Tech Support Tales

I work tech support for a company that provides emergency response software for hospitals and 911 centers. Many of my calls are ridiculous. Come with me on this journey.

[estro-boi]

we gotta get back to torrent distribution, i just watched someone eat eight grand in bandwidth charges because they ran a direct-download piracy site with local file hosting through cloudflare. torrents were invented literally for this exact reason

[estro-boi]

torrents work like this

i have a file or folder on my pc that i want to share with other people. let's call it gayshit.mp3

unfortunately gayshit.mp3 is 750mb and im not paying for discord nitro so i need another way to send it

i put it into qbittorrent and it makes a torrent file. this is essentially a very small file that points to gayshit.mp3 so other computers can find it. kinda like a treasure map

i send this tiny file to my friend, who loads it into qbittorrent. their computer takes a moment to find mine over the vast expanse of cyberspace and then (as long as my pc is running and the file is still where it should be), it gets copied from my hard drive to theirs

this is the cool part: if somebody else loads that tiny file, they can download it from both of us. if i'm offline but my friend is on, the third person can still get it. this also means that if two people have separate halves of the file, they can download the other half from each other. as long as some combination of people have the pieces between them, they can all have the whole thing.

crucially this does not require a server!!! you can just upload the file to a few people and as long as they keep it, it's still accessible. as long as somebody, somewhere is still connected, it's available forever. the only way it goes away is if everybody disconnects from it.

please learn to torrent

[macleod]

How to Use Torrents (with Pictures) - wikiHow

An expert guide to get started using torrentsTorrents are one of the most popular forms of file sharing on the internet, accounting for over

always use qbittorrent, do not use bittorrent or utorrent.

[gay-systemdeez]

I like Linux.

[gay-systemdeez]

The Linux users on this site will reblog anything that's about Linux.

[lenovo-real]

Yes

[thinkpad-offical]

Correct

[nyarch-official]

indeed I will

[notanoob123]

Yep

[buildroot-official]

indeed

[vi-official]

that checks out

[zsh-official]

Ayup

[mpd-official]

yup

[katie-official]

sounds about right

[rubylang-official]

Did someone say Linux and gay yuri?

[tailsos-official]

Hmm? whats goin on?

[certified-anti-microsoft-posts]

Well it's not Microsoft so...

[sweaterkittensahoy]

shout out to everyone who has any sort of maintenance job whether it's a custodian or a mechanic or a furnace repair person or a pool cleaner or a housekeeper or anything where someone shows up or I go to you, and my shit is taken care of.

big appreciation for the maintenance people

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

Huge fan of when I have a problem that I have no idea how to handle (or no time/tools/physical strength to handle) and I call A Guy who knows how to handle it and they come and handle it for me.

[forgottenbones]

[winged-mammal]

Inside the U.S. Government-Bought Tool That Can Track Phones at Abortion Clinics

Privacy advocates gained access to a powerful tool bought by U.S. law enforcement agencies that can track smartphone locations around the wo

anyway yeah DELETE YOUR FUCKING ADVERTISING IDS

Android:

Settings ➡️ Google ➡️ all services ➡️ Ads ➡️ Delete advertising ID

(may differ slightly depending on android version and manufacturer firmware. you can't just search settings for "advertising ID" of course 🔪)

iOS:

Settings ➡️ privacy ➡️ tracking ➡️ toggle "allow apps to request to track" to OFF

and ALSO settings ➡️ privacy ➡️ Apple advertising ➡️ toggle "personalized ads" to OFF

more details about the process here via the EFF

[kineticpenguin]

taken.

A web page that tells you what your browser gave away the moment you arrived. No login, no form, no permission. Most pages do this. None of

[foone]

Important rules for the "age verification" era of the internet that we're living in:

1. Do not do age verification.

2. If you have to do age verification, cheat. Do not under any circumstances give them your real ID.

[depsidase]

[writtenoffantihero]

Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year

Google says it’s no different than checking IDs at the airport.

This is just another form of censorship, control of what we can/can't see and engage with, and another means of getting our private information.

[monarchofmonsters]

Alternative forks of AOSP (Android Open-Source Project) which are not maintained by Google and will not be affected by this:

LineageOS (I use this one)

Graphene OS

Functionally they are virtually identical to stock Android. Android began as an open-source project, and these versions are built off of that.

Fuck Google.

[mordcore]

[amiibo-king]

for those like me who cannot install alternative android forks on their phone because the phone in question is thoroughly unrootable, I would recommend downloading anyapk on your phone while you still can. In their own words:

anyapk is a lightweight Android application installer that bypasses Google's developer verification requirements by using local ADB (Android Debug Bridge) connections. Smoothly install any APK file on your device without restrictions, gatekeepers, or corporate approval.

If you're reading this after Google's lockdown date and are unable to install anyapk the regular way, there is a method outlined on the github linked above which tells you how to install anyapk on your phone by plugging it into a computer with ADB installed on it. Once you have anyapk on your phone, you will not have to do that ever again (unless you delete anyapk off your phone)

[aromanticbastards]

[Description for the first image:

a tweet by @/Pirat_Nation:

From September 2026, all apps, including those outside the Play Store, must come from verified developers.

No more anonymous sideloads. No quick comebacks for malware gangs.

First: Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand.

end description]

[chromalogue]

[Description for the second image: a post from jrepin that reads:

"Sideloading" is the rentseeker word for "being able to run software of your choosing on a computing device you purchased". There is no reasonable case for an operating system developer having a say over what programs you run on your hardware.

