I think you're looking at correlation more than causation. That's what the enlarged gas tank metaphor in another comment here is trying to hint at.

Your intelligence isn't improved by calmness. Calmness may simply be the state when it is the most unimpeded.

I used to be a completist and would start at ep 1. Now, if there is a big back catalog I'm more likely not to listen to the podcast at all and will only rarely get in at the current episode.

I see from my own behavior that more and more stuff is done on my cell phone and less stuff on a PC. I think eventually everything will be merged into a single device. But I wouldn't bet on the form factor yet. Whether it will be AR/VR headsets or a form of tablet or a tech yet to amaze us - IDK.

I fear this has the potential of becoming the copied standard unfortunately. Fear of terrorism is like think of the children. All it will do is force people who need visas into having squeaky clean innocuous public profiles and operating anonymous accounts with actual opinions. Terrorists will do the same. So this privacy infringement will only catch really dumb people.

"In the long run" does a lot of the heavy lifting there. We've gone from indiscriminately giving our data away 25 years ago, to having a sizable chunk of people like you and me who are aware of the data siphoning and take steps to curb the flow today. In another 25 years, I think users' mindsets will have changed enough for my prediction to have a chance in hell of becoming true. I hope to see the day.

All the best for your furry friend.

One batch of the 4A's batteries have become a fire hazard. That's why Google (near)bricked the phones to prevent that.

These delayed notifications sound like some background processes get killed. I hazard to guess that's why you get all at once once you wake up the phone. So look for items like background and battery optimization in the settings and see if you can re-enable some of these.

It's been a minute with the 4A. I think it's great that you keep extending the life of the phone and thus reduce e-waste. But I think it might be time to look for another phone.

Nobody here can really give you specific advice based on the few facts. You're part of this family, you know them better than all of us. If you feel off about it, there's a reason for it. You've come here to ask the question. So I think you're well within your rights to reduce contact with that side of the family. I would only suggest you quietly ghost rather than making a big stink.

I think for answering that question we would need a baseline to compare with.

Lacking that, with kindness and empathy in conversations. And with resoluteness in the face of injustice.

I have stated elsewhere in this thread that I have limited sympathy for the US non-voters. So refer to that if you're curious. I am trying my best not to condemn everybody equally. A free election, in most democracies, means you're free not to go. Perhaps we'd all be fine with non-voters if Mrs. Harris had won. Putting blame at their feet is also shutting the barn door when the horse has already bolted. We should motivate the ones willing to stand up and resist. You don't want to injure their pride and get them to jump on the MAGA bandwagon out of spite.

There are protests taking place. I just saw Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were in the news leading rallies and protests. American and Canadian protesters gathered on either side of one of the lakes, forgot which one. There are people who are saying something. Even GOP voters are shouting down their elected leaders in town hall meetings because Elon chainsawed a benefit that affected them and theirs. It's easy to draw parallels to 1930s Germany but this Trump 2.0 administration will plot its own despicable course.

One of the reasons why you don't see so many mass gatherings like you saw in Serbia recently or Slovakia is also US infrastructure. It's real hard to get thousands of Americans into one place anywhere when there isn't sufficient public transport and it would statistically be 1.2 people per car - you'd need a Rhode Island just for parking.

Did you try this though? I'm guessing the suggestions are at least partially based on past searches and this might nuke them.

You're trying to apply conventional logic to the orange one. That doesn't work. Stop doing that. It's all about his frail ego, flooding the zone with bs, denying everything and never giving in, and blaming everybody else for stuff he's done.

And just to give the poor, battered, beleaguered, ever-so-stable leader a break, there are sea lanes and flight routes available to the cartels as well. They didn't have to go through the US (but probably did).