With respect for your writing, I couldn't understand the argument against meeting people where they're at. The wife approval factor is the tongue in cheek official benchmark for acceptance. It's gentle wisdom that can be applied to all potential users, and I understand it to mean compromise is always needed unless your partner is also a FOSS advocate.

I love free software, but I come to it almost purely from a privacy perspective. And if privacy is the main goal, there is commercial software that doesn't care about vacuuming up consumer data. So for some, including me, it's only a question of risk - tolerance, appetite, and mitigation.

Admittedly I think I don't yet understand the free software movement. My journey began with docker and self hosting some alternatives to big commercial software. There's probably more need to explore why meeting users where they're at is a good rule. Me as an example, I may have overlapping interests with free software but my motivations are different. Therefore the fundamental need for me to use a libre alternative to discord just isn't there. That's not to say I wouldn't be able to appreciate libre more as I interacted with the software and community (regardless of the platform theyre talking on).

If you're still trying to conceive, have patience and don't put too much pressure on yourselves. It helped me to go through the mental exercise of thinking that even if we couldnt conceive for many years, I would still be happy and fulfilled by adopting and spending life with my partner that way.

It didn't take us years, but it also didn't take us one try. My doctor saw a low sperm count and that prompted some lifestyle changes. I biked to work every day, and stopped that, I cut out caffeine and alcohol, and I bought some boxers with some support and breathability. Those changes made the biggest difference in sperm count, as I was back up above average in under two months. By all means take the supplements they might offer, but the biggest outcomes will be from your own lifestyle changes.

Actually went to a theatre to see it. I like my films to be open to interpretation, not barely intelligible. Didn't have a lot to talk about on the way home from that screening.

I think another big difference is Lemmy still feels like it is inviting at least a small amount of conversation. Whereas Reddit increasingly feels to me like it collectively prefers to upvote only one correct answer, and stamp down everything else.

I think with federation in general we have more of a chance to preserve what we value in each instance. Whether that is constructive conversation, or cited responses, or memes only/ no memes...

I look forward to being a part of multiple, quite different feeling networks of communities.

I have very little faith in some random tech limited liability to be able to pay up if something bad happens. That’s not to say I’m super confident in the banks either, just that they have way more money, are pressed hard to do infosec and have government backing if and when shit hits the fan.

Agreed, peering behind the veil of any organization will probably result in a loss of confidence. And to be fair, I do have concerns about this ultimately being 100% private and secure, but I'm mindful that perfection shouldnt be the enemy of progress. I have confidence that there is a relatively safe way to implement this. We're not the first in the world to do it, and thankfully we can look to other jurisdictions to see where the risks are.

Now that I think about it, I bet the big five have probably made sure the conditions are as onerous as possible in order to reduce any actual competition as much as possible. :D

They'll undoubtedly speak with banks when the legislation passes and regulations are being drafted, and a part of me hopes that the big dinosaur institutions we have realize deep down that they need to enter the modern world.

Banks are competition in the sense that they have competing interests, but not in the sense that are offering a comparable product. If my bank was actually interested in building an app that would help me wrangle and take control of my spending habits, they would have already built it with a couple devs like all these other apps popping up.

The problem is Plaid et al are forced to scrape webpages because banks dont offer an alternative. Banks currently hold the user liable for sharing their password if theres a breach, but this new open banking legislation will shift that liability to plaid/third parties.

I get that this doesnt matter for a lot of people, but i specifically chose my bank because it had close ties with Plaid (API aggregator) - the closest we currently have to open banking. To me, it just seems so fundamentally simple to be able to offer a way to export your own transaction information to whoever you agree to share it with. Boggles my mind that we dont have this already.

In Canada, the thing that makes people hesitate when giving financial data to an app is where liability sits when sharing your account details. Right now, because i'm sharing my credentials with Plaid some banks would refuse to reimburse you if you were subsequently hacked - regardless of the leak source. When open banking legislation comes into effect, this liability will be shifted to the data brokers (plaid), and potentially also the thrid party applications that do things with your financial data.

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. -Henry David Thoreau

Lower concentration of water vapour in farts than in breath. So farts are not a visible in cold weather.

I think it's more likely these will just get condensation from your natural body sweat.

I hate myself for engaging with this thread.

As others have pointed out, maybe look for a hobby.

Take baby steps towards becoming more involved in the things that youre passionate about. Housing affordability, the climate, and other things are on everyone's mind these days, and maybe there's something there that you have some strong feelings about. Look for virtual municipality or state/province public consultations about those things (e.g. new housing development consultations), and lend your voice to it. Meet new people with the same ideas.

Tldr, Try to make some of your free time into something self-directed, constructive and fulfilling (instead of passive algorithm surfing).

I had to make a choice between being able to be financially in the green and BG3. I'm afraid I won't get to share your joy for at least a few months. I am so happy that the hype is real. Can't wait!

Embrace ~~the dark side~~ expressing yourself without the perfection filter of spellcheck. Those squiggly red lines want you to be someone youre not. Punctuation prevents you from being you. Spell things your own way. Make up your own words.