I also added birthdays to the contacts on my phone. I found an Android app called Birday that reminds me when someone’s birthday is based on the dates in my contacts. Birday and the clock are the only two widgets on my homescreen. People seem to like that I reach out with a text or phone call to talk to them on their birthday over the FB “click to send happy birthday” thing (which is still better than forgetting, to be fair).
Same as you. SMS and phone for most, email and phone for my older relatives. Lemmy and Mastodon for news and information. I have gotten some friends and coworkers to use Signal Messenger, but really, I am kind of done trying to convince people to change their habits. I do feel left out of some conversations that I know happen on Facebook and Apple iMessage, but not really worth “the extras” of having those accounts.
I had not heard of Joplin, thank you for mentioning it. Just installed to Android and OSX, syncs with Syncthing beautifully! I think I found my new note taking system.
Like others mentioned, Subnautica, No Man’s Sky, and Skyrim are fun in VR, but not made for it. No Man’s Sky, though, almost feels like it was. Also Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is really good in VR (and spooky). For “VR-First” games, obviously Beat Saber, but also found Thrill of the Fight (Boxing) fun and a great workout. On PC/Steam, many of the Steam Home places are very cool.