--Eugen Rochko of Mastodon https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/115093185284473606]

[girlnephew]

[thetetra]

will it run DOOM?

[mysterycat-official]

I lowkey hate when programs talk to me in a friendly way. "don't worry, nearly there!" Shut up. It should say "loading 64.3% completed. Do not turn off device" and absolutely nothing else. You arent my friend you are computer. Act like it

[sonicfrontiers]

do you want to play tomodachi life but don't have a switch, $60, or just don't want to pay nintendo $60?

here's an all-in-one site where you can download everything you need to emulate it!

Floralith beta — downloads and setup.

also, with an emulator, you can directly screenshot and record your game, and even mod it! add custom hair parts! import photos directly! remove region locks! emulate it!!

edit: the creator of the site, @blorblegoop, has created their own post about it, explaining who they are, addressing security concerns, and helping out with some common problems from the notes! please see their post if you have any further questions :)

everything?

everything! this site will walk you through downloading the ryujinx switch emulator, the firmware and keys needed, and the nsp game file for tomodachi life ltd.

is this safe?

the files are all directly downloaded from this site, so there's no third party to worry about. i didn't make this site - it was created by @blorblegoop , who recently contacted me with this post on their blog addressing security concerns. they scan all the files themself before hosting. i scanned my own pc after downloading as well, and it all came up clean! but it’s good to be aware of pc safety, especially when pirating. it can’t hurt to do your own scan to be sure!

how much pc knowledge do i need for this?

you should know how to download files, how to make and manage folders in file explorer, and how to navigate a program's settings menu.

any settings i should change in ryujinx?

here's some i recommend checking before starting the game:

for tomodachi life specifically, make sure you set a timezone in settings! you can have it match your pc's time for simplicity.

there are ostensibly keyboard controls, but they're a little wonky to figure out. if you can, plugging in any controller should work just fine. just make sure to select it in ryujinx's input settings! (you should also still be able to use your mouse for things like drawing facepaint!)

graphics settings will be on a per-pc basis, depending on your pc's strength. it's worth it to experiment with them and see what gives you the best performance. ryujinx will explain what each setting does if you hover over it!

the game crashed?

that's very likely to happen! on first time loading a scene, the emulator can sometimes struggle. it happened to me the first time i opened the mii editor, and the first time i opened the news station. you should be able to relaunch and everything will be fine. if it's happening super frequently, though, you may need to adjust your graphics or cpu settings!

a sixth thing i didn't think of?

check out this post by the site’s creator, where they go into some common issues from the notes and provide some solutions!

if you still have issues, feel free to leave a reblog with comment or send me an ask! if you need more specific guidance, i'll be happy to help! i'm not an expert on emulation, but if nothing else, i can try to point you towards a reddit thread that is more competent than i am

i hope you have fun playing the game! i did not create this site, but i found the creator in a single reddit thread asking people to spread the word, so i figured i'd do what i can and make this post. if it works for you, please help out and spread the word even further, and support the original creator of floralith! thank you!!

[marvelsmostwanted]

Not seeing enough people relentlessly mocking Mark Zuckerberg for investing some $80 billion into the "Metaverse" and renaming his entire company after it only to have it shut down within 5 years because zero people asked for that. CEOs have been fired for far less. Completely laughable. I hope AI bankrupts him

[marvelsmostwanted]

Meta is laying off 8,000 employees and eliminating 6,000 open roles to "offset" their investment in AI.

Zuckerberg really said that "one very talented person," with the help of AI, can now do projects that entire teams used to do - unsurprisingly proving that tech sociopaths like him don't understand what human teams are for. (Would that one person have high job satisfaction? Stay long term? Or will they get more bored and less creative? People who use AI literally use their brain less, which could lead to cognitive decline later in life. Doesn't seem like a very fulfilling job to work with it all the time.)

And I can't help but be reminded of DOGE - mass firings with no regard for the consequences, quickly followed by a scramble to hire them back when they realize those were the competent people who actually knew what they were doing. (We now know that in private and super embarrassing texts, Mark Zuckerberg was asking Elon Musk how he could help DOGE, so clearly he admired their methods.)

Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure looks like they're digging their own grave here.

Microsoft and Meta announce large staff reductions as they spend big on AI

Meta said it would cut 10% of it employees while Microsoft will offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of workers

[depsidase]

[subjectsix]

I don't know I'm not done talking about it. It's insane that I can't just uninstall Edge or Copilot. That websites require my phone number to sign up. That people share their contacts to find their friends on social media.

I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.

Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.

I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.

I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.

Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.

I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.

My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.

I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?

No more!!!!! I love my iPod with so much storage and FLAC files. I love having all my fics on my harddrive. I love having USBs and backups. I love running scripts to gut suck stuff out of my Windows computer I don't want that spies on me. I love having forums. I love sending letters. I love neocities and webpages and webrings. I will not be scanning QR codes. Please hand me a physical menu. If I didn't need a smartphone for work I'd get a "dumb" phone so fast. I want things to have buttons. I want to use a mouse. I want replaceable batteries. I want the right to repair. I grew up online and I won't forget how it was!

[subjectsix]

glad this post is resonating with the local populace fr

[molabuddy]

its kind of fun to uninstall programs you arent using to free up space and see them all beg for their lives

[cpericardium]