"The Tech-based Reason We Are Broke | Weekly News Roundup" 👀👏

https://friendica.world/display/84b6ef2b-1069-6970-de17-908710579005

I mean, it does make Final Cut more accessible, but I don't know if I need another subscription.

Apple debuts 'Apple Creator Studio' subscription, here's what you get - 9to5Mac

https://9to5mac.com/2026/01/13/apple-debuts-apple-creator-studio-subscription-heres-what-you-get/

#Apple #AppleCreatorStudio #Subscriptions #ContentCreation #Tech

Adobe is re-lent-less. Nice try, demon.

Thanks privacy.com for virtual CCs to keep track of #subscriptions

#enshittification #adobe

AI is NOT "disruptive" technology. At least not when used with "horse and carriage vs the car" and "the printing press" and "the internet" in mind.

In fact, when the car came, it was a democratizing thing, it was disruptive, as in: the old ways where cast aside plus EVERYONE could eventually afford to own such a disruptive device.

The printing press made books available to everyone, not just the insanely wealthy few that could afford it. The disruptive part was everybody beeing able to get educated and share more idea's with others. It was democratizing knowledge.

The internet democratized our voices, and the sharing of knowledge even more then books. Everybody could get on, and it did not belong to a single brand of person.

#AI . Well, it belongs to a select few. #Billionaires. I cannot run that kind of AI, I cannot train new ones, I do not have access to that kind of hardware. In other words, it is the opposite of democratizing. It is pure capitalism. It's not enabling us, it is gatekeeping it to those who have "sort of" access to it (#Subscriptions).

AI is not #disruptive, it is #destructive. To our minds (people are going insane because of it), to our planet (using all our resources, water, electricy), to our jobs (replacing us), our art (#slop) and I shudder to think what it will destroy next.

This is NOT the era of "bicycles for the mind" (Idiotic phrase), it is the era in history that will be remembered for how we let a few rich bastards control us to the brink of existence. The era of #enshittification

Went to go cancel my Apple Music subscription and to my surprise Apple gave me a 50% off for 2 months. Apple, I’ll be cancelling after the two month offer because you bagged like a dog for me to stay.

#apple #applemusic #technology #subscriptions

Phát hiện mình đang mất tiền vì các thuê bao quên, mình đã xây dựng công cụ tải sao kê ngân hàng (CSV/PDF), tự động nhóm subscription, hiển thị chi tiêu hàng tháng và đề xuất hủy, không cần login ngân hàng, không quảng cáo. Đang mở waitlist trước khi ra mắt. #FinTech #TiếtKiệm #QuảnLýChiTiêu #Subscriptions #CôngCụ

https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1q8fpxd/i_realized_i_was_bleeding_money_every_month_so_i/

Bạn có biết mình đang trả tiền cho những dịch vụ không dùng? Tác giả phát hiện mình “đổ máu” mỗi tháng vì các subscription quên, công cụ SubSavvy cho phép tải báo cáo ngân hàng (CSV/PDF), tự động phân loại, hiển thị chi phí và đề xuất hủy. Không cần đăng nhập ngân hàng, không quảng cáo. Đang mở waitlist cho người quan tâm. #TiếtKiệm #FinTech #PersonalFinance #Subscriptions #MoneySaving #Vietnam

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/1q8fo9g/i_realized_i_was_bleeding_money_every_month_so_i/

@debacle @nicoco @Elizafox exactly: @signalapp does everything they can to look like a sting op.

• Using #AWS is just a waste of money, they have no means of sustaining their "non-profit" #business in any shape or form (i.e. #subscriptions) longterm and sooner or later they'll either run out of funds or get shutdown.

Espechally since they don't flatout-ban users from #Russia, #Cuba, #Iran or #NorthKorea.

• Given that any #US compamy wanting to serve these markets has to basixally lick the boots if the U.S. government beyond #CloudAct compliance, this is obvious.

Demanding a #PhoneNumber is a HUGE #RedDlag as that's basically "#KYC with Extra Steps" akin to #AVS with #CreditCards!

#subscriptions #capitalism #enshittification

Video Streaming Freeloaders

Something odd happened a few days ago. I was looking for something to watch on Amazon Prime Video and saw an Australian TV series that drew my attention. It showed that it had been viewed up to and including part of the sixth episode, but I was 99% sure that I had not watched the previous five. So, I clicked on the first one and, sure enough, I had not seen it, but the whole series was showing as having been viewed.

I clicked on my account to check my subscriptions and was horrified to find that over forty devices had access to my account. I think it said forty-six, but I was in shock and I quickly changed my password and logged out before I committed the number to memory.

