xethos's recent activity
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Comment on RIP Cybertruck. You were unloved, unwanted, and utterly absurd. in ~transport
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in in ~tech
xethos Link ParentWhy wouldn't they continue down this path? You've jumped through all these ridiculous hoops, so they get to keep almost all of their user base, they get to make life hard for companies trying to...I've never seen a more user-hostile platform continue time and time again to saw off the only branch they're sitting on, this being their user base
Why wouldn't they continue down this path? You've jumped through all these ridiculous hoops, so they get to keep almost all of their user base, they get to make life hard for companies trying to scrape them, and they push the normal people to use their official app and New Reddit - both of which almost certainly increase time-in-app (a slower, heavier app that doesn't pre-fetch means it takes ever-longer to burn through your feed), ad-impressions, and get them more analytics
You'll have to explain what the downside is to Reddit, not you. Some users will bail, but Reddit's apparently quite happy to trade their fickle, flighty, hard-to-monetize users for users that accept the restrictions Reddit's put in place while being way less likely to have any form of ad-block.
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Comment on US State Department unveils plan to only promote Donald Trump supporters in ~society
xethos Link ParentYes, if only we had a good example of Republicans' ability to play the long game, regarding an issue they and their base consider existential. Like limiting elections to those that would vote...Overturning a Supreme Court ruling isn't a matter of getting more lawyers involved
Yes, if only we had a good example of Republicans' ability to play the long game, regarding an issue they and their base consider existential. Like limiting elections to those that would vote their way, or abortion. Because like the little engine that could, they kept at it, and eventually got much closer than they were before - even working around a supreme court decision! [0].
Telling people that Republicans didn't get their way this time, and the supreme court, having made their call, will stop them forever, is farcical.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade#Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women's_Health_Organization
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Comment on Nova Scotia [Canada] to host massive data centre to power Anthropic's AI assistant Claude in ~tech
xethos Link ParentI'm amazed I have to say this, but: Call your provincial, municipal, or federal legislators. Online forums can easily be ignored when considering public opinion (and probably should be, due to the...What more can a concerned citizen do?
I'm amazed I have to say this, but: Call your provincial, municipal, or federal legislators. Online forums can easily be ignored when considering public opinion (and probably should be, due to the world-wide portion of the www). For further evidence, see how far the Alberta referendum got with less than 25% of people in the province being in favour, compared to how loudly it was asked for online
Though truth be told, I agree with @tibpoe - worst case, the bubble continues, and this can be used for university or Canadian industry. Alternately, the bubble pops (hooray!), and this can be used for any Canadian business, university, or hosting provider that wants to pander to people like me that want to support sovereign hosting, or businesses that want to move away from American cloud providers. Moreover, Canadian infrastructure (and data sovereignty) going up and generating construction jobs at least feels like a good thing in the face of American (economic) aggression
AI (morally, currently) isn't great. But that's not exclusively what data centers are used for, even if that's how this one will likely justify being built at first
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Comment on Alberta voters reject plan for referendum to leave Canada in ~society
xethos Link(British Columbia resident, not Alberta, but) Quietly hoping (just) under 25% voting to leave [0] means people realize their minority is not as large as they thought - especially considering not...(British Columbia resident, not Alberta, but)
Quietly hoping (just) under 25% voting to leave [0] means people realize their minority is not as large as they thought - especially considering not every Albertan would vote, but every one that cares deeply (primarily the "Leave" side) would make a point of showing up, suggesting the true percentage that wolud accept secession is likely lower.
25% is more than I thought, but less an alarming statistic than I was prepared for. Doubly so considering the above: The secession side likely cares more, and is more likely to show up, making them over-represented. It won't matter so much for a referendum, but I think Brexit might have spooked people enough that if it goes further, that 25% might evaporate even more.
And if I'm being truly optimistic, maybe some on the "Leave" side will wake up to how many of the posts they see online supporting this are, at best, just high-volume posters, and more likely political agitators outside Canada.
[0] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/alberta-referendum-live-results-9.7385074
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Comment on If duckweed doubles every day, why don't we eat it? in ~science
xethos (edited )LinkThe range of videos may be interesting, and it's currently open via MPV and buffering to "run ahead" before I watch, but there's no chance I'm letting this pollute my YouTube watch history or...The range of videos may be interesting, and it's currently open via MPV and buffering to "run ahead" before I watch, but there's no chance I'm letting this pollute my YouTube watch history or recommendations.
It's a ~5 month old channel with videos every day with the exact same art style, all obviously AI generated. There's no chance anyone can do any kind of reasonable background research, art, voice-over, editing, etc, unless the majority of the work is AI. And I'm not going to reward that with YouTube views and ad money, because I do not want YouTube to become exclusively slop.
People cannot compete with this kind of low-effort video, but if we keep sharing it, it'll eventually out-compete human creators, and effectively drive them to extinction on YouTube.
