salith @salith@computerfairi.es

After realizing that my servers were offline since the 25th of January 2025, I've been in contact with Oracle support in a multitude of ways trying to figure out why this happened and how we can recover both the account and data.

I wasn't told that my account was disabled. I didn't receive an E-Mail or anything. When logging in, I was simply told that my username or password was incorrect. After (successfully) resetting my password twice, I realized it wasn't about the password. Oracle had just deleted my account without any notice.

Both through calls and text, always with the same service request (SR) number, I contacted support. Initially, support told me that my account was flagged “Inactive” and hence disabled. They also verified that they saw me login almost daily and that I never missed a payment or anything. Even if an account was inactive, that's never a reason to disable it, especially without any warning E-Mail or an E-Mail letting me know that my account was disabled in the first place.

This chat was the result of all of that, where the highest team I've yet been elevated to told me that there's nothing they can do about it, there's no reason they can tell me for why this happened, and there's no one else I could ask.

This is a public service announcement to never ever use Oracle

The tech person at Oracle at least lets me know that they'd feel similarly betrayed and dislike this handling of user data too 🥲✊

Interestingly, two days before Oracle deleted my account and all servers associated with it, I publicly criticized Oracle's CEO in a viral post for promising dystopian AI surveillance technology to his investors.

https://mastodon.de/@ErikUden/113879369270806353

What a weird coincidence.

I don't know who needs to hear this but Gilette Venus Smooth and Gilette Mach 3 blades and handles are interchangeable 🪄

Mach 3 blades are anywhere between 50c and €1 cheaper per blade than even most basic Venus blades and they are WAY sharper and give a smoother shave with a little extra care.

Venus handles are WAY more comfortable to hold, especially when wet.

Do with this information what you will.

A job I did a long time ago ⚡

Bookshop, the anti-amazon that gives $$ to local bookstores with every sale, now has ebooks. That’s a big deal: https://bookshop.org/info/ebooks

This is my car life at the moment. Needs a new main dashboard unit (aka "Clock")
If anyone can help me cover the costs to get this replaced, Ko-Fi is probably the easiest.
https://ko-fi.com/J3J16RWS

Colorado!!

As we move forward into the unknown, save this number in your phone:

844-864-8341

This is a hotline to report ICE activity and police/ICE collab activity. It's run by the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.

This is bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline.

You never know who this information might help, in the words of CIRC, let's fight for a more just and welcoming Colorado for all.

#Colorado #ColoradoPolitics

Was reminded of this image again today:

"I don't wear 🏳️‍🌈 [queer pride] items to tell you who's in my bed. I wear them so the family across the street knows they are safe. So the couple in the restaurant know they aren't alone. So the boy who sees me notice him looking at dresses knows I won't judge. I wear because you make them hide."

Ever since seeing this, I have been wearing progressive pride buttons on each of my jackets and coats (and a cap).

#queer #lgbtqia

Have you had that "Upcoming price change for your Microsoft 365 subscription" email yet? They want to charge you an extra 50%ish for AI features, and they do *not* make it easy to find the way to turn it off. It took me minutes of searching - this is a particularly evil dark pattern.

"Switch plan" just lets you pick between annual and monthly billing. You want "Turn off recurring billing" and then "Current subscription without AI".

You're welcome. Please boost for others.

Cartoonist Ann Telnaes quits the Washington Post after a cartoon mocking Post-owner Jeff Bezos is refused. Cartoon for Trouw: https://www.trouw.nl/cartoons/tjeerd-royaards~bcb45712/

#JeffBezos #WashingtonPost #StandWithAnn #pressfreedom

idea: wikipedia for file format documentation
it shows how different file formats work and cites different sources