Orlando Bloom: DRC's Children - Recruited To Fight, Killed, and Raped - Need Violence To Stop Now

[estelle]

The UN decided to pull peacekeeping troops out of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Phase 1 of the departure of the UN-DRC peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, was completed on June 25, 2024. This plan was executed even though the conditions in the country are dire. Phase 2 had now been paused but the departure is expected to be completed at

Comments

[sandstorm]

Using Refurbished Technology - aka, not buying new phones or laptops - helps.

Many components that you can take apart are repairable, California has signed the Right To Repair act into their laws, and there's iFixit for parts and tools.

You can buy refurbished laptops from Best Buy, or small vendors, and I know T-Mobile has some, though I don't know if you can outright buy them.

[umilicious]

I got a refurbished MacBook Air three years ago for way less than MSRP, and it’s still as good as new. I’ve also started repairing my own devices and using broken ones to practice. It’s become so easy to just replace things out of convenience, but may as well try to fix them myself if they’re already broken, right?

[sandstorm]

Even if you get it wrong, you can sell the pieces to people who know what they're doing. I sold a broken joycon I tried to repair - the components were there, I just couldn't put them back together. Someone used it I'm sure!

[binary_solo]

Do you remember where you got it from? I know there are a few second hand sites but I’m so weary of them

[umilicious]

I bought mine straight from Apple so it’d be covered by their warranty. I saved over $400 and was able to get upgraded RAM and storage for the same price as a base model.

[behansu]

Also, it helps to take more care of your things so they last longer. Restart and/or shutdown your computers and devices when they're not in use. Use an external fan to drastically extend the life of your laptop. I've found I can get a good 4-5 years more use when I do this.

Convenience always has a price on someone, somewhere. :/

[pseudonygma]

Another thing about laptops, if you have the type that has a battery you can take out (without unscrewing anything), take it out when you're using power straight from the wall. Overcharging a batter can kill it. I had a classmate who I thought was nuts for doing this but joke's on me because by the time we graduated her laptop can can still run for 2.5 hours on pure battery while mine's only good for half an hour at full charge.

I've also read that for laptops that don't let you take out the battery, you can go into your system and limit the battery to stop charging at 60% or something (I have no idea if you can set it for lower but I imagine it's a good idea if you intend to use it plugged to the wall for the majority of the time.

[elevatorshaker]

You can do this with your phone, too. I always set it to charge partially overnight, then when I wake up, let it charge fully before leaving.

[melancolour]

In Toronto there is a great place called Free Geek where you can donate or buy refurbished

[deerlike]

This. I plan to extend the life of my Pixel 6 (bought in 2021) for as long as possible by continuously fixing any hardware issues as they crop up. It's a perfectly good phone that can easily last me a decade if I'm careful enough.

[estelle]

I can definitely buy refurbished and my past two laptops were indeed used.

But ideally I would want to be able to buy new and have the DRC profit off of their natural resources. Because I know a lot of people and especially companies buy new anyways.

I just think these purchases should benefit the people in the DRC and currently they do not seem to. At all. If I understand correctly it seems to go to foreign companies and corrupt local politicians.

So I guess I am looking for a way to effect political change rather than boycott all goods that come out of the DRC. I would want part of the money I spend on new technology to go to funding functioning government in the DRC, fund schools, and fund universities, so Jemima can grow up and go to school in safety and study to be a nurse, or a doctor.

[pepsi_twist9]

My problem with refurbished tech is how it can be manipulated. Even bringing in your tech for repairs can lead to workers searching through your shit.

[sandstorm]

The laptops I've gotten have all been wiped BUT one did leave the previous owner's information on the box, which makes me think they returned it pretty early on.

I'd wipe it first before turning anything in, because most shops will probably not have the actual hardware to read the inscribed data that remains on hard disks after wipes.