krellor's recent activity
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Comment on How do you organize all your electronic gadgets/accessories? in ~life.home_improvement
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Comment on Solar power is changing life deep in the Amazon in ~enviro
krellor LinkArchive link for this hit by the paywall.Archive link for this hit by the paywall.
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Comment on Ford just reported a massive loss on every electric vehicle it sold in ~transport
krellor Link ParentIt could also be learning curve like for airframes, where you know your cost to produce to build, factoring all overhead, is more than you sell each unit for, but you know costs will go down with...It could also be learning curve like for airframes, where you know your cost to produce to build, factoring all overhead, is more than you sell each unit for, but you know costs will go down with assembly efficiencies, scale efficiencies, and more units sold.
What I'm dubious about is the CEOs claim that their next model will cover its own costs.
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Comment on Ford just reported a massive loss on every electric vehicle it sold in ~transport
krellor LinkThe article does clarify that these are losses at the division level, not necessarily a loss in terms of direct costs being greater than revenue from unit sales. Basically, the overhead of capital...The article does clarify that these are losses at the division level, not necessarily a loss in terms of direct costs being greater than revenue from unit sales. Basically, the overhead of capital and plant, future R&D, etc, significantly exceeds the contribution margins for each vehicle.
They need to sell more in order to defray these costs across more units.
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Comment on I don't think I'm 'grokking' how the fediverse works. (Or at least, how following federated accounts works) in ~tech
krellor Link Parent@scrambo To add on to this, I would suggest trying mbin, like at fedia.io. Open up the magazines and search for "comic" and for me the first result is comicstrips@lemmy.world. If you open it you...@scrambo
To add on to this, I would suggest trying mbin, like at fedia.io. Open up the magazines and search for "comic" and for me the first result is comicstrips@lemmy.world. If you open it you should see the posts, thumbnails, contents, and even a list of all the duplicate posts across the fediverse.I find that kbin and mbin do a better job of feathering the different fediverse content together. But yeah, activity pub is pulling together different kinds of content, and the individual softwares are giving an opinionated view of them.
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Comment on Authors of Tildes: How well do you know your own book when you publish? in ~creative
krellor Link ParentWere they writing persuasive narratives? Those are what I spend the most time on worrying about flow, though I don't do much persuasive or opinionated writing anymore.Were they writing persuasive narratives? Those are what I spend the most time on worrying about flow, though I don't do much persuasive or opinionated writing anymore.
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Comment on Authors of Tildes: How well do you know your own book when you publish? in ~creative
krellor LinkI've written textbooks and textbook companions, TTRPG systems, academic publications, and a few other eclectic things. Most of the time I know them extremely well. I have had a few papers where I...I've written textbooks and textbook companions, TTRPG systems, academic publications, and a few other eclectic things. Most of the time I know them extremely well. I have had a few papers where I completed my section and was pretty sick of it, so handed it off to collaborators to finish without me. Those I wouldn't know the details outside of my own section.
I think if you are writing something fact based, rules based, etc, where you have painstakingly examined what is correct or true, that tends to stick in your mind for a long time.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor Link ParentI very much agree. I think people are so used to the Pax Americana and after glow of the end of the cold war, that they aren't sensitive to the developing animosities and need to protect national...I very much agree. I think people are so used to the Pax Americana and after glow of the end of the cold war, that they aren't sensitive to the developing animosities and need to protect national interests. As much as I wish it wasn't the case, we seem to be entering a period of international unrest.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor Link ParentI agree. The CCP has stated that they wouldn't approve the sale of the algorithms in TikTok, which might be for very pedestrian reasons of disincentivizing a sale, or could indicate there is...I agree. The CCP has stated that they wouldn't approve the sale of the algorithms in TikTok, which might be for very pedestrian reasons of disincentivizing a sale, or could indicate there is something to the claims.
Either way, I agree that it is hard to really get a sense of the inner workings and objectively categorize what is happening.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor (edited )Link ParentI think it is fair to ask questions of a study and recognize its limitations. However, the CATO blog post doesn't really add much to the discussion other than raising the issue of lifetimes of the...I think it is fair to ask questions of a study and recognize its limitations. However, the CATO blog post doesn't really add much to the discussion other than raising the issue of lifetimes of the platforms and differences in users.
