Pirata

I kinda get it for people who want to compartmentalise their email.

I personally have 1 email I only use for banks and other important logins, and then a second one that is a bit more general use.

Do you think people are buying it, though?

I've never seen so much cynicism against all things controlled media as I see today.

Were you using it with their custom OS, or did you try to install something else like Linux Mint?

bought with my own money and has crackling audio due to hardware not software issues. Works fine through an audio interface but the speakers sound like ass.

If its any consolidation my HP Envy, which is a normal consumer laptop that comes with windows, had that same crackling noise if I hold it at a weird angle.

I should have sent it back as well, but frankly that's just the state of the market RN. Companies don't give a f, even large ones.

I understand we are sliding in that direction. My point is, once there, its harder to keep that regime alive.

How many people are okay with what Israel is doing? Or Russia? Or (now) the US? Despite the propaganda and censoring all over the internet, not many. Most people aren't buying it.

Ah, the threatened oligarchy is at it again. I'm sure its purely a coincidence and not at all a retaliation for people abandoning big tech en masse.

This is basically it. It is just harder to run a fascist oligarchy these days. People are way too connected and are sympathetic to other people from other countries. The propaganda can only go so far.

Oh, understood. Dumb me, lol.

So, aren't there security risks associated with using Betterbird?

Aren't you concerned that the development is in the hands of just one guy?

I understand your view. It's just, I don't see what other choice they have/had.

Search engine backends are remarkably scarce, and very expensive to run. And if you're trying to build a front-end search engine today, you're pretty much limited to:

• Google (US)
• Bing (US)
• Baidu (China)
• Sogou (China)
• Mojeek (UK)
• Yandex (Russia)

Between these choices, and before the US decided to become a fascist state, realistically which of these engines made more sense to pick? Being honest. US tech has always been seen as trustworthy and the golden standard for all things tech, until very recently.

Sure, they could also use metasearch engines, but those are remarkably consumer-UNfriendly and would require tweaking beyond the capabilities of the common tech company.

The only thing I cannot explain here is why they didn't use Mojeek as their backend, and here we can only speculate..

Maybe it would have made Ecosia financially inviable if they had to pay for their API. Maybe they were concerned Mojeek's finances were too uninspiring compared to the colossal capacities that Google/Microsoft have.

Or maybe they thought people didn't want to have a radically different experience in results from what they are used to, and so decided to basically just give these two platforms a green makeover and promise to plant some trees. I don't know.

My point is, I wouldn't necessarily hold it against them. If anything, I am glad they agreed to join forces with Qwant in building a true EU-based search engine. Its sad that it took us so long to realise we need the basic infrastructure that other big economies have, but I suppose better late than ever.

I'm optimistic.

BREAKING NEWS: "CIA unveils China's plot to just sit back and relax while the US diamantles itself."