elgis's recent activity

  1. Comment on Update on developer access and platform security | Spotify for Developers in ~tech

  2. Comment on Web API Changelog - February 2026 | Spotify for Developers in ~comp

  5. Comment on The algorithm failed music in ~tech

    elgis
    Link
    Music streaming services insist on running algorithms in the background. But what if, instead of force-feeding people algorithmic recommendations, they provided tools for music exploration? For...

    Music streaming services insist on running algorithms in the background. But what if, instead of force-feeding people algorithmic recommendations, they provided tools for music exploration? For instance, something like Every Noise at Once, which offers the virtual equivalent of walking along the various genre sections of a record store, or Rate Your Music Custom Charts, which allow you to find music according to parameters that you specify.

    Spotify’s goal is to keep you listening no matter what. In her book Mood Machine, journalist Liz Pelly recounts a story told to her by a former Spotify employee in which Daniel Ek said, “our only competitor is silence.”

    According to this employee, Spotify leadership didn’t see themselves as a music company, but as a time filler. The employee explained that, “the vast majority of music listeners, they’re not really interested in listening to music per se. They just need a soundtrack to a moment in their day.”

    Simply providing a soundtrack to your day might seem innocent enough, but it informs how Spotify’s algorithm works. Its goal isn’t to help you discover new music, its goal is simply to keep you listening for as long as possible.

    […]

    In a world where most content is being served up to us algorithmically, whether that’s on Spotify, YouTube, or TikTok, music discovery has suffered. Market research firm MIDiA published an alarming study in September that said, “the more reliant users are on algorithms, the less music they hear.”

    I think this is the problem. Music streaming services and tech companies in general aren't putting control in the hands of users because (1) doing so won't benefit these companies according to the metrics they are using, and (2) most users have embraced passive consumption.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on How does one get started programming an Android app? in ~comp

    elgis
    Link Parent
    Glad to be of help. I had that link bookmarked, but I remember the Android website being a bit disorganized and unintuitive to navigate.

    Glad to be of help. I had that link bookmarked, but I remember the Android website being a bit disorganized and unintuitive to navigate.

    4 votes

  7. Comment on How does one get started programming an Android app? in ~comp

    elgis
    Link
    https://developer.android.com/courses/android-basics-compose/course The course on the Android website could be a good place to start. The first unit covers Kotlin and Android Studio.

    https://developer.android.com/courses/android-basics-compose/course

    The course on the Android website could be a good place to start. The first unit covers Kotlin and Android Studio.

    11 votes

  8. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~test

    elgis
    Link
    alksdjflaksjflkasdjflkasdjf

    alksdjflaksjflkasdjflkasdjf

  9. Comment on 2024 Spotify Wrapped thread in ~music

    elgis
    Link
    Artists: Ruins (Japanese noise rock/brutal prog, top 0.5%) Björk (art pop) Death Grips (industrial hip hop) Sun City Girls (experimental rock/avant-folk) Auktyon (Russian post-punk) I'm surprised...

    Artists:

    1. Ruins (Japanese noise rock/brutal prog, top 0.5%)
    2. Björk (art pop)
    3. Death Grips (industrial hip hop)
    4. Sun City Girls (experimental rock/avant-folk)
    5. Auktyon (Russian post-punk)

    I'm surprised Cocteau Twins aren't on here because I listened to them a lot in November. Perhaps they didn't make the cutoff for Spotify Wrapped.

    Outside of Spotify, I listened to a lot of Big Blood. Most of their music isn't on Spotify, but if it were, they would be my #1 for sure.

    Songs:

    1. ABBA - Eagle - Long Version (5 listens!)
    2. The Exploding Budgies - Thornfield
    3. Tessa Ia - Superestrella de la botella
    4. Victor Xamã - Vigésimo andar
    5. 13th Ward Social Club - Il nero a colori

    Since the beginning of this year, there has been a huge change in the way I listen to music. Nowadays, most of my music listening involves discovering music I have never heard before, so I rarely get the chance to give songs multiple listens. Apart from Eagle, my top 5 basically looks random to me (you'll notice none of my top songs are by my top artists). I wonder how Spotify picked my top 5.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on Recommend some new(ish) metal bands in ~music

    elgis
    Link Parent
    They don't sound like Babymetal, but I recommend Malikliya. They make j-pop-influenced blackgaze music.

