I only buy hardware that can operate without a cloud service but most normies can’t host a service on their own network so the SaaS based cloud services are definitely here to stay.

Okay so let’s accept the premise of this post for a minute: “Both major political parties in the US are equally bad.”

What am I supposed to do now? What action can I take to facilitate change?

I’d argue that this is a perspective that simply isn’t helpful even if true. I think it’s an excuse to tune out instead of getting engaged. I think it’s an excuse to wish for a better future instead of putting in the real work it takes to make systemic changes that can actually improve people’s lives. It’s a perspective that encourages doing nothing because ‘nothing matters anyway’.

I suppose I don’t see that as a productive perspective? You’re not offering any solutions or actions to take to enact the change you want to see besides doing nothing until we collectively figure out how to have a revolution.

The system is flawed. Maybe you’re right that it is fundamentally broken and cannot be reformed but disengaging from voting only supports the status quo and those that are already in power. I think it’s worth it to vote for candidates that share some of the same values as me even if they aren’t perfect while continuing to put political pressure on leaders that are not serving the public effectively. I would vote for someone one day and join a protest against them the next day, I do not see that as a contradiction. That is just being civically engaged.

Also I know I’m probably coming in hot here but I’m truly not mad or upset. I think these are the sorts of conversations on Lemmy that are really great and hard to have in other settings. I appreciate your thoughtful responses. It seems like we’re pretty aligned on what the problems are. I’m very open to solutions that don’t involve harming others but if you aren’t a voter I’d strongly encourage you to consider voting, though I agree that voting alone will not solve every problem.

Yeah, probably an unfair take on my part to chalk it up to age instead of emotional maturity.

Nihilism is just so unproductive. I used to think that attitudes like that were such a smart and obvious response to the absurd state of the world but it’s just an excuse to not engage with reality or accept personal responsibility.

I’ve never realized how young everyone on Lemmy must be until I came across this thread.

“Just get a different job.” and “Both parties are bad.” are exactly the useless nihilistic asshole attitudes I had about things when I was about half my current age.

I suppose I’m open to suggestions?

I understand what you’re getting at but I don’t know what kind of answer you want here. Are you suggesting that violence is the only way to achieve change? Are you suggesting that third party candidates could win a national election and then eliminate the two-party system? Are you suggesting that electing more Republicans will result in a political future that offers more power to voters to choose their own government? Do you think that electing fascists will accelerate the collapse of the state and then a more progressive ideology will rise from the ashes? Are you just cool with what the Republican party looks like right now and the way that they govern?

Do I need to specify that I’m not saying you should vote for every Democrat no matter what and that you really should consider candidates as individuals?

I guess I see the Democratic party as a deeply flawed party (with abysmally out of touch leadership) that needs serious reform and I see the Republican party as a cult of christofascist fucks that need to be defeated before they completely erode individual rights and entrench their own power for generations.

So yes. I get the contradiction in saying “You should vote for one of the two parties in order to create a political landscape where it is possible to one day move beyond the two-party system”. Partisanship makes everything harder. But if you really think both parties are the same and that it doesn’t matter which one you pick then I don’t know what to tell you.

No I completely get the problem there. It’s going to be really hard to get electoral reform if there are no longer elections. So my focus is on preserving Democratic institutions long enough that maybe we can improve them. Obviously party leaders have no interest in seeing changes that threaten the duopoly, but there are Democrats (particularly at the state level) who have been open to reforms like rank choice voting.

If suddenly Republicans stop attacking the rule of law, checks and balances, gerrymandering districts, overriding voters, and coddling white nationalists then maybe their party would be capable of enacting positive change as well.

If you have some secret third choice that can change the system without bloodshed or voting for one of the two parties I’m all ears. If you’re going to tell me to vote third party then I’d like you to show me how you think a third party candidate can win the presidency because that’s never happened and it’s never even been close.

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Obama taking no action to dismantle the surveillance state was my biggest problem with his administration. It was so obvious how that surveillance would be abused were it ever to get in the hands of a President with authoritarian tendencies.

And here we are.

Now they’ve fully eroded the 4th amendment and will use that knowledge to eradicate the 1st.

Wake on LAN. At least that’s what I do. I can turn on the TV and adjust the volume from Home Assistant but the TV itself can’t reach the Internet.

Thank you. Funny enough it looks like I’ve already watched both of those videos last time I was looking into this. I’m comfortable soldering but it was yet another barrier to me actually making a purchase.

I’ll check out Dreame, I have not heard much about them.

I’ve had two Neato’s in the past and I really miss having one but I now live in a split-level house and the convenience factor drops down a lot when you have to carry it between floors all the time rather than just coming home to a freshly cleaned carpet.

I did specify that he is a legal resident and not a citizen.

How was your experience rooting it?

I’ve been really wanting a Roborock for a while but I saw that changes starting on I think their S6 model made rooting it much more difficult and required a pretty extensive disassembly process.

I’m pretty comfortable with electronics teardowns but the thought of having to fully disassemble my brand new device to root it made me decide to wait a little and see how things shake out. I haven’t looked into it seriously for maybe a year or so though so I don’t know what has changed.

When I got my first robot vacuum I was too impatient to wait for the battery to fully charge before trying it out so when I started it up it was only able to clean a small area before it had to go back to charge. Very exciting though!

Anyway I went to bed not realizing that once it was fully charged it would resume cleaning. So approximately 1am the vacuum wakes back up and starts cleaning. In my sleep-addled delirious state I had absolutely no idea what the fuck was going on. Suddenly it sounded like there was a jet engine in my room and I couldn’t even tell where it was coming from until I jumped out of bed and there were red lights coming at me.

Saw my life flash before my eyes. Little fucker might as well have been a terminator.

Important to note here that the he has not been charged with a crime.

If a legal resident commits a crime there is a process to detain, try, sentence, and (potentially) deport them. It happens all the time. But that is not what is happening here. They arrested and detained an American without due process.

I go “Gray Man Theory” with my car and try to blend in as much as absolutely possible. I drive a popular reliable car in a popular color with a standard license plate and no stickers. I figure there is no reason to stand out and cars are some of the easiest ways to waste a ton of money.

I’ve genuinely considered putting a ‘Thin Blue Line’ flag or MAGA sticker on it just because it’d make cops in the area think of me as a friendly but I don’t think I could live with myself.

My mouse recently developed an issue that had me looking at potential replacements and again almost nothing currently available matches it or was even close.

I used the exact same Logitech MX518 mouse from ~2009 until ~2020. Then I went through one every 9 months or so until they succumbed to same problems with the scrollwheel failing until I finally had to stop buying their crap.

It’s frustrating that the last bastion of hope against total Google dominance of the browser market has no sense of direction at all and is constantly tripping over rakes.

At least if/when that happens all your files are in markdown, owned and controlled by you so migrating to another tool is pretty easy.