@rolofox This might not be possible for you, but if you want to back up your phone in future without root, Seedvault is one option.

The only issue with Seedvault is that it must be integrated into the ROM itself (which is why it doesn’t need root), so if your current ROM does not already have it built in, you cannot use it.

However, if the next ROM you install does have it (and if all your potential future ROMS also do) then this becomes a viable non-root option.

@MargotRobbie

As a fully remote/flexible/async SW developer contractor paid by the hour, I have a different situation than most.

Personally I do not install any work apps on my phone because I could easily end up “doing work” that I don’t really get paid for.

When I work, I sit down at my actual PC intentionally, I start a timer, and I bill for my time that I take doing work only.

I avoid any work that I need to respond to outside of that and I make this fact known to anyone I work with.

@streetfestival @the_q I’m glad you get it. I love “be more buy less”!

Many of us don’t need nearly as much as we think we do. It takes a bit of growth & calming down tho, which is hard to do with all the noise

Media hypes us on the “cost of living crisis” and while I agree basic needs price goes up which sucks, but half the problem is really a “cost of confirming crisis”. That is, wanting to live in a very specific and often sub-optimal way just to be at least “on par” with everyone else.

@the_q Oh don’t get me started flexing on how I sleep on the floor and no longer own a car

@return2ozma

Or some just like cooking and don’t give a damn about consumerism?

I’m not exactly struggling with finances. I cook all my food because I like to and have time. I hardly buy stuff because I unbrainwashed myself from consumerism.

Half the reason I semi-retired in my 30s is because I need little to satisfy me after de-bloating my mind.

I have a baby son and a wife and plenty of time to spend with them.

All of the people I know who have more money than me do not have any of this.

@binarybomb @fne8w2ah A long time ago I used Pocketcasts which is very good but not open source.

FOSS options are AntennaPod or Podverse depending on your needs.

AntennaPod is very popular but Podverse is newer and rapidly developing and it includes a great web player. I’m using Podverse currently, which works with or without an account.

You could also use any RSS reader, and just use Podverse to search and find podcast feeds to subscribe to.

@fne8w2ah IMO there is little reason to use a big platform for listening to podcasts. I would recommend https://podverse.fm/ or just any old RSS reader which doesn’t need any account nor is in any danger of being shut down ever.

@MargotRobbie I used iPhones for 7 years when they first came out. Almost always kept it jailbroken where possible. Eventually switched to Android and I found I could do the things out of the box, that previously required jailbreak with iPhone. Around that time, Android UX had caught up to iPhone as well. Custom app stores (F-Droid), custom launchers and more.

Eventually got sick of Android too. Now I use #lineageos (only a subtle difference) and now I feel like I actually own my smartphone.

@AlmightySnoo
I see this from another angle. The 99% average people using stuff like this and judging people based on the color of a txt bubble simply are not worth hanging with. I mean the whole reason I use Lemmy and mastodon and not the platforms that the 99% use is for this reason. Let your honest choices filter the crap from your life.

@Ubermeisters These days “constant innovation” mostly means “constantly looking for new ways to make money”

There’s a tendency to think social isolation is bad or think something is wrong with us for doing it. IMO most people who go out and party all the time are also just “socially isolating”, by putting up a front, drinking etc, with no real deep connection. No vulnerability and openness. If you have deep relationship with family you are probably better off.

Your wisdom could be telling you not to waste your time going out with shallow folks. Having 1 or 2 deep friends is nice.

IMO it sucks to be running or working in big tech companies. And now that suckiness is leaching down into their products and end users. The are all trapped by their own desire.

Why? well at the top of the company you got people who have sold investors a “line goes up forever” fairy-tale, cracking the whip on CEOs to make it happen.

Most tech peaked in usefulness and now its mainly weaseling around trying to make the line go up.

Better to back out of this shit show like Homer into a hedge.

Yeah I thought ads are worthless too, as everyone I know just blocks them. But that’s when I realized the people like us who block ads ARE the 10% they now neglect! the other clueless 90% of masses are the ones they are after. There are so many more of them and they are so much easier to monetize

They gave up on us because we are too smart and they cant squeeze anything out of us.

IMO that’s why we have to accept that its time to leave and build our own better internet lol

Call me a conspiracy theorist but the amount and intensity of data they must get out of this is huge. They will know all the accounts that are anti-spez which they can monitor and algorithmically demote (soft censorship).

Reddit, like most captive-tech these days, is shifting to optimizing only for providing endless distraction to the 90% of mindless hoards which are easy to monetize.

I suspect Youtube will be next in line to squeeze the lemon, now that they are trying to block adblockers.

I mainly use FreeTube on PC and NewPipe on phone, not to avoid ads, but I just find it a much nicer and more peaceful experience (free of recommendations, Shorts etc).

I actually do pay for YouTube Premium family subscription, but its mainly to protect my less tech-savvy family and friends from ads, and to avoid seeing ads on my Android TV projector.

Sure, the light is actually a LED video light panel that I use for videos, but it doubles as a desk lamp. I set it to warm white and bounce it off the wall and dim my screens to roughly match the brightness. I don’t have big eyestrain issues but I certainly find this more comfortable to look at in the evening. I like it better than having all the room lights on too.

Same Cybermonk setup during daylight…
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/110/749/309/885/476/960/original/a2c9481c63371f38.jpeg

#battlestation
@battlestations

Perhaps scarier are AI models that contain deliberate embedded censorship and avoidance on training on content that goes against its creators interests, like some anti Big-tech content I post

I understand that many could be worried as this may effect their livelihood etc. However this could benefit me personally, even though I still don’t like the idea 😅 . I am OK with a bot scraping what I post, for AI training, as I want the things I talk about to spread far and wide (including being embedded in AI models), even if it means it’s stripped of any hint it came from me. I suspect that the more people know about my ideas, even stripped of source, the more likely they are to join me.

Yeah this is annoying. If you are quick you can delete all the latest videos in watch history to stop the recommendations. Otherwise if you want to start the algo from scratch, create a new “channel” in the same login which will have a fresh history. I have 3 different channels I switch through depending on mood.