raze2012's recent activity
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Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
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Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentI wasn't around in the dotcom era, but there still feels like there's a difference there. I imagine a large existing company was not forcing you to go to their website to order stuff. Brick and...it also gets a little tiring watching everyone trot out the same "AI SUCKS!" arguments every time a new product adopts because...yeah probably, but I think it does have enough of a future that full out non adoption is likely not realistic.
I wasn't around in the dotcom era, but there still feels like there's a difference there. I imagine a large existing company was not forcing you to go to their website to order stuff. Brick and mortar was still a thing, magazines and newspapers were still a thing. It was touted as a convenience, but there were still options to do things the way you did it prior.
The advert strategies aren't really all that different in the grand scheme of things. Nor are the investment caller pitches or corporate buzzwords or even attitude towards labor. Companies didn't become greedy in some instant in the early 2010's. But they've become so user hostile . There's no "never ask again". Settings are toggled on after updates when you explicitly turned them off. We're in a cat and mouse game with what kind of extensions we can install on our browsers and computers as a whole. And now you have to worry about all the shadow exploits comapnies use to violate your privacy and extract more data out of you for profit. AI is simply a distillation of all these in one big trillion dollar buzzword.
1999 felt like a wandering door salesmen; it can be annoying, but they are nice enough and they don't insist. Do it a few times and they'll stop coming. 2025 feels like they put a foot in my door and are trying to raid my fridge. At some point the only real response is "fuck off", because the decorum has eroded. And yes, that's not good nor even productive conversation. But it's less about conversation and more about preservation at this point.
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Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
raze2012 (edited )Link ParentThere's a lot I disagree with, but I couldn't disagree more with this sentiment. You don't make your premium technology into a TikTok slop generator if you think "people are willing to pay for AI"...seems AI is the one area where some people are willing to pay and is almost necessary to pay on some level for the current costs of many of these services.
There's a lot I disagree with, but I couldn't disagree more with this sentiment. You don't make your premium technology into a TikTok slop generator if you think "people are willing to pay for AI" . You don't think about an ad driven scheme for your supposed knowledge hub if you think people will pay for an oracle.
The 2010's are over but it seems clear that 2020's tech still wants to fall on old habits. Habits that weren't sustainable even under the ZIRP era. I can't see that and conclude that people are actually willing to pay for AI. At least, not directly.
and is almost necessary to pay on some level for the current costs of many of these services.
Yes. We are already paying an "AI tax" as a society. Or are about to, no matter if we even use AI.
Ram prices are spiking because all the demand is coming from data centers instead of consumers. But in response pretty much all consumer electronics are also starting to jump in cost for 2026. Smartphones, laptops, other computer parts.
All during an affordability crisis America is finally being forced to admit to. The crash will be spectacular.
EDIT: I'm on a computer now, so a few minor spelling/grammar corrections.
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Comment on TikTok monitored Grindr activity through third-party tracker, privacy group alleges in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentMy first reaction was indeed "oh cool. So just like every American tech company". The red scare is really losing its teeth among the new generation. "China bad" doesn't work when "US even worse"...This isn't unusual. It's terrible that we don't have privacy laws with suitable teeth, but this is such a commonplace behavior that pasting the "TikTok did a thing, rarr outrage noises" nonsense over it elicits an eye roll.
My first reaction was indeed "oh cool. So just like every American tech company".
The red scare is really losing its teeth among the new generation. "China bad" doesn't work when "US even worse" is how Gen Z is increasingly starting to feel.
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Comment on Most parked domains now serving malicious content in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentIts such a stupid practice in a day and age where its so easy to click links, with apps that will even generate a thumbnail of the link for you. No one is trying to guess a URLNfrok scratch, and...Its such a stupid practice in a day and age where its so easy to click links, with apps that will even generate a thumbnail of the link for you. No one is trying to guess a URLNfrok scratch, and the only thing search hasn't shit its pants on is punishing empty/malicious links.
Names are important, but it's not the end all be all in the digital space.
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Comment on How Wall Street ruined the Roomba and then blamed Lina Khan in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentI mean, it's really hard read "Joe, what is it about capitalism you don't understand?" And not blame investors. Being consumer focused doesn't mean focusing on selling cheaper crap and...but it's not totally fair to pin the blame on the investors eithe
I mean, it's really hard read "Joe, what is it about capitalism you don't understand?" And not blame investors. Being consumer focused doesn't mean focusing on selling cheaper crap and undercutting employees, but that's "capitalism" when left unchecked.
