puhtahtoe's recent activity
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Comment on UK Conservative party would ban under-16s from social media in ~society
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Comment on UK Conservative party would ban under-16s from social media in ~society
puhtahtoe Link ParentThe best idea I've seen so far is a system involving physical tokens which are sold at physical stores. The tokens would grant access to age restricted online content for a limited period of time...The best idea I've seen so far is a system involving physical tokens which are sold at physical stores.
The tokens would grant access to age restricted online content for a limited period of time before expiring.
The tokens would hold no identifiable information.
Websites would have to have a license to accept a token but would not have to obtain any identifying information from the user.
Stores would have to have a license to sell these tokens and would be required to view a customer's ID to verify their age before selling them a token or risk losing their license.
Purchasing for, giving, or otherwise enabling an under aged person to obtain a token would be against the law.
Is this system perfect? Far from it, but it's better than requiring every age restricted site to verify and store identifying information.
This would essentially make access to age restricted online content function just like access to alcohol. Age is verified but the personal information is not actually stored.
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Comment on "Visa" gift cards - What should I be looking at? in ~finance
puhtahtoe Link ParentIf things have improved then that's good, however Plaid still prominently refers to you providing your credentials to Plaid on their safety page - https://plaid.com/safety/ They also have a page...If things have improved then that's good, however Plaid still prominently refers to you providing your credentials to Plaid on their safety page - https://plaid.com/safety/
They also have a page specifically answering if they store credentials on which they say that they do when a bank doesn't support OAuth - https://support-my.plaid.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410324401047-Does-Plaid-have-access-to-my-credentials
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Comment on "Visa" gift cards - What should I be looking at? in ~finance
puhtahtoe Link ParentI agree that it's the banks' fault at the core but that doesn't make it not the customer's problem if you work around it and something goes wrong. I'm glad more banks offer actual API access now...I agree that it's the banks' fault at the core but that doesn't make it not the customer's problem if you work around it and something goes wrong.
I'm glad more banks offer actual API access now but on Plaid's safety page that I linked in my edit they very prominently still refer to you providing bank credentials to Plaid. There is also a page that directly answers the question -
https://support-my.plaid.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410324401047-Does-Plaid-have-access-to-my-credentials -
Comment on "Visa" gift cards - What should I be looking at? in ~finance
puhtahtoe Link ParentYeah it's kind of crazy how normalized it's gotten. I've talked about these concerns with Plaid on reddit a few tiems and been downvoted. Not sharing credentials is online safety 101 yet for some...Yeah it's kind of crazy how normalized it's gotten. I've talked about these concerns with Plaid on reddit a few tiems and been downvoted.
Not sharing credentials is online safety 101 yet for some reason people just don't think about it with possibly the most important credentials they have.
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Comment on "Visa" gift cards - What should I be looking at? in ~finance
puhtahtoe (edited )Link ParentBe wary of using privacy.com. In order to use privacy.com you have to link a bank account. Privacy.com talks a big game about security and how they don't store your bank credentials, only a token...- Exemplary
Be wary of using privacy.com.
In order to use privacy.com you have to link a bank account. Privacy.com talks a big game about security and how they don't store your bank credentials, only a token to access your account, but that's only half the story.
Privacy.com uses a service called Plaid as an intermediary with your bank. Plaid supports connecting with hundreds or thousands of banks and credit unions.
When you select your bank, Plaid shows you a login screen with your bank's logo and fields for your bank credentials. To an uncritical eye, it may look like you're just logging into your bank's site to grant Plaid access. However, if you look at the address bar, you'll see that you're on a page hosted by Plaid and your bank credentials are going not to your bank, but to Plaid. This is because Plaid works by storing your bank credentials and using them when necessary to directly access your bank account with full permissions as if they are you. With most banks there is no OAuth or API involved - Plaid just uses your credentials to log into your bank's web interface with automated tools.
Plaid may have the best intentions in mind but the fact of the matter is that in order to do what they do, they MUST have your credentials stored in a way that they can be decrypted and used in order to access your bank account.
Privacy.com is technically telling the truth when they say that they don't store your credentials but in my opinion, they are being almost maliciously deceptive in how they talk about it. Sure, they may not be storing the credentials but the service they require their users to use is storing them.
Plaid itself is a little shady to me in how they present the bank login screen to users. It feels as if it's designed to trick users into thinking they're on an official bank site when logging in.
