Relevant XKCD, as per usual: https://what-if.xkcd.com/96/

This is actually an interesting proposal. In fact, many utilities went the way of nationalization like water and electricity. Searching the internet, socializing and ensuring a fair market are all also things which could in theory be nationalized given they fulfill a basic need.

Of course, as they are, they would grant whichever government they were given untold power over the entire internet and our lives. Which seems rather... unbalanced. Moreover, no government should retain that right given the internet transcends borders. No one owns all of it.

Letting the free market run its course with no breaks clearly didn't work particularly well either.

Perhaps a third option? Instead of one government ruling all of it. Perhaps they were to be owned by a supranational body where several governments can propose and discuss changes/regulation and keep balances on each other? UN style? Worthy of discussion.

If anyone has other ideas I'd love to hear them.

PS: (Also, when one suggests nationalizations such as this, one does not intend for a nationalized framework to be the ONLY one. Alternatives brought upon by the free market would still certainly compete with any such services.)

I've been tired of "modern" security doing nothing but annoy people. Recently, a Portuguese bank "innovated" by exclusively allowing login only on a mobile device. Yes, a clean web browser with 3FA is not "secure" enough, has to be done on a mobile device. Clearly, desktop PCs are too insecure to conduct transactions.

Therefore, because one does not trust their mobile device. One simply spun up a clean Pixel VM, shared my data with Google and just did their work there. Peak security.

Hey folks, just sharing the message. I believe it's related to piracy as it frequently comes into contact with the preservation of media. As whatever is DRM Free and capable of working offline, is effectively able to last indefinitely.

If you're European and eligible, please consider.

Cheers

Not sure, but the blast radius is tremendous, even games from the Atari 2600, a console released nearly fifty fucking years ago have been taken down.

Not strange at all. Even though it was a success, it wasn't a cash cow and only had limited ability to be milked though micro transactions and other revenue opportunities.

When the axe comes, all that matters is the numbers in the balance sheet. Creativity, enjoyment and artistic value be damned.

I initially thought about installing UBlacklist on Firefox and block the spam, but then I had a thought? Let us do the HouseFresh.com test on Duck Duck Go and see how far up it is?

Apparently, Housefresh.com stands behind world famous Air Purifier reviewers like:

• Best Buy
• popular mechanics
• CBSnews
• NationalGeographic
• PCMagazine
• Rollingstone
• Yahoo
• UsNews
• Forbes
• Choice
• MrGadget.com.au
• CNET
• Amazon
• TopConsumerReviews
• Bustle
• ConsumerReports
• Parents
• Health
• bhg
• thekitchn
• rd
• learnmetrics
• homedepot
• iheartdogs
• telegraph
• msn
• livestrong
• sethlui
• nytimes
• reviewed.usatoday
• popsci
• oransi
• healthline
• seattleweekly
• bestreviews
• thesprucepets
• tomsguide
• gearhungry
• consumertestedreviews
• bobvila
• prevention
• nbcnews
• nypost
• foodandwine
• consumeradvice.in
• news.com.au
• esquire
• gq
• wsj
• verywellhealth
• consumerreports
• moderncastle
• consumeranalysis
• independent.co.uk
• hollywoodreporter
• hgtv
• consumersadvocate
• thehindu
• toptenreviews
• people.com
• popsci
• money
• endadget
• businessinsider
• gearpatrol
• trustedreviews
• digitaltrends
• menshealth
• howtogeek
• techyearlab
• nymag
• livescience
• portugal(what?)
• nj
• iqair
• mashable
• billboard
• prevention
• techhive
• architecturaldigest
• huffpost
• reviewed.usatoday
• realsimple
• techradar
• wired

Well, nevermind guess. I can have either HouseFresh and literally nothing else. Or an ocean of spam, intermixed with the rare human written article that was produced by the main branch of the publisher, rather than its SEO garbage chute.

The web search is a lost cause. No wonder Kagi keeps growing in popularity.

(Also keep in mind, in that giant list? Some of those websites are so GOOD at their Air Purifying review job that they get to be featured more than once, thrice even at times)

Long story short:

• They pledge to keep the status quo. (IE perpetual licenses in new versions)
• Development is going to speed up.
• Subscriptions are 99% coming. (Albeit optional at least at the start)
• Free in schools. (IE training new artists in the Canva ecosystem. So they can be milked later. Here's a personal anecdote: Maya, the paid 3D alternative to Blender is free in schools. Come out of school and it's 235$ a month)

&

• Now throw all those pledges out because words mean nothing. This is not a partnership, this is an acquisition, and unless the contract is provided for us, in writing of the agreed upon terms. Nothing else matters but the actions that we'll see in the near future.

Sigh... Why...? Why is it too hard? Why is it that in this day and age, we can't simply have something we pay for and keep with no worries. Once I started owning software, Affinity was my choice. They had a long track record of not selling out, retaining high standards and a fairly priced transaction.

You pay for good software, the company works hard to make the software better, and then sells you a better version that you can upgrade at your own choice. Plain, simple and honest.

Nothing lasts in this day and age.

You used to be something Serif, but now you're in the big leagues along with Adobe, and against them you're nothing.

Undramatic PS: Affinity Designer is damn solid, like it more than big A's Illustrator, shame I'm now afraid of pressing the update button >:(

EDIT:

Been a Windows user for a really long time. A few times I tried to switch over to Linux, but it just wasn't doable for a myriad of reasons. Windows 11, I have words with it. Many bad ones, but thankfully there are many users like me that for one reason or another did not switch and put time in to beat the badness out of it via mods.

Windows 12... I'm not so sure if I'll even "upgrade" to it. It really depends on how much Microsoft decides to wire up the OS to their servers. Look, I wouldn't mind at all if I could have "smart" tools with AI assistance, but the problem for me is the lack of choice. Currently, if you don't use their crap software, what mostly travels over the wire is telemetry, and if you go offline no harm done. But make no mistake, useful AI models are too fat to run on most computers. Heck I built mine with AI in mind, but will Microsoft even give me the choice of using my own AIs? (Here's a hint, it starts with N, has a V and ends with an R)

But what if the OS starts requiring it to be online only because of their AI features? Maybe we'll have to start paying for Windows again in subscriptions to pay for the obligatory AI? Or what about scrubbing options away from the settings so you can't "misuse" your own device and have to ask nicely to their AI to do it for you?

There is a road here, and I do not like it. Thank goodness Linux is better than it has ever been.

PS: As for the notepad thing, I'm completely in agreement that it should remain without AI. Such a simple tool for scribbling down notes should be kept lean, simple and fast. Things that Microsoft and their engineers have long forgotten how to do.

Without any ratings for customer satisfaction. I might as well sack the entire support staff, don't bother with AI and I'll get a answered query to F off in 0 minutes and 100% savings.