Grumble4681's recent activity
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Comment on Google will require developer verification for Android apps outside the Play Store in ~tech
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Comment on A Palo Alto scientist's $10M plan to kill California redistricting in ~society
Grumble4681 LinkIt wouldn't necessarily be so bad if he had also dumped millions into Texas to stop them from redistricting. Wonder where his sense of duty was then. Mind you, it would still be bad, because no...It wouldn't necessarily be so bad if he had also dumped millions into Texas to stop them from redistricting. Wonder where his sense of duty was then.
Mind you, it would still be bad, because no single individual should be able to throw around millions of dollars to influence government even if they aren't being complete hypocrites about it, but that's a different issue.
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Comment on Google will require developer verification for Android apps outside the Play Store in ~tech
Grumble4681 Link ParentYeah basically stifle creation of or maintenance of many kinds of apps because it could result in someone getting harassed for one reason or another. Harassed by corporations via DMCA claims and...Yeah basically stifle creation of or maintenance of many kinds of apps because it could result in someone getting harassed for one reason or another. Harassed by corporations via DMCA claims and other bogus copyright claims, bogus legal threats and otherwise for anti-competitive reasons, and then all other kinds of work that aren't illegal but someone may not want to be publicly associated with because family, friends, coworkers, future potential employers etc. and while there may not be a public database that one could easily look up, it's not entirely clear yet how accessible this information would be. Given the current state of US government and just how many governments across the world are treating privacy, I have absolutely no faith that this information won't be trivially accessible even if there are no crimes being committed.
It's things like this that happen over time that have contributed to the erosion of people sharing their hobbies for fun and make it so the only way anything can be shared publicly is if you're willing to do it as a business and make money off it, because that's the only way you can justify all the potential headaches and hoops to jump through. I just think of the experience of going to the store front of Google Play to look for free games and comparing that to the days when you could go to the 'store front' of flash game websites and the direction those go in are completely different.
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Comment on McDonald’s is cutting prices of its combo meals to convince customers it’s affordable again in ~food
Grumble4681 Link ParentCigarettes, liquor etc. aren't necessary for survival, whereas food is. Sure, heavily processed food isn't necessary for survival, but if that is what is available to you within the constraints of...Cigarettes, liquor etc. aren't necessary for survival, whereas food is. Sure, heavily processed food isn't necessary for survival, but if that is what is available to you within the constraints of your living circumstances, then the tax is directly going towards making your survival more difficult.
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Comment on McDonald’s is cutting prices of its combo meals to convince customers it’s affordable again in ~food
Grumble4681 Link ParentThey did say this. It could easily be interpreted as that was their situation when they said "We", with the "we" being the children to the single mom.A single mom working two jobs probably isn't making food at home that is cheaper or healthier than McDonalds. We used the microwave far more often than than the stove (when it worked).
They did say this. It could easily be interpreted as that was their situation when they said "We", with the "we" being the children to the single mom.
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Comment on McDonald’s is cutting prices of its combo meals to convince customers it’s affordable again in ~food
Grumble4681 Link ParentI would disagree in the sense that it proposes this as though it's some unique event or that there aren't certain rules to how it works. Every day there's some suit wearing assholes somewhere out...I would disagree in the sense that it proposes this as though it's some unique event or that there aren't certain rules to how it works. Every day there's some suit wearing assholes somewhere out there going into a meeting with their bullshit charts and sheets of metrics and other information with their primary goal to make more money and with only enough concern for how they get it that it doesn't backfire on them. If they could sell you literal shit and get away with it without consequence, they would. Regulations and regulatory bodies help mitigate that, consumer self interest and competition are the primary force. You wouldn't want to eat shit and if you knew you were, you'd likely go anywhere else that doesn't serve literal shit after that.
Inflation is actually a reason to raise prices, including uncertainty of inflation. Perception cuts in multiple ways. You can perceive it as they raised prices too much initially and are resistant to lowering, but you can also perceive other actions as businesses constantly raising prices and baiting people in with low prices to begin with, like streaming services in the last decade or so. So if you are a business selling something, raising prices slightly that don't account for what the true costs of inflation will be in the next couple years not only costs you money, but could also negatively impact perception of your business more than if you had taken the hit in perception in one go rather than repeatedly over time.
