For me it’s calculating. Too many people put math into their search engines and not their calculator.
Masturbating.
Masturbating would imply physical genital stimulation, something that the Internet cannot perform.
If you’re gonna use that logic, then there’s nothing you can do on the internet, because you still need your physical body to interact with the device.
true, you got me
Writing documents
I am also guilty of this since i really like google docs
Too many people put math into their search engines and not their calculator.
People are doing what now? fr? There’s a whole ass app for that.
Search engine UI is better for it than most default calculators. I use Kubuntu and KCalc is usually pretty crap in comparison.
Say I want to calculate 220480*(1.0523-1.0522). Now I want to 220480*(1.0524-1.0523), doing that in KCalc requires awkwardly typing out the entire thing again. Doing it in duckduckgo I just change 23 and 22 to 24 and 23.
But I also don’t use a calculator often enough to look for a better one to install.
If you type it the search bar, it pulls up a calculator with the answer on it. I do it all the time.
To turn off and on light bulbs
I do this on my intranet with home assistant, looks like I flew just under the radar
Oh, yeah, my Home Assistant setup is fucking monstrous but also, crucially, self-hosted. Why the fuck do I want my thermostat and radiators to be talking via a datacentre in another country?
But that would require getting up off my sofa and walking across the living room.
Remotes exist
Asking what people use the internet for that can be done just as easily offline.
Translating and dictionary, see the app Aard 2, you download Wiktionary in your preferred language (hoping it’s available) and it’s all in your phone.
Porn
deleted by creator
Whacking off
Analog masturbation hits different. Or so I’ve been told
Personally I prefer the full range of motion offered by analogue.
How does one do that online?
Look up The Handy
You haven’t seen the latest chatGPT update?
Chat
I can’t shout loud enough for people 900 miles away to hear me
Not sure about 900 miles, but you can avoid shouting by… learning sign language and lip reading and get a telescope.
learning morse code so you can use blinking light. learning smoke signalling.
Get a pigeon or 2.Practice, practice, practice.
Buy a plane ticket (but buying a ticket offline the day of is suspicious)
I only buy my plane tickets at the airport on the day of travel with handfuls of cash pulled from a carrier bag while wearing a blood-stained shirt. I punctuate that start of every sentence by slamming my first on the desk and the end of the sentence with “goddamnit”.
I bet you aren’t picky. Just the next flight out of the state is fine.
Why would you think that?
SLAM “If I do upgrade to Business, will I be able to recline my seat without interrupting the person behind’s meal?” SLAM “And is The Grand Budapest Hotel still available onboard or do I need to download it first, goddamnit?”
I did
Searching the filesystem. There’s no reason Windows Search needs to access the internet. Fucking Bing.
Convenient indexed search was the only real improvement Windows made since XP and now they’ve ruined it. Windows XP is once again superior.
It does what now? Why would it do that?
It’s just a search bar located in the start menu and on the task bar, that combines local search with web results. For pro users it is pretty terrible, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many regular users like it. You still have a normal local file search from within the file explorer.
It helps use Microsoft’s Windows monopoly to promote Bing.
I imagine that at some point the EU antitrust people might get grouchy about that.
it does what now
It’s been doing it since Windows 8.
Why it does it will forever be a mystery.
At least we have Everything for local search.
That’s not true, all my files are stored on onedrive nowadays, which is super fast and responsive. Oh wait… it’s actually slow and laggy and randomly deletes stuff from your pc and you’re not even allowed to give your files perfectly normal names like .aux files in a LaTeX project.
True story!
Reading- I am absolutely horrible at this. I’ll read anything and everything online, but never make the time to read a physical book.
What’s the problem with that? You’re still reading, it’s not like you aren’t improving yourself.
I mean, even if you’re reading smut, it’s still good for you from a physical and mental health perspective because reading strengthens your mind, helps you empathize with others, and also reduces your stress.
Recently I was sitting in a bus for hours. My Steam Deck was already empty. Bravely, I decided to finally continue reading Dune. I was enjoying the experience (after the initial confusion from forgetting who everyone was). But somehow, despite being interested in what was written, my brain constantly wanted more stimulation. To grab the slate of glass that provides endless dopamine. To click buttons. To have a constant stream of simple information.
I’m kinda scared tbh. This shit is an addiction, and I’m addicted. But most other people around me seem just as much or even more addicted. What happened to just being able to do something for an hour without feeling the need for different stimulation. We’re all poisoning or minds until we’re incapable of paying attention for more than a few seconds.
I also do this. But I do not necessarily think it as a bad thing.
I do not need to finish the book in one sitting, it’s fine to wander, I usually just just went on a tangent on a relevant topic though. Reading for an hour is fine, as is a 5 minute session.
Maybe immersing myself reading books just not that fun for me. But I can sit for hours studying music even without touching my instruments, just reading the chart and analysing the harmony and what not. I think reading like any other skill, needs training and I just haven’t give it enough time.
I’m a late millennial, and like it or not I’m used to being able to access relevant context and information with just a click (like Wiki).
If your addiction is reading books on a device, that’s not really a problem. You’re still reading.
Reading online fanfiction is free. Sure, the quality varies, but I can quit any time I want. I just don’t want to.
Reading anything online is free if you’re slightly motivated.
I do this because all too often book print is tiny whereas I can adjust font size on a digital page.
I love physical books, but accessibility is sometimes a problem.
Large type books are a thing. (And a plug for the free libraries perhaps in your area. Which may also have e-books.)
Excellent points :) I do use Libby through my local library for reading e-books so it’s a great suggestion.
Think.
Store important telephone numbers on your phone. No need to do a google search everytime you call your doctor/dentist/mechanic/whoever.
But I might want to not use this doctor for my yearly specialty visits for the first time in over a decade!
- Store passwords.
- Gaming. Some of it at least.
- Socializing
Store passwords.
I gotta disagree. It’s much harder to do this well offline. Losing access to a password database would be detrimental, so it’s not something I recommend doing purely locally.
Finding books. I have no idea why I do that, when there’s a bookstore I really enjoy right across the lot from me, but i’ll literally browse book reviews for 30 mins before wandering over there and just… buying whatever looks good.
Total waste of time, I didn’t value the opinions of the reviewers in the first place, and the process is always inconclusive.
