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K Kichae

Off-Topic Discussion

Alternatives to the US Tech Giants

Just so everyone is aware of who owns and operates what, and what alternatives exist out there:

What the US Tech Giants Own

Meta/Facebook	Alphabet/Google	Microsoft	Amazon	SpaceX & Tesla
Facebook	Google	Activision / Blizzard	Amazon.com	Tesla
Instagram	Gmail	XBox	AWS	SpaceX
WhatsApp	Gemini (AI)	King.com / Candy Crush	Whole Foods	Starlink (satellite internet)
Threads	Android OS	LinkedIn	Audible	Twitter / “X”
Oculus	Chrome/OS	GitHub	GoodReads	SolarCity
Giphy (gifs)	Picasa / Google Photos	Skype	Twitch	xAI
Confirm.io	Pixel Phones	Azure	MGM Studios	grok (AI)
Friend.ly	FitBit	MS Office	iRobot (Roomba)	Cursor (AI)
Karma	Nest	Windows	Ring (doorbells)
	Waze		IMDB
	reCaptcha		Wag (pet supplies)
	Kaggle		Blink
	Looker		Mama Bear (baby products)
	Tenor (gifs)		Kuiper Systems (satellite internet)
	Blogger (yes, it still exists)
	YouTube
More…	More…	More…	More…	More…

Alternatives to Big Tech

If you’re looking for alternative tech that is not controlled by US oligarchs:

Maps

OpenStreetMaps (OSM) is a great alternative to Google, Bing, and Apple Maps. And even to MapQuest (which is owned by a US-based advertising and data broker company). Its map data is sourced from enthusiasts mapping their own communities and countries, and you can participate yourself if you like! It’s free, it’s not controlled by any tech giants, and its data is used to power open-source websites and mobile apps.
Organic Maps is a mobile mapping app that uses OSM data. It’s available on Android and iOS, and it allows you to download maps of cities and regions for offline usage and supports offline navigation features. I’ve used it for years, and it was one of the key reasons I could avoid having a data plan while travelling.
Importantly, MapQuest is owned by a US-based digital advertising System1. They also own Startpage-dot-com, and are open in their terms of service that they, quote, “collect information about your online activities over time and across third-party websites or other online services (e.g. behavioral tracking)”. They’re just a would-be Google. They’re not standing up to the White House, they’re just looking for any way to make MapQuest relevant again.

Office Suite

LibreOffice is a free, non-commercial, open-source office suite that competes directly with MS Office and Google Docs. It is rather good (though not as polished as MS Office), and I found the switch to it more or less seamless for my casual usage. If you’ve tried it in the past and bounced off of it (as I did multiple times in the past), try it out again. It’s gotten a lot better.

Email

Proton Mail is an EU-based, privacy(ish) focused email service. It’s well regarded (though apparently not quite as secure as fans like to claim, but nothing is) and lies outside US jurisdiction. IIRC, it lets you bring your own domain, too, if that’s something you’ve wanted to have! (and, IIRC, the .email domains are pretty cheap. At least they were when I got mine)

YouTube

If you are on Android, there are open source YouTube clients that allow you to follow channels, block ads, and skip in-video sponesorships. I’m a big fan of PipePipe, but there’s also NewPipe and GrayJay.
If you’re using Linux (or thinking about it!), FreeTube and NewPipe are both solid options.

Mobile App Repositories

If you’re on Android, check out F-Droid. It’s an alternative app “store” (everything is free) that hosts open source and/or free apps with a focus on privacy and local-usage. There are some real diamonds to be found there.

Web Browsers

Firefox (and its forks like LibreWolf, Waterfox, Zen Browser, and Floorp) is the only major web browser left that is not controlled, directly or indirectly, by Google or Apple. Brave and Vivaldi are both based on Chrome, and no longer have access to privacy supporting plugins thanks to Google’s bullshit (and Brave is run by a raging homophobe, and folks should look into the affiliate link and crypto-mining incidents associated with Brave). Look into Firefox with uBlock Origin, SponsorBlock for Youtube, LocalCDN, and Facebook Container. Available on Android and iOS, too.

