Ultimately this change, while frustrating, probably doesn’t change the initial value for those who fit these two categories:

• Needs Windows
• Cares about their privacy

These people were already going to go out of their way to use the OOBE bypass. They still will. This is no more effort thanbit already was.

Microsoft crossed the line already by disallowing offline account creation through their default setup process.

I mean, not really. You had to open command prompt anyways. The command is just a bit different now. There’s no monetary penalty here, just a few more keystrokes.

Better than that, the lack of reliance on spinning disks means that asset duplication and data read order is less of a requirement to reduce load times. It can still be argued that there’s just too many polygons, since simply scaling things back would be plenty effective in reducing storage usage and load times.

I’ve been utilizing Porkbun’s API for that purpose with a periodic script that checks and updates my DNS

A government funded utility that utilizes regional GIS and aerial mapping would go a long way. Google’s got the upper hand on directions and traffic reporting though, so that would take more time to make effective. A lot of that is genuinely due to the number of users that exist on the platform though. I think if you tried to implement similar location data analysis for government infrastructure, people would be up in arms at the idea, despite being perfectly happy to provide the same data to Google.

It’s unfortunate that Google is as prevalent a default service as they are, but it’s hard to ignore how good a service they offer, and how long the development period has been to get them there.

Simple solution there is requiring certification in Canada under Canadian supervision.

Except we do. Canada’s military isn’t large, but it’s quite modern. We’ve been a significant part of training Ukraininian forces on how to use NATO equipment. I think you’re a bit confused.

And while I don’t agree with our participation, Canada hasn’t been a peacekeeping corp in a long time either, having been a player in the war in Afghanistan and Syria. We’ve pretty consistently assisted American troops in these areas. Canada is a member of NATO, and a developer of arms and munitions as part of the indistrial military complex. We aren’t reliant on an island across the ocean for our own protection.

Can confirm. Currently running everything on there through Proton unless there’s some outstanding issue

Recommendation: use Heroic instead for Hoyo titles. It’ll launch with Proton/Gamescope and it’s far more reliable.

It’s fine to feel that way. It’s also fine to have that discussion with folks who may not know what the current state of is. But the bottom line is people don’t enjoy being told what they’re familiar with isn’t good or useful, because to them, it is. If it fulfills their day to day needs and wants, there’s very little argument to be had.

Microsoft’s business practices are scummy, and Apple’s closed ecosystem leads them to punish their customers. But not everyone uses their computer for more than what they absolutely require. Many do not have home computers, and may only interact with them for work. I’m a geek, nerd, whatever. I like to tinker, I like to customize, and I like that I have the freedom to do so. But most people just want something they’re familiar with, something that works as they expect it to. They don’t want to learn to use something at home that isn’t the same as work or school. And honestly I think that’s fair. There’s more going on in their lives, and these days almost everything they need to do is on the internet anyways.

Frankly, I don’t have a problem with anyone who uses linux, I do too. I just get tired of the same stupid circlejerks that paint it as some kind of perfect alternative to existing mainstays. I like it, you like it, Lemmy is a deeply nerdy subsect of diehard FOSS ideologies and the power of the personal computer. But dear god is it kind of insufferable at times when it’s preaching to converts, and I imagine even less pleasant for those who just don’t have a desire to care.

It is also worth considering that yes, MS and Google have definitely dominated the market through superior products, but the standards they’ve pushed for and established have also made it difficult for other players to enter. If we wanted to say that the federated nature of email is dead, I think that’s a fair argument still.

Hosting your own email server is quite difficult. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to land in anyone’s mailbox without assistance. If you want to make a mailing list, you basically need to use a mailing service, lest you get blacklisted by major systems owned by MS and Google. Much of this is a byproduct of spam, by which I don’t blame Google and MS for doing their best to protect against, but at the same time they have more or less neutered some core aspects of what made email accessible.

It sounds to me like your brother may have just taken the wrong approach. Perhaps involving that sister less by means of active participation, but just exposing her to the creative process and using her as a consultant may have improved that outcome. I don’t figure you or your brother are expecting advice, but generally I find that it’s best not to try and dominate someone else’s interest as a means to involve them. Otherwise they may end up feeling dissatisfied or not immersed enough in the game itself.

The toughest part about enjoying TTRPGs is finding a DM that lets you exercise your variety of creativity. If your only experience is with your brother as a DM, it could be you just don’t necessarily vibe with his style of doing so.

Not knowing this was a literal, brewing at home community, I spent too long looking at the jolly ranchers and wondering how this fit into some form of TTRPG homebrew campaign.

Hope your strange distillate makes for a pleasant drink though!

Absolutely. Having such good UX is uncommon for these kinds of projects since its most contributors are going to be focused on reverse engineering tasks. It’s not to say that good UX isn’t associated with good programming, but it’s not terribly common that a project focused on reverse engineering puts effort into front-end development.

Dolphin is such a well fleshed out emulation monster that I’m consistently disappointed with other emulators that don’t let me tweak things quite to the same degree. I can’t tell if it’s just the nature of Nintendo’s console architecture from that era, or if there simply isn’t the same degree of effort/priority put into exposing those kinds of features in other emulators.