#and not a smartphone

[goatsorcery]

im so done with seeing articles about kids and screen time that doesnt mention parent behaviors even once. “kids are always on their phones” so are the parents! which the kids look to for how they should behave! ipad babies didn’t chose to only play on their ipads, thats what their parents gave them!

an anecdotal example: when i was a kid, all my parents would do in their minimal free time was watch tv and then they would be surprised when in my sister and i’s minimal free time we would also only watch tv/play video games. they scolded us for not reading books, but they never read books. they scolded us for not going outside but they never went outside.

“kids are always on their damn phones” my mom is in her 60s and opens up candy crush anytime she’s sitting — it isnt just the kids

[chargetheintruder]

I'm Back.

Let's see . . . nope, I didn't die, my laptop did though, and I nearly did, and had to do some surgery? And then therapy to get my head on a little bit straighter? That's it, the shortest version.

Oh, so you want details? More of those below the break.

It started the week of January 10th, into the 11th. Comcast was having a data breach. And somehow, between them and Google? You know, the company openly PROMISING to update and protect Chromebooks through 2026, and Samsung devices in particular, through 2028? Those guys?

Somehow, a virus got through and knocked out the Wi-Fi. At first I thought it was the cable room's problem, that's how bad it was. Nope, it wasn't that and Comcast swore up, down and sideways that it wasn't their router at all (*eyerolls*). So I did what any Chrome person does and did a Powerwash, and . . .

Somehow, restoring everything to FACTORY DEFAULT didn't restore the ability of my device to find or use Wi-Fi. Yeah.

Then from mid-January to mid-February, my life wasted away as I tried three times, over three weeks (so no, not stalking) to contact my out-of-state best friends in hand-written snail mail through the Postal Service. I was living off of stuff from the vending machines and shredding old pants I didn't wear any more to use as backup-backup-BACKUP toilet paper of LAST resort. (not flushing it but otherwise, you know).

Either NONE of the three letters went through at all (which means the USPS wasn't doing its job) or my friends gave up on me.

THEN, on the 18th of February, late night, into the morning of the 19th, the bane of my existence, my bladder/prostate issues, got too severe. I was down to the last 2 to 3 percent of my urinary function again, couldn't pee or poo to save my life, and was in blinding pain. I had to decided: die in my apartment, surrounded by enemies or die in the hospital surrounded by "professionals."

I chose the latter, nearly died in blinding, howling agony anyway, then had people torture me for an hour-plus trying to put a catheter in me (the first 3 times without ANY anesthetic, mind you, and the 4th with only a numbing gel) before finally deciding I needed it done surgically. One surgery (WITH anesthetic, thank goodness), a cystoscopy, a urethral stent and a Foley implant later, and well, yes, I still had to fight DAILY to have any time to recovery from SURGERY in this hospital, and still had to fight for a pen and paper to write things down with so I could try to arrange for a safer place for me to recover than the public housing mess I'm stuck with now.

So you know, I did what I had to do: get released after the 6th day in the hospital to the local Respite Center to also get titrated on something for the depression while my body tried to heal up (or kill me four more times with pain issues in multiple places). Good times, (sarcasm), and I had to ask for a third week in a two week program to get anything done. Like a new State ID and/or a free "government phone to get back on the internet with. And well . . .

I have the temporary ID, will get a real one sent to me in about a week, and the phone? It came with a bad SIM card and is useless, so far, as a phone. But with a LOT of struggle (tiny screen, bad eyes and big fingertips) I was able to get online and pay some bills, and thanks to the money I had "saved" from not being online at all for 2 months, I was able to start the "pay bills, hurt, then die" cycle over again with a newish Samsung Chromebook. Because the smartphone sucks? Yeah. :-p

And yeah, this includes a bladder infection (taking care of that) and having the Foley implant swapped out manually for a new one (the nurse I saw at the Urology department Wednesday was good, and so was the stent at keeping me from feeling much). Things are weird right now, my body's still in more than occasional pain, and It's bad that I've lost my besties of more than 15 years . . .

But I'm still around for people to pick on, I guess. (*shrugs*)

[silvermoon424]

This is a subject that really interests me because I (28 years old) had computer classes in grade school where learning how to efficiently type was a big focus. As a result I have a very high WPM (words per minute) count and am an excellent touch typer.

However, I've heard that they started phasing out computer classes in a lot of schools because it's assumed that kids/teenagers already know how to use a computer in this day and age. But smartphones are more popular than computers now, and as result a lot of Gen Z/Gen Alpha kids are able to text very quickly but their typing skills aren't as good.