Social Media

I would like to highlight the open source social media sites out there. There are a number of federated forums and content aggregators that are open and Canadian operated:

lemmy.ca, sh.itjust.works, and piefed.ca are small Reddit-like sites operated by Fedecan, a Canadian non-profit. They’re welcoming spaces, they’re all networked with each other, and they could use the increased network effect of more users!
There is also pixelfed.ca, which is an instagram-like photo and image sharing website operated by Fedecan.
thecanadian.social, ottawa.place, and oceanplayground.social are Canadian-operated Mastodon-based websites – so a Twitter-like microblogging experience – that has good people on them
tenforward.social and cosocial.ca are paid Mastodon-based sites that are operated by Canadians (cosocial is actually operated by a co-op, and all members are shareholders, which is why it’s a paid service).
I also have my own networked TTRPG forum that I’ve been setting up, that I’m happy to offer invites to if anyone’s interested, but it’s a weird little roleplay-focused side project of mine. But it connects with Mastodon-based, Lemmy-based, Piefed-based, and Pixelfed-based websites.
Which reminds me: NodeBB is Canadian made open-source forum software that networks with other NodeBB- Mastodon-, Lemmy-, Piefed-, Pixelfed-, and Misskey/Sharkey/Catodon-based websites.
I’d like to raise a yellow flag about BlueSky and systems that use BlueSky’s “AT Proto”. The ATmosphere overwhelmingly funnels all content through BlueSky-owned systems, and BlueSky is US-based, and backed by VC investors who also backed Elon Musk and other technocrats.

Book Reviews

Rambling Readers is a UK-based GoodReads alternative running on the federated, open source book-reviewing platform BookWyrm

Chat/Messenger

Signal is a privacy focused messenger app. It’s end-to-end encrypted, which can cause some minor hiccups every once in a while, but it’s mostly fine. Last I used it, it required a phone number for signup, though, which can make it kind of annoying for family use.
Delta Chat is a decentralized messenger system where you need to provide people with invite links or QR codes in order to add people to your address book. It’s open source, and it’s encrypted.
There’s also XMPP, a network of messenger servers that can be used by a small fleet of independent apps. It’s not encrypted by default, but many servers/apps support encryption. If you have your own web server, you can even host your own XMPP server, too.
Matrix also exists, and is more chatroom like. Like XMPP, it’s a network of chat servers. It’s like advanced IRC, with modern desktop and mobile apps.

Search

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search portal (leveraging Bing’s search engine), and Ecosia (also Bing-based) directs its revenues towards tree planting. Both work just as well as Google search now that Google has completely neutered its search engine.

Operating Systems

There are a lot of reasons to not us Linux. I know. And I’ve tried multiple times over the years, only to be frustrated. It was a totally different experience recently. I even got my 67 year old Mom using Linux, and she’s found it just fine. I’ve had great luck on multiple laptops.

Linux comes in different versions, made by different groups, optimized for slightly different experiences:

Linux Mint is designed to be a bridge for people coming from Windows. It has been a clean and easy experience, and feels very similar to Windows 10.
Ubuntu is a more mainstream version of Linux, and is the dominant flavour out there for average users. Most helpers and instructions put Ubuntu front and centre. Default Ubuntu has an interface that feels somewhat macOS-like. It runs well on older hardware.
Kubuntu is a version of Ubuntu that has a more Windows-like interface. It’s a little more resource heavy than the default Ubuntu, most of the online instructions for Ubuntu apply to Kubuntu, too.

