Trump’s Washington Is a Technofascist Fantasy—With or Without Elon
Donald Trump's Washington is a technofascist fantasy—with or without Musk
Trump and the Silicon Valley right realized they both had a common adversary: democracy.Mother Jones
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What a fucking.idiot.
Not only did he make this all worse for the US, he's going to try and trot this out like it's an improvement.
There was no problem before you started one, dipshit, now everything is going to cost more for no fucking reason. Eat shit.
Craven Elon Musk Says Sorry to Trump in Humiliating Reversal
Craven Elon Musk Says Sorry to Trump in Humiliating Reversal
The world’s richest man suddenly thinks some of his astonishing attacks “went too far.”Ewan Palmer (The Daily Beast)
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Fox News Deceptively Edits Trump Video To Falsely Claim Gavin Newsom ‘Lied’
Fox News Deceptively Edits Trump Video To Falsely Claim Gavin Newsom ‘Lied’
Jesse Watters played an edited clip of Trump in order to falsely claim that Gov. Gavin Newsom "lied" about a disputed phone call regarding protests.Tommy Christopher (Mediaite)
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...trying to say Fox is manipulating the quotes to falsify facts...
I'm pretty sure this is what you meant to type because it's completely on-brand for Fox News
Turkish and Kurdish groups in UK complain of intimidation by Turkey
Turkish and Kurdish groups in UK complain of intimidation by Turkey
Community groups say people who attended cultural events have faced questioning when visiting TurkeyDiane Taylor (The Guardian)
Gangster tells BBC why India's biggest hip-hop star was murdered
Sidhu Moose Wala: Gangster tells BBC why India's biggest hip-hop star was murdered
Three years after Moose Wala's murder, the BBC investigates how he found himself an enemy of a feared gang.Soutik Biswas & Ishleen Kaur (BBC News)
Trump’s National Guard troops are ‘sitting unused without orders’ after being deployed for LA protests, Gavin Newsom reveals
The California governor said the troops had been left without food or water in federal buildings
Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles under Donald Trump's orders are reportedly idle and without clear directives, California Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed, calling the situation a political stunt.
The controversy stems from Trump's decision to send 2,000 Guard troops to Los Angeles over the weekend in response to protests against aggressive ICE operations. On Monday, Newsom said he was informed another 2,000 were en route, even though most of the first wave had not been mobilized.
Only about 300 have been actively deployed, while the rest remained in federal buildings "without orders," according to Newsom. The governor said the troops had been left without food or water, and accused the White House of misusing military resources to bolster Trump's image.
Trump's National Guard Troops Are 'Sitting Unused Without Orders' After Being Deployed for LA Protests, Gavin Newsom Reveals
Gov. Gavin Newsom says hundreds of National Guard troops deployed by Donald Trump to Los Angeles protests remain "sitting, unused, and without orders."M.B. Mack (Latin Times)
This little stunt cost $134 million dollars.
Come on TACO Don. Pump those fees up for making us pay $4 for eggs.
Poland's constitutional court rules EU energy policies breach national sovereignty
Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has ruled that European Union energy and climate regulations are incompatible with the Polish constitution and breach national sovereignty in determining energy policy.
The Tribunal found that EU institutions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), had exceeded their competences by interpreting EU treaties in a way that significantly impacts Poland’s ability to choose its energy sources independently.
Interpretations of EU law “cannot mean that Poland loses control over the scope of its delegated competences, and thus that there are areas in which its sovereignty (here: energy) is not protected”, the court said in a statement announcing its decision.
However, the ruling is unlikely to have any real effect for now given that the current government, a coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, does not recognise the TK’s legitimacy due to it containing judges unlawfully appointed by the former Law and Justice (PiS) administration.
The case was brought by a group of opposition lawmakers led by Sebastian Kaleta, a PiS MP and former deputy justice minister. The motion challenged the compatibility of EU climate rules – including Directive 2003/87/EC, which created the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) – with the Polish constitution.
The MPs argued that, although Poland had transferred some powers to Brussels, it should retain sovereignty over critical energy decisions. They claimed that mandatory participation in the EU ETS restricts economic freedom and undermines the state’s ability to ensure energy security.
They also warned that EU decision-making processes, which do not require unanimity in the European Council on issues affecting Poland’s energy mix, might breach the limits of competence conferred on the EU and undermine the primacy of the Polish constitution.
In its ruling, the TK agreed with the motion’s core arguments. It held that the CJEU had extended the interpretation of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union beyond the conferred competences, infringing on national sovereignty.
“Competences not conferred on the European Union belong to the member states themselves, and the EU can only act on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, subject to the scrutiny of national parliaments at all times,” the court said.
Consequently, the TK found this interpretation of EU law to be incompatible with the Polish constitution, emphasising that Poland cannot lose control over the scope of delegated powers, especially in such a key area as energy sovereignty.
The TK, however, discontinued proceedings relating specifically to the ETS “due to the incomplete, from a formal point of view, definition of the object under verification”.
The TK concluded its statement by stating that it was now up to the Polish legislature and executive to take “appropriate public law measures” to implement the decision, which enters into force upon its publication.
However, it is the government that is responsible for publishing TK rulings, and it refuses to do so due to given that some of the tribunal’s judges were illegitimately appointed under PiS.
The ruling could still reverberate in Polish politics, however. The PiS-aligned president-elect, Karol Nawrocki, who takes office in August, said last month that the TK’s decision on this case could be a way to lower the electricity prices by 33% – one of his campaign promises.
He also pledged to hold a referendum on withdrawing from the EU’s Green Deal – a set of policies aimed at reaching climate neutrality by 2050 – and reaffirmed his support for coal, which remains Poland’s main source of electricity generation and is also widely used for heating homes.
PiS politicians welcomed the verdict, insisting that it means that Poland does not have to implement the Green Deal.
“The EU has not been given the competence to decide without the consent of Poland which energy sources we can use and what fiscal burdens may be imposed on individual sources,” Kaleta wrote on X. “This opens the path for a radical reduction in electricity and heating prices now.”
The former justice minister in the PiS government, Zbigniew Ziobro, meanwhile, challenged Tusk, asking if he would “break the law again and hide the verdict to drive Poles into poverty” or “will you behave as you should?”
The government has so far not commented on the TK’s ruling.
Chinese police crackdown on writers of online erotic fiction
Police in northwestern China are cracking down on writers of online erotic fiction across the country, including many college students, according to RFA sources and media reports, amid concern that officers are punishing people outside their jurisdiction.Police in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, have been summoning writers who don’t even live there. A report from Caixin media group said some have been referred to police for prosecution, and anecdotal evidence indicates writers are facing substantial fines.
A source who spoke to Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for safety reasons said the crackdown could involve 200-300 writers.
Their cases have also sparked a legal debate over the definition of “obscene materials” and renewed public discussion on the boundaries of creative freedom. Known as “Danmei,” the genre features romantic relationships between male characters. It originated in Japan and has become popular in China.
