stsquad
@stsquad@lemmy.ml
FLOSS virtualization hacker, occasional brewer
- Comment on What a TikTok Ban Would Mean for the U.S. Defense of an Open Internet 2 weeks ago:
See up-thread: networkcontagion.us/…/A-Tik-Tok-ing-Timebomb_12.2…
- Comment on What a TikTok Ban Would Mean for the U.S. Defense of an Open Internet 2 weeks ago:
From the UK perspective broadcasters have a license to broadcast and are regulated by ofcomm. I thought the FCC had similar oversight of the US broadcasters - for example not being keen on swearing and sex on TV. For UK news programmes there is a requirement to be balanced for example.
- Comment on What a TikTok Ban Would Mean for the U.S. Defense of an Open Internet 2 weeks ago:
I think one difference is Google is a pull system: you query Google and get results. The short form video streams are push mediums. They feed you a stream of content that it thinks you want. They are fundamentally more susceptible to pushing a particular agenda.
The evidence from the reports in the above article certainly looks pretty daming that tiktok is pushing a particular agenda. The comparison to broadcast which often does have licensing requirements is probably apt.
I don’t buy the arguement that this gives cover to repressive regimes to censor more views because frankly they are doing that already.
- Comment on Schools in England and Wales using ‘gender toolkit’ risk being sued by parents 3 weeks ago:
Fine:
dailymail.co.uk/…/RE-teacher-50-struck-leaving-wi…
mirror.co.uk/…/re-teacher-49-marries-ex-24590117.…
From the search page. But for a wider view of the times teachers have exerted undue influence over children in their care: theguardian.com/…/teachers-accused-relationship-p… mentions 1000 teachers have been accused of undue influence over a five year period.
I’m not saying the teachers in this case had any undue intentions (the court will be in a far better place to assess the facts than random internet commentators). However it should be clear that teachers can influence children to do something against the wishes of their parents, unless you posit in all these cases it was still somehow the parents fault.
- Comment on Schools in England and Wales using ‘gender toolkit’ risk being sued by parents 3 weeks ago:
I mean just googling “teachers who have eloped with students UK” will give you a depressingly long list of examples.
- Comment on Schools in England and Wales using ‘gender toolkit’ risk being sued by parents 3 weeks ago:
You’re right of course they’re have never been any cases of teachers taking advantage of their position of trust over vulnerable pupils. It’s always a failing of the parents. /s
- Comment on Schools in England and Wales using ‘gender toolkit’ risk being sued by parents 3 weeks ago:
You might think differently if the estrangement had been driven by the teachers. The article isn’t clear on the timeline. I guess it’s for the courts to rule on now.
- Comment on Schools in England and Wales using ‘gender toolkit’ risk being sued by parents 4 weeks ago:
You’re reading a lot between the lines there. I would be concerned if I had a child with special needs whom I had discussed a plan with the school but they had just done something else anyway. Are you saying parents shouldn’t be involved with discussions about their childs care? We can’t know all the details here and jumping to conclusions about the parents motivation seems premature here.
- Comment on TSAC: Very Low Bitrate Audio Compression 4 weeks ago:
The man is a legend although I guess he has done prior experience with codecs through ffmpeg.
- Comment on Adult transgender clinics in England face inquiry into patient care 4 weeks ago:
The lack of follow up and record keeping at Tavistock was shocking. I’m all for expanding the range of providers to tackle waiting lists but they have to bring a more professional approach to providing care and a more holistic view if the patients.
- Comment on "No, seriously. All those things Google couldn't find anymore? Top of the search pile. Queries that generated pages of spam in Google results? Fucking pristine on Kagi – the right answers, over and ov 5 weeks ago:
Yes it does. You can derive the domain from snooping DNS lookups but the URL is part of the encrypted get header.
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 1 month ago:
NI is just another tax that goes into the total pot, albeit one that is not progressive and adds to the cost of employment. I’d be happy with it being scrapped and it all going on income tax, perhaps with a scaled employer contribution component. How about the employer contributes a scaled percentage for all employees over the median income for the company?
