I think all of these also have Chrome versions, but still better on FF due to being able to install (or side-load if not listed or not whitelisted for mobile) onto the mobile version. The day I learned how to get non-whitelisted ones to install and install from xpi was game over for bothering with other mobile browsers.

• FastStream for downloading videos from YT and a lot of other sites (I daily use it for grabbing stuff on Twitter)
• Bypass Paywalls Clean for the obvious (this one is to the dev’s not github but same kind of site site as it has to be installed via xpi)
• Watch on Odysee for seeing if a YT channel also uploads to Odysee to go watch there if possible and at least give my view there
• SponsorBlock for being able to skip hard-coded ads from the uploads and other sections of YT videos
• DeArrow for being able to view titles for YT videos that are more reflective of content
• Wayback Machine for saving pages to Archive.org along with saving them to my account on there.
• Privacy Possum for more aggressive blocking of tracking (though it does require remembering it is on if a site breaks as it will block things that uBO isn’t the cause of the issue)

I really want to have them be a real option to consider whenever I get to needing a new phone. I can deal with lack of wireless charging (I haven’t used it a lot on my current and last phones). But the downgrade of USB to 2.0 seems really odd. Would be less of an issue if they made parts like that able to use ones from older ones to get both more options for modding and for not wasting parts already made. Would also be great if they had some of the sandboxing that I hear Graphene folks talk about for being able to have Play Store apps but not give up being able to sideload apps that won’t be enrolled in Google’s BS new system (wishful thinking).

Not currently needing a new phone (hoping to get two more years minimum from my S24 Ultra I had to get to replace my broken S23 Ultra in January). So there is plenty of time to see what they release over the coming years. Would love to see if they can manage to get options for higher IP ratings while still being able to have self-repair. Even if they have to be really really clear about not being able to guaranty the rating if opened. I already tell people that even with iPhones that I fix using Apple’s official/certified process, that they shouldn’t trust the water resistance is 100% the same as out of the box (even then I get freaked out if my phone or my friends just jump into water lol).

In the end I just really want to see them and other OEMs that go out of their way to support real open bootloaders and self-repair be real options. My Samsung phones over the past 8 years have been great for at least useful features and at least being able to sideload apps (like all Android devices). But I haven’t been able to try custom ROMs since their efuse tripping would mean I couldn’t use Samsung Pay if I wanted to go back to their stock if I didn’t like (or needed to revert back from) the custom ones.

It is annoying seeing the more hardcore GrapheneOS users that only ever answer people that ask about using a custom ROM act like it is an actual option for people who can’t justify getting a whole new phone (though I want to say that I am not saying that is what you are doing, just so many comments on other threads). I am waiting for Google’s anti-user stuff to eventually hit Pixel phones. If Graphene only bothers with Pixel and doesn’t try to help with getting other devices working. Then all their effort will be made pointless whenever Google further locks things down.

Though if the Graphene folks do somehow make a major deal with an OEM (and keeps all the user control on the devices). Then I will be more than happy to eat my crow. At that point, I just hope that the devices are as flagship as the current Pixel phones. Having mid to low tier phones will be nice too, but I want to get something that doesn’t feel like a downgrade out of the box (or a few months later). But I will need to look more into their efforts to partner with OEM(s) to see how that comes along.

You might be right on all of that. Might try using something like Revo to remove both JRE and JDK and then reinstall JDK and then I2P. Thank you for the additional ideas on this since I didn’t consider the I2P install itself to be an issue since it gave zero issues with reinstalling the 8 JRE.

Well I removed the Java 8 JRE and installed 25 JDK and still get the error about needing at least Java 1.04 (or maybe 1.4) to run. Maybe an issue with the I2P Router program not currently understanding the JDK install? I am keeping 25 JDK installed but will have 8 JRE too for now I guess. Unless there is something I am missing?

Thanks for the reply, I will try it out. I2P is not something I use everyday, but it has made some really good jumps since I first started messing with it a few years ago. So I hope that the new requirements will mean that it keeps making those jumps.

Nothing wrong with finding small hopes here and there where you can. I too had briefly thought about Samsung’s store (I have an S24 Ultra, Tab S8+, and my old S20+) maybe being large and known enough by more users than F-Droid. But their lack of press releases pushing back on Google was what told me enough. If Samsung’s store was actively used more than the Play Store on their phones (and had enough really popular apps that weren’t also on the Play Store), then it would at least be something.