Amid tightened restrictions in China, many writers have turned to Haitang Culture, a Taiwanese-based adult fiction website established in 2015 to publish their work. The website on the democratic island doesn’t force censorship and allows explicit written content. Most readers are females.
Authorities in China have reacted. Last year, two China-based distributors affiliated with Haitang Culture were arrested for “assisting in information network criminal activities,” according to Shuiping Jiyuan, a news portal on the WeChat social media platform.
The recent police crackdown in Lanzhou followed similar moves in the eastern province of Anhui in June 2024, where authorities began arresting writers of online erotic fiction under the charge of “producing and distributing obscene materials for profit,” resulting in heavy fines and even prison sentences.
Police are seeking out writers even when they leave outside their jurisdiction - a practice that critics call “offshore fishing,” implying the motive of police is financial or political, rather than strictly legal.
“I don’t understand what they’re trying to do—are they pushing political correctness, or are they just desperate for money?” said Liu Yang, a veteran media professional in Lanzhou, told Radio Free Asia. “The police are short on funds, and now even arrests have become a way to make money.”
Chinese police crackdown on writers of online erotic fiction
Legal scholars say police are punishing writers outside their jurisdiction in an over-reach of authority.Qian Lang for RFA Mandarin (Radio Free Asia)
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Say the line, Bart
a source who spoke to Radio Free Asia
Chinese police target writers of gay erotica with prison terms and heavy fines
The crackdown in Anhui has triggered debates about possible abuses of power and whether the law itself is too heavy-handed.Phoebe Zhang (South China Morning Post)
Un tunnel per energizzare la centrale ticinese, grazie all'efficienza svizzera del brucomela - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
Un tunnel per energizzare la centrale ticinese, grazie all'efficienza svizzera del brucomela - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
L’ostinato verme geometride avanza, avanza con possenza sotto l’irto zoccolo di pietra. Facendo uso di una testa dove tutto è un disco diamantato e i denti rotativi non cagionano ragioni o procurano alcun senso di riposo agli osservatori.Jacopo (Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri)
CO2 levels just broke another record. Here's what that means
When man first walked on the moon, the carbon dioxide concentration in Earth's atmosphere was 325 parts per million (ppm).
By 9/11, it was 369 ppm, and when COVID-19 shut down normal life in 2020, it had shot up to 414 parts ppm.
This week, our planet hit the highest levels ever directly recorded: 430 parts per million.
"This problem is not going away, and we're moving further and further into uncharted territory, and almost certainly, very dangerous territory."
There is a direct powerlaw relationship between CO2 & Earth's stabilization-temperature..
There's a gotcha, though:
Methane is about 82.5x as potent as CO2, at the 20y scale, & it's up, too..
Remember that scientific-paper which was held-back/suppressed until sooo many had vetted the math, that then it was allowed to be, but was attacked by many, yet-still?
It stated simply that methane lost through leaky shipping ( of methane ), etc, was sooo harmful, that there wasn't any way of justifying continued methane-usage..
The current planetary-equalization-temperature, given the chemical composition of the atmosphere, is over +8C.
All the models which contradict that, & which simultaneously contradict the actual MEASURED temperatures in the still-accelerating punctuation-between-temperate-planet-and-hot-planet-equlibrium-climates, are wrong, no matter how "politically established" they are.
Feynman was right: "the exception proves the model/rule/theory IS WRONG."
At +4C, India becomes mostly-uninhabitable. China has ZERO problem with that.
California, & Texas, & Saudi Arabia also become nearly-entirely uninhabitable ( think 50+C temperatures, throughout most, in the hottest summer days ).
+9C is where we're currently anchoring onto, and at this point it's just nihilism ruling the world, lording the final "days" over the subjects-of-the-"titanic" regime, narcissistic authority-over-others, consuming all they can, while crashing the world-"ship"..
Saudi Arabia, obviously, will simply take whatever other-territory it needs: it is a kingdom, not a civil-rights regime.
Who will Texas war against, to take territory permanently from them, when Texas is becoming uninhabitable?
Somebody, certainly..
Whom will the US of A take/destroy/possess, when climate-punctuation is forcing them from their established location? Canada.
Do you see part of why Trump is committed to butchering Canada from Canadians, now? It's actually a SURVIVAL OF THE US strategy, though that isn't his personal motivation: he just wants to be ruler of a continental-empire, then butcher the hated woke-EU, with Putin, so they can rule the entire West, unfettered..
Criminally-negligent own-species-icide, is what humankind's doing.. for sake of .. distractions, ideologies, & other "political" drugs/delusions..
===
Here is the paper which ignores the methane, including only the CO2 ( of the part that I read, of it, at least.. )
nature.com/articles/nature1979…
Adding-in the methane puts planetary-equlibrium-temperature, on the numbers I ran a year or 2 ago, between +8 & +9C.
Now, of course, the numbers are worse..
===
.. shruggeth ..
EITHER a portion of humankind is going to evolve, fast, relentlessly, drivenly, for most of this century,
XOR The Great Filter will force-extinguish this world's human-category kind from Universe.
I believe that that same species-"puberty", aka The Great Filter, controls ALL such populated-worlds, forcing maturation-or-extinguishment on every last one. Given the ratio ( who WON'T tolerate change/growing-up, and if it means killing the world, then they're going to at-least be the rulers of the destruction-of-our-world, breaking evolution from having its transforming our world, .. vs .. all who honestly-will evolve, no matter what it costs us ) on this world, I'd be surprised if more than a small percentage of worlds which reach the Industrial Revolutions survives the subsequent Great Filter..
when .. when adult-technology combines with animal/tribal/political population who now utterly-dominates their own ecology:
in the previous condition, nature always recovered, this unconscious-assumption is sooo ingrained, that unconscious-mind WON'T ALLOW that consequences/accountability COULD EVER touch it, .. & it's willing to kill the entire world, to prove that it "doesn't have to" grow-up/change: unconscious-ego, is "god", in its own "reality"..
===
If nothing-else, it certainly is educational to be caught in a world that is devoutly deranged, ideological, rejecting empiricism for "religious" ( political ) reasons, even to the point of everybody must die..
good motivation to break the reincarnation-prison that "life" is, the perpetual cycle of getting-caught-in-messes, life after life after life..
Not compatible with the New Age religions, that view, obviously..
but when you're on a bus being driven by a murderous gang of drunks, & you can't break their control of the vehicle, then crashing is inevitable..
one becomes tired of reincarnation, after it has abused one enough..
The Nature paper's the single most-important document in the whole climate-issue: powerlaws rule nature, & discovering what the powerlaw is that relates atmospheric-CO2 to planetary-equilibrium-temperature discards all the bullshit-models ( seriously: leaving-out Greenland ice-melt until the 2020's, & wondering why there's "The Cold Blob" all around Greenland, & why the oceanic-predictions don't work right.. that isn't science, that is politics! ),
but until the methane also is included, even this paper/model is mis-assessing, significantly.
