Eric_the_Cerise's recent activity
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Comment on Ukraine struck Yandex data centers, Russian bots went silent—now questions are mounting in ~society
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Comment on How Ukraine uses precision drone strikes to hobble Russian oil refineries in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentUnfortunately, the US has many, many additional levels of "leverage" at their disposal ... block Ukraine access to Starlink, cut Ukraine off from US military sat intelligence ... then come the...Untethering Ukraine from US aid means the US has no leverage.
Unfortunately, the US has many, many additional levels of "leverage" at their disposal ... block Ukraine access to Starlink, cut Ukraine off from US military sat intelligence ... then come the uglier options ... grant Russia access to Starlink, grant Russia access to US military sat intelligence, violate the sanctions and start (either openly or surreptitiously) supplying Russia with critical components to rebuild refineries and other infrastructure, supplying Russia with ballistic missile components, supplying Russia with weapons, pressuring/sanctioning EU countries for continuing to support Ukraine ... And on and on, all the way up to, potentially, launching US strikes on Ukraine right alongside Russian attacks.
If you think "cutting off PURL" is the worst Trump can do...
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Comment on New EU-created Search Index in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise LinkI just saw the news that Ecosia has (bizarrely) decided to drop its French AI partner, Mistral, in favor of a Chinese model with questionable morals. Reminded me that, two years ago, Ecosia and...I just saw the news that Ecosia has (bizarrely) decided to drop its French AI partner, Mistral, in favor of a Chinese model with questionable morals.
Reminded me that, two years ago, Ecosia and Qwant made a big announcement that they were starting a joint venture together, to build a fully in-house, EU-based search index to challenge the Google/Bing duopoly.
... and then I never heard anything more about it.
Turns out, I missed not one, but two big follow-ups, and I figured if I missed them, maybe you did, too.
Last year, the new search index went live in France, and just a couple of months ago, it went live in Germany, too.
I'm still figuring out what this means ... there's no new dedicated front-end search service connected to it (yet?), and even the algorithm/engine that uses the index is still being developed. Both Qwant and Ecosia search engines are (apparently) in the on-going process, behind the scenes, of gradually shifting their search results to come less and less from Google, and more and more from their homegrown index.
But, anyway, there it is, an Index of one's own for the Internet.
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New EU-created Search Index
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Blue-collar effective altruism
I started out this morning, asking my chosen LLM, well ... this: The philosophy and subject of "effective altruism" has become some kind of controversial subject, relating to billionaires...
I started out this morning, asking my chosen LLM, well ... this:
The philosophy and subject of "effective altruism" has become some kind of controversial subject, relating to billionaires justifying cut-throat approaches to earning more billions that they can then donate to the "right" causes after they get tired of their corporate overlordship. Hmm ... that was more rant-y than I intended. My point and my question is just, what are quick and easy, reliable, effective ways of figuring out which causes, organizations, open-source projects, non-profits, NGOs, etc, are A) most deserving, and B) most in need. Eg, I have $5/month to donate to a cause ... how do I quickly determine whether that money should go to Wikipedia, Tor, or F-Droid ... or some other org that I've completely overlooked?
My LLM, like most of them, loves the sound of its own voice, so I'll spare you the full response. It did give me some good meta-charity links to explore--
But then it spent much of the rest of its answer subtly shaming me away from OpenSource projects and towards charities directly focused on helping people in need. I haven't yet decided how I feel about that.
But regardless, I wanted to also ask real live human beings about this.
Note that I do not want a debate about just how bad is "effective altruism" as understood by the billionaire class, and/or the progressive Left. I am not (yet) willing to relinquish that term to the Bill Gates of the world.
What I do want to talk about, is what that term really should mean (according to me); how do I best decide who to donate money to?
I'm prepared to set up an extra $20/month or $50/month, or some other small chunk of spare change, to support causes I believe in ... but I want to figure out, objectively, which of those causes actually need the money the most, and/or which of those causes are going to put my money to the best use -- as I define it (which is, obviously, a subjective metric ... but still, the metric I care about).
