Just so proud of Mastodon and the Fediverse tonight.

Everything else is getting enshittified. Mozilla changes their TOS to sell your data. Bluesky censors political content (then backs off after outcry) and partners with weird blockchain and AI stuff. Everyday it is some new rubbish.

And we just keep chugging along. Nowhere do you get a better survey of what's going on or a better forum to engage with lively intelligent folks about it. No algorithmic nonsense. Just people. You're all great.

BRAVO!

"Mr. President, guess what? Russia invaded Ukraine. Can we at least agree on that one? Facts MATTER. Is there anybody in here that has enough courage to say RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE?"
- Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
#AureFreePress #News #press #headline #Ukraine #Russia #Putin #EU #NATO

Thank you Mastodon.

Just sitting here this morning scrolling through Mastodon and it occurred to be amazed and thankful for a piece of software that just does it's primary function without being bombarded by a bunch of nonsense or sucking up personal information and selling it off. It is really amazing how few things are left in our daily lives that are not crammed full of exploitive junk. Thank you Mastodon for simply existing.

#Mastodon

"There's nothing special about Musk, Altman, or Zuckerberg. Accepting that requires you to also accept that the world itself is not one that rewards the remarkable, or the brilliant, or the truly incredible, but those who are able to take advantage of opportunities, which in turn leads to the horrible truth that those who often have the most opportunities are some of the most boring and privileged people alive."

-Ed Zitron, You Can't Make Friends With The Rockstars
https://www.wheresyoured.at/rockstars/

@douglevin Super frustrating all around.

Clowns at Best Buy exploiting someone is shitty. I have a similar story with a friend who was sold a new computer they didn't need. I'm not sure if it's incompetence, or they don't care. Either way, I don't shop there.

Computer Security is hard for those of us in that world. Impossible for someone who doesn't know this stuff.

I'm not a Google fan, but I feel like the best answer for a bunch of people is a Chromebook. Get set up with Google (and 2FA), a Chromebook, Google Drive for your docs... Cheap, reliable, relatively safe. Or an iPad. These days, how many people actually need a general purpose PC?

Maybe also those of us in IT need to be better at a one pager guide for our loved ones...
- If someone contacts you saying you've been hacked. That you've spent money on something you don't recognize. Etc. STOP. These are often scams.
- If you are browsing the web and see a popup saying you are hacked. Chuckle to yourself and move on. You aren't.
- Google/Microsoft/Apple will never contact you asking for your password or 2FA code. Never give these to anyone.
- Some day, you'll receive a call from someone claiming your machine is hacked and offering to help. This is a scam.
- For sensitive websites, always login from your bookmarks. Never an email link.
- Don't reuse passwords and write them down on this piece of paper or PW manager.
- ...

I think too often we help get someone up and running with a computer without useful basic training / reference.