So, the wall was selling shirts for insanely cheap prices and I do not understand where they are making a profit.

I got a shirt which should cost 8 dollars for 2.5 and I don't know if I can just wear them without concern.

Are cheap shirts safe to wear? Idk do they use chemicals which are bad for me? They made this insanely cheap and I don't know what gives! It all says 100% cotton and its from a trusted brand but the mystery of the price still remains. I need to know before loading up on these things.

Also, bonus question, is white coloring agent more or less harmful than other colors? (Assume the most frequently used coloring agents)

I am using a liquid detergent and I use exactly the half of the detergent they say I should use. If a the washing machine requires 1 cup, I do half. Mostly because I don't trust the company to put me over their interests.

Now, what will happen? Will my clothes end up staying dirty? Will it not remove stains which a full cup would have removed? Will surfexcel kidnap me and torture me for not obeying their commands? Help meeee!!

Ok, I am not supporting bestiality here. But, I just came to know about a Dogxim, a dog fox hybrid and I had known for a long time that horses and donkeys can breed (to produce a mule). So, I was just curious, can humans breed with any other animals closely related to us?

American culture seems to be rife with men who went to the Marines and after being discharged of duty went on to either lead successful lives or who's life took a turn for the worse and ended up on the street.

Of c, the two groups are not equal in numbers and the third much larger group lies in between these two groups. Now, I still am interested in the disparity between the extremes. Why do some people who join the Marines go on to create an over represent the Marines amount the successful, while others end up on the street? They are all given a clean slate somewhat and are exposed to the exact same environment, what do the successful learn which the unsuccessful don't?

Though the question sounds very narrow, I am actually trying to explore a theme. I was reading in a book about Brainwashing about how the Chinese Communists or Christian priests were trying to brainwash people who didn't believe in their ideology. Protestants trying to convenience Catholics and vice versa. Kidnappers being successful in brainwashing Patty Hearst who being a victim of Kidnapping herself, went on to rob a bank for her captors willingly as she had now believed in their ideology. etc.,.

So, I was wondering, has brainwashing ever worked in reverse where a person who is supposed to be a victim of brainwashing manages to outfox their captors and manages to change the mind of their captors or break free? Maybe a protestant priest managed to convert a catholic priest? You get the theme.

I have to use Windows on my work computer and I am finding it hard to get FOSS applications on Windows that can do stuff like

1. Record a video (like SimpleVideoRecorder does)
2. Take a screenshot (there's snip, but it isn't very customizable)
3. Unzip .zip files

Just the routine things I used to take for granted on Linux, so I was wondering if there was a FOSS app store for Windows

And it would be very helpful if someone could suggest alternative for

1. SimpleVideoRecorder
2. Archive Manager

Even the apps I installed for these things either had ads or asked me for payment to record more than 2 minutes of video, I am pretty sure there are FOSS apps to do these things out there, but I don't know where :')

PS: To everyone who has tried to help, thank you very much. I was feeling guilty for not replying to most of you, so I thought I would reply to all of ya, but funnily enough, lemmy had had enough of my gratitude!

DroidCam is a freemium application which allows you to use your phone as a web camera (thus getting a better picture quality for meetings than ordinary webcams)

So, needless to say, it's very helpful.

Now, I have been facing a number of issues with this application for a few days and I felt it would be best if I just share stuff regarding how I make it work seamlessly, it won't look good when you are late for a meeting because you are troubleshooting droidcam, so here's how I use it.

1. v4l2loopback package can cause a lot of problems, so, I would suggest you to download it from source, you can do that using this script given below (this also installs droidcam on your linux computer)

This isn't the most efficient script there is, but it works.

First, run the command

vim installation_droidcam.sh && chmod +x installation_droidcam.sh

(you might have vi editor installed by default, so if you don't have vim, just replace vim with vi, if neither are available, run sudo apt install vim, I personally use featherpad)

Now, paste the below script into your text editor (this doubles as a reinstallation script too, but if you want the latest and greatest, you would have to replace the installation commands of droidcam given below with whatever is available here on the official website

#!/bin/bash

cd ~

pkill droidcam

sudo /opt/droidcam-uninstall

# installation script for droidcam
# if you want the latest version, go to
# https://www.dev47apps.com/droidcam/linux/
cd /tmp/
wget -O droidcam_latest.zip https://files.dev47apps.net/linux/droidcam_2.1.3.zip
# sha1sum: 2646edd5ad2cfb046c9c695fa6d564d33be0f38b
unzip droidcam_latest.zip -d droidcam
cd droidcam && sudo ./install-client
# end of installation script


cd ~

sudo rm -r v4l2loopback

pkill droidcam


gh repo clone umlaeute/v4l2loopback

cd v4l2loopback

make && sudo make install $ sudo depmod -a

cd ~

sudo modprobe v4l2loopback

Now, save the script and exit it.

