Yeah I guess they are generally more… grounded

I tried some Anker Liberty 4 earbuds and have found the ANC pretty good. They do stick out a bit so lying on your side wouldnt work, but there are these smaller ANC earbuds from Anker that might be worth a try: https://a.co/d/ggtEPov

What is the overall goal to teach them? Do they need to be journal articles? The most “grabby” headliners I have noticed are on marketing items. Especially if you want to appeal to a younger audience, you could screenshot examples from Snapchat tabloids. “Top 17 ways to get your SO to notice you more,” “Prince Harry did the unthinkable,” “How to instantly cut fat out of your diet,” etc.

Their goal is to “hook” you into reading or scrolling or watching. Journal articles might do this on a much milder scale. “Novel method for disposing of plastics.” So you think: Novel? Must be revolutionary. Let’s find out.

Idk I hope that helps.

That’s a good question. From what I gather, Lemmy (and most of the Fediverse) is an alternative to something, with less focus on the money/advertising. So I would guess most people are looking for an alternative way to connect about common interests. And because it’s not the easiest path for social media, I would guess most people have a desire for agency/self-reliance.

And because the whole Fediverse seems to be a different way of approaching social connecting, it takes a little more understanding of computer technology, so I would also guess most people have a least a higher than average affinity for computer technology. Linux and Programming Humor are larger communities.

That said, I have enjoyed a somewhat active participation about woodworking, gardening, jokes, news, medical updates, etc. Like mentioned in another comment, the different instances will have somewhat different norms and practices.

I guess not something that I would change, but I’m very glad we started with a marriage counselor. We did not have any overbearing concerns, but it has been immensely helpful in understanding each other and having a healthier relationship. Sometime people get weird and say “Oh no, a counselor, what’s wrong with your relationship.” Nothing. That is the point. Talk to one to get a baseline and when (not if) challenges come up, you don’t have to waste sessions filling them on your back story. Honestly, I think it should be required to do like three sessions before signing the papers, if nothing else to have someone point some things out that youre blind to otherwise about yourself.

I drove the bus driver for Slipknot back to his bus.

I also partied with Pretty Lights and Griz in a campsite but didnt know it at the time. Super chill people.

My high school teacher was named Richard Face. That pretty much writes itself.

Or “Ihave Noname” or “Whatis Yourname” would probably cause some confusion.

I’m not sure what you’re using it for, but I use an ebook reader called eBoox. It’s free with no ads, not sure if open-source. I had bookmarks but I don’t think annotations. I like it because it can open my epub, mobi, and pdf books, change the font and font size, sepia and night modes, has many options for how to change the page, and fairly simple UI. The creator markets it as a cutesy cat thing, but that is only present on the initial setup and then it’s just a regular e-reader app.

I’ve enjoyed using Mango. It’s always been free but there’s a paid version now too. It dives right into useful conversation, but gives cultural context before, like formal/informal or when certain phrases are used. It has flash cards built between lessons to help with memorization and you can even record your pronunciation and hear/see the audio clip and how it compares to how you are saying it. It also has the ability to download lessons for offline use. I first used it because it was one of the only apps/websites that specifically taught the Levantine dialect of Arabic not found on other apps.

I have tried a few. Duolingo seemed to be good for making it fun to get interest but a lot of it was semi-random vocabulary. Try the Mango app for more practical conversation practice. It has flash cards that remind me of Anki that are nice for reinforcing memorization. It is free but I think has a premium option now.

Also, Tandem for practicing conversation with real people that speak the language via text, voice message, call, or video call.

!lemma@lemmy.world is on iOS, plays gifs in posts and comments, and even has a gif scrubber that does not come as a premium feature

Thank you for the list of suggestions; that’s really helpful. I haven’t been on Android in a while, is the Gcam app noticeably better than a stock camera app? What sorts of things would it do better? Low lighting or blur reduction?

I agree about the ROM. I’d really like to have something that is simple and looks to have continued support when necessary for security and other major updates. I also agree about the camera. It seems to be a deciding factor for smartphones. The last I checked the Pixels had excellent sensors but had some camera software issues that I believe were eventually resolved. I’m hoping that isn’t an issue if I’m just using a basic OS.

If you’re on iOS and haven’t tried Lemma, it’s pretty nice. I was on Voyager, then Avelon, then back to Memmy, but I have to say Lemma is my overall favorite right now.

Depends, am I a horse-sized duck? I might have some people to fight

That’s a fair point. I guess only one or two I knew said they didn’t use it because of the aluminum, but I didn’t get to ask more about it.

I’ve never heard of those. I looked them up and they look super fun! Like a skateboard and rollerblades had children.

Do any of you have a recommendation for a fiber modem? I always used my own for cable but am trying fiber optic. I am in a similar situation as OP, but was just going to connect my old router to their fiber modem/router and try to turn off their router function.

And for that matter, a router brand to stick with? I have had good luck with Netgear but am seeing advice against it. I mainly just want a good QOS to prioritize video chats and casual gaming.

I’ve had a good experience with an old Kindle 3G and the Calibre program. You can get the old Kindles pretty cheap and they don’t have the built-in ads and some of the slightly useless features of the new ones.

That, or like the16bitgamer mentioned, an iPad has good options for free ebook apps without ads or tracking. I found this one called eBoox that has great usability and no ads. It’s weirdly marketed as a “cute” ebooks app, but it’s honestly better than the stock one and doesn’t actually have cats or those pictures that are in the description in the actual app.

I’ve never heard of that; I’m going to give it a try