When writing yesterday’s post about Tech Rot, I was going to add a list of “rules” I have made for myself in order to enjoy being online in any way, shape, or form. It didn’t quite fit the flow or message of the piece, so I decided to post it separately. With the context out of the way, here is the list of “rules” I follow:
- Uninstall/remove/disable any and all bloatware/scamware/adware in whatever OS you’re using. I happen to like Windows 11, but oh my god, the fact one has to do this to use your computer in relative peace is ridiculous. (Note this rule is not Window specific. Removing unneeded packages from whatever Linux distro you use, or uninstall whatever apps included in macOS that 1: Apple allows you to uninstall and 2: You may not use; GarageBand, Pages etc).
- Disable any and all completely unnecessary noise.
- Turn off notifications of everything that does not matter. On your phone, you should get a notification when someone texts you or calls you. You don’t need a notification when some app randomly recommends an article or has a pair of shoes on sale (and don’t get me started on news apps). On your computer, notifications should be for email and chat only.
- Turn down the intensity of notifications you do enable. On your computer, all you need is a badge on the app (and only if it’s running). No one needs a badge, and a sound, a toast alert, and a preview… just a badge. On your phone, the only thing you should see on your lock screen is the name of the person calling/sending you a text.
- Firefox. Just Firefox. There is no other browser (unless you want to go hardcore with Tor, but that’s a whole other realm) 1.
- Run an adblocker at all times. Don’t ever feel bad running an ad blocker and don’t let sites make you feel guilty with their popovers telling you that everyone will starve unless you allow ads. Remember: ads would be fine if they weren’t so absolutely fucking invasive and shitty.
- While you’re at it, fuck with YouTube.
- Set your browser tracking protection to Strict.
- The only websites you should have to whitelist for any reason are important ones like banks or insurance companies. If a random website won’t load or work properly because you have an ad blocker installed and/or strict tracking protection turned on, then that website it not worth your time.
- Thunderbird. Very, very good at stripping out email trackers and other such nonsense 2.
- Use multiple email addresses. You should have one from a well known domain (Gmail, Outlook, iCloud) for banking and other important life items, one for personal use (family, friends), and at least one burner account to use for signing up for newsletters, software trials, 10% off coupons, etc.
- Use a VPN. Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, make use of a VPN.
- Use a password manager. In fact, use BitWarden. It’s free – or very inexpensive if you want to support them 3.
Finally, and most importantly:
DO NOT adopt a devotion of any kind to any company.
1: Don’t @ me about Brave. They’re shoving useless AI shit into their product, have a rewards program (opt in or not, rewards programs on software is lame and shifty), and have been trying to pull some shady shit over the years only to get caught and backpedal. So fuck that shit. Nothing in their business model tells me they’re to be trusted. Yes, Firefox does offer “Sponsored Shortcuts” on their Home page, but all it takes to turn this off is a single checkbox.
2: The best part is not only does Thunderbird give you an overall option like “Allow content from The Online Store”, it also shows you a list of individual options like:
– Allow content from tracker.shadyasfuck.com?
– Allow content from “api.wearealwayswatching.com?
3: I’m not getting paid to say this. They’re just that awesome.