Depends on the context. If you are at home on a wired / non public connection…HTTPS by itself is probably good enough for protecting your password / credentials from your general “web goblin” type of hacker.
However, if your device is compromised with malware (keylogger or whatever) then neither HTTPS nor a VPN can protect you.
HTTPS uses a special key sharing algorithm to safely encrypt your data so that it’s relatively secure to transmit across the internet. Even if a man-in-the-middle intercepts it, they can’t decrypt the data.
A VPN is an extra layer of security that hides your session from your internet service provider, or your boss, or random people on the WiFi at your local coffee place, that sort of thing. Using VPN is a good idea, but it’s not a magic solution, and it’s not always necessary. The VPN helps hide things like the websites you are visiting, your IP address, stuff like that. It also encrypts your traffic in a “tunnel” which is nice, but HTTPs packets are already encrypted. So HTTPS over a VPN is doubly encrypted.
Security-wise, you do no harm using both. However, using a VPN can be a little bit slower and some services (like the Google platform and major video content streamers) really don’t like it when you use a VPN. You can sometimes get around this by purchasing a dedicated IP address from your VPN service provider, but that usually costs extra (on top of whatever you may be paying for the VPN service itself).
And…a dedicated IP may or may not fool those picky content streamers. They have gotten pretty aggressive about blocking VPNs because they know people use them to get around regional content lockouts and restrictions.
There’s a canned answer you often see in response to this type of question: work on yourself, first.
The most annoying thing about that answer is that it’s true. Even if it is a cliche.
You have given up on finding a partner, but have not really let go of the idea and still grieve over it. And you’re right, being touch starved is an actual thing and it’s a very hard, very depressing thing. All of this is 100% understandable. It’s perfectly normal and natural. It’s a very strong instinct, need, and desire to crave companionship.
But as you have said yourself (and this shows a lot of maturity and wisdom on your part): you can’t control other people. They either like you or they don’t. They’re either available or they’re not.
So try to focus on another truth: many people live happy, rich, rewarding lives on their own. It just takes work and practice, like anything else. They typically find something that drives them, engages them, and gives them purpose. Whether it’s religion or charity work or volunteering or climbing a mountain or composing a symphony…well that part is entirely up to you. But try to find it, whatever it is, and get to work on it.
And some of those people, on rare occasions, get lucky and find someone to be a companion along the way. Usually when they were not looking for anyone, or had even given up on it. You can’t expect this to happen for you. It’s rare. But it can and does happen. Your chances are better when you are working on that specific THING that drives you and not chasing after ephemeral general “happiness”.
And you may never find a romantic partner. But you can still make friends with people. And friendships are wonderful. Friendship may feel like a “snack” when you really need a “meal” but a snack is far, far, better than starvation. And friendships often form when you are pursuing that thing, whatever that thing is for you.
And here’s a final truth that doesn’t help you directly, but should give you some perspective: there are many, many, many people in romantic relationships and they are absolutely miserable. Getting into a romantic relationship is one thing, staying in one is another, and getting out of one is yet another. Having a romantic partner is great…but it also brings even more challenges and problems along for the ride. It doesn’t really “solve” the working on you problem.
This is a hard one to answer because bad actors try to hide their actions and cover their tracks. Also, human agents with the same agenda as the bots might be in the mix, muddying the data.
Starting with some simple stuff: chat bots have been around since the mid 60s. Early ones were very primitive, but were obviously an important stepping stone to where we are today. Modern social media (as we think of it) took of around 2003, give or take.
So at the absolute earliest, it might be a reasonable guess to say “about 20 years”.
But how widespread were the earliest bots? Probably not that widespread. As 20 years ago, things like hosted cloud platforms were not as omnipresent as they are today. So 20 years ago, most folks would have to run everything on their own hardware, or use compromised computers around the web (infected with malware), or maybe university computers to run their bots.
However, state-sponsored intelligence and agitprop type agencies have massive resources in some large developed nations. Such agencies are often early adopters of new technology. So that’s some food for thought.
As a former paintball player, I do know what you’re talking about. There are solutions for this problem, but they’re kind of a nuisance. Your lungs may be worth the nuisance.
A lot of folks who operate leaf blowers and such would also benefit from wearing a respirator. I see landscapers forgetting to do this all the time. They have the eye and ear protection, but no lung protection.
Assuming the UK could get itself together and find the political willpower to do so…it still won’t be easy. The EU has to agree to it, and it would require all members of the EU approving them rejoining.
As I recall, the EU warned them that if they left it would be very challenging for them to rejoin. The idea was to discourage them from leaving the EU in the first place. But they did. And now they have to live with the consequences.
Have you tried blocking? I have found blocking a few communities and users helps keep my feed less annoying. I do agree with you, tho, I wish there was a better way to promote the niche stuff we want to see and not have to wade through a lot of repetitive “front page” stuff constantly.
100% correct. It’s a powerful illusion because back in the day it was a real site with real people on it. It’s taking some folks a long time to pick up on this.
There is almost no real content on there. If it’s not a bot / AI, it’s some shill with an agenda. It’s all about the ads and clicks.
Box breathing can help. Inhale slowly for four seconds. Hold for four seconds. Exhale slowly for four seconds. Hold for four seconds. Repeat the cycle a few times.
I run RPG games for my friends. I create a new vault for each adventure. I typically create document folders like: locations, npcs, objects, events, rules, notes.
For common stuff that I use in every adventure, I just copy those files and folders into the new vault from the most recent old vault (the rules folder, for example).
I love how lightweight and simple this is in Obsidian.
I use links where it makes sense to me, and I don’t worry overly much about link counts or the graph view. (I use both, I just don’t stress over it). The tool should work for me, not vice versa.
I don’t use plug-ins, but I do use style sheets and game specific fonts. Autohotkey is also great for making repetitive and/or complicated formatting easier. Getting the fonts embedded into the first project was a technical nuisance, but now I just copy that into every new vault.
Watching YouTube videos made by Obsidian power users, I’m super impressed by the things some people do with it. But I prefer keeping my workflow fairly simple. If I spend too much time messing with the tool, that feels counterproductive to me.