panic and usually click randomly. The metaphoric version of my problem would go something like:

"Do you want to take this medication orally or as a suppository?" but never remembering which I chose or why there is a pill in my pee hole.

Question was derived from wiping the drive the current OS runs that Partition Wizard runs on before installing a new OS from USB. PW was installed on the pc im working on so I used it instead of doing the cmd line shit at windows setup to wipe the disk. My questions is because im not deleting the disk im actually wiping the disk, where is it storing the code for the wipe disk operation to run from? Further more, if you load up the other options like, creating new partition, assigning letter, etc. how many of these functions can it run after the disk it was installed on was deleted?

Also, why dont off shore windmills operations build off existing unused structures like out of commission oil rig platforms? Assuming the biggest additional cost is building the same as land structure but without hundreds of feet of additional structure for new off shore windmill structures?

Edit: im admittedly uneducated on this, but read about technology like (as stated in reply below) laser deterrents or Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) dont work, then strap a fucking dog whistle for birds on the blades should be in the realm of possibilities.

Im having beers at bar ordered wings and tipped $2 everything the bartender brings me.

Beer = $6

tip for beer $2

wings = $20ish

Tip for wings from bartender = $2

Total tips = $4

==============================

Same order from waitress/er = $26

Tip = $5.20

Now I know this is micro example but extrapolate this over several drinks with food and the difference swings the other way. The question remains tho, am I tipping correctly?

Its rhe only thing I wish could change about my experience using Lemmy, for more active users in the communities like NFL or NHL and the affiliated team pages of those sports. I haven't had any social media in decades, my main source for sporting news breaks up until 1-2 years ago was Reddit.

I love the small community that makes up Lemmy. As someone just posted, it feels like a small town community. I like the absence of corporate shills and ads and bots.

Back when I switched from Reddit to Lemmmy, I made an effort to upvote and comment on the NFL and Buffalo Bills communities. I eventually gave up because it was like months of posting, voting and commenting but when I would go back to check the communities, everything would still be sitting at like 2 up votes and 0 comment replies or if it was my own post, 1 upvote and 0 comments. For a majority of cases. Every once in a blue moon I would come accross a post where another user voted or commented but it was never more than me and one other user.

I know there is a certain demographic that uses Lemmy that is mostly driven by the required IT prowess needed to set up, use and even understand the federated concept. I also recognize that this demographic is traditionally disinterested in sports. Im not complaining about this or the users who are on Lemmy. Im also not wishing for any changes be made to aggressively expand Lemmy's user base. Its just an impractical wish I have so I could get my sports news from the same source I get all my other news.

I will prolly spend more time this coming year settling on a 2ndary source for sports news from sources similar to sleeper app but it would be so nice if the Lemmy sporting communities blew up so I could keep everything aggregated to one source.

As the title says, I updated Firefox, tried searching something in the address bar which is set to search duckduckgo.com and the tab will pop open but get stuck with the loading wheel animation continually spinning. So I go to Google.com search duckduckgo and click on the link, same thing happens. Checked status websites for status of duckduckgo.com and all of them return the status "up and running." So I'm at a loss for what to do.

To clarify the difference between home and main screens: home screen is the folded shut front screen, and main screen is the unfolded open inside wide screen.

So before the most recent Android update was installed, I could select from a list of options for the number of columns and rows that you could place your app icons in. Depending on the selection, it would adjust the size of the app icon accordingly. So, for example, 4x4 would hold larger sized app icons than 6x5. The infuriating part has to do with the fact the home screen is like 2"-3"x4"-6" while the main screen is 4"-6"x4"-6" or double the size of the cover screen. Before the update i could independently set the cover screen to grid size AxA, and then independently set the main screen to grid BxB. The screenshot is just where they used to be located. Iver searched thru all branches of the settings menu tree and found nothing. Fuck I hate when updates remove settings options or a user's freedom to customize shit. The worst part is I dont think I can roll back updates on android either🤬🤬🤬

So I was browsing audiobooks to download when I came accross the title you see in the screenshot. The title reads:

Exposed: How Revealing Your Data and Eliminating Privacy Increases Trust and Liberates Humanity - Ben Malisow

Stopped me mid scroll and had to read the description to see if I understood the title correctly. Sure as shit it really is a book defending the trend of diminishing privacy and justifies the mining of your data.

Against my better judgment I downloaded the tor file and plan on listening to it today. Ill try and edit this post at the end of the day with what the book was like or if I couldn't finish it cuz of how ridiculous it is.

To save the click to read the description from the screenshot:

Discover why privacy is a counterproductive, if not obsolete, concept in this startling new book

It’s only a matter of time - the modern notion of privacy is quickly evaporating because of technological advancement and social engagement. Whether we like it or not, all our actions and communications are going to be revealed for everyone to see. ‘Exposed: How Revealing Your Data and Eliminating Privacy Increases Trust and Liberates Humanity’ takes a controversial and insightful look at the concept of privacy and persuasively argues that preparing for a post-private future is better than exacerbating the painful transition by attempting to delay the inevitable.

