A Google Pixel device with an unlockable bootloader. Carrier phones often come with a locked bootloader that remains locked, even if it is “carrier unlocked” and can be used on another network. In any event, you can get used Pixel phones relatively cheap. A pixel 9 pro xl with an unlockable bootloader starts around $400 for a 128GB and I just got a 1TB for $600. You can get a Pixel 6 pro for around $100.

This is peak America.

Hmmmmm. I wonder where he got the idea?

Considering that he’s never leaving office, I doubt he cares about president precedents.

Yes, I see…

Edit: Did your mom tell you it’s peak performance?

GrapheneOS only runs on Pixel phones, with the Pixel 6 being the oldest Pixel phone supported, so you must be mistaken and tried an alternative OS. FWIW, GrapheneOS is very easy to install.

It wasn’t a gift, it was an action purchased by the billionaires.

GrapheneOS is the way to go. It’s hardware limited to Google Pixel phones, but it is the most secure, privacy-oriented OS available to consumers. Yes, you’re using google hardware, but Graphene sandboxes all apps, de-googles the experience by default, and even if you choose to use some google apps it sandboxes them to limit the data they can pull from you.

We are in the last stages of a bull market, and will likely get a “blow off top” and collapse, much like what occurred in 1929, and it will come sooner rather than later, potentially this fall. Pointing to the stock market as a barometer of the health of a nation is absolutely imbecilic, as markets can be irrational for a long time. As the saying goes “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”

What $37,000 gets you in China.

Clearly the “deleted” data isn’t deleted, and you are right, if this were an ordinary person the police wouldn’t have done a damn thing.

If the dough don’t fit, you must acquit!

You’ve been hit by— You’ve been struck by a smooth criminal

Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving fellow.

Let me tell you, I’ve discovered the best way to meet people effortlessly (more or less). I’ve consumed a lot of dating content on youtube, and learned a lot in the process. One of the videos I watched ranked places to meet people, and two of the top places were dance class and run clubs. I’ve been doing both. I run with a couple of different run clubs, and while I enjoy getting a good workout in, run clubs haven’t been very productive for me to meet women. One of the things that I feel is hindering me in that regard is that I’m not a great runner and pretty slow. In general, women are attracted to high status men, and status is contextual. As a slow runner, my status in the running context isn’t very high, and I feel that as a consequence, the women I meet in that context aren’t seeing me as a good prospect. YMMV. That said, I have met people at run clubs, so you may wish to find one in your area.

Dancing classes, however, have been a gold mine. I started at the end of last August taking ballroom dancing lessons to dip my toes in the water. While there are some younger people, the median age at the ballroom dance class I take is about 65. While on the surface, that may not seem like a good environment, I stand out in it. I’m fit, good looking, and dress sharp, and women notice. Women understand much better than men that being attractive is not something that you are or are not, but rather something that you cultivate. Most men don’t do much to improve their appearance and as they age just let themselves go. As a consequence, I am hands-down the most attractive man that regularly attends class, and always have women vying for my attention. I am the “big fish” in a small pond, and to the extent there are women in that group I am interested in, I am definitely on their radar.

Dancing is particularly good for meeting people and fostering a romantic context, because it involves physical contact within your partner’s intimate zone. I chuckle when dating advice videos talk about “breaking the touch barrier”, because in the dancing context you’re basically holding hands with your arm around them, standing in their intimate zone from the outset.

In addition, the dancing context overlays strong gender roles. As a man, I am the “lead” and the woman is the “follow”, and I communicate with her with my body. As the song says:

Bodies in conversation

Use your imagination

I like it

When we dance

Even if you don’t meet anyone in dance class, you’re learning a valuable skill that can only help you in the competitive arena of dating. Think about it. You’ve seen videos of birds doing their mating dances, tail feathers flared out. The mating dance for humans is dancing.

While ballroom was my initial foray into dancing, swing dancing and the social dancing scene has been amazing for me. It’s hard to get really good quickly at ballroom dancing, as there are fewer opportunities to practice. None of the nightclubs in my city have “Tango Night” or “Foxtrot Night”, but a whole lot of them cater to various popular social dances, including salsa, cumbia, swing, etc. Where I am at, you can go out and meet people dancing almost any night of the week. Moreover, as a lead, if you are any good at all you’ll have attractive women lining up to dance with you. It’s more difficult to be a lead, so follows tend to outnumber leads. My current focus is on East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop, but I still do the ballroom dancing as well. It’s good to be well-rounded.

I cannot overstate how helpful dancing has been for me with respect to meeting women. After a prolonged period of social isolation while I worked on myself following my divorce, I went from a social circle of zero (I literally had no one in my life), to an enormous social circle, with fun events to attend several nights per week, and a wide array of dating prospects. I highly recommend it.

Thank you. I’m a bit of an outlier in a lot of ways, and I’m awaking to the fact that if I want to find the right person from me, I’m going to have to increase the volume of people I date, and probably the easiest way to do that would be to tackle online dating, so it’s probably in my future.

1000%

After 21 years of marriage and about 5 years of working on myself after divorce, I’m finally dipping my toes in the dating pool. Honestly, it’s not as bad as people make it out to be. I don’t use dating apps, as they weren’t around when I was previously single and I don’t see them as likely being effective for me. I’m 60, but good looking and extremely fit, most people assume I’m in my mid 40s, and I do a decent job of attracting interested women in their 30s and 40s. I feel that I’d be screened out by age on dating apps and not even seen by women in my target demographic, whereas in person I do really well. Overall, reentering the dating pool has been an interesting experience. One surprising thing is that women over 40 are much more forward with me than I’m used to. They ask me if I’m single, ask for my phone number, and even proposition me point blank at times. Overall, it’s been a very positive experience for me, and I feel like I do at least as well or better than I did in my youth (which was pretty good).

Context is everything. Sure, men are more aggressive and women will definitely get some unwanted attention. People often think that as a consequence, women don’t want to be approached by men in public. However, if you dig deeper, women don’t mind being approached, so long it is done by someone they want to be approached by. It is the reality captured by the “Hello, Human Resources” meme.