Hang In There.

Yeah that is a baby horse fight me

[cuddlycharizard]

Welcome back Ten

[a-poets-darling]

Let July be July.

Let August be August.

And let yourself

just be

even in

the uncertainty.

You don’t have to fix

everything.

You don’t have solve

everything.

And you can still

find peace

and grow

in the wild

of changing things.

[heyimboredtalktome]

[whitepeopletwitter]

[commandtower-solring-go]

There are a lot of really dog shit things in the world of tech that can be solved with a bit of time, some stubborn googling and maybe some special hardware and piracy is only the tip of the iceberg. 

Printers are notorious for claiming they’re out of ink when they haven’t come close to the suggested number of prints, and their cartridges literally still have ink in them. So after a bit of googling I found out how to ‘reset’ a cartridges automatic stopping system (its literally 1 physical wheel on the cartridge that you gotta turn back). The only downside is that I don’t get a digital ink monitor, but since it told me it was empty when still half full, I don’t mind. 

Like, you can just jiggle with some shit and solve one of the biggest money making scams in the post-industrial world and I don’t think people realise its that easy. 

Or, like, repairing your own technology. A few months ago, I swapped out my sister’s laptop screen. Did it myself, I removed maybe 4 screws, no vital parts were exposed and it cost me $40. I even got a choice of matte or glossy. 

My point is, any walls that capitalist technology presents you with will be a false one. And one already broken by a dedicated community of interesting people working hard for free to break down that wall.

[buckskinblues]

kids these days will be all “be gay do crime” and dont even know how to watch a cartoon without paying for it smh

[thedreadvampy]

IN FAIRNESS

piracy was definitely leagues easier a decade or so ago when thepiratebay was functional, megaupload was still running, and YouTube and Google made only the most cursory attempts to block copyright content. like let’s not pretend that the internet hasn’t got a lot more corporatised in the past decade or so. piracy is still possible and you can and should do it but it’s a LOT harder to do safely and reliably than it was.

[thebroccoligoblin]

^thank u

[theoutcastrogue]

Sorry, this is all wrong.

1) ThePirateBay is still functional. (It’s not the same pirate bay that it was back in the day, but let’s not get into Theseus’ ship territory. It’s still here and it still works, that’s all that matters.) There are plenty of torrent sites around, more than there were 10 years ago – although overall traffic has plummeted. Now as then, it’s a whack-a-mole game.

2) Why was it “leagues easier” a decade ago? Some countries, not all (not north America, for example), now mandate ISP blocking of torrent sites, but this new complication can be bypassed with one (1) step: a google duckduckgo search for proxies. No government agency or ISP can possibly keep up with proxies, it’s yet another whack-a-mole game. So yes, it was technically easier before, but I don’t see “leagues” anywhere.

3) It was safer before? Are you shitting me? Have you lot forgotten that the legal departments of MPAA and RIAA sued torrent sharers (not even uploaders) and asked for millions of dollars for damages? AND GOT THEM? (By which I mean they didn’t actually get millions since the people they sued didn’t have any, but said people were convicted and ruined and that was the goal in the first place. It was a deeply amoral and cynical scare tactic.) Well they stopped doing that at some point, and focused on hunting P2P and torrent sites. Running a site is certainly less safe today. Using one, though? Depending on where you are, the ISP may be allowed to block you after repeated instances, and that’s it. You’re not getting in trouble with the law or into crippling debt. And either way there’s only a minuscule chance that any of this will come to pass, which becomes zero (0) with a VPN. (Safety of course depends on the country, and in some cases piracy is the least of your concerns. Let’s not get into that.)

4) Ten years ago there was no Sci-Hub, and Library Genesis was in its infancy. If today it’s harder to find PDFs on google, it is orders of magnitude easier and more reliable to find them elsewhere. People just have to unstick their minds from the notion that stuff is either on google or doesn’t exist at all. Geez.

5) P2P still exists. IRC (the sharing channels in particular, #bookz and the like) still exists. Torrenting functions like it always did. All these methods are exactly as easy to use as before, i.e. not necessarily a piece of cake, there’s a learning curve. But it’s the same learning curve it was 10 years ago.

