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3 votes
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How to Eurovision – ‘It seems that Norway and the violin are a perfect combination’
7 votes -
The unsettling truth of the story behind "Mostly Harmless", the hiker whose mysterious death fascinated the internet
16 votes -
What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.
If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!
7 votes -
Physicists have observed an entirely new state of matter called 'Liquid Glass'
7 votes -
Overthewire: Learn Hacking By Playing Games
9 votes -
Scottish fishermen have increasingly turned to fish auctions in Denmark to avoid having their deliveries to the EU blocked by post-Brexit red tape
6 votes -
Lucasfilm Games announces that Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment is developing an open-world Star Wars game, the first non-EA Star Wars game since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012
15 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 15
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic,...
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
19 votes -
What did you do this week?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
9 votes -
What puzzles and poker teach us about misinformation
6 votes -
To guarantee privacy, focus on the algorithms, not the data
6 votes -
Kaiju history part 1: Godzilla
5 votes -
Nearly 1.6 million Illinois Facebook users to get about $350 each in privacy settlement
7 votes -
2021 winter premiere digest - Anime Feminist
5 votes -
HD laserdisc: HD in 1993
3 votes -
MF DOOM - Rapp Snitch Knishes (2004)
11 votes -
Electric cars are better for the planet – and often your budget, too
6 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 14
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic,...
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
13 votes -
Elasticsearch and Kibana are now business risks
7 votes -
Brazil's Real-ly cool currency
4 votes -
Scientists stuck as China keeps foiling World Health Organization investigation on virus origin
16 votes -
The Great Deplatforming: An alternate explanation for the Parler, et al, shutdowns
A common current narrative is that tech monopolists are suddenly acting of their own initiative and in concert to deplatform the burgeoning fascist insurgent movement within the US. I approve the...
A common current narrative is that tech monopolists are suddenly acting of their own initiative and in concert to deplatform the burgeoning fascist insurgent movement within the US. I approve the deplatforming strongly, though I suspect an alternative significant motivating and coordfinating factor.
An example of the "tech monopoly abuse" narrative is Glenn Greenwald's more than slightly unhinged "How Silicon Valley, in a Show of Monopolistic Force, Destroyed Parler"
Greenwald's argument hinges on emotion, insinuation, invective, a completely unfounded premise, an absolute absence of evidence, and no consideration of alternative explanations: an overwhelmingly plausible ongoing law enforcement and national security operation, likely under sealed or classified indictments or warrants, in the face of ongoing deadly sedition lead by the President of the United States himself, including against the person of his own vice president and credible threats against the President-Elect and Inauguration.
Such an legal action is, of course, extraordinarily difficult to prove, and I cannot prove it. A critical clue for me, however, is the defection not just of Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Stripe, and other tech firms, but of Parler's legal counsel, who would have to be an exceptionally stealth-mode startup to fit Greenwald's, or other's, "it's the tech monopolists" narrative. I've tempered my degree of assurance and language ("plausible" rather than "probable"). Time will tell. But a keen and critical mind such as Grenwald's should at least be weighing the possibility. He instead seems bent only on piking old sworn enemies, with less evidence or coherence than I offer.
This is the crux of Greenwald's argument. It's all he's got:
On Thursday, Parler was the most popular app in the United States. By Monday, three of the four Silicon Valley monopolies united to destroy it.
I'm no friend of the tech monopolists myself. The power demonstrated here does concern me, greatly. I've long railed against Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, among other tech monopolists. Largely because as monopolies they are power loci acting through their occupation of a common resource, outside common control, and not serving the common weal. Hell: Facebook, Google (YouTube), Reddit, and Twitter played a massive role in creating the current fascist insurrection in the US, along with even more enthusiastic aid and comfort from traditional media, across the spectrum. Damage that will take decades to repair, if ever.
But, if my hypothesis is correct, the alternative explanation would be the opposite of this: the state asserting power over and through monopolies in the common interest, in support of democratic principles, for the common weal. And that I can support.
I don't know that this is the case. I find it curious that I seem to be the only voice suggesting it. Time should tell.
And after this is over, yes, Silicon Valley, in its metonymic sense standing for the US and global tech industry, has to face its monopoly problem, its free speech problem (in both sincere and insincere senses), its surveillance problem (capitalist, state, criminal, rogue actor), its censorship problem, its propaganda problem (mass and computational), its targeted manipulation adtech problem, its trust problem, its identity problem, its truth and disinformation problems, its tax avoidance problem, its political influence problem.