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Just so everyone is aware of who owns what, and what alternatives exist: What US Tech Giants Own Meta Alphabet Microsoft Amazon SpaceX & Tesla Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads Google, Gmail, Gemini, Android Activision/Blizzard, Xbox, LinkedIn Amazon, AWS, Whole Foods Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, X (Twitter) Oculus, Giphy, Confirm.io, Friend.ly, Karma Chrome/OS, Google Photos, Pixel GitHub, Skype, Azure, MS Office, Windows Audible, Goodreads, Twitch, MGM, IMDB SolarCity, xAI, Grok, Cursor Fitbit, Nest, Waze, reCaptcha iRobot, Ring, Wag, Blink, Kuiper Kaggle, Looker, Tenor, Blogger, YouTube More Meta More Google More MS More Amazon More X/Tesla Alternatives to Big Tech Maps OpenStreetMap (OSM): Free, crowdsourced, open-source alternative powering many independent apps. Not controlled by tech giants. Organic Maps: Open-source mobile app using OSM data. Excellent for offline navigation without a cellular data plan. Note on MapQuest: MapQuest is owned by System1 (a US ad-tech broker that also owns Startpage). Their ToS explicitly tracks behavioral data across third-party sites—they’re just an ad broker trying to stay relevant, not an anti-monopoly alternative. Cloud Storage Nextcloud: Open-source platform for files, calendars, and contacts. Host it yourself or use independent Swiss/EU-hosted providers. Proton Drive: Swiss-based, end-to-end encrypted cloud file storage. Tresorit: Swiss/Hungarian zero-knowledge encrypted cloud storage designed for high-privacy sharing. Office Suite LibreOffice: Free and open-source. Highly improved in recent years, and good for general daily use. Email Proton Mail: EU-based, privacy-focused email with a free tier. Supports custom domain hosting, too, AFAIK. Tuta: German-based, open-source, fully encrypted email service. Password Managers 1Password: Canada-based cross-platform password manager. Proprietary, but highly secure and well-regarded. Bitwarden: Open-source, end-to-end encrypted password manager. Offers free cloud sync across platforms and can also be self-hosted. KeePassXC: Completely open-source and offline. Password vault stays stored locally on your device, but does not have native sync. Web Browsers Firefox (and forks like LibreWolf, Waterfox, Zen, Floorp): The only major browser engine not controlled by Google or Apple. Recommended add-ons: uBlock Origin, SponsorBlock, LocalCDN, and Facebook Container. Avoid Chromium-based forks: Brave and Vivaldi use Google’s engine (limiting privacy ad-blockers under Manifest V3). Brave also has a history of crypto-mining/affiliate link controversies and questionable leadership. Use Vivaldi for when you need a Chrome-based browser. YouTube Clients Android: PipePipe, NewPipe, and Grayjay allow channel following, ad-blocking, and SponsorBlock skipping without a Google account. Linux/Desktop: FreeTube and NewPipe. Search Engines DuckDuckGo & Ecosia: Privacy-focused portals (powered by Bing; Ecosia plants trees) that provide cleaner results than Google. Mojeek: UK-based search engine with its own independent web index (completely independent of Google and Bing). Qwant: French search engine hosted in Europe adhering strictly to EU privacy law. Kagi: A paid, ad-free alternative. US-based, but it being a small, paid, privacy-focused service means user data isn’t monetized or tracked. Social Media Open-source, federated social sites based in Canada: Reddit Alternatives: lemmy.ca, sh.itjust.works, and piefed.ca (operated by Fedecan, a Canadian non-profit). Instagram Alternative: pixelfed.ca (photo sharing run by Fedecan). Twitter/Microblogging (Mastodon): Free Canadian hubs include thecanadian.social, ottawa.place, and oceanplayground.social. Paid/co-op options include cosocial.ca and tenforward.social. Forums: NodeBB is Canadian open-source forum software that networks via ActivityPub. (I also host a federated TTRPG forum if anyone wants an invite!). Yellow Flag on Bluesky: AT Proto/Bluesky funnels traffic through US-based systems backed by the same VC investors funding major technocrats. Book Reviews Rambling Readers: UK-based Goodreads alternative built on the federated, open-source BookWyrm platform. Chat & Messaging Signal: E2E encrypted messaging (requires a phone number for registration). Delta Chat: Decentralized, encrypted messenger using invite codes/QR codes. XMPP: Federated chat network with client flexibility; can be self-hosted. Matrix: Modern, decentralized channel/room-based protocol (like an upgraded IRC with rich mobile/desktop clients). Operating Systems Linux has matured significantly—even non-technical users and older family members can navigate modern distributions cleanly: Linux Mint: The best desktop transition for Windows users; interface feels very similar to Windows 10. Ubuntu: Popular, widely supported OS with a macOS-like UI. Runs well on older hardware. Kubuntu: Ubuntu base with a familiar Windows-style layout, but slightly more feature-heavy. Android App Repositories F-Droid: An open-source “store” focused entirely on free, privacy-friendly, local-first apps.

