General Discussion

A few months ago, I shared how I cut my screen time from 8h 55m to just 1h 25m. It’s been 5 months, so I figured it’s time for an update!

But first, here’s the link to my original post for those who missed it: I finally cut my screen time from 8 hours and 55 minutes to 1 hour and 28 minutes (Proof at the end)

Now, let me spill the tea on how cutting my screen time has seriously changed my life:

1. More Time for the Good Stuff: Less time scrolling = more time doing things I actually love, like swimming, reading, studying, or just hanging out with my favorite people. Oh, and the focus? Unreal. I can now get through tasks without a million distractions pulling me away.

2. Bye-Bye, FOMO: Turning off constant notifications and ditching the mindless scrolling felt SO freeing. I’m no longer glued to what everyone else is doing, and honestly? I’m way happier just living in the moment and doing my own thing.

3. Sleep = Leveled Up: Cutting out phone time at night was a game-changer. I wake up feeling rested (finally!) and ready to tackle the day. My bedtime routine now feels like a cozy ritual instead of a late-night doom-scroll marathon.

4. Actually Being Present: Whether I’m on a walk, vibing to music, watching anime, or spending time with my loved ones, I’m all in. No more multitasking with my phone in one hand and half-paying attention. My focus has gone from meh to next level—I can actually sit and read or study for hours now.

5. Me and My Phone = Healthy Boundaries: My phone? It’s a tool now, not a time-suck. I only use it intentionally, and that little shift has made my days feel so much more productive and meaningful. Bonus: My anxiety and stress have plummeted.

6. Stronger Connections: I’ve gotten so much closer to the people around me. Conversations feel deeper, and those phone-free moments (especially before bed) remind me how special undistracted time really is.

7. SO Much Extra Time: Cutting my screen time has freed up so many hours of my life. I feel so much lighter, knowing I don’t have to carry my phone everywhere. Morning walks with my sister? Just vibes. No distractions, just enjoying the moment.

Real Talk:
The past few months haven’t been all sunshine and rainbows. I’ve been struggling with some pretty tough depression, and during sleepless nights, my phone became a way to cope and quiet my dark thoughts. But the good news? I’ve slowly been getting back into my healthy sleep routine over the past few weeks. Progress is progress.

P.S. Last time, a lot of you commented and DMed me asking for the article link because I couldn’t share it in the post. So here it is: A Practical Guide to Overcoming Phone Addiction

If you’re tired of battling the “screen time monster,” this article has actionable tips to help you reclaim your time, no matter how addicted you are. Seriously, it changed my life.

Good luck to everyone trying to cut their screen time. You got this, my friend! 💪

Lastly, I want to thank my girlfriend for her unwavering support throughout this journey and Discipulus for writing that transformative article that made a huge impact on my life.

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Hi, I'm not sure where I can ask about this since I'm not seeing a Scams help community on here, and I had tried to search for one.

What is going on is that I had started checking out BlueSky after I had gotten an invite from someone on Twitter/X to move there, and just recently I have gotten a confusing message related to the illuminati on there. I haven't responded to them since I'm very confused and thought to try to get help in r/Scams on Reddit thinking it might be illegitimate.

When I had tried to ask over there, my message had gotten removed by the AutoModerator over there saying that my post has been removed because it looks like you are relying heavily on a screenshot to explain the scam. This has me wondering where else I can get help about this, even though I can provide a screenshot of the message in question.

Context: I'm in my early 30s. I've only been on a date like once in my life a decade ago and it was awkward and I hated it. The guy was nice but I didn't know what I was doing and then he wanted to kiss and I didn't (and still don't) know how to do that either and I found it unpleasant.

I do not have the capacity for attraction like 99% of the world does, so I figured it meant that I cannot date anyone since I am incompatible with the world. I have always been that way and it was very confusing growing up. It's ok for the most part but it can get a bit lonely.

I also have intense social anxiety. My only friends are online and one coworker.

Well I will be visiting with a stranger who I am closer on the same page with in terms of them not instantaneously expecting sex. But I am panicking a little bit still and still don't know what to do about the attractiveness thing. I've not done anything like this before.

We're going to a nature trail. Tbh I wish it was an environment where I could have a drink because that helps me relax, but it doens't really make sense in this context lol.

I guess I don't know what kind of responses I'm looking for but idk help lol

Thanks

Blocking keeps my feed nice. See people being assholes? Block them. See a post discussing something I don't want to hear about? Block them. See a community I don't want to hear about? Block them. The greatest thing about social media is the ability to never have to interact with someone again at no detriment to them. Blocking is good.

