(X-posted from Reddit)

Back in the day, before algorithms etc. what we had was webportals that specialized in linking sites with interesting contents. These were manually updated by people who were interested in whatever their site was about.

We still have some stuff like this, arguably Reddit sort of functions in this way still but it's kind of a mix of the old way of peer-to-peer content sharing and algorithms (and let's face it: an ungodly amount of bots). However mostly it seems to have gone out of fashion due to automatic algorithms (+bots) out-competing manual posting from people. However this is mostly true for most common denominator type stuff. It's easy to have algorithms push some topic of interest in general but every topic in the world has sub-categories. The more niche you get, the more clumsy algorithms get - not to the point of vanishing completely but they're not usually so fine-tuned - it's easier to cater things that in general appeal to a wider audience.

This is where you as an unique human can step in, and you can do it on Mastodon on Lemmy, depending on which more suits your needs. For example, I like ASMR, but I'm super picky and I dislike a lot of the current trends (fast and aggressive and overly sexual). I know I'm not the only one so it occurred to me to combine what I'm already doing (looking for certain type of ASMR vids) with posting my findings to Mastodon, giving me a reason to A: use Mastodon and B: eventually have a useful link to give to people who want to find the type of ASMR I like (slow and minimalistic). I'm not a content creator, I'm not looking to make a career out of this but I already spend time looking for the content I like because the algorithm sucks. It doesn't take a lot of additional effort for me to just post what I find to the Mastodon feed (https://mastodon.social/@slowasmrpicks if you're interested). Now if i see someone on social media bemoan the difficulty of finding this particular kind of ASMR, I can give them the link to my list - conveniently also directing people to Mastodon. AND if I actually get followers, I'll also have a way of pushing Peertube or Dailymotion if people start posting there more.

So here's an idea for you, if you have some niche interest that you look up stuff on naturally, because it's your hobby... why not do what I'm doing? Make an account on Mastodon or Lemmy for that specific thing and just post the link to what you found.

To people who are of my generation (and Reddit users in general since this is kinda how Reddit works), maybe I'm being a bit obvious but it seems to me the younger generation isn't even used to thinking like this. Sure they get reviews for big media like games and movies, but not meta-content online. If you post on social media, it's supposed to be "your stuff" and then you beg for likes and reposts to get the algorithm to pick you up etc. Curated lists don't make as much sense in modern social media environments but I think on fediverse it could work AND it would help generate a reason to be there, which they currently need as very few actual content creators have migrated. Also note that I'm NOT telling you to copy the content and post it, just link to it so the creator gets the engagement as they should.

TL:DR: Find something cool online that pertains to your very specific interest that you already spend time looking for? Make a dedicated account for it on Fediverse and post the link.

Bonus Tip: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clean-links-webext/ (or similar for other browsers ) to strip URLs from any annoying tracking tokens.

Edit: As a side note, of course you can just post about some very general topic, why not. Just then you are competing with algorithms that are far more efficient at it than you are.

Page is in German, but should be no problem to translate e.g. with the quite new cloud-less translation feature in Firefox.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/57346437 >They are not european-made but are made in Pakistan in fair working conditions. Their whole supply chain is fully traceable and use FSC-certified sustainable rubber, Fairtrade certified organic cotton or recycled PU leather. Additionally, part of the sale of each pair goes to an independently managed fund that provides healthcare, pensions and education to the workers and their families. > > They are rated GREAT on goodonyou.eco > > I've own maybe half a dozen pairs over the years, they are a great alternative to Converse or Vans skate shoes and offer original models too. The stitched-soles models are decently durable, the vulc models don't last as long but they are supremely comfortable.

I love this.

Coming from @Flisty@mstdn.social as a post comment. He also mentioned These 10 companies control everything you buy dated 2017.

This may help navigate brands and brand owners.

I’ve downloaded Here WeGo maps, but I’ve noticed that the app lacks a review system. Additionally, the detail level for most places is quite poor.

Which Google Maps alternative is your favorite?

The next infographic is ready. Any feedback is appreciated!

I am not an economist, but I understand that EU companies need to be given some help to switch from US to EU services. We should think about defending temporary help for companies looking to do a switch. To be fair, companies that already do not rely on US companies should also be given similar rewards, under certain conditions.

The justification is fairly straightforward.

It is not easy to change the services a company is using. It takes time, resources, and money to change these things even when profit is the main motivator. This is especially true when changes at first are not necessarily for increased revenue but for long term health of an economy and to help certain sectors develop. And some of US services are extremely ingrained. How many companies depend on outlook, Microsoft, and Azure? How many depend on Gmail or AWS?

The idea can be extended to include tax breaks for foreign companies that rely on EU software, but that's an idea which most likely should be part of a different conversation and different package altogether.

Any thoughts?

Does anyhone know a good Garmin Instinct 2 Solar alternative?

I wanted to buy the now obsolete Instinct 2 due to its robustness and longevity, but recently learned that Garmin is american :-)

Does Suunto have any affordable Solar variants? Do you know other manufacturers?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/39148975

Sorry - only a German web side

Engelbert Strauss / Germany

Possibly has a similar mindset to Musk. See report (german)

Seems like a relevant post to the community here. I like how the author goes into a list of alternatives, with reasoning.

Cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/29675306

> I am not the author. > > I found this blog to have both a short summary of the reasons as well as a pretty complete overview of the options for protecting against this specific threat model. > I can just send this to people and they'll understand the why and the how.

Is there any free online docs platform as an alternative to google docs?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26295917

> I have been looking into some stuff and for now the Philips oneblade looks like the most interesting option to me, does someone maybe have experience with it? How long do the blades last? > Or are there any other alternatives you would recommend?

Thanks for the shoutout, a887dcd7a@lemmy.world

If anyone wants to contribute, we appreciate suggestions using the "Submit suggestion" form on the website: https://buy-european.net/suggest

Quick info about our approach: We list both European businesses as well as open source/decentralized solutions (as there is no specific location). We want to support European businesses as well as the idea of open source/decentralized services.

We currently do NOT evaluate the quality of the entries ethically/morally - we simply list companies with a European headquarter. This is because tbh we currently don't have time for more and would want to lay out a framework that is transparent and evaluated by multiple parties to ensure objectivity.

Ideas like evaluating whether the company actually produces either in the EU, in Europe or outside Europe might be factors in the future for a rating (gold, silver, bronze or something similar) but currently the focus is and will for the near future stay on listing all as many European options as possible which is a lot of work.

We also list European companies that are owned by foreign entities as they still fall under European legislation. This will probably not change in the future but similar to the above mentioned a ranking that takes this into account might be added in the future.

Hope that helps.

In the last weeks several databases and websites emerged around the idea of buying European, or local.

Coming from different communities overviews of products and services can (for example) be found at the following websites:

• https://www.buy-european-made.eu/ : Community based database. Make your own suggestions!
• https://european-alternatives.eu/categories : First comer. Dev can be found on mastodon for suggestion.
• https://buy-european.net/categories : Community based database. Make your own suggestions! Devs can be found on mastodon and lemmy.
• https://github.com/uscneps/Awesome-European-Tech

If you are using Firefox or Chrome you can be nudged to do better by using the opensource Go-European-Plugin:

• Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/go-european/
• Chrome: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/go-european/klmgadmgadfhjgomffmpamppmkajdloc

(If you know any other starting points feel free to comment.)

>An up-to-date list of recommended European projects and companies, curated by the community to support and strengthen the European tech ecosystem, specifically for users interested in privacy and sustainability.