Sadly even if Samsung’s store is able to somehow get a pass by Google, I highly doubt that the devs of apps that are only on F-Droid would list them on there. And would still only help Samsung devices (though I know I would start using Samsung’s store a lot more if those devs did list them on there). Though I might find reasons to use my S20+ for some apps that I like having but don’t use daily, and my tablet is on Android 15 so it will be used for stuff I use more often (never thought I would be excited for it to not get major updates).

The main actively used daily app that I am dreading losing (due to the current dev not planning to ever list their active fork on Play Store) is SyncThing-Fork on my Android devices (use different SyncThing apps for PC/Steam Deck). It has been the only multi-platform sync program that actually works correctly for my password vault on my Android devices. Though it is possible that the dev might get it whitelisted, but I am not going to hold my breath. As the main dilemma on a per app level is that the more apps that fall in line ends up supporting Google’s actions, but at the same time not getting whitelisted means just going away (at least on fully updated Android 16+ devices).

Would be nice, but I imagine that Samsung would both need to actually be impacted in an meaningful way with their store, and find some way to prevent Play Services (which they have to meet requirements to be able to load on their devices) from just nope-ing non-registered apps. Both of which I seriously doubt would happen.

They have already been working pretty close with Google on things that removed their actual Tizen OS from stuff like their watches in favor of merging their code into Android Wear OS. Would also guess that they might just work something out to either force apps on their store to be signed by Samsung and cleared by Google. Or that they just require apps on their store to only be listed after registering with Google. Not like Samsung really cares about supporting side-loading if the apps aren’t in their (or Google’s) store.

Sadly I think only a OEM like Samsung would have the massive levels of hardware sales and money for making a real fight against Google. F-Droid and other alt-stores or projects lack both and are easy to ignore. If Samsung were to be actually concerned about this, then I think we would have already seen them filing lawsuits and pushing posts/news articles condemning Google’s plans like F-Droid keeps doing (aside from lawsuits due to money).

Sorry if my wording was bad. I meant installing Irfanview with WINE. Xnview having versions for the different platforms is a major good thing. If I can get myself to use it more than I do Irfanview, then I at least know any future jumps to daily using Linux or Mac OS will work fine (at least for image viewing lol).

I was so happy to learn about Libro.fm randomly. Makes things so much easier to just download and have on my dedicated audio player. No DRM to strip or having to use their player. Only thing that annoys me about them (along with other audiobook services) is that they list books that they can’t sell due to DRM. Most of the time if they don’t have a book you just don’t get a result, but for some reason they will show some books and I get excited to see them. Just to then load the page and see that they currently can’t offer it due to DRM. Would much rather not see the search result. Another mildly annoying thing with their search is that searching for books by authors will include other authors and show results for all their books. Both are just annoyances that aren’t deal breakers so long as everything else is kept the same.

Same here. Every time I have used Linux or MacOS for long periods of time as my main OS. I run into that moment when I need/want to look at images (or even just one), and all the other fun things go right out the door. It is such a weird problem that other viewers can’t manage to “feel correct,” Always amazes me at how this one program is the cause of such a specific emotional response from me. lol

I try out Xnview from time to time on Windows to try and adapt to it, but always run into just something (but it is a very good program and is why I make the effort to check-in on it at all). I think that in Xnview’s case, it is just waaaay too much going on and even with the massive amount of settings I can’t find the ones that “just work” for me. Just end up installing it through WINE and deal with the random weird things that come from using it that way (most tend to be the UI looking so different due to not matching the OS and presenting the fake C: when opening a file from the menu). And still “feels” much better.

Other more simple viewers also don’t “feel” right due to not having some of the additional settings/features Irfanview has for light editing. Would maybe help in the case of Xnview if someone was able to mod it to have Irfanview look (kind of like the various mods of GIMP to layout like Photoshop) and hide the tons of advanced stuff that Irfanview doesn’t have in sub menus or a toggle to switch to the normal setup. Though I can get it kind of close if I play around with moving stuff around on the main toolbar. So still like the best next option I have used.

