Nollij
@Nollij@sopuli.xyz
- Comment on How long do you think we'll keep seeing "formerly Twitter"? 2 weeks ago:
Some places tried calling him “The Artist”, but it never stuck. Not even “The Artist formerly known as Prince” stuck. But “Prince” has endured to his grave and beyond.
- Comment on Do PhDs HAVE to use Dr? 3 weeks ago:
While misrepresenting yourself or your credentials can be fraud, the title of PhD/Doctor (outside of MD) is not regulated, at least not in the US. It’s almost like an endorsement from the university that you passed their tests.
But that’s not very regulated either, and there are countless certifying boards (Boards of Regents, typically).
Falsely claiming to have a PhD in Neuroscience from Harvard, or an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Knox College, would be fraud. But just saying that you have a PhD without specifying anything more specific is not.
And it comes up regularly - an easy example is the author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.
- Comment on [Cory Doctorow] With An Audacious Plan To Halt The Internet’s Enshittification And Throw It Into Reverse 1 month ago:
My point is that every company is a tech company.
- Comment on [Cory Doctorow] With An Audacious Plan To Halt The Internet’s Enshittification And Throw It Into Reverse 1 month ago:
It’s easy to think of tech as being companies that primarily produce electronics or operate information services, but that’s not the case. Every company uses (and often creates) technology in various forms that benefit from standards and interoperation.
Connected devices benefit from standardized Wi-Fi. Cars benefit from standardized fuel- both in ICE (octane ratings, pumps) and electric (charging connectors, protocols). It even applies to companies that make simple molded plastic, because the molds can be created/used at many factories, including short-term contract manufacturing.
- Comment on “Extreme” Broadcom-proposed price hike would up VMware costs 1,050%, AT&T says 1 month ago:
It’s very much the Oracle model.
A long time ago, Oracle DB could handle workloads much, much larger than any of their competitors. If you needed Oracle, none of the others were even a possibility. There are even tales that it was a point of pride for some execs.
Then Oracle decided to put the screws to their customers. Since they had no competition, and their customers had deep pockets (otherwise they wouldn’t have had such large databases), they could gouge all they wanted. They even got new customers, because they had no competition.
Fast forward and there are now a number of meaningful competitors. But it’s not easy to switch to a different DB software, and there are a ton of experienced Oracle devs/DBAs out there. There are very few new projects built using Oracle, but the existing ones will live forever (think COBOL) and keep sucking down licensing fees.
VMware thinks they are similarly entrenched, and in some cases they’re right. But it’s not the simple hypervisor that everyone is talking about. That can easily be replaced by a dozen alternatives at the next refresh. Instead it’s the extended stack, the APIs and whatnot, that will require significant development work to switch to a new system.
- Comment on Has anyone else noticed that J.D. Vance looks like a Temu version of Norm Macdonald? 1 month ago:
He’s dead? I didn’t even know he was sick…
(/s for anyone not familiar with his work)
- Comment on Advertisers plan to withdraw from X in record numbers | CNN Business 2 months ago:
Often there are contracts. Sometimes for a very long time, often multi-year. There are sometimes escape clauses (like a morality clause for a spokesperson), but these aren’t easy to invoke.
I suspect many of them are up for annual review/renewal, when they can be terminated without penalty. It might also just be an attempt to get better terms.
- Comment on Can i safely turn the power on on this open outlet? if not, how do i solve this? 2 months ago:
FWIW, here is the US, the ground wire is often completely exposed. As in, no colored jacket, just the bare copper throughout the entire run. Attached to ground at the breaker box, and attached to any grounding ports or metal boxes throughout the building.
- Comment on Comedy shows have laugh tracks cuz they aren't that funny 2 months ago:
Timing and pacing are inherently different when there’s a laugh track. You can’t just silence the laughter or cut the time range. In some cases, you have to rework the joke.
- Comment on Comedy shows have laugh tracks cuz they aren't that funny 2 months ago:
The audience usually attends for free (“for free tickets to the _____ show, call…”), but there’s still a lot of overhead. Not only do you need ushers, security, and so on, you need to be filming on a sound stage with a place for the audience.
On the flip side, laugh tracks are easily added in post.
- Comment on Lowe's becomes latest company to scrap DEI policies amid 'woke' backlash 2 months ago:
The problem is that their competitors are similarly bad, albeit in different ways. I would be surprised if Home Depot has a DEI program next year. They already champion a number of right wing causes.
- Comment on Why did Hamas choose Oct 7 to strike? Instead of say another day? 2 months ago:
To add to this, imagine the reverse. Can you imagine if they passed up better opportunities, just so that it could happen on a specific date on the calendar?
Sounds absurd, right?
- Comment on In Leaked Audio, Amazon Cloud CEO Says AI Will Soon Make Human Programmers a Thing of the Past 2 months ago:
“handle” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. The signs are already there that all of these edge cases will just be programmed as “safely pull over and stop until conditions change or a human takes control”. Which isn’t a small task in itself, but it’s a lot easier than figuring out to continue (e.g.) on ice.
- Comment on [deleted] 2 months ago:
I think you’re approaching the wrong aspect. While that could be a scam where a man is impersonating a woman, there are plenty where it’s actually a woman running the scam. There are plenty of red flags here, and those don’t change.
