TheFriar
@TheFriar@lemm.ee
- Comment on Bring your kid to Genocide day 1 day ago:
What the fuck?
Fuck you. You’re the reason people defending Israel can point to us all as antisemites. Just shut the fuck up for everyone’s sake. Antisemitism isn’t the answer. Responding to hate with equal proportions of hate is a fool’s response. And you’re the fool here.
- Comment on Marvels Rivals requires creators to sign a contract that removes your right to give a negative review to access the playtest 4 days ago:
I hope there is a bunch of really sarcastic positive reviews, listing everything they hate about the game as if it’s what they really love about the game.
- Comment on That time when Microsoft bought and killed Nokia phone unit 1 week ago:
miro.medium.com/…/1*PBXghb0XY5LEXJ-xhTDobQ.png
Oh shit I had this phone! It was cool. For the time. But the left side felt really flimsy when you opened it up.
- Comment on That time when Microsoft bought and killed Nokia phone unit 1 week ago:
I think you did find it. Looks like that xelibri 6. What a weird, not convenient design.
- Comment on That time when Microsoft bought and killed Nokia phone unit 1 week ago:
In that photo, does everyone else see the birth control phone in the upper right hand side of the pile? I remember the razr phone and the Nokia brick and the sidekick and all the weird little cell phones we used to have but…I’ve never seen that birth control phone.
- Comment on Dating app Bumble will no longer require women to make the first move | CNN Business 1 week ago:
Hinge is the only one I use anymore. Honestly, you need to be able to say something. Just swiping doesn’t do shit. If they paywall that feature they’ll be sunk in no time. I’ll be the first to leave. But I’ve been dating someone for a little and it might turn monogamous soon. So, guess we’ll see.
- Comment on Dating app Bumble will no longer require women to make the first move | CNN Business 1 week ago:
lol right? And wasn’t it for women to have a safer place to online date?
So they’re basically growing women under the bus for money. Classy.
- Comment on Philodo H8 eBike: Revolutionizing Urban Mobility 2 weeks ago:
Literally just adcopy being posted to lemmy? Fuck that noise
- Comment on Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone 2 weeks ago:
And completely cover any tattoos. Even more identifiable than your face, honestly.
- Comment on Can we all agree that whatever version of predictive text we have nowadays is crap, and has been for a long time? 2 weeks ago:
Fully aware of that function. As I said elsewhere, it just doesn’t come naturally to me to do that. It’s like using the arrows on a keyboard to move the cursor through text. It works, but I just use the mouse and click where I want to edit. If using the mouse didn’t work in certain instances, I’d have the same complaint. I want to click where I want, when I want. Not use a function I don’t naturally use when the computer forces me to. See what I’m saying? Doesn’t change the problem that there’s a workaround. It shouldn’t need a workaround for a super basic, incredibly common function.
- Comment on Xbox Console Sales Are Tanking 2 weeks ago:
This happened to me! I thought I was buying the newest gen. But then…games I was trying to buy were “not optimized for your console.”
I’m still not sure which one I have. I think I have the ONE S. But the games I’m looking to buy are “optimized for X|S series,” but…don’t work on my console. I’m moving to PlayStation soon.
Also, I have a feeling all that news a few months ago about how they’re gonna stop support for Xbox and may not continue to make games for it or will shut down the console division or whatever cannot have helped sales. I don’t remember the articles exactly. But the impression I was left with was Xbox was on its way out. Why would I buy another if they’re unsure of its future?
- Comment on Can we all agree that whatever version of predictive text we have nowadays is crap, and has been for a long time? 2 weeks ago:
What’s Gboard?
- Comment on Can we all agree that whatever version of predictive text we have nowadays is crap, and has been for a long time? 2 weeks ago:
Or how about with apple, when it autocorrects a word, and you want to manually click to the middle of the word, or even to the beginning or end, it fuckin highlights the word endlessly. That’s one of the most frustrating for me.
I’ve Al’s it entirely stopped using swype because it’s so dogshit now. I used to love it.
- Comment on Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone 2 weeks ago:
It’s your life. This advice is important in more active circles. There are also jobs that should be given out. Just like there are medics that come out, there should be journalists—in leftist action circles, this isn’t EMTs and NBC photographers. See what I’m saying?
