QuantumBamboo

Fat tube severing Mum tea

For an IRL example... I explained April Fools Day to my 4 year old kid this morning for the first time. His first instinct was to wrap a piece of Lego in foil and have me write CHOC on it, then leave it outside the bedroom door for my wife (who was having a lie in). I think he gets it!

People are perfectly within their rights to be rubbed up the wrong way.

Find another way to try and bring people to your point of view

Thanks for your great example of condescension for clarity. A little unsolicited feedback though... other people, unaware of your virtuous intent, might view it as a petty attempt to belittle a stranger on the internet. Other than that, a solid comment. B+

... that's condescending.

No accusations intended. My point is if you're clued up enough to be comfortable making your own decisions then fill your boots. I'm not here to convince you. The "aggressive" advertising is the only way they are able generate revenue. And I'm fine with that compared to the alternatives. I find it far more disrespectful to have my data skimmed and monetised by a system of exploitative consumption.

I would rather they make money from advertising their own pretty awesome services than from advertising unsustainable (environmentally, but also unsustainable for the fucking soul!) bullshit via blood sucking multinational tech companies that prey on the masses with whatever data they can automatically dig up on you. The revenue Proton makes from converting free customers to paid allows them to grow a freely available service that is a user-friendly and is a technical rival of the surveillance capitalists.

My take is:

• If you're the sort of person that is convinced your requirements need some custom covert ops pagan voodoo self hosted data center in an old cold war era bunker, don't let me stop you. You crack right on mate and good luck (sounds like you need it!).
• If you want the sorts of services Proton provides, but don't want to be fucked, then Proton are a good shout.
• If you can afford it, pay for it. It makes the experience smoother and keeps a relatively small but decent company going in an ocean of massive cunts.
• If you can't afford it and don't want to use the free version of Proton, I hear Google and Microsoft will happily buy your soul and sell your data.

A-to-the-mutha-effin-men

If seeing a tiny squiggle makes OP think they've taken crazy pills... Genuinely had a moment where I thought I had gone completely insane.

Not my wife

I would love to have been a fly on the wall when the person who came up with the name Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors revealed their idea. I've got an image of someone sitting on their hands, eyes wide and shaking slightly as their desire to share it tries to burst out of them!

That sounds chillingly similar to that episode in Fall of the House of Usher.

I was being dumbly pendantic. Thank you for indulging me though!

Why not present ones? And how do you know who you'll work with in the future?