EDIT #1 - Beyond the weird pauses in between dialogue segments, the AI even talks under itself (around 7:50). I've been recommended this channel before by YouTube, and get the impression I made the right call with "Don't recommend this channel", even if the questions are entertaining.
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Comment on Solo developer rebuilds Adobe Creative Suite in Rust using Claude, releases it free to all in ~tech
xethos Link ParentMore along the lines of Microsoft Word's dominance, or Excel's - it has thousands of features, of which nobody will use every one of. We can't (generally) recommend Libreoffice as a drop-in...More along the lines of Microsoft Word's dominance, or Excel's - it has thousands of features, of which nobody will use every one of. We can't (generally) recommend Libreoffice as a drop-in replacement though, because the 10% of Word's features that I use work, and the 10% of Word's features you use are broken.
A cleaner phrase might be "People only use 10% of Photoshop's feature set. The problem is that everyone uses a different 10%"
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
xethos Link ParentOEMs use Google's Android, or they are pushed out of the market. One of the richest companies in the history of the world tried to take AOSP to market without Google [0]. They offered free,...- Exemplary
But it seems like it still leaves quite a bit of freedom for OEM's to do their own thing?
OEMs use Google's Android, or they are pushed out of the market.
One of the richest companies in the history of the world tried to take AOSP to market without Google [0]. They offered free, 24-hour-a-day customer support for any questions their customers had, and had every incentive to keep at it and improve year-over-year to attempt to build an ecosystem. Nobody can seriously argue Jeff Bezos is unable or unwilling (when he sees long-term benefit) to play the long game.
For years, [Amazon] lost money. A lot of money. On purpose. Jeff Bezos knew that the key to long-term dominance wasn’t in short-term profits—it was in reinvesting every dollar back into infrastructure, customer experience, and market expansion. He played the long game.
But despite being the juggernaught that was 2014-era Amazon, the Fire Phone isn't for sale today. They had to partner with Foxconn, because no other OEM was legally able to bulid the device - and that's despite not insisting on their flagship product using modern-for-the-time specs, even as Bezos himself apparently wanted "a phone which could set itself apart, could compete against established phone manufactures such as Apple, and a lower-cost, bare-bones phone would hurt the Amazon brand." [2]
There are alternatives that don't have the Play Store
And they exist exclusively in China. Per Ars' article (emphasis mine) in my previous comment:
"Devices may only be distributed if all Google Applications authorized for distribution in the applicable territory are pre-installed on the device.” Google doesn’t do business in China, so there are no “authorized Google Applications” for that territory. This creates a loophole specifically for China, where OEMs can basically do whatever they want in the country without running afoul of Google’s anti-fragmentation rules."
And consumers won't stand for a phone that doesn't support their banking app, Netflix, Snapchat, and more. Google made Google Play Services a dependency of their Play Integrity API. If Amazon tried to release a new phone tomorrow, they wouldn't even be able to leverage AOSP compatibility - people don't want a phone that can't order an Uber or use the McDonalds app. This is Google making AOSP useless to any OEM that wants to sell to a Western audience; they will use Android, and all the restrictions and requirements that entails, or they will use nothing. This is Google exerting control.
AOSP doesn't have to be a complete OS for others to build on it
No, but any OEM that wants to take that chance faces a choice: they can gain proficiency in manufacturing, and build a reputation from selling Android, but they cannot even attempt to compete with their own AOSP fork while continuing that. To attempt to use non-Android AOSP is a bet-the-company move, so it should be no surprise almost none have jumped.
Google locking up OEMs by preventing them from competing with Android is control
Maybe the alternatives will improve now that AI makes it easier to do.
Respectfully, this is a joke or delusional. The code is a stumbling block, but Google's legal stranglehold on Android, Play Services, and preventing OEMs from competing with their own AOSP builds is not a problem ChatGPT can solve. And we'll never hear about it either, because again, per Ars' marvelous article, linked above:
"None of Google’s OEM requirements are ever public unless there’s a lawsuit, so we can only guess at today’s requirements from available evidence"
Frankly, we can only guess what level of control Google levies based on their actions. They have, in my mind at least, lost the benefit of any doubt, and so when something that could have been ambiguous like their current roll-out comes up, they are not given the benefit of the doubt.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
xethos Link ParentGoogle ruling Android with an iron fist isn't new, and if you don't see it, I suspect you aren't looking for it. Not every instance is in the name of security, sometimes they claim to fight for...- Exemplary
Google ruling Android with an iron fist isn't new, and if you don't see it, I suspect you aren't looking for it. Not every instance is in the name of security, sometimes they claim to fight for developers in the name of fragmentation.
