For a future with privacy, not mass surveillance, Germany must stand firmly against client-side scanning in the Chat Control proposal [PDF - Statement from Meredith Whittaker, President, Signal Foundation]

I believe it did happen more than once. The reason why life on Earth has developed into such complexity is that the primordial soup, where life developed out of, has been cooking undisturbed from events like supernovae and such that would have wiped out everyhing (Earth istself as well as the whole solar system) nearby. Life could develop over several billion years, and cosmic events like asteroid impacts didn’t wipe out all of life. Remaining life startet over again.

If life developed on another planet with similar features like earth, it could have been wiped out by a nearby supernova, by a collision between two planets and similar events, before it got any more complex.

Usually I recommend using cobalt.tools for downloading either the video or the audio file. Unfortunately, cobalt.tools isn’t able to download from Youtube at the moment due to restrictions from Youtubes side.

I found a workaround, albeit it is a bit complicated, but suitable for an occasional download: I installed FreeTube. Each video offers download options. However, if you want a better quality than 360p, it offers to download video and audio separately. Look for the highest quality. Both video and audio file can be merged using VLC player after downloading.

After selecting the desired file(s) in FreeTube, you deternine where the files are to be saved, and then the download starts. There is no visual confirmation that the file is being downloaded. Eventually it appears on your computer. The download is slow, it takes almost the duration of the video that is to be downloaded.

After downloading both the video and the audio file, open them in VLC. Follow one of the guides when searching for video audio merge vlc. You can also save the merged file.

There’s more. Two years prior, the NHTSA had flagged something strange – something suspicious. In a separate report, it documented 16 cases in which Tesla vehicles crashed into stationary emergency vehicles. In each, autopilot disengaged “less than one second before impact” – far too little time for the driver to react. Critics warn that this behaviour could allow Tesla to argue in court that autopilot was not active at the moment of impact, potentially dodging responsibility.

This is on purpose. Disengaging autopilot just before an unavoidable impact will shift all responsibility towards the driver, as Tesla can claim that autopilot was not active at the time of impact, which would be technically correct. This way Tesla can avoid a lot of compensation. It’s all about money, not safety.

Jeff Bridges will always be The Dude.

So they basically re-invented trees?

I started learning the language in school (5th to 10th grade). I had a teacher who insisted very much on grammar which sucked while being a student, but in hindsight it turned out to be a good foundation.

With upcoming internet English became more and more a part of every day life, as there is more content in English availiabe than in my native language. In order to build up a proper vocabulary and to understand figures of speech and play on words I started to watch cartoons in English - first easy-to-understand-ones, like The Simpsons, because I knew the plot of the episodes already since they were aired dubbed on television. In the beginning I found South Park very hard to understand because they speak rather fast, but meanwhile I understand everything now.

Today I am able to speak fluenty.

I recommend a japanese car (Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, Honda) with not too many miles (below 60000 miles) and not older than 10 years. These brands have a good longevity. Keep an eye out for engines with a timing chain instead of a timing belt, as the latter needs to be replaced regularly, adding to maintainence costs.

Solar Opposites

Each intro is narrated by one of the main characters and each time something different is said at the end.

Years ago I bought an angle grinder from Aldi, for about 20,-. After 30 min it started to smell and the enclosure started to melt. I brought ist back still warm and smelling burnt in order to recieve my refund. Although I knew it couldn’t be of good quality I expected it to last a little bit longer. If you buy cheap you buy twice.

There is another way to the internet/account bypass during Windows 11 installs.

You are right. From what I saw Linux-based OSs have come a long way. The issue with Linux is when it comes to professional environments, that are not IT-related: There are niche programs that are used in certain professions that were written to work on Windows computers exclusively. They are not availiable for other OSs, because they are not wide spread or popular with non-professionals. Also, Microsoft Office (especially Outlook and Excel) is very dominant within the professional field - up to a point that it can’t be changed easily. All this does not apply to users who use Linux computers outside a professional enviroment, as there are alternatives for popular programs and services already.