K
K Kichae

The Notice Board

Credits & Acknowledgements
Credits
- Icons courtesy of Truly Malicious, Ddant1100, and Game-Icons.net
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K
K Kichae

Blog

What is a Grapple, Anyway?
Over on Reddit, user u/eCyanic asked a question that generated all of the usual noise:

If a Small enemy is grappling you and you use Oni Form, does grabbed end now that you’re Large, and outside of grapple size range?

As is r/Pathfinder2e’s wont, this simple question was flooded with responses from people racing to be the first, fourth, or fifteenth person to proudly announce that they knew the rules! “No!,” they said in a wave, overwhelming any interesting discussion, “The Grabbed condition doesn’t say anything about size differences!”

While strictly correct by the letter of the RAW, this unyielding collective reflex completely misses the point, and is emblematic of a broader issue in the online PF2e community: a dogmatic dedication to rules regurgitation as a form of gatekeeping, at the expense of fictional context, narrative sense, or even a basic curiosity about why the rules are as they are.

It’s Lawful Neutral Paladins all the way down. The community has a Judge Dredd problem: No judgement, just enforcement without understanding.

Game Engine vs. Story Engine

Let’s acknowledge that, yes, purely Rules-As-Written, there is no rule stating a creature loses the Grabbed condition simply because it grows larger. Under a strict board-game interpretation, the enlarged creature merely gains a better modifier to the Escape action on its turn, improving its odds of getting away, should they attempt to do so.

If you treat Pathfinder 2e purely as a tactical engine – as Fantasy XCOM – that procedure works. “Grapple” and “Grabbed” exist purely as functions and statuses. If you use the system as a story engine, however, where rules mediate actions to determine outcomes that make sense in the fiction of the world, that interpretation becomes completely untenable.

By definition, a grapple is a hand-to-hand struggle for physical superiority. If a creature becomes so massive and powerful that it can simply ignore your hold, the contest is already over. You haven’t grappled them; at best, you have voluntarily anchored yourself to a moving giant.

User u/i_tyrant highlighted this design blind spot in the original thread:

It will never stop being weird to me that both 5e and PF2e went this route of “invalid targets due to size”, instead of just changing how it works.

All it would’ve taken is one extra sentence; “if the target is more than one size larger, they do not have the grappled (or whatever) status, instead when they move you move with them.”

Boom, done, now grappling even has a use vs really big enemies, you can climb dragons in flight n shit with it, very thematic for the genre and you don’t have to deal with these questions at all.

What Does a “Grapple” Actually Represent?

Something else that caught my eye in the comments of the Reddit post: The seeming total lack of understanding of what the Grapple action and Grabbed condition actually mean, in universe.

For all of the flexing that goes on in the subreddit, these demonstrations of system expertise often seem to ignore any text that doesn’t tell you how many points you gain or lose on a roll. The consensus seems to treat a Grapple as something akin to a bear hug, or a collar-and-elbow tie-up, but the actual game text is highly suggestive of it being so much less than that:
```
    Grapple [one-action]
    [Attack] 
    Source Player Core pg. 235
    Skill Athletics (Untrained)
    Requirements You have at least one free hand and your target is no more than one size larger than you.
```
Notice the details:
```
    It requires only one free hand.

    It can be attempted while Untrained in Athletics.
```
You’re not bear-hugging anyone with one hand, and you’re not doing tie-ups or martial arts holds without training. In-universe, a basic Grapple, at best, is little more than gripping someone’s wrist or forearm, or at worst snatching their belt, or grabbing a fistful of their cloak.

This is why the Grabbed condition still allows the target to Strike, Trip, Shove, or even Cast a Spell – it simply means they can’t move away freely without breaking that single-handed grip. A firmer hold is represented by the Restrained condition.

If a player is going to insist they are putting an enemy in a full bear hug, that choice carries fiction-first consequences: I’m not going to let them use weapons to Strike if they don’t make sense (no, you can’t attack with your Longsword, unless you’re just weakly beating the target on the back with your hilt), and they’ve sacrificed the use of their hands for other actions – bear hugs are commitments! And if the player is trying to do things like strike at the target’s back, that also means they’ve loosened their grip, and the Escape DC is going down – possibly way down!