The more people who get the underlying-powerlaw, who get the law ruling this planet's punctuation-between-temperate-to-hot-climate, which has only begun, the better.
The stuff about reincarnation, .. it was reincarnation-memories which broke all the Abrahamic-religions, for me: evidence broke the ideology of those religions, falsifying them all.
Took years to adapt-to, so-great a worldview-change.. but changing one's worldview when evidence falsified it, that is Science.
I'm only leaving the re-incarnation stuff in, because among White culture, such truth isn't usually spoken, & if anyone needs that perspective, to break the assumptions/ideology of Western habitual belief, then maybe just seeing a different perspective will give them some leverage, so they can then do their own learning, on their own, through the meditation-experiments, the inner-yoga experiments, the deepening-of-one's-Self, until ego is dissolving, & Soul/Continuum is awakening..
Salut, Namaste, & Kaizen, eh?
_ /\ _
Evolution of global temperature over the past two million years - Nature
Reconstruction of global average surface temperature for the past two million years shows continuous cooling until about 1.Nature
The weaponization of Waymo
The weaponization of Waymo
How protestors turned torched Waymos into icons of the anti-ICE demonstrationsBrian Merchant (Blood in the Machine)
I get your point, but calling it a war zone is exactly what right wing media wants everyone to hear. It's a protest, we've had one every single weekend since 1/20, in nearly every state, and nobody needed to call the NG.
Let it not go unsaid: fuck waymo, I'm happy to see those death traps burn.
Sure, this wasn't that dangerous, but knowing that you gotta call Customer Service to get the car to stop in case of emergency is pretty bad design, safety wise.
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
A driverless car without an emergency stop button IS a death trap. Arguing that this is not so is just really dumb, sorry. All big machinery have emergency stops for a reason, and the laws for those reasons usually are written in blood.
A driverless car without an emergency stop is a disaster in the making
HarkMahlberg likes this.
Assuming that what you say is true about closed course testing (and that they truly made an effort to replicate the dynamism of a city), why do they gotta test this snack dab in the middle of cities (where we should rather invest in public transportations anyway) instead of, I don't know, some trails in the woods, where there would also be a bunch of unknowns?
All this reeks of "gotta go to market ASAP to please the investors / shareholders above the rest of humanity" to me.
I work in an area adjacent to autonomous vehicles, and the primary reason has to do with data availability and stability of terrain. In the woods you're naturally going to have worse coverage of typical behaviors just because the set of observations is much wider ("anomalies" are more common). The terrain being less maintained also makes planning and perception much more critical. So in some sense, cities are ideal.
Some companies are specifically targeting offs road AVs, but as you can guess the primary use cases are going to be military.
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
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Seeing so many disingenuous conservatives clutching their pearls about this, while being completely fine with unspeakably cruel shit they're doing to immigrants (including green card holders, and others who are here legally) is infuriating. Fucking shameful.
Property damage to insured vehicles owned by a corporation vs. actual human beings
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GitHub is Leaking Trump’s Plans to 'Accelerate' AI Across Government
GitHub is Leaking Trump’s Plans to 'Accelerate' AI Across Government
A new website and API called AI.gov is set to launch on the Fourth of July.Jason Koebler (404 Media)
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Why Marc Andreessen was 'very scared' after meeting with the Biden administration about AI | TechCrunch
What scared him most was what some said about the government’s role in AI, and what he described as a young staff who were “out for blood. ”Margaux MacColl (TechCrunch)
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The basic screen design is pathetic. When I do a search I want to see search results. The whole right half of the screen is taken by related searches (your example differs from mine where it puts that Wikipedia summary in the upper right). Then half of the left side is taken up by a "people also ask" block. That leaves a quarter of the screen for search results, which with their inefficient spacing, fits 2 whole results before needing to scroll! If I scroll down I get 7 more before needing to use paging.
When they first rolled it out, they asked for feedback. Good luck trying to find where to submit that.
Fact-check: Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg contained lies and conspiracy theories about LA
Fact-check: Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg contained lies and conspiracy theories about LA
The US president reiterated falsehoods and misleading statements to troops at the North Carolina military baseRobert Mackey (The Guardian)
I remember that one! I was in grad school at the time, and my then-GF now-wife had just finished. We laughed for 15 minutes.
"Journal Of DUH"
Frankly, the thing that scares me the most is that you can hear the soldiers in the audience loudly booing at residents of LA on behalf of Trump, when prompted by Trump. That’s disgusting behavior, and should get them all reprimanded or discharged.
While I don’t necessarily have the default unchallenged respect/reverence for the military that most people do, at the very least I expect them to act professionally and respectfully in their own country (since we know that’s often way too much to ask when they’re sent abroad). Fuck any solider who openly acts on their political views, and fuck every soldier that doesn’t refuse an illegal order. You volunteered to do this, so you better do it right.
Nine women accuse Jared Leto of sexual impropriety in new report
Nine women accuse Jared Leto of sexual impropriety in new report
Women recount alleged behavior, including flirting with teenagers, as ‘predatory, terrifying and unacceptable’Maya Yang (The Guardian)
Dallas Buyers Club
For which he won his oscar for Actor in a supporting role
House of Gucci
Supporting role behind Lady Gaga and Adam Driver
The Little Things
Nominated at Golden Gloves and SAG awards for best supporting role.
I'll give you Requiem and Mr Nobody, however there's no denying he doesn't carry films in general. He's an award winning supporting actor.
I suppose you're right there - I was conflating Starring with Leading, which is different. He has a lot of starring roles, but only a few leading roles.
But its not like leading roles are the hallmarks of success, either. There are plenty of successful and iconic supporting/character actors out there who are absolutely successes and have raving fans. Its not a mark against his talent.
Interview with 0.1x engineer
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
‘Complicit with a totalitarian regime’: Canada’s border rules are landing asylum seekers in ICE detention
The removals are a product of the longstanding Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires anyone seeking refugee protection in Canada or the U.S. to claim asylum in the first of the two countries they reach.
I understand why they've had that agreement. However, it should've been obvious for some time now that maybe that's an agreement they should bin? It's blatantly obvious the us don't treat refugees/asylum seekers the way they deserve at the moment
Yep. Politicians and the kind of people that hang out with politicians seem to be behind the curve on understanding what's happening, but even they must know this by now. The trick is that rolling it back could provoke Trump, and they're trying to keep that to a minimum at the moment.
That being said, if Carney doesn't fix the rules within the next year I'm going to be very disappointed. The courts will probably strike it down eventually regardless.
Folks have been suing the gov about the Safe Third a country agreement since 2005 - opposition isn't new. And yes, the courts did strike it down but the gov appealed, and it's still under review.
The govs website about the agreement even includes a section on why the US is considered a safe country.
I think assuming they are 'behind the curve' is
... generous.
Safe Third Country: more information | Canadian Council for Refugees
This page has historical information about the Safe Third Country Agreement. More the main page about Safe Third Country, with current information, see ccrweb.ca/en/safe-third-country.ccrweb.ca
It was successfully appealed in 2008, if we're being picky.
