Is there even such a thing as 'privacy' anymore, I think we may need a new word for what we have now..

yes and the premise of identity- the one they give you in the matrix or the one you cook up here in zion -is at the root of it.

this. your given name is pretty much a slave/serf name in most cultures. if you want to change it you need permission from the master of the day.

it really is up to the individual to care about privacy and do the work that's required

good insight.

That quote from Edward Snowden is perfect... it always shuts any “nothing to hide” snobs up instantly!

One Love
-SMONKEY

I'm an ex professional webmaster, during the late 90's.
privacy, I have judged, does not exist on this worldwide internet thing. vpn's - give me a break. using brave and that's about it

in my opinion, that there is any sort of privacy anywhere on the colourful web is mere fantasy

there really isn't anything you can do that isn't exploitable to an advertiser.

I often wonder if the people who have "nothing to hide" would be happy having cameras in all rooms of their houses so that Government-appointed snoops could watch them to CONFIRM that they've "nothing to hide"? If they're not OK with that then surely that suggests that they MUST have something to hide after all 😉. Cheers!

been out the web arena for ages right, went to peru met a girl stayed years.

peer to peer ok vpn works. but i, personally, don't care what porn site is active or give one about your location etc. The infrastructure of the everything cares about that sort of data and, well mate, my first job was in web security, freshboutta dragon court, Holborn, london. as more of a digital designer bit of flash at the time. to the infrastructure vpn - lit like tree

Doctor Doc is what your're asking for, answers to any medical questions. More specifically there is Cancer is My Bitch for cancer issues and Well provides anonymous medical tests for many conditions.

Sure I can help. by pointing out that only a masochistic fool asks for medical advice online.

I offer limited dentistry on the diagnosis side.

It’s so very true isn’t it that we rightfully deserve the title of the country with the most people who’s mouths stink wakes them up like it’s a gas leak..
We’re renound for it.

How utterly sad.

PM me if you’re still wanting help, not a doctor but have extensive knowledge.

Maybe you could call 111, you can stay anonymous and know youre talking to a medical professional👊🏻💜💚

yes.

Yeah every fireman I know has a job or 2 on the side

Istanbul is one of the friendliest big cities on earth.

Agreed, I went to Istanbul during Ramadan a few years ago and it was fantastic. Highly recommend that city, just a beautiful place and the food is amazing!

Cheers. BB

My Auntie and her “friend” went to Turkey during Ramadan and she said it was nightmare. Agreed that it was a beautiful place and the food was beyond superb.

Got to love Turkish food 🤌

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Apparently Jordan is quite chill. Haven’t been but have seen a documentary following a guy (Levison Wood) travelling around Arabia and definitely Jordan is more relaxed than some surrounding countries. Also Petra is in Jordan which looks amazing

Egyptians are hard to beat however you slice it.

I dunno, they didn't do too well in the Suez war... And I'm pretty sure the ottomans beat them a couple times too.

Malaysia & Indonesia definitely worth a mention! Very underrated as tourist destinations. Azerbaijan is a fairly secular Muslim nation, with a big drinking culture & nightclubs, same goes for Kosovo. Friend of mine visited both & had a great time. Apparently Kosovans love Brits. Morocco is very regional, but always friendly. I've never been but some of the best & most hospitable people I've encountered come from there - a colleague of mine gave me a big chunk of hash at work once because he was despairing at the shwag I was smoking (pre-LB days!).

My friend went to Iraq before lockdown and had a brilliant time. Iraqis are very friendly and tjough there are issues a well run tour will be worth it. Some of the architecture looks incredible.

Wow as a British Muslim I came here expecting the same regurgitated racist nonsense you see all over Facebook etc. I just want to say it’s a breath of fresh air seeing all these posts. I also wanted to say that first and foremost I would consider myself British, my dad moved to this country 30+ years ago (whether due to prior circumstances or not) and has built an amazing life for us all here in much we certainly wouldn’t have been able to enjoy in his own country.
The problem is you have people coming over nowadays who do not want to intergrate into British society at all, learn the language? No thanks, try some traditional English food? don’t eat that horrible bland food. Claim the benefits? Yes please. I find myself in a situation where I am unable to buy a home, unable to live comfortably while working what I would say is a fairly good job all because 1000+ goes towards deductions and funding these kind of people. These kind of people are the real problem and tarnish the reputation of everyone else.