The regulatory and market forces that keep any business from just charging whatever they wanted before are still there (well regulatory forces may change depending on what dipshit gets elected). But the point being that they couldn't sell you literal shit before because it would backfire on them, and just because significant inflation is occurring still doesn't mean they can sell you literal shit as it would still backfire on them. There's still a limit to what they can get away with.
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Comment on McDonald’s is cutting prices of its combo meals to convince customers it’s affordable again in ~food
Grumble4681 Link ParentThe calories aren't necessarily even the danger of fast food or restaurants in general. They can be, they'll happily serve up someone a 3000 calorie meal, but I've noticed a lot of fast food...The calories aren't necessarily even the danger of fast food or restaurants in general. They can be, they'll happily serve up someone a 3000 calorie meal, but I've noticed a lot of fast food places have started displaying calories on their menus (on the actual menu, on a website, or in the app) but they don't quite as prominently display some of the other nutritional facts. It's easy to clear 150% DV of saturated fats without touching 2000 calories even. There may even still be some that have trans fats and very high cholesterol, and the sodium can be pretty astronomical.
I think McDonalds shows 450ish calories for a Double Cheeseburger, which honestly doesn't seem that bad, but then you look at the other nutritional facts of it and its quite a bit worse. In fact if you look at their nutritional calculator and the figures they choose to display more prominently, a double cheeseburger is 440 calories, 25g protein, 12% DV of carbs and 30% DV of total fat. Those are the numbers they want you to focus on. But if you look at the smaller numbers below that, its 11g 57% DV of saturated fat, 1.5g trans fat, 1120mg 49% DV sodium.
So take two of those and you're only at 880 calories. It's not the calories that are the killer there.
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Comment on Sling TV launches new Select service in ~tv
Grumble4681 Link ParentThat selection of channels is basically what my parents watch. Thankfully not Fox News, but a lot of the rest of them.That selection of channels is basically what my parents watch. Thankfully not Fox News, but a lot of the rest of them.
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Comment on ‘Being short is a curse’: the men paying thousands to get their legs broken – and lengthened in ~life.men
Grumble4681 Link ParentNot that I would think any height really makes this type of procedure worthwhile, but if there actually is a scenario, this height seems to be closer to that than many other heights. What's the...Hell, the guy in the article is 5'6, which isn't even very short. It's slightly shorter than the male average, and still taller than the female average. It seems insane to have an excrutiating, permanently debilitating, extremely risky surgery to get a few inches taller when you're only 6% shorter than average.
Not that I would think any height really makes this type of procedure worthwhile, but if there actually is a scenario, this height seems to be closer to that than many other heights. What's the point of going from 5' to 5'3"? I can possibly see it in the sense that some women want a guy taller than them and those 3 inches might open up some opportunities, but beyond that, that height is still short. The extra 3 inches makes virtually no difference to how you're perceived, which is much shorter than average. At least going from 5'6" to 5'9" does very minorly adjust the circumstances. If 5'9" is the average for guys, then you may lose the perception of being short.
I'd personally never find this surgery to be worthwhile at any height if the only goal is to be a few inches taller. I suspect that if I were 5' tall and felt insecure about my height, I'd still feel insecure at 5'3" tall. Maybe I could convince myself by statistics that going from 5'6" to 5'9" means I'm not short anymore, but I also question if that would be enough, if I wouldn't still feel short anyhow. At a certain point, what you think about yourself can become divorced from reality. I could think I'm ugly as fuck and someone, or multiple people could tell me that I'm not, and it won't make a bit of difference, I'd still think I'm as ugly as fuck because what I'm comparing myself to and what other people are comparing me to can be very different things. That ties into what you mentioned about guys over 6' getting that procedure.
I'd be really curious to know if height itself will compensate for the disadvantages people feel they have if their height is not correlated with how they feel about themselves. If being 6' tall statistically means I'm more likely to get paid more and get laid more, but inside I still think and feel as insecure as I did when I was 5'9", does the increased height even do anything?
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Comment on Understanding what a VPN can do for you and how to pick the right one in ~tech
Grumble4681 Link ParentIt depends on the reason a person is using it, but Tailscale with Mullvad would not necessarily fulfill the same things that a VPN with port forwarding would. Based on what they said about "avoid...It depends on the reason a person is using it, but Tailscale with Mullvad would not necessarily fulfill the same things that a VPN with port forwarding would.