Everything required for droidcam to work has been installed on your laptop (you would still have to install Droidcam (green) on your android device and set it up over there tho, I am not gonna guide with that)

Here's a video for that by Mental Outlaw

Now, you would have to edit the desktop entry for droicam on your laptop to include sudo modprobe v4l2loopback command, because this needs to be running for droidcam to work. So, to do that, we will create another script

run vim /home/$USER/droidcam_start_menu_libre_desktop_file.sh && chmod +x /home/$USER/droidcam_start_menu_libre_desktop_file.sh and paste the below script and save it

#!/bin/bash

sudo modprobe v4l2loopback

/usr/local/bin/droidcam

After this, menulibre if you don't have it already by doing sudo apt install menulibre and edit the desktop file entry for droicam such that it looks like the image below (make sure you Tick Run in Terminal) as you need to have v4l2loopback running in the background for droidcam to work.

In the command text box, you much have /home/$USER/droidcam_start_menu_libre_desktop_file.sh (location of the script we just created) and now save it.

And that's it!

From now on, you would be able to start droidcam (while keeping droicam on on your android device) The terminal would open, enter your password and you can now connect and use your phone as a second camera (a much better second camera)

I haven't been very articulate, so doubts are welcome

I am low on money these days and my life is hell for it. I have to do with substandard everything in my life I recently had an incident where an elderly woman asked me for money while roaming the street with her family begging for money. I had no money to spare, but had I had any, I wouldn't have given a penny to her (Life is tough, I can't give away money I didn't earn)

But, she later said something which melted my heart, "Majboori hai beta!" (Hindi) "We don't want to do this, but we have to do it son" (now add some emotional value to it), I didn't know what to do, I was on my cycle and I could feel their eyes on me as I passed them and I just peddled faster with teary eyes.

I didn't know how to deal with that. i.e., I don't have enough money for medical necessities or to improve the standard of living of my own life, but I was being asked to spare change by a poor family that was demonstrably in a worse spot than me.

I was always taught that if you give beggars money, they will spend it all on alcohol (not blaming them), and given the number of beggars who have come to be smelling like alcohol and death with wobbly balance, it has been a rule not to provide them with money. Also, let's not forget, if you're really poor (homeless and have nothing to lose) and you are really desperate, you are often dangerous i.e., not someone around whom your kids can roam, again, not blaming them. But... I don't know what is right or wrong in this situation!

How do you deal with external problems you can't solve around you? What is the moral thing to do here?

edit: This kinda reminds of a story about Jesus where a prince once came to him and told him that he isn't at peace with himself no matter what he does, and Jesus told him that to get peace he must give away everything to the poor and follow Jesus around and the prince refused (something along those lines).

I know what the most moral thing might be in this case, but even if you tell me that I should give money to those who live in abject poverty, I probably won't do it as often as I should.

I am not in a great place right now in terms of productivity and flourishing in my personal and professional life, and every time I waste a day, every time I do something that I enjoy at the moment but which is not productive, I feel ashamed.

I live in a country, where students sometimes end their own lives for not being able to get into their dream college or for not passing the exam that would have allowed them a job in the government bureaucracy, I have always thought that they were not ending their lives because they didn't pass the exams, but they are ending it because they have indulged in activities which are not conducive to their goal of passing the exam so many times that they have given up on themselves and every time they spend a lot of time doing stuff which they might like to do in the moment but would regret right after they do it, their respect for self decreases a little more and when they get the sad news that could not progress towards their goals, they have not only failed as an aspirant for an exam, they have also failed as a person (for now at least)

i.e., As Dostoevsky states in C&P, "Your worst sin is that you've destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing", even though I might indulge in activities that are pleasurable for me now, they add up to nothing and if I do this enough times, I will just give up and sometimes some people will give up on all not just their goals because they hate themselves so much!

I don't want to end up like them (even though I feel pity for them, too bad there isn't an afterlife for them where they can be happy) , so I thought I would whip myself into a frenzy by reading a complication of suicide notes, this is for me an interesting task, but it also serves a purpose of warning me into things that I should not do! And to be completely honest, if I can derive some utility/meaning out of suicide notes, I mean the exact things that advertise the meaninglessness and the ugly side of life, that's pretty inspirational to me, I mean, it's like a metaphor for life, trying to life despite all the ugly stuff. So, to come back to the question,

Has there ever been a compilation of suicide notes, if so, where can one get it? And is it a good idea to get it?