And that's the charitable interpretation. Odds are they instead spent the pandemic preparing iRobot for a big fat selloff. And then it just didn't happen, for various reasons (I. E. They couldn't pivot fast enough to the AI hype train either). Americans companies this decade have not been innovation focused at all.
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Comment on EU drops 2035 combustion engine ban as global electric vehicle shift faces reset in ~transport
raze2012 Link Parent#1 is understandable. The US, even without Trump, is a different beast for such a rollout. #2 and #3 is just us continuing to shoot outselves in the foot. 100% a manufactured problem for the sake...#1 is understandable. The US, even without Trump, is a different beast for such a rollout. #2 and #3 is just us continuing to shoot outselves in the foot. 100% a manufactured problem for the sake of "you will own nothing and like it".
But I would have hoped some EU countries would be able to pull this off and start really kicking some fire under the butts of US car makers.
Instead, we all in the west are just surrendering the industry to China at this point:
German manufacturers are under particular strain as they lose ground in China to local rivals and face growing competition at home from Chinese EV imports. EU tariffs on Chinese-built EVs have offered only limited relief.... "Moving from a clear 100% zero-emissions target to 90% may seem small, but if we backtrack now, we won't just hurt the climate. We'll hurt Europe's ability to compete," said Michael Lohscheller, CEO of Swedish EV manufacturer Polestar.
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Comment on How to get found by recruiters on LinkedIn in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentThere was a time where it worked. So I used it. Connected with people in college. My first and second jobs weren't gotten via LinkedIn, but I still keep coworkers on there that I wouldn't be able...There was a time where it worked. So I used it. Connected with people in college. My first and second jobs weren't gotten via LinkedIn, but I still keep coworkers on there that I wouldn't be able to reach otherwise. My 3rd job was from contacting a college colleague and getting a referral. Then I got a decent freelancing job from a blind message from someone with a project looking local and liking my resume.
It has been genuinely helpful. But those feel like a bygone era a mere 3 years later. It's still helpful for connecting with people i meet IRL in professional meetups, but its ptjerwose transformed into its own special flavor of all the things I hate in mainstream social media.
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Comment on How to get found by recruiters on LinkedIn in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentI'm resuming my search for full time work in 2026 (I've been floating on 2-3 part time jobs between gigs, freelancing, and tutoring). I'm simply not going to apply on LinkedIn. I'll keep it open...I'm resuming my search for full time work in 2026 (I've been floating on 2-3 part time jobs between gigs, freelancing, and tutoring).
I'm simply not going to apply on LinkedIn. I'll keep it open for messages and use it to point to websites to apply on, but the rush to the bottom with the situation described here just isn't worth it for me. I'll use smaller job boards, and remaining word of mouth that also wasn't laid off, and family. I won't go through the Social media drek again when I simply want to provide my decade of services to someone who actually needs problems solved.
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Comment on Proposed amendments to Denmark's laws on copyright and broadcasting would see VPNs limited for common uses under changes to combat access to illegal streaming services in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentYeah, this. "Crime-free" is assuming a perfect society that isn't entrenched in centuries or millenia of culture. Imagine the Civil Rights movement in the digital era. And Remember, Gay marriage...Yeah, this. "Crime-free" is assuming a perfect society that isn't entrenched in centuries or millenia of culture. Imagine the Civil Rights movement in the digital era.
And Remember, Gay marriage wasn't legal in the US as recently as 15 years ago.Very dramatic examples and I don't want to compare those to actual hate and harm being done. But the main point here is that government surveillance can and will be used against the things it's supposedly protecting if left unchecked. At the very least don't preemptively comply with it.
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Comment on Proposed amendments to Denmark's laws on copyright and broadcasting would see VPNs limited for common uses under changes to combat access to illegal streaming services in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentIf they're not actually fighting that stuff, yes. VPN bans are like media DRM: it punishes the most passive users and lazy pirates, while not affecting the most dedicated pirates. All your...Bullshit laws like fighting the scourge of human trafficking, organized crime, child exploitation and (digital) abuse, theft of state secrets, sabotage of government and company platforms, destabilization/manipulation of countries' public discourse, tax evasion, fraud and so on?
