Anybody know of anything else that would be quite wise to purchase sooner than later, due to potential (or incoming) regulation that would be regarded as privacy-infringing to enforce? I was thinking about this because I’ve been pondering a high-quality 3D printer purchase for this reason.
Advice for varying levels of budget would be quite nice, too; I partially intend on this being a post people may want to revisit.
Buy a Fully FOSS 3D printer. It’s pointless to purchase any peice of tech to “avoid future regulation” if it still runs proprietary software you don’t control. I would highly recommend checking out Voron printers. Fully FOSS at every level, firmware, hardware, schematics, etc. Voron Design
The catch is that you have to build it from scratch yourself. However, there are many places online to buy high quality premade kits, and the community is massive and thriving, you’ll be able to follow guides easily.
I would also buy some bulk, long term digital storage if you don’t have it already, and build yourself a simple NAS. The digital crackdowns are coming soon, and you’re going to thank yourself for having terabytes of digital media and software that is impossible to get down the line.
ServerMonkey currently has 6TB refurbished enterprise HDDs for $175, and 24TB Seagate Exos CMR HDDs for $625 (even cheaper per TB.) if you don’t need crazy performance, you can throw a few of those in an old PC with a few hundred bucks of hardware and be totally fine using it as a NAS/home media server.
Learn how to securely torrent if you don’t already. If you’re into LLMs at all, download current LLM models that are good at different sizes, even if you can’t currently run them on your hardware, they will likely be banned in the near future because they represent a “threat” to the USA’s corporate power and influence.
Download a local copy of Wikipedia and other online sites with something like Kiwix. Purchase pre-LLM era physical books on foraging, cooking, home and auto repair, electronics, child care, etc. Highly practical skills that will be useful to know as the general population becomes further dumbed down and reliant on proprietary, corporate slopware.
For those on a very tight budget, used is your friend. Old computer equipment is still quite affordable. You can pick up used t480 Thinkpads on Ebay for $175-$300. If you’ve got kids who need a laptop for school, pick one of those up and throw Linux on it.
If you’re willing to swap, haggle, and hunt locally, you can get even better deals. Check if your area has a government surplus warehouse. When I was a kid, my family lived 15 minutes from one. They had literal pallets of government mini-pcs you could buy, 40 towers for a few hundred bucks. You could buy individual machines for $40-$75 there. Yeah they were old, beat up, janky, but they worked. And as a 14 year old kid who’s only money came from doing random yard work for friends and family, it was a gold mine.
Check with your local businesses and schools and ask somebody there if they have “e-waste computers” they are looking to get rid of. Often times they do, and they will happily give you them for free. Normally, they have to pay a company to take those off their hands, so they will have no issue with you just taking them for nothing. I’ve gotten a bunch of old computers this way over the years. Don’t be afraid to even ask the IT department where you work too. Some places have strict e-waste policies, but most don’t. As long as there’s no storage installed that could contain company/organizational data, they usually couldn’t care less if an employee wants to take an old “junk” PC home with them.
Downloading LLM’s because the US will censor them seams unlikely. Censorship will pretty much always be bypassable with vpn’s or tor.
Maybe I just don’t have the same threat model as you.
Closed source printers can still be flashed with open source firmware. Creality printers can be flashed with octoprint. Also since they aren’t connected to the internet they can’t force a bad update.
Very true, but it’s better to use and support a fully FOSS platform if possible.
With the way inflation is going, nearly everything is better bought now rather than later. Especially appreciating assets.
You can’t consume your way out of this
Nobody can, dw, I’m aware. I certainly don’t like spending money personally. Just making sure I can obtain things that’ll be a PITA to get later on, y’know?
Guns and ammunition
Physical media and ways of accessing it (usb disc drive for example)
Older laptops and vehicles if you’re in the market
Absolutely. Old cars until they ban them because of CC.
Before you buy anything make sure you research it first. Start buying things that you own the infustructure for. Don’t buy a 3d printer that doesn’t support Linux, or buy a 3d printer that won’t be effected by the 3d printing laws that try to stop gun parts from being printed.
That logic should apply to everything. If you are buying a IP camera make sure to get one that does PoE and doesn’t connect and ping hone to a server before sending you your data. Don’t buy a WiFi garage door opener unless you installed the ZigBee switch yourself. You should aim to be able to do everything yourself without needing subscription models or useless internet of things devices.
Things you likely want now before they get further ruined:
A google pixel phone to flash and de google.
A car before ~2013 that you plan on learning how yo repair when it breaks down.
A AMD based PC with a a 16gig GPU. Thats like the absolute lowest end you can use LLM’s and defuision models locally that don’t completely suck ass. And if you’re not much of a gamer or desktop user you can turn this PC into a server and run your own services in docker so you reduce your dependency on apps.
I just bought a 1972 tractor to work my vegetable garden. I’ve already learnt to service it, i’ve changed the clutch (took me 3 months on and off … its bloddy 4 tonne gear). Just to say that the future is sbout diy. Government control, robotics and inflation all force you to rethink your life model and that of your family. Invest in a small piece of land and become self sufficient. Its hard work but its life changing.
What the hell does a WiFi garage door opener have to do with ZigBee. Two completely different technologies there.
Thanks for the somewhat lengthy reply! Makes sense. On the topic of AI…
I’m not fond of LLM and diffusion* technology right now because of where training data came from. However, machine learning is cool. I’d like to be able to run AI compute loads for things like security camera image detection and the like. Do you know of (I know what I’m asking here lol…) any feasible way to buy capable hardware for a somewhat less inflated price? I’ll buy things I must disassemble to save a buck. Local hardware for machine learning applications is something I’ve wanted for a while but keep waiting to pull the trigger on because of how fast progress is these days.