The appeal was based in the fact that the judge found that the basis upon which a regulation was made (i.e. the position that the states is a safe country) does not have to be absolutely correct, so long as the gov considered if it might be true.
(See: decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fca-ca…)
[57] Understanding precisely what is in issue in a judicial review application is important when it comes time to determine the standard of review as well as the scope of the review that can be conducted by the Court. An attack aimed at the vires of a regulation involves the narrow question of whether the conditions precedent set out by Parliament for the exercise of the delegated authority are present at the time of the promulgation, an issue that invariably calls for a standard of correctness.
...
[60] Despite this language, the matter raised by the application is a pure vires issue (see the relevant part of the application for judicial review quoted at paragraph 15 above).
...
[78] Subsection 101(2) does not refer to “actual” compliance or compliance “in absolute terms” nor does it otherwise specify the type and extent of compliance contemplated. However, Parliament has specified the four factors to be considered in determining whether a country can be designated. These factors are general in nature and are indicative of Parliament’s intent that the matter of compliance be assessed on the basis of an appreciation by the GIC of the country’s policies, practices and human rights record. Once it is accepted, as it must be in this case, that the GIC has given due consideration to these four factors, and formed the opinion that the candidate country is compliant with the relevant Articles of the Conventions, there is nothing left to be reviewed judicially. I stress that there is no suggestion in this case that the GIC acted in bad faith or for an improper purpose.
I mentioned it was challenged back then to demonstrate that it's been known to be problematic since the beginning.
If we want to follow along with the details there have been further challenges, started in 2017, which were on the basis that it violated the charter. The courts agreed in 2020, but again it was appealed and the court gave it's ruling in 2023: decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/s…
I remember watching Trudeau respond to this in 2020, when he was doing his daily appearances from the governor generals cottage.
I'm not trying to shame anyone for not knowing, I get that there is a lot going on in the world and people are struggling in an individual basis too. But it really shocks me when are surprised that it's not all sunshine and rainbows and open arms. I actually learned about it in 2017, when the PM was on TV saying canada would welcome people. Not if they are being deported from the US, I guess 🤷🏻♀️
Canada v. Canada (Council for refugees) - Federal Court of Appeal
Web Experience Toolkit (WET) includes reusable components for building and maintaining innovative Web sites that are accessible, usable, and interoperable.decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca
going to be very disappointed
What's that look like? We don't vote Red* because we like all the policies, but because the only alternative capable of pulling even a minority would be Trump levels of disastrous for us all.
So, would "disappointment" just be a harder grimace while continuing to vote to block the blue*?
*Note that in my country the blues are like Republicans and reds are the business-friendly investment/consolidated socialist-adjacents at centre of our spectrum.
I'm actually in a safe riding, on top of it all. I do activism as well, but it's a drop in the bucket. The sweet, sweet taste of powerlessness...
Oh well. In a world of 8 billion it's only fair.
News outlets in crisis mode as Google-led AI search push crushes website traffic
News outlets in crisis mode as Google-led AI search push crushes website traffic
Major news outlets are in panic mode as artificial intelligence chatbots push by Google and other Big Tech firms crush website traffic.Thomas Barrabi (New York Post)
With what passes for news these days at most outlets I can't say I feel too bad for them that someone else beat them at their own game of feeding the masses surface level doom scrolling slop for engagement and ad impressions.
Hell, a large chunk of the junk being put out by these same outlets is trash written by the AI solutions they are paying for. Probably solutions from the likes of Google that is giving it to them at both ends.
Once the snake finishes eating its own tail maybe the good reporters will still have somewhere that pays them for the good work they do.
User Mag | Taylor Lorenz | Substack
A tech and online culture publication by Taylor Lorenz, featuring original reporting on how the internet is reshaping politics, business, media, and culture.User Mag
Ars Technica - Serving the Technologist since 1998. News, reviews, and analysis.
News and reviews, covering IT, AI, science, space, health, gaming, cybersecurity, tech policy, computers, mobile devices, and operating systems.Ars Technica
Glad this is happening. These are the same news outlets that provide Google with your information and pay Google for ads.
They can all bust for all I care.
Maduro calls on the US people to stop its government's madness (+Foto) - Noticias Prensa Latina
Maduro llama al pueblo de EEUU a detener locura de su Gobierno (+Foto) - Noticias Prensa Latina
Caracas, 18 jun (Prensa Latina) El presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, llamó al pueblo estadounidense a detener la locura de su Gobierno de involucrarse en la guerra que sostienen hoy Israel y la República Islámica de Irán.Juan Carlos Díaz Guerrero (Prensa Latina)
Liberals tell me to protest Drumpf: fuck you you don't control me
Maduro tells me to protest Trump: YES SIR MR MADURO SIR
Mike Huckabee Is A Deranged Armageddon Cultist
Mike Huckabee Is A Deranged Armageddon Cultist
Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative MatrixCaitlin Johnstone (Caitlin’s Newsletter)
Türkiye, China renew $4.7B currency swap deal to bolster bilateral trade
Türkiye, China renew $4.7B currency swap deal to bolster bilateral trade
Deal supports local currency transactions worth up to ₺189B ($4.79B), 35B Chinese yuanNewsroom (Türkiye Today)
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Update of my $65 4tb nvmes 🤣🤪
So i'm testing one of the drives I got on amazon using an old computer. It started off promising, didn't get any errors when formating the drive, write speed using a usb adapter at 25mb/s... Then it dropped off to 7mb/s and the expected time shot up from 40hours to 156h🤣
I'm going to let it run over night and see what happens in the morning. If I can get it to show 4tb without error I might still keep them to test out my geekworm pi nas, otherwise back to amazon you go!
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$65 for 4tb? they're almost certainly fake crap. just got done giving someone the bad news on some similarly-priced sd and ssd they bought off ebay.
grc.com/validrive.htm will verify real capacity in seconds.
Laptop left charging on bed causes house fire in Bendigo
Ms Robinson said the laptop was an 18-month old AppleMac Pro and it had started to lose charge more often in the lead up to the fire."It seemed to be going flat a lot, which can identify a faulty battery," Ms Robinson.
Fire Rescue Victoria commander Craig Houlahan attended the blaze.
"It was clear the fire had actually started from the bed," he said.
"It was quite obvious with the development of the fire that it was the laptop, because of the battery."