It’s ultimately your choice. But depending on what’s happening, the cause, the state, the cops, the current state of the govt of the country, etc., this advice can literally be invaluable.
- Comment on Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone 2 weeks ago:
It’s never a good idea to bring your phone with you. It can be used, even while powered off, to track and surveil you. The BLM protests were just the tip of the iceberg. The apps you have on your phone track you. The government is buying that tracking data. Your phone is a massive privacy weak point. It’s basically a bug you carry on you willingly. It’s not safe. Period.
theconversation.com/police-surveillance-of-black-…
vox.com/…/police-law-enforcement-data-warrant
Leave your phone at home. It’s not worth it. It may not bite you in the ass the day of, but could very easily come back to haunt you after they investigate, in case anything goes “wrong” in their eyes. It’s just not worth it.
- Comment on Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone 2 weeks ago:
Further advice regarding civil disobedience:
LEAVE YOUR PHONES AT HOME. Write down some numbers in case you get arrested—or better yet, memorize them. There are journalists there for documenting. And there will be plenty of other people that don’t follow this advice. Leave anything they could use as leverage over you and your cohorts away. Don’t bring ID. Don’t bring anything except what you need for the action. It’s not worth the risk.
- Comment on The Tech Baron Seeking to “Ethnically Cleanse” San Francisco 2 weeks ago:
Well, their gray musk shirts—or maybe their gray “bitcoin” shirts. Super cool.
Capitalist brain rot is fuckin strong with . He’s gone straight up fuckin out of his mind on capitalism. ODing on it.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
Right. I mean, I’m no fan of china. I’m no fan of the US govt either. But I would say that China banning YT because it told the true story of Chinese oppression and the US trying to ban TikTok because it might be used to sway American opinion are starkly different…I mean, there have been coordinated disinformation campaigns in recent years. It’s not completely crazy to imagine china would use this incredibly powerful tool to spread their influence. Their track record isn’t amazing.
Also, yeah, most definitely, the data broker situation is waaaayyy the fuck out of control. It’s terrifying. Us companies are absolutely not innocent. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that US companies were the first to really “create” this new market. I haven’t looked that up though.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
the “for you” page of TikTok is an algorithmic beast unlike anything else. It is miles better at training to your likes than anyone else manages.
And maybe this is me being a pessimist and something of a Luddite lite, but I take that to mean the data they’re extracting from users is way more invasive than other companies.
They’re not hand selecting things they think you’d like, like you said, it’s an incredibly advanced algorithm that is scientifically creating the most effective content service they can.
And yeah, def agree people who trust WhatsApp are dumb af. I don’t trust meta any more than I trust the people who own TikTok’s algorithm.
I think we’re basically saying the same thing, but just looking at it differently. I take what you’re saying to mean they’re more invasive. You are more or less saying they’re as invasive as any other SM company, and they’re all pretty much neck and neck.
I’d agree in some senses, but think TikTok has mastered that profiling to the heights anyone could even imagine. And I also think, with ties to the Chinese govt—a ruthlessly authoritarian state—that it doesn’t bode well for user privacy, probably going beyond that threshold you mentioned. I would say the exact same thing if Facebook were owned by the US govt.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
I see. Maybe that’s true. I don’t think we even know the true extent of their snooping. Any of them. It’s probably much more extensive and creepy than any of us could ever know.
Although, I do think them providing “better” service is subjective. It’s basically vine, right? Vine had an “explore” page, right? I would definitely agree they provide a more stimulating service than any other social media company.
But if you asked them, their answer would be “providing customers with a great experience” is their mission statement. Though, if you got the non-PR answer, their goal is to maximize engagement with an app people have a hard time turning off, while maximizing profits by dominating the data broker market.
Would you say they’re providing customers a better experience? Or that they’re the most effective social media company? I’d argue that probably every new iteration of social media, and every year they exist, they get more invasive. They’re finding new ways to streamline their profit centers. And they’re…free apps. So….
That’s all I’m saying. I don’t know for certain who’s more invasive, but I will say it’s a race to the bottom and we’ll never know who actually won until there’s a whistle blower. That’s…not a good sign. I’m sure we can agree on that much.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
I really wish I could post those pictures. I opened the “learn more” page on the App Store. It does list some of the same info under a few different headers, but I take that to mean it’s more detailed info to apply to their multiple tracking desires.
