sparksbet's recent activity
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Comment on Many widely used reproductive health apps fail to protect highly sensitive data, study finds in ~health
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Comment on Many widely used reproductive health apps fail to protect highly sensitive data, study finds in ~health
sparksbet Link ParentThanks for the help, and best of luck with your house sale!Thanks for the help, and best of luck with your house sale!
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Comment on What was it like choosing your own name? in ~lgbt
sparksbet Link ParentYeah this has been one of the advantages of having a fellow trans partner for me -- I haven't chosen a new name (and maybe I never will!) but I can bounce ideas off her and test them out at home...Yeah this has been one of the advantages of having a fellow trans partner for me -- I haven't chosen a new name (and maybe I never will!) but I can bounce ideas off her and test them out at home first.
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Comment on Is Nebula worth it? in ~tech
sparksbet Link ParentNebula made a blog post about this when they were offering the Lifetime Memberships -- which were incidentally limited in both how long they were available and how many were offered). In short,...Nebula made a blog post about this when they were offering the Lifetime Memberships -- which were incidentally limited in both how long they were available and how many were offered).
In short, having the money up-front is more useful for them as a business than the promise of future memberships, and this was right after they broke up with Curiosity Stream, who had previously been covering all their marketing spend. It was a way to get a quick cash injection without turning to VC funding.
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Comment on Is Nebula worth it? in ~tech
sparksbet Link ParentThis comment should be higher up. Both because of actually knowing the facts about the situation and so I knew the linked video was from Vaush so I could disregard all the related drama.This comment should be higher up. Both because of actually knowing the facts about the situation and so I knew the linked video was from Vaush so I could disregard all the related drama.
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Comment on Warner Bros. gives Adult Swim games back to their creators rather than kill them in ~games
sparksbet LinkTo quote the article tagline:To quote the article tagline:
It's still unclear why WBD wouldn't have done this in the first place.
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Comment on Outdoor time is good for your kids' eyesight. Here's why. in ~health
sparksbet Link Parenteh, I doubt that's a thing. I've got ADHD and am nearsighted in both eyes, for another anecdotal data point.eh, I doubt that's a thing. I've got ADHD and am nearsighted in both eyes, for another anecdotal data point.
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Comment on Many widely used reproductive health apps fail to protect highly sensitive data, study finds in ~health
sparksbet LinkFeel free to mark this as off-topic, but could we change "female health" in the title to "reproductive health" or something? I know that's not the same as the article title but it's both more...Feel free to mark this as off-topic, but could we change "female health" in the title to "reproductive health" or something? I know that's not the same as the article title but it's both more inclusive and more accurate.
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Comment on German court says far-right AfD is suspected of extremism in ~news
sparksbet Link ParentI can definitely understand where you're coming from, but allowing various three-letter agencies to surveil the AfD definitely is not an example of anti-extremism laws being used against progress....I can definitely understand where you're coming from, but allowing various three-letter agencies to surveil the AfD definitely is not an example of anti-extremism laws being used against progress. I'm not convinced these specific laws are any more likely to lead to progress being snuffed out -- the German government could accomplish that through other means pretty easily.
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 6 in ~news
sparksbet Link ParentI definitely agree that direct donations are the most effective. But given that direct donations and protests are not mutually exclusive in any way, I'm not particularly sure comparing them is...I definitely agree that direct donations are the most effective. But given that direct donations and protests are not mutually exclusive in any way, I'm not particularly sure comparing them is relevant -- especially for college students who have more time than money.
My understanding is that these campaigns are not just "don't invest in Israeli companies" but "don't do business with companies that do business with Israel", sometimes more specifically targeting companies that contribute the Israeli military. The idea being that if enough consumers and companies are pressured into boycotting and divesting from such businesses, it'll make doing business with Israel and specifically helping the Israeli military toxic for businesses, who will cut ties out of the usual self-interest.
It remains to be seen how effective such divestment actually is in the current situation, especially since the US government is still providing plenty of military aid to Israel. But the concept is certainly not without precedent, as international divestment and sanctions against apartheid South Africa did prove quite effective.
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Comment on ASUS demonstrates a pattern of scammy, questionably-legal practices to deny customer RMAs in ~tech
sparksbet Link Parentoh yeah, Gamers Nexus are pretty much the only hardware guys I watch and definitely the ones I trust most when it comes to both testing/evaluating hardware and holding companies to task for their...oh yeah, Gamers Nexus are pretty much the only hardware guys I watch and definitely the ones I trust most when it comes to both testing/evaluating hardware and holding companies to task for their bad behavior.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
sparksbet Link ParentI think our disagreements are less in the practical realities here and more in my disgust at the amount of control that companies like this have over people's ability to subsist.I think our disagreements are less in the practical realities here and more in my disgust at the amount of control that companies like this have over people's ability to subsist.
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Comment on ASUS demonstrates a pattern of scammy, questionably-legal practices to deny customer RMAs in ~tech
sparksbet Link ParentLuckily we as consumers do still have some ability to push back on this stuff. A lot of ASUS's practices in this video are basically illegal -- Louis Rossman recently did a video in response to...Luckily we as consumers do still have some ability to push back on this stuff. A lot of ASUS's practices in this video are basically illegal -- Louis Rossman recently did a video in response to this Gamers Nexus video talking about how if even 1% of their subscribers reported ASUS to the FTC, that would be 7000 people. The FTC would pay attention to 7000 complaints against a company like that. Consumers in other countries should also avail themselves of their own legal options.