ABC News
ABC News provides the latest news and headlines in Australia and around the world.Rebecca Norman (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Experts warn mobile sports betting could be gateway to gambling crisis for young men in New York
Experts warn mobile sports betting could be gateway to gambling crisis for young men in New York
The popularity of online gambling, especially among young men, has addiction researchers worried in New York, where mobile sports betting has surpassed casino gambling as the primary reason for calls to the state’s helpline.Willa Odefey (Healthbeat)
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Experts warn mobile sports betting could be gateway to gambling crisis for young men in New York
Experts warn mobile sports betting could be gateway to gambling crisis for young men in New York
The popularity of online gambling, especially among young men, has addiction researchers worried in New York, where mobile sports betting has surpassed casino gambling as the primary reason for calls to the state’s helpline.Willa Odefey (Healthbeat)
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ICE Taking away a 3 year old from the parents
US Always Planned to Use Israel as Proxy to Attack Iran
US Always Planned to Use Israel as Proxy to Attack Iran
Donald Trump did everything he could to make sure that the war between Israel and Iran began, military and political observer Evgeny Mikhailov tells Sputnik.Sputnik International
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This is such nonsense. Netanyahu has been trying non-stop to get the US to attack Iraq and Iran for literally 30 years. And the US kept saying no.
The US is not benefiting from having all their regional assets and oil fields blown up by Iranian missiles. The only party which does not care about this whatsoever is of course Israel. The cart and the horse keep getting switched around.
Further evidenced by lemmy.ml/post/31869269/1932291…
MakeMKV down - cant find firmware to flash Verbatim 43888
Hi all,
I recently bought a Verbatim 43888. Went to rip my first disc, which is just a regular DVD. But MakeMKV isn't even able to detect the disc. I checked a few forums which all recommend Makemkv forums, however the site seems to be down.
I may need to rollback the firmware from version 1.05 to 1.03. Has anyone else had experience with this issue? Can it be done using linux?
I know the drive is working because I can see the video/audio files. It also works with Handbrake.
Cheers
Here you go 😀 Link
It doesn’t call home to makemkv so OP is played by this again, he/she won’t have this issue.
letmarciscenza più elaborata del facile
Ho dei pensieri forse un po’ confusi a riguardo, e certamente rifletterci e scriverci su a quest’ora non aiuta — nonostante questo sia a dire il vero proprio l’orario migliore possibile per scrivere cose di questo tipo, perché il lieve sonno mi porta inevitabilmente alla stesura di righe che nemmeno sotto effetto di droghe sarebbe […]
octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…
letmarciscenza più elaborata del facile
Ho dei pensieri forse un po’ confusi a riguardo, e certamente rifletterci e scriverci su a quest’ora non aiuta — nonostante questo sia a dire il vero proprio l’orario migliore possibile per scrivere cose di questo tipo, perché il lieve sonno mi porta inevitabilmente alla stesura di righe che nemmeno sotto effetto di droghe sarebbe possibile concepire — però diavolaccio… Se davvero devo avviarmi sulla strada del bedrotting professionale, portando buona parte delle giornate ad essere concettualmente assimilabili a questa mia ultima trascorsa, ci sono un paio di appunti da tenere in conto per massimizzare il valore dell’esperienza, soprattutto in chiave di ricorrenza medio-alta. ✋Innanzitutto, il top bedrotting dovrebbe essere visto con più grande passione; ossia, nel modo in cui a quanto pare diverse persone su Internet già fanno… e non nel modo su cui senza volerlo ripiego io, ossia come “piano B”, come “ops oggi mi sento così e quindi farò così perché non mi va di fare come al solito“. In effetti, il marcimento lettifero nella sua forma più pura altro non è che un momento di straordinaria connessione con il sublime attraverso attimi altrimenti normali, banali; è lo stato di esistenza che più precisamente di tutti gli altri si trova a metà tra la vita e la morte, l’ordine ed il caos; insomma, l’equilibrio perfetto che, se non fosse per la fame e in molti casi il dover pagare l’affitto, potrebbe rappresentare la modalità dell’essere ideale permanentemente per tutti gli esseri umani… con la sofferenza tangibile della specie che sarebbe estremamente più limitata come conseguenza, e tutte le guerre che si formerebbero per sempre (…così come lo sviluppo della società ed il mantenimento dei servizi, in realtà, ma è un piccolo prezzo da pagare a confronto dei grandi benefici per tutti). 🥰
Quindi, boh: a parte le digressioni, serve più convinzione, più integrità. Innanzitutto, dovrei forse programmare il bedrotting come attività fissa all’interno della mia giornata, non sindacabile, da onorare e rispettare senza se e senza ma; e che occupi quanto più tempo possibile dei miei momenti di veglia, idealmente, anche se ciò non è sempre possibile nella pratica. Probabilmente, poi, dovrei rifarmi il letto appena mi sveglio dopo la notte, o almeno poco prima di darmi al bedrotting per la prima volta nella giornata dopo essermi alzata… non perché io ora dalla sera alla pre-notte creda alla propaganda dei rifattisti (quelli che dicono che il letto va rifatto subito perché bla bla bla e per giunta è una forma mentis zzz…), ma perché indubbiamente è più comodo sprofondare nel letto ordinato e senza pieghe, rispetto allo schifo che diventa durante la notte di sonno turbato, non prendiamoci in giro. 🌚
Questi due punti, dopo una piccola riflessione, mi appaiono veramente come il minimo da tenere in considerazione per un’esperienza di marciscenza spirituale decente. Ma, ovviamente si può, e probabilmente si deve, fare ancora di meglio… E dunque, da un lato temo di dover ammettere che bisogna ogni giorno lavarsi, per bene e subito, per dedicarsi alla funzione… e dall’altro bisogna porre un po’ di attenzione anche nel po’ di vestiario che si indossa durante la cosa. Lo sappiamo come questi giorni più scarichi portano a viziarci — e a viziarmi, personalmente, con io in particolare che finisco per lavarmi solo ben dopo pranzo, per poi indossare magliette e pantaloni veramente a casaccio, sotto l’influenza del diktat per cui sarebbe sconveniente tenere dentro casa quegli indumenti di maggior pregio estetico e morale che invece sarebbero meglio riservati solo per uscire. Ma, tra la puzza di ascelle dormite, e i vestiti con sopra i pallini di cotone consumati, l’anima ne soffre… e poi, che figura ci si fa con gli spiriti delle pareti che ci guardano da molto (molto) vicino durante la giornata in casa? 🪱
pinterest.com/pin/595601119507…
Ora, però, per concludere, un piccolo momento di rovescio della medaglia, che sento essere necessario anche se a molti non farà affatto piacere… Se vi considerate appassionati di bedrotting, o comunque in qualche modo siete praticanti più o meno abituali dell’attività, ma quello che ho detto qui vi sembra assurdo, fuori misura, o comunque non ne considerereste nemmeno mai la semplice idea di applicazione… ahimè, voi siete probabilmente nella trappola della marciscenza non introspettiva, la variante con buona ragione strettamente criticata persino dal Consiglio Assoluto degli Stellari. Oh, per carità: nessuno è perfetto, menchemeno io che stavolta mi permetto di fare questa predica (in parte auto-predica) che mi rendo conto essere a dir poco sconclusionata… però quantomeno mantenete la mente aperta a nuove formule di riposo più arricchenti del sé, suvvia! 😳
🎀💅
Mar 18, 2025 - Mine !! #bedrotting #prettygirlgang #aesthetic #nightsuit #pink #whisperbamb1doll (Pinterest)
Far-Right ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag Seen at Jan. 6 Riot Flown Above Government Agency in DC
The "Appeal To Heaven" flag, a popular symbol for Christian nationalists that was waved by January 6 rioters, was raised over the Small Business Administration headquarters last week.
