It's all about choice. And choice, aka diversity, is great.

It's like not having to eat a banana if you don't like them and having the ability to grow the fruit you would love the most instead. That's also why I've now (in the last 5 or 6 years) mostly switched from Mac to GNU/Linux. This Mac Mac Studio I'm writing on right now is the last Mac I own and I see very little chance for it to be replaced by a newer Mac when time comes to replace it. I like the freedom of choice and to do what the funk I fancy on my computer. Not just what some designer at Cupertino (or some wannabe designer, at Redmond) decided I should be permitted to do.

Also, where is the standard between incompatible different macOS versions or different versions of Windows? Or between incompatible versions of the same apps running on those systems? I'm not saying it's wrong, nor that it's great, just that we should not neglect all those 'standardization issues' that exist in every single system. Marketing should not be blindly trusted — Imho, marketing should never be trusted, and not even listened to but that's just me deeply allergic to bullshit ;)

I was still a kid when my dad brought home a brand new Apple II. Before that computer appeared in his home office (and in my live, as I used that Apple so much more than he ever did ;)), I learned to type on my granddad's typewriter.

100%.

The same reason I care about a working democracy. You can't have one without the other.

Less people using public libraries (and reading books to learn stuff) around me because 'who needs to read books when there is everything on the Internet and I can Google anything'?

And, at least as saddening and frightening to me, seeing more and more people willing to censor whatever book, author, or idea, they hate or even they just don't agree with (most often, without even reading it). It's even worse when I see librarians supporting that — it doesn't matter how 'good' their motivation is, censorship's only success is in the promotion of stupid ideas (if not of sheer ignorance), hate and fear.

Masking tape and a pen

imagine people can't afford to watch all the movies produced in a year — crazy supposition I know, but let's say a ticket has become so expensive people need to pick the film they will watch — would you rather have them pay to see a movie featuring living actors (and while doing so giving those new actors an opportunity to start their career and become the next stars?) or have them pay to watch a product made out of dead actors (and greed) that will only enrich the studios?

Dying is part of the life cycle. Once you're dead, you've become a legit part of the past. And you're supposed to stay gone, so the younger people have their chance too. Sure, those young will not be a clone of Bogart or Bacall but they could become... themselves. That is, as long as Studios don't focus their attention (and greed) on dead actors (and AI-powered scenarios, while we're at it).

Plus, as a 50+ dude myself, imagining an instant I was an actor, I would not want anyone getting the idea that they can inherit my 'image' once I'm dead and use it however they fancy. Money and stuff, help yourself but let my image — my effing face — let it disappear with the body it belongs too. I'm not a product, I'm someone — even if I was an actor.

Also, it makes me wonder is their face what people really miss from dead actors? Are Bacall and Bogart just their face?

And then, I imagine neither Bogart and Bacall would smoke in their new movie? Smoking is such a bad habit, we certainly would not want to give kids such a poor example, right? So what the remastered version of Bacall and Bogart would do, instead? I know, stare at their phone screen (and rage on X or share images of their last meal on Instagram), so modern viewers can identify with them even more easily. That sure would be a much better example for kids.

Not the OP, but that's a great idea.

Like the OP, my spouse and I have become quite tired of those (overpriced) full-plastic pseudo brands that are worth shit, and we're also not that interested in connected robotic battery-powered vacuums either. I will check around if I can find some good old school wired vacuum, and also ask my local thrift store owner if they have any idea where I could find some around here.

Thx a lot, much appreciated :)

I am going to quote myself here:

Allow me to quote myself too, then:

That’s not the point.

I do not disagree with your remarks (I do not use Telegram), I simply consider it's not the point or that it should not be.

Obviously, laws should be enforced. What those laws are and how they are used to erode some stuff that were considered fundamental rights not so long ago is the sole issue, once again, im(v)ho ;)

Well, except Telegram isn’t a good tool for privacy.

