Keep the rubber side down, also.

In the helicopter world is “keep the spinny bits up”

That’s what I’ve done for my last few phones. Aside from a battery issue that got replaced on a “recall” of sorts, my pixel 4XL has been running strong for years now. Haven’t bought a brand new phone for well over a decade now

What do you use in place of GApps? F-droid?

Also, what’s the flashing process like these days? Does it still wipe everything or is there a way to save all the personal stuff?

Your page isn’t blocked. I found it on DDG just fine. Second page, as the other commenter pointed out.

What else are you claiming gets censored? Would love to put it to the test myself.

Edit: and startpage has it on page 3. Are you claiming they censored you out, as well?

Well I hope you reported them, as well

Sure hope you knocked on wood after saying that

As in monitor, not tv, yea?

I bought my pixel 4xl at the end of 2019 used and it’s still going strong. There was an issue that affected the batteries that Google fixed under warranty, but other than that I see no reason for me to need to get a new phone for a couple more years. It’s plenty snappy and the camera is still good enough.

Oooorrr we could not do all that and let parents do their jobs. How about we empower them to learn how to setup parental controls on their routers and on the kids devices?

The IP thing backfires when you inevitably get assigned a new IP and the guy down the street now can’t look at his porn anymore because the website blocked the IP

You’re crazy.

I’m not saying it’s right, but this is what happens when you’re sold a physical item compared to the license to view an item, which is what we’re now being sold. It’s bullshit, but to say what you did in your op is categorically incorrect.

Not accurate at all. If I buy a Blu-ray or a DVD that can’t be taken away from me… But if I “buy” a movie online (namely from a streaming service) my access to it can be removed at their discretion. It’s happened plenty before, and as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, is happening again on PlayStation.

TL;DR… Google is limiting how many rules that extensions can have. Ad blockers need ~300k to run effectively, Google will limit them to 30k in Chrome citing “privacy and a light weight user experience” as the reason. This change will effectively make ad blockers in chrome all but useless. The solution will likely mean switching to more privacy focused browsers, such as Firefox.

To piggy back on what that guy is saying… better put… He’s talking about becoming a regular. I’ve done it at more than a few places throughout the years.

I haven’t lived in one place for more than 3 years out of the last 25 of my life. Making friends is hard. But one thing I did to help me get out of my funks is to go do something I enjoy. For me it was to find a restaurant I like and go sit at the bar. Don’t need to be there to drink, fyi. Just go get some food and be present. Being on your phone is ok, but you’ll be more approachable if you’re looking up at a TV or something like that, so make it a point to put the phone down every now and again. Often times I found that even if I was on my phone, someone sitting next to me might make a comment about whatever is going on with a game or fight or something that was playing and it would spark a conversation. Doesn’t have to be a long one. Remember, we’re taking baby steps here. And hell … You can fake your way through some of those conversations too. About a fight? “Yea man this is a really tough matchup, who do you think takes the win?” It does help to know at least a little about what’s going on, but it’s not required. Even a simple “I haven’t been following along, what happened?” Can keep it going.

Anyways, after showing up more than a few times the servers and bartenders notice and will start talking to you. Asking your name and all that stuff. Conversations from there will go where they go. The great thing is that they are working. There’s no pressure to hold an in depth long conversation since they have things to do. It’ll start as small talk and eventually get deeper.

Again, this is in baby steps. This won’t happen over the course of 2-3 visits. It’ll be more than that. But stay for the meal, get one more drink, then leave. Same will be said about a coffee shop.

The key to this working is persistence and patience. And that goes for beating depression as a whole. It’s not going to happen over night. It takes work, and it takes time, but eventually you’ll get there… Just like you’ll eventually become a regular at that coffee shop, restaurant, bar, arcade, pool hall, or whatever place you decide to go.

One foot in front of the other, keep it moving one step at a time, even if those steps are the length of a dime.

As a final note… Try not to talk down about yourself. It creates a feedback loop that can be hard to break and is self-fulfilling. Positive Mental Attitude… PMA. You’re worth the effort.

I think the doc was trying to scare the kid and parents

You don’t NEED to give a shit. It’s their hardware, they can do as they see fit with it. If you don’t like it then don’t use it. It really is that simple. You can be as indignant as you want, but the answers that many have already given you in this regard will still ring true.

Use it as is, or don’t use it at all. Those are your options. Get over it.

And for fucks sake, stop giving everyone here a bunch of attitude just because you don’t like how the real world is.