Buying a house is always advisable if you can afford it. And on the privacy front I think it is the best protected space we have. Not just by law but also by robust doors.
Not having to worry about a landlord who feels entitled is also pretty great.
Couple caveats about buying a house
- Make sure you have some money saved to deal with surprise expenses before you buy so you can handle things like appliances dying randomly.
- Don’t buy a house unless you plan on keeping it for at least 7 years. Selling a house is pain since you have to act like you don’t live in your home and usually real estate commissions and closing costs Eat up all the appreciation if you sell too soon
I had an opportunity to buy a house earlier this year. Didn’t feel ready, nerves got to me and instead of getting in a bidding war I kept my offer at the asking price.
The people who outbid me ended up only paying what my offer was anyways, due to the bank’s valuation of the house.
3 months later and the house shot up in valuation by $50k. I could’ve bought the house, lived in it for two years, and still would’ve ended up ahead compared to renting smh
Dash cam.
I say as I have yet to replace my broke one for the last 6 months… thanks for the reminder lol
Books, vinyl records, CD’s, DVD’s, bluray, hard drives (oké maybe not now now). Tools… Especially battery power tools.
And if you are abble, solar panels and batteries.
This wil make your life pretty low tech and non traceable. Also there commodities that are tradable for goods and services with others in your communitie.
Hardwired tools are generally better in both terms of performance and reliability. If you really want get Amish about it you can convert a lot of eletric tools into gas tools and buy them like that.
That being said I will still grab my ryobi battery power tools before anything else.
Especially battery power tools.
Ditch the battery tool lock-in and go pneumatic. The tools themselves are more robust, more powerful, typically designed to be repaired, and less expensive when comparing performance.
And noisy and need oil and need an air compressor and need lots of space and an air hose…
TINSTAAFL, buy once cry once, and all that. I can mitigate all of those trade-offs. I can’t mitigate proprietary batteries. Oh, sure, there knockoffs (potentially or actually dangerous) and generic batteries (like CEENR). The performance of the generics just isn’t there yet, but for people messing around at home, it’s gutenuf. The battery is still an expensive consumable.
I have mostly cordless tools and regret having gone down this route. The cost of one 10Ah pack would get me a “throwaway” oil-free compressor that I can repair and rebuild. And once you have the air tools, you have them for life. Dropped you drill in saltwater? Clean it up, lubricate, back in action. For the price of one cordless nail gun, I got my nail gun, a long nose stapler, a drill, extra air line, and an extra tank for additional air volume.
Is pneumatic for everyone? Absolutely not. But that battery lock-in is terrible. Proprietary anything chaps my ass, and I avoid it whenever possible.
As an aside, I often wonder how long before TTI and Stanley Black & Decker start locking out third-party batteries.
If you plan on using them frequently then you need a decent sized air compressor. I have a 3 gal pancake compressor and it just doesn’t do it for me. I would also say when buying tools, really consider if you need it battery powered or if you will always have wall power. I would never buy a battery powered orbital sander because I’m always going to be running dust collection anyways, and the cord can run along the dust hose.
This is the way to go. Once you get a stand up air compressor that spits out enough cfm its a real game changer. I don’t even have that many air tools outside of nail guns. Just having solid air for dusting made it worth while for me. I’ll get distracted for hours using my tornado air whip and airsolizer.
Bidet, it’s like 1000 times better and you can worry less about Costco shortages.
Agree. Italians are the biggest users and use less paper … :-)
Came here to say the same. I bought my first pre pandemic. When the pandemic came I was so grateful lol.
I can’t tell if you’re serious because it’s super late where I am right now, but this is just lowkey good advice in general. Bidets rule lol
You don’t dry all that water off your ass?
Well, use goes from like a 10-15 square use without bidet to a consistent 3-4. Square consumption is the same from Taco Bell Tuesday to fiber Friday. You’re never going to punch a finger through trying to get yourself clean and you never need to worry about smells. A $45 dollar accessory has never punched above its weight class so well before, imo.
Turns out that twerking does have benefits
You certainly don’t want to use TP on your dripping wet asshole. Hand towels work best
set up a towel rotation
The better models come with dryers.
Nothing you can buy can save you if a law is passed prohibiting it. They’ll outlaw possession/usage too.
People should start protesting today instead of waiting for things to get worse.
You are absolutely correct about the second part. But the first? Ehh… out of sight out of mind, lol
I break a lot of laws already. I dont mind breaking more of them.
Say it again friend.
vasectomies
You serious? Why? Being genuine.
Though a double edged sword, an electric vehicle ic it exists where it doesn’t rely on the manufacturer connectivity. Being able go plug in and charge and get wherever is better than relying on fuel.
AI and age verification free Linux Distro Installers.
Maybe flashable routers, phones, SBCs, noise generators if you’re an activist? Sorry if I’m not being concrete enough.
We should also consider tariffs and general inflation, which work (intentionally or not) to deprive people of “privacy-friendly” tech (along with everything else really). This is essential, knowing that basically most tech hardware comes from China, and we’ve seen how the govt can just say “uh actually this will be X bucks more expensive” without explicitly banning it, especially in the US and Europe
Any recs for flashable routers? I’m about to try and build my own but if cheaper pre-built options will suffice I’d love to save a buck. I’m not exactly raking in dough.
Honestly I have no idea, sorry. I never really took a personal interest, being a broke student sharing apartments and all
You might have luck asking in other coms though
That’s fine, don’t apologize. I am right there with you in the monetary department…
Thankfully I now have a job, good luck to you! 🫡
Thanks! o7
Removed by mod
