Or here: https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-copilot-is-now-injecting-ads-into-pull-requests-on-github-gitlab/

Could you maybe just put the water softener salt pellets in the upper tank? Not all at once, of course, but a few pellets per week?

Wtf is up with the Guardian lately and these headlines?

I was just thinking the same thing! Might be filler articles used for shitposts, maybe by someone in their organization.

I just read one about a “possible” UK shortage in certain prescription medicines. The actual meat of the article was a guy saying “The supply chain is disrupted and we need alternate means of delivery.” Yes, thank you Captain Obvious. It’s is the same for basically EVERY imported product that comes by sea right now. They could write the same article for dozens of different industries. They’re all impacted the same way. Hush, Guardian, hush.

“Week”?

More like “WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!”

So, yeah, things are pretty good here! I’m moving out of Texas next week and going overseas for the first time in my life. (Sorry, @Powderhorn@beehaw.org , beat ya to it!)

Elementary school in the '80s, eh? Me too. BASIC, perhaps? On an Apple IIe, maybe?

There’s no shame in NOT liking computer science. I have a CS degree and I failed miserably as a professional. I hated it. But it seems like you just hated the structure of your classes, not so much the material. You might have felt differently if you started in a more advanced programming class.

But your comments seem more like “I studied French in grade school, I dunno why they’re making me start over for Chinese 101.”

The issue with CSE142 was it was stupid. Yay! Writing Hello World in C! I had a specific disinterest in wheel reinvention, and holy shit did the CS department want that.

For the sake of any CS students who stumble into your thread:

Learning “Hello World” isn’t reinventing the wheel. Learning “Hello World” is more like practicing the ABCs and reading Dick & Jane. You are learning an entirely new language, and all the strange new rules that come with it.

Pretty much any and all 100-level science classes are going to feel like reinventing the wheel because it’s just building blocks for the hard stuff.

Not really.

I compare it more to fan fiction and amateur writing. Some is a great read, much better than the garbage you might find on NYT’s best seller list. Very talented people doing what they love and trying to be of service to others along the way. FOSS often seems more of a passion project for the creator(s) than an anarchist/communist project, IMHO - although there are obvious parallels.

My thoughts: If you have the motivation and willpower to implement this system, then you’ve got MORE than enough willpower and motivation to cut down on your screentime without using a customized software solution.

In other words, just do it.

Set an alarm or timer on the phone. When it goes off, you pick a task from your to-do list and accomplish it. Maybe clean the house, go for a walk, attend to an errand. Be in the moment, listen to music, pause to ask how people are doing. Find a dog to pet.

Reconnect.

Then, go back to doom scrolling. But this time, instead of diving right in, make it a point to watch a video or read an article about something that interests you, something that you might enjoy doing yourself. Maybe it’s 3d printing, or flying drones, or welding. Something that is achievable, that you always wanted to do. You don’t have to take up this hobby - but maybe your new hobby is researching hobbies. Seeing what other things, besides staring at a screen, might capture your attention.

And, oops, there’s your alarm again! Has it been four hours already?! Time to do some stretching and pushups. Text a loved one. Hug a tree.

Etc, etc.

Your screentime is a lifestyle choice, and an addictive one. The solution is getting your brain’s pleasure center rewired.