Hard disagree. If you ask people to make a temporary change that still feels achievable, they’re more likely to at least give it a shot, and many of those people will spend some time considering alternatives. Once the week is up, some people may even choose to continue boycotting Amazon, or at least reduce their spending there.

Yeah, I used to want to text a lot before meeting face to face, but have learned that almost always means I start to “fill in the blanks” and the person I meet never matches up with my expectations. By meeting face to face quickly, I don’t have a chance to build those expectations and am unlikely to feel “catfished” by anything other than blantant lies on their profile.

I think the bigger problem is that the apps really amplify the sense of “there’s always more fish in the sea.” So if that first date wasn’t full of sparks, people often prefer to see what other options are out there, rather than going on second dates to see if anything develops.

With the online approach, I know I’m very guilty of focusing on the other person’s “flaws”, and deciding they’re deal breakers. With people I meet via offline methods, we generally get to know each other a bit more organically and end up having multiple unofficial “dates” before the first official date.

My last actual date was over a year ago, with someone I met offline through mutual friends. There was definitely an initial spark, but it fizzled almost as quickly (mostly my own discomfort with emotional intimacy). We’re actually still friends though, and hang out with each other more often than I hang out with the friend who introduced us. If we had met via dating apps, I highly doubt we would still be friends because we just wouldn’t have any reason to cross paths organically.

Well shit. I just wrote up a long ass comment about why it probably sucks, but then decided I might as well try it out first. I created an account, but it won’t let me log in. I enter my email and password, then it makes me do a captcha, then it just says, “An error occured. Please try again.” I’ve tried multiple times and I guess I give up now.

I never really had trouble getting dates on Tinder, etc., but very few of those led to second dates. Of the people I’ve dated that I met without the help of apps, I probably would’ve “swiped left” on most of them. As another user said, general human interaction is my current route, focusing my energy on social interactions where I can meet people the old fashioned way: mostly friends of friends. That can range from get togethers at someone’s house, happy hours, general meetup groups, volunteering, hobbies and/or classes.

Isn’t Venmo owned by PayPal?

Edit: Oh shit, duh. Totally forgot what thread I was commenting on.

I never actually used Twitter, but recently made accounts on Mastodon, Bluesky, and Pixelfed.

Pixelfed has been my favorite of the three so far… I’m finding that the image-based focus means my feed is mostly fun stuff, that leaves me feeling happy, not gloom and doom of news, snark, etc.

I’m not sure how long I’ll use Mastodon, but I’ve been finding hashtags and users that I’m interested in following and interacting with, and the keyword filters have allowed me to limit (but not eliminate) the depressing stuff.

Bluesky pissed me the fuck off since I couldn’t find a way to follow hashtags, only users, and the Lists thing was just not what I wanted either. Bluesky’s filter is disappointing compares to Mastodon’s too, since Mastodon allows you to hide filtered words behind a content warning or hide them completely, while Bluesky seems to only hide them completely.

About 10 years ago, I signed up for a seedbox for torrenting purposes. USD 15/month, which was roughly the same as Netflix at the time. Since then, Netflix has repeatedly raised prices, dropped content, and added ads. On the other hand, I’m still paying $15/month for that seedbox, and they’ve upgraded my storage capacity and bandwidth allotment multiple times.

I see the option for transit directions in the app, but I’ve tried a few different destinations that I’ve regularly visited via bus, and it only gave walking directions for all of them. I also tried the airport, which I usually get to via rail, and it says that subway navigation isn’t available in my region yet.

Hmm. I did find it in the OsmAnd app, but I’m very confused. I think it’s just showing me trip durations, not actual schedules, and definitely not live bus data, nor any option to find routes based on a specific departure or arrival time. For the route I tested, it gave me 4 different options, all of which list a departure time of 0:00, even though it’s early afternoon here.

Digging around the other apps I use, it looks like the live transit data that I’m used to is free to access. Is there something I need to do to get that linked up?

Anything that includes public transit routing? It doesn’t look like OSM or MapQuest include public transit, and I’m not seeing an option to use Apple Maps via the web browser on Android.

For destinations I go to regularly, I can easily pull up schedules without Google maps, but if I’m going somewhere new, Google maps greatly simplifies the process of figuring out which route(s) to take.

I got a few people to switch from SMS to Signal because they’re on iPhones, I’m on Android, and they love sending me videos that end up totally unwatchable via MMS.

the official app not working at all on my Graphene device

FWIW, I just installed Graphene on a Pixel 8a yesterday, downloaded the Signal apk from their website, and haven’t had any issues with it so far. I also learned that you can get it through Fdroid if you add the Guardian Project repository.

What instance are you using? How are you accessing it (browser, app, etc.)?

Yeah, I’m also having trouble finding the global feed on the official app, but it is available on the Pixelix app if you click the house icon at the bottom, then you can choose between Home, Local, and Global feeds at the top.

Definitely in agreement that the cost of caffeine is a non-factor in the cost of energy drinks vs. other soft drinks.

I don’t believe Sigma Aldrich sells to the general public though, do they?

Personally, I prefer the loose powder vs. preportioned capsules or pills, since it allows me easier control over the dose. When I use caffeine powder, I usually mix it into a drink and just sip on it, rather than take it all at once. Sometimes I just want some herbal tea or a sparkling water with a little extra caffeine… I want the caffeine of coffee or energy drinks, but I don’t want the flavor. Way back in the day, I’d add about 200mg caffeine to a 1L bottle of water and sip on that until it was about halfway gone, then top it off with more water to dilute the remaining caffeine.

Oh yeah, I definitely forgot about that since I’ve had that “problem” for as long as I can remember due to using AdAway (via root), which I would never recommend to someone who wasnt already somewhat technically inclined.

The main reason I mention it is that it’s super easy to set up, even for someone not very techy, but since it’s hidden in the settings, the non-techy person is probably going to completely forget about it and have no clue what to do when the public WiFi doesn’t work.

Huh. Are you using the web browser or an app? Oddly, when I browse my gram.social home feed via the web browser, it’s mostly (but not exclusively) just the default accounts in my feed, but when I browse via the Pixelfed, PixelDroid, or Pixelix apps, I’m seeing lots of posts coming from many other servers, including Mastodon servers.

Note that this may occasionally interfere with things. I was having trouble with in-flight WiFi last time I flew, and I once I switched the Private DNS setting back to Automatic, it suddenly worked.

Which server did you join? I’ve been following lots of hashtags (including cats), so my feed there is pretty active. Just hoping some IRL friends and family will join soon so I have those sort of accounts to follow and share with.