Notices by Chris Wiegman (chris@mastodon.chriswiegman.com)

@aral are you still on Linux for your daily driver? I wish I could say I was but it just wasn’t in the cards for so many reasons that this meme does well.

@aral Isn’t it just 3 VCs in a trench coat?

(couldn’t resist)

@aral Oye. Took me 3 years to get one to take me in Florida (was even kicked out of an office once for supposedly having a fever). Finally found one and... now I get to start over in Chicago. Thankfully it's just phone rejections though and I don't have to submit any kind of paper application.

@aral For me as an American, GP is your primary doctor, correct?

@aral Oh good. At least there's a backup this time. I've taken to keeping a minimum of software and backups of everything I can for crap like this. Nothing can be trusted.

@aral Oh geez. What a pain.

@aral That reminds me way too much of when Apple first launched the touch bar. I spent so much time configuring different apps and all with it and loved it... until something upgraded which would reset the whole damn thing.

@aral did yall buy a place? I remember you posting some of your challenges in doing so.

@aral Ouch! Here’s to a quick recovery.

@grueproof Oh… saw this after my last reply. Maps solutions are, to put it bluntly, bad. No more traffic, most addresses aren’t available and many nav apps can’t go beyond 100 miles or so

@grueproof What is your use case? I’ve tried a number of de-googled and Android phones including Pinephone but am back on iOS, mostly due to travel and general usage away from home. So very many things just can’t be done anymore without mainstream Android or iOS

@StillIRise1963 Anyone who doesn't believe education is activism needs only to look at what is happening in Florida for evidence.

@StillIRise1963 I keep coming back to your reply and remember the rhetoric when I was a kid in the 80s. “If you want to read don't go to public school” and shit like that because... bussing.

The amount of effort given to keeping an entire population uneducated and, therefore, poor really is something.

@StillIRise1963 They sure do. I was too young to understand it then but, looking back, it really seems tame compared to what is going on today. Hell, Florida just added an explicitly fascist entrance exam as sufficient to get into all its schools. Most states aren't as bad but it sure isn't getting much better either.

@aral “Learn how to conveniently ignore the privacy of yours and others with fancy words" would make a great tagline.

@aral Good luck. A guy on my team (Greek, but living in Galway) is going through a lot of the same. Here's to hoping y'all can find something that can work for everyone without continued disruption.

@aral JFC! Sorry to here this, Aral. Are there other places to get a mortgage? Here we have credit unions and other ways if a bank says no.

@aral Are debit cards as safe as CCs in Europe? In the US credit is usually safer as my liability is less if someone gets the number. Add to that most have 1-5% “rewards" and I've been using my CC in lieu of cash for 20 years. I'm just curious as this whole interaction sounds like a nightmare. @kkarhan

@aral @Marco that’s what I was thinking.

The really messed up part of this for me is that I find myself cheering for Disney on anything but… I guess that’s just one more fucked up sign for 2023

Heh. Local news in Chicago just carried a story about Disney world possibly moving to North Carolina. I could write volumes on my thoughts about that one but, at least for now, all I can do is chuckle.