PS: Sorry if this comes out the wrong way, if you haven't noticed, I am not that articulate. Also, I am alright right now, I am good, but I don't want to end up in a real bad situation, so I am looking for what I should I avoid.

edit 2: I like this community, but I don't have enough time to respond to everyone, but know that I am grateful and know that I have heard you! :)

I live in India and I am pretty poor, I hope to be middle-class/upper-middle class someday, but I have noticed something sinister from some people who are extremely privileged, they can be still be bought with money.

Lack of money makes you desperate, and paranoid, and comparison drives you crazy, hard to be morally perfect as a poor man, but I see actors who have made insane amounts of money on the backs of their Indian fans like Shahrukh Khan, Canada Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Hrithik Roshan and many more who are well-respected in the industry and who still can sell their own fans financial ruin (gambling) or death (Tobacco) in ads. I thought the point of being rich was that you could be more moral, what is the use of getting rich if you use your influence and fame to do more harm than good?

Also, all the actors mentioned above have made numerous movies about patriotism, many in their private conversations like to brag how much they "love their country... blah... blah... blah", but yet they feel ok selling Tobacco to their fans who made them what they are.

I have a cousin who worships Shahrukh Khan and who took up Pan(Tobacco) because he was naive and because he probably thought it was "cool" since his favorite actor (on whom he has modeled all aspects of his life was selling tobacco), thankfully we were able to get him off that a few years ago, but he spent money like water and he gained worse health for it. He got off easy, many suffered financial ruin or even death. So, when is it fucking enough!? When will these people have enough money?

edit: It's just not India, it happens everywhere (just watch CoffeeZilla to see more prime examples of this) Also, I am not saying I am perfect, if someone gave me an insane amount of money to sell Pan, I will, judge me if you will. But, I like to think if I had "enough" money, I would be immune to the attractions of blood money, I like to think I can try to be as moral as I can be then, but these people almost make me think that there is never "enough" money.

edit 2: Kurt Vonnegut's Quote on Money is quite interesting

I realize this is a Linux community, but I was wondering why you still hate Windows. I mean, I love Linux, but I will not argue that it's more convenient to the average person in most use cases to use Windows, I recently had to switch back to Windows and I realized how convenient it all was and how I was missing so many things because of my love for Linux. But at this point, Linux is a part of my personality and my self-image and I will not leave it, but I gotta be honest, it's pretty convenient being on Windows. So, why have you guys chosen to still stay on Linux? Some reasons I can appreciate include

1. The terrible privacy policies of Microsoft. It sometimes makes you feel like your computer is not owned by you but lent to you by Big Tech.
2. The community and the spirit of sharing
3. The joy of "figuring it out" and customizing everything you want to the minutest details
4. FREEDOM!!! sudo su Kinda ties into the previous points, but still one of the best selling points, the freedom to do whatever you want is liberating. You can run a server on it or you can create a script while knowing you have control over almost every FOSS app there is or just destroy your whole system with one command. Idk, feels good man!

These are the big ones, but one must realize you are sacrificing many things while not using windows too, productivity can be much greater there if you are a normie, it's really convenient! So yeah! Give me your reasons! Also, how many of you dual boot?

I am an Indian and I have become hyperaware of the people and the culture that surrounds me and I am beginning to see the flaws in it. One of the flaws that trouble me the MOST is how most Indians behave when they encounter any authority figure (mostly higher class or "higher" caste or the wealthy or the bureaucrat class).

When an average Indian walks into a Government office with a corrupt bureaucrat in it, he begins treating himself as an insect, he is way too afraid and he is way too submissive and slavish, this doesn't end here however, if you meet someone of a higher social status than yourself you become slavish and submissive there too and this happens every time an authority figure is in the room and even with people who think very highly of themselves(at their homes, with their families etc.,) I dress well and look somewhat well so once I had a guy who is my father's age call me sir and use language which is reserved for "the higher classes". This is not ok! I wish he had a spine, I don't want to be him when I grow up, but I know he didn't choose to be that way, it's the environment he was brought up in and not being aware of one's own slavishness.

I am not blaming my people, but I do detest the culture which caused this. And don't be fooled, I am not an observer, I (used to) do this too and I hate this

It's like our bones melt and our brain switches off and we become in our own eyes the lowest form of life on earth. Probably justifiably because the education we have received is subpar (counter-productive) in most cases. And you can't think highly of yourself if you are capable of doing anything productive, but it's not just that, it happens with those people who are productive members of the society, but to a lesser extent.

I have heard many Southern Asian countries are like this in this aspect. So, I was wondering how you treat authority in your culture and if you thought it was healthy. I would be very much interested if your culture is similar to mine and what you think might have caused it.

And most importantly, how do you think I can get rid of this disgusting habit, is it even possible in India? (fellow Indians jump in here)

edit: Thanks to everyone who replies! :)