paddythegeek

joined 1 year ago
[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Would love to help with this and will be reaching out to Jacob. The grocery industry in Canada has been a big shell game for so long, and I love the idea of exposing their bullshit pricing tactics however possible.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 17 points 7 months ago

I saw these a few days ago and they reminded me that I am a moderator of a sleepy little community. 😆

Thankfully the mod tools were very effective in banning the user and nuking comments.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 2 points 9 months ago

Thanks for the summary. I signed up for it just in case, but don't think I'll end up using it. I have a similar experience with Mastodon, but then I was never really into Twitter, either.

I share your feelings on the importance of open platforms. While reddit may have been shitty for a while, the whole third-party apps thing was an eye-opener for me, and started me thinking about (and moving toward) open source.

My next big challenge will be to de-Google, but I'm increasingly up for it. Problem is I have a ton of site identities associated with my email address there, so we'll see how that works out.

 

Sobering, to say the least.

 

This is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek take, but, honestly, I can’t see how else to engage more deeply with these policy rationales.

 

I’m going to ask my doctor to prescribe me a hot tub.

 

I didn’t need proof myself, but I suppose it’s comforting nevertheless to have it mathematically confirmed.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 22 points 9 months ago

The most galling part of it all for me is knowing that it’s all political theatre of the worst kind. I feel like we’re all just playing our parts while the unrelenting assholes of the UCP use the cover provided by this misdirection to further their tear down of our health care system and enrichment of their petro-buddies. The maga stuff is a perfect buffet line of sewage from which this government carefully selects their next target to generate more outrage and keep Albertans distracted. Fuckers.

 

Happy to hear this, but concerned that they would even think to try this in the first place.

 

Our crack (head) Premier is at it again. Red meat for the base, harm for everyone else.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Like others here, I dumped Reddit and moved here (and to Mastodon) full time. I also moved to Linux full time on my home laptop and haven’t missed Windows one little bit. I’m looking forward to experimenting more with a couple of other distros of interest (currently Pop_OS) and am having actual fun using my computer again. Heavy emphasis on adopting as many FOSS alternatives as possible in ‘24, and starting to separate myself from the big G.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Sounds like a great experience! Congrats.

I switched from full-time windows to full-time Linux with Pop_OS and haven’t looked back. I’m very happy with it and enjoy finding FOSS alternatives to my former go-to apps. So far so good. I’m also keeping an eye on Vanilla OS as that sounds like a very cool project that is headed to beta by summer.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Absolutely worth checking into IMO. If your e-reader device does support library connections, so much the better, but if not, your phone/tablet will.

In addition to e-books, your library also likely offers access to other services including streaming. I have access to Kanopy, which has an interesting catalog of movies and shows that is well outside the mainstream. I've found some interesting stuff on there to consume even though I don't use it as often as Netflix/Apple/etc.

Regarding Libby and the Palace Project, I used Libby for some time but shifted to Palace after reading (here, here) about the e-book lending market space and how ripe for enshittification it is at present. (Overdrive, the company behind the app of the same name and the Libby app, was recently sold to private equity firm K.K.R., notorious for horrible business practices. Overdrive controls about 90% of the library lending market, so I'm a little fearful for what might come.) The Palace Project is a non-profit, so I'm supporting it as a competing platform in case Overdrive starts to tank. The Libby app is more polished, but the search, borrowing and reading experience on Palace is largely comparable and still just fine.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 19 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Not sure if your device supports connection to your public library, but I have been reading literally hundreds of books since Covid on my iPhone using Libby at first, and now the Palace Project. I still purchase the odd book if it’s one I know I will read repeatedly but I haven’t bought an ebook in some time due to using the library.

Good list, btw. I loved the Arkady Martine books. You might want to try Gideon the Ninth and the sequels.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does this genius even have the legal right to decide this on behalf of all Albertans?

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but if you know of a program that already does the thing you want, you can search for a variety of alternatives on alternativeto.net. It lists paid and FOSS alternatives.

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

I’m tuning up the sole of my #5 bench plane so I can use it for more reliable edge jointing while I continue my half-hearted search for a #7 plane.

When I’m done with that I am going to start work on a Morris chair using plans from Norm Abram’s New Yankee Workshop. I’ll use mahogany and plan to make my own leather cushions. It will be my winter project, I think. :)

 

I just watched That Peter Crouch Film, and it was great. It’s a wonderful documentary telling the unusual story of the titular footballer’s career and life, in and out of the sport.

I am not a football fan, but I loved this film for its great story, warmth, humour, and humanity. It’s an easy watch at just under 90 minutes. I watched it on Amazon where it is included with Prime (in Canada).

[–] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago

You beautiful bastard! I had one of these and thought it was one of the coolest bits of tech I ever owned. Your post generated so much nostalgia over having to hold my watch in just the right aspect to complete the data transfer. I remember people watching me sync and being shocked (although that was perhaps at how much of a nerd I was to have one). I like to think they were reacting to the tech.

Very nice work! Now I just need to find my old watch…

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