Security expert and author Ben Malisow systematically dismantles common notions of privacy and explains how most arguments in favor of increased privacy are wrong; privacy in our personal lives leaves us more susceptible to being bullied or blackmailed; governmental and military privacy leads to an imbalance of power between citizen and state; and military supremacy based on privacy is an obsolete concept.

Perfect for anyone interested in the currently raging debates about governmental, institutional, corporate, and personal privacy, and the proper balance between the public and the private, Exposed also belongs on the shelves of security practitioners and policymakers everywhere.

Its a refreshing experience in a world where products and services will push the legal boundaries in order to:

1. Hide or mask spyware and bloatware

2. Make unauthorized system settings changes.

3. Only offer access to certain features or setting if you downlad their app.

4. Changing everything from opt in as default to opt out being the new default.

5. And the cherry on top is the same companies will also burry the means to contact support while face fucking their useless shit for brains AI bot at every selection you choose.

*lookin at you Google, Microsoft, paypal, amazon, Samsung

Snapchat was just the most recent app I used that triggered this realization but there are literally dozens (*insert Arrested Development's 'never nude' meme) of other products and services that are in the same boat of initially being perceived as annoying but now are viewed in a more appreciated light.

Bonus anecdotal LPT: The simplest way I found to describe the enshitiffication movement to Gen X'ers and Boomers is by explaining to them that its when a company actively engages in implementing changes that lower the quality of the product or service you pay for with the intent of providing a solution option that will either cost more money or force the user to grant the product or service permissions that will, for example, allow them to mine your data and sell it for profit.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28741527

I enjoy playing modded games on PC. My IT competency is all informal and hands on so I apologize if this is a dumb question or it seems like I have no idea what I'm talking about. What I was looking to do without using a 3rd party software was to have a game playing in any type of windowed, borderless windowed, or full screen display window on monitor 1 while also having the ability to navigate an open browser window or even just navigate my desktop on display 2. This is all a very normal set up I know but the brick wall I hit happens because my ability with a keyboard is a huge gaming retardant for me. So what I wanted to try and set up was for the gamepad and gaming window, regardless of what display monitor it's being used on, to remain as an "up front" and active process while being able to use my keyboard and mouse as their normal operating devices to navigate my dektop or other active program windows simultaneously.

I have only looked into this briefly because it was very evident after searching the internet that there was not a way to natively set up my PC to allow me to game on one monitor using a gamepad while also having the ability to freely navigating other open windows on monitor 2 using mouse and keyboard with the gaming window remaining active.

I'm playing Witcher 3 currently but earlier this year on the same PC and Windows 11 setup, I swear I was able set up Fallout London by editing the setting.ini file to do exactly what I describred no problem. Admittedly I'm usually as baked as an apple pie when playing with games or modding, but I flipping swear by editing the fallout ini it allowed me to set the the window as always on top and active (meaning it didn't move to the background, or pause, or cut the gamepad off when the mouse was used on other dosplay). It was a series of of like 3 lines of true/false display parameters I entered that allowed me to choose how the program would respond when my input switched from the program window's gamepad to the PC window's mouse/keyboard input.

Fast forward to me trying to get the same setup for a modded Witcher 3 and the results of my searching was that it is universally accepted technical impossibility to use a gamepad exclusively in 1 open window program while also using a mouse to navigate a PC's desktop or other app's open windows simultaneously.

My questions are all to ubderstand why this would be so difficult to implement as a standard option you can set in your OS settings? I'm certainly not qualified to actually be questioning this but in my limited understanding of the devices and platforms in play, this really seems like a very do-able and sought after feature.

Pc's with touch screens are basically doing everything I would like to happen but using touch screen inputs and parameters instead of a gamepad's input. What am i missing in this workflow that is brickwalling this from being an actual feature?:

1. Creating an OS native setting where the user can choose how the OS handles active and sleeping windows. For example, option A is to keep the default function of determining active windows based on actual cursor location. No clue how it's programed but basically keeping things as they currently are where the hover over an open window without clicking in it but still be able to scroll with mouse wheel. Then option B would allow you disable the function where inactive windows are relegated to only running background processes.

2. The setting would then require a subsequent setting option to pop up for the user set when the step 1 selection was set to have multiple open windows running simultaneously as seperate active windows. This setting would be for the user to choose between utilizing one input device to control the PC globally as normal or to be able to assigned an installed device to only perform within the limits of an assigned program's window when it is open and active.

Basically I'm picturing this working similar to the way a touchscreen laptop allows you to choose between standard desktop mode and tablet mode. Having the actual keyboard and mouse with global permissions as they always had so they will over ride the controller in its assigned program window for troubleshooting, saftey net in case input device 2 (gamepad or w/e) fails mid use. And the 2ndary input device is only able to operate in the confines of the assigned program window.

It also seems like I have messed around with software or device settings in the past that are already doing this for shit like Android Auto, augmented note pads and their stylus, the already mentioned touch screen displays, and I'm guessing but I wanna say some of the more accommodating accessibility options available for different types of handicapable input devices. I mean shit, don't they have to make all computers capable of being used with only a keyboard or only a mouse option already?

I'm fully expecting the answer to be that Windows and Microsoft are too far in the mindset of fuck what users want to include a feature that will require any added operating/programming costs. But like I started, I know that I don't know enough to know if there are major obstacles engineering this to work.