I use VPNs only a few times per year, hence why I'm not subscribed to any of them. But I had possibly the worst luck ever trying to use them, and at this point I’d rather just spend my time trying to not go through this nonsense.

I wanted to access a piece of content with a VPN. I won’t go into detail because that’s unimportant here. This is all the nonsense I went through before giving up.

1. Windows laptop, Proton VPN. I’d used this before successfully months ago, so I tried again. It. Just. Could. Not. Connect. I was left hanging for minutes on end.

2. Okay, let’s try on my Android phone. Still Proton VPN, same account. Was able to connect, but even though the server was nearby and at 54% load, NOTHING would load, not even an innocuous DDG search. I tried switching from WiFi to mobile data, and that did not help.

3. I have a backup VPN for cases like this, Tunnelbear. I know this isn’t the highest quality VPN but it’s served me well several years ago when Proton was overloaded. It also just could not connect, saying that my private DNS settings were bad. I switched from WiFi to mobile data, and still got the same error.

4. Now exasperated, I tried using the Mozilla VPN on my Linux desktop. After setting up a new account and going through the motions, I tried to connect and just got an error, with it slyly suggesting to try in a few minutes.

5. Tried Proton VPN on my phone one last time, and now it could not connect at all.

I then proceeded to give up and use a credit-card free trial to access the content. The entire process including cancelling the subscription took about 30 seconds. Trying – and failing – to troubleshoot the VPNs took more like 30 minutes.

Am I experiencing this trouble because I am trying to avoid paying for VPNs, or is it always this bad?

Edit: It turned out that the content wasn't what I actually needed and the paid site didn't have it. I ultimately caved and paid for a month of Mullvad VPN to get the singular piece of content, and it just worked. Maybe you can give me some ideas on what to do with my newfound power while it lasts.

A few years ago I made a city in Cities Skylines inspired by Linux distributions. There is the main, free island with (mostly) desktop Linux distributions and the smaller, crowded, and restrictive Android island with various Android ROMs. I've probably put over 200 hours into this city in the game. This is a long post, so buckle up.

There are ~90-95 districts in the city, each representing a distro or at least a specific desktop environment. Each district has a 2-digit code, with the first digit having a theme:

• 0x, 1x: Ubuntu and its direct derivatives
• 2x: Ubuntu derivatives, but with some "distance" from Canonical (Linux Mint, ElementaryOS), plus some miscellaneous distros
• 3x: Debian and its non-Ubuntu derivatives
• 4x: Fedora and its derivatives
• 5x: Arch and its derivatives (including SteamOS)
• 6x: Miscellaneous and lightweight distros (Slackware, OpenSUSE, Tiny Core, etc.)
• 7x: "Googled" Android ROMs
• 8x: Degoogled Android ROMs (half of them are probably dead, due to laws from the other parts of the island)
• 9x: "Advanced" Linux distros (ex. Kali, Alpine, NixOS, Gentoo, etc.)

Exceptions to the my first digit rule:

• 27: ChromeOS
• 69: Hannah Montana Linux
• 76: PopOS

There are some other general rules for districts in the city:

• Any major money-making distro corresponds to an industrial district (ex. RHEL, Ubuntu IoT, etc.)
• Districts near the coast correspond to more noob-friendly distros, and districts in the inner mountain regions correspond to more advanced distros.
• Dense districts correspond to distros used by many people, and this pattern continues to exurban or even rural districts.
• In general, the better the distro is, the more "desirable" its corresponding distict is to live in.

Yes, I purposely designed the Ubuntu district to be shaped like the Ubuntu logo and I think it's beautiful.

How to get around the city? There is lots of public transit, and highways for cars.

Let's start with the roads, because I named most of them. Small roads will be bullet-pointed, while large roads will have a picture with the name.

• North-South streets are numbered, from 1st Street (by the GeForce RTX Cliffs Park) to 95th Street (in SteamOS and on Atomic Island). This holds true on Android island.
• East-West roads are named based on the North-South position relative to the center of Ubuntu:
• South of the center of Ubuntu, they are named after the first word of the Ubuntu releases (from Edgy Eft to Noble Numbat)
• North of the center of Ubuntu on Linux island, they are named after the second word of the Ubuntu releases (from Edgy Eft to Kinetic Kudu).
• East-West roads on Android island are named after the Android desserts (from the made up Apple (lol) Street, to Tiramisu Street).
• There are some exceptions, especially in the center of larger districts. Send a reply if you have any questions about a particular road!