To the OPs question most countries barring Saudi Arabia are fine for a visit just be sure to obey the local customs. Saudi Arabia is full of bigoted hypocrites so I would steer well clear of there. Some notable examples which are quite liberal are Morocco and Turkey. Istanbul and marrakech are good city breaks and there are also loads of resort towns such as Agadir, Bodrum etc. Further afield you could travel to the northern areas of Pakistan where I am from we have the 2nd tallest mountain K2, hash from the Himalayas beautiful food and beautiful people. It’s an amazing place and it’s safe despite what you hear on the news. Search karakoram tourism if you’re interested

You sounds like you are blaming immigrants for your economic situation. That stuff you don't like seeing on Facebook seems to be seeping in and affecting your views of migrants.

'People coming over nowadays' but not *my* parents - exactly the kind of words we're sick of hearing from Priti and Suella. I promise you, the same will have been said about your dad 30 years ago, I was old enough in the 80s and 90s to remember it.

I think you are confused sir are you for migration or against?
I am talking from first hand experience, I know my dad experienced racism in the 90s and I have experienced it first hand when travelling to more rural parts of the UK. Racists will be racists but I have enough life experience to know not all white people in this country are like that. This is nothing to do with race anyway it’s about British culture and contributing to the society we live in. I have seen myself people come over here, get a council house within 2 months, universal credit, free medical. Add the odd cash in hand job to that and you’re laughing.

We've always had high levels of migration in and out of this country and just to be clear I am more than happy with that, I'm not trying to make some sort of anti-migration point in a weird way.

You sound like you are against migrants being housed, supported by the welfare state, or provided with medical treatment when they're sick. I'd prefer to live in a country that minimises homelessness, poverty, and illness, regardless of the recipient's country of birth. You've painted a picture of migrants 'coming over here', being provided with the bare minimum to integrate into society, and being happy as a result as though it's somehow a bad thing. Would you prefer that they weren't? Do you not think it hinders someone's ability to become a functioning member of society if they're homeless, penniless, and denied medical treatment? How's that going to help with them integrating and contributing to society?

The beef I have with what you're saying about migrants is that it's no different to what your dad will have heard 30 years ago, and probably no different to what you hear directed at yourself when you're out in the sticks. The comparison I made with Priti and Suella was no doubt unfair, you are surely nothing like as abhorrent as those two, but you use the same words. I ask you to reflect on them and how you feel when those same words are directed at you and your family.

So you think the current system where 10-member families can come over here to claim everything when they have a perfectly fine life where they are is ok?
I agree if there is a genuine need for asylum then yes careful support should be provided but also monitored and tapered off when reasonable. The current system can be more profitable than working a 9-5.

I'm sure we're in agreement that we have a crazy economic situation where working 9-5 at minimum wage is often not enough to survive, and I agree that the meagre levels of support that's provided by the welfare state sometimes exceed that. But it's the low wages and high costs that are the problem, the disparities in wealth distribution in the sixth largest economy in the world. It's not the amounts that are received by benefit claimants that causes problems for those in low paid work. Far from it, indeed it makes society worse for everyone to live amongst widespread poverty.

Reducing the support to those in need is not going to help people to be fully functioning members of society, whether they have migrated here recently or can trace their family tree back to the Alfred the Great. You shouldn't blame migrants and benefit claimants for the dire situation the low paid find themselves in in this country these days, you're directing blame downwards rather than upwards where it really lies.

sorry for the downvotes, you 2 arent unthoughtful but this thread is about travel

Fair point, I wish you all the best S12345 if you are reading this!

You too mate all the best stay toking!

the other day i was at a meeting with a young lady from afghanistan, she is becoming a teacher here, she is most welcome.

Most ‘ordinary’ people are friendly and accommodating wherever you go, it’s the extremist hardline cultists in positions of power that are the cancer. Look at the U.K. for a hardline extremist cultist government!
Anyway, the Turkish are generally friendly.
There’s the Maldives and Tunisia which are also relatively safe.

you had a point till you insulted the bigga

The fact you had to stoop to childish insults shows that actually you are the moron. :)
I’m pretty amused that you got so worked up about a bit of sarcasm, your medula oblongata kicked in before you had a chance to think!

