SoundCloud is pretty cool, especially when compared to Spotify. I’ve been really liking the https://sc.maid.zone/ SoundCloud frontend recently, makes it more private and you can download the songs on the same page you can listen to them. But all in all, it really just comes down to your opinion regarding if you should talk positively about it.

For anyone new to the Linux world, I can’t recommend Learn Linux TV enough. He has a video walking through this exact process, here’s an Invidious and YouTube link for it.

As far as dual booting goes, issues can arise after updates. I recall this happening a few months back due to a Windows update. So just be aware of this possibly happening down the road. I need Windows for work at times too, but I strictly use a VM. I’ve hated Microsoft since Windows 8, their amount of user tracking is bonkers and a big part of why I just use a VM. This is just food for thought though.

Obsidian isn’t FOSS, but two fantastic replacements are Standard Notes and Notesnook.

A great paint option I don’t see listed is KolourPaint, plus Kdenlive for video editing. For audio editing, Tenacity is the better choice over Audacity. It’s an Audacity fork made after some questionable privacy policy changes.

CryptPad is an awesome Google Doc’s replacement, but Libre Office is actively working on their version too.

For your security section, adding some encryption software would be smart. Both VeraCrypt and Cryptomator are amazing. Also, Bitwarden/Vaultwarden are solid password manager alts for KeePassXC, with Vaultwarden being self hosted.

Here’s a great site for all sorts of Lemmy clients.

As far as Linux laptops go, System 76’s Darter Pro is also a solid choice. Tuxedo is probably System 76’s biggest competition, as they offer very comparable laptops. Their InfinityBook Pro is a great computer. Frameworks, Slimbook, and Star Labs are all also worth a mention.

A virtual machine is the move, I’ve had a great experience with virt-manager. Strongly recommend debloating the windows VM if Microsoft is getting on your nerves. Here’s my go to software: https://github.com/raphire/win11debloat

Worksorks on both windows 10 & 11. It’ll allow you to remove telemetry, tracking, and even software Microsoft prevents you from uninstalling. I just can’t get it to remove Edge. But MentalOutlaw has a fantastic walk through of the process on his YT channel if you want some guidance with the debloating process.

Well, since SearXNG aggregates results from more than 70 search engines and not solely Google, it’s a safe bet they’ll be fine regardless of Googles moves. However, sourcing results from Google may be impacted, but they still have many other options built in aside from Google. Whoogle being a proxy only for Google makes it reliant on Google, so their upstream changes will be very noticeable. This being the case, I’d say switching to SearXNG is going to be the best move as it has redundancy built in making it not dependent on any one engine.

I’m pretty sure just using the “sudo dnf update --refresh” command in terminal will fix this problem. It will ask you verify those packages new repositories. After that, you should be good using the store again for updates. This is assuming you upgraded from Fedora 40 before these errors occurred.

I love the KDE plasma theme Underworld. It’s definitely black and pairs well with a ton of stuff. I like Breeze Dark as the global theme, Ball10050’s Black color, and Underworld for the plasma style. This makes it all primarily black.

Be sure to include Nobara and Bazzite, both of which are gaming focused distros. Both are Fedora based, but Bazzite is known more as a SteamOS 3 clone. There’s also another gaming focused distro, it just escapes my mind. But I love Fedora KDE as is and then just installing the required software. So I’d say add Fedora, Nobara, and Bazzite for sure!

I’d say I’m one (1) eldritch scientist + Sat[censored]art

KDE is the way! I’ve heard KDE called the swiss army knife of DE’s, and I couldn’t agree more! I’d be curious to see a comparison of Gnome and KDE users previous OS. I’d bet KDE has more windows converts and gnome favors mac, but I really don’t hear about many mac folks switching to linux.

It’s 100% a feature! Truly a horrendous approach to lock down a device someone purchased to the extent seen on Windows.

Linux can’t prevent you from permanently removing files. While in Windows it’s a chore to remove a number of files/bloat, which are then most often back after a system update.

In Fedora? I’ve had one or two issues with the updater if I postponed the updates for a while, yet sudo dnf update always fixed the issue. I feel like thats step one for terminal use really. It’s also nice when it’s done this way you typically don’t need to reboot, unless it’s kernel or driver updates.

