xray

I’m not fully there yet since this summer has been more reasonable this year here, but I’m on my way to wishing it would go by quicker.

Words cannot express how much I hate walking out of the gym after a workout, already pouring sweat, exhausted, and out of breath, into essentially an outdoor sauna, and then into my car with all-black interior that you can’t even breathe when you get in because it’s so hot. Such an all-around awful feeling.

Also, like you, I really don’t like the super long days. I don’t like the super short days either, but right now it’s still bright out when I go to sleep and it’s annoying. I like having a couple hours where it’s dark before I go to bed as it feels like a nice wind down and perfect for watching TV or gaming without glares on the TV or just my space being lighter than I want.

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful response. I try not to let these type of interactions get to me because I know I should not let stranger’s opinion be able to affect me that much. I should be the gatekeeper of my emotions and what I let affect me. I just was already not having a great day yesterday, and being treated poorly for literally no reason, and realizing I wasted my time sharing my ideas just put me a bit over the edge.

And you’re right, these kinds of interactions are just something that happens as being a part of the internet and even just as part of humanity in the real world too. Bad actors are bad actors.

Not to mention, the “just google it” comment is also terrible even if it was made in good faith considering how bad Google seems to have gotten at providing actual useful search results. Hence, why so many people add “Reddit” to the end of their search query, just making everything full circle. You’re providing the content people are googling by making your post.

Yeah, I’m really loving the downvote feature being gone. I’ve been on another forum that had a noticeable decrease in toxicity when they removed their dislike reaction too.

Oh man, that’s intense. I know what you mean about that kind of hostility fostering more hostility even within yourself. It’s not a good environment for anyone.

I totally get it. When you get that kind of reaction to just trying to contribute or you read a toxic comments section, it makes you wonder why you should contribute or be there at all!

I use Apple Watch for general/overall fitness tracking. I use Hevy for my weightlifting workouts.

At this point, it’s starting to feel like it’s not worth posting or using any social media. Social media companies imploding, all your data and content being monetized and scraped, and soon an onslaught of fake AI-generated content and misinformation that will be harder and harder to know what’s real.

Yes! I started playing it a couple days ago because it’s been on my to-play list and saw it’s going off PS+ this month. At first, I was unsure of it, but once I started getting into the story, I got really pulled in. The story is intriguing and the setting is visually stunning and kind of soothing. I’m really excited to see where it takes me.

I’d say I’ve like 70% degoogled.

• For search, I mainly use DuckDuckGo, but will use Google if I can’t find what I’m looking for on DDG.
• I do watch a lot of YouTube.
• I use Apple Maps primarily, but I use Google Maps to check reviews and to see how busy a place is. I also use Waze occasionally which is owned by Google.
• I use E2EE iCloud - Files, documents, spreadsheets, photos, notes. But I do have some Google Docs from years ago still in my Google Account.
• I use a combination of iCloud Email and ProtonMail primarily for email, but I still have my Gmail for receiving random things that still have that email attached to it.
• I use Safari and Firefox primarily as my browsers. Only use Chrome if I’m forced to, and I don’t login to it.

That makes sense. Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective.

May I ask why? That seems unsustainable to expect to be able to get the same amount of entertainment and utility from creators without helping compensate them.

Also, I would argue monetization has had to increase because of people using adblockers and the Silicon Valley mentality of “grow first, make money later.” Now that interest rates are high, social media companies are being forced to make money wherever they can since money isn’t cheap anymore.

If this is purely companies already being profitable and trying to just suck as much money as possible from their user base, then I would agree with you. But Twitter has been rumored for months to be close to having their lights shut off, and Reddit apparently isn’t profitable. Idk about YouTube, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re not profitable and/or wouldn’t be able to exist without Google being its parent company today due to their other businesses diversifying their revenue streams.