The problem is that I’m sure your friend is aware of those red flags. He’s also choosing to ignore them. I suspect he doesn’t do well with women IRL, and this at least gives him hope.
Assuming that’s all true, this is way above the pay grade of random people on the Internet.
- Comment on Why are vegan and gluten free items more expensive? 2 months ago:
Economies of scale affects the costs to the manufacturer. Competition/demand affect the price to the consumer.
- Comment on Bing has been revamped to prioritize AI search results – whether you like it or not 3 months ago:
Will this help users on Bing with their number 1 desired search destination, Google?
Or their 7th most common destination, Bing?
- Comment on YouTube tests server-side ads to make your coveted blocker obsolete 3 months ago:
Not necessarily. They could split the video in advance, assuming the ads will always be at the same point. Even if not, they could still use the direct, unaltered source with a range. The big challenge would be keeping it all synced, which I think is safe to say that they will get right.
But even if it did need to be transcoded, YouTube automatically transcodes every single video uploaded, multiple times. They are clearly not afraid of it.
- Comment on Lawsuit: T-Mobile must pay for breaking lifetime price guarantee 3 months ago:
I said nothing of the sort, and have no idea where you got that idea. All I said was that marketing claims are separate from the contract.
However, this thread is clearly not interested in any actual exchange of ideas or information, so I will no longer be taking part. Go ahead and downvote.
- Comment on Lawsuit: T-Mobile must pay for breaking lifetime price guarantee 3 months ago:
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False advertising has nothing to do with breach of contract. Completely separate sections of law.
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Nothing offered in perpetuity will stand up in court. You can argue about reasonable terms, but it can never be forever.
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Marketing gets you into the contract. The contract holds the actual terms that both (or all) parties are bound to.
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- Comment on Lawsuit: T-Mobile must pay for breaking lifetime price guarantee 3 months ago:
I would be surprised if this goes anywhere meaningful. Those were marketing promises, not contract terms. I noticed the promotion ended just over 2 years before the price hike, indicating that everyone had completed their contract. Once the contract is over, either side can walk away, or renegotiate terms.
- Comment on Lawsuit: T-Mobile must pay for breaking lifetime price guarantee 3 months ago:
It negates the point of a contract. What kind of contract even has a term of length without a set price?
- Comment on A Black woman has never lost the general election for POTUS in US history but 46 white men have lost 3 months ago:
There was a time, a few decades ago, when there was a real demand to get away from the negativity of most campaigns. Everyone says they wanted it, polls clearly showed it, etc.
But then there was another study which analyzed the effectiveness of campaigns (i.e. if they won) vs how negative they went.
Negativity was clearly proven to be the winning tactic.
- Comment on A Black woman has never lost the general election for POTUS in US history but 46 white men have lost 3 months ago:
Ignoring how meaningless the statement is in the first place, obligatory XKCD.
- Comment on If anything happen to Linux today, like what happened to Windows, most of the internet would be dead. 3 months ago:
Who do you think runs those servers? What do you think those companies run on their Linux servers?
- Comment on Elon Musk says SpaceX HQ officially moving to Texas, blames new CA trans student privacy law 3 months ago:
Let’s not forget the Golden Handcuffs. Although given what was reported from Twitter, I’m not sure that applies.
- Comment on Maybe it was someone from the future. 3 months ago:
There’s an interesting theory that Hitler was put in place by time travelers as the last-bad option that wouldn’t destroy the timeline.
Hitler (and Trump) made a number of blundering errors that any idiot should’ve/known better than to make. Had a competent, or even a supervillain-type been in charge, things could’ve turned out even worse than they did. You don’t have to look far- some of these villains attach themselves to those in power. Himmler and Heydrich would’ve been far worse for the world, but were somewhat limited by not being the ones directly in power.
- Comment on Why haven't car manufacturers standardized automatic brake lights when a built in accelerometer detects deceleration? 3 months ago:
This does exist on certain vehicles, like ambulances.
But I’ve heard (unconfirmed) that it would be illegal in several states to put on passenger vehicles.
- Comment on Elon Musk calls for “criminal prosecution” of Twitter/X ad boycott perpetrators 4 months ago:
While I would generally agree with that statement (and gave you an up vote for it), I feel like Musk twisted that away from any normal business move.
For instance, many customers aren’t paying for premium features. Rather, they were extorted into paying, because their professional lives depend on it.
And even after all that, it’s not like it’s catering to users on any level. No one is saying that Twitter is better now. Well, no one except the Russian bots and the Nazis.
- Comment on Elon Musk calls for “criminal prosecution” of Twitter/X ad boycott perpetrators 4 months ago:
When a business blames its customers for choosing to no longer be its customers, it’s a sure sign the business is declining. Depending on the severity, it’s often a sign the business is failing.
This applies here, as well as any time you see an article that millennials are killing <business/industry/etc>. It also applies when an entertainer blames their (potential) audience for not enjoying their work. See Jerry Seinfeld, Kid Rock, etc.
No one owes your business any patronage.
- Comment on Are there foods that dogs can safely eat but humans can't? 4 months ago:
This isn’t true, at least in the US. The vast majority of dog food is safe for human consumption, albeit not recommended.