Libb

I was able to start doing my long daily walks every single day of the week again, after way too many weeks (months) being stuck at home with a wounded foot.

My bank offers both an app and a website which is nice, but the app is mandatory for doing any kind of operation involving money (which is not that uncommon when logged-in in your bank accounts ;) even when connecting through their website, as the app is used for some ID-ing process.

Then, there are a few not-mandatory but such-an-effing-pain-to-not-use apps, say to ID oneself with some (public) services.

I use a dumbed down iPhone (like, really: no social, no games, no whatever not even email is configured on it) just so I can access those few apps.

• Walking in the city (one of the + side of living in Paris, there are many nice spots where one can walk).
• Sketching and painting.
• Reading.
• Spend some quality time with my spouse (we probably will be cooking together tomorrow, it’s often a lot of fun ;).
• Watching some vids on YT. I’m not a gamer but I enjoy watching a selected few, am I the only one?

Can’t answer your question on a philosophical level but on an emotional/psychological level I would say that it’s the same computer as long as it feels like the same computer to me, say by using the same desktop environment on the screen, and the same case, keyboard and mouse and if all parts have slowly been upgraded along the years not all at the same time as I would think that would create a kind of interruption in my relation to this PC.

To make a comparison, I bought my first SSD many, many years ago (to give you an idea, it was back when PATA still ruled). This SSD was tiny, it cost me an arm and a leg, and was not even that fast but even though I used it in the exact same computer I used with a classic HDD, the upgraded machine felt so incredibly much more responsive and so snappy that for me it was a new computer, and also a whole new experience.

Since that day, I’ve owned a few other machines, all SSD-based obviously, but never felt such a radical rupture while upgrading or even replacing a machine, no matter the CPU, ram or whatever else was new or better in it.

Beside my daily long walks, I have been sketching, painting, writing and journaling. I have fixed an old headset too (need to desolder a wire). Also I’ve been wasting too much time on YT.

Regarding YT, am I the only one that, even though I don’t play those games myself (I know about them I have even tested a couple of them but I simply don’t play them), I enjoy watching some gamers on YT just because I appreciate their sense of humour and the ambiance?

OK, there aren’t that much gamers I like to watch but I don’t know, isn’t it a bit odd?

I started reading ‘The Country of the Pointed Firs’ by Sarah Orne Jewett. And I love it.

I never heard of that author before, only opening this book because an author whose work I appreciate a lot said his own appreciation for her. So far, I only had time to read the first four chapters but I think I can safely say I was already hooked after the first few paragraphs.

BTW, the book and a few others of hers are freely available on the Project Gutenberg, if you don’t mind reading ebooks: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/202

That’s no red slug. That’s a timid but exhibitionist snail ;)

The same reason I care about a working democracy. You can’t have one without the other.

Thx a lot, much appreciated :)

I am going to quote myself here:

Allow me to quote myself too, then:

That’s not the point.

I do not disagree with your remarks (I do not use Telegram), I simply consider it’s not the point or that it should not be.

Obviously, laws should be enforced. What those laws are and how they are used to erode some stuff that were considered fundamental rights not so long ago is the sole issue, once again, im(v)ho ;)

Well, except Telegram isn’t a good tool for privacy.

That’s not the point. The hunting down on tools and their creators (and on our right to privacy) is the issue here. At least, imho.

Cardiologist this Saturday, Dentist on Sunday because my dentist likes to work on Sundays while, oddly enough, I have no favorite day to go visit her :p — more seriously, she is real good I’m lucky to be one of her patients.

Beside that, reading, writing, spend time with my spouse. Maybe watch a DVD and, hopefully, keep on watching an online course at the Collège de France.

Edit: not much going out and no walking either this WE, like the previous days, since I’ve broken my foot — and I can tell you that not walking is really starting to become frustrating.

Sketching, reading, writing, listening to music… not going out for a walk (because of a broken foot) and the, oh so incredibly exciting reinstallation of my Mac on a new and larger thunderbolt SSD.