As soon as a user starts using TikTok, the company begins building a profile about them, including their interests, political leanings, sexuality, and every other variable that could impact the selection of videos they see. TikTok also collects information about users’ keystroke patterns, location information, browser history, and even biometric information (face and voice print).
thequill.ca/…/five-reasons-why-tiktok-is-a-privac…
I’m not a social media person, so I was never going to use the app anyway, but I’m also pretty strict about what apps I’ll download. It’s probably a security blanket, but I try to do what I can. I’ve changed my mind about downloading a couple of apps that required way fewer permissions. So maybe my opinion is different than others’.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
It’s the second. But the Apple App Store alerts you to it reading up browsing history, your physical address, “other user contact info” besides name, phone, email, and physical address, whatever that could mean, as well as your “other financial info” besides your payment to them, “other diagnostic data” besides crash, performance data, and app use…
Maybe this is just a matter of opinion but those few things alone are way too much. But hey, you do you.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
lol k.
I just looked it up again because you made me second guess myself. But i distinctly remembered a laundry list of permissions. I just looked it p again on the App Store. My lemmy client isn’t letting me upload he screen grabs for some reason, but the detailed tracking information took up four screenshots. So…you might wanna double check that.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
This is important for people to understand.
I’m definitely of the opinion that this sort of treatment should be applied to other companies (the actual enforcement of “wellbeing” changes) and that this act is purely selfish when other tech companies are clearly abusing their users, but I also think it’s good to at least start here. I think this sort of uneven hand is shitty, but I see why the US govt would go this route.
I just wish user health was a higher priority than healthy profits. But that’s just not the case. By a long shot.
- Comment on ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say 2 weeks ago:
I don’t think “shortsightedness” is the difference. The sheer amount of privileges TikTok requires on your device speaks to Cambridge analytica levels of personal profile knowledge.
Couple that with the endless scroll, hot people doing thirst traps, flashy idiocy, flashing icons hugging the full screen image, no discernible window with controls tempting you to back out or log off…it’s the “perfect” tech product. One that’s endlessly addictive. That’s what makes tech good. They know you better than you know yourself, and they will shamelessly serve you exactly what you didn’t realize you wanted to see.
- Comment on Drake threatened with lawsuit over diss track featuring AI Tupac 2 weeks ago:
I mean…isn’t he lame and corny since forever? And, like, a creep?
- Comment on Reddit embracing all out enshittification 2 weeks ago:
Nothing. Social media (and social-ish media like Reddit) have a strong, strong hold on people. Facebook is still an incredibly popular site. People don’t abandon social media sites until they literally have to, like in the instance of MySpace, vine. A company definitely contributes to that by tanking their own UI and making people leave, which in turn causes a downward spiral of the company grabbing on harder to the dwindling user base, trying to monetize them harder and harder, until they company itself bottoms out and shuts down the servers.
Those of us that left Reddit willingly when we were tired of being used by them are in the very small minority. They lost, what, like 1-2% of their user base when nearly every single comment in any thread about the API debacle that said, “this is the last straw, I’m leaving and deleting my comment was getting massive amounts of support? People on the internet talk a big game, but ultimately are desperately addicted to their routines.
This is all by design, of course. We’re conditioned to open their apps and sites by reflex when we turn on the phone or computer. It fuckin works. But dammit if it doesn’t feel good breaking that spell. But it’s super disappointing others are willing to take every slap to the face and simply say “thank you sir may I have another.”
- Comment on TikTok's CEO is feeling the pressure and users are freaking out 3 weeks ago:
Reddit and TikTok are incredibly different. And most of us that came over here from Reddit were there and we all saw the quality of Reddit going downhill for a long time. And when Reddit decided to try to be more like a TikTok style company, we all bailed.
So it’s not that ironic. We all willingly left when a company made one more decision screwing us over. These people are clawing at their phones to stay on an app.
- Comment on Spurred by Teen Girls, States Move to Ban Deepfake Nudes 3 weeks ago:
That title is…misleading. Why start it that way?
- Comment on Tesla Cybertruck turns into world's most expensive brick after car wash 3 weeks ago:
Woah. Move over, Mercedes, Audi…other luxury car companies…FERRARI! That’s one.
From now on, I only drive Gold.