But dictating which of their apps appear where on a brand new Android handset, regardless of who it's sold by, is control. Telling OEMs they will either release Android (TM) handsets, or AOSP-derived operating systems, but not both, is control. Letting core AOSP apps wither and die, while pushing their proprietary apps, is control. Releasing their proprietary Play Integrity API, instead of building it into AOSP, is control.
Ars called it over a decade ago [0]. Then they added a few updates as their article made the rounds in 2018, because it was still so relevant, it wasn't worth updating - not enough had changed to warrant more than minor revisions. Now, in 2026, Google continues to centralize control
Android is Google's operating system. Everyone else just lives there.
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Comment on Interview: Firefox’s chief on why he hopes a redesign will help win users from Chrome in ~tech
xethos Link ParentWhile important, public vs private does not change the point that catering to existing users will slow the bleeding, not stop it, and that Mozilla needs to continually (if slowly) gain new users...While important, public vs private does not change the point that catering to existing users will slow the bleeding, not stop it, and that Mozilla needs to continually (if slowly) gain new users to counter-act natural attrition
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Comment on Does the dryer shrink your clothes? in ~life
xethos Link ParentNotably, long dry winters IIRC. Given his penchance for energy efficiency, I'm surprised he doesn't look at "More energy efficient to air dry" and "Damp clothes adding moisture to an excessively...Notably, long dry winters IIRC. Given his penchance for energy efficiency, I'm surprised he doesn't look at "More energy efficient to air dry" and "Damp clothes adding moisture to an excessively dry home in winter" as killing two birds with one stone.
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Comment on Ed Sheeran’s tour in trouble after opening acts drop out in solidarity with rapper Macklemore in ~music
xethos Link ParentHe's "apolitical" when it can come at a monetary cost. He'll say Russia's war with Ukraine is wrong and host benefit concerts when it won't put him between opposing Isreali genocide, and rich...Remaining apolitical and neutral is just not possible when you're such a big name. Evidently, he is loyal to nothing but money.
He's "apolitical" when it can come at a monetary cost. He'll say Russia's war with Ukraine is wrong and host benefit concerts when it won't put him between opposing Isreali genocide, and rich venue owners.
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Comment on Compact phone in the works for the fans of small phones in ~tech
xethos Link ParentMy Key2LE and KeyOne both lasted a pretty easy day-almost-two on one charge, with batteries in the 3Ah neighbourhood, and my current phone is similar. Either (or more likely, a combination of) we...My Key2LE and KeyOne both lasted a pretty easy day-almost-two on one charge, with batteries in the 3Ah neighbourhood, and my current phone is similar. Either (or more likely, a combination of) we have very different use-cases, or Google Play Services (disabled on all my devices) is heavier and thirstier than most people would find plausible.
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Comment on UBlock Origin got turned off with my most recent Brave browser update. Any alternatives? in ~tech
xethos Link ParentExactly. Upstream has broken OP's workflow, and right now is the best it will ever work forevermore - uBlock Origin will only get more broken from here on out. As people have been told for months...Exactly. Upstream has broken OP's workflow, and right now is the best it will ever work forevermore - uBlock Origin will only get more broken from here on out. As people have been told for months now, downstream does not have the manpower to keep manifest V2 around due to the speed at which Chromium moves, and things are going to break
The only answer is to move away from Chromium-based browsers
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
xethos Link ParentI'm personally not convinced the abysmal state of software is due to AI. Google dropped VOIP around Android 10, roughly 6 years ago, and turned Maps from a method of organizing the world's...I'm personally not convinced the abysmal state of software is due to AI. Google dropped VOIP around Android 10, roughly 6 years ago, and turned Maps from a method of organizing the world's information to being primarily ad-focused several years ago as well. Microsoft was struggling with Windows monetization and slow-to-open applications like the file explorer, and even the Start Menu, since well before AI as well - and this doesn't even touch on SteamOS beating Microsoft in gaming benchmarks, and doing so running Windows system calls, leading Microsoft to launch project K2. Apple did not abandon their Human Interface Guidelines and push out LiquidGlass because of Claude.
This is the software quality of the best programmers money can buy, from the best leadership these outrageously well-funded boardrooms can attract. AI is infecting other industries, but AI is not the reason I don't take the major software companies seriously
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
xethos Link ParentPerhaps beside your point, and it was just an example, but cybersecurity isn't taken seriously either. The people that do the work, and give a damn, are serious people that do good work, and my...Perhaps beside your point, and it was just an example, but cybersecurity isn't taken seriously either. The people that do the work, and give a damn, are serious people that do good work, and my hat's off to them. Corporations do not, generally, take cybersecurity seriously, and the public knows it. That's how we end up with scenes like this [0] one from Mythic Quest
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
xethos Link ParentI work with systems ajacent / parallel to emergency services communications, and we have fallback systems we test fairly frequently, as the system is put in maintenance mode for upgrades,...I work with systems ajacent / parallel to emergency services communications, and we have fallback systems we test fairly frequently, as the system is put in maintenance mode for upgrades, maintenance, testing, etc.
