If you have some sort of decent antivirus/antimalware like Malwarebytes, that would work for standalone applications to an extent.

Browser extensions are a lot harder to check.

Always make sure you get the RIGHT extension from the PROPER SOURCE. Same with most downloads and app store stuff on your mobile devices, but at least with executables, you can additionally run virus scans for some peace of mind.

Some tips…

• Always make sure you’re accessing the extension’s download/install page from a trusted source.
• Check reviews AND READ THEM. Make sure they don’t look suspicious/bot-generated.
• Consider what permissions you’re giving the extension. Your browser has a lot of personal and sensitive information… including the “keys” to a lot of your accounts. Basically any website that you don’t need to sign into every time you access it? That “key” is stored in your browser.

I believe you can generally trust what permissions an extension or app needs (since the browser/device knows which permission an extension/app uses, and locks them away otherwise), but be wary of the implications of some of them (such as data from other websites, or accessibility features).

They don’t assume we have unlimited money, they assume they’ll make enough sales to justify making it (and paying all the people who made it).

Yeah, some companies are making ridiculous profits and underpaying staff. This isn’t some pro-capitalism comment.

Taking things off of streaming platforms or not making old stuff otherwise available usually boils down to bureaucracy and legal stuff. Certain people need to be paid, or have the right to veto their content being sold, or stuff like that sometimes. And sometimes the companies have a legal obligation to either protect their IP or ensure things stay “offline”.

I don’t like it, but I know it’s not always simple.

Trying to stop kids from using drugs on school property is “stupid shit”?

It’s not surveilling children, it’s surveilling the byproducts of vaping.

…so kids can freely vape in school buildings during school hours?

You’re a real beacon of positivity, huh? And you clearly didn’t read their post.

people share phone numbers to people they personally know.

This is about Signal having the phone numbers. I don’t think anybody “personally knows” Signal…

I don’t like that Nintendo can sue people for something I don’t think should be illegal. So what THEY do should be illegal instead!

Is that what you’re getting at? Lol

I agree to an extent. There should be a reasonable time period from which availability of software and hardware ends and the work becomes available.

It should also only apply to that particular work, and not to any of its contents (so Mario or even his depiction in Super Mario Odyssey shouldn’t become public domain just because they stopped selling the game for a few years).

I don’t think I want it to be legal for people to sell ROMs, either. I think making them public domain would do that. I know there are already people doing that, but I think the complete removal of legal repercussions would increase that.

Overall, I agree with your sentiment, but I don’t know enough about copyright law and public domain to know if I agree on the specifics.

Ok, but why should not offering old games for sale be a crime? Lol

Your comment is 100% true, but has nothing to do with what I was asking about, lol

Great timing when RetroAchievements has a GameCube launch event going on!

Emulation is not a crime.

Yes.

Refusing to re-release existing games should be.

…what?? Lol

Mathematically yes, but in the real world, it’s probably not much safer.

Imagine that you’ve got an unpickable lock on the front door to your house. You’re asking about putting another door with another unpickable lock in front of it.

Great, sure, but we’re talking about a world where most people get in not through picking the lock, but by someone leaving the backdoor open, or hiding keys under the doormat.

Disclaimer: I’m not making any claims about household break-and-enters. It’s just an analogy.

but I think being a male virgin after a certain age is enormously more vilified these days than it was in, for instance, the 50s, even among more progressive, left leaning groups.

Not sure if this is true, but I’m pretty sure that research says that people were having more sex back then. So probably fewer virgins back then.

There was less to do for entertainment in the 50s, lol

Basically in the same as you, but Steam is cheaper in my country, and I have a larger library of modern games there thanks to Humble Bundle and friends gifting me games there

I’m not sure what war you think one would be thinking about – I’ve only ever heard it used to refer to WW1.

“great” means large and significant. Nobody thought the war or enshittification was good

Wait, it does videos of websites? What are you looking to capture, exactly? Like, screen recordings of what the website looks like?

Yeah, saying “I left because I didn’t like it” makes prospective employers wonder what will stop you from leaving your new position when its downsides reach you. It sounds like you’ll just bounce around until you find the job you hate the least.

If it’s framed as “I want to leave because this job has things that I want”, then there’s no reason to believe that something new will push you out.

… though I do find myself wondering why OP believes it’s unrealistic to value a well-maintained database… especially in Germany, given the stereotypes! Lol