They don't address that the findings weren't present for control topics or the consistency of the underrepresentation for China sensitive topics, including topics that were internationally relevant during the lifetime of both platforms.
So that blog post, while a helpful perspective, is hardly a point by point refutation of the findings.
Edit: I also think it is important to scrutinize the source for conflicts of interest or bias, in addition to weighing the merits of the message. CATO is a partisan think tank, where Rutgers and NCRI don't have an official political affiliation. That said, you should scrutinize for bias from any source. In this case, Rutgers and NCRI provided a methodology to scrutinize, including replicating Tiktoks own methods and using their tools as part of the analysis. In contrast, the CATO institute gave very vague criticisms and no subsequent analysis to assess. Of course, they couldn't replicate the analysis very easily, because TikTok decided to neuter their tools rather than provide a counter analysis. Which is rather sus, I believe is the term the kids use today.
So my partisan bias detector goes off a bit more with CATO blog than the Rutgers paper.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor Link ParentThe US has had laws for years regulating foreign ownership of broadcast stations. This feels like the digital equivalent.The US has had laws for years regulating foreign ownership of broadcast stations. This feels like the digital equivalent.
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Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
krellor (edited )Link ParentTo add on to this, TikTok content has a pro-china tilt with notably less content related to topics objectionable to the CCP, and videos supporting the side of world events that China supports. In...To add on to this, TikTok content has a pro-china tilt with notably less content related to topics objectionable to the CCP, and videos supporting the side of world events that China supports. In response to these findings, TikTok simply removed the search tools that let the analysis take place.
And as I've commented before TikTok has historically been very porous, leaking data from the US operations to Chinese based platforms.
And the history of the bill shows that as lawmakers on both sides learned more their support for the ban only increased. It was probably a bad look for TikTok to fight accusations of weaponizing their platform, by pushing an alert to their users to call Congress and pressure them. I get why they did, but talk about acting out the exact scenario some were warning about.
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Comment on US Federal Trade Commission bans new noncompete agreements in ~life
krellor Link ParentI'm not an expert on the litigation side of things, but is it easier to challenge a rule implemented by a rule making agency then to challenge a law passed by Congress? For example, the forced...I'm not an expert on the litigation side of things, but is it easier to challenge a rule implemented by a rule making agency then to challenge a law passed by Congress? For example, the forced sale/ban of TikTok is expected to result in litigation. I suppose a rule gives the plaintiffs in a case a few more arguments and lines of reasoning to challenge, but ultimately you are filling a federal lawsuit to challenge either one.
That said, it is definitely true that it is easier for an agency to change the rules than for Congress to pass a law.
And we will see how the Chevron deferance plays out. I have been watching that issue and am curious to see where it lands.
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Comment on US Federal Trade Commission bans new noncompete agreements in ~life
krellor Link ParentI don't know that there is a difference that makes a difference between a rule and a law when you are talking about rule making authority. Source Barring any major changes in the legislative or...I don't know that there is a difference that makes a difference between a rule and a law when you are talking about rule making authority.
A valid legislative rule is binding upon all persons, and on the courts, to the same extent as a congressional statute. When Congress delegates rulemaking authority to an agency, and the agency
adopts legislative rules, the agency stands in the place of Congress and makes law.” National Latino Media Coalition v. Federal Communications
Commission, 816 F.2d 785, 788 (D.C. Cir. 1987)Barring any major changes in the legislative or judicial branches, rules are laws and recorded as such in the CFR or Federal Register.
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Comment on How GM tricked millions of drivers into being spied on (including me) (gifted link) in ~transport
krellor LinkOne thing I left out of the summary, but is also important is that when multiple owners were listed on the title, the combined driving data was only shared under the first owners name. This seems...One thing I left out of the summary, but is also important is that when multiple owners were listed on the title, the combined driving data was only shared under the first owners name.
I had requested my own LexisNexis file while reporting, but it didn’t have driving data on it. Though both of our names are on the car’s title, the data from our Bolt accrued to my husband alone because the G.M. dealership listed him as the primary owner.
