I’ve been using MATE since Gnome 3. I really liked the simplicity of Gnome 2 and was unable to adapt to their “new” way so I switched to MATE and it just clicked. I tried Gnome 3 a few times again but I just can’t.

As for why MATE instead of XFCE or others? Because I already used and tried XFCE in the past and prefered Gnome 2’s look and feel. In fact, I have been going out of my way for years to keep every app using GTK2 and my favourite theme because I like how it looks and feel, and Gnome 3 and GTK3 broke this. So MATE it was. They switched to GTK3 too eventually but it gave my time to adjust.

My only “complaints” about it are the file manager Caja, and the way you can list windows, which both feel very basic. I would like those two to get better.

I try and use different DE from time to time, from Fluxbox to E17, but I just go back to MATE. My favorite DE of all time was E16 but it took waaay too long for E17 to be functional and I ended up keeping MATE.

This reminds me of the efforts made against tobacco and for cleaner air in certain areas, but it also reminds me how we do this for other things too.

Radium toothpaste, lead paint and asbestos curtains.

So, as someone that sees cars as a significant source of pollution, from exhausts, brake pads and tires, I find it ironic that some places are banning outdoor smoking in public areas while it’s perfectly acceptable to drive a gas guzzler around and among those places.

Like, I’m so grateful nobody can smoke around me on that restaurant’s terrace, this way I can fully enjoy breathing the pollution from the thousand of cars around.

Meanwhile I’ve always been the one that takes the smallest possible meal at McDonald’s, and would think that 5 nuggets with fries and drinks is just enough. In fact I hate going to restaurants in general because portions are always much too big for me. I can’t usually take doggy bags, and I feel like I’m wasting most of what I’m served. I can’t recall even finishing a plate in a (real) restaurant; there’s always too much. I’m always like “oh it was really tasty but I can’t eat much more!”

Hey, that’s me. More or less.

I have been living paycheck to paycheck for about two decades but things changed during the pandemic. I got a substantial raise, stopped smoking, and kept the same micro apartment in a high rise for years. I also live alone, refuse to pay for a car, and don’t have any children.

So I was able to put some money aside in the last years and now, I take extended vacations (I took 8 weeks this year), I travel, and treat myself with what I want.

My sister wonders how I can afford to take that much time off work to go to different countries and think that I just recently found interest in traveling but really, it’s just because I can afford it now.

How do people intent to power cars during the apocalypse? I guess electric cars can be charged with solar or wind but it’s not a small battery to charge. As for ICEs, stations are going to run out of gas after a few hours, and AFAIK, gas has a limited shelf life so making reserves for the long term would be a problem.

As someone that doesn’t get cars nor the “freedom” they supposedly confer, I also never got that part about an apocalyptic future. To me, a car is already a burden, and I can’t see why I would want one during the apocalypse.

Nah. Not good enough for me. I thought I would just do that but the thing still has to boot android in order to show you the HDMI input. So it has to constantly suck power like a vampire in order to keep a SoC running, and if it loses power, it has to boot the system again.

I got a cheap TCL and it smells like burning plastic, even when its “off”. I suspect it’s because of that SoC constantly running.

Next time I’m buying a computer monitor instead of a smart-but-not-connected TV.