Ty. For what it's worth I agree with Gemini; I believe it's the existence of multiple ethically horrible events that cause someone to feel like this is the worst timeline. It was able to find and summarise all large-scale current events that have been reported internationally, and formulate it into a better response than I could've in under an hour. I would've missed something, or undervalued another thing.
AI OverviewPeople might have Googled "Worst timeline" from July to September 2025 due to a combination of severe and compounding global crises, including major humanitarian crises, a series of devastating natural disasters, significant geopolitical instability, and widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the internet and search engines.
Humanitarian and Conflict Crises
Gaza War Escalation: The humanitarian situation in Gaza reached catastrophic levels, with reports from the UN and aid agencies in July and September confirming widespread starvation and mounting evidence of famine, leading to significant global outrage and diplomatic shifts. A UN report in September went on to state that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
Worsening Global Conflicts: The Sudanese civil war, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a gang war in Haiti, which saw gangs take control of over 90% of the capital, all continued or escalated during this period, causing immense suffering and instability.
Mass Casualties in Pakistan and Iraq: A fire in an Iraqi hypermarket killed at least 61 people in July, and monsoons killed at least 63 in Punjab, Pakistan. A building collapse in Karachi later that month killed 27.
Natural Disasters and Climate Events
Extreme Weather Events: A deadly heatwave hit Europe in early July, and flash floods in Central Texas killed over 100 people. Severe monsoon rains and landslides also caused numerous deaths and widespread damage in India and South Korea throughout July and September.
Devastating Earthquakes: In September, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan killed at least 2,200 people, with a second strong quake the following day interrupting rescue efforts.
Geopolitical and Societal Instability
Political Turmoil: Donald Trump's administration faced numerous domestic and international challenges, including an unproven claim linking autism to a common pain killer, the indefinite suspension of air defense and weapon shipments to Ukraine, and a controversial increase in military presence and a subsequent military strike near Venezuela, which drew international condemnation.
Global Diplomatic Shifts: Several Western countries, including Belgium, Australia, Britain, Canada, and Portugal, announced their support for Palestinian statehood, leading to strong reactions from Israel and heightened diplomatic tensions.
Internet and Technology Frustrations: Many users found Google search results to be significantly worse in 2025, saturated with AI-generated content, aggressive ads, and clickbait, making it harder to find reliable information. Google also rolled out two significant, messy algorithm and spam updates during this time, frustrating website owners.
These interconnected events created a pervasive sense of global crisis and unpredictability, making the search query "Worst timeline" a likely expression of public sentiment.
There's a PC program called Android Debloat, gives you a list of apps on your Android with comprehensive information about what they do, and you can blitz the shit off your phone. Tip 1: Always install a keyboard before removing Gboard. Tip 2: Removing the Google app that forces the search widget also removes Gemini usability, the news sidebar, and others. I know - what a loss
This. Why pay £6/m when, with self-hosting a Samba/NFS/NextCloud instance, I pay a fraction of the corporate cost.
Currently I'm paying ~£15/m as my server now has a GPU for better streaming and local assistant purposes. It uses ~80W. Without the GPU I was paying ~£4.50/m, which gets me:
Network-wide traffic protection, ads, spam etc.
Hub to remotely control, secure and automate my home
Cloud media, frequently synced between devices
CCTV
Password management
Email
Notekeeping
Instant messaging
Streaming for locally stored movies, shows, music, podcasts, books, audio books and YouTube subscriptions
Multiplayer Minecraft server
Website/blogsite
Remote desktop access
Group video calling/presentation hosting
54TB shared storage between everything
Network-attached storage
Imagine the cost of outsourcing all these services for unlimited access, unlimited* storage, unlimited e-mailboxes, and complete independence** from outside influence. I know I'd be paying £8/m to Google for their 2TB media storage plan alone.
*Limited by the drives you can afford**Relying only on the developers of the softwareIt cost approx. £200 for the base parts, £200 for the GPU and £900 for the hard drives. A valuable investment.