Here are pictures of each part of the city:

Ubuntu vicinity:

NE Linux Island:

SE Linux Island:

SW Linux Island:

NW Linux Island:

Android Island:

View from "Ubuntu Overlook":

Arch btw Park:

(I'm not even an Arch user but I think this is funny)

The backbone of the public transit are the train lines, named after the Big 4 motorcycle manufacturers (I'm into motorcycles lol) arranged similar topographically to a peace sign:

• Honda loop: Ubuntu, Debian, Raspbian, Linux Mint, PopOS
• Suzuki loop: Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSUSE, Fedora/Nobara, Manjaro, SteamOS
• Kawasaki loop: PopOS, Linux Mint, Raspbian, OpenSUSE, Fedora/Nobara, Manjaro, SteamOS, Stock Android, Airport
• Yamaha line (not loop): Debian, Ubuntu, Airport, Stock Android

Additionally, there are many bus lines, with the long-range ones named after Sheet Music Boss's RUSH songs. Note that the districts I mention are not the only stops, but just give a rundown of where the lines go.

• RUSH A: Ubuntu-AntiX-Arch-Manjaro-Bazzite
• RUSH B: KDE Neon-Kubuntu-Ubuntu-PopOS-Zorin-Linux Mint-ElementaryOS
• RUSH C: Airport-Ubuntu Kylin-Ubuntu-Xubuntu-Linux Mint-ElementaryOS
• RUSH C#: Ubuntu-Ubuntu Budgie-Deepin-MX Linux-Raspbian
• RUSH D: ChromeOS-Slackware-Lubuntu-Debian-Raspbian
• RUSH Eb: SteamOS-EndeavorOS-Arco-Arch-OpenSUSE-Kali
• RUSH E: SteamOS-Manjaro-Bazzite-Silverblue-Fedora
• RUSH F: Linux Mint-Debian-OpenSUSE-Rocky-CentOS-Fedora-Silverblue
• RUSH G: Airport-KDE Neon-Slackware-ChromeOS-Parabola-Northern and central SteamOS
• RUSH PIGGIES: Ubuntu-Ubuntu MATE-Debian-Raspbian-Kali-OpenSUSE-RHEL-Fedora
• RUSH ASTRONOMIA: Hannah Montana-Kubuntu-Lubuntu-Peppermint-Solus-Linux Mint-ElementaryOS
• RUSH ANKHA: ChromeOS-Slackware-Ubuntu-Xubuntu-Linux Lite-Linux Mint
• RUSH SKELETONS: ChromeOS-Gentoo-Puppy-Void-Arch-CentOS-Nobara-Fedora
• RUSH AREA 51: Slax-Slackware-ChromeOS-Garuda-EndeavorOS-Nobara-Fedora

Please note that some parts, especially on the west side, are still undeveloped as I have to wait for more residential demand.

Ironically, this city was fully made in Windows.

A few years ago I made a city in Cities Skylines inspired by Linux distributions. There is the main, free island with (mostly) desktop Linux distributions and the smaller, crowded, and restrictive Android island with various Android ROMs. I've probably put over 200 hours into this city in the game. This is a long post, so buckle up.

There are ~90-95 districts in the city, each representing a distro or at least a specific desktop environment. Each district has a 2-digit code, with the first digit having a theme:

• 0x, 1x: Ubuntu and its direct derivatives
• 2x: Ubuntu derivatives, but with some "distance" from Canonical (Linux Mint, ElementaryOS), plus some miscellaneous distros
• 3x: Debian and its non-Ubuntu derivatives
• 4x: Fedora and its derivatives
• 5x: Arch and its derivatives (including SteamOS)
• 6x: Miscellaneous and lightweight distros (Slackware, OpenSUSE, Tiny Core, etc.)
• 7x: "Googled" Android ROMs
• 8x: Degoogled Android ROMs (half of them are probably dead, due to laws from the other parts of the island)
• 9x: "Advanced" Linux distros (ex. Kali, Alpine, NixOS, Gentoo, etc.)

Exceptions to the my first digit rule:

• 27: ChromeOS
• 69: Hannah Montana Linux
• 76: PopOS

There are some other general rules for districts in the city:

• Any major money-making distro corresponds to an industrial district (ex. RHEL, Ubuntu IoT, etc.)
• Districts near the coast correspond to more noob-friendly distros, and districts in the inner mountain regions correspond to more advanced distros.
• Dense districts correspond to distros used by many people, and this pattern continues to exurban or even rural districts.
• In general, the better the distro is, the more "desirable" its corresponding distict is to live in.

Yes, I purposely designed the Ubuntu district to be shaped like the Ubuntu logo and I think it's beautiful.

How to get around the city? There is lots of public transit, and highways for cars.

