BuyFromEU

Shoutout to u/According-Buyer6688 on Reddit

cross-posted from: https://europe.pub/post/62966

Written by u/NoxAstrumis1 on Reddit. True everywhere.

Now is the time for unity, not division.

I've seen several statements from various governments (including my own) along the lines of "we need to ensure we get preferential treatment from trump".

This is the wrong approach entirely. Begging for scraps from a lunatic's table is not the way out of this mess, uniting and leaving the lunatic to babble on his own is.

The free world cannot afford to start jostling each other for advantage, we have to come together and create our own bonds that exclude hostility. The US is one country, regardless of how large their economy is, we can do just fine without them.

Let's not descend into squabbling amongst ourselves. That's precisely what they're trying to achieve.

Shoutout to u/theFallenWalnut on Reddit

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/41271261

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/41271371

Shoutout to u/ScientiaEtVeritas on Reddit

cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/31105151

TL;DR: A recent Handelsblatt commentary criticizes Google’s move to integrate AI-generated search results, warning it could be a threat to the open internet. The author argues that this change increases Google’s control over how information is presented, potentially reducing diversity and neutrality in search results. It raises concerns about Google’s monopolistic power and the future structure of the internet.

Google is the invisible hand on the internet. No other company controls global data traffic in Europe or the USA as strongly as the technology company from Mountain View. The search engine is so powerful that the dictionary has included the verb "to google". Now the company is taking the next step - and consolidating its power over the internet. Since Wednesday, Google has been providing AI-generated answers directly in the search results in Germany. Anyone searching for an explanation of heat pumps, a recipe for pancakes or a description of ETFs will receive an automatically generated summary - prominently placed above the classic links. Why click on a website when Google provides the answer itself? For the company, this is just the beginning. Google's parent company Alphabet is working on a future in which AI agents control our digital lives. The new summaries are just a test run - and a foretaste of how CEO Sundar Pichai envisions the internet.

A quarter of a century ago, Google set out to organize the world's knowledge and make it accessible. The algorithm became a beacon in the sea of data, Google the undisputed gatekeeper of the internet. The web is based on a simple principle: content versus reach. Specialist portals, bloggers and the media put their knowledge online because Google brings them readers. But with the new AI syntheses, this model is breaking down. Google uses third-party content, but users remain trapped in its ecosystem. Google lives from external content.

YouTube shows how it's done: the video platform grew so rapidly partly because Google started giving creators a share of the advertising revenue early on. But in the new world of AI search engines, this deal is no longer possible. Google no longer wants to share - Google wants to own.

This is reminiscent of Facebook's fatal strategy. Mark Zuckerberg has cut the distribution of journalistic content on Facebook in many countries, described traditional media as "unreliable" and labeled fact-checkers as biased. Yet Facebook had benefited from high-quality news for years. Sundar Pichai is more cooperative. He cultivates the partner's image and publicly emphasizes the importance of media, influencers and experts. But in the end, his AI strategy leads to the same result: Google is building a digital knowledge monopoly. And there is hardly any escape.

Nine out of ten search queries in Germany are made via Google. The alternatives? Microsoft's Bing, OpenAI's chatbots or Perplexity - they all follow the same principle: answers instead of links, compartmentalization instead of openness.

Artificial intelligence can revolutionize search - but not at any price. The start-up Perplexity shows a viable way forward: it gives the websites from which it sources content a share of the revenue.

Google could also follow this path. However, if the current strategy remains in place, the Internet as we know it is in danger of imploding. Because if nobody clicks anymore, who will create content?

Absolutely not something to be given for granted.

Shoutout to u/UnusualInstance6 on Reddit

cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/30955168

cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/30945058

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27384100

The global backlash against the second Donald Trump administration keeps on growing. Canadians have boycotted US-made products, anti–Elon Musk posters have appeared across London amid widespread Tesla protests, and European officials have drastically increased military spending as US support for Ukraine falters. Dominant US tech services may be the next focus.

There are early signs that some European companies and governments are souring on their use of American cloud services provided by the three so-called hyperscalers. Between them, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) host vast swathes of the Internet and keep thousands of businesses running. However, some organizations appear to be reconsidering their use of these companies’ cloud services—including servers, storage, and databases—citing uncertainties around privacy and data access fears under the Trump administration.

“There’s a huge appetite in Europe to de-risk or decouple the over-dependence on US tech companies, because there is a concern that they could be weaponized against European interests,” says Marietje Schaake, a nonresident fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and a former decadelong member of the European Parliament.

I was getting disappointed with the quality of Converse boots before this whole thing kicked off. My partner suggested I try the French brand Paladium. The quality is much better. Apparently, the French paras use them. All I can say is they are more comfortable and last longer than my Converse ever did.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/59517739

I made my first order on otto.de a few days ago. I even installed their app, as I had Amazon app before, so it is easy to see my orders and invoices. It worked excelent, I found what I needed. What I was pleasantly surprised with, was that I did not need to enter a payment card. I just made my order, things came in 2 batches, different days, and I have about a month to pay them.

When I went to pay them, you have the option to pay each one, or all of them at once. I chose all, I’ve got a QR code, scanned it with my bank app and made the transfer. Painless and not using anything US made. Well, the phone I am on and the iPad…but you know what I mean, no VISA/Mastercard, etc.

And from what I heard, they have stricter rules of who can be a merchant on their website, compared to Amazon.

cross-posted from: https://europe.pub/post/54802

Buy games from other European brands

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/41287688

Just a friendly reminder that American immigrants to the EU are not part of the boycott.

Our small American BBQ restaurant is actually around because of our neighbors - tourists in the summer are great, but it was our neighborhood that supports us during the off season & especially during COVID.

also....ribs are delicious

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27366664

I made this so people can choose their own brands and adjust language and text so the message can be spread as widely as possible. For many countries the default suggestions are good, but for some you'll have to work a bit to fill in appropriate text, products to avoid and alternatives. I upload improvements to the site several times weekly.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/9748320

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/9685182

For those among us who are menstruating: drip. is a very neat little period tracking app that offers basic tracking functions and fertility planning. All data is only stored locally.

It is open source and was developed in Germany. It's available on Android and iOS.

More information in https://dripapp.org/

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/41226710

Headquarters: An d. Kolonnade 11, 10117 Berlin, Germany.

They have just recently implemented WPA 3 support and are rolling out VoLTE functionality for the models: Volla Phone X23 and Volla Phone 22.

You can buy an used android phone on the compatibility list to try out the experience. Let's support these talented developers!

Come join [email protected] to keep up with the news of Ubuntu Touch.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27325829

I asked on Mastodon a few minutes ago if Alternativeto.net was going to add any country fields or badges in order to make it easier for users like us to choose and already got this answer! Feel free to go boost favorite/boost their answer here.

• 23 Best Amazon Alternatives for Ethical Online Shopping
• 16 Alternatives To Audible for Ethical Audiobook Lovers
• 9 Best Online Bookstores That Aren't Amazon

Quite some of the companies in these three lists are American so they might not be the best eu alternatives, but still wanted to share these three lists.

Shoutout to u/SwordInStone on Reddit