Based on what they said about "avoid anti-piracy nastygrams from my ISP". it would not accomplish the goal in that case. The 'hide-my-ip' feature of these VPN services is essential to participating in public torrent networks and the port forwarding is also needed for that as well, and since Mullvad does not support that anymore, Mullvad through Tailscale wouldn't either. The part of Tailscale that mitigates issues and needs of port forwarding is only useful if you are not trying to hide your IP address.
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Comment on Meta’s flirty AI chatbot invited a retiree to New York in ~tech
Grumble4681 (edited )Link ParentI would say it's quite a bit different because they emulate real to a degree that isn't replicated by the examples you gave or many other similar situations. They personalize to context in a way...I would say it's quite a bit different because they emulate real to a degree that isn't replicated by the examples you gave or many other similar situations. They personalize to context in a way those don't. If you begin to question the realness of an NPC saying you're the final hope of humanity, the NPC cannot respond or react to your confusion or attempt to persuade you to its realness. The same is true with POV porn video. If it's pre-programmed in there, then sure, but again the moment you go off its linear tracks it can't.
There was just a thread on here the other day that discussed whether people could actually believe AGI could be an "I". It specifically called out not talking about LLMs, but I think it does so because the participants on this site actually have a better understanding of an LLM than the average person and the average person is more susceptible to believing that LLMs are more capable than they are, I see the fundamental question of whether people are willing to believe such things are real or could be an "I" is as relevant to LLMs when it comes to the average person interacting with them. Just because it's labeled with "AI" doesn't mean someone couldn't easily perceive its ability to manipulate language in such dynamic ways that come across as real as a sentient human being as superseding a small "AI" label next to it.
I think of it like this. Without any labels, is it not easy to acknowledge an LLM can easily write and persuade people to what it has written in a way that is as compelling or more that it was written by an actual person? Without educating someone to the nature of how these work, a little AI label next to it is nowhere near as expressive or persuasive at conveying the nature of that AI chatbot to the extent the AI chatbot itself is capable of expressing and persuading someone with language that meets the target at their level and responds within context that person understands.
I would argue it's far more like a victim of targeted fraud, where you have a fraudster who can hand-tailor their fraudulence to the target and sometimes the victim is even warned of potential fraud and still falls for it because the fraudster then adapts their wording to account for those trying to blow up their scam. Even ones where they aren't super personalized on an on-going basis can be effective. I had a family member recently who said they fell for some toll-text scam where they supposedly owed toll money or something, and they fell for it because they recently traveled and it seemed plausible to them, even though they're typically aware of texting scams and don't fall for most other scams. Even when people know that these scammers exist, they still fall for the scams because sometimes they manage to appear just real enough that people let down their guard.
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Comment on California is moving forward with a partisan redistricting effort to counter Texas’ move in ~society
Grumble4681 Link ParentI think it could end in violence too. I think the issue is that because of the two party system, there's no representation for those 'pearl clutchers' or 'Independents' as you so blithely referred...I think it could end in violence too. I think the issue is that because of the two party system, there's no representation for those 'pearl clutchers' or 'Independents' as you so blithely referred to them.
I think with nearly all major violent events, you have people who must take on a mindset that goes too far, as far as is needed, to meet the opposition head on and take on that fight, but it's too far in the sense that it's not fit for the desired end state. It's a means to an end, and for that I think you need people who have the mindset of what that end actually is. You need means, and you need an end, and I think what it takes for both of them are fairly exclusive. I don't believe that someone who will go to the lengths needed to fight fire with fire is capable of recognizing when the battle is won and capable of coming back to normalcy, generally speaking. Not saying people can't or won't stop when a circumstance arises, but it isn't necessarily what is in their mind or their hearts and that can lead to expressions past when the fighting is done.
I'm just tired of people demonizing other people in a system that pits them against each other for representation. This system is set up so that you being represented denies others the opportunity to be represented. And because of this, people fight over how to get representation of any kind, and then its mud slinging about 'Independents' and 'pearl clutchers'. Fuck them for wanting representation. God damn if people spent half the energy they spent demonizing others for trying to get represented on pushing for a better representative system in the past hundred years or more, maybe, just maybe in all that time, we could have actually gotten somewhere and we wouldn't be in such a bad spot now. But time and time again, people fall for the same damn trick.
