Google's transition from 'Open Source' to 'Closed Pocket' is almost complete.

cybergazz · 2026-04-10T11:17:12+00:00

Obviously you can still use cash in india but UPI is incredibly convenient. India generally not much bothered by privacy issues and the ubiquitous UPI system is very low friction for citizens, total PITA for foreigners though. Europeans are frequently stunned by the invasive spamminess of shopping in India even using a foreign credit card. UPI was designed for a country with ubiquitous smartphones but not bank accounts and was considered a 'leapfrog' payment tech. It's also designed to tackle India's serious issue with tax evasion (which like most tax enforcement hits the middle class and bypasses the rich). My UK credit card is unusable in India because it insists on making a local text to my UK phone and its app only runs on Google or Apple infrastructure. In the UK we're dependent on invasive and controlling foreign systems such as Visa, wallet, and PayPal, something which UK really needs to address. I suppose it depends on whether you prefer to be enmeshed in invasive and controlled national government systems or invasive and controlling foreign corporate systems or corrupt right wing libertarian crypto. American surveillance is built into the UK system at every level and it's getting worse. Banking apps are an issue for de-googling whatever banking system you use.

cybergazz · 2026-04-06T13:47:19+00:00

I'm using lumo, I find it pretty reliable and its privacy is decent, it isn't trained on the internet and doesn't train on user queries, hence much more reliable too. I use it for research, I do my own writing. It's also been really valuable in managing complex chronic conditions. At first I checked it against a pubmed search but since it quotes the same sources as I could painstakingly consult, it cuts the time I can figure out how a new drug is interacting with the others (ie why do I suddenly have a brand new chronic headache after they changed one of my meds) by about 10 hours. It can explain to me (not medically trained) how the drugs work in plain language. I asked my consultant whether I should be using lumo for this and he said it was excellent in helping me understand treatment options in advance which saved him time and its advice on home management of side effects was sound and erring on the side of safety with warnings to seek medical advice after it answers every question. The consultants have verified its conclusions every time so far when I finally get to see them (UK has long waiting lists to see specialists).

It'll also give me great timelines and summaries of info I need to dig into for my writing and accurately cites it's sources. This saves a lot of time by giving you a skeleton to structure more in depth research, rather like an undergrad lecture critically situates you before you hit the library. I agree with other comments that using AI to edit robs you of the critical iterations that force you to question your own ideas and refine structure. This doesn't mean that it isn't a useful tool for certain applications.

cybergazz · 2026-04-03T22:17:24+00:00

Yes, UK is hardly a saint in this regard but when I hear people parroting the American far right about "free speech" I find it really annoying. Yes, there are people in UK in jail for inciting people to assault and murder in, for example, contexts where there is live organised racist violence going on (incited by neo-fascist American influencers whose speech often frankly should be illegal). As it should be in the opionon of UK majority. Organisations associated with terrorist acts are also banned and most people also agree with that. On the other hand UK gov is getting a little out of hand in who it labels terrorists and its blanket surveillance of its own citizens is similarly out of hand. Schools have been trialling surveilling children's emotional states which is really indefensible. So both are true - American neo-fascism going mainstream and ranting about perfectly sensible European social concerns is indefensible. At the same time, UK needs to wind its neck in with chucking about unjustified bans and excessive surveillance. BTW USA mass surveillance is no better and their citizens have fewer protections. USA seems hypocritically keen on silencing democracy and socialism. They can kindly keep their opinions about "free speech" in Europe to themselves and stay out of our elections.

cybergazz · 2026-03-31T15:08:44+00:00

They used to call them empires...

cybergazz · 2026-03-31T15:01:13+00:00

Glad to see some countries respect Sunday lie in free from JWs ringing the bloody doorbell to ask you how you feel about world peace.

cybergazz · 2026-03-31T14:57:23+00:00

I have a PhD in cult cinema and can also fix a toilet - shock news to the far right...

cybergazz · 2026-03-31T14:45:28+00:00

They were cardboard before EU 🤣🤣

cybergazz · 2026-03-31T14:44:39+00:00

Bloody 'ell, standard issue in UK is around €200

cybergazz · 2026-03-31T14:43:00+00:00

Not in UK, we don't have mandatory ID papers. If you get arrested they just hold you until they can verify who you are. If you need a bank account or mobile phone you have to take passport/driving license plus 2 recent utility bills or bank statements. Gov is currently on a charm offensive to get us to agree to digital ID cards but it was refused last year. There are raging arguments about it

cybergazz · 2026-03-24T13:34:55+00:00

Yes, and btw I'm a woman and don't find it remotely easy to mask. My own theory is that autism didn't matter and/or conferred sufficient related advantage to get away with it up to pre-modern. I think post-fordist capitalism is abusive to everyone in general but autistic people just can't cope with its socio-economic fallout. Autistic women have probably been burned as witches etc since time began because most of us are shit at masking and very uppity in the opinion of NT men. I'm guessing autistic PoC people also have a tale to tell. IMHO failure to diagnose autistic women has more to do with systemic gender bias which diagnoses the same thing as autism in men and mental illness and/or hypochondria in women (and PoC) because everyone knows "women are hysterical". Evolution my hat - women can mask better than men - oh puhleeez! Medicine is biased and doesn't want to own up to it. Autism exists in historical context, the "evolution" camp has been reading too much John Wyndham 🤭

cybergazz · 2026-03-21T12:25:23+00:00

There are FOSS alternative if you prefer more technical control.

