Ads.

I’ve started using the phrase “This channel is fueled by passion, not by profit” in my YouTube videos to explain my stance on ads. I can’t control the ads that Google shows, but I sure can control sponsorships and ads in my content, and there’s not going to be any. I am of the age when I remember a time when ads on the Internet were pretty much only when you went to a shopping site and maybe a banner at the top of a webpage or something. Now, we have this lunacy where there’s ads everywhere, even on premium content. I use the “LoseIt!” app to track my calorie intake. I have a lifetime, premium subscription, but I still have an image of Serena Williams jabbing herself with a needle every time I open the app. I reached out to the LoseIt! folks to basically ask, “what the hell?”, and naturally I had to feed my information and screenshot to an AI bot because we don’t really speak to people anymore. On the bright side, the AI agent told me it’s not equipped to handle programming questions…