Let's start with the roads, because I named most of them. Small roads will be bullet-pointed, while large roads will have a picture with the name.

• North-South streets are numbered, from 1st Street (by the GeForce RTX Cliffs Park) to 95th Street (in SteamOS and on Atomic Island). This holds true on Android island.
• East-West roads are named based on the North-South position relative to the center of Ubuntu:
• South of the center of Ubuntu, they are named after the first word of the Ubuntu releases (from Edgy Eft to Noble Numbat)
• North of the center of Ubuntu on Linux island, they are named after the second word of the Ubuntu releases (from Edgy Eft to Kinetic Kudu).
• East-West roads on Android island are named after the Android desserts (from the made up Apple (lol) Street, to Tiramisu Street).
• There are some exceptions, especially in the center of larger districts. Send a reply if you have any questions about a particular road!

Here are pictures of each part of the city:

Ubuntu vicinity:

NE Linux Island:

SE Linux Island:

SW Linux Island:

NW Linux Island:

Android Island:

View from "Ubuntu Overlook":

Arch btw Park:

(I'm not even an Arch user but I think this is funny)

The backbone of the public transit are the train lines, named after the Big 4 motorcycle manufacturers (I'm into motorcycles lol) arranged similar topographically to a peace sign:

• Honda loop: Ubuntu, Debian, Raspbian, Linux Mint, PopOS
• Suzuki loop: Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSUSE, Fedora/Nobara, Manjaro, SteamOS
• Kawasaki loop: PopOS, Linux Mint, Raspbian, OpenSUSE, Fedora/Nobara, Manjaro, SteamOS, Stock Android, Airport
• Yamaha line (not loop): Debian, Ubuntu, Airport, Stock Android

Additionally, there are many bus lines, with the long-range ones named after Sheet Music Boss's RUSH songs. Note that the districts I mention are not the only stops, but just give a rundown of where the lines go.

• RUSH A: Ubuntu-AntiX-Arch-Manjaro-Bazzite
• RUSH B: KDE Neon-Kubuntu-Ubuntu-PopOS-Zorin-Linux Mint-ElementaryOS
• RUSH C: Airport-Ubuntu Kylin-Ubuntu-Xubuntu-Linux Mint-ElementaryOS
• RUSH C#: Ubuntu-Ubuntu Budgie-Deepin-MX Linux-Raspbian
• RUSH D: ChromeOS-Slackware-Lubuntu-Debian-Raspbian
• RUSH Eb: SteamOS-EndeavorOS-Arco-Arch-OpenSUSE-Kali
• RUSH E: SteamOS-Manjaro-Bazzite-Silverblue-Fedora
• RUSH F: Linux Mint-Debian-OpenSUSE-Rocky-CentOS-Fedora-Silverblue
• RUSH G: Airport-KDE Neon-Slackware-ChromeOS-Parabola-Northern and central SteamOS
• RUSH PIGGIES: Ubuntu-Ubuntu MATE-Debian-Raspbian-Kali-OpenSUSE-RHEL-Fedora
• RUSH ASTRONOMIA: Hannah Montana-Kubuntu-Lubuntu-Peppermint-Solus-Linux Mint-ElementaryOS
• RUSH ANKHA: ChromeOS-Slackware-Ubuntu-Xubuntu-Linux Lite-Linux Mint
• RUSH SKELETONS: ChromeOS-Gentoo-Puppy-Void-Arch-CentOS-Nobara-Fedora
• RUSH AREA 51: Slax-Slackware-ChromeOS-Garuda-EndeavorOS-Nobara-Fedora

Please note that some parts, especially on the west side, are still undeveloped as I have to wait for more residential demand.

Ironically, this city was fully made in Windows.

I've always been dreaming of riding my motorcycle on a race track, free of speed limits and idiots in cars. And recently, I did so, thanks to the Total Control Advanced Rider Course.

They had us do various classroom exercises between the 6 20-minute track sessions. We learned about trail braking, proper body position, proper line selection, and suspension setup, among other things.

While on the track, the 1st session was about line selection, the 2nd session was about trail braking, the 3rd session was about body position, the 4th session was about practicing weaknesses, and for the last two sessions we could try to go as fast as we could.

We were split into 7 groups during the sessions, with group 1 being the fastest and group 7 being the slowest (many cruisers in that group). I started out in group 5 but I was more similarly paced to group 4. Some of my riding buddies came along and some were about the same speed or a little slower than me, but a couple were far faster and ended up lapping me while dragging knee. (I'm not at that point yet)

I've done my fair share of spirited street riding but the speed and adrenaline is dwarfed by that on the track. I had a couple sketchy moments, once where I rode over the painted line for track entry from the pit and the rear slipped quite a bit, and another where I was trying to make a pass then my line was blocked and I went wide and panic braked, entering into the grass at 35mph. I stayed calm and I did not go down, but gosh that was scary.