I can relate. It is like those tool bars that were installed automatically if you weren’t attentive while installing software when Windows XP still was around.

They like to suffer, I let them.

Me too. I always suggest to them to install UBlock origin (or any ad blocker compatible to their browser), along with add ons that get rid of cookie consent banners. If they follow my advice, I will invest my time into helping them to make their OS a little bit less annoying (e.g. switching off telemetry data and uninstalling Copilot). If they can’t be bothered with at least installing an ad blocker, I will not waste my time on them. They clearly want to suffer.

Edit: The screenshot displays a Windows Vista UI. These Toolbars must have been aorund also while Windows Vista was around. I didn’t know that, because Vista made me settle into the other walled garden.

Yes, all these email services want you to pay up for them. I think this is the price tag for privacy.

I have switched to Mailbox org a couple of years ago. I had a freemail provider before that. Unfortunately, this providers’ data got leaked, and therefore I got pwned, luckily only resulting into a tsunami of spam. The entry-tier with Mailbox is 1 € per month (= 12 € per year) which is compareably cheap in my opinion. Of course, it depends on what features you desire - more features cost more money. They also offer a free trial for 30 days (but it is wise to start the free trial at the begin of a month, as far as I recall).

The process of switching the email provider took me at least 6 months, where both the old and the new email adress have to exist simulatiously.

If you need to register quickly to an online service, i can recommend Temp-Mail org. Its free, but you need to have the tab opened for the registration process, as all data (including the free temporary email adress) will be deleted once the tab is closed. I used this service to register with my home instance, because back then I didn’t want to expose my real email adress.

You should look into this

This is because waterproof devices will be might be exempt from having to have replaceable batteries.

Some manufacturers are already eyeing an exemption for batteries used in “wet conditions” to opt out electric toothbrushes and possibly wearables like earbuds and smartwatches. The exemption is “based on unfounded safety claims,” states Thomas Opsomer, policy engineer for iFixit, in RepairEU’s post.

Source

What a bad article. I mean, good for him, but expected that there was a further insight of how people are attached to their phones, other than just a single quote in the headline.

Here is another, similar story of someone that has been incarcerated for 44 years which gives more insight into the changes that have been happening while being locked up in prison, although the article focuses more around legislative implications.

Rawdogging the internet applies to those who do not set up their phones properly. This applies to both IPhone and Android users. It is uncool that Apple only allows Webkit based browsers, where uBlock Origin doesn’t work. But even Safari Browser can be set up properly in the settings. Additional to that, there are extensions that block ads and trackers. I use a combinatiion of three extensions and I haven’t seen any ads so far:

KaBlock!
Hush Nag Blocker
Ad Guard (I only use the free tier)

This is and was the current workaround. On my old phone I had to install an app for that because they decided that there is an up and down which didn’t allow for a 180° rotation.

When held upside down the buttons on the side are misaligned to where the fingers and the thumb are placed. Thus, the volume up-and-down buttons are swapped, which is rather unintuitive.

Before a smartphone holder for my car was handed down to me (I never bothered to buy one for myself) I placed my phone inside the cup holder located at where the shifter is. When the phone needed to be charged, it was not possible to have the phone oriented in the “normal” direction, as the phone would have stood on the charging cable resulting in damaging of the cable. For that reason I made use of the app that allowed me to rotate the phone, so that the charging port would have been on the upper side.

A phone with the charging port on the upper side instead of the bottom. This makes using the phone easier when it is being charged. Also, recessed camera lenses. Why do they have to stick out? When placing the phone on a surface, the camera lens cover will get scratches over time. If the phone was just one milimeter thicker, the cameras on the back wouldn’t stick out and one wouldn’t need a phone case, that adds to thickness anyway. It also would be nice if phone manufacturors would still have smaller screen sizes (max. 6") in their portfolio, as it is inconvenient to carry a larger phone in a pocket.