Archived copies of the article:
* Archive.today
* web.archive.org
Far-Right ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag Flown Above Government Agency in DC
The “Appeal to Heaven” flag, a popular symbol for Christian nationalists that was waved by January 6 rioters, was raised over the Small Business Administration headquarters last week.Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)
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[Patch Notes] 3.26.0b Hotfix
3.26.0b Hotfix
- Fixed a client crash when failing to fall back to DirectX11 if DirectX12 is not supported.
Patch Notes - 3.26.0b Hotfix - Forum - Path of Exile
Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.Path of Exile
[Patch Notes] 3.26.0b Patch Notes (restartless)
3.26.0b Patch Notes
- Reduced the damage of the Memory Influence Monsters.
- The Refiner's Bargain Atlas Keystone now has Lifeforce found in your Maps is granted as a random Crop instead at 150% of the value (from 300%). The client will display the old value until updated in a later patch.
- Vastly reduced the gold cost of extremely rare Unique items from Cadiro in Betrayal. The rarest unique will cost at a maximum ~135000 gold. This is to alleviate an issue where you'd have to keep a huge amount of gold on your character at all times just in case the right unique item was offered. This is approximately twenty-five times cheaper now for the most expensive unique items.
- Fixed a bug where the Cannot have Minions other than Animated Weapons Modifier on the Dark Monarch Unique was not removing Animated Guardian.
- Fixed a bug where some Mercenaries would be unable to take actions while taunted by non-players.
- Fixed several cases of Mercenaries attempting to target players that had not opted into duels. They couldn't damage them, just try to.
- Fixed Veiled Chaos Orbs not being listable on the Currency Exchange.
- Fixed Syndicate Medallion, Echo of Loneliness, Echo of Trauma and Echo of Reverence not being in the Fragments tab of the Currency Exchange.
- Fixed Blessed Orbs not being usable on Expedition Logbooks.
- Fixed Kingsmarch resources not being collected if you hadn't visited Kingsmarch yet.
- Fixed a bug with Memory Lines sometimes not generating when talking to Eagon in your hideout.
- Fixed a bug where the Quisitive Quandaries The Dweller of the Deep Challenge was being completed when clearing the Fetid Pool instead.
- Added a tooltip for disabled Currency Exchange orders to clarify they can manually be migrated from Character Selection.
- Changed the Controller button for opening the Bestiary book and Heist inventory to avoid clashing with Mercenaries.
- Fixed a bug when using Controller where the dropdown selection in the Farm Plot UI was not working.
- Fixed a bug when using Controller where the Expedition Explosives placement not responding to right stick movement.
- Fixed a bug when using Controller where the Atlas Passive Tree selector on was not functioning correctly.
- Fixed a client crash when using Controller that could occur when talking to Sin about the Pantheon.
- Fixed a client crash when using Controller that could occur in the Challenges panel.
- Fixed a crash when using Controller that could occur when entering the socket management mode UI.
- Fixed 2 instance crashes.
This patch was deployed without restarting the servers, you'll need to patch your client to get the client changes.
Patch Notes - 3.26.0b Patch Notes (restartless) - Forum - Path of Exile
Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.Path of Exile
[Announcement] How Secrets of the Atlas Launch Went
We wanted to give an update talking about how the launch went and what we're immediately working on.
Over the weekend we launched Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas. We are so thrilled to see the number of people who joined us for launch day. Welcome back, Exiles!
Starting with the elephant in the room, unfortunately primarily our European servers but also servers across the globe have been facing a barrage of DDOS attacks. We understand that this issue has ruined such an anticipated launch for many players. This is unacceptable service and we are deeply sorry. We want to assure you that we are taking this very seriously and it is the highest priority problem for our company to solve. Due to the nature of these attacks, we're unable to provide a timeframe on when it will be resolved but we do want to acknowledge that we do see the issue and are doing everything we can to mitigate this.
Another thing we caught just prior to the launch was an issue with our final console builds which did not affect our internal realms so couldn't have been caught sooner than it was. Because this required brand new builds to be created, tested and then certified, this process took quite a long time to fix, but the console realms are now fully operational and players are able to login and play. We are implementing measures to prevent this occurring in the future.
While our system administration and backend team address the issues with the servers, our development team continues to monitor feedback. Currently the leading issue we're looking to address with the league is that a number of Mercenary skills, especially once you get to the middle of the campaign start to deal overwhelming amounts of damage to the player, often instantly killing you, you should expect a patch in the near future that puts all these skills more in line. This will not affect the Mercenary balance when they are your ally.
Additionally we're looking at making some improvements to the Memory Skills granted in maps influenced by The Originator, we'll have more updates on this later this week.
We also just wanted to give a huge thank you to all our players, be it those who have returned to play Path of Exile after a year with no expansions, and all those who are new to the game.
We're very excited to not only once again be delivering content, but playing the game alongside you all.
Thank you Exiles!
Announcements - How Secrets of the Atlas Launch Went - Forum - Path of Exile
Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.Path of Exile
EU league start was very frustrating, hopefully you ll find a solution. Seems like a tough problem to solve.
Community is not affiliated or run by Grinding Gear Games.
As far EU issues, they said that their service providers were being DDoSed so not much they can do themselves apart from diversifying the infrastructure.
Napster and Sonos Sued for Millions in Unpaid Music Royalties
Napster, the brand synonymous with the music piracy boom of the early 2000s, has a new copyright challenge. Together with audio giant Sonos, Napster faces a lawsuit demanding over $3.4 million in alleged unpaid copyright royalties. Filed by SoundExchange, the complaint centers on missed payments related to the "Sonos Radio" service, which until 2023 was powered by Napster's music catalog.
Napster and Sonos Sued for Millions in Unpaid Music Royalties * TorrentFreak
Napster, the brand synonymous with the music piracy boom of the early 2000s, now finds itself facing a new copyright challenge.Ernesto Van der Sar (TF Publishing)
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While Napster did get decked hard a long while ago, it's still a well known cultural icon, so some company was inevitably going to buy the rights to its branding/trademarks after it ate dirt to attract attention to whatever product they decide to slap it on.
The same thing kinda happened to Atari. That company got burned to a crisp by Nintendo and Sega after the 2600, but some nobodies bought it and things keep having the Atari logo even today because it was a well known brand. It sucked ass and failed... but we remember it.
asbestos
in reply to mesa • • •mesa
in reply to asbestos • • •They have such a custom site. In a good way. Works well with RSS 😀
xn--gckvb8fzb.com/index.xml
infeeeee
in reply to asbestos • • •Nothing special, that's how urls with unicode, non ascii chatacters look like. It's called punycode, more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internat…
Emoji domains work the same, e.g. ❤️🍺.ws is the same as xn--qei8618m.ws/
Internet domain name that contains at least one label that is displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in a language-specific script or alphabet
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Norah (pup/it/she)
in reply to asbestos • • •MimicJar
in reply to Norah (pup/it/she) • • •I assume it's done that way to prevent an IDN homograph attack.
