Excuse me? Are you trying to say that side-loaded apps are more free of ads than those in app stores? What motivates a developer to release an ad-free side loaded app while refusing to submit it to (or failing to get it approved in) an app store?

How is this specifically an iPad issue and not an app developer issue?

I’d like to know, because I don’t have a Google device or account, how the Google Play Store is superior to the Apple App Store when it comes to ad or subscription supported software.

I’ve owned many iPads. To claim you can’t use it without a subscription service is ridiculous. Yes, you need an Apple ID to download apps from the App Store but that doesn’t cost anything (just like a Google account).

You’re comparing two electronic devices that are ten years apart from each other. Of fucking course the new one is going to be better. If you think a Galaxy tablet is great, you should really try a new iPad.

I mean, you’re just coming off sounding like an Apple-hater and someone who hasn’t ever actually owned an iPad. Maybe even a bot.

Dopamine.

I wish I had half your optimism.

first results on Google

That’s your first problem. Higher ranked results on Google are either ads or “reputable” organizations (corporations). Google isn’t there to help you, it’s to help them.

Does Foxit no longer have a free PDF editor? Apple computers have a built in PDF editor. I mean, it depends on what you mean by “editor” though. If you want to manipulate the elements of a PDF, that’s obviously an advanced function. Yeah. It’s called capitalism. womp womp.

You might find some useful tools here. It’s mostly a list of self-hosted tools but there’s some web tools there too. https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted?tab=readme-ov-file#software

This might be helpful for what you’ve described https://www.photopea.com/ and you can try searching https://alternativeto.net/ for alternatives.

Generally, it just seems like you need to work on your skills to search the internet for what you need. AI is very helpful but not 100% reliable.

If you want to learn how to drive safely, automatic.
If you want to have fun while driving, manual.

A manual transmission requires more of your attention. It connects you to the car and the road. It gives you more control over your gas mileage and torque. Forget about texting and driving.
My first few cars were automatic. I bought a car with manual transmission when I was about 20 years old. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to drive it and an hour to become proficient.

If I were a father, I would mandate my kid to drive automatic. People on the road are dangerous and there’s far too many distractions. Learn how to drive first. That means learning how to deal with your environment and making quick decisions.

At first glance, I feel like your in parentheses statements maybe should not be left beneath the surface.

I would have trade my iPhone 16 for this just for the smaller camera but the lack of MagSafe is preventing that. Oh well :(

Synthwave sent me down the path of Vaporwave > Chillwave > Darkwave. There’s a not-unrelated genre called Mallsoft. Somehow that got me into Library Music. I found a lot of music on Bandcamp and archive.org. You can get downloads of full albums and discographies for a few dollars, name your price, or for free.

If you’re looking to do a deeper dive, the genre and sub genres are largely credited with being kicked off by Macintosh Plus - Floral Shoppe in 2011.

I listen to this stuff all day long while I’m working at home. My vaporware playlist is literally 7 days long (2350 songs). Here’s some of my picks.

https://interloperecords.bandcamp.com/album/--7

https://9rhythm9.bandcamp.com/album/kmart

https://dreytnien.bandcamp.com/album/silicon-reality

https://obliqueoccasions.bandcamp.com/album/v1

https://obliqueoccasions.bandcamp.com/album/remnants

https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/palm-mall

https://catsystemcorp.bandcamp.com/album/sunday-television-2

More Links
https://archive.org/search?query=synthwave
https://archive.org/search?query=vaporwave
https://archive.org/search?query=mallsoft

I’ve actually been rewatching some episodes of All In The Family airing on Pluto TV. It’s remarkable (1) how little has changed and (2) how we’ve lost such great quality television over the past forty years.

The Republican agenda for over 50 years has been to eliminate federal agencies. Reagan was overwhelmingly elected and he campaigned on closing Carter’s recently created department of education.

If it’s not explicitly in the constitution, they believe it should be operated by the states or by a corporation. It’s not about “why do they want to close it”, it’s “why should this exist” - especially when (they think) a corporation could do it better. Bonus: corporations make money and you can invest in them to make money for yourself.

Generally, the idea is a very small federal government and more sovereignty for each state. It’s easy to misunderstand this when conservatives are also calling for federal restrictions on health and freedoms. Don’t fool yourself to believe there’s consistency in politics.

The world was very different two hundred and fifty years ago. Our lives, commerce, and opinions are no longer impeded by state boundaries. The reason for this country to exist still remains but the context has changed. Anyone holding conservative ideas is, intentionally or not, holding this country back.

Moreover, if you think this administration gives a shit about anyone but themselves and corporations, you my sweet innocent child are truly out of the loop.

Again, going back to Reagan, Americans have been convinced that the government is bad and enriching corporations is good. Trickle down economics is still by and large considered good for workers. You give tax breaks to the billionaires and corporations and, in theory, they can employ more people. Of course we know now that trickle down economics has been a failure and that enriching the poor and middle class is best for the entire economy.

The United States is a failure. It came close but it doesn’t scale. We need a new Constitution and Bill of Rights that more explicitly outlines the responsibility of the federal government and what The People can trust it to do for them. If you want a truly Democratic Republic, we also need to make election day a holiday, fund election campaigns strictly through taxpayer dollars, and implement ranked choice or STAR voting. Footnote - the new constitution would have to explicitly say election campaigns are an exception to any free speech clause because fuck Citizen’s United.