If they're not actually fighting that stuff, yes. VPN bans are like media DRM: it punishes the most passive users and lazy pirates, while not affecting the most dedicated pirates. All your subjects above sound very dedicated.
The government knowing what you do online is not an issue for most people.
It isn't. Until it is. And then the government is now your biggest enemy, and has an army ready to enforce its evils instead of small collections of human filth. We have plenty of examples at large today.
It amazes me that tech-savvy areas online want to go back to internet with perceived anonymity.
Its a start. Then we can male sure the perception is real privacy.
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Comment on Paramount launches a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in ~movies
raze2012 Link ParentAhh I missed that part. I read now Paramount didn't have that money so they used the Elisons and Jared Kushner. But missed the Saudis chipping in. Seems like a crazy deal to take, but then...Ahh I missed that part. I read now Paramount didn't have that money so they used the Elisons and Jared Kushner. But missed the Saudis chipping in.
Seems like a crazy deal to take, but then again... Trump administration. We're very much in no man's land in terms of corporate integrity.
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Comment on Paramount launches a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery in ~movies
raze2012 Link ParentDid I miss something about Paramount recently? I'm just over here thinking "so, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon would potentially be under one roof"to middle eastern countries with a long history basic disregard of human rights, totalitarianism
Did I miss something about Paramount recently? I'm just over here thinking "so, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon would potentially be under one roof"
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Comment on Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for $72 billion in ~movies
raze2012 (edited )LinkOn one hand, Zaslov has absolutely butchered all of Warner so I can't see Netflix doing much worse than that. On the other hand, Netflix isn't exactly a paragon of maintaining quality content as...- Exemplary
On one hand, Zaslov has absolutely butchered all of Warner so I can't see Netflix doing much worse than that.
On the other hand, Netflix isn't exactly a paragon of maintaining quality content as of late either. I'd love to think that this acquisition may make them think differently, but my BOTD for anything in 2025 isn't exactly high.
But yes, this is the "Microsoft Buys Activation" of movies happening before our eyes. Just to give the scope of what Netflix is grabbing* here:
- DC Comics. So Netflix would own Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. over a century of comic book properties.
- Hanna Barbara. So, everything from Scooby Doo to the Flintsones to The Smurfs. Again, a century of classic cartoons
- New Line Cinema. Do they have distributions rights to a variey of films that includes Friday the 13th, Austin Powers, Dumb and Dumber, and Rocky
- Everything under Turner. Tom and Jerry is the big one here. But there's a few other interesting properties like Popeye
- Harry Potter's film distributions rights. Pretty much speaks for itself.
- Looney Toons and its over century of media.
- Distribution rights to the Terminator franchise
- Quite a few live action series. So they have at least distribution dibs on Big Bang Theory, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends, Dukes of Hazard, the OC, etc. Just NOT the discovery side, since Zaslov split that off recently
All of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. These could each be lists in and of itself, but to give a small sampler: Rick and Morty, Ben 10, Adventure Time, Venture Bros, Tim and Eric, Samurai Jack, Boondocks... I'm only scratching the surface of this 35 year old dynasty.EDIT: I looked again and saw that these two were split into the other half of Warner Bro's. So these wouldn't be part of the Netflix deal.- Everything on HBO. Again, its own category. But a small list: Game of Thrones, The Wire, the Sopranos, Last Week Tonight (John Oliver's news program), Silicon Valley. It goes deep
Yeah, it was honestly tiring just listing this. And this is far from a complete list.
- there's a lot of licenses out in the wild for the bigger franchises, so it's not necessarily full ownership yet. Any existing projects would still probably exist for a time.
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Comment on r/art subreddit under new management after an artist was banned for mentioning their art prints in ~arts
raze2012 Link ParentYeah, they definitely at some point figured it was simply fires they'd put out in real time, not a community to foster. The Blackout of 2023 (so, when it was rebelling against them and hitting...Yeah, they definitely at some point figured it was simply fires they'd put out in real time, not a community to foster. The Blackout of 2023 (so, when it was rebelling against them and hitting their bottom line) seemed to be the only true trigger to cause some longer term thinking, and that was more for the sake of IPO'ing.
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Comment on Prime Video pulls eerily emotionless AI-generated anime dubs after complaints in ~anime
raze2012 Link Parentyou'd think 30 years of internet and some 15 years of social media would teach them that the denizens can and will blow up a small event to something bigger if you try to sneak it into the...you'd think 30 years of internet and some 15 years of social media would teach them that the denizens can and will blow up a small event to something bigger if you try to sneak it into the community. I'm not going to say it happens everytime, but the blowback is consistent. especially amongst media and art.