I checked with my children to see if I had given them access at some point and had forgotten about it, but they both confirmed that they were not using my account. So, then I started to wonder who might have access to either my Amazon account, my wi-fi, or my password. I live in an apartment building, and it occurred to me that others might be using my wi-fi, but that seemed unlikely because it, too, is password-protected and, besides that, it cuts out a lot.

Then it dawned on me that I keep all my passwords in LastPass and immediately changed the master password for that application.

The other possible connection is that I had a new television delivered a few weeks ago and it was set up by the installer. I messed up the installation when I unplugged it to hide the dangling wires behind cord covers that I then painted over. That meant I had to phone the installers and have them talk me through how to program the TV again. Apparently smart TVs aren’t smart enough to know who they were before they were unplugged. Now I am wondering if, by hiding those cords and reprogramming everything, I inadvertently gave access to digital intruders.

Whatever or whoever was using my video streaming account has really messed up my record of shows watched, but they seem to have similar viewing tastes to me, which is interesting. I’m going to work my way through the “watched” series that I don’t remember watching to see if they are my cup of tea. Regardless, the freeloaders have now been locked out. I have been checking every couple of days to ensure that the only devices given access are my TV, my phone, and my laptop.

So, friends, this is a “heads up.” You might want to check to see how many devices have access to your video streaming account. If your number exceeds the number of devices in your home, you should probably make some changes.

#Amazon #devices #freeloaders #humour #Prime #streaming #subscriptions #technology #video

2025 Subscription Audit

I’ve started to make a habit of auditing all of my subscirptions annually to ensure I have a good feel for what I’m paying for and if there is anything I need to drop. It’s always eye-opening to get an overview of what you’re paying for magazines, apps, streaming services and more. Let’s take a look.

Still around:

A large chunk of it is about information. News and analysis I trust enough to pay for directly. Local reporting from the AJC. National outlets like The Atlantic, the New York Times, Wired, Jacobin, and The New Republic. NPR filling the house during the day. Feedbin and Overcast pulling it all together without algorithms yelling at me. This is me choosing a slower, more intentional information diet.

Another big category is entertainment, especially sports. YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, RedZone, MLS Season Pass, and Five Stripe Final for Atlanta United content. Add in Netflix, Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and the Disney bundle and it is hard to pretend I am a minimalist. I have essentially rebuilt cable one subscription at a time, but at least this version reflects what I actually watch. While I get to watch a ton of great content, I also get to pay through the nose to get it. If you are a Liverpool supporter, you end up having to subscribe to YTTV for Premier Leage matches, but also Peacock because NBC is gonna do their thing. Champions League & Carabao Cup are both a Paramount+ joint, and then you need EPSN+ to watch FA Cup matches. All told, my fandom in various teams costs us well north of $150 a month. Don’t tell my wife.

Then there is control and ownership. Emby for home media. Apple One and a handful of small, focused apps like Carrot Weather, Day One, Parcel, Albums, and the aforementioned Overcast. These are tools that support daily life without constantly trying to expand their footprint. They are quiet subscriptions, which might be why they last.

A few subscriptions exist mostly as aspiration. AllTrails, Peloton, Amazon Kids+. They reflect who I want to be or how I want our family to operate, even if real life does not always cooperate. These are usually the first to get questioned during the audit.

Out:

I got rid of a number of things I wasn’t using any longer:

• Ivory. I just don’t post on Mastodon that much any more. Love the Tapbots guys, and can’t wait to give them my money for a Bluesky client.
• Instapaper. The sub price has doubled and the features that come along for a sub just don’t make sense for me. If there were tiers, I’d absolutely pay for the lesser version but alas.
• Foodnoms. This is more on me, but I found I was tracking my calories and not actually changing my behaviors. I’ve simplified things a bit by using Streaks instead. Seriously though, if you’re looking for a good calorie tracker, I’ve never used a better one in my life.
• Plex. I moved to Emby for my home media needs. Plex is trying to become something entirely different than I’m interested in using.

In:

I also added a few new things:

• Kagi. I’m sick and tired of Google’s search results becoming increasingly filled with AI slop. Kagi’s results are better, it’s more customizable, and
• Sofa. I decided to drop my Goodreads account, so this was a good way to save and track books, but also for things like video games and tv shows as well.

Hot takes:

• Lately I have been thinking a lot about music streaming. Apple Music works quite well, but I am not sure it feels like value in the same way it used to. I miss owning my music, curating a library, and knowing it will still be there regardless of licensing deals or pricing changes. I am not ready to go back to that world yet, but I am thinking about it more often than I expected.