[reebmiester]

For a commission, Alfred the Dadler

[jonnywaistcoat]

4 in the morning (or as we call it "Poster's Noon") is usually when I decide it's a good idea to open the gently burning tire fire that is my Tumblr asks. It is the night that gives me the inspiration to reply and the fatigue that gives me the courage to hit "post".

[haliibugg]

when vincent eventually gets his phone i hope they give him one of those coffin shaped cases to go with it

[calista-222]

drowning selfie :)!

[scipunk]

Rotary Un-Smartphone

[jadagul]

Nothing makes me more viscerally sympathetic to the "corporations decide what products people are going to want regardless of what people actually want" argument than the fact that all phones are giant tablets with no buttons. No one is making anything else, so everyone "has" to want one of those.

Except.

I really did care about this issue, so I looked into the details, and that's exactly backwards. When Motorola killed the Droid line of phones with slide-out keyboards, I went and read an interview with the product director. And he was like "yeah, I loved that feature, I really liked those phones, but we just couldn't get people to buy them."

And similarly, I'm always upset that no one is making reasonable-sized (under five inches) phones any more. But the thing is, when they do make those they can't sell them. For a long time Apple hung on with the mini line, which was the only thing that ever tempted me to do business with Apple. But they're discontinuing it because they just can't sell enough of them to justify keeping that line open—even though they have a total monopoly on the market for "small decent-quality smartphones".

These are both cases where the corporations keep trying to create demand for exactly the products I want. And it doesn't take because people authentically, organically, do not want them.

[tomohirosibuyahappyanimals]

Smartphone Screen Replacement

[copperbadge]

I frequently wake up in the night, usually around 1am, after which I'm awake for an hour or two before going back to bed until 4 or 5 am. (Supposedly this is a medieval custom called Second Sleep but I haven't fact checked that.) I usually don't post because usually I try not to get on my phone, but I got sucked in by Southwest advertising cheap flights while I was looking for some white noise audio to fall asleep to.

On the one hand, I'm so efficient that between midnight and two in the morning I booked a solo trip in June to Nashville, including lodging, a three day touring agenda, and hip restaurants to try.

On the other hand, I should probably not have access to travel planning tools at two in the morning.

Well, it's all refundable, so I guess if it's still a good idea in the Real Morning I won't regret it and if I do, all I've spent was time staring at a map of Nashville and planning my angle of attack.

[nerdpoe]

Pretend Lover AU

So Sam's parents blackmail her into seducing a Wayne boy (or girl! We aren't heathens, Samantha, just so long as it's a Wayne!) And are monitoring her to male sure she's actively trying.

If she doesn't they've managed to get their hands on...something, idk what, that they'll break or expose or something.

Sam really, reallllllly doesn't want to do this.

Tucker really, reallllllllllly does. He wants to flirt with the Wayne Boys and girl. He has his eyes on a specific someone. He is putting himself Out There For A Relationship <3.

So Sam and Danny team up. Every single date or rendezvous that her parents arrange, Danny's right there to scare off the Wayne boy and play the jealous lover. He even borrowed Johnny13s bike!

He glows his eyes a little, bends some metal, shows some fang; its way more fun than it has any right to be.

Problem.

Now the Wayne's are convinced Sam's in an emotionally abusive relationship with a meta villain, and her parents comments on the Fenton boy are Not Helping.

[uncanny-tranny]

It is my sincerest and unironic belief that we must invest in preserving "old technology." The more we move to a hegemonic, easily-surveilled way of living, the worse we will find this world to be.

Letters, public phones and transport, cash, and so much more are key to ensuring both freedom of movement and information, but also to combat the surveillance state. We need to preserve the ability to both access the world but also to be untraceable. I truly hope more people start to recognize this. It isn't about nostalgia for the past. It is about ensuring that we are actually afforded freedom, from the richest person to the person who lives on the sidewalk.

[fruitiermetrostation]

Samsung S7550 Blue Earth (2009)

[dashing-through-ecto]

Wes accusing Danny of being Phantom after the inf-map incident

Danny: Are you on something, Wes? Phantom's been around since at least ancient Greece times and you and me have been in the same middelschool. My mom has a million baby pictures of me. I'm clearly a growing, living human child. Not some immortal ghost boy that is some odd 2000 years old.

*shows Wes several pictures of old murals from all throughout history that clearly depicted Phantom doing ghostly shit*

Wes:

After long deliberation I've decided to place this into the Shitpost Comic category and consequently it's Masterpost.

-> Shitpost Comic Masterpost

[incognitopolls]

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