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49 votes
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User accountability and complicated technologies
I've been thinking about the arguments that are increasingly common when dealing with tech: "it's too complicated" and "I just want something that works". My father gifted a used computer to me...
I've been thinking about the arguments that are increasingly common when dealing with tech: "it's too complicated" and "I just want something that works".
My father gifted a used computer to me and my brother when we were kids. Ours to use, ours to take care. He would pay for the eventual screw up, but we had to walk several blocks carrying the tower to get assistance.
I messed up a lot over the years, mostly because I wanted to explore the little that I knew and learn more. I had some magazines that expected everything to go well if instructions were followed and no access to internet forums to ask for help. I was limited to just one language as well. I had to find a way out. Nowadays things are much more simple and really just work, until they don't and I can't really fix them.
In this world, what people can do is complain. Or offer a report of how things went wrong and wait patiently. It's not even that common for people in general to just go back to the version that worked. There's no version, only the app we use or can't use and it's not our responsibility any kind of maintenance.
I have to confess I was going in another direction when I started, but things are really limited from a consumer's point of view. In part, it's our fault for not wanting to deal with the burden of knowledge, it inevitably takes the control away from us, but big tech really approves and incentives this behavior.
As with so many problems I see in the world, education is the solution. And educating ourselves might be the only dependable option.
10 votes -
What browser extensions do you absolutely love to use?
I have two that I will highly recommend: Vimium has completely changed the way that I use my browsers. They have extensions for firefox and safari as well, but the link I provided is for chrome....
I have two that I will highly recommend:
Vimium has completely changed the way that I use my browsers. They have extensions for firefox and safari as well, but the link I provided is for chrome. If you are used to vim keybindings, it makes websites almost completely navigable using only your keyboard! Here's a video demonstration of it in case you're interested.
My other is SponsorBlock for youtube. This one makes using youtube a little more bearable by automatically skipping the baked-in sponsorships and advertisements. It has literally cut down my viewing times of some channels by like 20%.
Are there any other extensions that you absolutely love?
110 votes -
Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement
57 votes -
Inside Snopes: The rise, fall, and rebirth of an internet icon
23 votes -
Why do cloud providers keep building datacenters in America's hottest city?
33 votes -
AI does not exist but it will ruin everything anyway
32 votes -
Vibrating haptic suits give deaf people a new way to feel live music
17 votes -
Meta's social media platforms will be temporarily barred from behavioral advertising in Norway after a ruling from the Norwegian Data Protection Authority
13 votes -
Linux could be 3% of global desktops. What happened to Windows?
47 votes -
Why the floppy disk just won't die
61 votes -
Longer-lasting light bulbs: it was complicated
22 votes -
Every year is someone's year of Linux desktop
24 votes -
The small web and minimalist websites - what are your thoughts and experiences?
I'm a supporter and believer in the small web and minimalist websites (i.e. NOT "minimal design" websites, which are not minimalist more often than not). Some examples: Tildes. Sourcehut....
I'm a supporter and believer in the small web and minimalist websites (i.e. NOT "minimal design" websites, which are not minimalist more often than not).
Some examples:- Tildes.
- Sourcehut.
- HackerNews.
- To a limited degree, the different motherfucking websites (as they are, in essence, websites with no purpose).
- Members of the 512kb club (also see https://10kbclub.com/).
- Tools like Miniflux and Kanboard.
- Pinboard.in.
- And many others.
What is your experience, if any, with the small web?
Which steps have you taken (if at all) to ensure your website is not bloated?
What do you think can be done better both individually as well as globally to make the web a nicer, faster place?Edit: So I don’t look like I don’t practice what I preach, this is my blog. I try and follow the minimalist principles.
75 votes -
This laser repairs OLED phone screens by repairing broken internal traces - without taking the screen apart or even turning it off
17 votes -
A new bill would force internet companies in the USA to spy on their users for the Drug Enforcement Administration
45 votes -
Best way to use Instagram from a privacy perspective?
If I wanted to create an Instagram to try to build a brand but value privacy, what are some good tips and tricks for using the app and not have all your personal data harvested by Meta? Of course...
If I wanted to create an Instagram to try to build a brand but value privacy, what are some good tips and tricks for using the app and not have all your personal data harvested by Meta?
Of course they're going to collect whatever info I post but are there some mitigation strategies? Always use a VPN? Should I get a brand new phone number?
13 votes -
What sleep monitoring apps would you recommend?
I'm looking for something to track my sleep automatically and hopefully record when I sleep talk.
13 votes -
Reddit is getting rid of its Gold awards system
88 votes -
Are phones really listening to us at all times?
Had an interesting conversation with my colleagues this morning. We were pretty split whether phones listen to us for advertising or not. On one hand, we anecdotally see Google news and ad...
Had an interesting conversation with my colleagues this morning. We were pretty split whether phones listen to us for advertising or not.
