"...and ripping that CD was annoying, because you then had an over long last track with the secret song, and you had to split the tracks manually and come up with tags on your own, or..."
(Seriously, the only reason I listened rarely to the last song in Halo CE soundtrack was because of this.)
There's this website that listed bunch of stuff about Kim Dotcom and his ventures. (the list barely scratches the surface. But the important thing is that people thought he was hack decades ago.)
When I visited the site last time, I was like "ohhhhh, they've found a picture of Kim wearing an SS helmet. I really didn't know what else I was expecting."
And Calibre, a third party software for managing ebooks, has a plugin to crack Kindle files.
Unfortunately currently broken for the latest version of Kindle for PC, which switched to a different encryption scheme. It also uses KFX file format that nobody likes, which fortunately can be converted to EPUB with another plugin, but de-DRMing doesn't seem to work right now. It still seems to work for titles in AZW3/MOBI that didn't get DRM update or didn't have DRM in the first place.
Used Sync, but it's not maintained. Liked Connect a lot. But, well, if the platform is open source, why not use an open source client too? Switched to Voyager and I've been very happy with it, actually.
Previously, you could just download the books on the Kindle for PC, use a random decoder software or install a plugin for Calibre, and boop, decoded books, readable in Calibre, can be converted to EPUB.
For ssssssome reasonnns I've been looking at how to do the same thing again, but apparently you need an old version of KfPC because the new one uses new encryption/file format that hasn't been sussed out yet. Weirdly enough, even with the newer app, I've still been able to download a bunch of books that didn't have DRM to begin with, but of course Amazon doesn't exactly advertise if a book is DRM-free anywhere on the store page.
Also weirdly enough this quest of mine actually started last year when one Finnish ebook store was closed down, but that was less of a problem. I just downloaded all of my purchases as unencrypted EPUBs. Guess the local publishers are less dickish, worst thing they asked for was watermarking.
Reminds me: long ago, one comedy website made a bunch of awards that you could put on your own website with if you didn't get awards from anyone else. (Having a bunch of random awards was the style of the time.) One of these was the coveted Titanic Navigation Award. I don't think it can be awarded to anyone any more, as the developers of React have been the most deserving one to receive it in recent years, for their unending efforts in making navigation more confusing for everyone.
It's a startup. Startup websites aren't meant to convey information, they're there to befuddle the investors. Convince them everything is fine and they should invest now.
(Well it isn't actually a startup, but Elon runs it like it is)
Yup, the bottom line is, there was this dude who, upon buying a website, fucked it up.
Upon attaining unprecedented government position, he got access to government systems, and fucked them up.
Did anyone vote for this? No, no one voted for this. Were there supposed to be checks and balances to stop this from happening? Well, theoretically, maybe, but, urgh, the Founding Fathers didn't expect anyone to unleash the Ultimate Idiot on crucial data infrastructure.
When Elon bought Twitter, I realised right away I'd need to close my account.
What made me hurry up exporting my data and closing the account were the reports of Elon Musk personally fucking with the systems, and the subsequent glitches and outages. Had to get it done while the site was still moderately functional.
And they just let this guy get his hands on actually important national computer infrastructure? Fucking hell.
Whenever Elon speaks of programming, he just spouts the most delusional Point-Haired Boss bullshit imaginable. Truly, he has been promoted to the level of his incompetence.
(It is also highly ironic considering the Dilbert creator's politics.)
Come to think of it the only reason I don't have a Blåhaj is that I still have this one IKEA shelf that I haven't assembled yet. (I will get to it. My pile of junk keeps mocking me.) And if I order more stuff then I have to justify the delivery fees and order more stuff while I'm at it.
I have boatloads of MP3s and at least they can pretty much be played by all imaginable software and hardware imaginable, and since the patents have expired, there's no reason not to support the format.
MP3s are good enough for its particular use case. Of course, newer formats are better overall and may be better suited for some applications. (Me, I've been an Ogg Vorbis fan for ages now. Haven't ripped a CD in a while but should probably check out this newfangled Opus thing when I do.)
Long ago I read some incredibly cursed parody along the lines of "if LotR was a Disney animated film". The songs were absolutely horrifying. I can't find it right now, and I think it's best not to subject you to it anyway.
Well that's a huge red flag right there. Nobody uses Friendica.