Luna the Great of all the Russias

I wonder to what extent my attention span is better compared to when I was younger due to age, and to what extent it is worse due to various distractions being far more prevalent and more easily accessible now.

I do not think it is that bad. With Linux Mint at least, you do not need to use the Terminal if you do not want to. Installation is simple, and becoming familiar with Linux Mint is fairly easy. Mind you, it is a different OS, so you definitely would have to become familiar with how it works. But different does not necessarily mean difficult. It certainly is much better now than it has been in the past in terms of accessibility. If you are intimidated by Linux, I would suggest trying to use it on some sort of virtual machine, so that you can become familiar with it, without affecting your main machine. The following is a guide on how to set that up, so that you can try Linux Mint (or whatever distribution you want to try, but Mint is among the most popular for a beginner-friendly distribution), and see whether you like it. Transition to Linux may be intimidating, and it certainly acquired that kind of reputation. But a great deal of it depends on the distribution you choose. I do not think there is much to concerned about when it comes to the more beginnner-friendly distributions like Mint, Ubuntu, Pop!_OS, Zorin to name some notable examples. Distributions like Arch Linux is definitely for a more advanced user, but you do not need to deal with that, if you simply want an OS that works "out of the box", so to speak. For myself, I am becoming increasingly annoyed by large technology companies generally becoming more invasive, forcing features I never wanted...generally making me lose control over my own computer. Perhaps something can be said about trading off control over your computer for convenience, but it strikes me that we are increasingly losing control without the benefit of convenience. The prominence of "AI" into everything is especially annoying to me. At least with Linux... while I am definitely still learning much about it... it would be very nice to have full control over my own computer again; at least if I were to break something, it would be completely my fault, instead of something breaking because of the negligence of the large technology company. So, soon you may have to decide between purchasing Windows 11, or switching to Linux. I think at least trying out Linux in a safe environment would be worth doing; see whether you like it or not. Also, it is free. Edit: I realized that I veered off from talking about Windows to talk about Linux.

I do not like how it has been rather standard for the "No" option to disappear. So, if some given software you are using is annoying you to use a feature that you do not care about, the options presented to you is not the straightforward "Yes" or "No", but instead is "Yes." or "Maybe later", as if to imply that I am interested interested in said feature, but I simply do not have time at the moment, when, in actuality, I am simply not interested in said feature at all.

I am not sure so much about the types of book stores that you described. But, I will at least say that there is a good chance that I will enjoy spending my time browsing in a used book stores, with older books, and sometimes premium editions of certain books (such as being leatherbound or very nice hardcovers).

I have used Linux to a limited extent for some years. Only more recently have I put more effort into trying to transition to it. I personally have a drive that has Linux Fedora on it. I customized it in a way that it resembles fairly closely to Windows 7 with its Aero theming and using the Windows logo from back then (ironically enough on a Linux OS). For anyone more knowledgeable than me, correct me where I am incorrect. But, from what I understand, while there are many different types of Linux distributions, there are three main categories of them: Debian-based: The most stable. Most user-friendly. Fedora: An intermediate between stability and receiving new updates and features, customizability. Arch: Tends to gets new updates and features the most quickly, most customizable. But is decidedly for more advanced users who are able to tinker with the OS. Others: Not based on any of the three above. More niche. So, for new Linux users, Debian-based distributions are the safest, which include the following: Ubuntu Mint Pop!_OS Zorin OS For a Windows user who is new to Linux, I would probably recommend to you Linux Mint, at least to try using Linux. If the idea of using the Terminal is unappealing to you, I do not think you actually ever need to use it for at least Linux Mint. To learn how to use it would be rather useful, but I think you can stay using the GUI for a long while. I expect that there will be an extent to which you will need to tinker with things even with the more user-friendly Linux distributions, but I am reminded of someone who pointed out how, for instance, it is not necessarily the case that Windows is easy to use, but that people have simply gotten used to navigating around more unintuitive things about Windows. One major concern about transitioning to Linux, regardless of which distribution you choose, is whether you can still do the things you need to do on a computer with Linux. Are you able to switch to open-source alternatives (if they exist), or are you specifically bound to certain software that only work on Windows? I would recommend at least trying Linux Mint, whether on a virtual machine, a spare computer, or at least a spare solid state or hard drive. Some people recommended partition your existing drive, but I have heard of some experiencing problems booting into a system that way. I would more opt for a sacrificial computer or drive, so that your existing data is at least still safe (or at least this is my mentality anyway). The following video explains some basic aspects of Linux, as well as giving recommendations to new users. Linux may take time to learn, but one big positive is that you have control over your computer. Also: beware of anyone suggesting to you to type in the command or something similar, as it deletes all of your data.

