No prob at all dude! I just wanted to add the additional context in case some other persons stumbled upon these comments, were confused, and so they can get some more information on different browser options out there. Candidly, I only learned about Mull vs Mullvad Browser this week when I was researching what non-chromium browser to switch to next.

Mull Browser != Mullvad Browser. Just to be clear. I’m adding this context because your reply was regarding a thread on Mullvad Browser, and you replied with details about Mull.

For anyone else reading this comment: Mull browser is from DivestOS and deprecated. Firefox fork. Mull was forked by the community into IronFox.

Mullvad Browser is still alive and kicking, developed by Mullvad the VPN provider. Developed in partnership with Tor Browser, also a fork of Firefox.

If you’re stuck with Windows for corporate-issued computers, the next time this happens you can abort shutdowns in Windows.

Command Prompt:

shutdown /a

Saved me several times over the years.

Me loading up A Link to the Past and still having a full memory of every palace, which areas are secrets, which walls make the satisfying clink clink clink, and how to get the Golden Master Sword without having to check GameFAQs:

“Hell yeah. Zelda, go put on your green tunic and let’s go save Link.

This is something I’ve thought about too. I have some rare items on old DVDs that should be preserved. I’d love to upload it to Archive.org, but I’m hesitant because I don’t know if personal identifiers get attached to the media.

If I use a program like MakeMKV to rip my DVD to a computer, how do I check the file if there’s any personal identifiers? I’m aware I can right click and pick “Remover Personal Information” or whatever in Windows, but is there anything else that would attach any hardware identifiers to it? I want to preserve some of these discs since they’re long out of print and the company that distributed it is no more and you can’t buy this anywhere. I just don’t want my uploads to be linked back to me.

Earthbound - never played this so I’m looking forward to it for my next retro play through after recently finishing a replay of both A Link to the Past and Golden Sun 1 & 2.

Afterward, it’s the Soul Blazer trilogy. I’ve only played Illusion of Gaia, and perhaps an hour of Terranigma. I loved Gaia, and remember really liking the bit I’ve played of Terranigma.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Especially the second movie, Sea of Monsters.

Thank goodness the TV show is coming in December. Rick Riordan, the author, has personally been overseeing the production. I have high confidence the tv series will be much closer to the books. Hopefully this will do well enough that future seasons will be funded and we’ll get seasons that adapt the rest of the books.

Check your local library. I used to visit my local library a lot before the pandemic when I lived closer to one. I borrowed audiobooks all the time and ripped them to my PC.

Fair point. There is temporary obfuscation, and certainly not end to end encryption when torrenting.

The creator of BitTorrent himself has this to say:

“The so-called ‘encryption’ of BitTorrent traffic isn’t really encryption, it’s obfuscation. It provides no anonymity whatsoever, and only temporarily evades traffic shaping. There are better approaches to obfuscation, and I’ve got a great team of engineers who are quite eager to fight that battle, but I’m hoping that everything can be resolved amicably without getting into a serious arms race.” Source: https://torrentfreak.com/interview-with-bram-cohen-the-inventor-of-bittorrent/

In my opinion using a trusted VPN not just for torrenting, but also for sourcing pirated software or other content is just a best practice.

While people sometimes suggest ignoring it because they say that your ISP is only sending you those notices because the laws compel them to and you downloaded something that was tracked, you may want to evaluate your risk.

Nothing has happened so far. Could something happen in the future?

Your ISP has built an entire portfolio of the things you’ve done online and which content you pirated. Who know how long your ISP retains that data, or which companies or regulatory bodies it shares this data with?

Laws may change.

Up to you on what you want to do with this information.

I set my VPN to Russia. Russian viruses are known to not infect their homeland, by design. They promised they wouldn’t, so you know it’s good. I then run the program, and sometimes my CPU starts heating up and slowing down my computer a bit. It happens anytime I turn on my computer now that I think about it. Computer is always running slow. I guess that’s the CPU checking if the viruses are Russian and then rejecting their requests. I can verify this because when I open Task Manager, I don’t see anything showing high CPU usage. It’s probably my imagination since the thing is doing what it’s supposed to be doing and stopping the viruses.

Only downside is I occasionally get a random command prompt pop up that disappears immediately before I can read it. Plus, my identity has been stolen several times and I’ve had to get ahold of Macrosoft Support (they built Windows so I trust them) and buy their premium $500 virus total scam defender package that I pay for monthly, but I don’t think those are related.

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I really enjoyed this movie very much. I walked into it without knowing anything about it, and it was much better than I thought it’d be.

This isn’t an “all hope is lost” moment in the movies, but I have to bring it up anyway.

Aragorn bursts into the throne room, “The beacons have been lit! Gondor calls for aid.”

Commence 30 seconds of silent anticipation.

Théoden, King of Rohan: “And Rohan will answer.”

Hell yeah!

Hell yes. I remember watching that during the premiere in theaters many years ago, and it was so emotional and powerful. Fucking love these movies so much.

The Lord of the Rings. I get goosebumps every time.

Reply with your favorite moment. There’s lots of them in the trilogy.

Ooh! Isn’t that the one where the guy becomes limitless?

Such a masterpiece comedy. My favorite part of that O.J. Simpson scene is while getting shot multiple times and injured, he gets paint on his jacket and says “Oh no”. So silly, but I love it.

To add this for posterity, there is an additional component to the U.S. autoworkers union striking. In 2008 during the global financial crisis (with things like robosigning foreclosures, predatory loans with ballooning interest rates, etc.), some U.S. automakers were asking for government bailouts, which eventually were granted. These bailouts were entirely taxpayer funded. Now the automakers are refusing to meet union contract negotiations. Automakers not paying employees cost-of-living, or frankly, just salary increases is upsetting, but the additional hypocrisy of U.S. tax-paying citizens bailing out these companies with their own money in 2008, and then not having the companies return some of the wealth in 2023 is enraging.

Edit:

Forgot to add that when the automakers were begging for government bailouts, the automakers had to take away worker pensions and some benefits to “protect the system”. In 2023, the U.S. autoworkers union is fighting to get those benefits back for the workers.

Thank you so much! I’m going to look into figuring out how to stream it via a VPN. I already use a popular one so I’m gonna assume some of its endpoints may already be blocked - worth a shot though.