As a brief follow-up on my hypothetical to the LLM ... as much as I use it, I am always immediately inclined to want to donate to Wikipedia, but a bit of digging quickly shows that they're basically doing fine ... meanwhile, if that's the kind of thing you want to donate money to, the Internet Archive is waaay more desperately in need of an extra $5/month from people like me. So I'm looking for ways of finding, you know that guy.
12 votes -
Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise (edited )Link Parent... just as Ford famously forced all automakers to install seatbelts. Hey, apologies, that was snarky. A proper response is to point out that an advertising company further locking down its "open"...... just as Ford famously forced all automakers to install seatbelts.
Hey, apologies, that was snarky.
A proper response is to point out that an advertising company further locking down its "open" product (after I bought it, but let's not even open that can of worms) to further consolidate its stealth monopoly is the polar opposite of "regulation". Given the motivation, I believe I could make a strong argument that this is actually "late-stage Libertarianism".
Governments regulate products for consumer protection. Ad companies do not.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise LinkReading the comments in here ... IDK ... perhaps we've reached that stage where a large percentage--perhaps even a majority--of people have effectively forgotten what it means to own stuff. I...Reading the comments in here ... IDK ... perhaps we've reached that stage where a large percentage--perhaps even a majority--of people have effectively forgotten what it means to own stuff.
I mean, when did we get to the point that people seriously think an advertising company deserves any say whatsoever in what we do with our own phones?
This company's entire reason for existing is to sell advertising space to companies, and to credibly convince those companies that their ads will be seen by a lot of people who are predisposed to spend money because of those ads.
Where does "protecting phone owners from themselves" enter into that equation?
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Comment on Become worthless (to tech companies) in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentI'm still heavily reliant on Amazon, too, so I sympathize. That said, for the last two years, I have made a habit of doing my shopping on Amazon, and then going thru my cart, item by item, and...I'm still heavily reliant on Amazon, too, so I sympathize.
That said, for the last two years, I have made a habit of doing my shopping on Amazon, and then going thru my cart, item by item, and searching online for alternate vendors, either online or in actual brick-&-mortar shops near me.
Finding online alternates are usually (~10-20%) cheaper, occasionally the same price, rarely more expensive. Free shipping is usually available, though often only with a minimum order (which has rarely been an issue for me; I buy in bulk).
The main hassle is just the extra time and effort of finding them, and navigating new-&-different payment and shipping processes.
That said, at this point, easily 50% of the stuff I used to buy on Amazon (particularly the repeat purchases), now comes from somewhere else ... most of it, from the actual source companies directly, that also market their stuff on Amazon.
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Comment on European governments see a threatening Russian campaign of covert and deniable actions aimed at unsettling Ukraine's allies and eroding Western unity in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise (edited )Link ParentI hope you're right. The talk of invading Canada and Greenland ... that was not just rhetoric. Trump was prepared to do that -- hell, he still might try Canada (or at least Alberta). Trump Admin...I hope you're right. The talk of invading Canada and Greenland ... that was not just rhetoric. Trump was prepared to do that -- hell, he still might try Canada (or at least Alberta).
Trump Admin has spent a lot of energy firing/retiring any military leadership that would have resisted. Whether the rank-&-file refuse such orders ... IDK, seems like a tall order.
Addendum: I'm not talking about a 2nd D-day. There are feasible scenarios. Eg, Russia takes over Narva, a tiny piece of Estonia, officially to save the poor beleagered ethnic Russians there, from the evil oppressive Estonian govt. Estonia calls Article 5. Trump not only refuses to help, but declares that he believes Putin's cover story ... orders the rest of the EU to "stay out of it, let Russia and Estonia resolve it themselves". Other EU countries come to Estonia's aid anyway. Trump takes that opportunity to start throwing missiles at one or two of the EU countries that pissed him off by not helping him overthrow Iran. I'm sure Spain is still on his shit list.
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Comment on European governments see a threatening Russian campaign of covert and deniable actions aimed at unsettling Ukraine's allies and eroding Western unity in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentI appreciate that any erosion of unity among NATO members is already a strong "win" for Putin. Nevertheless ... what happens if 28 out of 32 NATO members step up? NATO is materially weakened, yes,...I appreciate that any erosion of unity among NATO members is already a strong "win" for Putin. Nevertheless ... what happens if 28 out of 32 NATO members step up? NATO is materially weakened, yes, but Putin also still gets his ass handed to him.