    They don't sound like Babymetal, but I recommend Malikliya. They make j-pop-influenced blackgaze music.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Recommend some new(ish) metal bands in ~music

    elgis
    Link
    Bekor Qilish (black/death metal) Bríi, Kaatayra, Papangu (avant-garde/black metal bands from Brazil) Dreadnought (progressive metal) Trhä (extremely prolific black metal artist with ~30 albums...
    • Bekor Qilish (black/death metal)
    • Bríi, Kaatayra, Papangu (avant-garde/black metal bands from Brazil)
    • Dreadnought (progressive metal)
    • Trhä (extremely prolific black metal artist with ~30 albums from the last 5 years, not including albums released under their other names)
    3 votes

  12. Comment on One Million Checkboxes - a silly little game where (un)checking a box (un)checks it for everyone in ~games

    elgis
    Link
    This is like playing with bubble wrap but without sound and the bubbles can be unpopped.

    This is like playing with bubble wrap but without sound and the bubbles can be unpopped.

    4 votes

  13. Comment on Size matters? "Size" dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. in ~science

    elgis
    Link Parent
    Aside: the link doesn't seem to do anything if the linked comment is in a collapsed thread.

    Aside: the link doesn't seem to do anything if the linked comment is in a collapsed thread.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on React, Electron, and LLMs have a common purpose: the labour arbitrage theory of dev tool popularity in ~comp

    elgis
    Link
    I assume it's easier for companies to hire a React developer to replace another React developer than it is to replace a Marko developer with another Marko developer. But if Marko were more popular...

    I assume it's easier for companies to hire a React developer to replace another React developer than it is to replace a Marko developer with another Marko developer. But if Marko were more popular than React, the situation would be reversed. Therefore, I disagree with the author's claim (at least in the case of React) that it is popular because it enables labor arbitrage. Instead, I argue that it enables labor arbitrage because of its popularity.

    7 votes

  15. Comment on Any books for a beginner Go player? in ~games.tabletop

    elgis
    Link
    I liked the Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun. Book 4 of that series introduced me to some basic strategies for the middle game, which was often the most perplexing part of...

    I liked the Learn to Play Go series by Janice Kim and Jeong Soo-hyun. Book 4 of that series introduced me to some basic strategies for the middle game, which was often the most perplexing part of the game for me when I was a beginner.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Can you recommend songs or musicians/bands with lyrics in Spanish? in ~music

    elgis
    Link
    I'd like to recommend Vicente Navarro (folk/singer-songwriter from Spain). He sings very clearly, so it's easy to follow along with the lyrics.

    I'd like to recommend Vicente Navarro (folk/singer-songwriter from Spain). He sings very clearly, so it's easy to follow along with the lyrics.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on What’s the best way to self-learn the piano and guitar? in ~music

    elgis
    Link Parent
    I like how Justin emphasizes the importance of learning to play songs that you like. It puts the lessons in a musical context and makes practicing more fun. It also guides advancing guitarists in...

    I like how Justin emphasizes the importance of learning to play songs that you like. It puts the lessons in a musical context and makes practicing more fun. It also guides advancing guitarists in deciding what skills to work on when they transition from learning from a teacher to learning on their own.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~society

    elgis
    Link Parent
    Do you have any recommendations on where I can read more about this?

    ...but that doesn't necessarily mean the better alternative is to dissolve that nation-state and create fractals of more and more specific societies. Haidt makes a good point that trying to divide ourselves further and further into microcosms is bad for representative democracy...

    Do you have any recommendations on where I can read more about this?

  19. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~humanities

    elgis
    Link
    The advantage is that by evaluating actions according to their consequences, we no longer have to worry about moral dilemmas? Is consequentialism free of moral dilemmas?

    An advantage of not insisting on logical consistency as a sine qua non of any acceptable moral position or ethical theory is that we will be more likely to give due weight to pragmatic considerations. Consider the abortion debate again. Much ink has been spilled constructing sophisticated arguments to show that allowing abortion is or is not consistent with certain other precepts we adhere to. But an alternative approach is to cut the Gordian knot by not worrying about that and simply asking instead: what are the likely consequences of allowing or prohibiting abortion?

    The advantage is that by evaluating actions according to their consequences, we no longer have to worry about moral dilemmas? Is consequentialism free of moral dilemmas?

    2 votes

  20. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~humanities

    elgis
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I think the author is talking about two different types of consistency. One is consistency in how we treat people in similar situations (fairness). The other is logical consistency in justifying...

    I think the author is talking about two different types of consistency. One is consistency in how we treat people in similar situations (fairness). The other is logical consistency in justifying moral statements ("if A implies B, and we hold A to be true, then we should accept B. And for the sake of consistency, we should also accept any possible consequence of A."). As I understand it, the author is suggesting to drop consistency as a necessary condition.

    Being morally consistent is like putting all your eggs in one basket. What if we based all our actions on an incorrect assumption?

    3 votes