This is awful. One of my favorite differences between Android and iOS, as both a user AND developer is sideloading.

I absolutely despise Firebase Firestore (the database technology that was "hacked"). It's like a clarion call for amateur developers, especially low rate/skill contractors who clearly picked it not as part of a considered tech stack, but merely as the simplest and most lax hammer out there. Clearly even DynamoDB with an API gateway is too scary for some professionals. It almost always interfaces directly with clients/the internet without sufficient security rules preventing access to private information (or entire database deletion), and no real forethought as to ongoing maintenance and technical debt.

A Firestore database facing the client directly on any serious project is a code smell in my opinion.

I think, for me, owning a printer is like owning a van. You're the only person your friends know who has one, so every time someone needs it you're the one they ask.

I've experienced this exact issue with the Google Play Store with some clients and it's just the worst. This kinda thing happens because Google is essentially half-arsing an Apple-style comprehensive review of apps. For context, Apple offers thorough reviews pointing to exactly how the app violates policy/was rejected, with mostly free one-on-one support with a genuine Apple engineer to discuss or review the validity of the report/how to fix it. They're restrictive as hell and occasionally make mistakes, but at the end of the road there is a real, extremely competent human able to dedicate time to assist you.

Google uses a mix of human and automated reviewers that are even more incompetent than Apple's frontline reviewers. They will reject your app for what often feels like arbitrary reasons, and you're lucky if their reason amounts to more than a single sentence. Unlike Apple, from that point you have few options. I have yet to find an official way to reach an actually useful human unless you happen to know someone in Google's Android/Developer Relations team.

I'm actually certain that the issues facing Nextcloud are not some malicious anti-competitive effort, but yet more sheer and utter incompetence from every enterprise/business facing aspect of Google.

It's important to note that this is them moving in-development branches/features "behind closed doors", not making Android closed source. Whenever a feature is ready they then merge it publicly. I know this community tends to be filled with purists, many of whom are well informed and reasoned, but I'm actually totally fine with this change. This kind of structure isn't crazy uncommon, and I imagine it's mainly an effort to stop tech journalists analysing random in-progress features for an article. Personally, I wouldn't want to develop code with that kind of pressure.

We're not retaliating with tariffs because nearly every mainstream economist has advised against it, including our own Treasury. Here's the quote from Steven Kennedy, treasury head, at a Senate estimates hearing on 26 February:

For a medium-sized economy such as Australia, there is overwhelming evidence that the use of trade restrictions imposes costs on our consumers and businesses... If Australia were to impose tariffs, we would bear nearly all the cost, given our size and inability to affect the world prices of the goods we import.

We would be shooting ourselves in the foot for the sake of what would essentially amount to little more than a symbolic gesture. We have other, more effective cards beyond tariffs.

Why is astroturf "woke"?

I'm going to take this in good faith and assume you truly are open to being educated here, but I will caution you that this is right on the line of something I would remove (transphobes often use questioning similar to this to troll and harass the trans community).

Grover's insistence on referring to Tickle as a man reflects an (intentionally) limited and outdated understanding of gender, as well as a clearly spiteful attempt to hurt and disrespect Tickle.

Lets first address the biological aspect. Firstly, "biological sex" (itself a fairly outdated term) is more complicated than simple chromosomes. Yes, most people with XY chromosomes are assigned-male-at-birth and have the corollary primary and secondary sex characteristics to match, but that doesn't make it universal. For instance, individuals with Swyer Syndrome are born with XY chromosomes but develop female characteristics, including uteri, and can even give birth with IVF.

Furthermore, the medical community has long generally drawn a distinction between sex (your biological characteristics) and gender (a complex psychological and social identity). This awareness has been present in Western medical thought since the 1950s, following research by J Money and others. Gender identity represents more than biological characteristics and is about how people perceive themselves and live their lives. Grover's ideas also loosely play into the notion of biological essentialism, an outdated idea that a self proclaimed feminist such as herself should be rejecting (Simone de Beauvoir was writing about this in 1949!).

It can be pretty difficult for a cis (not trans) person to understand what it feels like to have a misaligned sex and gender, since yours are largely indistinguishable, so let me give you my personal experience (with the disclaimer that it is not universal, everyone is different). For me, it was a largely unplaced discomfort with my body and hatred of my "masculine" features. I was maxing out about every depression metric, even as a toddler. When I eventually connected the dots and began medically transitioning (taking testosterone blockers and estrogen) this discomfort eased significantly. My body and (occasionally) how society understood me finally matched how I understood myself. It felt like I had been suffocated my entire life and was finally able to breath.

From a practical standpoint, you are almost always using pronouns and titles based on your perception of a person's gender identity and presentation - it is not reasonable to perform a DNA test on everyone you meet. On a deeper level though, when interacting with others, using pronouns and titles that align with their gender identity is not just a matter of politeness but a recognition of their humanity and autonomy. Misgendering someone invalidates a person's identity and can contribute to their distress and alienation. To do this intentionally is fundamentally disrespectful, rejects decades of medical progress, and ignores the personal experiences of the target.

Sorry if this is a dumb suggestion, but have you considered writing out what you want to say on a note and handing it to them? Coming out is hard, mine involved me blurting at my mother, flashing her, and running off. I guess I'm saying it doesn't have to be perfect, as long as you do it when you feel ready.

The computer is probably locked down and all software/os provisioned by their IT department

Go to your local transfem meetup

I look forward to the day these bigots are seen in the same light as segregationists. Assuming that day comes, that is.