Buy European

What should be our recommended app for podcasts? I just realized this is an aspect of my daily life I haven't considered yet...

I came across this website on Mastodon.

Switching.software

It doesn't have any European bias, seemingly, but it could be a resource for people interested in ditching the big US tech firms.

Not exactly a recommendation on a product or service but maybe something of interest regarding the bigger picture: I read the book (or actually more of a pamphlet) "Jeder Mensch" ("Everyone") by German author Ferdinand von Schirach a few years and thought I'd share it here. It's basically a proposal for six new and modern fundamental rights for the EU. I don't think the movement behind it has that much traction anymore but I thought about it again because so many discussions here and on the reddit equivalent are about switching to european, ideally open source alternatives for american digital services. I feel especially articles 2, 3 and 4 are very relevant in light of recent events and show how important the purpose of this sub and more generally this social network is. The fundamental rights are phrased somewhat idealistic (and maybe unrealistic) but I think they demostrate what a long term goal could be.

Heres the deepl translation:

• Article 1 - Environment - Everyone has the right to live in a healthy and protected environment.

• Article 2 - Digital self-determination - Everyone has the right to digital self-determination. The spying on or manipulation of people is prohibited.

• Article 3 - Artificial intelligence - Everyone has the right to have algorithms that affect them be transparent, verifiable and fair. Essential decisions must be made by a human being.

• Article 4 - Truth - Everyone has the right to be told the truth by public officials.

• Article 5 - Globalisation - Everyone has the right to be offered only goods and services that are produced and provided in compliance with universal human rights.

• Article 6 - Fundamental rights - Any person may bring an action for fundamental rights before the European Courts for systematic violations of this Charter.

Should be well moderated as well so that it is not a spam of japanese or sexual content

It's a streaming platform from the makers of the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) organizers. It's currently only available in Romania, but I guess a VPN will do (or kindly ask them to support the entire Europe as a response to Trump). You won't find the big budget Hollywood blockbusters, rather it's more dedicated to independent filmmakers. Could also be useful if you're looking to break free from American cultural products.

unlimited.tiff.ro/

I find them to be mostly very well made, long-lasting and would rank Japan on the same level as many European countries across most metrics

Credits: https://old.reddit.com/r/BuyFromEU/comments/1j7vn61/100_european_shoe_brands_with_their_location_of/

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/BuyFromEU/comments/1j7zlf2/onlyoffice_is_obfuscating_its_russian_ownership/

Recently there have been multiple threads here discussing OnlyOffice and the confusion surrounding its ownership. OnlyOffice was fairly popular in Ukraine. When the Russian full-scale invasion started in 2022, Ukrainian companies started evaluating all of the products and services they used. The Ukrainian company DMS Solutions wrote a blog post in March 2022 about how they decided to drop OnlyOffice:

During the last two weeks DMS Solutions has been officially approaching OnlyOffice with requests for clarification on whether OnlyOffice condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Upon our numerous requests and reminders - DMS Solutions received a short response from OnlyOffice team (Galina Goduhina, Sales Director) that OnlyOffice stays away from “politics”. Not giving war its real name and hiding behind the word “politics” when the whole world is united saying this is brutal war and russian invasation of Ukraine violates all the principles of international law - is a worrying message, especially considering that all global business communities and world leaders are calling for actions and official statements on the unprecedented Russian invasion of Ukraine. No further response from OnlyOffice has been received.

In July 2022, DMS Solutions representatives wrote a longer exposé on the topic, published on Ukrainska Pravda's economy portal. The article is in Ukrainian and includes relevant pictures, so do check it out in full, using machine translation if needed. I will quote some key parts. I omit the links as posting Russian sites to Reddit results in automatic removal of the post.

For a full picture, I think we would need a data leak in the style of Panama Papers. In 2023 OnlyOffice announced it opened a holding company in Singapore, which is now the ultimate beneficiary of the Latvian company. Singapore is a major tax haven with strong banking secrecy.

One of the OnlyOffice partners' blogs has this comment from the developers: [Note: the infobox site link (linked from "коментар") doesn't work, but can be accessed via Internet Archive]

"OnlyOffice is developed in Russia by the Closed Joint Stock Company "New Communication Technologies" (a 100% Russian company), all development and management are located in Russia, in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.

The company has a Latvian subsidiary Ascensio System SIA for sales in the EU and the USA. As part of the import substitution program, the product took 1st place in the category of "Custom Office Software".

The Russian portal for choosing technologies and suppliers TAdviser indicates that OnlyOffice products were used by government agencies of the Russian Federation, in particular, the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

This agency wrote that OnlyOffice is a development of Nizhny Novgorod programmers. Since 2015, the company's software has also helped to "optimize the work" of the St. Petersburg Cadet Military Corps, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

...

The developer of OnlyOffice, the company "New Communication Technologies" (NKT), was founded in 1998 in Nizhny Novgorod. During the rebranding in 2021, its name was changed to "R7-Office" (R7 JSC).

"R7-Office" released an office suite of the same name for the Russian market in 2018. The developer calls "R7-Office" a fork of the OnlyOffice office suite. In addition, the office of the Russian representative office of Ascensio System SIA is located at the same address as the NKT office: Nizhny Novgorod, Larina St., 22D.

DMS Solution says that "R7-Office" is a product with the same characteristics as OnlyOffice. Only for the Russian user since 2018 it is sold under the name "R7-Office", where "R" refers to the Russian family of launch vehicles.

As is known, the R-7 is the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile and the world's first launch vehicle with a nuclear warhead. It was in service from 1960 to 1968. This version is substantiated by illustrations of new releases of "R7-Office". They depict the launch of a rocket similar to the R-7.

The "R7-Office" branch from OnlyOffice seems to have been made with one goal in mind: to increase sales in Russia in the wake of the intensification of import substitution, which became relevant due to the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation after 2014.

...

OnlyOffice developers in the Russian information space emphasize that the Latvian Ascensio System SIA is a 100% subsidiary and 100% property of the Russian company NKT. The open database of companies registered in Latvia, Lursoft, also indicates a Russian beneficiary. [Note: citizenship seems to have changed from Russia to Turkey in 2023]

DMS Solutions has asked the Latvian registration authorities to investigate OnlyOffice. The Ukrainian company suggested that OnlyOffice used its Latvian registration to enter international markets.

The Latvian government has confirmed that the ultimate beneficial owner of Ascensio System SIA is Russian citizen Lev Bannov, who is listed in the Latvian register. He is the founder of the Nizhny Novgorod company "New Communication Technologies" since 1998 and was its CEO until 2020.

His Facebook location is listed as Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

Are there any good European alternatives to the American Sonos speakers? I currently have a Sonos soundbar and two speakers, that I have setup as a surround system.

Is this something an alternative is able to do? Preferably it would be nice if you could play music from the phone to the speakers as well.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/9014417

The maker of European Alternatives on future user contributions.

I expect and even encourage multiple anwsers. My main concern is computer parts and other tech related products but other specialities welcomed.