Large vehicles continue to have air brakes that fail safe, and collision-avoidance is the backup to people - which I actively turn off because my Honda thought it saw something on the highway, on a clear day, and decided to emergency stop at highway speed.
I'd also like to point to Toyota's spaghetti code being at least partially blamed (rightly or wrongly) for unintended acceleration.
You're not wrong, some industries are safety-critical and need to have good quality controls in place for software. But my core argument is that I don't believe for a moment it's anywhere near the majority that is safety-critical, and of the majority that isn't safety critical, the quality leaves quite a bit to be desired
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
xethos Link ParentI support the overall point. But after becoming completely disillusioned with how major tech companies behave, after seeing Google at their best become what they are now, after becoming beyond fed...sometimes it also results in negligence on vital software, and someone gets hurt
I support the overall point. But after becoming completely disillusioned with how major tech companies behave, after seeing Google at their best become what they are now, after becoming beyond fed up with the state of software being shoved everywhere it does not belong:
What vital software?
Because I don't think it's a thing outside of specific industries. Someone will point me to THERAC-25, but that adds to my point - it's been decades, and that's what we have for examples. Tell me aerospace has problem and I'll agree. People can get hurt there, but there are pretty strict human factors requirements there too.
Like today I'll use the software in my car, or on the bus, to get to work, but a glitch in my infotainment system is not going to kill me. The bus having delayed stop announcements isn't life-threatening. My fiancee will change her flight online, use her VISA, chat on Discord... and none of that is life-threatening. At most the VISA is kept secure because it's cheaper for VISA not to be inundated with calls of "I need my money back"
There are a handful of places where, if software goes wrong, people can and will get hurt. It's just a miniscule minority, and I think the absolute state of modern software supports that assumption. Google pays for some of the best programmers in the world (that are willing and able to work there), and not only could they not be bothered to support VOIP, they can't always get their dialer to recieve phone calls [0, 1]. If that is software engineering at it's modern best, am I wrong for thinking so poorly of it?
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Comment on How long can I go with an obsolete phone? in ~tech
xethos Link ParentTruth be told, so would I. I've resorted to using OSM when out'n'about, looking up directions on desktop before leaving, and (as a last resort) OSM's spoken turn-by-turn directions, as my areas...Truth be told, so would I. I've resorted to using OSM when out'n'about, looking up directions on desktop before leaving, and (as a last resort) OSM's spoken turn-by-turn directions, as my areas are reasonably well mapped - and if they aren't, they're added to my to-do list lol
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Comment on How long can I go with an obsolete phone? in ~tech
xethos Link ParentLate, but I'm still stuck on why you're stuck with Google either way. Either you make the jump to GrapheneOS (and drop Google), or you could just run adb disable on all Google software you don't...Late, but I'm still stuck on why you're stuck with Google either way. Either you make the jump to GrapheneOS (and drop Google), or you could just run adb disable on all Google software you don't want now.
The latter means better performance and dramatically better battery life, and you get to test which apps you can use without Google early. Further, unless you're expecting baseband attacks (which aren't exactly common), the safest thing to do is drop all proprietary apps - an opaque app with malicious dependencies, Meta-supplied SDKs, or generally poor respect for the users' privacy is the much more likely threat, and minimizing non-FOSS apps is something you're planning to do anyways as you de-Google in the future.
Purging Google from your current handset is all upside
I... feel like it's worse than owning an early Ford. There's lots to say about Henry Ford, but at least there's third-party support for, say, a '34 coupe. Purchasing replacement parts doesn't have to support the company he founded, and almost certainly won't support the ideals of the founder.
Due to things like digital restrictions and parts-pairing, there isn't yet much third-party support for the Cybertruck (AFAIK). So every sensor replaced, and every dollar one spends on diagnostic software, will make the world a worse place. This money will go to a living founder, and it will be used to push his ideals on the rest of us.
In a few decades, when the money doesn't necessarily have to support the founder? Cool - I don't think I have to feel bad about what Edward Murphy did, and if I don't like GM, I don't have to buy replacement parts for my Pontiac from them.
Until then... I dunno. Every car is cool to someone, and to make it to that less-problematic time, it has to be cared for now. And I was going to seperate a daily from something to be cared for, something it's owner loves on its own merits - but if it's loved for its bizarre design, the difficult to care for but arguably pretty when polished and loved materials, and how it represents an automaker taking a damn swing, how can I be okay with that decades from now, but not today?
Writing it out, I'd say owning one because you love what it is, is fine. I can see how others could arrive at different conclusions, and I was ready to be one. But writing is a form of thinking, and having written the jumble preceeding this, I think keeping it as a collectible, as a classic, as something loved, is fine.