I travelled around SE Asia for a few months and I loved Lombok in Indonesia. We were stopping at a homestead that a Muslim family owned. They don't drink but were more than happy to get alcohol in for us travellers.

Indonesia in general I really enjoyed as well as Malaysia.

I'll vouch for Morocco. You've got to be streetwise of course, but a beautiful country with kind and generous people. You soon tune out the prayer calls.

As an english guy with a house in morocco, I'd definitely vouch for that - I fell in love with the place. Tangiers in the nprth is perfect if you dont want things too hot and youd like to still see alot of europeans, casablanca or marakech if your looking for the arab vibes with old medinas and lots of tourist activities - Fez if you like leather. There are even a few smaller places i like such as chef chawen - the blue city which have some amazing places to see. You could even visit the jabala and see farming as it was hundreds of years ago - youll never meet nicer or more genuine people

Of course im biased!

On a side note, if you biggas are into your smoke, go to morocco and head to places like al hoceima in the rif mountains - they grow everything up there and would happily sell you a kilo for less than £100 😁

Sign me up!

Luton

Malaysia, lovely people

I'd say pick a muzza country you like a go for it.

Being of Islamic faith I'd say most muslims actually really like modern American and European culture, it fits very well with our cultural structures.

As a non Muslim in an Islamic country, as a guest, you will be treated very well.

Only thing I would suggest is inglis88 mentioned Balsall Heath, cuzi is chatting bubbles. Sounds like a hater, it's just like any other urban area around the world, I should know. I just passed through it.

I'd second Indonesia and Malaysia as being extremely friendly, but the friendliest people I've ever met are from travelling in Kyrgyzstan, where everyone I met wanted you to either stay with them or to take you out for dinner and meet all their family and friends! I've also heard great things about Tajikistan!🙏🏼💚

Morocco ... been there 8 times
Food is terrific, rich culture, wonderful people.
As with other places, beware of scammers, but the public, wow.
I've travelled a lot in my almost 44 years, Morocco is a must see!
Places I would recommend:
Marrakesh, Take a tour to Ourika, beautiful waterfall up there
Casablanca, buzzing city and the largest Mosque in Afrika
PM me for more info if you like ...

Pakistan is very good country to visit, most travel vloggers has said Pakistan is the most hospitable country out of the 44 countries they visited. Personally I'd travel to northern areas of Pakistan and even go to the area near Afgan border if your wanting fresh pure hash

Definitely would recommend Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Tunisia and Jordan. Malaysia and Indonesia are possibly the friendliest and nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. Also, their food and natural scenery is absolutely top tier. Morocco is a nice place too but I think the others are much better especially for tourism.

All the best,
Tescrow.

Northern Cyprus is good in the summer for a few weeks great food that is inexpensive, for around a tenner you can get a decent 3 couse meal at a nice Chinese for example and really nice backdrops of the sea at most restaurants just don’t upset anyone in the army as they do no fuck about.

I heard a story when I was there about a foreigner who had pissed off one of there neighbours and the neigbour told the army that they had drugs so they got them and held them for 2 days hitting them demanding to know where the stash was buried a proper pistol whipping.

Also be aware if you ever get caught in a Muslim country with narcotics you are on your own no one will risk there reputations to be associated with drugs so no help will be coming anytime soon.

Morocco, Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia are all favourites but a real stand out star for me is Uzbekistan - full of history, especially from the Genghis Khan days as the silk road splits in Uzbekistan where you can go up to Russia/Europe or down to Middle East/Africa, as well as being full of really lovely people. I hope to get back there one day...

I spent 3 years in Indonesia and 3 months in the Philippines with frequent travel to Singapore. Indonesia was like my second home, just stay clear of drugs, which you'll most likely only be offered in bali and the neighbouring islands.
If you don't have an international driving license and shouldn't be on the roads, they'll hand you a piece of paper saying you need to pay £50-100. Don't pay it. Before I lived there and was a tourist I was stupid enough to pay it. You should be paying around £5. Locals pay around £2.
In the 3 years I was there, I only felt unsafe twice. One was on a bus and the people were trying to sell me a fake rolex for an amount of money and they were quite adamant I was gonna pay up. Second time I was out in the sticks with my girlfriend on my vespa and a dodgy couple were following us, clocked them quite early and confirmed relatively soon after they were looking into us. We just headed back to the population. Whether we were somewhere we shouldnt have been and peaked interest, ill never know!