For example if I sent you a link to "gооgle.com" you'd be like, sure. Except that isn't a link to "google" it's a link to "xn--ggle-55da.com".
using visually similar characters in domain names to deceive users
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Norah (pup/it/she)
in reply to MimicJar • • •oce 🐆
in reply to mesa • • •Fairphone and PinePhone being only mentioned anecdotally for being too pretty, and I guess not as sturdy as the author wants, is quite weird for an article about reducing fragility and improving repairability.
brap
in reply to oce 🐆 • • •Plebcouncilman
in reply to mesa • • •I mean phone durability has become a lot better. I use my iPhone 14 Pro without a case, and I have dropped it a few times and more than once it has flown across the room. Just last Saturday it fell on concrete from like 4 feet high. It’s good as new.
It is also the consumer who is mostly at fault anyways. There are many durable phones out there, none of them sell like the shiny sleek phone. Do people really want devices that are more durable? If so, why aren’t they buying them?
partial_accumen
in reply to mesa • • •The article is disappointing. It appears author of that article only has one narrow view and assumes the rest of the world has the same.
They buy the most fragile and aesthetically pleasing phones, and complain they are fragile. They advocate for manufacturers to stop making fragile aesthetically pleasing phones, and only make rugged or repairable phones instead. They make an inference that phones should be repairable like cars with accessible parts and non-proprietary tools, but they appear to not know that today's cars have difficulty getting replacement parts and absolutely contain mechanical and electronic proprietary tools to repair the cars.
Mr/Ms author, if you want a phone that doesn't break so easily when dropped, you can buy such a thing right now. Something like CAT phones:
... or other ruggedized Android phones.
I think the last time I dropped a phone an broke the screen on it was maybe 2007. I don't even use phone cases. If your particular use case has you dropping your phone more, buy one that exists and is designed to take those kind of conditions. There's no shame in that, but don't advocate for an entire industry shift because of just your own use case.
Smartphones/technology are still incredibly young in the grand scheme of things. Each of the new generation of devices that comes out adds more functionality for features that people want. Until that stops, it doesn't make sense to try to switch everyone to a "buy it for life" approach. My Commodore 64 computer still works, and is very easy to service, however I wouldn't have wanted technology to stop back then just because its a sturdy built machine. Today I have the paper thin laptops with 8 hours of battery and high speed CPUs are not as rugged or repairable as my venerable C64, but I'm quite glad to have the fragile laptop instead.
Plebcouncilman
in reply to partial_accumen • • •GreyEyedGhost
in reply to Plebcouncilman • • •WanderingThoughts
in reply to mesa • • •tal
in reply to mesa • • •Smartphones are fragile without a case. They should have one, and maybe manufacturers should make that clearer, but a world where removable cases didn't exist would just mean that the case you get is the one that the manufacturer chooses for you and permanently attaches to the smartphone. Less options for you.
Just get a case.
Me too. It's why I have a case.
If you want a built-in case, you can get them. There is a whole collection of "ruggedized" smartphones from various manufacturers in China that are large, usually have a hefty battery, and have shielding built into the device.
Look at Doogee for one such manufacturer.
doogee.com/
Oukitel for another:
oukitel.com/
Ulefone for another:
ulefone.com/
Personally, I think that the built-in case isn't very interesting relative to a removable case, but the large battery might be, depending upon your needs.
EDIT: A number of manufacturers will even make official cases for their phones, if you can tolerate a removable case and just want something endorsed by the manufacturer.
Apple, for example:
apple.com/shop/iphone/accessor…
Or Google:
store.google.com/product/pixel…
DOOGEE Official Website & Mall | World Leading Rugged Phone Brand
doogee.comJcbAzPx
in reply to tal • • •WanderingThoughts
Unknown parent • • •Plebcouncilman
Unknown parent • • •like this
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Norah (pup/it/she)
in reply to mesa • • •That's insane, are screen protectors really twice the market size of phone cases??
Smartphone Screen Protector Market Size, Share Report, 2030
www.grandviewresearch.comBeacon
in reply to Norah (pup/it/she) • • •It makes total sense to me. A phone case is just a cheap piece of plastic that's made using cheap mold-manufacturing, and cases last for the entire life of the phone, sometimes even living on through a couple of phone lifetimes.
But screen protectors have to be more rigorously designed, - making sure that the material works well between finger and each particular touchscreen, and it's made using relatively much more expensive manufacturing processes like curved glass cutting, and people have to replace them every once in awhile because the purpose of a screen protector is to take all the damage that otherwise would've happened to your screen.
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scintilla
in reply to Norah (pup/it/she) • • •UltraBlack
in reply to mesa • • •I'm honestly quite happy with my Samsung XCover 6 pro:
Only drawback: utterly dogshit camera. It looks to be interpolated. 50MP never looked that much like 8MP
Can't wait for this to get LOS/EOS support
KingRandomGuy
in reply to UltraBlack • • •Most "50 MP" cameras are actually quad Bayer sensors (effectively worse resolution) and are usually binned 2x to approx 12 MP.
The lens on your phone likely isn't sharp enough to capture 50 MP of detail on a small sensor anyway, so the megapixel number ends up being more of a gimmick than anything.
MonkderVierte
in reply to KingRandomGuy • • •partial_accumen
Unknown parent • • •Beacon
in reply to mesa • • •That doesn't match my experience with phone hardware. Everyone i know has a bunch of old phones that've been handed down to kids and even more sitting in junk drawers, because they all still work. Yes a couple of them have cracked screens, but even with those the only reason why the screen wasn't repaired is because people wanted or already had a newer phone.
Software is a totally different matter though. The OS and apps stop getting updates at some point even though the hardware is still totally capable of doing what most people want their phone to do. And even worse, many companies don't allow a phone to revert to an older OS version, so the company pushes out an update that slows the phone down and then there's no way to fix that.
The HARDWARE isn't designed to fail, because the SOFTWARE is designed to let the company force the device to fail at whatever exact moment the company later decides on.
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ipkpjersi
in reply to Beacon • • •AlphaOmega
in reply to ipkpjersi • • •ipkpjersi
in reply to AlphaOmega • • •A 20 minute video on how to replace your battery with batteries that are glued down and you need a pry tool to remove them and hopefully not puncture them is not exactly what I would call user-replaceable batteries:
I'm talking about ones like the Samsung Galaxy S3, Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS, etc had where you could just open the cover, take the battery out, and then put the new one in.