I feel like Mint is the move if you never want to utilize the terminal. But while it can be intimidating initially, after using it, you’ll grow to love it. Truly makes life way easier. I learned by first finding threads on my issues to copy and paste commands. After doing that enough you’ll gain an understanding of the main commands pretty quick. Fedora is a great starter in my mind, as you can do everything through the GUI when first starting, but unlike Mint, you can still get nerdy with the terminal when you feel up to it. Using a VM is a solid option to learn the terminal without any risk, worst case just delete the VM and make another. But you’d have to mess up pretty thoroughly to need to do that in my experience. Fedora, or Nobara which is a gaming and media centric fork of Fedora, are amazing due to the ability to run great out of the box plus being able to dial in anything you want to alter for your needs down the road. Fedora’s Software center allows you to add flatpak and snap packages, so it’ll all be in one place. Fedora 40 makes NVIDIA drivers pretty easy to deal with too. But this is just my two cents, I’m curious to see what others recommend for you.

Good on you for being so knowledgeable about the disorder. But 100% ask your doc, being real with my doc has taken our appointments to the next level. The genome is only half of the IgE allergy response, other half is the environment you were raised in as you can build tolerance of it. A high genetic aspect can be countered by a “low hygienic” environment according to research.

Well, in digging into some research papers, I found “mast cell activation can be caused by both IgE-mediated and non–IgE-mediated triggers”.

This is because there can be a mast cell mutation (KIT) which then doesn’t require IgE for activation. You have MMAS and not Mastocytosis, right? The mutation seems to be associated with Mastocytosis based on my understanding from the paper.

Since mast cells aren’t privileged, they’re restricted from entering sites like the brain and spinal cord. So, if they’re in the spinal cord, you almost certainly have bigger problems than mast cell activation I’d think, as the barrier isn’t doing it’s job.

In case you’re interested, here’s the paper on mast cell disorders: https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(17)31025-4/fulltext

Here’s one on the brain and spinal cord: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481533/

The BIGGEST issue with our understanding of the immune system today is that ALL testing is done on mice. The human body on a chip technology along with the digitization of the immune system together will be a monumental step. Thankfully, it’s literally something we’ll have in the near future. Once that’s available, we’ll have human specific data plus an onslaught of constant information, which we need to help folks with all of the immune system disorders. I’m an autoimmune patient and losing my friends and family to this uncertainty has led me into the field to try and help improve our understanding. There’s legit more we don’t know than we do know about the human immune system right now.

While there’s no free floating IgE in your system, to degranulate mast cells need IgE bound to their surface. Thats the activation aspect. Since you need mast cells, it’s not exactly something you can turn off. Glad you know the triggers at least, gives you the opportunity to make moves accordingly!

Here’s a great image of degranulation:

You need two IgE’s to cross-link the same antigen as well, like what is shown above.

Yep! Mast cells are activated when IgE antibodies bind to a mast cell receptor. When IgE then binds to the one object it was designed to find, you get mast cell degranulation. This releases histamines along with a few other chemicals. Degranulation is our immune defense against parasites, so you got a head start for parasite defense for sure! But desensitization can be achieved, which makes IgG antibodies bind to the foreign object before IgE has the chance. I’d think this could be a possible treatment for the syndrome.

Do you also have asthma? The same IgE’s also bind to eosinophil’s. Mast cell degranulation in the lungs leads to acute asthma, whereas when eosinophil’s join the party it causes airway remodeling, aka chronic asthma.

It’s no picnic, parasites are burly! The Th2 adaptive immune response for worms, our only parasite response, is only good with small initial infections. But since the side effects are relatively mild considering all parasites, it’s not a big area of focus.

Fun fact: The same response for parasites causes allergies. You can never be allergic when it’s your first exposure either. But a less hygenic environment as a kid greatly redices the risk of developing allergies.

Of course!

• This ones about the evolutionary benefits: The origin of risk aversion https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4273387/

• Here’s one on fatal motorcycle accidents: Increased risk of traffic accidents in subjects with latent toxoplasmosis - a retrospective case-control study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC117239/

• For good measure, here’s one on business owners and the parasite: Risky business - linking Toxoplasma gondii infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6083268/