Was using DDG browser for awhile after Firefox. Started recently using Safari Privacy mode plus Wipr, an ad blocking extension, one time fee but the developer is privacy focused. Ad block test gets 100 score vs 70 on DDG or Firefox. Other peeps mention already but all browsers are just front ends for Safari on iOS, as far as I understand.

I totally feel the GAS issue, (lol that sounds bad). In high school and college I totally got away with a budget setup like you described: cheap guitar, used amp, laptop, a couple of effects pedals, some cables and I was in solid shape. I recorded A LOT! Hell, some of my best work was done with that budget setup. Audio quality wasn’t the best but it didn’t matter to me, just for fun.

As soon as I got out of college and had more than two nickels to rub together, my gear setup had gotten out of hand. Multiple guitars, amps, midi controllers, mixing boards, usb interfaces, studio monitors, full pedal boards, multiple mics, electric drum kit, cables cables cables. Just insane, thousands of dollars. I still do plenty of recording and playing but not nearly as much as my budget days. Some truth to less is more I guess. I have so many toys I don’t know what to do with my hands.

The upside to having more gear is I can host karaoke at parties, jam sessions can be recorded live in very high quality rather than relying on cheap hand recorders, and my own records are much higher quality. Plus, lots of toys, so I can never be bored.

I will say though, I much prefer a minimal setup. It keeps everything tight. It’s very hard to avoid all the novelty of having new toys to play with. But it’s true, playing guitar can be a very cheap hobby!

Yeah, I’m getting ready to stop scrolling “All”. It’s becoming more depressing than Reddit or Facebook ever was. US Presidential Election year rage bait is back in full swing I guess and Lemmy isn’t immune. I might lean more back into my hobbies, personal projects, and games while keeping my news feeds on a weekly review.

I just dipped my feet in Vim yesterday, I found it not intuitive at all. :wq! To exit a read only file? I’m too dumb to think of syntax like that!

I remember when the algorithms started sorting by engagement rather than chronologically. I quickly came up with a workaround to keep my feed the way it was, but, eventually that workaround was removed. I still checked the website occasionally but noticed the overall tone becoming less vane, over sharing, people using it like journals and selfie bombing to more angry, rage filled, posting news articles, boomer cartoons and jpeg fuzzy memes. It took a major turn after 2016 elections in US. Instagram was my go to after that but in about a year or so the same sequence of bs started happening. Haven’t really engaged with either service since 2020 save for occasional things to check a couple times a month.

I definitely went down the rabbit hole after reading the article posted, which was very well compiled. Their testing and reviews are very high quality and it looks like they can apply their test results to multiple curated use cases. Their tests also seem repeatable, which is important for this niche. To branch out, they would have to build out very specific testing environments, which is not a small investment, depending on what they are testing. If I ever need an air purifier, I know where to look now I guess. Like some say, if your going to do something, focus on doing one thing and do it well.

And while CL also has scammers, I find it a more pleasant experience than FB marketplace.

I don’t know if it was VPN or using uBo but the last time I tried viewing content on my Linux setup all I saw was the whoa there pardner page.

Always leaving out the rare Rankine

Funny, the one nearest to me and where I grew up are broken. This is such a neat tool!