On one hand, we anecdotally see Google news and ad suggestions based on what we say. We know our mics are on at all times for voice assistant and music detection. But we also read online talking about how there is no evidence about the phones recording us. It's hard to trust anything nowadays.
67 votes -
The workers at the frontlines of the AI revolution
12 votes -
Congratulations! The US is 32nd worldwide on broadband affordability
23 votes -
Far-right Twitter influencers first on Elon Musk’s monetization scheme
70 votes -
Recommendations for finding a local('ish?) repair for name brand quality headset?
Hiya - I'm looking for some help because despite a lot of Google quality time, I'm sincerely struggling to get a solution. I have a Plantronics 4220 wireless headset that I use for work (and also...
Hiya -
I'm looking for some help because despite a lot of Google quality time, I'm sincerely struggling to get a solution.
I have a Plantronics 4220 wireless headset that I use for work (and also to connect with Bluetooth to my PC at the same time between calls), and somehow the audio is starting to flake out. It's like it only gets audio in one ear, but if I tilt my head slightly it'll get into the other ear or sometimes both. Pretty weird... it's something I might expect from a wired headset where the cord itself is dying, but not on a wireless one like this.
Anyhow, I'm very comfortable with tech stuff (building my own rigs for like 20 years now), but I've never really felt comfortable about iFixit kind of solutions where tools or hardware is involved with the hardware. I'd pretty much just rather throw a little money at a pro who can fix it in 5 minutes and charge me $50 or whatever, lol.
However when I am going to look for places that might offer repair services, all I'm getting are locations in the US... but I'm in Canada. Specifically Ontario. Anyone have a source (from personal experience or otherwise) on how I might best look up a place I can get this fixed at? Figuring out what to search for on this subject seems oddly arcane!
6 votes -
Inside the white-hot center of AI doomerism: Anthropic
8 votes -
If you wish to make an apple pie, you must first become dictator of the universe
11 votes -
US Redditors to earn real money for gold, karma
71 votes -
US FTC opens investigation into OpenAI over technology’s potential harms
17 votes -
Loona "smart" robot
I recently got a Loona, one of those "smart" robot pets. My kid isn't great with real pets yet so we're trying to ease into things, sort of like exposure therapy. But we're having major problems...
I recently got a Loona, one of those "smart" robot pets. My kid isn't great with real pets yet so we're trying to ease into things, sort of like exposure therapy. But we're having major problems with it. This post is part first impressions and part asking if anyone else has experienced this and maybe has figured out solutions.
Now, my kid loves it, a lot. So it's not a complete flop, thankfully. But wow is it ever the opposite of smart. Kind of like how Google, Alexa, etc have "command phrases" to let them know you're wanting to talk to them, Loona has "hello Loona". But it only triggers listening mode like 20% of the time. Doesn't seem to matter if you talk slowly and enunciate or if you talk normal, it's just really bad at listening.
Even once you have it listening to you, it only recognizes your commands maybe half the time. The booklet it came with seems to say it sends audio to Amazon for voice to command translation, so I'm assuming it's bad at listening to commands because:
- The microphone is mediocre and isn't picking up all the words correctly.
- Amazon's public voice to command service isn't great for general use.
- A little of both.
On the one hand, I get if you're looking to leverage existing technology and not reinvent the wheel. On the other hand, if it can't even detect "hello loona" locally, then everything it hears would go to Amazon. That terrifies me, given their privacy track record. It's also just plain frustrating to try getting it to play a game or go to sleep when it's constantly ignoring you.
Beyond that, it almost feels like the camera is for gimmicks rather than a functional component. It's constantly running into things like walls, chair legs, human legs... It's always running into you when you try to interact with it and it frequently moves violently; fast and without regard for its surroundings. I assume it makes no attempt to map out even just its immediate surroundings because of how it always runs into the same stuff over and over again.
And one feature I was looking forward to is that the robot is supposed to be capable of getting itself back to its charging dock, and yet not once has it ever attempted to do so. Not when it's low battery and not when we tell it to. But it also, for no great reason, assumes that it should just wake up when it finishes charging, so if you start charging it in the evening and forget to manually turn it off, the thing starts yelling and ramming into stuff in the middle of the night; it's insanity.
Anyway, I would not recommend it from personal experience. But if you have one or know someone that does, and you aren't having these issues, please share your wisdom with me.
17 votes -
Evernote, the memory app people forgot about, lays off entire US staff
93 votes -
Is distributed computing dying, or just fading into the background? (Remember seti@home?)
24 votes -
Fairphone 3 gets seven years of updates, besting every other Android OEM
46 votes -
DisplayPort: A better video interface
49 votes -
Elon Musk and Twitter sued over unpaid severance packages
75 votes -
What are your go-to mobile apps?
I'm looking for suggestions. The Internet has become very small over the last 11 years. My go-to for the moments of downtime was RIF. I was able to consume all the little spaces with it since it...
