• 2 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • I do get the discomfort but what are you “moral” objections? Is it that she too immature to make a decision? Or is it that you think your dad is taking advantage of her?

    It’s worth working through why this is a moral issue for you, you’re a bit vague about it. In Europe the age of consent is variable but 16 is common, and it can be a bit jarring when you see the reactions of Americans to anyone under 18.

    But in Europe adulthood has generally begun at 16, including being able to leave school and work in many places. The voting age is even being extended down to 16 from 18 in some places. So it’s not as clear cut that someone at 16 is not able to make independent decisions as American users sometimes make it seem.

    Having said that, I personally don’t like the idea but more pragmatically for the age difference and the maturity difference. She can consent but there is a very significant change in maturity from 17 to 25, and I’m not sure how viable a relationship someone who is 48 can have with someone who is 17.

    I think they are both adults and of the age of consent. You can express your concerns to your dad but ultimately it is both of their decisions and you should stay out of it beyond that (unless there are other issues that arise). I wouldn’t go too far judging him beyond that - he will be your dad for the rest of your life. If you had a best friend who was 17 and in a relationship with a 48 year old, you might express your opinion but would you interfere beyond that? Probably not - this should probably be the same.


  • Brave is being forced to use Googles version of Manifest 3 meaning ad blockers and anti trackers are crippled in favour of advertisers and Googles ad business. Brave will be including 4 manifest 2 extensions in its backend but that’s it. They’re stuck because Google decided to screw over the entire Chrome based ecosystem.

    Mozilla is implementing Manifest 3 differently so the original techniques for adblocking and privacy still work.

    So the only choice is Librewolf. Sacrificing privacy and security for smoother animations and Web translation of pages is not worth it.


  • This version of the article misses important information from the original source Trend Force who issued a report on DDR4 prices which news sites have been quoting.

    In addition to the supply constraints mentioned, the original report also cited Trump’s tarrifs which alongside the manufacturing supply slump could cause panic buying in the US specifically. This is speculation but based on the possibility Trump could “issue new tariffs or restrictions related to production capacity against China. This, in turn, may trigger another round of panic buying,”

    The original report was posted to twitter with “Tarriff fears may trigger further panic buying”

    It’s odd to talk about panic buying and not explain where that has come from. Also odd not to mention Trump’s tariffs when that was a key part of the original report in June.


  • The absolute basics:

    1. Install qbittorrent
    2. Install a VPN and run it so that all your Internet traffic goes down it
    3. Open a Web browser and search for top torrent sites 2025. There are articles with lists of the big ones.
    4. Go to a torrent site and search for what you want.
    5. Download the .torrent file and open it in qbittorrent OR copy the magnet link and paste that into qbit torrent. Either will start your download.

    Always use the VPN when searching and downloading.

    There are lots of steps to make it more convenient - things like using a Virutal machine so the vpn and torrent do their thing while you do whatever else you want on your PC, or setting up a docker Servarr stack to make things more convenient, or setting up a Raspberry pi / other device as a servarr stack. But for the basics all you need is a torrent client, a VPN and a Web browser.

    All the extra advanced stuff is just quality of life, like being able to leave it downloading securely 24hours a day or organising your downloads better.


  • Not a scam but maybe over engineered and difficult to sell for most uses? Theoretically blockchain could be used for all sorts of applications, but apart from a bunch of startups it’s not taken off. Maybe it’s just not compelling financially for businesses.

    For an established business or organisation It’d be a big leap to switch over to blockchain but the benefits are not immediately relisable or tangible in a business setting. In a world where short term profits already trump long term investment, it does make sense that business are not rushing to adopt blockchain.

    I’d think of it like this - companies don’t have the foresight to invest in IT and security; they slash IT budgets, use equipment until the last possible moment deferring expensive upgrades and don’t put money in to protect themselves from cyber crime. For example, big banks quite literally still use systems that are decades out of date.

    If companies behave like that already why would they invest in switching to the block chain? The benefits are long term and not easily understood. It’s hard to sell investment in a technology on blockchain when most people struggle to understand what it is, let alone what it’s benefits may be.

    Most people only know about it because of cryptocurrency but even then don’t really understand how it works, and that usage scenario is world’s away from the other theoretical uses. Cryptocurrency makes money because it’s a speculative asset (at the moment at least). Other uses at best prevent fraud and companies are generally useless at trying to prevent fraud. When they do, it’s focused around the actual transactions not the ledger. They don’t see someone “cooking the books” being the priority problem to solve.

    Data security and verifying is not a priority for companies. If companies are spending money at the moment, it’s short term nonsense such as the AI bubble. And public organisations seldom have the imagination or freedom/resource to be an early adoptor a new technology.