6) So what have we lost? Only YouTube (meh, the film/tv quality was appalling anyway, and music is still there) and direct downloads (at least the permanent ones: there are plenty of them still around, but files expire and you need to keep track of what goes up when. So this goes beyond knowhow, it’s about internet communities. Let’s not get into that either, it’s a huge subject.) It’s a loss, sure, but I wouldn’t call it a terrible blow.

7) And in exchange for that loss, we got streaming sites. This is piracy, too, and it’s much much easier than torrents, and tons of people do it. Any “piracy has declined” narrative either implies that we’re excluding streaming from the discussion for some reason, or is flat out wrong. Ten years ago, grandpa couldn’t possibly torrent a film, and it’s debatable if he even knew how to open the file you helpfully sent him. Now, as long as someone has set up kodi or similar, grandpa can watch it on his tv and it just feels like cable.

8) On why torrents in particular have declined in recent years, see here. It’s a big subject and I didn’t cover all of it, but the main reason is that people had access to easier methods to get what they wanted (some legal and affordable, some illegal and free), so they didn’t need to learn how to torrent. Ergo, they never did. There’s more of course, and there’s definitely a cultural shift too, but that’s a very long story so let’s not get into it. The linked post also includes some thoughts on why torrents aren’t dead and doomed just yet, and ooh, I forgot a very important one: you can’t stream photoshop.

To summarise, internet piracy is NOT more difficult, unreliable, and unsafe today than it was 10 or 20 years ago. For reasons why people (young or otherwise) seem less versed in it, please look elsewhere. I have thoughts on that too, but this is already a very long post, so I’ll just leave you with the best kind of thought. I’ll leave you with a doubt:

ARE people less versed in piracy? Are they really? Or is it simply that 20 years ago, internet users were computer geeks by definition, whereas now everyone’s online? Perhaps the percentage of skilled pirates in the general population remains more or less the same, and the only thing that’s dropped is the percentage of skilled pirates to total internet users. I can’t be sure without statistical evidence, but it’s a possibility.

[pulchrabelle]

You can literally google “watch _____ free online” and find most movies but the third result just download Adblock or popup blocker and you’re golden it truly couldn’t be easier

[chickenmcnuggies]

I’ve been meaning to make a piracy masterpost for awhile and what better time than now?

Materpost: A curated Githup tutorial of links to more torrent sites, software, VPNs, uBlock origin filters, ect. Basically everything you could ever want starting out. Do be warned though it doesn’t appear to have been updated in awhile so a few of the links are dead.

GAMES:

Vimm’s Roms: NES era->ps3 era roms and emulators to play them. Has user ratings on games. Cons: slow download speeds.

NxBrew: Switch roms/game updates/dlc

nsw2u: More switch roms. Check here if nxbrew doesn’t have the game you’re looking for.

Hshop: 3ds games/updates/dlc. Very well organized and sorted by console region. Bonus ability to generate QR codes to scan with homebrew to begin download directly on your console.

Oldgamesdownload: Old 90’s-2000’s PC games and some gamecube games. Technically, all of the games here are abandon ware, meaning the original company/creator doesn’t sell nor make money from the games anymore period. If you’re into that.

Fitgirl repacks: Heavily compressed PC games, and other various consoles. Small downloads and faster speeds for the size of the games. Somewhat limited game selection.

Steam unlocked: Steam games with easy-to-use installers. Check here if fitgirl doesn’t have what you’re looking for.

Steam Underground: A user forum for piracy support, usually about installing cracked games. Does have some scattered PC game downloads.

Google doc of Skyrim SE creation club content.

Amiibo life: Amiibo bins, can be loaded with some homebrew to load in games without any external source, or, if you buy writable NFC cards, you can make your own free amiibos.

Books:

Library Genesis: a good all-in-one ebook finder. Has books, magazines, scientific papers, ect. Well organized and able to sort by Author, Genre, ect ect. Almost all books in .epub format

Calibre: Not piracy but a free software for reading said .epub files, and other ebook formats. Good for sorting your books.