The “in general” part of your statement is doing a lot of work here. It’s a bit more complicated.

It’s absolutely true that many manufacturers are using cheaper materials and near-slave wage labor to make clothing. Industry, in general, has changed dramatically in the past 10-15 years as we’re seeing a flood of low cost garment makers who can ship direct to consumers at a fraction of what we’re used to paying for clothes. There’s a substantial portion of the industry (Shein, et al) that’s putting out ultra trendy clothing for tens of dollars.

There’s also still good quality brands out there but their stuff costs more than the cheap(ly made) stuff. Most consumers don’t see or understand the value in spending more today for something that will last more than five years. Especially in regard to fashion; trends and styles change so why would you want to wear something more than five years. Also, a lot of people do not know how to properly care for their clothing.

Consumers have greatly benefitted from certain international trade regulations at the expense of quality materials and craftsmanship and unfair wages. Speaking on behalf of Americans, the costs of our goods would be noticeably higher without the legislation passed during the Reagan and Clinton administrations. You could also argue we’d be able to afford it if the jobs remained in this country and we were being paid fair wages.

I’d argue that WAGES are what have been enshittified more than anything else. People are making less money today than they did 30 years ago.

For reference, I looked up Levis 501 Jeans from 1996 and today.
1996 - $37.99 | 2025 - $79.50

If I run this through the inflation calculator, $38 in 1996 is worth $75.97 today.

Now, if you convert $50k, that should equal $100k today. I have my doubts that a job that paid $50k in 1996 is paying $100k today. I’m not sure about my math / source but it appears to me that the median hourly wage in 1996 was $18.94 and in 2024 $24.75. Adjusted for inflation, it should be $37.99 today.

At first I thought you were advocating for stocking up on Dr Pepper - ,wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too’

Yep https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2007701/uk-gold-shortage-london-donald-trump

You’re absolutely right. It can be difficult navigating this world, even with best intentions and sharpest of minds.

No one said anything about proper.

I answered the questions posed. I didn’t add any other context or inject my feelings into it. If you want to have a discussion about the ramifications of this person being elected, that’s another conversation. I’d be happy to engage with that and I’m sure you and I would be in agreement.

That’s a bit concerning that you have this fact mistaken.

Trump: 77,168,458 49.9%
Harris: 74,749,891 48.3%

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-ELECTION/RESULTS/zjpqnemxwvx/president/

Because we’ve been lead to believe brainwashed to believe that consumerism solves everything.

Advertising, influencers, and what we’ve declared the meaning of “success” to mean all tell us that we must own and collect and covet in order to feel whole.

We’ve attributed less value to those who choose to give and educate and heal over those who hoard and enslave and control.

Because we’ve lost sight of the value of community and instead use consumerism as a way to relate to one another. Because there are powerful forces creating narratives to divide us and despise one another.

Humans struggle to survive without socializing. When you’re no longer able or have the opportunity to trust and respect your neighbor, you seek other opportunities to relate and communicate with others.

We’ve leaned on isolationism and the internet to create communities. These communities or tribes aren’t built on hyper-localism or the common experiences gained over time and environment but on ideas, passions, and hobbies. They may fulfill a portion of our human desires but they aren’t whole.

We struggle more to belong to something these days. Sometimes we join religions or cults. Sometimes we use social media and post on forums. Sometimes we collect things or we do our hair or makeup or dress a certain way. We want to belong with others.

We want to find community where we no longer have it.

What has God done for you lately?

You’ve asked two different questions.

1. Why don’t the democratic voters actually riot

• First, riots are illegal. I think you mean protest.
• Protest what? He was just elected president. A bit more than the majority of the electorate made this choice so we all have to deal with it. It’s called democracy.
• He ran a relatively transparent campaign. So far, all he’s done is sign executive orders we all knew he was going to do. A majority of Americans voted for these actions.

2. Why are the journalist bending over to Musk?

• Why aren’t they calling his nazi salute a nazi solute? Fear.
• I read an article saying Jon Stewart was the only one the mentioned Musk’s salute. I watched the segment and, while he did mention it, he did not call it a nazi salute. He tried to, in Jon’s funny way, make an excuse for what he was doing.
• I suspect there are legal reasons for not calling this a nazi salute. Likely defamation.
• There’s also people / organizations (like the ADL) who, for whatever reason, need to be kept in the good grace’s of these powerful people or who need to maintain their seat at one table or another.

By constantly asking “why”. Certainly, by asking why something is popular and ponder that for as long as needed until you come to a reasonable conclusion.

You may never conclude why some things are the way they are but by keeping this in mind, you’ll pick up the habit of thinking independently.

Actually, one of the things I’m always wondering is how I became an independent thinker. I have a hard time understanding how so many people are so gullible and what I can do to help them.

I can’t help by attributing my independent thinking to being somewhat isolated and poor as a child. I’m self sufficient and reject most things that are popular.

I also worked in advertising as a graphic artist for a few years. It became apparent that I am not cut out for thinking like everyone else. Advertising still annoys the heck out of me.