    So, no I don’t think it’s a scam. I think it’s something that is difficult to implement and sell in the real world. And all people can see at present is “crypto currency goes up in value” not the actual underlying benefit of cryptocurency as a currency. Crytpcurrency is doing well currently because it is scarce and has become an asset bubble, not because the blockchain itself is the star.






  • Debian is a good stable distro but I personally wouldn’t recommend it for desktop home users. There are debian derivatives that do use it as a base and offer more up to date packages.

    There are also lots of alternatives that are dedicated rolling release or more frequently updated point release distros.

    I often recommend Linux Mint as a good first distro. It’s got a big user base, so lots of support online, and it’s based off Ubuntu which itself is based off Debian, so has a wide range of software already packaged for it. Once you know what you want / like from Linux you could move on or stick with Mint if you like it.

    I used to use Mint but I wanted to switch to KDE. You can install KDE with Mint but things are a little janky as the core mint tools are really built for Cinnamon (and GTK). I moved to OpenSuSE Tumbleweed 2+ years ago and like it. I’ve also used Nobara on another device - it’s decent buf have moved away from it after some update issues. Regardless there is a lot of choice out there.

    But I’d recommend starting with Mint as a good stable but updatable option. You can use Mint and add in cutting edge Nvidia drivers with relative ease for example.

    I would not start with Arch as some others are recommending. It’s a good distro but it’s an involved manual set up and can require a lot of troubleshooting. I’d recommend picking something that is a simpler install and get used to Linux basics first before venturing into distros like Arch.


  • I’d take some of the claims with a pinch of salt. Selling faster now reflects better availability of the Switch 2 compared to the switch 1 at this point in its cycle. The switch 1 was also sold out this close to launch but Nintendo wasn’t able to manufacture as many to keep up.

    All this shows for now is that the Nintendo is meeting the initial demand better than it could with the first switch. It does not tell us it’s more popular or how well it’ll do overall. In other words all this stuff about it “out pacing” the swith 1 reflects better manufacturing availability rather than how popular the console itself is going to be long term.

    While the switch 2 has undoubtedly had a strong launch, it remains to be seen if the mass market are going to clamour to buy them for Christmas when they’re relatively expensive, with a limited selection of exclusive games. Adult gamers/early adopters being enthusiastic about getting the switch 2 is a good sign but doesn’t necessarily translate to parents buying the console for their families.

    The family and casual gamer market is the bigger one for Switch, and I honestly don’t yet see a compelling reason they’d rush out to buy one? 1080p.gaming, better performance and game chat certainly isn’t it. It needs some really compelling 1st party or excluaive games. Mario Kart World and Dokey Kong Bonanza plus a raft of old games really isn’t great.

    I’m not seeing a big new must have exclusive game to help drive sales for Christmas. No big new Zelda, Mario or Pokemon game? Maybe Nintendo intend christmas 2026 to be the mass market year for the switch 2, and this year be to keep on top of initial demand but it seems a bit of a risky strategy to me.




  • All PCs are a frankenstein mix of parts, that’s the beauty of PCs. Components can be mixed and matched and usually work together well.

    So instead of a new PC think of how you can evolve your current PC. You may be able to upgrade the CPU or even better replace the motherboard and CPU but keep the case and other components for now until you can afford to make more changes. If that’s too expensive then look at upgrading other components until you can do a big shift with the motherboard and CPU. For example get an SSD if you don’t have one, maybe uograde the graphics card for a gaming boost etc.

    Don’t think of a PC as being a single thing - any component can be upgraded and switched out at any time and you can gradually move to your dream PC over time in steps, which spreads the cost over time. It’s easier to find a few hundred pounds / dollars / euros every 3-6 months than it is to find £2k in one go, and you can still end up in the same place if you’re patient

    The most important base components are definitely the motherboard and CPU though (it determines the ceiling of all the other components) - so make sure any changes you make fit with your long term plans for those. For example if your PC is old then start with the motherboard and CPU so you aren’t restricted in other components (E.g. RAM options are better on newer motherboards so it’s worth waiting to buy RAM if you intend to do a big motherboard upgrade).

    E.g. If I were starting from a basic ATX desktop, I’d aim to get a new motherboard first and ideally a good CPU. But I might get a decent motherboard with a modern socket and a cheaper CPU if I was short on cash. Then later when I have money again I’d sell the cheaper CPU and upgrade it to something better that my new motherboard can support. I might keep my current hard drive and then when I can afford it get an m.2 to make better use of the new motherboard. RAM can be brought from the old board, and even upgraded in steps to get to an eventual goal amount. Like start with 8gb or 16gb but eventually move to 32gb or 64gb when I can afford it. I might keep my current graphics card and then upgrade that once the other components are good. I might even buy a second hand older card so I get a boost until I can afford my dream card so I at least move forward of I had a crap one now. It’d take time but I’d be moving forwards every few months getting a better and better PC without having to find a huge amount of money in one go.

