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partytax

Re:iPhone dumbphone on Monday September 08, 2025 @04:21PM (#45173445)
On LineageOS 22 this is what I did:

* Remove Jelly browser with `adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 org.lineageos.jelly`

* Disable F-Droid so you can't install another browser on a whim with `adb shell pm disable-user org.fdroid.fdroid`

On the localist/resilient extreme in a developing world village you have the problems of:

* Inefficiency

* Lack of options

* Stupid business practices uncritically continued

See https://asteriskmag.com/issues/07/want-growth-kill-small-bus...

On the globalist/efficient extreme in the USA, for example, you have the problems of:

* Economic dependence on large, national players that can leave at any time

* Business proprietors feel no social responsibility to your community because they do not live there and interact with locals

* Little power in deciding what products businesses offer

* Profits enriching another place rather than your own place

I don't want either of these.

Also be aware of a company called FUSUS that's enabling law enforcement agencies to access surveillance feeds from [consenting] businesses:

https://www.fusus.com/blog/real-time-crime-center-in-the-clo...

Not as sketchy or ubiquitous, but worth keeping a close eye on.

Re:1.3B Worldcat scrape and data science mini-competition on Wednesday October 04, 2023 @08:13PM (#37773404)
The Melville Decimal System popularized by https://www.librarything.com may be of interest.

Here's an explanation from their footer: "Although Dewey invented his system in 1876, recent editions of his system are in copyright. LibraryThing's Melvil Decimal System is based on the classification work of libraries around the world, whose assignments are not copyrightable. The "schedules" (the words that describe the numbers) come from a pre-copyright edition of his system, John Mark Ockerbloom's Free Decimal System, and member contributions."

Re:The vital art of talking to strangers on Saturday September 23, 2023 @07:16PM (#37628541)
Can confirm that trains are an amazing place to meet people. I commute on the Amtrak Northeast Regional and have made 3 regular acquaintances with whom I've had long conversations.

Never would have happened on a plane or or on the highway.