These companies are only going to care if it effects their bottom line, and we as consumers can effect that by spreading negative word of mouth about shitty companies like ASUS and reporting behavior like this to the relevant government bodies when we find it so that there's a chance of their being fined.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
sparksbet Link ParentBut what's the alternative here? These underperforming workers don't get a living wage either way, so they're either unable to subsist or they're wards of the state either way. The only difference...But what's the alternative here? These underperforming workers don't get a living wage either way, so they're either unable to subsist or they're wards of the state either way. The only difference is that your business gets to profit off however many widgets they can make per hour without covering their ability to subsist.
The fact that you refer to new workers undergoing training is a great example here -- it is absolutely normal to not expect workers to be productive while they're still being trained, and it would be fucking dystopian not to pay them a living wage during their training. In the US and many other countries there are laws requiring workers to be paid during their training specifically because companies would attempt to exploit workers by getting free or significantly underpaid labor from them while they were training. Businesses should be forced to subsidize employees while they're training.
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 6 in ~news
sparksbet Link ParentNot sending your tuition money to the country that is currently bombing Gaza seems pretty concrete to me. The degree to which that helps Gaza can be debated, of course, but it probably helps about...Not sending your tuition money to the country that is currently bombing Gaza seems pretty concrete to me. The degree to which that helps Gaza can be debated, of course, but it probably helps about as much as anything else a college student can do right now aside from direct donations to families trying to flee Gaza (which is, of course, not something that's mutually exclusive with protesting).
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Comment on Fitness recommendations to gradually increase mobility while recovering from chronic illness in ~health
sparksbet Link ParentI've played BeatSaber before and really enjoyed it! My wife and I have been toying with getting a VR headset anyway so thanks for the reminder that these count as exercise!I've played BeatSaber before and really enjoyed it! My wife and I have been toying with getting a VR headset anyway so thanks for the reminder that these count as exercise!
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Comment on Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of May 6 in ~news
sparksbet Link ParentI suppose any protest can be dismissed as purely symbolic if you ignore the practical demands the people protesting are making of the institutions they're protesting.I suppose any protest can be dismissed as purely symbolic if you ignore the practical demands the people protesting are making of the institutions they're protesting.
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Fitness recommendations to gradually increase mobility while recovering from chronic illness
So I've had hypothyroidism since at least 2020, maybe longer. I've been gaining weight and losing both mobility and stamina since then. It got to the point where I couldn't put on my shoes without...
So I've had hypothyroidism since at least 2020, maybe longer. I've been gaining weight and losing both mobility and stamina since then. It got to the point where I couldn't put on my shoes without an extra-long shoe iron and would get too winded to continue after depressingly short walks.
I was diagnosed earlier this year and put on levothyroxine, and I already feel a lot better. Managing that medication is obviously something to work with my doctor on, but I haven't gotten much advice on how to address getting my body back to where it was prior to the illness really getting into gear. I wasn't crazy active back then either, but it's like night and day to compare me now to me in 2019.
I attempted to start some low-level at-home strength training and to start taking more regular walks back before I was diagnosed, but I struggled with even extremely mild beginner-level stuff absolutely wiping me out and my endurance never increasing. Now that I'm being treated, I suspect I will be able to build up strength/stamina/etc. more easily, but emotionally I'm still pretty vulnerable to feeling like exercise is something insurmountably difficult, which obviously makes it hard to start a more regular routine.
Losing weight is something I should do, but it's not my #1 priority here -- I mostly want to improve my mobility and stamina so that I can increase my activity level at all without feeling like shit. Most beginner-level exercise recommendations, be they strength or cardio, start at a level that is above what I can currently physically accomplish. So any recommendations for ways to get started more gradually so that I can make some amount of this exercise part of my routine would be really appreciated.
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Comment on I made a mistake, I started using Reddit again in ~talk
sparksbet Link ParentI work in data science (though not for a company like reddit) -- completely eliminating false positives is not possible. If a model turned up without any false positives on a test, it would...I work in data science (though not for a company like reddit) -- completely eliminating false positives is not possible. If a model turned up without any false positives on a test, it would actually be worse than if it came up with a handful of false positives, because not having any false positives indicates that it just memorized the training data and won't generalize.
There are absolutely instances of buggy software that will increase the number of false positives, but it's simply not the case that any number of false positives greater than zero is "buggy". It's not.
In any case, the actual failing here is clearly in the human moderators' response to the appeal. It's impossible to tell from your one case how well the automated detection is doing -- but it's very clear that the human moderators are being assholes who aren't considering their use of it effectively.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
sparksbet Link Parent...I mean, it's pretty obvious that there's a huge chunk of people in the equation that weren't there before -- people who work for these middleman food delivery companies who aren't delivery......I mean, it's pretty obvious that there's a huge chunk of people in the equation that weren't there before -- people who work for these middleman food delivery companies who aren't delivery drivers. They not only need to get paid, but have always been making way more than a delivery driver.
I'm also 100% sure these food delivery companies are deliberately passing costs from these minimum wage laws onto consumers to attempt to influence public sentiment against these laws.
There are two main legitimate reasons apps like this would need this data. One is to save it remotely so that if, say, you switch phones, the data can be accessed by just logging into their servers. This may seem silly to the privacy-conscious, but it's a convenience feature for the average person.
The other that I've seen apps like this advertise is making predictions based on your input. For actual period timing ofc you don't need this, since if you have a regular cycle it's not a particularly complicated calculation, but a lot of these advertise a lot of symptom tracking features and the idea would be that they can find patterns in your symptoms in association with your cycle. This again may seem like data they'd obviously sell to the privacy-conscious, but it's an appealing idea to most people looking for a period or fertility tracker.
None of these things are worth the risks in most of the US, of course, and it's arguably not worth the risk even without the criminal threat, since these companies are very likely selling this data. But the average consumer doesn't really think of that and just cares about what features and convenience they get out of the app.