I think back to Windows 7 very fondly. The Aero and Skeuomorphic styles are my favourite for technology, which was prevalent from around the mid-2000s to early-2010s: shiny, glassy, etc. I was very disappointed when the trend shifted towards minimalism, flat colours, and more abstract icons. Beyond style, I like that... Windows 7 just worked. This is as opposed to Windows 10 onwards, when Microsoft increasingly undermined user's ability to control their own PC, and having users pay for a malware OS. I hope Linux becomes much more prevalent. Windows 7. Windows 11. iOS6 vs. iOS7.

Could technology companies please use a QA team, instead of using their customers for QA purposes?

Was watching a video about "AI": this level of intrusiveness makes me never want to use anything branded as "AI" ever. I am not saying that such a technology does not have legitimate uses, but I am saying that I want to use the computer in the way I want to use it, instead of the company behind it forcing me to use it in the way they want me to use it (as much as they claim that it is for my benefit, presumably as opposed to serving their own interests).

I do not think I could choose one, so I will give three possible answers: Perhaps late Russian Empire: during the reign of Aleksandr II, Aleksandr III or Nikolay II (before WW1). If it was possible to speak with the rulers of the time, I would want to try to persuade them from avoiding the world war. I would also be interested in roughly 30AD Roman Empire, to witness the origin of Christianity. The third one, which I expect will come across as a strange one, is the era of the Satya Yuga, or golden age, which existed before history. Depending on the speculation, this could range from almost 63 000BC to almost 4 000 000BC. I am not sure whether I necessarily gravitates towards songs by their genres. I like what I like, I suppose. Though, I often listen to songs by independent artists (such as those of the fandom) and songs from video games. I am rather fond of Looney Tunes. Humourous, classics, and I rather like the animation quality. They are works of art.

The thread The UK Online Safety Act. has been moved to Twilight's Soapbox.

It is hard for me to think of how I can return to using an internet browser without tabs.

Are there some things that Youtubers do or aspects of Youtube in general that annoy you? For myself, these are some things that come to mind: These types of thumbnails: Also, the following points: The title has the words "here's why" (also applies to news articles). The Youtuber is speaking slowly, repeats himself, and/or makes use of many filler words that arbitrarily extends the video to about 10 minutes. Animation of a cursor clicking the like, subscribe and bell button playing mid-video. Even worse if there is sound, and repeats multiple times. Telling the viewer to subscribe because only 0.5% or some small percentage of their viewers are subscribers. Youtube Shorts. It should be deleted. If I made this thread about 12 years ago, I would also mention the "Reply Girls", but they are fortunately gone and largely forgotten.

How far back in time could you comfortably go? The main emphasis I have in mind is that cultural, political, economic, technological, etc. situations changes from today. Other aspects of this question, particularly personal matters, you can interpret however you wish (e.g. you can assume that everyone you know is also transported back in time accordingly as they are, or perhaps people's age, deaths, births are changed according to the era you choose; if you are of a certain profession, perhaps you would assume that you are specialized in an earlier version of your profession, or you would be of another profession entirely if yours or a predecessor did not exist at the time; you may choose any particular location in the world with a given era; etc.). Included is a poll that perhaps has too many options... but possibly there are a few of us who would genuinely want to go back to the prehistory era? And the poll will be increasingly outdated starting in 2030 onwards (assuming the forums still exists by then).