Sci-Hub: Research papers, academic books, pdfs, ect. Helpful for collage students.

IT ebook: eBooks about learning programming languages.

audiobookbay: Audiobook downloads.

Booksonic: Audiobook streaming.

5e.tools: Dnd player’s manual, guide, ect.

Books on learning various languages.

Mangadex: Manga, Doujinshi.      

Headspace sleep audio.

Various books and manuals.

Streaming:

ustvgo: Free streaming of live tv, has most US cable tv channels.

tutturu: Spiritual successor to Rabbit, allows you to stream your screen with friends.

Yes movies: Movies

Kimcartoon: Cartoons/animated movies

aniwatcher: Anime

animedao: Anime

Computer software:

getintopc: Wide selection of pc (mostly windows) software of all sorts, and different versions. Can personally vouch for the site, I’ve gotten Photoshop, Maya, and Sony Vegas from here over the years.

Other:

the eye: An archive of old roms, OS systems, roms (non nintendo), comics, books, ect, ect. Cons: No search function and slightly hard to navigate.

1337x.to: Torrent site for movies, shows, games, comics, ect.

ThePirateBay: The classic.

Recorded broadway musicals. Verying quality.

[unyanizedcatboys]

Finally someone actually posted links instead of just bitching or saying “it’s easy”

[zoanzon]

Ok just want to plug the eye a bit more considering I lost a few hours in their yesterday.

the eye has been up since 2017 and in the last four years have accumulated 140TB of data (according to their own reports). Part of their growth is just their own work, part of it is absorbing other archives/open directories that were having issues: I know rpg.rem.uz used to be its own archive - gave way to The Trove, which is having its own issues right now unfortunately… - but now most-all of their content can also just be found on the eye. Same with a few dozen other archives.

And they have ‘old roms, OS systems, roms (non nintendo), comics, books, ect, ect’, but massively more than you might think just based off how this sounds. Like…

They have it all.

If you want to try and homebrew alcohol, go check their stuff. If you want to try and read books that are out of print or otherwise in public domain (and some that aren’t yet in public domain), go check their stuff. If you want to run a campaign and can’t pay for expensive print tabletop books, go check their stuff. If you want to fuck off into the woods to live off the land (or research how that would work for a writing project), go check their stuff. If you’re trying to learn shit about drugs - any drugs, almost - go check their stuff.

Hell, if you want to go read what looks like literally every research paper on coronaviruses from 1968 up to Feb 2020, you can do that too!

As chickenmcnuggies said its a mess and a half to navigate through their collections, partially with how large it is and the fact quite a few folders were once whole other archives since absorbed by the eye…

But goddamn you can lose an afternoon just going through all the stuff they have.

[bogleech]

By the way almost all browsers have a video download addon, I use download helper on Firefox, if you want to save videos from the streaming sites. Some however will allow you to download if you simply right click in the video and select “save video as.” You can do this on Kimcartoon if you switch the server to “beta” and then fill up your hard drive with every Disney and DreamWorks film ever made, every episode of every nicktoon, knock yourself out. Newer things all go up in hi def.

9anime and gogoanime are the latest working ones for anime, I think. You can just Google them.

[meeedeee]

Always use a VPN. And yes to all the suggestions above

[elfwreck]

The linked post also includes some thoughts on why torrents aren’t dead and doomed just yet, and ooh, I forgot a very important one: you can’t stream photoshop.

You basically can. It’s called Photopea.

Photopea Online Photo Editor lets you edit photos, apply effects, filters, add text, crop or resize pictures. Do Online Photo Editing in you

(You cannot, however, stream InDesign. Dammit.)

[mabeltanaka]

Parks and Recreation 5x19 “Article Two” The Book of Boba Fett 1x1 “Stranger in a Strange Land”

[lotionalt-writeherman]

You better hold on tight spider monkey.