- YouTube
www.youtube.comslaneesh_is_right
in reply to ipkpjersi • • •MonkderVierte
in reply to slaneesh_is_right • • •amotio
in reply to mesa • • •I have had few phones over the years, few of them I damaged by using them in bad conditions, mainly on construction sites.
As far I can remember I have never cracked the screen. Phones are and always were fragile, its a piece of condensed technology, with large glass screen. What do people expect from glass dropped from 1m? Just take care of your shit.
It always amazes me how can people cary their phones in back pocket or just throw it in the bag with keys or other sharp objects.
MangoPenguin
in reply to mesa • • •There are tons of rugged smartphones out there, also some brands that focus on easy to repair phones.
The fact that they're not well known kind of shows that the majority of the market doesn't really care about those things.
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cmnybo
in reply to mesa • • •The main issue is the lack of software support. They keep making each new Android version more bloated so you can't update more than once or maybe twice. If it wasn't for that, you could keep using the same 5G phone until they shut down the 5G network as long as the battery is replaceable.
I wish Android was more like Debian where it's lightweight, uses stable versions of software and runs well on old hardware.
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Jiří Král
in reply to cmnybo • • •The newer Android versions aren't that much more bloated. Sure. If you compare Android KitKat with Android 14 it is gonna be a bit more demanding probably especially on graphics, but overall there were a lot of improvements to the battery usage and memory management over the years and I have an experience of newer Android versions running better than the older ones. You can have a 6 years old phone that will run the newest Android version just fine because you flashed it with a custom ROM.
When we get to the manufacturer's custom Android skins... Well that's a different story. Most of them are gonna be more or less bloated than stock Android, but this is a problem of manufacturers and the fact that mobile OS market and ecosystem is so much locked down compared to desktop, which makes it harder to remove manufacturer's bloat from your OS, install different ROMs and tinker with it, rather than Android being bloated as an OS.
Plebcouncilman
Unknown parent • • •Samsung used to have rugged mainline Galaxy phones. Guess what? They didn’t sell well so they don’t make them anymore.
Mass market doesn’t want this, is that simple. The people who want it are over represented online. It’s a similar case with people who want small phones, why do you think they don’t make them anymore? Because hardly anyone buys them.
partial_accumen
Unknown parent • • •I think this highlight the problem with this approach. $500 MSRP would likely not be cost effective for a phone manufacturer to invest in the design, construction, inventory of replacement parts, and multi-year long support of the rugged and long lasting phone. An important part of the premise of the author is that the phone lasts a long time, and your stated desire for long software support.
This is likely a money loser for a phone manufacturer from day one. My guess is that this phone would likely have to cost $2000 to $3000 for a chance to be economically viable. The biggest expenses are going to be on the human labor parts of a staff to provide the regular software updates, maintaining humans that run the manufacturing lines for the replacement parts, and the repair staff to effect the repairs over time for customers. Considering the only time the phone manufacturer gets money is from the initial sale of the phone, they have to price it high enough to cover many years of these support operations.
At the higher, more realistic, phone sale price it likely drops the number of potential customers so low to not even pay for the initial design and tooling to be created.
This is likely why no manufacturer makes this theoretical phone.
oyzmo
in reply to mesa • • •kayazere
in reply to oyzmo • • •like this
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rottingleaf
in reply to mesa • • •I've recently learned that the device Sun first made Java for was, well, almost a smartphone in idea. So those Java phones and now Android are not a perversion of the initial intent.
I also think that, if you only compare various places in reality and various casinos by the amount of endorphine per minute spent, you'll choose casinos (OK, maybe brothels).
The reason you don't choose a casino is because you know that in average the casino always wins. That's a knowledge of how casinos work.
The reason you don't choose a brothel is because you know that many people working there are disadvantaged, and because you can control your impulses. That's also a knowledge of how brothels work.
This means, that if we make an analogy between casinos, brothels and the computer industry, including smartphones and the web, the user has to know how it works to make the right decisions.
So the commonly repeated point about grandmas and casual users is simply wrong. There's no way they don't get deceived by the other side profiting from their ignorance, other than learning how things work.
So - I think we need a global social network. We have siloed services because it doesn't bring profits to make such a global service, and the one Sun, Netscape, Macromedia (yes) and many universities made in the 90s has gone obsolete. The Internet itself allows to make a global Facebook. But instead of solving the problems of technical debt and adoption for that, it's simpler to use a centralized service which was relatively easy to launch initially.
From Facebook (or others) you ultimately need 1) search of 1.a) contacts, 1.b) groups and 1.c) posts, 2) storage of 2.a) contacts, 2.b) groups and 2.c) posts, 3) universal forward identifiers of 3.a) contacts, 3.b) groups and 3.c) posts.
With cryptography and #3 you can use untrusted services for #1 and #2.
If they can be untrusted, services for #1 (indexer crawling the network and answering search requests in a standardized way, similar to RSS, maybe just with RSS ; the crawler service and the search result storage can be separated too) and #2 can be contributed to their respective pools like with SETI@home or other projects.
There is the question of a financial incentive to providing such a service. That can be done with using, say, (maybe number 4), a pool of billing services. A user makes a payment and before requesting a search service or a storage service, requests a billing service on which they are registered, providing it with the identifier of a resource they are going to use, that billing service and that resource interact in the sense of payment in background, giving the user a token with which they request the service itself. To pay for used storage or a heavy search request (or a request above a threshold).
Well, that looks ugly, maybe some other way is possible.
Those search results from search services and objects fetched from storage services are presented in a native application similar to Facebook, perhaps.
Contacts would be just PKI certificates or something, with a valid certificate for a registrar domain someplace in chain.
So you'd request in DNS (or someplace else, I dunno) pool.search.nihilsoc.org for a bunch of uniform indexer services, pool.store.nihilsoc.org for a bunch of uniform storage services (if we don't have a paid service saved, probably even encrypted on some available storage service), pool.relay.nihilsoc.org of a bunch of notification servers similar to IRC (except not used for chat directly, or maybe even that), pool.billing.nihilsoc.org to pay for services requiring it. It wouldn't matter much which ones you'd hit, because every post, contact and group identifiers would be global, containing parent identifiers and such.
It would supposedly be seamless for the user. You search for a group on a few indexers, you get a few lists of results showing on which storage services it's present and how much of it, you deduplicate those and you ask those directly by global identifiers, check signatures yadda-yadda.
Seems very archaic, I dunno why nobody is doing this, probably because things seeming simple are complex.
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OK, about smartphones and casinos - just like the way to fight gambling lies in knowing that the casino always wins and there's no luck, the way to fight enshittification lies in users caring what they use. Yep, technologies and systems involved are complex, then maybe those should be made simpler for users to understand. Simpler inside, like OpenBSD, not simpler outside, like ChatGPT.
MonkderVierte
in reply to mesa • • •Software side too: Linux's deliberate choice to not have a stable driver interface is detrimental to atomic distros with the usually shitty proprietary vendor drivers. Causing you to get no updates after a few years or get a new device.
Which is why i think BSD would have been a better fit for Android.
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