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Szewek

@ Szewek @sopuli.xyz

Posts
25
Comments
170
Joined
8 mo. ago

I am still in it for a wonderful green future. Nature and wildlife, but also useful, accessible tech, art, and urban planning. Polish, living in Sweden. I love living in the EU and the values it represents. Fascinated by and open to the rest of the world.

Picture: "Blue Coat", Paul Klee

  • Europe must stop ‘dreaming’ about defence without US, Rutte warns

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  • Rutte is a clown

  • Best Calendar apps?

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  • Also, Thunderbird solves my next issue with an app for desktop sync, thanks!

  • Best Calendar apps?

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  • I understand that this is a feauture. I guess depends on usability-privacy tradeoff. If their app was easier to use, I would probably have stuck with it.

  • Best Calendar apps?

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  • I used both Google and Samsung Calendar before, the Samsung one was much smoother and intuitive. With CalDAV it is easy to switch between services, I'm trying out Etar now but can always switch back or to sth else.

  • Best Calendar apps?

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  • I'm trying out Etar, looks great (picking which calendars to sync or not is a bit slow, but that is a one-time job ¯\(ツ)/¯)

  • Best Calendar apps?

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  • Yes, CalDav is the thing, thank you!

  • Best Calendar apps?

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  • Thanks! I got it set up now (⌐■_■)

  • Name the best US to EU switch you have made so far

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  • I try to pay with Swish when possible. But it is a bit cumbersome.

    Blik, the Polish member of the European Mobile Payment Systems Association has a contactless payment solution that works as smooth as using a card. But I think they somehow collaborate with Mastercard on it. Some terminals in Sweden apparently can connect with Swish via Bluetooth, but I never got to set it up. So I use the QR code...

    I wish these mobile payment systems would be integrated better across borders.

  • Name the best US to EU switch you have made so far

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  • Yes!

  • Name the best US to EU switch you have made so far

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    • doomscrolling to fediversing;
    • getting off Coca Cola and Pepsi Co. products (alternatives are both tastier and healthier, too many to list here, it will depend on where you live, anything from Fritz Cola and Green Cola through VitaminWell to your local kombucha brand);
    • Google Photos and Dropbox to Koofr, I got two-in-one;
    • Google Search to Karma/Ecosia.
    • Google Translate to DeepL and Reverso Context (the latter being much more helpful if you actually want to learn);
    • ChatGPT to Mistral and solidagent. Thinking you need a larger model is often like thinking you need a larger car: it really depends how you use it. With some brain power a smaller and less "reasoning" model might give you more to sieve through;
    • Google Maps to Citymapper in Stockholm/other big cities (It was always JakDojade in Poland <3);
    • it is not a change as much as an add-on, but getting Minimalist Phone on top of my Android (I hope I will get established in a de-Googled environment in a foreseeable future).

    And possibly the biggest one: Divesting!!!

    As my antivirus expires, I am looking forward to switch to Bitdefender. I've been avoiding most American non-digital services before. Using alternatives to credit cards in real life is annoying in Sweden, but I try my best. It is easy online, though.

  • Buy european (and boycott USA) - Swiss edition 🇨🇭

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  • PS: I'm shocked by Neutrogena. They got me with the Norwegian flag (WTF?!), I didn't even check it.

  • Buy european (and boycott USA) - Swiss edition 🇨🇭

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  • Awesome list!

    I was surprised not see Vinted or Sellpy on the second-hand list, but apparently neither works in Switzerland :O

    You might be doing this already, but getting off Google Search is an essay thing that hurts the company a lot. And using adblock on YouTube.

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    German military withdraws soldiers from Greenland

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  • The title is more dramatic than the event. They finished military exercises as planned.

  • Sentimental Value sweeps up at European Film Awards

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  • Thanks for covering me!

  • Trump’s latest tariffs threaten to torpedo EU-US trade pact

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  • Just an idea: Maybe Trump et al. are pissed off with the Mercosur deal? And that's why they bring up the Monroe doctrine out of the graveyard of history. Why they provoke with Greenland. Why after trying to take over Venezuela, they directly imply that they intend to do the same with other, non-authoritarian countries in the region?

    I mean, that's been a clear focus of their international policy in recent weeks. The funny thing in this shitty situation is that trying to divide and conquer, they bring us closer together.

  • Getting community of Facebook

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  • I am considering a similar thing, though migrating away from WhatsApp. I thought it is easiest to first make two channels for the community, to keep the original one and add something outside of Metasphere. Does anyone have tried this kind of solution?

  • 'It's time to start drinking': EU's top diplomat makes surprise remark in European Parliament

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  • It's a typical Eastern European joke. The headline takes it too serious. It is as if she would say "We can kill two birds with one stone" and the headline would be "EU's top diplomat encourages stoning birds".

  • I Watched Yesterday’s Segment about a Ex-USA Man Living in EU Shocked, thus Wrote A Book- USA Everything Playing to Heavy Role In EU Countries, Thus…

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  • Note: It is also very non-homogenous. Some people would be hyper-americanized. Others would be like: "Marvel, what the fuck does that even mean?"

  • I Watched Yesterday’s Segment about a Ex-USA Man Living in EU Shocked, thus Wrote A Book- USA Everything Playing to Heavy Role In EU Countries, Thus…

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  • I mean that it is great that we look for culture outside of our small countries. But far too often, the "external" culture is just American/Anglophone.

    I can give not-so-cultural example, which I think is especially detrimental. Political news. Of course, locals will know like tens of MPs in their countries, most major candidates in their city, and this should be the focus, this is what they vote for. But then, they would know details about some Naomi Whatever who is a wife of a third-tier role figure in the Trump's administration (or whatever US administration), while they would often hardly recall the name of the Spanish president, despite him being the leader of top four country in the Union.

    I (slightly) exaggerate. But I used to know hardly any European leaders (apart from like German counselor, French president, UK prime minister if you count that, and fckn Orban), and I would hardly notice elections in even the large EU countries, while I would know details of both Democrat and Republican primaries in 2016. For me, now it is nearly opposite, but that was my active effort.