2025 Subscription Audit

In which I evaluate where my subscription money goes.

https://danielandrews.com/2026/01/01/2025-subscription-audit/

#AppleMusic #apps #financial #google #services #software #streaming #subscriptions

Dự án app quản lý đăng ký đang phát triển, chưa ra mắt. Đang gặp khó khăn khi tích hợp RevenueCat cho gói premium, tạm hoãn. Kế hoạch sắp tới: thêm preset đăng ký theo quốc gia và cho phép người dùng tự tạo dễ dàng. Rất mong nhận được đề xuất về tính năng ưu tiên! #app #subscriptions #SideProject #đăngký #pháttriển #côngnghệ

https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1q0bjgq/im_building_an_app_to_track_subscriptions/

This may be considered #HotTakes by some, I consider these #based: (no ragebait inteded!)

If you have a problem with these, please kindly fuck off in silence!

This list is non-exhaustive...

• #NoHumanIsillegal: #FerriesNotFrontex!
• #PNCHNZS! Being a racist, fascist or otherwise shit person is a choice. People can choose to deradicalize, but not 'choose' not to be targeted by Neonazis!
• #NSAfDverbotSofort - no excuses!
• #TransRightsAreHumanRights
• #HousingFirst, cuz #HumanRights are not negotiable, but precondition to even consider negotiations!
• #UBI instead of #MeansTesting; Cuz survival is not optional!
• #Education is a #HumanRight and should be provided to anyone without any paywalling or charges. This includes access to #Textbooks, which should be provided #DRM-free. All education material should be publicly available and it's creation and updates be paid by the public just like schools.
• #ClothesHaveNoGender
• #PublicTransport should be #free, #accessible and publicly funded and run.
• All #infrastructure is a natural monopoly and should be publicly run and financed solely by either transit fees or public spending.
• #accessibility should be mandatory without exceptions. Paywalling it should be criminalized as a hatecrime.
• Every #home should have access to #DrinkingWater, Sewage Handling, #electricity and #fiber #internet. IDGAF if it's at some remote island or desert oasis!
• #HealthCare is a #HumanRight, not a commodity!
• #Politicans should have to obey the same #laws re: secondary income as #PublicServants and be barred from recieving any other #compensation, #bonuses or have any other income beyond the compensation for their post.
• #Politicans should only be paid #MinimumWage!Wage
• Everyone should have to contribute to #SocialSecurity programs and in return, everyone gets eligible. That means no exceptions for #billionaires and other rich people. If I have to afford ~ 20% of my paycheck for #healthcare then so can all the #Banksters!
• #MinimumWage must be able to afford not mere survival, but actually be sufficient to afford #downpayment on a #home and not just #rent. It should also be automatically be adjusted with #inflation and not be a political bargaining chip!
• Denying people access to legal #work is a crime against humanity. People should have a right to fair and non-discriminatory access to employment regardless of legal status.
• #StockTrading should be regulated as #Gambling.
• Advertising Gambling or using Gambling / #PayToLoose / "#PayToWin" / #P2W mechanics to minors should be as illegal as advertising cigarettes and liquor to them.
• Banning or age restricting #LGBTQIA* content as "#AdultContent" should be illegal. #QueerErasure is indefensible. If you're to prudish to accept that #LoveIsLove then that's a "You" Problem!
• #Cyberfascism needs to be outlawed and Corporations like #Palantir need to be disbanded, their assets stripped and their employees jailed for crimes against humanity. They are morally indefensible!
• #BanBillionaires, strip them off their assets and wealth and redistribute it. #Billionaires should be sentenced to #CommunityService for life as means to (at least partially) undo harm caused.
• #SuperUselessVehicles should be disincentivized and instead any #incentives and #subsidies should be given only to #PersonalLightVehicles of classes #L2e, #L5e, #L6e & #L7e.
• #SexworkIsWork!
• #CSAM is indefensible and authorities that shutdown Pedo Forums should be mandated to #delete [and report] all such content at the hosters and get them to delete it. This includes Kiwi Farms which got fired by Gandi [french registrar] for hosting CSAM!
• It should be illegal to enforce foreign laws overseas. Yes this includes "#Embargos" from the #USA!
• #Trump is a fascist POS and a bootlicker of #Putin!
• #FuckICE
• #MethanolFuelcell > #LithiumCobaltBattery
• #Tabs > #Spaces
• #TSV > #CSV > #MicrosoftExcel
• #Markdown > #RTF
• #OpenDocument > #OOXML
• #PDF > #MicrosoftWord
• #git > #subversion
• #IRC & #Mumble, #MailingList > #discord
• #XMPP+#OMEMO > any proprietary messenger
• #PGP/MIME acceptance should be mandatory per law for all #eMails in #business and towards public offices
• Every System that has a #clock inside has to self-adjust it correctly without user intervention. I don't care if it uses a time signal like DCF77, GNSS or NTP. Computers must syncronize their hardware clock to [Unixtime](en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_time) regardless of the used OS
• #Police should only be allowed to carry and use what law-abiding citizens are to. If you don't trust your neighbour with a #gun, why would you trust a stranger who doesn't even have to evidence proper storage, training, proficiency and isn't subject to due diligence?
• #QualifiedImmunity is #PoliceState horeshite and must never be allowed and retroactively canned. If you don't want #accountability or #consequences for those in power, you are a bootlicker.
• Long-lasting peace in the #MiddleEast will most likely only happen if a unified #laicist nation compromising of #Israel and #Palestine gets built. It's just currently not intended to happen by both sides!
• #Ukraine is the #LitmusTest for #EU & #NATO. If Ukraine doesn't win beyond the #StatusQuoAnteBellum (1994-2011) and doesn't get EU & NATO membership it'll either be destroyed by #Russia in Putin's neo-czarist ambitions and thus will legitimize & normalize the Russian #CrimeOfAggression, which will then focus on #Baltics and espechally #Finland. Already the western #cowardice of not following through on the #BudapestMemorandum puts the #NPT and the trustworthyness of the USA, #UK and The West in general into question.
• A #TotalEmbargo against Russia is long overdue - including a #SeaBlockade, not just against the #ShadowFleet which poses a statistically inevitable risk for the #envoirment!
• #NuclearPower is not #renewable and using precious radioactive elements to boil water to spin a turbine is an insult to #physics! #Renewables should be mandatory and we can talk about #Fusion once #ITER actually evidently works and is able to sustain net positive energy output into the grid.
• "#AI" is #WastefulComputing and should be considered an #EnvoirmentalCrime and #CrimeAgainstHumanity, with all the prosecution it entails!
  
