My brother is from that era. I used to hangout with him and his friends when I was a kid and they were easily some of the nicest, smartest, most accepting people I knew. They’re a big reason for my radicalization into adulthood.
That whole friend circle has been decimated by AIDS. It’s really sad. He has a couple friends that made it through, but things will never be the same for him or the remaining friends.
Edit: thinking about this more, it makes me thankful to still have my brother around. On the non-selfish side, I’m sad he has to endure such loss and grief.
Dating back to the first Android phone, the G1. I was installing custom ROMs on that first, and then when I eventually got a Nexus 5, I started to de-Google.
I’m on an iPhone now because I had a string of bad luck with how shit most Android phones are, but I’m still privacy and security-minded:
I have no social media accounts - no one can actually find me except through my personal website or LinkedIn (but they obviously have to know my name first for either). If/when people complain about it, I shrug at them. I’m not signing up for TikTok so you can send me some vapid video
I use a VPN 24/7
Proton as my mail provider
My wife and I don’t use any streaming services - Stremio for everything (through Real Debrid so no torrents can be tracked)
I use a virtual card service so that absolutely nothing has our actual credit and debit card numbers (some with limits set so a service can’t arbitrarily raise rates on us, or go rogue and accidentally charge too much)
Windows is not allowed to touch a single computer I own. It’s either macOS for work stuff, or Linux for everything else
Ahh this is awesome. Funny enough, before I was a web dev, I was a graphic artist. Showing my age as well, my first version of Photoshop was 5 and I learned how to edit on old PowerMacs in high school. In the early 2000s I was on a forum with a similar group of folks. I think I was the only one with formal training, so I’d design forum signatures for everyone, as well as show people how to do their own graphics (as well as where to ahem acquire the software to do so).
I got into IRC and all of those tools late in life, but forums were fun back in the day.
I always wanted to checkout Siggraph but never got the chance.
Seriously! I hate that the choices are bar or restaurant. Like, I wanna eat and all, but the US has failed miserably when it comes to congregation spaces. I’m not even a social person and I see the value in spaces like the ones you see in Spain and other countries. They value community and connection, while the US values consumption and consumerism.
I used to have a small crew that I would play Left For Dead 1 and 2 on Xbox with. We would all get on mics and get drunk and/or high the whole time. When random people hopped in to play humans vs zombies matches, we would hype them and welcome them. Always tried to be the group that didn’t deter players or talk shit. Had a lot of fun sessions that would go to 3 or 4 AM. I haven’t seen them online in ages.
I don’t get meat alternatives. They’re all fucking gross, like CEOs and people that use the word “WoKe” in a non-satirical way. It’s funny watching him call the sector woke and politicized, when he’s doing literally the same thing by calling it woke. Maybe speak like an adult instead of a 4chan edgelord dumbass.
My brother is from that era. I used to hangout with him and his friends when I was a kid and they were easily some of the nicest, smartest, most accepting people I knew. They’re a big reason for my radicalization into adulthood.
That whole friend circle has been decimated by AIDS. It’s really sad. He has a couple friends that made it through, but things will never be the same for him or the remaining friends.
Edit: thinking about this more, it makes me thankful to still have my brother around. On the non-selfish side, I’m sad he has to endure such loss and grief.