Of course, the EU also has their own "NATO 2.0" agreement, which is, arguably, even stronger than the NATO Article 5 agreement.
Honestly, I've been arguing for 2 years now, that the worst case is not, "the EU has to defend itself alone against Russia" but rather, "the US actively allies with Russia against the EU, which is suddenly fighting a war on two-plus fronts, and dealing with multiple US-sourced military hardware that inexplicably keeps failing to work as advertised".
In any case ... interesting times.
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Comment on F-Droid 2.0: A new chapter for Android freedom in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise LinkI did not see any commentary on how/if this relates to the upcoming Google blacklist of "unapproved" apps. I'm a bit surprised that they released this massive overhaul just a few months before the...I did not see any commentary on how/if this relates to the upcoming Google blacklist of "unapproved" apps. I'm a bit surprised that they released this massive overhaul just a few months before the Google blackout begins ... although, they've clearly been working on it for a year or more, and I guess, before the blackout is certainly better than after.
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Comment on F-Droid 2.0: A new chapter for Android freedom in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentSame here ... I am running version 1.23.2, added on 2/20/26. I get the message "This app was built for an older version of Android and cannot be updated automatically" ... but I have the option of...Same here ... I am running version 1.23.2, added on 2/20/26. I get the message "This app was built for an older version of Android and cannot be updated automatically" ... but I have the option of manually updating to the latest 2.0.1 version, released yesterday.
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Comment on European governments see a threatening Russian campaign of covert and deniable actions aimed at unsettling Ukraine's allies and eroding Western unity in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise (edited )Link ParentI mean, honestly, I expect the Democrats to win the House in November, followed by 6+ months of courtroom chaos trying to get Trump to let them actually enter the building and start voting. It is...I mean, honestly, I expect the Democrats to win the House in November, followed by 6+ months of courtroom chaos trying to get Trump to let them actually enter the building and start voting. It is during such domestic govt disarray that Putin will have considerable latitude to test NATO.
Assuming Dems actually do become the accepted majority in at least one House of Congress ... I still don't know how much they can do--or will be willing to do--to support NATO/the EU (foreign policy is still a primarily Executive sphere) ... but at a minimum, they will make life a lot harder for Trump at home.
Addendum: According to my scorecard, even if the US doesn't lift a finger to help, the rest of NATO would kick Putin's ass in a "fair fight" ... the problem is, Putin is not afraid of having that fight (or, at a minimum, is convincingly bluffing this), while the EU is. The EU is still collectively wrapping theirs heads around the idea that they're actually pretty strong w/o the US backing them up.
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Comment on European governments see a threatening Russian campaign of covert and deniable actions aimed at unsettling Ukraine's allies and eroding Western unity in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentJust my opinion, but I think Putin's window of opportunity is much tighter here. If US Dems win at least one House of Congress in November (seems likely), I expect to see this "Article 5" attack...I would think this would come before Trump's term is up...and he's not a healthy dude, so that could be before 2029.
Just my opinion, but I think Putin's window of opportunity is much tighter here. If US Dems win at least one House of Congress in November (seems likely), I expect to see this "Article 5" attack before they actually seat the new Congress in January. US (govt) support for Russia will never be higher than it is right now.
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Comment on Hundreds of Beavers in ~movies
Eric_the_Cerise (edited )LinkWell ... off to explore "alternate providers". Addendum ... Now I understand the OP comment about Sam Reich and int'l users. Will try official alternatives before going down the dark path.Sorry, video is not currently available in your country.
Well ... off to explore "alternate providers".
Addendum ... Now I understand the OP comment about Sam Reich and int'l users. Will try official alternatives before going down the dark path.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
Eric_the_Cerise (edited )Link ParentWhat about it? Russian was different for me, in that it's the only language that I only studied in written form; never tried to speak or listen to it, just reading and writing. Never got as far as...What about it?
Russian was different for me, in that it's the only language that I only studied in written form; never tried to speak or listen to it, just reading and writing.
Never got as far as some of the other languages.
