Tip: Always write over things you don’t want seen in the same color they were originally written in, if you can’t completely redact it. This fucks with our brain’s ability to distinguish a pattern, which is all reading really is anyway.

Good on you for calling your Mom.

What they mean is normally when something isn’t being paid for, you are the actual product. It’s why people should never use free password managers, for instance.

Proton may be unique in that the free tier might actually be exactly what it says it is: A product for you. Not a product OF you.

I’m already interested. Anywhere I can get more information that is not on Proton’s website?

Good luck. It wasn’t a post, it was a top level comment and I have a dim memory of it only being slightly related to the post topic.

@PixelOrange@lemmy.world got it mostly right from my research, though their backgrounds will still have that bar. If you use a black, or near black, background, especially one not at your native resolution, that gradient will be most noticeable. Using other backgrounds that do not have a black strip along the top you might still be able to see it if you squint.

For those of you curious: Change your background to a solid black from the background menu in settings, or grab something similar elsewhere. Then crank your brightness up. Chances are it’ll be there for you too if you’re not running a third party launcher.

I haven’t found a way to turn it off in native yet.

Alright… you’d be surprised how often a power button isn’t pressed, or tower/monitor is not plugged in. Sometimes the fix is the simplest possible solution.

Having worked in tech, though not as familiar with phones, I want to ask a question no one else has, which may be silly of me:

It’s not a background, is it?

I did say “some serious and not serious suggestions”. :P

There are lots of great answers here so I want to post something entirely silly and much much more recent:

About 8-9 years ago someone on Reddit transcribed and revised the entirety of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven to instead be about an Emu.

For the life of me I have never been able to find it again.

Dude, stop getting defensive. Most people aren’t trying to directly belittle you, they’re offering suggestions. It’s okay to take them at pace, my dude. You are allowed to say “I wasn’t able to pick it up due to some long term complications. Man though, dat price. Woo.”

Some serious and not serious suggestions: You could call to order and pay over the phone and then request someone bring it out and place it in the trunk. You could put a couple masks on which will filter a decent portion of the smell. Walk backwards into the wind while carrying it. If your daughter is old enough and you trust her, perhaps she could have gotten it.

There are options. You posted this to point out and complain about the pricing, then get defensive when others point out how to make it cheaper. Most of us are reasonably sure you didn’t apply a coupon, for instance. Did you consider calling and asking if they could wrap the box in plastic wrap to mostly eliminate the smell, and apologize while explaining why? All we got is “Pizza smell too strong. Daughter picky. So pricy.” We get you have an issue and that is shitty though like of course people will offer ways to deal.

That said, I am sorry you’re going through a difficult time. It’s clear we aren’t aware of everything you’ve had to give up. I hope it gets better.

I just fired up Donkey Kong Country recently after lowkey bragging about how I knew all the secrets, despite playing it last years ago. Partner was like, “Aight. Show.”

“Kay”

And to my surprise I still remember where everything is and breezed past all except one level so far.

And you all know which fucking level that was.

I feel combining this with @PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca likely creates a fairly accurate sense for the place.

India is, well…despite their historical advances in medicine and continued strong cultural fascination with academia, at some point they became nothing but call centers, distribution points, and scam centers. There is certainly more to India, though when I think of hacking, I think of China and Russia. When I think of scams, unfortunately India is top of the list.

I’ve dealt with my share of PC issues and apart from digging in and writing scripts, I’m an advanced end user. One time le tired IT guy needed to remote in for some issue I didn’t have appropriate access to deal with. He seemed rather startled when I opened notepad and said “Hi!”

I also swear I began to get more difficult to recognize fake phishing attempts shortly after.

Dave, if you’re reading this you never caught me with one! Gotta try harder!

Just saying, it may be wise to engage in acts of patience given the risk of the current climate. Hold him accountable after we get over the current hurdle. Like, keep it in your back pocket. We should hold advantages where we can and come together. That’s all. A sorta strategic focus to eliminate issues one at a time without dividing energy or people. Because I think the larger opinion is the same, we just differ on what to focus on first.

If you want Joe to win, I’d probably stop using that label for awhile. Make it easier to, y’know, do that thing.

I loved it when my local giant ISP kept pushing broadband connections, saying they couldn’t possibly deal with costs associated with Fiber. Then they begged money from the Government to install infrastructure. Queue absolutely not work in my area. Fast forward a few years, a new ISP rolls in with Fiber and like magic my ISP was suddenly able to provide similar services.

I’ll say this: Grabbed a free month of Prime through Google Play. Went to cancel it before it charged me again and I had so much trouble figuring out how I decided that I couldn’t be the only one and ended up Googling it.

You couldn’t quit in the Google Play Store. It wasn’t even listed.

It wasn’t any form of subscription or listed as a membership on Amazon.

You couldn’t end it by following QR codes or links supplied to you on Amazon itself.

It wasn’t in your Amazon profile or Google profile.

The ONLY WAY to cancel it was by scanning the QR code, following the link, clicking on a “Contact Support” button, clicking on another button under “Help Topics” that said, “How to end your Prime Membership”, and finally you were taken to a page where you could actually end it. Obfuscated like a motherfucker.

There is a place nearby where you can buy 5 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese for $5. Used to be a box for $.50-75.

When your next stubbed toe could require you to sell an organ, cheap Kraft seems perfect.

He’s not earned my vote, he just hasn’t lost it because of the potential loss we may suffer at the hands of the current GOP. I believe that Biden has done quite a bit. He also seems oddly stubborn regarding Gaza, which is obviously a pretty big mistake. However, I foresee an entire world negatively impacted by Trump becoming President once again. Yeah, I heavily dislike feeling forced to vote for Biden over someone else. Yet I have seen Biden roll over on many issues and take many positive steps. At least with him there seems to be a way forward where we will still be able to voice our concerns and where the people within our borders who are not white and others who are not straight don’t have to fear for their lives or their freedom.

With Biden in for a second term we will have something we desperately need now that we seem to have finally begun coming together to some degree: Time. With Trump there is a real possibility that Gaza will become lower on everyone’s list as people we consider friends, family, and neighbors are targeted. It isn’t that the terrible situation in Gaza isn’t important. I just recognize it’s being used to divide us and risks us falling into the trap of dictatorship.

Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers.

Get something so bad that everyone comes together to make fun of it, making the night more fun in general.