    Think of it like the ship.of theseus. Genuinely my current PC has evolved gradually since 2015 but I don’t think I have a single component left from that original PC apart from maybe some screws and the case. I’ve done 1 big motherboard change and 2 CPU changes since then, I’m onto my 3rd GPU and about to move to my 4th, and have replaced the RAM and then doubled it later with 2 more sticks. I’ve changed the power supply once, and lost count of how many hard drives I’ve been though - currently I have 2 m.2 cards and some SSDs of various ages.


  • This is a combination of terrible legislation in the UK meets awful social media site.

    The Online Safety Act is an abomination, compromising the privacy and freedom of the vast majority of the UK in the name of “protecting children”.

    I’m of the view parents are responsible for protecting their children. I know it’s hard but the Online Safety Act is not a solution.

    All it will.do is compromise the privacy and security of law abiding adults while kids will still access porn and all the other really bad stuff on the Internet will actually be unaffected. The dark illegal shit on the Internet is not happening on Pornhub or Reddit.

    The UK is gradually sliding further and further into censorship, and authoritarianism and all the in the name of do gooders. It’s scary to watch.


  • Only caution on this is KDE has had significant improvements in each of it’s point releases. Trixie is looking to launch with KDE 6.3.5 but latest is now 6.4.

    It’s always a balance between stability and latest release, but KDE has had quite rapid improvement as it’s still early in the 6 era. Having said that the it does feel like the changes now coming through are mainly polish and new features rather than fixing fundamental issues - so 6.3.5 might be a good base for Debian Trixie.


  • Been using KDE 6 on this device since last year without issue. The power profiles are present in the system tray and slider in the quick menu, so whatever that issue it’s been fixed. I’ve been using Nobara and OpenSuSE but maybe it’s an issue on LTS releases if they’re on a point release where this was an issue?

    The power setting is a very good shout though - KDE defaulted to Balanced setting for me and I needed to change to Performance to get good gaming experiences.


  • As far as I’m aware they all do. It’s frustrating but I wouldn’t let it stop you buying these. Microsoft has aggressive deals with OEMs, and it’s pretty hard for manufacturers to avoid Windows due to it’s dominance. But OEMs have big discount deals on licenses so in terms of the portion of your purchase that goes to Microsoft it should be small. I look at it as cutting into the profits of the OEM because I was happy with the devices price even if it’d come with no OS.

    I immediately wiped Win11 off my PC and installed Linux.


  • I have the same device and have had no issues with drivers or games. I also wiped Win 11 and have Linux on there.

    I started with Nobara and it worked immediately and been running with that for nearly 18 months. I have recently (as in this week) switched to OpenSuSE after my Nobara install had issues, and again gaming is fine.

    I’m not sure about Mint or Kubuntu but I can’t see why either would have issues. The drivers should be within the kernel; I haven’t needed separate drivers. I used KDE on both Nobara and on OpenSUSE without issue.

    As you’ve experienced, I been impressed with the level the graphics can get to. Largely medium settings at 1080p for many games. I have played Cyberpunk 2077 on this on a mix of low to medium settings.

    This may be too basic question but you’re not playing games at 4k are you? The desktop can be at 4k but the games need to be set to less. You should be able to play 3D games on it, and I’d expect Yakuza Zero to play fine. The device is good with a 4k desktop and 4k video, but 4k 3D games is way more of an ask and you need to bring games down to 1080 (or even 720p if you want to push up some of the other game options).

    EDIT: BTW if you have a gaming desktop you can stream games to this miniPC in 4k. I switched to playing Cyperpunk via steam streaming and it looked incredible.

    EDIT2: One thing that is generally important is to install gstreamer and available codecs. They categorise them as “Good”, “Bad” and “Ugly”. Often the “good” category codecs are installed but sometimes the more proprietary codes in the “ugly” category are not (they are “Ugly” due to their licenses but are still excellent quality). I don’t believe it makes a difference to gaming but I certainly noticed issues with video. OpenSuSE doesn’t install proprietary codecs by default. Nobara did (I think) but I’m not sure about Mint and Kubuntu’s approachs.

    EDIT 3: Just wanted to highlight another important point mentioned elsewhere in this thread by just_another_person@lemmy.world. KDE defaults to balanced power mode for me and that certainly does impact the GPU performance. You need to change it to Performance mode in the power settings. That can either be done from the “Power and Battery” area in the task tray or in the “Power Management” section of the KDE Settings app (near the bottom of the list in the “System” group).