I’ll believe it when it gets released.

You can’t post a video directly, but you can link to a video hosted elsewhere.

haha. And their current website is improved over the one I opened 20 some years ago! I think it took me a few weeks of poking around in the shell they provided to fully figure out what they were about.

The SDF started back in the late 80’s as a anime dial up BBS. SDF is a reference to the anime Robotech, A show released in the 80’s but that I grew up watching as a kid in the 90’s.

In the early 2000’s, I was trying to figure out this thing called Linux, I found a site that would give me access to a unix machine for free and it had a name and logo that reminded me of the anime I loved as a kid. While poking around I found that they had a fairly active message board, were willing to give me an email address, usenet access (albeit, limited), and would host small personal web site for me if I wanted. They were my primary email address through most of the 00’s before I, regrettably now, switched to gmail like everyone else.

Fast forward to 2022, and I find out that there is this thing called Lemmy and it’s supposed to be like Reddit but better. So I put up my own server… and it crashed and burned. Mainly due to my own stupidity. I failed to make backups and borked an update.

While I was playing with my own server, I found something interesting. Not only was the SDF still kicking, but they had decided to host Lemmy and Mastodon servers as well. So I signed up for both and started donating to the SDF again. Been here ever since. Good place, decent folks. I don’t see myself going anywhere else for a while.

How does one company have that much impact?

Because they are a very good CDN and provide excellent DDos protection. They then expanded to do a whole host of other things, to the point where they do pretty much everything. Basically, they have become the first name most folks think of when they want to put something on the internet. A one stop shop for your web hosting needs. Wouldn’t surprise me to learn they rent servers and VPS’s as well.

Been seeing it in the selfhosting communities and subreddits for a while now. “Oh I want to put this selfhosted service on the internet. I should put it behind Cloudflare!” Most of the time it’s not needed in that context.

Do you think that’s concerning?

Well, they did just take out “half” of the internet today so… In general, if it seems like “everyone” is using a single service, it’s probably a good idea to see if an alternative exists and will suit your needs. Which reminds me, I should probably start looking for a replacement for Tailscale. They’re starting to look a bit like Cloudflare to me, in the sense that “everyone”, including myself tends to recommend them as a VPN.

Avoiding the usual toilet paper and paper towel answers, Bluetooth speakers.

Decent sounding ones can be had dirt cheap, but I’ve found that ones made by power tool brands tend to last longer and be more reliable when abused. I’m more than happy to pay double price if it will last me 4 times as long before it fails on me. I haven’t had my current one very long, but the last one lasted almost 6 years of genuine abuse before it died after falling into a vat of used motor oil. The usual life span for bluetooth speakers is about 6 months (general abuse) to a year or two (battery failure). I’m a bit rough on my kit.

Matrix would probably be one of the better options, but xmpp is a pretty good choice as well.

Listen to them, and go “okay”. Then if it was helpful, follow the suggestion. More often than not, though, the advice is not helpful. I’ll still listen and go “okay”, and then go and do whatever it is that I thought was best.

Painful truth is that I am not an expert in everything. I don’t know everything. Even having reached middle age, I’ve not experienced everything. But by listening to those around me, I can often learn something. That thing may not always be what the advice giver intended, (often it’s “This person is an idiot”) but learning is good.

The most important piece of information you can ever learn is “Where can I find more information?” Occasionally it’s the annoying asshole that keeps giving unsolicited advice.

If a bot isn’t declaring itself as a bot, yes. Report it.

KDE default, so it opens the start menu, or launcher. Whichever you want to call it.

I’ve been usingPrivate Email for the last few years. Run by NameCheap, I think. Got the account same time as my domain. No complaints so far. Haven’t heard anything troubling about them either.

It has a web ui if that’s your thing, but I’ve never used it.

My understanding is that there is a law on the books that prevents government agencies from accepting donations.

For me it was getting a CDL. I went through Swift Transportation to get mine, though most trucking companies either have a trucking school or have tuition reimbursement. Back in 2008, it cost me $800 upfront (going to the state for testing and licensing) plus 2 years working for Swift.

Pay was shit starting out, but at this point in my career I’m making $60,000 a year. I could be making more, but I shifted to running a yard truck instead of running routes.

If you’re not having any luck getting into the trades, that is the direction I would look. Swift literally hired me 30 minutes after I put in the application, in the middle of the night. The trucking industry as a whole tends to be really fast to hire as well. The longest I’ve had to wait to hear back from a company I’ve applied to was 72 hours.

Other options would be to check with local construction companies and farms. Both are probably really hurting for people right now due to ICE. Might also check with HVAC, plumbing and electrician outfits. I know that Alabama, in particular, has been short handed in each of these fields for a while, so they may be willing to train on the job.

Contact the companies themselves, not the unions associated with their fields as the only union I’m aware of that handles job placement as well as training is the Boilermakers. I’ve applied to them once, didn’t hear anything back from the Boilermakers for 3 years. They is a bit slow.

edit: fixing a typo

Screw striking. Waste of time when the government will just call it an illegal strike.

When the bullshit outpaces the pay, walk away. Find another job.

I have 2 that I use regularly. PIA to unblock things on the internet (and change how things are logged) and Tailscale to access my home network remotely. I’m happy with both of them.

I think I first noticed that phrase about 10 years ago. Not sure where it came from.

Take their money. Give your very best every moment you’re at work. And find a job that you can better live with. Or better yet, build one.

Your first priority should always be to take care of and protect yourself and your family. Build systems that enable you to be as self-reliant as practicable. You can’t help others if you, yourself, are are constantly being knocked flat on your ass.

I did notice there are no conservative subs

They exist on Lemmy, though your home instance may be blocking them or their home instances, or you just may not have seen them. lemmy.world has a fair few instances on their block list. I’ve had to block a few of the more egregious MAGA communities myself.

Remember, Lemmy (as a network) is censorship resistant, not censorship free.

In my experience, only a few care about size. Most, just care about whether a guy is able or willing to get them off.

If I had to guess, never having used it myself, is that it has a decent UI that simplifies sometimes complicated operations and it has been around seemingly forever.