This seems like another critical point that will be litigated. And until cars start verifying the identity of the driver, will hopefully be an ongoing damper against setting rates based on collected metrics.
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Comment on How GM tricked millions of drivers into being spied on (including me) (gifted link) in ~transport
krellor Link ParentI'll be buying a new car in the next few years, and after this there is no chance it will be from GM. What a waste of goodwill.I'll be buying a new car in the next few years, and after this there is no chance it will be from GM. What a waste of goodwill.
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Comment on How GM tricked millions of drivers into being spied on (including me) (gifted link) in ~transport
krellor Link ParentWell, I used the term GM gave when describing the difference in what is shown between the app and the web interface to avoid editorializing the summary. However, I tend to agree that this seems...Well, I used the term GM gave when describing the difference in what is shown between the app and the web interface to avoid editorializing the summary. However, I tend to agree that this seems like a pattern of intentional design choices to obscure what the customer is consenting to. Having spent a fair amount of time reviewing consent forms for clinical trials, this whole process of GMs feels intentionally misleading to those signing up.
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Comment on How GM tricked millions of drivers into being spied on (including me) (gifted link) in ~transport
krellor LinkI remember a few threads about this and decided to share some follow-up. Critically: And this: TLDR: software bug and perverse incentives.I remember a few threads about this and decided to share some follow-up.
G.M.’s spokeswoman had told me that this data collection happened only to people who turned on OnStar, its connected services plan, and enrolled in Smart Driver, a gamified program that offers feedback and digital badges for good driving, either at the time of purchase or via their vehicle’s mobile app.
That wasn’t us — and I had checked to be sure. In mid-January, again while reporting, I had connected our car to the MyChevrolet app to see if we were enrolled in Smart Driver. The app said we weren’t, and thus we had no access to any information about how we drove.
Critically:
But in April, when we found out our driving had been tracked, my husband signed into a browser-based version of his account page, on GM.com, which said our car was enrolled in “OnStar Smart Driver+.” G.M. says this discrepancy between the app and the website was the result of “a bug” that affected a “small population” of customers. That group got the worst possible version of Smart Driver: We couldn’t get insights into our driving, but insurance companies could.
And this:
According to G.M., our car was enrolled in Smart Driver when we bought it at a Chevrolet dealership in New York, during the flurry of document-signing that accompanies the purchase of a new vehicle. That this happened to me, the rare consumer who reads privacy policies and is constantly on the lookout for creepy data collection, demonstrates what little hope there was for the typical car buyer.
To find out how it happened, I called our dealership, a franchise of General Motors, and talked to the salesman who had sold us the car. He confirmed that he had enrolled us for OnStar, noting that his pay is docked if he fails to do so. He said that was a mandate from G.M., which sends the dealership a report card each month tracking the percentage of sign-ups.
TLDR: software bug and perverse incentives.
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How GM tricked millions of drivers into being spied on (including me) (gifted link)
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Comment on The troubling trend in teenage sex (it's strangulation) (gifted link) in ~life
krellor Link ParentCritically, this is an opinion piece, and some of the issues you point out is why you need to approach opinion pieces differently then regular investigative pieces. In regular investigative...Critically, this is an opinion piece, and some of the issues you point out is why you need to approach opinion pieces differently then regular investigative pieces. In regular investigative articles, the editor will help ensure unfounded or ambiguous statements don't get through.
As an aside, I read this article a little bit ago and remember part where she describes both young men and women asking why the other is into choking. My first thought is that if there was ever one single thing that would help young people, and the world in general it would be this: almost anytime you ask the question "why is broad group into/like this <very specific things>?" the answer should almost always be, they aren't, that it's an over extrapolation based on an infrequent anecdote. If we could guide people past reductive thought patterns, and approach everyone they meet as an individual, si much harm, drama, and confusion would be avoided.
For me the first step was really making sure I only had what was useful. After that, the right solution really depends on how much we are talking about. I found it nice to have a few of those zip binders with pockets for cables and dongles, stored in a backpack, bag, or container.
But really, reducing is the biggest thing. Do you really need old power bricks? Can you replace many random chargers with one universal charger, etc.