Going back to drugs, my apartment was randomly raided for a drugs test. Not shitting you I open the door to a big team of narco agents and a TV news crew. They were doing random drugs tests in the neighbourhood. Literally take me to my toilet, pass me a plastic cup and watches me with my back turned pee in the cup! Can't make the shit up! Fortunately all was good.

I have highlighted a few of my bad experiences however it can't replace the 100s of amazing experiences I gained. The people are friendly, the food is good. Number 1 rule when visiting Asian Street food stalls, go where all the locals go, if you don't follow the rule you'll end up code brown.
Stay safe. Stay wise. Be respectful. Carry as little as possible and follow the laws, you'll be safe in almost any country.
Also the dude at the airport literally asked for an underhand of £15 to let me through the gates. Explained i had overstayed by one day. Saved me a huge amount of time with all the paper work and was a fraction less than what I would have had to pay to their government! The hilarious thing was he was sat on a closed gate and I skipped the busy queue 😂

Be prepared for the constant megaphone blasting prayers. Try to get a room as high and soundproofed as possible;)

i actually enjoy the meditation breaks, especially the feeling that people all over the world are sharing the moment. as long as i'm in the right time zone ;)

Even at stupid o’clock in the morning when trying to sleep?;)

I have been to a few Muslim places and am now sick of it. Just like if I see another temple or church;)

I hear Baghdad is nice this time of year.

Saddam Hussein went out shopping one day. Upon his return he was greeted by Uday, who said “what’s in the bag dad?”

Turkey & dubai are very welcoming to tourists.

The worst islamic destinations ive been to is tunisia & london.

Heya Muslim here albeit not so much a practising one anymore.

If it’s Muslim history and culture you’re after I would say Istanbul (research Ottoman Empire before you go). Also Jordan has lots of history dating back to the time of the crusaders. Do a bit of research on the crusade and salahuddin ayyubi before you go (he’s a bit of a hero amongst our Kurdish brothers).
Egypt has more history about the ancients than Islamic history. Believe it or not Saudi Arabia has very little. Non Muslims are also forbidden to enter Mecca - the holy capital.
Jerusalem would have been a good shout had it not been for the current conflict.

Please let us know where you decide!

Oman. Friendly not super paced people are chill very beautiful scenery

Savile Town is friendly

Wow this seems grosser than freezing corpses

you've got to be somewhere where you wont be vandalized or hidden beyond hope. at least there isn't a liquid nitrogen bill every week.

There is supposed to be a live action movie coming out at some point in the future. I thought there would be a third season but l guess l am wrong.

Excellent anime!

A.D. Police?

Absolute classic

Steins gate is class. Time travel sci fi. Bit of a slow burner but get past the first two episodes it’s quality on Netflix as well.

you sent me back

Haha yeah mate one of the intros I don’t skip

I second Steins;Gate, may start off slow but gets really good!

Steins;Gate is brilliant. Some unique characterisations and a great, but inevitably confusing, take on the time travel concept with a ton of real world references and conspiracies. Solid choice. However, I highly recommend this viewing order: Steins;Gate episodes 01-22 then episode 23β (alternate version of 23), Steins;Gate 0 episodes 01-23 (you can watch somewhere online or on Crunchyroll) then original Steins;Gate series episodes 23-24. Sounds confusing lol but honestly this is the best way to experience the story.

Splendid bigga, are you writing this from Akihabara or CERN?

7g of dried psilocybe cubensis in pure darkness

yes im on season 7

Not so much science fiction but I really enjoyed Deathnote.

Kaiba does the job.

Finished kaiba the other night from this recommendation. Thought it was class, trippy as fuck.

I love the premise here with the mind-body interchange but its really hard for me to get past the drawing. It seems more like something out of Spain in the 1930s than Anime.

Don’t know if this is a mad suggestion or if literally everybody has seen it. But the Animatrix ?

9 (I think) half an hour animated films set within The Matrix universe. All are interesting and well animated, but a few are stellar.

There’s one created by Shinichiro Watanabe, of cowboy beebop and samurai champloo (my personal favourite).

If you haven’t seen it, buy the dvd and watch it; if you have seen it, back me up!

Peace

animatrix rocks

back that matrix up, it's awesome.

the back and forth between ghost in the shell and the matrix gets its best iteration right here.