On whatever topic is in the title and consequently of interest to both the poster and the respondants

I think everybody needs one today

Disabled

Trans

Undocumented Immigrants

Ukranian

LGBT

When I'm frustrated or anxious or upset, I vent to the few friends I have. This is a negative coping mechanism as it damages our relationships. I also experience extreme remorse after doing so, which further perpetuates it because I'm constantly asking to be forgiven.

Earlier this year I tried to see a therapist and ask for advice on this. She dismissed me and said that it's ok to do that and you can't simply keep everything inside.

She was incorrect and was also a shitty therapist for various reasons (she was 15-30 minutes late to each session and just dismissed anything I said).

I'm hopefully trying again with a new therapist soon, but I need advice in the meantime. It is actively damaging my relationships.

"Journaling" is not an option because I can't stop what I'm doing at work to go journal something whenever the need arises.

Thanks all. I can delete on request if needed.

Can a sentence be both true and false in the same sense? - Dialetheism

It might seem nonsensical until one sees the liar's paradox:

This sentence is false.

Using classical logic, this sentence seems to be both true and false. Due to the explosion rule, that implies every sentence. This is absurd, but philosophers don't agree on what has gone wrong here.

Dialetheism is the solution that accepts that it is both true and false and modifies logic to exclude the principle of explosion

@general

What did you get up to, and what are you getting into here in the End of the Week?

Any of you that celebrate Halloween already up to anything? Movie marathons/rewatches, books/short story reading/rereading, playing/replaying games, or whatever else?

Also, for those wanting to share spooky vibes, you might check out the following communities:
[email protected]
[email protected]

I hope this is a good place for this since I'm not sure what other community would be for this, nor who I could talk to about this. Lately, I'm becoming more concerned about AI among other things and I have been looking for movements against this stuff going on. It also has me questioning whether or not it will be a good idea to create a community about this on here since I can't seem to find any community that it would fit in.

To try to keep my mind off things, I have been going into groups for Faerie and Wicca beliefs to focus my thoughts on woodland mysteries and things like that, and someone brought up something about keeping the magick alive for little ones mentioning the use of tiny letters. That got me thinking one of those letters can be saying, "Since the beginning of time, we have been the guardians and the healers of the forest. You have too long forgotten the magic powers of nature. The time has come for you to call on them again, and remember, all the magic of creation exists within one single tiny seed. Help it to grow.", and comes inside a tiny envelope containing a lot of seeds that could get a child to feel bad, concerned, and want to reconnect with the woodlands.

I feel this may lead to the child gaining an affinity for the color green, an interest in green colored dresses and brown booties, and perhaps wanting to become a child of the forest. This also got me thinking about the story that I have been writing, that is about a few kids who are feeling they are out of a place within a technological nightmare world, and are also getting a calling sensation to go into the woodlands. As they leave home and venture to the woods, they notice a number of the trees look like they are withering and dying which makes them concerned.

This soon leads them through a cave passage into a world which appears to be somewhere in the 1800s where they meet a group of kids who have a hideout above an abandoned pawnshop like place. They find out more things there, continue their venture into the woods there, and through a faerie gateway that takes them to another world that is stuck in medieval times with little to no technology to be seen. This world has an older Legend of Zelda/Lord of the Rings feel to it even though its still a work in progress.

Oh, and I also had started to plan and put together a video series that focuses on an elf girl named Lindsey who escapes out into the forest from her foster mom, and it kind of becomes similar to a scavenger hunt to locate certain things. As I try to focus on these things, something I see somewhere tends to cause me to be increasing worried about certain technologies.

Anyway, the idea behind a few of these projects is to show things that appear to be getting forgotten, and to attempt to get children weaned off of phones and tablets that are causing the outdoors and wilderness to be forgotten, and to get rid of the garbage as well as the enshittification being brought on by greed. I'm currently wondering if I should look into setting up a community for discussions on this, though I currently don't know what to call it.

both companies notably ruined the internet in the 2010s by consolidating discourse then taking various steps to destroy the user experience and the feel of the communities for profit.

so, broadly, the web went from cozy, small hobby forums in the 90s and 00s, then with the 10s as a transitional period, the 20s being practically complete corporate control of online discourse.

it's a bummer. but nothing lasts forever. where will we go next?

I built a pneumatic can crusher, but I wasn't satisfied with with just crushing it, I wanted to flatten them. So I put it it on a lever, it has ~2.4 mechanical advantage. So it goes from ~160lbs from the cylinder to about 400lbs on the "squishy plate".

Unfortunately, I was a little too hardcore, after a few tests, it managed to bend the entire base. Once I can get a some thicker metal I will put it back together.

Why do this? Because I have a tiny furnace and a mountain of cans that I melt down and cast into random shit.