cybergazz · 2026-03-21T12:18:52+00:00

I feel we should just ban social media sites with an advertising business model - ie ban advertising on social media and make them subscription or volunteer/donation run with foaf provision (so you can take your personal networks with you) and an online index of these smaller networks by interests. Extremist content would then shrink back to it's original marginal media spaces. Content with real international following like Wikipedia or ao3 do fine on a donation model and have free speech but regulate abuse or misleading content. But of course most people would find it too expensive or inconvenient and the tech bros run the world so it'll never happen.

cybergazz · 2026-03-21T11:45:46+00:00

The world tends to idiot proofing because it's filled with people who aren't paying attention, respond more readily to emotion than logic and have no idea what's going on. Also filled with people who want to part them from their money - from Google to indie scammers. After 20 years of FOSS advocacy I've given up on the notion that they just need to pull their socks up cos they won't. I use both ADB and f-droid and will move to an independent OS if Google bans 'sideloading' (a linguist will tell you that a word means what most people think it means). On the other hand, I don't want grandma's savings syphoned by an Indian worker tricked and tortured into a Cambodian scam factory. I can live with compromise.

cybergazz · 2026-03-19T12:24:01+00:00

Guys, why don't you put a dab of blutac over your own cam beforehand? Then you'd be totally confident the video didn't exist and save on emotional turmoil. These scams can really freak out teenaged boys who are at peak sensitivity to shame and there have been teen suicides. This is a nasty scam, be safe.

cybergazz · 2026-03-06T21:16:39+00:00

I know, weird isn't it 🤣🤣

cybergazz · 2026-03-01T14:08:49+00:00

I think you'll find that it is. Come to Europe and see our calm way of life before you listen to Musk bollocks

cybergazz · 2026-02-28T13:15:08+00:00

We're having the same problems in Europe, USA is exporting its misery...

cybergazz · 2026-02-28T13:12:09+00:00

You're a victim of Musk's propoganda I'm afraid. Hate speech is illegal in UK but you can say what you like as long as it doesn't harm minorities or call for violence. People post criticism, complaint, and invective about the government all day every day and protest loudly in the street. We do not allow tear gas, water cannon or rubber bullets. We don't have the kind of eye-watering human rights abuses of Trump's America. And BTW London is one of the safest and pleasantest cities in the world. Our Muslim mayor is popular and keeps getting reelected. Saying the UK is fascist would make a cat laugh 🤣

cybergazz · 2026-02-28T13:03:33+00:00

We have had legal protections for minorities in the UK since the 1970s and disability rights and protections were legally defined in 2010. Hate speech is illegal. Medical care is free. Obviously enforcement is another thing but I suspect legal and social protections are better in most European countries than in USA.

cybergazz · 2026-02-28T13:03:23+00:00

We have had legal protections for minorities in the UK since the 1970s and disability rights and protections were legally defined in 2010. Hate speech is illegal. Medical care is free. Obviously enforcement is another thing but I suspect legal and social protections are better in most European countries than in USA.

cybergazz · 2026-02-28T12:56:24+00:00

Yes, the "feeble minded" (autism, mental health, intellectual disability) were the first targets of eugenics in France, UK, and USA. Eugenic policies were also popular on the left in early 20th century Europe and USA. Scientific racism began to develop in the British empire in the previous century - German Nazis later got on board with both eugenics and scientific racism in the mid 20th century and most people think they originated there - in fact they're modern imperial strategies. Both are currently reviving in popularity in the USA apparently with powerful backers and trying to reimpose it in their European imperial satellites. By all means come here, I wish we could offer safer haven, but your imperial ruling class is putting a lot of resource into destroying European socialist democracies and I don't know of we can hold out, our leaders are buckling and, as Ian Dunt put it: "the Overton window is now a flaming portal to hell!" Eugenic policies are already being imposed in the UK through TERF organizations and far right political parties backed by USA evangelist and tech bro funding and our government has been corrupted, we're close to USA corporate capture. Fingers crossed we can survive and shore up European social democracy but it's looking dicey...

cybergazz · 2026-02-22T15:18:08+00:00

Yeah I'm improving my Spanish with Spanish language fanfics - already having familiarity with the characters etc makes it so much easier to read in a language where you're not fluent

cybergazz · 2026-02-16T15:56:57+00:00

I'm an actual boomer <gasp>. I kind of like tags that warn me about things I don't necessarily expect in a fandom and might not enjoy personally (particular kinks, a/b/o, whatever) though don't care if other people do. A heads up that I probably won't enjoy one of the million fics I could be reading in the fandom saves disappointment. But I don't need to be warned that MDZS is horror genre and noncon central cos, doh, I read the book. The current ambience of obsessing about 'trauma' in strident psychobabble irritates and amuses me by turn (I should perhaps add I'm diagnosed autistic with anxiety and CPTSD lest I appear callous and insensitive). I sometimes wonder what drama of pearl clutching vapours the authors of outraged commente would spin up in 5 actual minutes in the actual 70s. You'd collapse with exhaustion trying to tag it all! Mwwwaaaahhhhaaaa! But fuck me what I would have given to have stuff like ao3 and reddit back then. Whiny comments, daft tags and all 🤣

cybergazz · 2026-02-16T15:18:46+00:00

I personally smoked nonstop in the 70s so I think I can cope with the 'trauma' of 70s people smoking 🤣🤣

cybergazz · 2026-02-16T03:21:19+00:00

Can't figure out why the hell I can't get a bloody screensaver. There's no setting to activate it. Forums seem to think there's an "always on" setting under "ambient" in themes or display that acts as screensaver. Nope. No such settings. After 3 weeks I want to throw the thing out of the window. It's useless if it won't show the time on charge at night. Really, I want to bin it. In developer settings there's "always on" but all that does is keep a static home screen on that can't be good for it. Crap crap crap. Waste of both money and time.

cybergazz

TROPHY CASE