I can't speak for every bank but I know that the ones I've used have said to never share your login credentials with anyone. I fear that if the day comes that Plaid is compromised and all of the credentials they have stored are leaked and peoples' accounts start getting cleaned out, the banks might just say customers have no recourse because they broke TOS by sharing their credentials.
I personally will not touch anything Plaid with a ten foot pole.
Note: This info is from roughly three years ago when I looked into Privacy.com and discovered Plaid. I haven't looked into it much since then but after a cursory google it looks like the situation is still the same. I am happy to be corrected if things have changed though.
Edit: I decided to look into Plaid again and it looks like they at least aren't hiding what's happening now but imo it's still a very bad idea to trust any third party with your bank credentials. There's just too much at risk with virtually no cover if something goes wrong. https://plaid.com/safety/
Edit 2: Since people are saying Plaid uses OAuth with more banks now, great! If you're going to use it just watch the login process to see if you're logging in on your bank's website or if you're giving your credentials to Plaid.
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Comment on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shoots and kills a woman during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown in ~society
puhtahtoe Link ParentThere's actually I think another, though less significant, possibly more similar example of two sides completely disagreeing on video evidence. Back in 2018, there was an incident with Sarah...There's actually I think another, though less significant, possibly more similar example of two sides completely disagreeing on video evidence.
Back in 2018, there was an incident with Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempting to forcefully take a microphone away from Jim Acosta. Acosta had his other arm held out gesticulating as part of his talking and it incidentally made contact with Sanders.
Republicans immediately jumped to accusing him of "placing hands" on Sanders and "aggressively karate chopping" her arm away. Someone on the right even doctored the video to selectively speed up parts of it to make Acosta's hand motions look more aggressive.
I'm not going to pretend like back in 2018 I knew how bad things would get but I knew then that we were in dangerous territory.
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Comment on Stranger Things finale discussion in ~tv
puhtahtoe (edited )LinkI'm on mobile so I apologize but I am not going to go in depth. I thought the finale was about as good as you can expect from a show that's become so bloated and at the end of a season that felt...I'm on mobile so I apologize but I am not going to go in depth.
I thought the finale was about as good as you can expect from a show that's become so bloated and at the end of a season that felt neither particularly strong nor weak.
I'm mostly grateful the show was allowed to have a finale at all given that most other Netflix originals I've gotten into ended up cancelled.
However, after watching the finale I learned that there is a stage play titled First Shadow that gives (in my opinion) critical background info for the main antagonist. I read a summary of the play and it turns out that what I thought were loose ends or possible seeds for a spinoff are actually small elements from that play that you can only really understand if you've seen the play. My whole concept of the antagonist's motivations turned out to be wrong because I haven't seen this play.
What bothers me is that this play, which provides crucial context for the whole last season, is only available to view in person in either New York or London. The show runners don't seem to think it's a problem that the vast majority of the show's audience will be missing this information.
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Comment on Nvidia-backed Starcloud trains first AI model in space in ~space
puhtahtoe Link ParentIf they launched a GPU (and hardware to run it) into orbit then it's trivial to include a micro SD card with the works of Shakespeare that they used as training data.If they launched a GPU (and hardware to run it) into orbit then it's trivial to include a micro SD card with the works of Shakespeare that they used as training data.
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Comment on Nvidia-backed Starcloud trains first AI model in space in ~space
puhtahtoe LinkI can't claim to have thought of this myself but one possible reason people are really interested in having data centers in space could be the lack of government jurisdiction. I struggle to think...I can't claim to have thought of this myself but one possible reason people are really interested in having data centers in space could be the lack of government jurisdiction.
I struggle to think that any of the other benefits outweigh the risk and cost of launching all that expensive, fragile, and quickly outdated tech into space and dealing with the challenges of cooling in a vacuum.
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Comment on Twenty years of digital life, gone in an instant, thanks to Apple in ~tech
puhtahtoe Link ParentI admire the guy for wanting to get to the root of the problem but maybe just take the win and don't go poking the bear right now my dude.Strangely, he did tell me to only ever buy gift cards from Apple themselves; I asked if that means Apple’s supply chain of Blackhawk Network, InComm, and other gift card vendors is insecure, and he was unwilling to comment.
I admire the guy for wanting to get to the root of the problem but maybe just take the win and don't go poking the bear right now my dude.
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Comment on Advice with my Nextcloud + Kodi set-up in ~tech
puhtahtoe (edited )LinkThis caught my attention because I assumed the USB C port on the Pis was only for charging and didn't do data at all. On further investigation I found that the Pi 4 at least can do USB OTG with...SSD adapter to USB C
This caught my attention because I assumed the USB C port on the Pis was only for charging and didn't do data at all.
