Like so many things, they only seem expensive until you try to make your own.

It’s an important life skill, being able to plant a thought in the mind of another and in a way that is likely to be accepted.

It crossed my mind since my last writing that, in the 80s, I got a money back guarantee for any counter-surveillance equipment purchased that didn’t reveal surveillance equipment in a Fortune 100 facility. It was that pervasive back then. And my perception is that morals and business ethics have not improved in the interim. Far from it.

Good luck and thanks for the valuable, respectful input.

Points well made and taken, thanks. No hostility perceived at all.

Reasonable minds can differ and frequently do. And it could be that people may think my suggestion is unrealistic or even silly.

There’s no shortage of miscreants out there who just like to mess with things, thrown wrenches into spokes, etc. And these types could well be behind the daily local issues.

But here’s an important point, and no offense intended. Corporations are like The Terminator. But instead of getting Sarah Connor, they purse profits. And regardless of CEO intelligence or accumen, every Fortune 500 company has a department that deals in these areas. They all have their skunk works and use them. It’s been this way for centuries. A primer: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_espionage

So whether they’re operating here atm or not, there is nothing paranoid about assuming they are. If they’re not, they will be. It’s what they do.

Thanks for the input. :)

Every account they lose hits them in the pocketbook. The bigger the fediverse gets, the more adherents, the greater the momentum it will have and the harder it will be to stop.

Nipping it in the bud is the best, easiest, and least expensive place to nip it.

The downvotes suggest their operatives are reading the comments.

I wonder if the owners of deddit, fb, tweetster, et al, might think it financially worthwhile to cause disruption in the fediverse, and even its ultimate failure.

The discomboulator is that the changes could have been had without need of a scapegoat.

It took a shocking amount of arrogance and contempt for the builders of that playground (the ‘little people’ who made this all possible) to so badly foul such a simple thing.

And opening the mouth only to change feet.

Extraordinary failure. One for the history books.

I volunteer admin my own public service gig elsewhere, >10 years x 365 days. It requires some diligence to try and prevent scammers and fraud - there’s a bit more at stake than just memes. It don’t pay much, but it’s honest work.jpg

I appreciate that people keep up the groups I follow just for amusement. And I’m definitely not looking to put those mods out of a job. I know it’s work, and I appreciate those who do it.

I’ve wondered since the grumbling started why people weren’t establishing their subs elsewhere, even if just a place holder.

I have an ethical conundrum. There were a couple subs I liked. I didn’t like spaz’ off-putting move. But when I learned of deddit’s treatment of a mod, I’d seen enough.

I moved here and setup a landing place for the members of one sub to land. It was not ‘my’ sub. I didn’t start or mod it. But I wanted it to continue. Not much has happened with it. And the founder, whom I DMed, hasn’t come over afaik.

Another sub I liked was still dark when I left, and can’t find any indication of it restarting elsewhere.

I don’t want to step on toes or steal anybody’s sub or the credit due. I also don’t want those groups to die.

What’s The Right Thing to DO?

I left, deleted my account and any comments of value. The place is dead to me. It’s incomprehensible why people are still there being butthurt about it. They haven’t been kidnapped. There’s no guy at the door with a gun who’s suggesting they not leave.

There’s nothing new, no surprises. Abusive people, who treat others poorly (spoiler!), will abuse and treat people poorly. Why hang with that?

It’s like they’re addicted to the free buffet. But the only thing being served lately is shit sandwiches.

Well… bon apetit ya diehards.

A sucker’s born every minute.

“I’m sorry I hit you baby. I won’t do it again. And this is a chance for us to reflect on why you deserved it.”

Okay!

Good ol’ Elon… delivering the coup de grâce.

Is Pipe operating like a VPN, scrubbing viewer data from Youtube?

It’s the recognition that counts. :)

They’re TRYING to make a sale, here. Do you mind?

https://lemmy.world/post/1451554

I’ve sat at keyboards beside people studiously working their own. My presumption was that we were working on the same project. Then they have their AHA moment, and show me how they’ve hacked into our host machine.

They didn’t do it for money or to cause disruption. They did it to see if they could, and succeeding was reward enough. Then, happy as could be, they set off in pursuit of their next accomplishment.

Ya never know what’s going through others’ minds or what motivates them.

It’s well established that Rdeadit* doesn’t make foolish moves. /s

I’m not saying they’re behind this. I think they are not. But I’m not ruling them out because of their acumen.

During the event a message flashed on my screen, “This website has been seized by Rdeadit for copyright violation”. That suggested two things to me. Rdeadit didn’t write that. Whoever did write it doesn’t understand how a domain would legally be seized.

I crack me up.

ETA: Others often fail to see the humor.

I’ve reclaimed many a PC for folks like you described. So clogged with bloatware, trackers, adware, etc., that the machines could hardly run. Just excruciatingly slow experiences for their owners. Most folks don’t know anything about machines or software. Microsoft’s dominance illustrates the point.

Folks go ignorantly (no offense) where they’re told. They just don’t know better and get prayed upon as a result.

Every one of them knows things I don’t. It’s just that computers are a black box to them.