I think you got it. “Let me show you my collection of assorted lengths of wire.”

I don’t want to top that. And I’m so sorry you had to go through that.

Every technology shift creates winners and losers.

There’s already documented harm from algorithms making callous biased decisions that ruin people’s lives - an example is automated insurance claim rejections.

We know that AI is going to bring algorithmic decisions into many new places where it can do harm. AI adoption is currently on track to get to those places well before the most important harm reduction solutions are mature.

We should take care that we do not gaslight people who will be harmed by this trend, by telling them they are better off.

I built an MSI file once.

I love asking,

“What sick fuck thought this was an acceptable solution?”

And a few moments later:

“Oh. It was me.”

Thanks for that mental image… Dancing Bear.

Amazon - the logistics company - is just a front end for (and leech on) various drop shippers, lately, anyway.

Amazon used to carry quality guarantees, and have meaningful reviews, but lately the wild West crapshoot of the rest of the web is just as good.

(And at least on the rest of the web I have some idea who I’m buying from, and can avoid them after a bad experience. On Amazon, it got to where there was no way I could tell.)

Thank you. My big question from this list was “WTF is a Shenmue?”

Controlling people’s media experience to push political propaganda that helps powerful people and harms individuals - that seems really shitty.

I can’t think of any app developer or political party who would do that.

(This is an attempt at surrealist humor.)

I’m sure they will grow out of it, by the time they turn 21

(This is intended as an amusing reference to DOGE’s habit of hiring surprisingly young professionals.)

Oh, that makes sense. Local multiplayer on SteamDeck can still be pretty rubbish, so I probably just didn’t notice.

I will warn that some of the Lego games are rather buggy on PC.

I had the same issues on my Windows PC. But they run great on my SteamDeck.

I would welcome a utility that makes it easy to find donate links for my software packages, based on my Apt, Flatpak, and F-Droid package lists.

I’m a developer, so my chances are pretty good. But I take your point.

Even if I weren’t, there’s enough software options out there that I don’t have to pick between paying for proprietary software and living with abandonware.

So I think the need for this security is exaggerated.

Of course. I used proprietary software for a long time. Having things I relied on get abandoned got old, but it worked.

I just expect more from most of my software, now.

It’s funny that Ouya’s brand recognition is so infamous that no additional explanation is needed.

I’m happy to pay for software, but I want more than just permission, I want long term security that my investment in the tool will last.

If IntelliJ would open source their oldest versions, I would make my boss buy me a copy of the newest version every year.

And to every other bidder, too, of course.

I wondered, since you sounded like you already had researched the situation. That sucks.

Oof. I guess Windows 10 will have to do then.

Since I would want someone to mention to me, if I was being jerked around by Microsoft while just wanting to enjoy my Steam library:

You’ll be surprised how much of your Steam library runs (with minimal effort) on Bazzite Linux and it’s probably less hassle to install than doing a Windows downgrade.

Another tip I haven’t seen yet:

• It varies by client, but Markdown generally works, here.

• Spoiler tags seem to still be a separate extension from regular Markdown.

• Many of us try to be more careful to include ALT Text with images, as it supports both blind users, and anyone whose server is just being slow to load images:

Example of Image with Alt text in Markdown:

![alt text](/path/to/img.jpg "Title")