Reinstalling macOS has become so slow and such a pain (even more so on an external disc), in comparison with older Mac and compared to reinstalling a Linux system. Luckily, I had a good book to read while I waited for macOS to reinstall itself :p

I would constantly log them out of all their social and turn off their phone — what a naughty ghost would I be :p

You mean, something like this? https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions

This. We have not owned a TV since the very early 00s, when we realized they wanted us to pay in order to watch… ads. More and more of them.

it’s not that uncommon, What you call role reversing is quite normal for many persons and is no reversal at all.

Just don’t fall for the trap of thinking people need to be this or that, depending their gender. More often than not, people are a mix. Which make them so much more interesting to meet and learn to know. Imho ;)

My spouse (we’re both 50+ and have been together for 25 years) is assertive and not the romantic kind (if you want to get slapped in the face try offering her flowers) but I am romantic (like, really) and ,yep, I do like flowers (I’m the one buying flowers to decorate our place). It happens I’m also as assertive as she is and we both have or had jobs with lots of responsibilities — ‘had’, because in my case I retired a few years ago from that job and decided to live a much simpler life, whereas my wife still works for a large corporation and still works with a small army of people).

Then, next to that, there is also the more or less extreme version of… let’s call it ‘gender role reversal’ for lack of a better word whereas one should in reality understand a ‘gender cliché reversal’. Where the supposed ‘male figure’ will be a dominant woman and the ‘feminine one’ will be a weak/gentle/soft male. More often than not, it will err on the side of fetishism eroticism and, that should not be a surprise, there is also a lot of erotica/sex business around that kind of role ‘reversal’ for the obvious reason that it sells. Which means that enough people are into it to make it a profitable business… much more people (male and female) than will dare to admit it ;)

So, what do you think? Have you seen relationships like this in the wild? Have you known about these dynamics, or are they unfamiliar to you? I’d like to know your thoughts!

If I could give you an advice iy would be to go meet different kind of people. Imho, it would help you realize men are not just ‘male’ and harsh and women are not just ‘soft’ and romantic.

Those fantasies not only showed me how wonderful a relationship would feel, but also that I myself would want to be very affectionate and adaptive to my partner’s needs, not just my own.

Isn’t it what a (working) relationship is supposed to be for both parties in a couple? Be affectionate and attentive to the other’s needs not just one’s own?

Don’t be afraid of your ‘fantasy’. Imho, don’t be afraid to not call it a fantasy. The moment you try to meet people for who they are and not who you want them to be you will be surprised how… rich (and understanding) some of them can be. Not all of them.

For the last two days lots of Mozart, and also Pink Floyd.

If you’re interested, I’d be open to DMing about privacy and security. I would like to learn more about your situation and your threat model and what measures you’ve taken

Not sure to understand your question, my situation is nothing special. I’m a dude that cares about what I consider a fundamental human right, as essential as is/should be the freedom of expression: privacy. A right I certainly don’t want to see thrown away for a few already very rich people to be able to make even more crazy profit, nor in the name of convenience (including my own) not even for my own ‘security’ or well-being, for that matter.

Is there anything in what I wrote that made you believe my situation was somewhat special?

As for the ‘measures’ I have taken. I try to be careful & lucid when I use any app/services/device and I do as much as I possibly can without using them at all, aka offline and the analog or IRL way, which is not that hard for me as I often work much better using analog tools.

If you have any specific question feel free to PM me, I can’t promise you an answer but at the very least I will let you know I’ve read it and can’t answer it.

Like did we forget about the whole “respect other people’s opinions” thing?

I cant say if we have forgotten it or not, but it sure looks like we don’t want to hear about it very much.

It’s all turned binary (pun intended): you’re with us or you’re against us, either you’re good or you’re evil (and then, you deserve to be eliminated). Which is as saddening as it is is… stupid.