I was raised in a somewhat homophobic household. One of my friend groups throughout high school was pretty densely LGBT, and so I grew. Exposure was all it really took.

I used to hate when Avatar: The Last Airbender aired. The episodes felt like they lasted forever, and I had no interest in anything that was going on. I finally finished watching it about a year ago, and it is one of my favorite shows to date.

The thing is, this shouldn’t really be a problem.

I am still against where all this age verification crap is coming from, and I’m against what specifically “age verification” entails; but here’s the thing: We keep saying, “It should be the parent’s responsibility to secure their kids”—and while that’s true, you can do all the talking and educating you want, but the fact is that the internet is now nigh-fully integrated with our lives, and unless you are surveilling your kid at every moment they are on the internet (don’t recommend), not every parent has the time, resources, or know-how to keep their children safe on the internet without help.

So to play naive for a moment and ignore the well-understood reality that “child safety” is an atom-thick veil for mass surveillance: Why did we give up so fast on device parental controls? The info being stored on the OS / user settings actually isn’t so bad of an idea if the implementation valued both safety and privacy. Upon setting up the device or account, it is the parent’s responsibility to create a password or biometric or whatever to activate/deactivate the safety mode. No personal information required. It should be pretty easy. Are there technically ways for the kid to get around this? Yes, but that’d be breaking the trust. In the same way you’d deal with your kid sneaking out of the house, you deal with that separately. The existence of websites that don’t perform the check is inevitable no matter what you do.

And if you don’t believe your kid needs a safety lock on the internet, then that’s your prerogative.

It’s apparent that many parents need a more convenient tool available to them, but privacy doesn’t need to be compromised in order to achieve a safer internet. I got lazy while writing this, and I’m sure that’s clear in some spots, but I’m just gonna post it. There’s possibly something huge that I’m overlooking, so I’ll just let someone else point it out.

Sure! I don’t really care what people use, I’d just like to see more of it. It’s also on me to be part of the change I want to see, because I have my domain and everything, but I haven’t given myself the time to set up my site how I want.

Neocities and just generally when it was cool for everyone to have their own personal website rather than having profiles on the major platforms.

Should be easier than ever today.

Controversial becomes a goal post for some people. Aiming to have ___ opinions with any adjective other than ones relating to how that opinion is formed (well thought-out, logical, hasty (bad for a different reason)) makes for some of the most vulnerable people among humanity.

I said it very recently, and I’ll say it again. People obsess way too fucking much over labels. Labels are a conversational tool meant to briefly describe something. The more you use them to determine how you should act, the more bogus you are. There are a couple exceptions, but aside from children in the developmental stages where labels play a massive role (I’m not a psychologist, someone correct me here if I’m off base), these are always™ because how you are perceived is fundamental to said label, e.g. hero, leader, representative. Please note that I’m not saying labels are never useful.

I’m open to debate on this.

“Mog” is the funniest word this generation has come up with. I don’t use it, but I must admit that I chuckle nearly every time I hear it used.

I played Warframe for about 3 years before I realized it was my favorite game ever. As in I was 12 when I started playing, and at the time, it was just what I had. It wasn’t until I got my first personal gaming laptop and began playing on there that I realized how much I liked it, and started engaging in the community more.

JoeAAverage, if you’re out there: Thanks, man. It may have seemed like a small gift at the time—especially for an already 3-year player—but now, 11 years in, I still can’t be certain that I would’ve realized how cool of a game I had in my hands had you not gifted me that Limbo set. Limbo may be forgotten by DE, and I may not play him much anymore, but he will always be my favorite frame.

Starfield only reinforced my aversion to pre-ordering.

I had about $100 set aside to pre-order the deluxe edition of Starfield when orders went available, but around that same time, a similarly priced, new limited-time premium cosmetic pack was announced for Warframe, and they did one of those things where “and it’s out RIGHT NOW!” (we typically know at least a couple months in advance before something drops), so I, without hesitation, redirected those funds to the Warframe item and did not order Starfield.

Still one of the best decisions I’ve made. Starfield, even had it delivered on all its promises, was just not the game I was looking for. I pledged for a Star Citizen ship two months later.

WE BELONG TOGETHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaAAAAAaaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaaaooooooouugghh

Do whatever the hell you want at home, but

1. I’m not visiting your house.
2. I’m not eating anything you cook.
3. I’m cutting off anyone from my personal life who does this beyond their own walls.

DuckDuckGo.

Like others have said, there’s really no getting around that Google has the best search engine from a functional standpoint. So I use DuckDuckGo for my personal reasons, but if I’m dissatisfied with the results, I will open up a “private” browser and do a Google search.

Edit: I’ll add that this doesn’t happen very often. The last time I had to do this was maybe a month and some change ago.

I dreamt of Titanfall the night before it was announced.

More precisely, I dreamt of Halo, but you piloted humanoid mech suits.

Did I just dream of slightly altered Halo 4? NO. DON’T RUIN THIS FOR ME.

Significantly less than I did right after the Great Migration.

What’s your takeaway from this lizard?

Yeah, I was alright with it in the 60s.

For people still in their working days, I’d agree with you. Every 30 year old really should know how to use a computer at an at least basic level.

My grandparents, however, have had a life full of working for a world that wanted to give them as little as possible. My grandmother wants to relax, and my grandfather wants to keep busy how he wants to work. I think they’ve earned however they want to live, whether that’s with or without learning how to use a computer well. It’s really not harming anyone.

I will give my grandma credit, though. She’s not resistant to learning how to use her phone—she just doesn’t need all of it, and she’s not gonna fully understand that which she doesn’t need. My grandfather is pretty resistant, though. That’s just how he is. The phone is the least of our worries.

To put it plainly, I couldn’t muster a single shit if Facebook ceased to exist.

Actually, I’d celebrate. The web can survive without being commercialized. It’d look much different, for sure. That’s the point.

Edit: I’m not saying this isn’t a super idealized fantasy that will never happen. I’m just saying I’d partake in that fantasy.

Define “they,” and you might answer your own concerns.

“Mental illness creates great art.”

Haven’t picked back up consistently learning Japanese in like 8 years, but it’s a joy to feel the progress of learning such a vastly different language. I know enough Spanish that it’d be a waste to spend this gift on it.

I guess the most tactical option for me that’s still interesting would be Arabic, because while I love the idea of knowing it, I don’t think I’ll ever give myself the time to learn it.