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    1. In your opinion, which attractive or mystifying technological concepts or advancement will never become popular?

      My guess: holograms: they look cool, but will never be more practical than a good screen (including flexible screens, mirrors, different types of glass, projections, etc...) For the purposes of...

      My guess:

      holograms: they look cool, but will never be more practical than a good screen (including flexible screens, mirrors, different types of glass, projections, etc...)

      For the purposes of this post, “never” means “in about 200 years”.

      12 votes
    2. What are some of the smaller communities that you enjoy?

      Heya! The question is rather straightforward. Even though I said smaller, size doesn't really matter for this - the focus is more on the community aspect rather than it being small. Here's my...

      Heya!

      The question is rather straightforward. Even though I said smaller, size doesn't really matter for this - the focus is more on the community aspect rather than it being small. Here's my non-exhaustive list (in no particular order):

      1. Tildes - This is unsurprising. It's definitely large for a "small" community, but it's managed to preserve it's culture very well, which is rather impressive. It's cozy and has high quality discussion.
      2. Various Discord servers and IRC channels. This one is harder to pinpoint, to be honest. As far as IRC channels/Discord servers goes, some of the more niche gaming ones are probably some of the nicest environments. IRC-wise, I really haven't managed to find any particularly active ones, outside of the ones for the next list member...
      3. tilde.town and probably the larger tildeverse. Not affiliated with Tildes, but generally just... a nice place to be. It's rather quiet a lot of the time, but their main IRC channel is, frankly, quite great. When it's active.
      4. A lot of Mastodon instances, although of course not all. The fediverse is generally a nice place to be, although politics on there is kind of mushy and one sided. Genuine interactions on there, however, are extremely common and sorting by the global timeline is quite nice (most of the time.)
      5. rateyourmusic is a nice community of those who are passionate about music. It's quite nice overall, though.

      There's definitely a lot I've missed out, mainly because I probably don't know about them.

      So, what are some of the smaller (or not) communities that you enjoy?

      20 votes
    3. How does technology improve your quality of life? In what ways does it detract from it?

      I think it's safe to say that, in our modern world, everyone has an individual and complex relationship with technology. We're all experiencing the growing pains of uncharted territory, as...

      I think it's safe to say that, in our modern world, everyone has an individual and complex relationship with technology. We're all experiencing the growing pains of uncharted territory, as computers, phones, and the internet continually revolutionize experiences from the everyday to the extraordinary. Unfortunately, it can often feel like every step forward also brings regressions, and what's good for some is not always good for others.

      I'm interested in hearing about the ways that technology works for you in your life, both the good and the bad. Some guiding questions:

      • What's better in your life because of technology? What is worse?
      • How does it impact your career, hobbies, and interpersonal relationships?
      • Are there tradeoffs you have to make for incorporating or ignoring tech for certain tasks or aspects?
      • Are there areas in which you hope for the increased presence of technology?
      • Are there areas where you actively keep tech out?
      • Do you think that the problems created for us by technology are design flaws in the tech itself, or are they merely a mirror for pre-existing issues at the human level?

      I know "technology" as a term is very broad, but I've intentionally left it that way because I want people to self-select the things most important to them, whether that's their computer, the internet, a phone, an online platform, an assistive tech device, etc. Also, don't feel obligated to list out every piece of tech, as it's gotten so prevalent to be almost omnipresent. Instead, just focus on the things that have a significant impact on your day to day life.

      22 votes
    4. On exercising your rights in privacy policies

      @swipp_it: 1/ So, I guess my new "hobby" over the past few years has become reading terms of service/privacy policies for things I want to use and then trying to enforce my rights as laid out in those policies. Unsurprisingly, companies are often not certain how to respond to this.

      11 votes
    5. How would you guys feel if Youtube followed Instagram and made views/likes/etc. private?

      Curious how you guys feel about this as users, uploaders etc? Its an interesting question because this was generally viewed as a good move by instagram, would it be the same with Youtube. Also,...

      Curious how you guys feel about this as users, uploaders etc? Its an interesting question because this was generally viewed as a good move by instagram, would it be the same with Youtube.

      Also, from what I understand a lot of drama on Youtube has been elevated because of public seeing the subs go up/down, maybe this would change how we analyse drama. I dont say this in the sense of someone who enjoys drama, but some of these things reflect social trends/situations.

      Edit: I just want to add for clarification; Instagram is currently beta testing a feature where only you the poster can view how many likes and comments you get, the public cannot. The Youtube version would be hiding views/likes/subs from the audience, but not the content creator.

      5 votes
    6. What should I do with all my old tech junk?

      I am currently decluttering, and I have boxes upon boxes of accumulated tech stuff (for lack of a better term). USB cables, dongles, flash drives, cameras, MP3 players, phones, installation discs,...

      I am currently decluttering, and I have boxes upon boxes of accumulated tech stuff (for lack of a better term). USB cables, dongles, flash drives, cameras, MP3 players, phones, installation discs, etc.

      It's a giant mess that I want to be rid of, I just don't know the best way to go about it and thus have some questions:

      1. What's my best course of action: Is "electronics recycling" the way to go? Should I sort it and donate the useful stuff to a thrift store? Would local mom-and-pop computer shops potentially be interested in some of it?

      (Note: I have no interest in extracting money from the hoard and would be happy for the useful stuff in there to go to a "good home" that can take advantage of it.)

      1. Is there anything that's simply not worth donating/recycling? Should I simply throw some older stuff (e.g. floppies, component cables, anything with a parallel port) out, or does recycling somehow reconstitute the metals/resources in them?

      2. I have several dead hard drives and flash drives that have personal information on them that I was never able to wipe. Should I just hold onto these indefinitely since someone could use them maliciously, or is the likelihood of that happening close to nil?

      18 votes
    7. Feature phones and time management apps recs

      So I kind of want to try the Nokia 8110, it's a feature phone with an app store that contains it's own version of Google Maps and Assistant. I use my phone an awful lot, and I'm thinking that a...

      So I kind of want to try the Nokia 8110, it's a feature phone with an app store that contains it's own version of Google Maps and Assistant. I use my phone an awful lot, and I'm thinking that a less capable phone would be helpful in using my phone less for browsing the internet, news, and discourse and using it more for what I would want to do with it, calls, texts, navigation, music and podcasts.

      Unfortunately, the Nokia 8110 is only available on AT&T in the States, and they stink, so I was wondering if anyone had any picks for devices that would scratch that itch, specialized apps, or other tools that could be used. I like the idea of another device that I could use as a daily driver so I can put some physical distance between myself and my current phone, but if you have an app or a system that you swear by, I'm down for it.

      Also kind of interested in maybe combining the ZeroPhone Raspberry Pi with support for Alexa or Google Assistant, but that seems like a time waster and a half.

      7 votes