Overall, I had a lot of fun, learned and leaned a lot, and can't wait for my next track day. I'm just hoping it didn't ruin street riding forever. RIP my wallet.

I was just doing random stuff on my phone and went to click a button near the top right of the screen, and was mildly horrified to see "1%", so I immediately put it into the charger, where the phone promptly started showing "0%" for the next ~30 seconds. The phone never died.

Has this happened to any of you?

I've been experiencing this for a while now and it doesn't seem to appear anywhere else on other forums, so I'll post here. Even if this is unsolvable, it's good to get the issue posted somewhere.

Certain internet apps stop working randomly. When one app stops working, they all stop working. None of them crash, but they lose their functionality. The Internet still works, as I can browse the web just fine when these apps are broken. The only way to fix this is a full device reboot.

The apps include but are not limited to:

• Discord
• Jerboa for Lemmy
• Dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge)
• Certain banking apps (you know it's broken when it fails to show biometric login)

My phone is a Moto G Stylus 5G 2022, with the November 1, 2024 security patch of Android 13.

EDIT: I found another way to at least temporarily fix the issue after it happened a record 6 times in one day. Disabling (and optionally re-enabling) the DuckDuckGo app tracking protection. This is incredibly strange because the issue affects Jerboa for Lemmy which has no ads and trackers.

I could be exploring all the mechanics that Fulgora and Gleba have to offer. I've researched both planets and have a spaceship ready to take me there in a couple minutes. But nooooo... I instead want to utilize the insane scale of everything on Vulcanus to build rail networks to bring my SPM to the moon!

First, I want red, green, blue, and purple science to get unlimited mining productivity! But yellow science for enhanced military power sounds nice for medium demolishers, behemoth biters, and the Gleba enemies... And since I already have yellow science, I can easily expand to space science... And wait, I also can make Metallurgic science as well!

It's been a good 3500 miles with the GZ250, but I've been itching for more power and better cornering potential. Also, I somehow spent $1000 in maintenance in 10 months for a "beginner" bike. So, I sold my GZ250 to buy this crazy motorcycle. I always wanted a high-revving inline-3 engine, and this bike was a good deal.

What a difference it is! I went from being slower than 99% of cars on the road to faster than 99% of cars on the road. That and the difference in ergonomics make it feel like my first time riding again because I feel like a noob again.

It pulls so crazy hard in lower gears that I don't think I've ever gave it full throttle below 4th gear, and it sounds amazing doing so. And whenever I take a corner, I consistently underestimate just how much I can lean, so I go almost unsatisfyingly slow, and the bike seems to say, "c'mon, chicken. Believe in me. You could've gone way faster than that." I hope to do a track day to remedy this mismatch between me and my motorcycle.

This is the #1 reason why I don't buy Apple anymore. But if there was an easy private way, I'd be open to getting Apple products again.

I simply want to transfer files from my PC to my iPad without any companies collecting info about the files, such as legally acquired mp3 files that dumb corporations will think are pirated.

What are the ways to do this?

I've seen many instances of some software having DRM that significantly degrades the performance of the software, or worse, the performance of the entire OS due to heavy background tasks. Prime examples include Denuvo and all those Adobe background processes. Why can't they just simply use the TPM or the other 5 security chips embedded into the CPU so that they don't bloat the system?

YouTube link

This might be a bit different than what usually gets posted here but I found this on Nebula and its perhaps my favorite video I've seen on the platform yet. You can also watch it on YouTube (strangely YT didn't suggest it to me despite it being right up my alley).

I absolutely love this idea of trying to do long distance riding with little e-bikes and e-scooters, or basically anything on 2 (or just 1???) wheels.

I think of myself as technically inclined. I have installed Linux multiple times and have basic command line knowledge, and I've programmed in many languages, with the most experience making a static website game using HTML/CSS/JS.

Additionally, I own the superspruce.org domain (my registrar is Dynadot), but I don't really know how to wield the power of owning a domain. I also have some spare computers to be used for hosting, a 2009 laptop running Lubuntu and a 3900X+32GB RAM desktop other running KDE Neon, but I'm also open to experimenting with cloud hosting too (I know, sacrilege here).

However, I don't know much about the TCP/IP protocol or other networking protocols. I'm happy to learn, but the curve would need to start gently.

I would want to try hosting my websites, and also a personal non-federated Lemmy instance to serve as a archivable forum for my games. Even if it's not very useful, it's great experience.