Virtually all of which are inherent aspects of monopoly: "Propaganda, censorship, and surveillance are all attributes of monopoly" https://joindiaspora.com/posts/7bfcf170eefc013863fa002590d8e506
HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24771470But, speaking as a space alien cat myself, Greenwald is so far off base here he's exited the Galaxy.
Update: 2h30m after posting, NPR have mentioned sealed indictments and speculated on whether the President might be charged, in special coverage.
Late edits: 2022-1-23 Typos: s/inconcert/in concert/; s/would bet he/would be the/;
19 votes -
Jacksonville Jaguars hire Urban Meyer to be Head Coach
9 votes -
ZUTOMAYO - Milabo (2020)
4 votes -
Louis Armstrong asked Richard Nixon to carry his bags through customs. The bags had marijuana in them.
13 votes -
Wikipedia turns twenty years old
18 votes -
What have you been listening to this week?
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)
Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
5 votes -
Game soundtracks: Listening to them outside the game and how they impact the game itself
I was curious how many people on here enjoy listening to game soundtracks outside of the game. I personally love when a game has a great soundtrack as it really adds to the atmosphere and overall...
I was curious how many people on here enjoy listening to game soundtracks outside of the game. I personally love when a game has a great soundtrack as it really adds to the atmosphere and overall immersion in the game. I also like collecting physical copies of them as well.
If you do, which ones are your favorite? Personally I love Shin Megami Tensei, Final Fantasy, and Blazblue soundtracks the most.
19 votes -
Magnus Carlsen expects to start back on the winning trail – Norway's world champion aims for yet another first prize at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament
6 votes -
Awesome Games Done Quick 2021 roundup - What were your favorite runs, and why?
Post your favorite runs, why they were your favorites, and ideally with a link to the VODs. (/r/speedrun VOD thread, for reference)
18 votes -
Leading politicians in Finland have expressed outrage after former prime minister Juha Sipilä was assaulted outside the country's Parliament building
9 votes -
Thoughts on the difficulties of content moderation, and implications for decentralised communities
12 votes -
Homeserver, hosted server, domains and stuff. What do you do, what should I do?
I'm having a "server" (very cheap, very old office pc) in my house I use together with dynamic dns. But it's not really stable, (needs regular restarts and dyndns is not really gold either) and as...
I'm having a "server" (very cheap, very old office pc) in my house I use together with dynamic dns. But it's not really stable, (needs regular restarts and dyndns is not really gold either) and as I want to offer family acces to nextcloud and myabe plex? any other ideas? and all the other nice stuff the free software world has to offer, this is not working well enough to not make them flee back to google + apple and stay there till eternity!
the other thing is, i got used to ssh and stuff over the last years and want to improve my skills and learn.
I know these two dont really go well hand in hand :-(
I actually have a decent up and down speed at my home so an upgrade for my existing system is thinkable but dyndns is just a PITA and i'd like having my own domain. do these work with changing ips? because with the prices they ask here for staric ips I can just rent a server in a center somewhere.
what do you do to self host, how do you do it and what would be your advise for me?
19 votes -
Despite the pandemic, venture capital investments in US-based companies set records in 2020, with almost $130B raised and 318 mega-rounds worth $100M or more
4 votes -
Pirate Bay founder thinks Parler’s inability to stay online is ‘embarrassing’
16 votes -
Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started...
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
6 votes -
The scary power of the companies that finally shut Trump up
25 votes -
Russia may fine citizens who use SpaceX’s Starlink Internet service
13 votes -
Declassification of secret document reveals US strategy in the Indo-Pacific
7 votes -
Norwegian Air gives up long-haul flying in plan to exit insolvency – seeks to raise as much as $590 million in new capital
7 votes -
Mozilla VPN desktop client now available on Linux
21 votes -
Daily thread - United States 2021 transition of power - January 13
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic,...
This thread is posted daily - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
18 votes -
Bullshit and truthlikeness
2 votes -
Watchmen explained (original comic)
6 votes -
Browservice demo - Browsing modern websites on retro computers
4 votes -
Science fiction movie recommendations
I just signed back up for the Netflix dvd subscription and am looking for some sci-fi movie recommendations. I tend to not like the horror themes but am open to just about anything else (even...
I just signed back up for the Netflix dvd subscription and am looking for some sci-fi movie recommendations. I tend to not like the horror themes but am open to just about anything else (even "bad" movies that are so bad they are good). Looking for movies that have come out in the last decade or so. May also be open to television series that can be had on dvd that were not on Netflix streaming.
27 votes -
I made a thing: Ode, an open source, self-hosted collaborative document editor
13 votes -
What programming/technical projects have you been working on?
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...
This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?
8 votes -
Sea shanties are here to save us
10 votes