On further investigation I found that the Pi 4 at least can do USB OTG with the port but only over USB 2.0. If you have the SSD connected in this way and you're using it for the boot drive the performance could be sluggish. Better to use an adapter that can plug into one of the 3.0 type A ports.
Edit: according to this post, the USB C port on the Pi 5 is also limited to USB 2.0 https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=375782
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Comment on Advice with my Nextcloud + Kodi set-up in ~tech
puhtahtoe LinkDepending on how you've installed it, Nextcloud might be too heavy for the pi. IIRC some Pis only have 2 GB of RAM. Hard to say more without specifics.Depending on how you've installed it, Nextcloud might be too heavy for the pi. IIRC some Pis only have 2 GB of RAM. Hard to say more without specifics.
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Comment on Sailing skill is live on Oldschool Runescape as of two weeks ago in ~games
puhtahtoe LinkI've got a near maxed character but hadn't played OSRS in a couple years. I was/am in the camp that thinks sailing doesn't make sense as its own skill but I wasn't active at the time the skills...I've got a near maxed character but hadn't played OSRS in a couple years.
I was/am in the camp that thinks sailing doesn't make sense as its own skill but I wasn't active at the time the skills were voted or for the duration of the sailing blogs, though I have always kept an eye on the general goings on of the game.
When the release date for sailing was announced I decided to re-up my membership and see if I could profit off the release.
In the first couple days after release I made keel parts until 99 smithing. It was something like 100k+ xp/hr and very profitable. For a bit, large steel keel parts were selling for around 50k-60k a pop but the cost of the bars to make them was <20k. I mostly made addy parts though since that was better xp even at less profit.
For a while, hull parts were also a profitable way to train construction but then someone posted about it to reddit and that ended.
Farming cotton has been pretty profitable but it's starting to decline too. For a while, the seeds were about 1k each. You use 3 seeds for each patch so a crop of cotton bolls had a cost of around 3k. A single cotton boll would sell for 4k - 4.2k and you could sometimes get upwards of 20 cotton bolls per harvest. It's down to around 2.8k per cotton boll now so still a tidy profit.
I haven't touched sailing since the quest to unlock it so far. I just don't have a ton of interest in it (and not a lot of time to actively play the game right now) but I'll get around to it eventually and maybe my mind will be changed. As of today, you can get sailing xp from Tears of Guthix so I jumped from level 5 (from the quest) to 16 without having set foot on a raft since the quest.
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Comment on Overwatch 2 now: how does it look to you? in ~games
puhtahtoe (edited )LinkMy friends and I got really into Overwatch 1 shortly after release but we had already moved on before OW2 was known to be a thing. For me, there were two main reasons for quitting OW1. First,...My friends and I got really into Overwatch 1 shortly after release but we had already moved on before OW2 was known to be a thing.
For me, there were two main reasons for quitting OW1.
First, Blizzard was really trying to force the competitive scene into existence and it felt like people like my friends and I who just want to play casually were suffering because of it. The constant hero changes and rebalances became a chore to keep up with.
Second, I was really into the lore but it eventually became apparent that Blizzard has no intentions to do anything interesting with it. I thought there was potential for some really neat narrative things and I actually even liked the PVM stuff they released during special events. This of course ended up going nowhere. There were jokes in the fandom that over the course of two years Blizzard moved events in Overwatch forward by about five minutes.
With all the stuff about the culture at Blizzard being exposed and OW2 virtually cancelling or reverting everything that made it OW2 (except the monetization stuff) I don't see myself returning any time soon. It feels like a special kind of presumtuous to take away a game I paid for and replace it with a "better" game that has a more predatory monetization system.
Edit: to answer your first bullet point, I pretty much don't think about OW at all these days. When I see something about it my reaction is typically something like "I wonder how much of a mess it's become now."
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Comment on 'This is definitely my last TwitchCon': High-profile streamer Emiru was assaulted at the event, even as streamers have been sounding the alarm about stalkers and harassment in ~games
puhtahtoe LinkVTuber Heavenly Father says https://xcancel.com/HeavenlyyFather/status/1980310566419017798#mVTuber Heavenly Father says
TWITCHCON OVER. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE I MET AND HUNG OUT WITH. HUGE SHOUT OUT TO ANY VIEWERS I MET BECAUSE MEETING YOU GUYS ALWAYS INSPIRES ME TO STREAM MORE.
