Fortunately I completely disagree.

“Imagine going back to the year 1600. Even then, Western Europe was one of the more educated parts of the planet, but back then about 20% of the population could read and write. And I suspect if you went back there and you asked someone who was capable of reading and writing—say a member of the clergy—and you said: “What percentage of the population is even capable of it?” They might have said: “If you have an incredible education system, maybe 50%.” You fast-forward 400 years to today, and we know that that prediction would have been wildly pessimistic; that nearly 100% of the population can be literate. But what similar blinders we have on today? If I were to ask you: “What percentage of the population is capable of understanding quantum physics? Or what percentage of the population is capable of contributing to medical research?” You might say maybe 5 or 10%, or with a really good education system maybe 15 or 20%. But what if the answer is a 100%? What could that mean for the rate at which human society could progress? What would that mean for the human condition? But that is just one aspect of the types of blinders we have on today, that in 400 years will hopefully seem silly.” —Salman Khan, Harvard Class Day 2014

I work at a meteorological institute in Europe and we also get phonecalls from angry imbeciles insulting the meteorologists.

My passion for science and curiosity peaked when I got the job. Now I realise everything is a pipe dream if we do not revolutionise education into something that makes more decent philosophers of us all.

Golden Sun.

The most memorable RPG I've ever played. The music and art style, beautiful. Especially considering it's a Gameboy Advance game.

And I just installed uBOL on a couple of company employee laptops expecting it to be future-proof. Should've stuck with uBO.

Like a kid's temper tantrum, vandalism won't improve society whatsoever. Fight the rich with wit, wisdom, and relentless ridicule.

Misinformation, not disinformation.

Also, many if not most people take “based on a true story” on TV at face value. Therefore it's important to point out the inaccuracies.

If you watched the series Chernobyl I highly recommend the Titans of Nuclear podcast's five dedicated episodes expanding on the misinformation it contains.

Nevertheless, excellent miniserie.

Ventoy.

Yes. Linux has become more user-friendly than Windows. Things stay were they are so it is reliable. It doesn't serve ads nor spies on the user so it is ethical. When updating one sees exactly what happens, and one can have perfect manual control of updates if one wants to. That and so much more.

Sidenote, perhaps consider using Vivaldi browser as it is superior for now, pre Manifest V3. However, if one wants to keep using uBlock Origin indefinitely regardless of the Manifest V3 transition, use LibreWolf which ships with uBlock Origin by default.

Over the years I went from Linux Mint to Xubuntu to EndeavourOS, and from desktop environment Xfce to KDE Plasma. To beginners who absolutely want the least amount of updates and don't mind older software versions I'd suggest a Debian based distribution, and to everyone else I'd suggest an Arch-based distribution, specifically EndeavourOS, or Manjaro if one cannot install the former for some reason, but both are fine. Why? I like to update as soon as possible and to have access to most software without it being a hassle to install. Moreover, Arch has a ridiculously comprehensive wiki which most of the time has the answer to one's problem.

KDE Plasma over Xfce because it's a remarkably configurable feature-rich powerhouse, but I honestly feel bad and wish I could merge them both. If old machines feel too slow for the former, the choice would be Xfce in a heartbeat because it is fast, minimalistic, and also highly configurable.

I moved away from the aforementioned Debian/Ubuntu based distributions because Mint was too bloated and slow for my taste. Specifically, as a former gamer I am highly sensitive to the responsiveness of the cursor, therefore the move to Xubuntu with Xfce where the mouse movement felt snappy again. Unfortunately Snap packages came to both which caused more problems than it solved, so I moved to Arch-based distributions and never looked back.

TL;DR: if new computers did not come with Windows pre-installed—the absurdity of this monopoly remains mind blowing—Linux would be significantly more pleasant to use for most of the populace. I bet my life on that.

What would happen if people deserted Google products in droves?

Mail:

• Vivaldi mail
• Android client: K-9 Mail
• Desktop client: Betterbird

Cloud:

• Mega [referral URL]

Maps:

• Organic Maps

Meet:

• Matrix

Calendar:

• Vivaldi calendar, syncable with a myriad of clients.

Here's an exhaustive list of Mostly excellent “free” software that I use.

Please also consider supporting the myriad of developers who offer their superior products for free, open source, without ads.

“What if I paid for all my free software?
I've always felt guilty by taking for granted the rare breed of virtuous humans that provide free excellent software without relying on advertising. Let's change that and pay, how much would I “lose” anyway?” —https://www.cynicusrex.com/file/takemymoney.html

“«Sorry Luke. I'm just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.»
«Nah. Calling it your job don't make it right, boss.»” —Cool Hand Luke (1967)

If someone evades billions in taxes but one day donates 50 dollars it doesn't absolve their wrongdoings whatsoever. This is just an attempt at trying to improve their image.