That's not the point. The hunting down on tools and their creators (and on our right to privacy) is the issue here. At least, imho.

Une question de vocabulaire, pour le coup: pourquoi "vacances apprenantes" au lieu de "vacances studieuses"? Je veux dire, apprendre (être un/une apprenant/apprenante), donc) n'est-ce pas étudier (être studieux)?

Cette question (bête?) mise à part, l'idée me semble bien sympathique :)

Cardiologist this Saturday, Dentist on Sunday because my dentist likes to work on Sundays while, oddly enough, I have no favorite day to go visit her :p — more seriously, she is real good I'm lucky to be one of her patients.

Beside that, reading, writing, spend time with my spouse. Maybe watch a DVD and, hopefully, keep on watching an online course at the Collège de France.

Edit: not much going out and no walking either this WE, like the previous days, since I've broken my foot — and I can tell you that not walking is really starting to become frustrating.

Do you mind if I send you a DM? I have more questions

Not the slightest, I can't promise I'll answer them all but, at worst, you only risk receiving a 'Sorry, I don't know' ;)
The best way would be to send me an email, though. Check the bottom of the About page, on my blog.

To keep YT under control: Firefox is my web browser, with the uBlock Origin extension installed. So, all Shorts/Suggestions, 'News' and 'Related content' are now automatically removed from YT '(easy to achieve with uBlock Origin when using Firefox).

😍🥰 Firefox + uBlockOrigin

And whenever Google/YT suggests me some turd content, I dislike it and ask it to not suggest the channel/content anymore.

In the end, my feed is mostly made of stuff I enjoy watching, with so little noise that it can not be considered an issue.

Sketching, reading, writing, listening to music... not going out for a walk (because of a broken foot) and the, oh so incredibly exciting reinstallation of my Mac on a new and larger thunderbolt SSD.

Reinstalling macOS has become so slow and such a pain (even more so on an external disc), in comparison with older Mac and compared to reinstalling a Linux system. Luckily, I had a good book to read while I waited for macOS to reinstall itself :p

I appreciate your feedback and understand where you’re coming from. However, I believe

You're more than welcome to believe whatever you want. That does not make it a fact. And certainly not something I'm interested in or I'm willing to consider worth discussing.

Have a nice day.

Although I must admit I would feel a bit embarrassed asking them as well 😂.

You, or someone else is paying for that prescription. There is nothing to be ashamed of in asking them to provide something readable.

My eye doctor is a very strange person as she uses that very novel piece of high tech called a computer and a printer, and never writes a prescription by hand. Oddly enough, nobody has difficulty reading what she writes :p

Hello Science Community, Thank you for taking the time to review this manuscript. While it includes philosophical elements, it also explores scientific ideas that I hope will spark thoughtful discussion and constructive criticism. I look forward to your feedback. Thank you again!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XuhV1MwntVU-Gsb7M69jxhudAwGuh4uEkw1Ri4ZkFt0/edit

You are sharing your personal opinion in that text (and, yep, I read it). That's not science and it's not philosophy.

Opinions are fine. I mean, we all have opinions and they can differ widely from person to person. That's the reason why they're called personal opinions. But they're just that, opinions, aka the expression of personal judgments/values and personal preferences.

'I don't like bananas' is a personal preference of mine. 'I think bannas taste like shit' is my personal opinion on them. My preference and my opinion say absolutely nothing about bananas and their qualities as a fruit. At best, they state a fact about me. Not about the bananas which, obviously, are perfectly fine fruits whether I like them or not.

Despite the intense dumbing down going on on in our societies, opinions and preferences don't make a science. And if they can sometimes be considered a starting point to a (or some makeshift) philosophy , they still need a little more work — the important words in the latter definition being 'system', 'analysis', 'theory' and 'understanding', not expressing one's opinions.

I would constantly log them out of all their social and turn off their phone — what a naughty ghost would I be :p