- Technology -

The cost of electrical components have lowered over the years and the precision of electronics are at an all time high. I think that's pretty sweet. Microcontrollers are cheap, real cheap! not to mention 3D printers, mix those together with a hobbyist builder and they can make really cool projects.

On the less physical side, large companies have anchored themselves to the internet. It's actually difficult to find a company with no online presence because they would lose attention. Everyone's glued to the screens so might as well be on the screens.

I'm a huge advocate of FOSS and Libre software. The contributors let users keep their freedoms and understand that privacy is a right, not something you should need to fight for. Letting a proprietary server in the cloud control all your photos and videos is NOT safe!

If you value your privacy in the modern world, you are ostracised from the general public and deemed a paranoid tinfoil hat wearer due to not adhering to the status quo.

Let me repeat, I love technology but I also value my privacy and rights, something that has been eroding for all of us. I don't appreciate people who make half-witted jokes about being a paranoid schitzo because I've heard it a thousand times.

If you can, try repurposing equipment like old laptops, hell, they don't even need to connect to the internet! you won't need to worry about getting pwned since they won't connect to anything online. For this you'll need to install an approriate linux distribution which supports old hardware, if you help linux by using it, linux will help you in return.

As for old phones, there's applications you can download which allows them to be turned into IP cameras, mount one on your wall with a charger and you have a visual and auditory monitoring station accessible from any computer or phone on your network, get creative ya dingus!