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Comment on Prime Video pulls eerily emotionless AI-generated anime dubs after complaints in ~anime
raze2012 Link ParentYou will consume our botched trillion dollar investment and like it. I'm always a fan of options. But that's not what a lot of this AI craze. is. CoPilot is truing to worm itself into my Windows...You will consume our botched trillion dollar investment and like it.
I'm always a fan of options. But that's not what a lot of this AI craze. is. CoPilot is truing to worm itself into my Windows bootup. Gemini keeps trying to make me enable its "AI mode" despite daily rejections ( i even went so far as to look up a filter for the AI search result). Youtube's been trying to auto dub content without creators' consent. Grok is just the encapsulation of a Saturday Morning Cartoon villian plot.
The tech is neat but the greed is unbearable.
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Comment on Prime Video pulls eerily emotionless AI-generated anime dubs after complaints in ~anime
raze2012 Link ParentIt's very much uncanny valley for me. I'd rather have a TTy not pretending to be a human that talks if we absolutely need it. Doing it for anime is just bizarre, though. This is one part of media...It's very much uncanny valley for me. I'd rather have a TTy not pretending to be a human that talks if we absolutely need it.
Doing it for anime is just bizarre, though. This is one part of media where much of the audience does not mind you skipping out on dubs. I don't know why they bother to put in more work for a worse product than simply translating some closed captions.
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Comment on r/art subreddit under new management after an artist was banned for mentioning their art prints in ~arts
raze2012 Link ParentNot unique, but wild that we're now 20 years in and still hearing of this. This dynamic on "seniority controls all" should have been reeled in a decade ago, and the attempt at controllingp power...Not unique, but wild that we're now 20 years in and still hearing of this. This dynamic on "seniority controls all" should have been reeled in a decade ago, and the attempt at controllingp power mods proposed a few months back doesn't seem like it'll change much.
Just as some simple checks, for every sub over 100k subs
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There should be a veto mechanism based on 2/3rd majority against a more "senior mod" (of human mods, of course). This will also apply if a mod wants to kick another mod. Clearly, the discretion of a single person can't be trusted. There can be a fast track action for inactive mods after X days.
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welcoming a new mod and any major community change should be done on simple majority vote. Pretty straightforward. A single person shouldn't be able to force a sub private, subject/take a sub off r/all, or to add a new community rule.
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Terms. I propose 1 year terms. Mod rankings are based on a combination of the mod team and community (to be clear, the team itself is much more strongly weighted, and the community is more of a tie breaker here). You can only be head mod for 2 consecutive terms unless no one else desires the spot.
Just small checks within the community. Of course, the admins control all and their word is final, but this could prevent so many interventions to begin with.
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Comment on Netflix kills casting from phones in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentI'm still no a fan of piracy, but as an animation fan they've sure made it as impossible as hell to access any of the shows i used to watch on there. Can't believe it only took one CEO to...I'm still no a fan of piracy, but as an animation fan they've sure made it as impossible as hell to access any of the shows i used to watch on there. Can't believe it only took one CEO to eviscerate half my childhood.
indeed.... and that's still not enough. Key metric missing is "how much would users pay for this subsciption?"
But if I use ChatGPT's current prices, 20 a month 240 a year. Let's round up to 250 dollars per user per year and project this to a seemingly massive 55 billion dollars of revenue. Then you see claims of them committing to 1 trillion dollars of expenditures for hardware alone in 10 years and wonder if the math is mathing.
Maybe we can multiply this by 5-10x to account for pro and B2B stuff, but keep in mind that we still haven't taken labor costs into account with this yet.
And that's all assuming this is truly 220m users actively paying all year. For reference, Netflix is around 300 million after some 15 years of growth (and growth in much easier times to grow). Xbox Gamepass is 35 million after around 7 years (though you can argue gaming is much more niche than movies). Very lofty goal.
Open Source models already doomed that aspect of market lock-in. That Deepseek scare from January may have been brief tick so far, but if they start to rent seek their AI all at once then there will be a race to the bottom.
Nevermind my doubt that everyone even values such tools if it's not dirt cheap. The persistent pop ups and forced Ai integrations shouldn't be needed for a product users are actively seeking out themselves.