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Zero-JS Hypermedia Browser

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Generated: 11:43:10
So I have been hearing chatter lately about people here or there who have down-graded to a feature phone, or gone cold turkey and entirely stopped using their hand-held brain implant. I applaud them. This will restore your life and your brain to your own control, and it has the huge advantage of simplicity. There is another way. It requires some discipline and willfulness, and might not be feasible for the (hopefully small) minority whose hands start shaking when separated from their #smartphone for a couple hours. But here is what I have been doing for a good number of years now, this strategy is seasoned and time-tested: First delete / suspend / vacation mode all of your mass surveillance social media accounts that are not necessary for business. Do not use this garbage for personal communications, it is not worth the cost. Which for me has included losing contact with a lot of people -- so be it. Talk to your favorite Boomer. Life was just fine before social media. Whatever mass surveillance services that are left that you are still using, REMOVE from your mobile device, and only access it from a computer. Reasonable healthy adults should not normalize trying to do work on a 4" screen when they are away from their desk. Pass your preferred alternate personal contact methods out to your friends and family before you disappear. Tell them you will no longer be available the old way, here are alternatives (for instance #email and it's close relative, #deltachat) and while you are at it, let them know that you will not normally be responding to any messages immediately because that will not be possible until you get back to a computer -- possibly a little white lie to drive home the point. Instead of going to social media sites for entertainment, get yourself some RSS apps (for example blog and podcast apps) that automatically aggregate content from various sources and hold it for you, waiting for when YOU wish to look at it. (This is even possible with Youtube channels, for instance.) Now comes the psychologically difficult part: mute media notifications on non-essential apps on both phone and computer, to reduce the amount of incoming interruptions. Put your phone on airplane mode and suspend your laptop when you are not actually using it, and let blessed silence replace the cacaphony of your former not-life. Instead of letting notifications rule your day and your endocrine system, decide how often you want / need to check your messages. Maybe that is once an hour (email while you are working) or once a day (Nostr, RSS newsfeeds) and abide by your self-imposed rules. (The discipline part....) This is not so much a prescription as a template. How I actually do this, and what tools I use, and how much interruption I tolerate, all tend to evolve as my life evolves. The key thing is take back control of your attention. Some stupid app (and the person on the other end of it) generally, for most apps and most correspondents, have no right to your immediate attention at any time of the day. You are not their slaves. Yes, that means I answer ZERO phone calls that are not in my address book. Let them send you a message. You look at the message when you feel like it. You respond to the message when you feel like it, if ever. Be an adult. If you are not willing to take charge of your time and your life, other people sure as hell will.
2025-04-11 08:14:11 from 1 relay(s)
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