1. Is it one of those militarism holidays? If not,
2. Is something horrific happening in the news? (Checks news headlines) If not,
3. Is it the weekend? Maybe there’s a sports game. Somehow sports games are considered a good use of military jets.
4. I hope I never start expecting bombs when I hear them.
5. Maybe whatever horrific event is happening has had time to reach the news now. (Checks the headlines again.)

The only reason I’d know a military jet is it usually is a militarism holiday when you hear fwooosh and some jet is going fast and low. Or there will be more than one.

If there is a different community I should have posted this in that still has a fair number of subscribers, let me know.

(This post is referring to tiktok, instagram reels, youtube shorts type content)

So it’s no secret that for half a decade now we’ve had short form video content get increasingly popularised. To the point where your uncle probably watches them on some platform and so does your 6 year old.

Now in terms of addictiveness, privacy falling through the roof, advertising down your throat, etc. we’ve reached new records. But that isn’t what this post is about.

I never used this format much, except in 2020 during the pandemic, but I can’t help but notice when I do. Even if I make a brand new VPN’d account for it. Every 5-10th post or so wil be some kind of culture war propaganda.

The kind of stuff that made me an edgy right wing bigot as a teenager because I got influenced by it on youtube. Luckily, I grew and changed. Unfortunately, many former friends, not so much.

On a completely new account you’ll get bombarded with videos like:

• “This is why women NEED real MEN”
• “How to piss of a cyclist”
• ”If a climate activist is blocking the road, you should be allowed to run over them”
• ”When MEN were thrown a grenade, they reacted quickly, WOMEN got confused and scared. That’s why we NEED men in the army”
• Wholesome looking video — homophobic caption: “This is why children need both a mum and a dad”

These are all examples I got today when I decided to make completely new accounts on a new device with a VPN. I tried youtube shorts and tiktok for this and scrolled 20ish videos on each without liking anything.

It scares me how much there is a strong rightward shift amongst the younger population. To the point where 18-24’s in recent german elections have voted the most for the borderline neo-nazi AFD party. I know these parties are by far the most active and very popular on tiktok.

I know to some people these examples might seem anoying but trivial. But you are forgetting how impressionable children and teenagers are. There really is this thing called the alt-right pipeline. One very specific example which impacted me at a younger age, was you start with “mad karen” type videos, then after a couple you get recommended “mad SJW” videos, I think you see where I’m going with this, after a while you’re on “feminism debunked” and watching peterson/crowder/shapiro. I know many childhood friends who went down this pipeline and became insufferably racist bigot adults.

I wonder what others think on this?

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/13148749

Is that something people would even need/want here?

I'm not sure where to post to find someone to help me or a workaround for this, but I'm having an issue on here where the display picture that I used for a couple of topics I posted in my koala community had gone 404. I have tried to ask for help in [email protected] and sent an e-mail to the admins to try to get the problem fixed, but I had not gotten any response from the admins and I'm beginning to wonder if I need to find someone who may know of a workaround for this.

what if, instead of pigs in a blanket, you took a full-length hot dog, cut it into 4 spears, cut spears in half, wrap in a corn 'street taco' shell and toothpin in place, fry. this is an imaginary recipe idea. any suggestions? i will update if i try it out myself.

sauce idea (good): 1/2 half avocado, sour cream, mayo, cilantro, lime [dries- chicken knorr, garlic and onion powder, cumin]

sauce idea (funky): corn shaved off of ear airfried corn, sour cream, kewpie mayo, ponzu, same seasonings but instead of cumin, wild it, add some coleman's mustard for the nasal kick

I'm not sure if I can post here. Lemmy seems kind of complicated. For instance, I tried to post something and it said I can't because I'm on a local instance. So how do I find out what instance a community is on and how do I make it so I can post?

An example: I went to https://join-lemmy.org/instances and searched for nostupidqestions and nothing was found.

Calling all hackers, activists, and the free people of the world, to build a digital infrastructure that supports and defends those who stand for justice.

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/16201582

Hello, I hope this is the right community to ask this. I have a flight in December from Valencia (Spain) to Tokyo with Air France. I have a layover in Paris CDG.

The flight from Valencia to Paris arrives at CDG at 08:20 in terminal 2G. And the flight from Paris to Tokyo departs at 9:30 in terminal 2E.

I have been researching and I believe that this is not enough time to make the connection. I contacted Air France and initially they told me that it was not enough time, and they offered me some more expensive alternative flights, which I am not satisfied with, as I would arrive a day later. When I told them that their website states that they are responsible for making the connection possible, they started to say that the connection is indeed possible. I also tried to cancel the flight from Valencia to Paris and take another airline that arrives earlier, but they say that cannot be done without paying, as it is part of the same itinerary.

I don’t have much experience flying, and I would like to know your opinion.

Thank you very much!