Terra formar, valvrave,gundam00

dig this thanks

Terraformars (テラフォーマー, Terafōmā) are evolved humanoid cockroaches who live on Mars. They possess physical traits and skills that greatly surpass those of normal humans. They also appear to be somewhat intelligent and have a natural hatred for humans; much like how humans hate cockroaches.

not sure it qualifies as science fiction - but! try to watch it when high when high.

DOROHEDORO

i'd love to hear from you when you do.

Dorohedoro is fucking class. Watched the first season twice (high) then read the entire manga.

serial experiment lain!!!, a bit old but still ahead of most anime... and I mean, Evangelion, if you have not seen it!

Rick n morty.

Agreed

Getting through Parasyte on Netflix. Enjoying it, worth a look in my opinion!

Was about to say this, superb Anime!!

Also, an oldie but a classic is "The guyver" bio booster armour!!!

Lmao the guyver!! My first anime, fucking loved it. Might have to give it a rewatch.

Do it mate, remember there's a few versions so go for mega 24 odd episode one. :)

Well said OG Apex 🤜😂😂

The guyver is an all-time favourite,fist of the north star and death note spring to mind

Hellsing aswell,loved aswell

THIS!!!!!!

Absolutely epic, then when you finished hit up mutronics and guyver: dark hero with mark Hamill 👌😂

Deathnote was good, so was One Punch Man. Terror in Residence was really good too. And I quite liked Knights of Sidonia. Or just watch Akira and Ghost in the Shell and be done with it :)

Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal

Thanks for the tip. It should be cool just based on the fact that he did Samurai Jack. And Ive found out a movie version was made and even submitted to oscars (fck oscars tho!).. Nice!!

Sci fi anime faves:
Noein (short series based on quantum physics theory),
Gintama (comedy anime partly set in space),
Ergo proxy (short dystopian series in futuristic world),
Inuyashiki (Old man becomes a weaponized cyborg and you follow his story),
Parasyte (High school kid gets infected by an alien parasyte),
And last but not least!
Psycho pass, it has 3 seasons and about 5 movies on the same world. A world which is monitored by an expert crime a.i. program, people get a hue which shows how likely to commit crime you will be, it's hard to explain but definitely my favourite sci fi series for a while.

Edens Zero is a new series if you want somthing light hearted and not too heavy ... if you want heavy watch Gantz, Straight jacket, Karas ect.... Brynhildr in the Darkness is not bad ether has a sci-fi take on witches being aliens..

Trigun was one of my favourite highly recommended it. The 7 deadly sins is pretty cool.

Terra formars is one of my all time favorites, parasyte is great but more body horror than sci fi

Think someone has mentioned all of these, but still
gurren lagann, Evangelion, Cowboy bebop, Space Dandy, Legend of the galactic heroes are some of the heavy hitters that everyone should see
Planetes is lesser known and quite low stakes but really good show about a crew who live on a satellite and have to collect trash from earth's orbit
Kaiba is great if you can stomach the art-style and are high enough to understand what's going on

Steins Gate has to be number 1 it’s one of the best anime's even outside of just the sci fi category, I highly recommend it, it has really interesting plot-lines about time-travel. Parasyte is also another great watch along with cowboy bebop a classic futuristic western like show.

Hands Down

JOJO’s Bizzare Adventures

Season 5 Stone Ocean or something is too good.. it’s the prison episodes



Edit: lol not Science Fiction I think but gaad dammn too good..

Death note also good my first anime’s
Also Code gease or something

Don’t forget Lupin the 3rd

Cowboy Bebop. No qualifying statement required. It's a timeless classic. I wish I could see it for the first time again

Space dandy. Some really good episodes to watch stoned especially the first few.
Love death robots good shout.
Saiki k. Didn't watch stoned but really enjoyed it, might give it another look myself.

Non SciFi recommendation would be Kakegurui, if you haven't watched it watch it stoned it's really good. It's about gambling and girls that leak a lot of fluid.
Also 'close enough' is quite good to watch stoned from the makers of the regular show but for adults.
All should be on Netflix.

Castlevania on Netflix is awesome! Not really sci-fi but the art style is great and a nice spin on an old tale. I binge watched 3 seasons in like 3days lol

Evangelion… enough said.

The mysterious cities of gold