Using the Whole Toolbox

Pathfinder 2e provides all the tools necessary to run a game that is both mechanically sound and internally consistent with its physical world. The mechanics are meant to support a fictional reality, not override it!

The Rules-as-Written provide a baseline, but applying them blindly without considering narrative leads to absurdity. And absurdity is a choice.
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T

T Tindra

Off-Topic Discussion

I’m gonna need everyone in security to internalize this.
Hell, my local country fair (y’know, the place where you can submit your veggies to go on display and get judged and get ribbons and shit) is requiring online registration.
Guess how many people that’s locking out? How many of the people whose submissions are what keep the exhibitions going don’t have emails or cell phones?
If your solution doesn’t work for my friend who can only be reached via landline phone or mail, it doesn’t work.

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E Epic Null

@TindrasGrove @patrizia Yeah a LOT of tech I have a problem with is forcing tech for corporarions onto home users. This stuff has risks PERFECTLY managable with a functioning IT department, but disasterous for home users. Bitlocker is a perfect example of this.Security advocates model your threats challenge.
S

S Flipboard Science Desk

Off-Topic Discussion

The land beneath most solar farms is mostly left as gravel or turf. But the teams at two sites in Minnesota decided to do things differently, seeding the ground with native grasses and flowering plants. Five years later, that land is home to many types of insect, with a 20-fold increase in bees that have begun pollinating the crops in neighboring fields. Here's more from The Pulse.
https://flip.it/ta7SMV
#Environment #Solar #Ecology

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F

F Federated Mind

Off-Topic Discussion

This week, we cover the writing layer of the fediverse: Ghost, WriteFreely, Micro.blog, Plume, WordPress, and Flipboard. Text was ActivityPub's first real workload, but these platforms didn't all arrive at federation the same way.
Ghost: a UK non-profit that funds Fedify (by @hongminhee) the framework its federation is built on. it's a publisher and a fediverse client at once, with an inbox as well as an outbox. Our newsletter is also powered by it, so @index is followable from any Mastodon app right now.
WriteFreely: one primary maintainer, Matt Baer (@matt), roughly 1,400 of 1,900+ commits, going since 2015. Funded by his own hosted product, Write.as.
Micro.blog: a Kickstarter By Manton Reese (@manton) that funded the platform before it had a single user. POSSE, native ActivityPub, and native Bluesky, no bridge.
Plume: a simple platform that also supported collaborative multi-author blogs. But no longer actively developed - it recommends WriteFreely and WordPress instead of itself.
WordPress: built-in ActivityPub (using plugin by Matthias Pfefferle - @pfefferle) plus a native AT Protocol plugin and real moderation tooling.
Flipboard: curating other people's writing rather than hosting its own.
Part 3 of the "Fediverse Beyond Mastodon" series.

The Written Fediverse: Where the Words Live

Ghost, WriteFreely, Micro.blog, Plume, WordPress, and Flipboard didn't all arrive at federation the same way. Some built it in from the first commit. Some bridged it onto a product that already existed. Federation decides how far the writing travels.

Federated Mind (federatedmind.com)

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #Ghost #WriteFreely #MicroBlog #WordPress #OpenWeb #Blogging

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F Federated Mind

@joho Thanks for letting me know - it looks like an interesting project. I see your own website runs on tinymash. I'll be sure to check it out when I get some time. Following you to get updates on your cool project. 👍
J

J Jonathan

Off-Topic Discussion

"Artificial intelligence (AI)" and the law thread 🧵
(Really large language models (LLM), not AI, but I'll never find the thread if I don't put "AI" in it)

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J Jonathan

Of the about 9 cases it said it could not find citations for, I found 6.This is basic, basic work right here. Not even research. And this thing cannot do it.
W

W Wydamn

Off-Topic Discussion

Yo if you like Ocarina of Time and games where you make your own dungeons, you should consider backing this project. It's not quite at the 50% mark yet but it still has 17 days to go.
Back it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akelamorse/temple-maker-64
Try the Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3897090/Temple_Maker_64/

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E

E eclectech

Off-Topic Discussion

#silentSunday #Scotland

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E eclectech

Dammit, it should be lighting its own fuse 😆 Wielding a lit match at the very least. I might have to revisit that at some point, but must go and get some Sensible Stuff done.