Dang, that’s rough. I’m glad things turned around. Speaking to my own psychology: It’s easy to internalize a string of bad luck. Then when other people go through it-- whether in group therapy, a global pandemic, or a massive recession-- it shows how random or circumstantial life and luck can be. It helped me internalize it less and get out of my own way.
I was unemployed, isolated, and anosmic-- then covid hit and I was like, “hey everyone, welcome to the club! Yes, it does suck but at least now there’s people to empathize with.”
It’s available to whoever is willing to pay. Consent is given when users agree to privacy policies and ToS. Unfortunately, unless you’re in the EU, it’s legal, and when companies violate permissive laws or suffer a data breach, the penalties are often inconsequential. The original comment was vague and didn’t specify the case. In the context of linux users vs MS and Apple, I’m leaning towards a distrust of big tech and “readily available for anyone” being inclusive of a multibillion dollar ad industry and the ecosystems developed around it. Though, technically not anyone can access every piece, so I guess we could dismiss it as a thing of the past.
Data brokers getting a kick out of this one.
I wanted something similar from a remote company I was working for. They were pretty good about fulfilling requests, but when I asked for a good kvm switch they said they had trouble in the past and instead recommended a usb hub that can toggle between machines. Then connect both machines to the same monitor and toggle the input. Not ideal, but low cost and functional. Might not suit your needs (would be annoying if you have to frequently toggle back and forth), but if you’re just trying to share your desk space between a work machine and personal, and the monitor input is easy to toggle, it’s worth considering.
Gives your last sentence new meaning, too.
Also, I know that feeling. However you meant it…