Today, all I remember are a few of the slang-y expressions from A Clockwork Orange (the novel incorporates a street-slang that is basically just corrupted Russian, e.g. "Horrorshow" means something is cool or awesome, derives from the Russian "Horosho" (I may be spelling that wrong) which just means "good").
I no longer even remember the Cyrillic alphabet, but I do remember, anecdotally, that if you simply learn the alphabet -- which odd-looking Cyrillic letters correspond to which Latin letters -- you magically discover that a really surprisingly large amount of Russian is just obvious cognates. It's not like you suddenly understand all Russian, but an amazing number of billboards and ads and street signs are suddenly quite readable.
Edit/Addendum: Two other languages that I've never gotten very far with, but I did study a bit, were Mandarin and Esperanto.
Esperanto in particular continues to interest me as a possible language-learning catalyst. There are studies that document that if, eg, you spend 6 months learning Esperanto, and then 2 years learning French, you will end up learning more French, better, than if you just spend 3 years learning French.
Unfortunately, my understanding is, that catalyst effect is real, but mainly only works for the 2nd language. For 3rd languages and beyond, the "Esperanto effect" is minimal.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
Eric_the_Cerise (edited )Link ParentJust de and het, the definite articles. Een is an indefinite article, different category. And the issue is that each noun takes either de or het, and it's largely (apparently) random which noun...Just de and het, the definite articles. Een is an indefinite article, different category. And the issue is that each noun takes either de or het, and it's largely (apparently) random which noun gets which article.
Spanish (and, I believe, French, no doubt many others) have the same issue. In German, why are all dogs masculine, all cats feminine, and all animals are neuter (der Hund, die Katze, das Tier)? Why are doors feminine but windows are neuter? etc.
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentI had the advantage of German under my belt. It's not perfect, but much (most?) of Dutch articles maps directly to German articles, which are arguably even worse (we have 3 of them and damn but...I had the advantage of German under my belt. It's not perfect, but much (most?) of Dutch articles maps directly to German articles, which are arguably even worse (we have 3 of them and damn but the entire rest of the sentence structure really depends on knowing them by heart).
That said, though, I never got far on Dutch. I actually spoke Dutch better while I still lived in Hungary--pre-learning it before I moved to the Neth--than I ever learned it once I got there ... the whole "Dutch people switch to English at the drop of a hat" syndrome killed my Dutch progress.
Addendum: Learning German, there are quite a large number of clues, categories and rules that mostly work for the articles ... but ultimately, the best advice is to aggressively learn the article + noun combo as a single unit. Your Anki card is not "Katze" but "die Katze" ... and if you didn't know the "die", you didn't know the word.
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Comment on EU turns to Norway and Canada for space launch sites – space commissioner is touring potential locations for launchers as the bloc tries to boost its satellite capabilities in ~space
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentIn particular, you want a nice far distance from civilization to the east of the launch site. This is why the southern US East Coast is so popular. 99.9% of launches are launching towards the...In particular, you want a nice far distance from civilization to the east of the launch site. This is why the southern US East Coast is so popular. 99.9% of launches are launching towards the east, so that's the direction you need to be free of population centers.
The EU is unlucky in this regard, in that they don't have a lot of east-facing coastline.
I suppose they could start launching from the EU's eastern borders and start raining exploding rocket debris down on Russia....
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Comment on What is your pet peeve with language acquisition? in ~humanities.languages
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentI would agree with this, with the added note that the ideal learning program is the most efficient possible blending of these two "halves" into a single program ... learning the vocab and the...I would agree with this, with the added note that the ideal learning program is the most efficient possible blending of these two "halves" into a single program ... learning the vocab and the sentence structure via Anki, and then later that same day, using those things in conversation with natives ... trying to hit this rhythmic back and forth pace, word by word.
I would add as a gripe, that you can learn all the grammar, all the sentence structure, have the top 10,000 words memorized ... and you still don't know jack. The languages are all, like, 80% idiomatic; you don't know a word until you fully absorb all of the context and circumstances and situations in which it is used ... and that irritates me.
FWIW, I'm in favor of Ukraine taking out all the remaining Yandex data centers, you know, just to help test the theory....