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    1. 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
    2. 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
    3. 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
    4. 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
    5. Is there an app for this? Help me fix my terrible security

      I thought I've been looking for a good password manager, but I'm not sure that's what I really need. Here's my use case: I currently have a Google Sheet in my Google Drive that contains all my...

      I thought I've been looking for a good password manager, but I'm not sure that's what I really need.

      Here's my use case:

      • I currently have a Google Sheet in my Google Drive that contains all my ID/passwords for everything
      • In addition I have personal info in there like SSNs and Credit Cards #s
      • I want to be able to have instant access to all of the info from my ancient iPhone and my laptop

      Things I've tried:

      • I messed around with Last Pass a bit and found it couldn't actually fill in the passwords in the apps I was using so I'd have to manually type them, which is a deal breaker for me.
      • I've been using FireFox's LockBox and it's a bit better on that front but doesn't actually remember what the password goes to the app so I have to look it up each time, but it does populate them in the appropriate fields.
      • Password-protecting a Google Sheet is apparently impossible but was a solution I was after for some time (Excel and Libre can do this..so +1 for software)

      Other info:

      • I am currently using an iPhone 5 but I plan to "upgrade" to a Samsung Galaxy S7 sometime in the near future. Perhaps that's why the functionality of these password managers seem so inconvenient for me? Would they work better on a modern phone?

      What I'm after is perhaps two solutions:

      • A password manager that crosses the bridge from desktop FireFox to the apps on my phone, and fills in the password for me automatically. That would allow me to feel like I could move to more random passwords for things.

      • Some encrypted, password-protected site/app that could store plain text notes for sensitive things like SSNs and Credit Card #s that would stay in sync between a laptop and a smartphone.

      Go ahead and mock me for my terrible security and ancient phone. I deserve it! But when you're done, I'd appreciate some guidance.

      EDIT: Sounds like first priority should be to update my phone. Then there appear to be plenty of options to try. Thanks everyone so much!

      18 votes