• The only people that have a 'right' to be 'proud' of their #citizenship are those that actually had to put in effort to get #naturalized. People who won the #BirthLottery are disqualified.
• Also anyone who is "proud" of their citizenship by birth evidently has achieved nothing on their own worth to be proud of! Even if it's just graduating school, driving license, forklift certification or some kind of art.
• We need #RightToRepair, not only but espechally for #electronics! This includes tight mandates to provide #parts, #tools, #documentation and #support under #FRAND [fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory] terms.
• #Patents on #Software, espechally #GameMechanics, should be illegal. No #patent should be issued without evidence of it being a genuine, new #invention with a demonstrable prototype. If #Kickstarter wouldn't accept it, then neither should any #PatentOffice!
• #Patents of lifeforms and DNA have to be outlawed.
• #Copyright to something should cease the moment the copyright holder refuses to offer the copyrighted work under FRAND terms. If buying isn't ownership than #piracy isn't #theft. Also #OneTimePurchase options [for a specific version] should be mandatory by law and #subscriptions only be allowed for products and services that actually incur costs to upkeep (i.e. bandwith and storage for hosting/streaming). Designing something as "#LiveService" when it has no reason (i.e. refusing to sell physical copies) to should be deemed a fraudulent circumvention of it.
• "#ClientsideAnticheat" is #malware and needs to be prosecuted as such. Any "#AntiCheat" should be Server-Sided only.
• #PriceGouging must be prosecuted harder, espechally when it comes to #utilities.
• Just like #FuelPrices at a #GasStation, so should #ChargingStations be mandated to publish their pricing publicly in realtime and not discriminate customers!
• Everyone should have a #RightToBanking without discrimination. Any closure of accounts must be legitimized by actual criminal activity (i.e. money laundering, fraud, terrorism financing, ...) and go through due process with appeals.
• Everyone should have a right to free, unseizeable #ID documents without mandating #biometrics or other privacy invasions! These should be eligible as Travel #Passport and people should have global #FreedomOfMovement only restricted by an actual, individual judge ruling that went through proper oversight and appeals. Duplicate Issues to avoid Visa Conflicts (with duplicate Serial Numbers!) should be offered and granted upon request.
• #Gender does not belong into ID documents! Just like weight, hair colour, religion, occupation and address don't!

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#deals #subscriptions #instacartplus #chase #nytcooking

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#subscriptions #doordash #lyft #deals

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https://www.verizon.com/support/disney-bundle-faqs/

#subscriptions #verizonwireless #DisneyPlus #Hulu #ESPNplus

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#subscriptions #ParamountPlus #CBSsportsOnline #247sports

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#subscriptions #instacartplus #peacock #deals