I've worked out that I've had the server running for 3 years. If I take into account the money I have saved by not paying Google £8/m, I've saved £40/year. If I account for Netflix £25/m, I've completely covered the £900 I spent on storage. Disney+ £15/m takes me well over the remaining hardware costs. The media I own is far less than that offered by streamers but it's everything I can need for the next 20 years+. I've counted. Every other service is just a bonus.
TL;DR: They're a damn good choice, and I don't know how offline they can be.
I use Proxmox, Reolink 810s, and I have AgentDVR logged into the cameras via https (443) to get info, and ONVIF (8000) for the stream. It takes a little tweaking via the camera app or web GUI if you want the onboard AI to omit large or small objects for screenshots or notifications, which I have controlled by HA. I use the AgentDVR and Reolink integrations. Here are the features I've got:
AgentDVR logged in to the cameras' admin account (definitely no Reolink account)
Reolink cam rolling footage based on motion, on onboard MicroSD
AgentDVR 24/7 footage saving directly to a mounted high-capacity HDD
Reolink cam, with detection, sends a screenshot with a configured naming format via FTP directly to Home Assistant's www folder (but this and notifications can be handled by either piece of the setup)
Home Assistant monitors the folder with folder_watcher and an automation prepares to send my phone a notification (Fdroid - not Google) once the image has 'closed')
I've saved my automation script in which HA does the screenshots instead of the Reolink cam. I've kept the clickAction to the Reolink app in there because it's very complicated
My cameras are connected to my home WiFi but they can also connect to an NVR or a PC for a completely isolated link (you'll need a PoE injector, I use this for up to 4 cameras).
If you use the Reolink app, then it will use the Reolink servers via several domains. I haven't checked traffic on the cameras yet. It can be fully offline but I choose not to for a better remote experience using the app.
I set them up a long time ago, scanning a QR code on the camera using the Reolink app. I don't know if it can be handled another way.
Let your friend know to get Freesm Launcher. Its a fork of Prism Launcher, which is designed to give you easy control over multiple accounts (local and Microsoft) and multiple instances, and Freesm in particular was made to remove the requirement for a M$ account.
I highly recommend purchasing directly from minecraft.net at least once, because despite the bastard publisher, Mojang do deserve the profit of the sale, whatever they get after M$ and payment processors take their share.
That's why a lot of folk - okay a tiny amount of dedicated folk - are switching to open source alts or self hosting their own to maximise privacy and actually own their digital media, while keeping some of the comforts of modern technology.
I use a basic SMB shared drive as my own 'cloud', and (Android) FolderSync to periodically sync my phone's folders to it. I then back up that folder to a memory stick. But I've been experimenting with something that gives you the true UX of a cloud service - NextCloud. It's good. Alternatively OwnCloud
Microsoft has been making a lot of anti-consumer moves recently, so it feels even more necessary to cut off dependency to them and the other giant megacorps.
Same here with TPLink. I avoid Tapo for its more anti-consumer features like cloud dependence and WiFi, and stick to Kasa, but I do have a KP303 which was pretty much the only smart strip in production, and unlike the other Kasa plugs the strip can't be configured without logging in.
Ah, you're right. I was thinking too hard about it, reasoning that a non-human entity would be unaffected by human errors and cater to the being itself, its mind, rather than its body, and waking up to the reality of being in the wrong body is the issue. But then the point of the allegory, as you reminded me, is that exiting the Matrix is akin to exiting the lie, the false idea of you. I derped.
I guess the real moral is you can fabricate any story that suits you from source material, and ideas can go many ways. What matters is the Wachowskis' vision, then, except in the idea that art is meant to be interpreted by the individual, in which case there will never be a singularity or wholly accepted conclusion..
It could be boiled down to what we can interpret from Switch, what's canon. Then, knowing that she uses femme pronouns, and that her character was Lilly W's internalised egg feelings, this seems the Matrix self is the true self.
Ty. For what it's worth I agree with Gemini; I believe it's the existence of multiple ethically horrible events that cause someone to feel like this is the worst timeline. It was able to find and summarise all large-scale current events that have been reported internationally, and formulate it into a better response than I could've in under an hour. I would've missed something, or undervalued another thing.