[whirlybirbs]

he checked it into the on-flight luggage. din djarin. din djarin checked the dark saber into the on-flight luggage. he took the dark saber off his hip and thought about it for a mere second, ignoring the violent screams of tarre viszla and a hundred other ghosts of mand’alors past and checked it into the on-flight luggage.

[astrotheyge]

you just missed the CRAZIEST of crazies

[meangirlnurse]

anyone else remember being a child and seeing the very neat handwriting of other little girls and somehow knowing that you were a different genre of person than they were

[halfagony-halfhope]

[moondust-and-fairywings-deactiv]

#the pure eroticism of this scene #she despised him #or thinks she does #and he is absolutely drowning in his love for her #the way he looks at her #she looks at him #full of disdain and curiosity #this man who matches her remarks #her witty comments #word for word #challenges her #the strain of dancing together #while having a full on argument #she tries to bring him down #and he looks at her like she’s a story and he’s just learned how to read #full of wonder and enraptured #now #now they circle each other #they only have eyes for each other #everyone else has melted away #all that’s left is them

[lianabrooks]

We never get a good look of Lizzie’s life before Darcy enters the picture, but from everything going on it’s fairly obvious that she wasn’t winning any one over. There was no local love interest. No one in her town regarded her or expected her to make a good match. She wasn’t as beautiful or kind as Jane. She wasn’t as vivacious as Lydia and Kitty. She wasn’t as soft and docile as Mary.

Lizzie is sharp-tongued and intelligent, not things that were widely admired in a woman. She had a dominant personality, generally being in charge of any group she was with. Even when left to fend for herself with the Bingleys she quickly has the sisters held at bay and Charles following her suggestions.

Then there’s a Darcy. Cold, calculating, and also a very dominant personality. He’s quieter than Lizzie, less likely to take command by force of personality, but the privilege society gives him as a wealthy man is considerable. Darcy rarely meets women who match his intellect and ability to handle the social responsibilities given to him because of his birth. But here’s Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a poor country gentleman who has someone acquired the same intelligence and privileges Darcy has by being herself. 

Darcy sees an equal.

Lizzie is seeing, probably for the first time, a man who isn’t backing down and who only underestimated her once. 

Darcy knows it’s a terrible match from the outside view. By all social standards it is a step down for him. A normal girl from Lizzie’s background wouldn’t be able to handle the work needed to be done (managing the land, visiting tenants, being a leader in society in many ways), but he thinks Lizzie can and - more importantly - he thinks Lizzie is someone who would understand him. She has such a wide circle of friends and connections and seems to understand all of them, so why not him?

Lizzie sees the possibility of a better future. She’s already somewhat resigned to a poor match, one where she’ll need to mute her personality to spare the man’s feelings. Or be a spinster and hope one of her sister’s will let her stay with them when her parents die. Darcy could be an alternative, but he’s hurt her, insulted her, and then he puts the nail in the coffin by ruining the happiness of Jane.

It’s a very complicated dance.

[brainstatic]

Everyone’s like “those Germans have a word for everything” but English has a word for tricking someone into watching the music video for Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up.

[queenrinacat]

English has a lot more words created for very specific phenomena! It’s not just rick-rolling. Language is always evolving and it’s super interesting! Here’s a list of hyper-specific/untranslatable words in English.

[edweeirdo]

Some of these are fucking wild.

[clepsymdra-deactivated20210715]

Before today I never really processed how weird some of these are

[iamburdened]

Ahsoka: may the force be with you

Din: ............??....?.?..

*weeks later*

Luke: may the force be with you

Din: amen??????? I still don’t know how to answer it. What does this even mean???!?¿¿??

[gizkalord]

insp.

[anakinnoanakindontanakinstop]

Ahsoka: You need to get him a robe and teach him to be dramatic

Din: Ok??

[bioaccumulation]

I miss the god complex english class gave me

[lotionalt-writeherman]

...they really only had 16 episodes for the final season, and rather than spend all of them tying up the 4 billion loose ends, they just make a whole episode for a prequel everyone knows is gonna sink?

(I just want Bellamy Blake back, pls n thnks)

[lotionalt-writeherman]