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Comment on Sydney Sweeney’s Hollywood career just got a whole lot more complicated in ~society
Grumble4681 Link ParentThe way I understood that quoted portion in the prior comment is not just about the people who are participating in the "democratic resistance" but also the 'opposition' to that resistance. The...The way I understood that quoted portion in the prior comment is not just about the people who are participating in the "democratic resistance" but also the 'opposition' to that resistance. The opposition to resistance having to defend the "actual policies" being implemented is different than taking defense in the symbolic battles.
If the opposition chooses to meet someone on the symbolic battlefield rather than the 'actual' battlefield, then they're inclined to take the battle before them, the symbolic one. And that opposition can use ad hominem arguments to bolster the perception of their position by making it seem like the 'democratic resistance' is making a mountain out of a molehill on this symbolic battle to bolster perception that they're also doing it on the 'actual' battles.
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Comment on North Korean Career Coaches in ~comp
Grumble4681 Link ParentEspecially as there can be crimes that are based around intent or the apparent attempt that getting caught before you prove you ultimately weren't going to work with them won't have a good look. I...Especially as there can be crimes that are based around intent or the apparent attempt that getting caught before you prove you ultimately weren't going to work with them won't have a good look. I don't know if that applies in this context as far as being guilty of any crimes, but I surely wouldn't want to take that risk. There's also the possibility, though seemingly remote, that the new employer could find out about how you got the job and I can't imagine that you'll have that job any longer.
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Comment on The Promised LAN in ~comp
Grumble4681 Link ParentSince it came up, figured I'd also mention that Zerotier is another service that functions similar to Tailscale, but it also has some Layer 2 functionality which just means that for certain...Since it came up, figured I'd also mention that Zerotier is another service that functions similar to Tailscale, but it also has some Layer 2 functionality which just means that for certain applications, and its more common with games in my experience, it can allow for greater connection capabilities. It's typically more associated with applications that 'scan' for other devices on the local network rather than ask you to put in an IP address to connect.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of July 21 in ~society
Grumble4681 Link ParentI figured this was coming soon enough. I'm likely to be a target of this order at some point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_Arbeitsscheu_Reich It's also clear they're still following the...I figured this was coming soon enough. I'm likely to be a target of this order at some point.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_Arbeitsscheu_Reich
It's also clear they're still following the same playbook.
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Comment on South Park mocks Donald Trump in ~tv
Grumble4681 Link ParentI never watched South Park growing up, and even now I turn it on more as background and I've of course seen clips linked occasionally and find some things funny. From what I've gathered, the...I never watched South Park growing up, and even now I turn it on more as background and I've of course seen clips linked occasionally and find some things funny. From what I've gathered, the creators have a bit of a libertarian perspective which I have very negative opinions of but the point here isn't to bash on that. What I do mean to say is that I think going after Trump should be on brand for them, like at the least it is consistent what I have seen from the show, from them, and read about them. I wouldn't say it's something that should be exclusive to leftists to go after Trump and thus I wouldn't see it as excusing their prior behavior at all as though it's somehow progress of their perspectives. It just happens to be more of an alignment of positions with the left or progressives rather than them adopting a progressive viewpoint that would otherwise have been inconsistent with their prior behaviors.
If anything, the lack of commentary on this matter would be wholly inconsistent with their perspectives and would be an even greater stain on them than their past behavior as it would be more like regression if they hadn't gone after him.
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Comment on After Steam, indie videogame store itch.io has also delisted erotic content in ~games
Grumble4681 (edited )Link ParentWhere does the money come from behind this organization? I assume any organization that gains this kind of traction has money backing it, is it targeted effectively to individual donors or are...Where does the money come from behind this organization? I assume any organization that gains this kind of traction has money backing it, is it targeted effectively to individual donors or are there more wealthy people behind it? I tried looking it up but I can't seem to find anything.
Edit: OK so I guess they're an Australian registered non-profit which seemingly the normal non-profit tracking sites I guess don't track Australian registered non-profits or for whatever reason don't track this one.
https://www.gg.org.au/charity/30162159097/collective-shout-limited/
That appears to be their financials, which seems relatively diminutive if they were able to successfully influence payment processors to pressure Valve to make those removals from the Steam store. I would have expected it would take more financial backing to apply that kind of pressure to these large companies.
