Does this really work? I have a little windows miniPC that runs some home services. And I hate that it just updates and reboots (or sometimes just ends up shutting down) whenever it’s feels like it. I don’t have the energy at the moment to clear it down and rebuild from scratch with Linux so this update blocker sounds bloody amazing.

China committed genocide against Uyghurs, independent tribunal rules

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-59595952

UK is pretty far from perfect but to suggest we have “just as dubious morals” as China is categorically wrong.

Probably about half an hour or so.

Occasionally get a bad night where it takes me 2 or 3 hours to get to sleep. But it’s only if I’ve had a bad day in work or something that my head won’t quiet down about but it’s pretty rare and i can usually sort it out with some white noise earphones

Only as an absolute last resort to an existential threat and even then there should be options for people to contribute without having to actively kill another person if it’s at all possible.

Even then I’m not sure it’s justified.

I always assumed it was to give the water time to drain out so when you open the door it doesn’t just spill out over the floor

If I had to just bring it the one big thing it would be If my commuting time counted as work time - so I could be home the same time when I’d be normally finishing if I was working from home.

If that was the case I wouldn’t exactly like having to go back to the office, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world

It’s totally unrealistic, work doesn’t owe this to me, I moved over an hour away knowing there would be this commute…. But that was before I had a kid and covid started us working from home

Now my priorities are different - I want to be there in the morning and help them wake and get ready for the day. I want to be home when they finish nursery for our evening and bed time routine. That time is absolutely precious and I could never get it back if I missed out.

There’s a million other things that make working from home great that has absolutely nothing to do with being a parent. But for me that there is worth so much I’d find it hard to imagine a salary big enough that would convince me to give that time time up.

Teenagers will. Young children though may accidentally stumble upon something nasty which is far from age appropriate and something they aren’t ready for.

Having good network controls can help with that, but so does good supervision and education about internet safety.

I’m talking about network filters at the home level. Like a pinhole or nextdns. Ones the network owner is control of and can log or not log as they choose to. Parents can set up their own safety net if they choose.

I was Responding to the comment “my parents had a porn blocker” etc

I do not want some dodgy website to be collecting personal IDs that would be an obvious target and/or just get leaked accidebtly.

Absolutely, that’s why I keep saying “accidentally” - anyone who thinks an internet filter will stop someone with any determination is kidding themselves.

Yeah definitely this is a big factor.

I have a small pot I save into for my phone upgrade each month. Waiting longer means I get a shiner new phone when I do finally decide to upgrade.

And once I have it I want it to last as long as possible!

When it used to be just part of your contract you wouldn’t think about, just get a new one when your contract said it was time.

A decent filter on a network (think pi-hole and next dns and the like) helps block adverts, trackers, scam sites, shady pop ups as well as bog standard porn sites etc

Internet is full of things that it’s easy to accidentally stumble on that you wouldn’t want a young kid to see and I think it’s a reasonable step to have some basic levels of controls on your own network

The onus is on the parents to manage internet access in a way the feel best and shouldn’t be forced or assumed. definitely not to porn sites (or any other site!) to collect entirely unnecessary personal data which would inevitably get leaked.

I just think of it as a safety net to prevent (or at least reduce the risk) of young children accidently stumbling upon something nasty or graphic that they didn’t mean to.

This should also be done by proper parenting and supervision but as technology and internet devices are friggin everywhere I don’t think it’s a bad idea for parents to also have some decent filters on their internet connection.

Doesn’t stop someone who even knows half way what they are doing, but by that point hopeful parents will have talked and educated their children about things before there’s a concern about intention seeking stuff out.

Not surprising. I used to update every 2 years but my last couple have had a 3 or 4 year gap.

As it should be really. These can be very expensive devices that only make sense if you get a decent life out of them.

It may not be “sworn on a bible true true true” but it could be used to help build up evidence along with other sources or identify people to target for further investigation.

Absolutely shouldn’t be enough on it’s own to be able to get warrants or forces companies like Reddit to give out private information… but there’s be a line somewhere between “someone said they downloaded a movie” and “someone has admitted to committing or planning a horrible violent crime” where law enforcement would be justified in getting warrants. It should follow strict oversight and justification like warrants for “real life” things (I say “should” as in the moral should… no idea how good US laws are around this stuff or how well they are followed”)

Edit: they would also need to justify that the comments seem to be actually true or are likely to be true… chasing down every idiot who says something stupid on the internet would bankrupt any police force and not help anyone.

Also… use a VPN! governments & police are overreaching and individual privacy is important to protect.