Maybe you have Unhook? I don't recall Sponsorblock having an option of removing shorts, but I use Unhook for this reason (and removing a bunch of other features I do not enjoy).

Yeah, unless you are specifically into online competitive games (mainly shooters, but some mobas and mmos also use kernel level anti-cheats), you have like 80% chance to pick a random game from your library, click play and never experience a single hiccup with it.

What you can do, is to check if some of your apps can be replaced by some open source project. Most people do not need photoshop, but end up buying it, because that's all they known. Head to alternativeto and search the apps you use, but rather wouldn't. Maybe you will be able to replace a couple.

I'm not an original poster and while I share their spirit, I do believe these measures are too drastic for regular people. Did I have a say in which OS I use for my job? Not even once, sadly.

I didn't mean it as an excuse for them, the lack of knowledge (especially one that can be so easily acquired) is never an excuse.
Just an additional angle that highlights how deeply and dangerously clueless they are

I think some of them are not even aware that the books exists AND that they were written before the idea of the game was conceived (and not as an afterthought).