That's.. why they charge customers fees

As long as everything is local and doesn't rely on the cloud it's generally fine. Hell, I'm making my own voice assistant so it doesn't need the cloud

I've been doing it most days for months. It is not automatic. That's probably the ADHD though, haha

So... A form of democracy?

#5 is the worst rule there. I've been called that for the most milquetoast of statements. You really have to be more specific. This community sounds like an annoying pain to be a part of tbh, I don't have time to feel like I'm stepping on glass every day

selling ads was just icing

You're talking about these as if they're separate things. Literally no company in existence harvests your data for any reason other than to serve better ads or to drive business decisions internally. Nobody gives a shit about your data otherwise. Ads are literally the only reason.

as if you were a tin-foil-hat wearing maniac

I mean... If the shoe fits, man.

While this is absolutely correct, it should be noted that if you don't make enough in tips you're probably going to get fired and replaced, haha

Do you even know what the IRS is doing here? If an individual makes more than 600 in profit on anything they have to report it and pay taxes. If you lower that to 60 that would just be incredibly annoying for the majority of people to deal with on a daily basis

No, reddit demanded ludicrously high fees at barely 30 days notice. It gave nobody any time at all to figure out alternative monetization strategies. Many of the third party apps had expressed their willingness to pay, but that was just absurd

You refusing to pay for services you use comes across as greedy tbh

Viewing ads is a form of payment. Deal with it, dude, or don't use it. It's not hard.

Anyone with half a brain shits on Guantanamo

When applied correctly, a graphical captcha will let zero bots in

Absolutely untrue. There are services that will solve captchas for you for hundredths of a penny. It's essentially free.