For whom was in tech during 90s and now in 2020s, what are the differences between Microsoft back then and Apple now in terms of why the regulators are so "soft" against an actor that is overplaying it's hand for consumers?
I was not in tech in that time, but I was cognizant about the fact that entire segments of media and policy makers just dunked on Microsoft due to anti-competitive practices back then, and I recall congressmen and congresswomen, members of DoJ and so on openly talking about break Microsoft in pieces and I wonder why we do not have those conversations today in the biggest markets (China, US and EU)?
The clamouring for "return to the office" was always a minority voice, and it seemed to be two major classes of people doing the clamouring - old fashioned managers who didn't believe staff could produce while at home, and those who made their living from forced commutes - a broad class of building owners and ancillary business owners such as meal providers.
The ancillary businesses I have sympathy for, but that activity is at least partly displaced to more local businesses, which I see as a net gain. More vibrant communities vs declining city centres - yes please!
But the building owners are screwed because it's not just the wage slave that's realised they don't need to commute (they may have always known), but the business owner too. A business owner who can look at the huge amount of cash leaking out of the business for their office lease and realise that line item can be crossed out completely, or markedly reduced to a headquarters with much smaller facilities. Sure, it's not 100% of them, but enough to make a big difference.
So I'm not surprised we're seeing a crash in the office-provision sector. I haven't set foot in one since 2020 and I don't intend that to change!
What especially rankles is how Amazon doesn’t give a fuck about counterfeits. So they’re allowing counterfeits (amplifying the mentioned effect) to discourage direct-sellers from attempting to compete on price.
Meanwhile, I have to order from direct sellers to be sure I will get a genuine, new product. So I don’t even get Amazon’s lower-but-still-higher-than-optimal price, but a yet higher one.
As far as I’m concerned the whole company’s a giant scam and I can’t believe it still hasn’t caught up with them. They benefit so very much from enabling bad actors, and have for so long clearly without any serious attempt to stop it, that I’ll do a happy dance the day they go under or get broken up. I just wish the eventual consequences could force Bezos to have to work for a living again, since he’s built his empire on fucking people weaker than him. Shouldn’t get to keep a penny of it.
I've practiced mindfulness and meditation for many years until I found "The Tao of Pooh", which, if you're not familiar, outlines the basic tenets of taoism. It has completely changed me and made me feel whole for the first time in my life, and I don't have to practice anything to achieve it.
Early on in my life I was drawn in by proverbs and other pieces of wisdom, in an attempt to fill in the gaps of what I thought was missing, to fix myself and make me feel whole. Then mindfulness presented itself to me and it gave me a feeling that everything just worked - it was simple and applied to everything; but I couldn't hold onto it. I wanted to just be, and be ok. Non-dual mindfulness felt like the answer to that problem, but while it sounded right in theory, I still felt that it was something I had to achieve or maintain.
When I read The Tao of Pooh, everything clicked for me. I could be myself without trying. My whole life has become open-ended. It also helped me to understand something that always nagged at me - how could some people appear to be mindful from birth, without having read anything about mindfulness? - People who seemed to always grow and learn in a way that upends their nature continually (nature vs. nurture?), while I felt that there was always something I was missing.
The answer(for me) was 2 things
-an ability to see myself as whole, despite the capacity for personal growth; -and complete/lazy faith in my intuition.
(Intuition being this kind of thing that everyone is born with - and so in my view, the only thing that could transcend the differences between every living being. The differences in access to teachings, wisdom, philosophies, religion, culture, etc.)
I'm curious if anyone here has felt similar with meditation/mindfulness, or has had experience with both that and taoism and what that journey was like for you.
It's definitely worth taking the time to set up a credit freeze with the three big agencies (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax). Initially setting it up is a pain in the butt and is rage-inducing, as you have to provide a bunch of personal data when the whole problem in the first place is that they're careless with your data.
However, once you've got it set up, it's very easy to freeze and unfreeze them. Just keep all the URLs, usernames, and passwords in a secure note somewhere, and any time you need to apply for credit, unfreeze them for a day or a week.
I used to have all sorts of identity theft problems (people taking out credit in my name) but freezing my credit has solved it.
For people who want to put something like this, here is the code snippet:
<span id='browser' class='hidden'>
This website is designed for <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://firefox.com/">Firefox</a>, a web browser that respects your privacy.
</span>
<script>
if (window.chrome) {
document.getElementById('browser').className = '';
}
</script>
Class .hidden must hide the element somehow, in this case I do:
It goes without saying that Ben Eater's 8-bit computer kits [1] are like Legos for wannabe-electronics nerds. The kits themselves were the response of the outpouring of requests from viewers of his amazing YouTube channel where he first rose to notoriety for his breadboard CPU and computer.
I am currently assembling his 6502 breadboard computer (with the 16 x 2 LCD character display).
Someone put together an awesome "1-100 Transistor Projects" as a PDF [2] for learning how transistor circuits work. The PDF + breadboard + a dozen or so transistors and small parts will keep you busy.
There's a sequel "101-200 Transistor Circuits" [3], one on IC circuits [4] and one on the venerable 555 timer chip [5].
The above should keep you busy for the rest of the year. If not, be sure to skim through some of the electronics hobbyist magazines [6].
https://wiki.friendlyelec.com/wiki/index.php/CM3588_NAS_Kit
there is also the asustor nas: https://www.asustor.com/de/product?p_id=80
If you just need a single nvme SSD you could also buy a banana pi 3 Router:
https://wiki.banana-pi.org/Banana_Pi_BPI-R3
Edit: forgot links and product