You are very correct on how lots of sites have made RSS basically a method for just spamming you with crap. They just give a headline and link (not even a paragraph to know what the thing is about). But RSS itself still works the way it used to. It is the sites that enshittify the feeds.

Hell, I am medicated and still go hard with caffeine and rage.

True, especially the part about your mom and others that had to use PCs in the 90s and 80s. I suck with a lot of CMD/PowerShell/Terminal stuff and get really in my head about whatever I am doing. Though a lot of it is due to things like switches and formatting order. Can be very very frustrating if there are a lot of them and having to constantly look at what they mean since they aren’t just regular words (which would obviously make the amount of typing get out of hand). The other main issue for me is dealing with moving or copying things around. GUI is much easier to get due to being able to see it in the same way I would move/copy things IRL. Especially frustrating if using USB drives, since they don’t just auto-mount/assign a letter if only using something without a DE. That part is (for me) a headache to have to deal with since the same OS will just do that if a DE is used. But also not something I do every day (or very often as I mostly use Linux when messing with my Pi).

But your core point of just doing it is very true. The reason that folks in offices in the 90s and 80s were able to get used to it was because they had to, and that there was a reason to at least know the things to do what they needed. They didn’t have to get bogged down with all of it (or even need most commands). So it would be best to focus on the things that are needed to get daily things done. Then it makes a lot of other bits easier to handle later on. And a lot of common things can be printed/written on cheat sheets or getting stickers with common commands to put on the side of the case or stuck to a desk in easily glanced at locations.

If they are willing to torture you to get the data. Then there is also a very real chance that you would still get the same treatment or just killed even if you give the password.

I went into it without knowing anything except the trailer that played after I finished some other show. The cast flowing so well and was one of the few shows that had me after the first episode (so many these days don’t fully “click” with the first and require a few). Also was glad to start it after basically all the seasons had came out. Definitely one that is great to just keep going. It has become one of my current default shows that I can put on anytime I am not in the headspace for watching new or continuing other shows.

You might like Evil (2019). Aside from torrents, Netflix has the first three seasons, and Paramount+ has all four. It is pretty wacky and dark, also is about demons/demonic possessions/the Antichrist. Is mostly demon of the week for most episodes, but the overarching story is good.

“disarming of Hamas” Non starter, never give-up arms. It just gives the oppressor complete control and will only mean that Israel will fully take all the land and murder the people much much easier. Settlers will be able to swarm in and murder even more Palestinians. If your murder is going to happen anyway, then take as many of them as you possibly can.

It is more leeching than sharing, but if it is actually torrenting then it should also be uploading while the “stream” is playing. So kind of like PeerTube. Just really depends on both how it is setup, and how popular the video is at any time. Though it sucks that there isn’t a good way to make sure connections happen.

There are lots of times that I get torrents the regular way that I would like to have uploading to other peers at the same time. But will notice that I get few to zero peers for uploading with popular files. There are times that I will leave it seeding for weeks without any uploading. So I end up deleting the torrent so I can move files or free up space because I already made a second copy to sort. Not always the case, but frustrating to not even see a few MB go to anyone. With PeerTube I see my upload working more consistently, but main issue there is just not often that I am watching something that a lot of others (or any others) are also watching.

I have heard that there are non-amphetamine based ADHD meds from friends that weren’t allowed to take regular meds. Which might be easier to get a Dr to start with if brought up. They (the friends) said they didn’t like the non-stimulant ones as they felt weird. But you might be able to try to see if they work for you. My boss’s kids seem to have had luck with the non-stimulant versions. I might need to look into getting a small script for some whenever I finally am able to go to visit some friends in Japan. I have heard that it is hard to get approval to travel to a lot of countries with USA ADHD meds because amphetamines.

The only time I have traveled outside the USA after starting ADHD meds was Japan, but had the benefit of being in my early 20’s and more energy and not many years taking the meds. Now that I am in my late 30’s and been taking meds for so long, I already get a lot of anxiety if my refills might get delayed. I just feel so spaced out and no energy aside from small bursts. Kind of like just a permanent state of caffeine crash (even with energy/pre-workout drinks). Some of it might be due to my normal meds counteracting some of the effects of my anxiety/depression meds’ with regards to lower energy.