I figured this may lead to an interesting discussion in the comments.

How has your use of Technology changed in the past year? I’ll start.

  • Due to the rise of streaming services and Sony/discovery removing content from libraries, I downloaded all my iTunes purchases onto a 2TB SSD (which I’ll soon need to get another).

  • Like many, I’ve stopped using Reddit outside of Google search.

  • I’ve reduced my subscriptions to just two. (Apple One and Google One)

  • I’ve purchased DVDs/Blu rays of my favorite uncensored shows (Family Guy and American Dad) and ripped them and watch them through Cloud storage (Google Drive via Infuse for Apple platforms, and Kodi for Windows)(I’ve also purchased MakeMKV just because it is so damn useful)

  • I’ve used Google App Scripts to bypass some Gmail limitations to make filters that I otherwise couldn’t. For instance, in Outlook.com, you can block email addresses and domains before you have ever gotten an email from them. In Gmail, you can’t. The best you can do is create a filter that deletes them. In my case, I’ve created a Google App Script that runs every hour and looks for (@.mil) domain emails and marks them as spam. (I am in college, and I fucking hate that they give my email to recruiters.)

  • Lettuce eat lettuce@lemmy.mlEnglish
    37·
    6 months ago

    I’ve started archiving my media much more vigorously. Due to the corpos enshitifying so much, the amount of media I have ripped and preserved on my own NAS has exploded.

    I started torrenting again for the first time since college.

    I gave up reddit and use Lemmy and Fediverse exclusively, except for the occasional tech issue I have and then search old reddits for advice/solutions.

    I watch YT exclusively through GrayJay, NewPipe, and FreeTube now.

    I’ve become much more active converting people to Linux. So far I convinced two friends to buy Steam Decks, one friend to buy a Framework laptop and put Fedora on it, converted my parents to Linux Mint, and may have two more people switching to Linux on their main computers in the coming year.

    I’ve also been pushing more FOSS software and hardware to family and friends, trying to convince them to care more about right to repair, FOSS and the like.

    This year I am planning to build a new NAS that will be a self-hosted defeater for streaming and get my close friends and family onboard. Hopefully they will slowly give up their subscriptions.

    We’ll see how it all goes, but I’m very optimistic about FOSS tech in the coming months and years, so much great stuff happening!

    • BoisZoi@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      6·
      6 months ago

      I definitely feel the enshittification of such platforms will/has led to some great software, updates, and alternative front ends. It sucks seeing platforms decay, however, I love seeing the fightback from users who aren’t going to tolerate bullshit from any company.

  • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    30·
    6 months ago
    • deleted my Reddit account. Only use it if I land there from a web search
    • Started using Firefox containers - keep Amazon, Google, Microsoft etc in their own containers
    • Deleted my Dropbox account when they started deploying AI tools late 23. About to delete Google Drive.
    • Migrated to paid Protonmail. Intend to wipe my Gmail data in next couple of months
    • Migrated to paid data backup service
    • Bought a steam deck, connected it to my living room TV and now PC game in my living room (had a steam link but never got into it before, but steam deck has changed how I play)
    • Cancelled most streaming services
    • Started using Freetube software and Libredirect to escape YouTube
    • Installed fdroid open source store on my phone and switched to many foss and non cloud apps.

    Basically mostly I’ve started taking my privacy and data much more seriously. I was already privacy “aware” but the explosion of so called AI tools in my industry (healthcare) has made me realise the value and importance of my data, and how much of it is being stolen and exploited by private interests. There are also examples of how private data is being extracted from this bullshit AI tools.

    I’m increasingly understanding how important it is now to actively protect my data and also fragment my internet presence as much as possible.

      • anotherandrew@lemmy.mixdown.caEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        Not OP but I’ve been using duplicity for over a decade. Zero lock-in to any particular cloud storage, uses rdiff and gpg for the incremental computation and encryption… it’s awesome.

