mordae's recent activity

  1. Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies

    mordae
    Link Parent
    No they don't. It comes from the grant money and the bureaucracy takes care of that. But getting bureaucracy purchase access to every single article you want to read (that the bulk subscription...

    No they don't. It comes from the grant money and the bureaucracy takes care of that. But getting bureaucracy purchase access to every single article you want to read (that the bulk subscription does not cover) is basically impossible. Hence piracy.

    3 votes

  2. Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies

    mordae
    Link
    Our household has Netflix, Apple TV and HBO Max subscriptions. I still download the shows elsewhere since those won't let me play it inside my custom mpv-based player on Linux, running on a NUC by...

    Our household has Netflix, Apple TV and HBO Max subscriptions. I still download the shows elsewhere since those won't let me play it inside my custom mpv-based player on Linux, running on a NUC by my (untuned) TV.

    All those companies know the shows are widely available on torrents without DRM, in 4K, but they still insist on 720p for Linux because otherwise I might share them. I mean... as opposed to sending a magnet link?

    10 votes

  3. Comment on Inside Pixar’s scrapped movie ‘Be Fri’ and the “devastating” aftermath in ~movies

    mordae
    Link
    My first thought.

    “The comparisons to KPop Demon Hunters are pretty undeniable because there were musical aspects to it, and it was a rip-roaring time,” the individual says. “I can imagine that whoever at Disney denied Be Fri to exist looks at KPop and is kicking themselves like, ‘Shit, I can’t believe Netflix is doing exactly what we wanted to do.'”

    My first thought.

    9 votes

  4. Comment on I’m traveling internationally for the first time and could use tips! in ~travel

    mordae
    Link
    Hi, couple obvious but highly practical tips for the tourist side of things: Make sure to have virtually unlimited mobile data available everywhere you go. Familiarize yourself with local public...

    Hi, couple obvious but highly practical tips for the tourist side of things:

    1. Make sure to have virtually unlimited mobile data available everywhere you go.

    2. Familiarize yourself with local public transportation system in each city beforehand. If they have an app, install and set it up before you go.

    3. Read up on the places you are visiting beforehand on Wikipedia. Notable spots tend to have detailed pages, see e.g. Amsterdam or List of World Heritage Sites in Germany.

    4. Most smaller towns have a Tourist Information Office. It's usually a small shop with memorabilia and -- most importantly -- a local Tourist Map. Those maps can be handy when you plan on walking around. Remember, European cities are much more walkable. Some even ban cars in the historical districts.

    5. Don't worry about taking photos and/or videos too much. Internet is full of photos and it'd be just sad if you spent most of your stay messing around with your phone instead of actually being here with us.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on Help disabling flashy "animation" on my dumb watch in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    If it's 15 bucks and its driving you nuts, at least make it a learning experience. How do you think the people with those skills gotten them in the first place? :-D My fine motor skills are pretty...

    If it's 15 bucks and its driving you nuts, at least make it a learning experience. How do you think the people with those skills gotten them in the first place? :-D

    My fine motor skills are pretty poor and my hands shake. Didn't stop me from fixing bluetooth headphones of mine. Go for it!

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Help disabling flashy "animation" on my dumb watch in ~tech

    mordae
    (edited )
    Link
    Open it up and locate the problematic traces. It seems to use contact pads, likely with pogo pins or springs, so a bit of tape on the correct pads should do the trick. (Search for images matching...

    Open it up and locate the problematic traces. It seems to use contact pads, likely with pogo pins or springs, so a bit of tape on the correct pads should do the trick.

    (Search for images matching SKMEI 1335 PCB.)

    3 votes

  7. Comment on Suggest media in which the antagonist is an idea or an abstract concept rather than a person or intelligent entity in ~talk

    mordae
    Link
    People say Kafka is good. Never read him myself, though.

    People say Kafka is good. Never read him myself, though.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    Was this written by a chatbot?

    Was this written by a chatbot?

  9. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    There is a lot to unpack, so. Not just demography. A frickin unique identifier that can be linked with other cooperating apps and a real time location. These brokers have been repeatedly hacked....

    There is a lot to unpack, so.

    but there's a pretty big difference between a company selling your demographic data to an advertiser who uses it to enhance your ad profile for more targeted ads

    Not just demography. A frickin unique identifier that can be linked with other cooperating apps and a real time location.

    These brokers have been repeatedly hacked. They do not take care to protect the data and generally eventually sell the data to scammers who DO target you.

    versus an attacker putting an infostealer on your phone and taking your social security number to open credit cards in your name

    How? Because apps are sandboxed on phones. If they escape the sandbox, it's an issue with the sandboxing and should be rectified promptly.

    EU specifically asks vendors now to ensure security updates or they are fined and kicked off the market.

    So unless the user goes out of their way to install an app that obviously poses as another, I fail to see how this vector is unmitigated.

    And again, getting a vulnerable person to pose as your "developer" is trivial so developer identity checks are a theater designed to prevent alternative distribution channels and secure Google's dominant position. Not effective countermeasure.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on GrapheneOS refuses to comply with new age verification laws for operating systems — group says it will never require personal information in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    There is no isle in the US. And definitely not after Citizens United.

