I don't have a lot of money for computer shit, so I make do with 2nd hand trash. The newest thing I own (the thing I'm currently writing this post on) is from 2015 and it's an underpowered HP netbook doohickey. During the pandemic, my main desktop was a ca 2011 thin client that I dug out of the dumpster behind a nursing home. My oldest machine is a 24 y/o Dell laptop running Wary Puppy (my preferred distro for extremely old and crusty hardware) thicker and heavier than a modern tablet computer that runs about 0.001% as fast as the cheapest smartphone on the market.

This means I have to do a lot of extra shit to make the normie-web usable. Bloat isn't just a philosophical concern for me, it actively prevents me for using some websites. I use lots of 3rd party front-ends, not merely as privacy measures but to bypass a lot of extra slop that's used by places like reddit and youtube (related to a previous post on finding out that YT has shadowbanned me, I discovered that invidious makes the YT experience infinitely more pleasant and not just because I'm no longer getting raw-dawged by The Google Experience. I can browse videos without my poor little blue box turning into a very overpriced space heater). Slop that is usually related to the monetization of user data and the serving of ads.

This brings me to the obesity of the network of StackExchange websites. Even with everything blocked, the thing runs like absolute ass. The irony of a place built for programming and software development running like steaming dog vomit is truly indicative of the state of the world. If you've ever tried to access a mainstream website with something like NoScript on, you are probably familiar with the "t-1000 in molten steel" routine of websites trying to figure out how to deliver content without offloading the majority of the processing onto the client machine. StackExchange might be one of the worst offenders at this tho. It starts giving me motion sickness if I stare at it too hard.

Not that the experience without NoSCript is very pleasant since it does a real a "Mr Hands" on my processor. And immediately after it finishes writhing in agony and going through all it's stored disguises, I get slapped in the face by the floppy horsecock of Google in the form of the very obnoxious popup that asks me to Sign In with my Google account.

None for me, thanks; I'm driving.