I'm looking for suggestions. The Internet has become very small over the last 11 years. My go-to for the moments of downtime was RIF. I was able to consume all the little spaces with it since it was an infinite feed - that's a bit harder now. All sorts of apps are welcome, but I'm not looking for things that require high effort or attention span (unless they are worth it). Games are fine, but other apps that fill your time are very good - preferably SFW and audio-off! I use Android, so I prefer those, but our Apple brethren are also welcome to share.
84 votes -
Twitter blocks links to rival Threads, while CEO downplays reports of traffic decline
121 votes -
Why has Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, not launched in the EU?
33 votes -
Silk Road’s second-in-command gets twenty years in prison
27 votes -
Help with a home theater system issue
Long story short my roommate has a surround system she got at Goodwill and I set it up for her but the internal amps are not functioning properly. It's only using the front two satellite speakers...
Long story short my roommate has a surround system she got at Goodwill and I set it up for her but the internal amps are not functioning properly. It's only using the front two satellite speakers and sub which is independently powered. So it's 2.1 for now.
The front two speakers barely put out much sound even cranked to max volume. The sub is fine as again it's independently powered.
I've ruled out all settings, as there is a 2.1 output mode, and the radio is just as low so it's not an input issue. I have it hooked to her PC's output. I also have proper gauge speaker wire so that's not the problem either. I did hook up the center speaker to one of the front outputs too. Same deal.
So can an inline amp help at this point? Is there anything else I can try or rule out?
Also if this is not appropriate to post here in Tech I apologize in advance.
5 votes -
Portland radio station now has an AI DJ as a midday host
14 votes -
Permanent archival formats. Do they exist?
Recently, I've been thinking pretty hard about how to archive data. Optical media is out, due to my (possibly irrational?) fear of disc rot. HDDs just break with extended use, SSDs have been known...
Recently, I've been thinking pretty hard about how to archive data. Optical media is out, due to my (possibly irrational?) fear of disc rot. HDDs just break with extended use, SSDs have been known to die with either overuse or just existing for an extended period of time. What's left?
I have heard of tape (of some kind) being used for backup in some bigger operations, but with my experieces with VHS, and to a lesser extent, cassettes, they seem to be very susceptible to mould.
Any suggestions?
30 votes -
Why we don’t recommend Ring cameras: They’re affordable and ubiquitous, but homeowners shouldn’t be able to act as vigilantes
29 votes -
UK House of Lords votes to modify proposed legislation to target 'harmful' algorithms
9 votes -
Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” is here
19 votes -
Apple Vision Pro headsets will require a head scan and vision prescription to customize the headset for each user
29 votes -
European Commission adopts new adequacy decision for safe and trusted EU-US data flows
15 votes -
Book writing self-hosted solutions?
I'm big into self-hosting and recently getting back into writing as an additional hobby, cuz one can never have too many, right? Anyway, I am looking for a writing organization tool like...
I'm big into self-hosting and recently getting back into writing as an additional hobby, cuz one can never have too many, right? Anyway, I am looking for a writing organization tool like Manuskript, Dabble, or Scrivener that is both open source and self-hosted.
Essentially, I would just like something that I can organize my thoughts and occasionally write in, but be able to access it from all my devices - desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, etc. It seems like most of the solutions I've looked at are limited to a single device or cloud functionality is locked behind a paywall. Of course, I could just use a self-hosted wiki site for cloud editing/organization, but I'd like something more oriented toward writing if anybody has any ideas. Thanks!
26 votes -
Mac shipments grow 10%, as all major PC brands see downturns
10 votes -
So how do social networks compare when it comes to capturing data in their app? A comparison
7 votes -
How do I migrate almost twenty years of email off of Gmail?
I have followed numerous discussions on here lately regarding extracting oneself from being Google-reliant, and they've all deeply resonated with me. For years now I've been slowly migrating...
I have followed numerous discussions on here lately regarding extracting oneself from being Google-reliant, and they've all deeply resonated with me. For years now I've been slowly migrating numerous Google-bound things over to my own self-hosted alternatives. I've moved my storage, contacts, documents, and some (but sadly not all) of my calendars to home solutions, fairly easily too.
But the biggest hurdle I've been facing this whole time, the one I've been putting off the longest, is the act of figuring out how to get almost twenty years of mail archive and history on my primary account away from Google and into a space where I can access it separately. I have been steadily changing the main email on my more active external accounts to a self-hosted one, and now only seeing a shrinking handful of lesser-used services still attached to the old gmail. But that history is too precious to me, and I still find multiple occasions where I need/want to reference some communications from long ago.
I've tried searching the web for options, but so far all combinations of my queries are either really elementary "here's how to set up a new email" crap, or else aimed at moving from one Gmail account to another Gmail account. I've been thinking that the simplest approach might be just to set it up as a POP3 account in my mail client (eM Client, for the record), download it all, and then when I finally pull the plug just drag it into the local client archive, and then remove the account from the app. But I figure there have to be others who have done this, right?
74 votes