THAT BEING SAID: FUCK TWITCHCON FOREVER. I AINT NEVER COMING BACK TO THIS BULLSHIT AGAIN. ITS SO FUCKING ASS
ONLY REASON I CAME THIS YEAR WAS BECAUSE BADDA AND SKULLKER GOT PARTNER. THIS CONVENTION HAS BULLSHIT SECURITY, I GOT FOLLOWED AROUND FOR A WHOLE DAY, PEOPLE DONT KNOW HOW TO BE CURTIOUS, AND FUCK THE DICKHEADS SHOVING CAMERAS IN PEOPLES FACEWRAP THIS SHIT UP TWITCH.
https://xcancel.com/HeavenlyyFather/status/1980310566419017798#m
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Comment on 'This is definitely my last TwitchCon': High-profile streamer Emiru was assaulted at the event, even as streamers have been sounding the alarm about stalkers and harassment in ~games
puhtahtoe Link ParentFYI, it's now looking like IronMouse's gifts were actually handled by her manager so they are fine. There were gifts to other VTubers that were thrown out by Twitch staff....FYI, it's now looking like IronMouse's gifts were actually handled by her manager so they are fine.
There were gifts to other VTubers that were thrown out by Twitch staff.
https://old.reddit.com/r/VShojo/comments/1ocdf5k/no_one_can_steal_from_roxy/
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Comment on 'This is definitely my last TwitchCon': High-profile streamer Emiru was assaulted at the event, even as streamers have been sounding the alarm about stalkers and harassment in ~games
puhtahtoe Link ParentAlso, the Twitch staff could have just told the fans that they aren't accepting gifts for the streamers instead of taking the gifts then throwing them away. One fan said that a staffer accepted...Also, the Twitch staff could have just told the fans that they aren't accepting gifts for the streamers instead of taking the gifts then throwing them away.
One fan said that a staffer accepted their gift then tossed it in a trash can right in front of them, saying it could be an explosive so they have to dispose of it. https://x.com/TingleRotunda/status/1979781770095841608
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Comment on Elon Musk plans to take on Wikipedia with 'Grokipedia' in ~tech
puhtahtoe Link ParentI don't know if he ever made any offers behind the scenes but Wikipedia has outright said they aren't for sale in response to speculation that Musk wanted to buy it one of the previous times he...I don't know if he ever made any offers behind the scenes but Wikipedia has outright said they aren't for sale in response to speculation that Musk wanted to buy it one of the previous times he complained about it.
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Comment on How I escaped MAGA. Critical thinking woke me up. in ~society
puhtahtoe Link ParentI don't mention it online often but I was raised Christian and still hold the beliefs. I grew up in a Republican environment but felt alientated by them when Trump was fully embraced by the right....I don't mention it online often but I was raised Christian and still hold the beliefs.
I grew up in a Republican environment but felt alientated by them when Trump was fully embraced by the right. It took me a couple more years go from feeling mostly independent to left and I credit that final change to thinking about Jesus' teachings and how they should apply to our world today.
I think it can be boiled down to two verses: (paraphrasing) "Love God, love others" and "do not judge others or you too will be judged ... first take the plank out of your own eye". In these verses, Jesus is clearly telling His followers to mind their own business except when it comes to showing love to each other. The modern Republican platform is pretty much the antithesis of this. Upon realizing that, and that the left much more closely aligns with the ideas in the form of taking care of the poor, treating immigrants with humanity, and just in general looking after those in need, I really couldn't see any other way forward than to abandon the right and support the left. Even if the left may support things that could be considered sins, Jesus himself says that's not for me to worry about. It is our responsibility to show love to our fellow humans and let God worry about the rest.
Like I said, it would essentially be just like access to alcohol :)
My concern with this is that it could be a price gate. If the tokens are their own physical thing then they could conceivably be just a paper card with a scratch-off to reveal a QR code or something. Requiring a phone with a secure element means people who can't afford one are out of luck. Though to be honest, I'm not up to date with secure elements in phones. Do only higher end phones have them or have they made their way into even budget phones now?
Also, having the token on a phone doesn't really remove the possibility for a black market, only abstracts it. If phones with secure elements are inexpensive enough to not exclude less wealthy people then the reality is that a black market could just swap cheap phones instead of the tokens.
There really isn't a perfect solution for this. Either you're giving up privacy or you're making it easier to circumvent the age gate. All we can do is try to find a middle ground that's acceptable enough.