A generic Welshman — one of those guys you get in an RPG game if you don’t fiddle with the sliders. A music lover (metal and jazz mostly), a cyberpunk enjoyer (purely fictional, not this dark timeline we're on now) and I have many opinions on consumer technology. I also take a lot of photos. Talk to me about #jazz, #progressivemetal, #techdeath, #doommetal #physicalmedia, #minidisc, #photography, #Qobuz, #Linux, #MacOS or indeed anything that takes your fancy. Posts deleted after 12 months.
“We and our 855 advertising partners…”
Oh do f*** off. <closes browser>
Songs I'm currently excited about: https://www.last.fm/user/gavomatic57/obsessions --or https://listenbrainz.org/user/gavomatic57/taste/
My rainy nights jazz list: https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24447654
What I have on repeat:
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/24452348
UK's age verification laws are creating a dystopian internet where you can't access sites without proving your identity first. People are finally waking up to how terrifying mandatory identity verification really is.
What's happening in the UK:
• Users must verify identity to access many websites
• Government-mandated age checks spreading across platforms
• Real names and documents required for basic internet access
The "show your papers" internet is here.
Boxed #Amiga1200 with a bunch of software... £750... https://ebay.us/m/JDBKdq
Yikes!
Windows 11 is a minefield of micro-aggressions in the shipping lane of progress - The Register https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/28/windows_11_is_a_minefield/
Yes. YESSSSSS. Leave Spotify! It's a Gordian knot of underpaid musicians, design darkpatterns, and attempts to Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish open web standards like podcasts. And that's before you get to the investments in military drone tech or the profiting from mass disinformation.
Use literally any other music service, I beg you.
A shitpost that's been brewing in my head for a while now
SCAM ALERT: my pensioner wife received a text today supposedly from the DWP, advising her she needed to apply for her Winter Fuel Allowance for this year, and the deadline to apply is tomorrow (29 July). There was a link for her to click. When she showed it to me, the first thing I noticed was the phone number - it had a +63 international code. That's the Phillipines. Plainly a scam. Be careful out there!
Don't trust cloud services with your creative work.
How to take over your country on Youtube - Gary Stevenson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6awZT5qlSLc
I'm back on the #FT after letting my subscription expire for a few weeks. They gave me a discount though, but it is still quite expensive.
I did think about signing up for a Revolut Metal account, but that would involve having a Revolut account.
I had better cull some other subs, as they're starting to get out of hand again.
I recommend not overthinking literally everything. Some things are simple, surface-level things, and that's fine. A little escapism never hurt anyone. Just enjoy life for a moment.
I'm buying cds, I'm buying dvds, I'm buying books
In your face government and streaming services!
VPN use surges in UK as new online safety rules kick in https://on.ft.com/4o5aPjH #Privacy
Also maybe this my long winded way of saying geeze i wonder when the US capital market gonna collapse but I guess that’s why all the tech ceo and vc’s are begging the President of Corruption to use policies to save them from actually having to compete on fundamentals..
* points to more affordable and way more advanced BYD as banned from sale in the US *
“Yay free market capitalism except when I’m losing then it’s policy rigged nationalistic monopolies aka socialism for billionaires “ 
I don’t like the thought that Netscape Navigator, which shaped my adolescence, came from the same mind as the Techno-optimist manifesto.
I’m guessing the money went to his head.
@gavin57 For me, it helps with recycling and making the most out of old hardware.
Finding off-the-shelf lean distributions that are *designed* to be lean - as opposed to modifying Windows install scripts that strip it right down - gives a usable, intended, supported experience.
And 100% on the 90's vibe. That sense that the computer is there to follow your instructions, not force you to be a consumer of its design, products, services, content, etc...
Great shout.
The one thing about desktop Linux is, you have to go out of your way to use it —it is rarely pre-installed on a new machine, therefore it is a conscious choice by the user.
That puts the control in our hands. I think that’s why it takes me back to that simpler time.
That’s not to say desktop Linux is archaic. Far from it. In 2025 it is incredibly good.
This may sound a bit odd, but I think the thing that attracts me the most to #Linux is that it transports me back to the 90s dial-up era of computing --where anything goes and where the people using computers and the internet really wanted to be there.
Not like Windows and the modern internet, a place where we often feel forced to engage with. Where every move is tracked and monetised. Where every website requires multiple clicks before you can even start reading the article.