    There is no isle in the US. And definitely not after Citizens United.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    Well in my experience the apps that went on to send my data to brokers were completely legit weather apps comissioned by a public agency. That went on to stop paying to maintain them and made a...

    Well in my experience the apps that went on to send my data to brokers were completely legit weather apps comissioned by a public agency. That went on to stop paying to maintain them and made a worse new app. The original app authors, a registered, mostly reputable company, just sold the user base with position tracking to said brokers for extra cash.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Sigh. If people are idiots, how hard is it to just pay couple bucks to them to register as software developers for your malware? And most successful scams don't rely on apps. They just purchase...

    Sigh. If people are idiots, how hard is it to just pay couple bucks to them to register as software developers for your malware?

    And most successful scams don't rely on apps. They just purchase info on people and start calling once they turn 65. Which will get ever more dangerous as it becomes trivial to deepfake grandkids.

    The only real protection is having more people in the loop for important stuff. Daughter calls they've had an accident and need tow, please instant transfer to this account. So they do, it's above limit, kids get pinged and call in to check what the grandma is doing.

    And above all else, get rid of the "legitimate" spyware that enables this.

    OK, how about malware that e.g. mass mails / mass messages your contacts? Where are decent mechanisms to retract messages? Where is account recovery anchored in reality? Why are we not seeing e.g. collaboration between data protection agencies, public notaries and online platforms to work out opt-in schemes to make accounts recoverable?

    I am not buying this bitcoin-style idea that e.g. money transfers are irreversible. That property transfers are irreversible. Make it a huge red blinking warning that you are sending money to somewhere your legal system cannot reach.

    And work towards making mistakes those silly people make rectifiable. Easy to claim being misled. Swiftly investigated and resolved. Insured.

    6 votes

  13. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    Once they have the ability to block not just apps they directly ship via their store, they will block all apps that "facilitate use of online services contrary to their terms (aka abuse)" and say...

    Once they have the ability to block not just apps they directly ship via their store, they will block all apps that "facilitate use of online services contrary to their terms (aka abuse)" and say bye to newpipe.

    3 votes

  14. Comment on Bernie vs. Claude in ~society

    mordae
    Link Parent
    Right. When it hit Bernie with "you are absolutely right" I cringed. Because you cannot treat anything these little syccophants say seriously without consulting more authoritative sources. But, at...

    Right. When it hit Bernie with "you are absolutely right" I cringed. Because you cannot treat anything these little syccophants say seriously without consulting more authoritative sources.

    But, at the same time, I was like: Good luck explaining why exactly is your machine saying "you are absolutely right" to Bernie, but it's just a fluke, because that's not Anthropic's standpoint at all.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    Well on my phone the primary way I install apps is from f-droid. So what you call side-loading is my front-loading. It's a kinda big deal if companies engage in newspeak to mislead people and...

    Well on my phone the primary way I install apps is from f-droid. So what you call side-loading is my front-loading.

    It's a kinda big deal if companies engage in newspeak to mislead people and succeed. The point is that it's the user who should be able to use their device in any way they like. We should be empowering users, not manufacturers.

    So repeat after me:

    Android to debut "advanced flow" to deter users from installing applications made by people Google does not approve of.

    We don't need Google deterring elderly from installing applications. We need Google to make it trivial to allow care giving family members to gently insert themselves between elderly and their bank accounts. And in some (more civilized) places with such institutions, public guardians, if there are no family members able to do it.

    11 votes

  16. Comment on Bernie vs. Claude in ~society

    mordae
    Link
    Bernie Sanders session with Claude on privacy. Somewhere between hilarious and Black Mirror.

    Bernie Sanders session with Claude on privacy. Somewhere between hilarious and Black Mirror.

    7 votes

  18. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    Yes. Very hard to install F-droid + NewPipe on your friends phone so that they can play ad-less music through the evenings inevitable YouTube party when there's the 24h cooldown.

    Yes. Very hard to install F-droid + NewPipe on your friends phone so that they can play ad-less music through the evenings inevitable YouTube party when there's the 24h cooldown.

    2 votes

  19. Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    It's not called sideloading. It's called installing and we've had it for decades. This is just another chapter in the war against general purpose computing. In this case, they simply don't want...

    It's not called sideloading. It's called installing and we've had it for decades. This is just another chapter in the war against general purpose computing.

    In this case, they simply don't want you to be able to install newpipe on your friend's devices. Same as they kneecapped uBlock in Chrome.

    30 votes

  20. Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech

    mordae
    Link Parent
    Dude, hosted models at competitive pricing are burning through single-digit dollars per minute with context packed this much. If you can actually afford to let it run, it means you are on a huge...

    Anywhere over 100k tokens with Claude and the chances of stupidity start to go up.

    Dude, hosted models at competitive pricing are burning through single-digit dollars per minute with context packed this much. If you can actually afford to let it run, it means you are on a huge subsidy from Anthropic. When the subsidy goes away and you pay in full, you are paying more than you earn for that code at an above-average developer compensation.

    8 votes