Primarily by having multiple email addresses and aliases.

I realized that on many occasions, I’m giving out my email merely as part of signing up for an account or resetting my password. So I made accounts and aliases that I use when I don’t forsee a service sending any messages of value after I sign up. I star the confirmation email for my records and ignore whatever junk mail comes my way, first-party or third-party.

As for the main personal email I use to actually communicate with people, my provider’s built-in spam filter has done a good enough job so far. If it misses anything, it usually follows a pattern (topic, domain, etc.) so I just make my own filter rule. In the off chance I do want messages in my main inbox from a service after I sign up, I do so with an alias. If that alias gets compromised, I just cut it off.

Granted, I don’t see much spam anyway since most of my email is work-related, my employer’s IT department seems to do a good job of filtering out spam, and I’m strict about not using my work email outside of work.

Even if they did, your messages are going to be scanned via your recipients who use Gmail without opting out.

Interesting, had no idea until now that there’s such a thing as first-party malware loaded with the BIOS. Admittedly I’m caught in an ivory tower with my Corebooted ThinkPad. Although I haven’t purchased one yet, I’d say you made the right choice going with Framework.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad line has a sterling reputation. Among the best in terms of quality, service, repairability, and Linux support.

As for the largely consumer-grade options of ASUS and Lenovo’s consumer-grade IdeaPads, they’re rather similar in reputation and quality. Not exceptional, but they’re both perfectly fine options as long as you avoid the budget laptop segment (plastic chassis, broken hinges, etc.)

Any difference in privacy would come down to the pre-installed software, which is irrelevant if you plan on using Linux. If you will be using Windows, it’s always better to install your own fresh copy to purge any potential spyware and bloatware installed by the manufacturer. The activation key for whichever edition of Windows it comes with is embedded in the BIOS, so it’ll activate automatically after a fresh reinstall.

reductio ad Hitlerum is analogous.

the only way i escaped this until now as being able to afford the hefty price tags on linux-only hardware with something like system76 and i can’t afford it anymore since i no longer earn a software engineer’s salary.

Why not a second-hand ThinkPad/Latitude/ProBook? They’re cheap and cheerful and well-supported by most distros.

Age-old case of everyone else on the internet wanting you to be specific, but I’m open to the idea that you don’t exactly know what it is either and just need a starting point. I don’t know a thing about remedies for the psyche, but have you been taking good care of your bodily health?

Get some good sleep every night. That doesn’t mean the 05:00 grindset, but just something you can stick to every day, even if that’s getting up 90 minutes before your job or obligation if that’s what it takes to be consistent. Go outside for a stroll, however aimless, get your blood flowing and maybe bundle that with getting the mail or whatever. And perhaps eat well by cooking something you like, even something home-made that seems slightly indulgent won’t be as bad as the processed junk out there. Just things that will be good for you and will help you feel in charge of yourself.

Rollback is only possible after an upgrade from 10 to 11 but before the Windows.old directory (a snapshot of system files and configurations immediately before the upgrade) is purged. After that, a fresh install is the only option. No tool can claim to reliably downgrade Windows since 10 would not know how to handle newly-introduced configurations and data from 11, especially in the registry.

the only viable alternative would be to build septic tank

Me realizing I’m ahead of the game because I live in a home with a septic tank. But when you have to pump that tank every 5 years, if you can’t do that yourself, it’s going to be a lot less anonymous than a centralized sewer.

Two problems:

1. Locked bootloaders: if you’re not given the option to unlock it, you can’t boot anything other than the stock ROM
2. Proprietary drivers: even if you can boot a custom OS, many Android phones have very unique and obscure hardware and the drivers for them are only distributed through their stock ROM.

The closest thing is LineageOS. If your phone doesn’t support it, there’s Generic System Images (GSI), but there’s no guarantee of getting cellular service after installing a GSI due to proprietary drivers.

If you want something that just works, GrapheneOS is great, but you’ll need an unlocked Google Pixel.

Good starting point would be looking up forum or blog posts from people who have disconnected the modem/TCU on a particular EV model. No self-interested auto manufacturer (all of them) would intentionally provide an option in the user interface to take the telemetry system offline. Take note of any side-effects they report, if it needs to be reconnected for inspections, and if there’s any gotchas between software and hardware revisions.

Especially wrt. modern gas-fuelled cars for the typical driver as EV prices are artificially jacked up in many Western countries.

Keeping an eye on it since no other company is offering a similar lack of connectivity, but also not going to be surprised if it doesn’t deliver on its promises.

Gasoline. Would kill to have a scent like it without the cancer risk.

Apple skins, dry chicken fibers, and broccoli pieces too. IIRC there was a study that looked at why the tongue and your finger end up disagreeing on where the debris is lodged. I usually whip out the water flosser if I’m home and my fingers aren’t up to the job.

What privacy though? The situation with LinkedIn just like Instagram. Even though they aren’t open for scraping, there’s still no expectation of privacy among the users who post anything.

Sauteed, spinach soup, or as part of a noodle soup.

Everything in Owner and a secondary phone for all proprietary work and communication apps. The secondary phone is powered off or at least disconnected once I leave work. Google stuff and banking through a computer browser whenever possible.

If I were forced to use only one phone, the secondary phone’s contents would be on a secondary profile. This used to be my setup but switching between profiles throughout the day wasn’t my thing.

I like knowing what my computer is doing and that was noticeably less and less the case as I went from Windows 98 to 10 and all the major versions in between. Before learning about Linux, simply going through the options in debloat scripts made me realize how invasive Microsoft was behind the scenes.

I know that he’s not necessarily the best resource, but Rob Braxman’s videos were first to bring mobile privacy concerns to my attention. Also, while his promotion of his custom phone didn’t lead to me buying one of them, it did lead to me learning about custom Android ROMs and eventually buying a Pixel for GrapheneOS.

No, they respect my goals and seem to have accepted that I’m sometimes just unreachable. The only thing they might be annoyed about is my GrapheneOS and Signal proselytism. If anything, it’s more apathy than antagonism. They’ll agree with me on privacy issues but rarely ever give up the conveniences of Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc. in practice.