        Just this month I’ve switched over from S3 to Dropbox for cloud storage due to price, and other than the large first backup, my backup script worked flawlessly.

        I can’t recommend it enough.

  • marito@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    6 months ago

    Deleted my Twitter account and switched from Reddit (accounts are not deleted) to Lemmy.

    Switched from Chrome back to Firefox after more than a decade.

    Dropped Windows in favor of Linux Mint.

    Unsubscribed from Netflix, Disney+, etc. Now I only torrent the films, series, etc. that I know I’ll watch more than once, for stuff that I only plan on watching once I use Stremio with the Torrentio add-on.

    Started using my old Facebook account after several years just for Marketplace.

    That’s all I can remember at the moment.

    EDIT: Oh yeah, ditched PornHub for NoodleMagazine.

  • DrillingStricken@programming.devEnglish
    181·
    6 months ago

    Ditched Windows for Linux, man, feelin’ free like a bird. No more Microsoft bullshit, nah. And instead of Google Search, I’m rollin’ with SearXNG. It’s like Google but decentralized, no data sellin’, straight up respectin’ my privacy. Open source all day, every day, that’s my way now.

    • Blisterexe@lemmy.zipEnglish
      1·
      6 months ago

      I’ve done mostly the same thing! Good to know I’m not alone in doing that stuff this year

  • Random_Character_A@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    6 months ago
    • I stopped using reddit and created this lemmy account.
    • SSD failed on my desktop system, so I switched my gaming 100% to steam deck and bought Raspberry pi 400 for browsing the internet, light video editing and bank stuff.

    That’s about it.

  • Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    12·
    6 months ago

    I quit Facebook for good, almost quit Reddit and am enjoying reading more books and exploring fediverse a bit.

    Also protectively try to get less and less screen time, using the morning time which usually was lost to doomscrolling to do zazen.

  • Iceblade@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    6 months ago

    • Stopped using reddit & facebook

    • started using the fediverse

    • Got my own domain and set up an email via proton

    • vanced->revanced->greyjay

      • Iceblade@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        6 months ago

        It’s pretty good actually. No ads and you can access videos from a lot of platforms in the one app (including premium ones if you have a subscription to them). It also makes it easier to follow a single creator across platforms. Also, lets you download videos for offline access, allows casting, PiP and a bunch of other stuff.

        My only real complaint is that the recommendations aren’t very good yet, so I end up going back to YT/revanced to discover new stuff, and there currently isn’t any way to use sponsorblock with it.

        Still, considering it’s in alpha, great stuff.

  • FiveMacs@lemmy.caEnglish
    111·
    6 months ago

    I’ve stopped trusting anything online due to AI being a cancer on the internet and it’s only going to get worse.

  • molave@reddthat.comEnglish
    9·
    6 months ago
    • No longer used imgur for hosting images
    • Reddit use reduced to specific communities. Former use cases are migrated to Lemmy
    • Changed mobile browser to Firefox
    • Using a searxng instance as my search engine
  • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    9·
    6 months ago

    One of the national mobile networks finally put up a blisteringly fast 5G mast near my house. I have finally reached the totally cable-free nirvana I dreamt of in 1997 when I held my first Motorola Startac in my hand and took an office call on a park bench.

  • pineapple_pizza@lemmy.dexlit.xyzEnglish
    9·
    6 months ago

    Self hosted a lemmy server for myself

    Switched to Firefox

    Got a VPN

    Using said vpn to share my dad’s YouTube TV(only works on my TV though, not mobile)

    Started using copilot which improved my productivity at work

    I got married, so now im sharing more online accounts

  • jcrabapple@infosec.pubEnglish
    9·
    6 months ago

    I completely gave up on Google Search and started using Kagi which has changed the way I find things on the Internet.

    Switched from Chrome to Firefox.

  • mertn@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    6 months ago

    Dumped reddit, Google, streaming, android apps and Facebook. Replaced with proton, Plex, Lemmy. Grapheneos, kagi and mastodon.