just another Redditrefugee who has been thinking too much about the internet lately.

  • 5 Posts
  • 34 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Smoking. Accidentally through vaping? Switched to vaping never intending to quit, but ran into issues with my vape, couldn’t use it, and one day I just sort of realized I was fine.

    I had one of those early Kangertech models and i kept having issues with coils (even new ones) and then later with the battery. I guess I could have gone to the disposable kind but yeah. It just sort of happened.

    I remember the fear i used to get thinking a certain cig was my last one ever. I think taking that out of the equation is critical. Either by lowering your dose or just cutting back in number, working down slowly, and keeping the process open ended is best.




  • I think there can be an intermediary step where things get a little better before they get much worse. I’m thinking of Youtube, which pre acquisiton, iirc, was getting slow and bad. Google infrastructure made it faster, but then, well…

    This is really just the first step of enshitification - first they make things good for users, then introduce advertisers, then claw back all the value for themselves.

    Or put another way

    • "don’t worry you favourite thing will stay the same - we don’t want to mess with a winning formula!
    • “these changes will benefit users!”
    • “we have to comply with industry standards and best practices. please read our updated terms of service.”
    • "in order to compete in a dynamic marketplace, we’re introducing an add supported tier!
    • “we’ve made changes to our subscription model!”
    • “we’ve made changes to our subscription model and we’re introducing adds on paid tiers! suck it!”
    • “sure, you paid for it, but our agreements are expiring and we don’t value you as a human being!”
    • “really, where else are you going to go? lololololol”

  • These days I’m more of a boomer shooter dude, but the trailer hooked me and I regret nothing. Haven’t tried the newest Postal yet. Played postal 2 back in the day. blood west is likely next up for me.

    Devs like Hyperstrange and New Blood are killing it these days, in a time when the big devs are laying off entire teams. It’s amazing what happens when you have smaller devs who are focused on the games and not chasing number-go-up.

    As New Blood says, “We love you. We hate money.”





  • Here’s the closest I’ve got.

    Priest - History In Black

    Priest is an electronic music project originally formed by ex-members of the hugely popular band Ghost. I’d call this Darkwave, but the label doesn’t matter, it’s depeche mode-y and don’t let the gimp mask put you off, I believe the song is very sincere.

    I can't stop, it's too late, it pours out, it's my fate
    My legacy in black
    Looking in to my eyes, see the things i despise
    My soul is tainted black
    
    I traveled with the enemy, i thought it was my destiny
    I'm free of all the lunacy
    I never want it back, my history in black
    
    Silent screams longing voice, violent dreams, ringing noise
    My memory is black
    It's not a mask, it's my skin
    Please don't ask where i've been
    My heart is painted black
    
    I traveled with the enemy, i thought it was my destiny
    I'm free of all the lunacy
    I'm never want it back, my history in black
    
    I escaped from the cage inside
    
    I traveled with the enemy, i thought it was my destiny
    I'm free of all the lunacy
    I never want it back, my history in black
    My history in black
    

  • It’s a song that speaks to your flavour of depression. Makes you feel like someone feels the exact same way you do. That in turn makes you feel sane. Like you’re heard. Even understood.

    Over time, songs (or movies or other things) can become a ritual - you feel awful, listen to the song, eventually you come out the other side as the depressive episode fades. Then the next time it happens you associate the song with your recovery. So over time it becomes What You Do when you Feel That Way.




  • I believe that that “cancel culture” is really just “consequence culture.” At one point users could hold powerful entities to account. The flattening of the public sphere twitter provided was a feature.

    Absolutely there have been people who got targeted who did not deserve it - regular folks who posted a shit take that caught the mobs attention. But I think one of the motivations for Elon acquiring twitter and threads’ non-chronological feed is to clamp down on this kind of of organizing and centralize power.

    As for hate speech, the problem that is that any solution at scale means AI and that reveals the biases of those who wrote it. These solutions can’t serve everyone.

    And outrage fuels engagement - these companies are incentived to allow that.

    So basically I think large networks can’t solve the problem. What’s needed is a decentralized approach with small interoperable communities vetting their members. Even if you get a hate filled instance it can be locked off so it can’t spread. Hate-motivated jerks have always existed, they just had no real access to the discourse until the internet. I really think the answer is the fediverse of tomorrow - if we make it that far.





  • i agree completely, and i’ve said it before, a small fee goes a long way to stopping spam and the bad kind of shitposting. It’s barrier that a lot of actors, good and bad, can climb, but they’ll be at least someone who can’t or won’t.

    thing is, twitter has already eroded so much trust and relevance that i think for a lot of folks this might be the last straw. we’ll see - much like the reddit rebellion it’s hard to tell how many folks will actually quit from the noise alone.

    For the fediverse i’m not certain at all. on the one hand many of us want the fediverse to grow and become more diverse. Fees are a barrier to entry. but i also agree, as you say, that mods and admins deserve something for their trouble - especially since their job is a lot harder on lemmy.

    i hate to say, but maybe discord has it right? monetize cosmetics and stuff? i really don’t know. Disclosure i am nitro subscriber, mostly for the emoji.



  • I quit smoking by gradually stepping back until I got to the last 4 darts, which I just couldn’t shake. Then I moved to vaping, not trying to quit, but to be less worse for my health… Then my vape broke repeatedly in a short period and I realized going without wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Certainly not as bad as other methods of quitting it tried. So in this way I finally quit.

    So I don’t recommend vaping as a way out really. It’s more that if you consciously realize which cigarette is your last you’re gonna freak out and relapse. It’s more that if you reduce your intake, then replace, you can step off more easily. Don’t focus on quitting or changing your lifestyle drastically, just keep taking steps. Eventually one will be the last.