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Comment on You can't outrun a bad diet in ~food
Grumble4681 Link ParentI'm sure it's different for everyone, but in my experience both food noise and eating out of boredom seem to co-exist and perhaps one contributes to the other. I eat when I'm bored, but if I...I'm sure it's different for everyone, but in my experience both food noise and eating out of boredom seem to co-exist and perhaps one contributes to the other. I eat when I'm bored, but if I attempt to resist eating when bored, then I more frequently think about eating and being hungry. If I can somehow avoid the initial boredom that triggers the sequence, then the food noise seems to stay quiet.
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Comment on Managers say they are having trouble finding candidates for nearly 400,000 US manufacturing and technical jobs in ~finance
Grumble4681 Link ParentNo long term plan exactly. No I do not have enough savings to keep up with it indefinitely. To an extent I am winging it yes. I don't look at it as a path to success. I see paths that lead nowhere...No long term plan exactly. No I do not have enough savings to keep up with it indefinitely. To an extent I am winging it yes. I don't look at it as a path to success. I see paths that lead nowhere and they demand more of me to walk those paths, or this path which seemingly also leads nowhere but demands less in the sense that all it requires is what I already have. As evidenced by what I saved, it's not as though I am impulsive or can only act in the short term, it was almost to the contrary; I was saving for the end of a life that I didn't even want to live through the middle of.
It seems like being "full on homeless" would be way more difficult and stressful than having a normal job.
Agreed. I wouldn't want to end up in that situation. The thing of it is that when I had a job and had money, there was nothing for me to spend money on that brought happiness or satisfaction. If there's anything in this world that would bring me happiness or satisfaction, money wasn't helping me get it, at least not with the amount of money I was realistically going to acquire. Money buys me survival and that's it. That's not to downplay it, because like every other living being, I'm hardwired to want to survive. So when I have no money, I'll have wished that I had it. I assume money will seem like water in a desert. However when I'm surrounded by water but all I have is water and I'm unhappy, I couldn't care less about water. In this context, water is something to drown in more than it is something that keeps me alive.
So with regards to becoming full on homeless, my only hope is that I'll have a quick exit before it comes to that, but that's not a near-term issue.
Well if you strictly look at direct competition among businesses, I can't think of much of a strong anti-competitive effect of this registration. But if you consider that Google's business is impacted by more than direct competition, there are significant implications here and while I'm not sure that has it fall under anti-competitive, it does bolster their bottom line so maybe in some context it could be seen as that.
For example, adblockers. Some of these are commercial, but some are not. The most popular adblocker that I'm familiar with anyhow, uBlock Origin, is well known to be made by Raymond Hill. As far as I know, it's not released commercially, and they refuse donations for that project. From what I recall, he walked away from the original uBlock because he didn't like the hassles of dealing with public expectations, criticisms and what not that come from having millions of people rely on something he made mostly for himself. So he's not anonymous in any way, but also adblockers have rarely been targeted for violating laws, copyright or otherwise, so I'm guessing he hasn't had to incur a lot of trouble that would otherwise have driven him away from keeping that project available publicly. I could see an alternate timeline or a future where adblockers are targeted more substantially and a project like uBlock Origin would not be sustainable if it required someone to associate their real name and other information with the project. While adblockers are generally not standalone apps as far as I'm aware, there are some apps modified with adblocking functions built in (think of patchers like ReVanced or what not where they can patch some apps to make it so they don't play ads, like Spotify, Youtube etc.)
There's another project under the name Bypass Paywalls Clean maintained by someone under the name Magnolia that used to be easily accessible on the extension stores and then got removed, then got taken down off github etc. and according to the developer it was constantly targeted by DMCA claims. Last I checked, it was only available on a Russian hosted github like website, presumably because they don't care about bogus DMCA claims. This isn't an app mind you just as uBlock Origin isn't, so I'm not stating this as a specific example, but conceptually it is quite transferable. I don't know if this Magnolia person is actually easily trackable in any way, but this move Google is pulling is the type that would basically all but eliminate a project like this.
Then there are the other types of projects, like alternative Youtube front-ends (which generally remove ads), content downloaders (like Youtube-dl), and likely myriads of other projects I have no awareness of. Google has made it very clear they have been going after these types of services, and even if you agree that Google has the right to do so because it costs them money to provide these services, I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine that we're not far from a future where people who have to put their names on these projects can be legally harassed into giving up, even if what they are doing isn't even technically illegal. For non-commercial projects, who really has the resources to deal with a company like Google or any other that might come after them with some bogus legal claim?