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 1 month ago:
European systems have quite a bit of private provision but they are still generally single payer and heavily regulated. Private involvement in healthcare doesn’t automatically involve what they created in the USA.
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 1 month ago:
I think narrowing it down to one tax type isn’t overly helpful. Ultimately it comes down to spending and policy. We underspend and we are more reactive: data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm
Systems that are insurance based (ignoring the mess that is the usa) at least have an incentive to catch things early because they are cheaper to deal with before they become chronic. With delays in primary care and waiting lists we end up getting much less bang for our buck as conditions develop before getting treatment.
- Comment on Public satisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level on record 1 month ago:
We have a lower tax burden than most of Europe, or at least the ones with decent healthcare. data.oecd.org/tax/tax-revenue.htm
- Comment on After 114 days of change, Broadcom CEO acknowledges VMware-related “unease” 1 month ago:
So I may be biased but what is vmwares USP? From my limited experience it was a slightly more polished GUI for creating VMs and the ability to run on older pre-virt hardware. Is the experience still objectively better than the alternatives?
- Comment on ‘It went nuts’: Thousands join UK parents calling for smartphone-free childhood 2 months ago:
A lot of homework starts with a media clip of some sort which they will comment on our analyse. Sometimes those clips are hosted on Facebook pages and it’s not really a windmill I want to tilt at right now.
- Comment on ‘It went nuts’: Thousands join UK parents calling for smartphone-free childhood 2 months ago:
These black and white solutions are not tenable. My eldest got a phone when they moved up to secondary school. It’s a useful tool for keeping in touch with their friends especially when most people don’t have landlines any more. Their generation is growing up as digital natives and I don’t think holding them back from phones will help them in the long run.
We do limit what apps can be installed though. They certainly want TikTok but so far we’ve said no and YouTube is only available on the family TV. So far they have not expressed any interest in getting access to social media although I do have to occasionally unblock Facebook because some of the homework links to videos on the site.
I know I’m probably in the minority in having enough digital skills to erect some barriers against the worst of the internet but I’m very much aware they will set it eventually. My hope is we’ve done enough to prepare them for that by the time the training wheels come off.
- Comment on Diagon Lemmy - A Queer-friendly, Harry Potter-themed Lemmy Server is now live (before you block me instantly, please hear me out) 2 months ago:
If you limit yourself to media created only by authors that past your particular purity test your going to have a very narrow view of the world. There is a reason the HP fandom is popular and I don’t think it’s because it’s because it’s made up of budding transphobes.
- Comment on “Wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical statement - Anil Dash 2 months ago:
All the centralisation in podcasting is the content delivery network (where ads are placed for the commercial ones). Where the feed is hosted it’s fairly irrelevant.
- Comment on MacBooks, Chromebooks lead losers in laptop repairability analysis 2 months ago:
What’s wrong with the software? They are client web devices and with crostini you can develop at a pinch. But they aren’t meant to be laptop/desktop replacement.
- Comment on What is the difference between album of the year and record of the year? 2 months ago:
Maybe it would be better titled track of the year?
- Comment on What is the difference between album of the year and record of the year? 2 months ago:
Do albums have a connective theme between the tracks compared to say a collection of hit singles?
- Comment on Why did we give up on insulation? 3 months ago:
There are various insulation schemes you can apply for but they are usually limited in who can apply. You probably don’t want to pay for Lord Farqwa upgrading his 16 bed converted wheel house pad.
- Comment on Why did we give up on insulation? 3 months ago:
Also older housing stock. My house is over 120 years old so that does limit done of what you can do to improve things. That said with decent windows and loft insulation there is something to be said for the thermal properties of a bunch of stone.
- Comment on Why did we give up on insulation? 3 months ago:
I would support additional taxes on Landlords inversely proportional to the energy rating of the house. Currently there is no incentive for landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. At least when you “own” a house the action to improve it is on you.
- Comment on Games that force you to make hard choices 3 months ago:
Wasteland 3 has a number of mutually incompatible outcomes that force you to decide how things will end up.
- Comment on Every time I'm trying to decide what new show I should check out 3 months ago:
I’ve just started a Voyager run through with my kids. Dare I say S1 of Voyager is a much better introduction to “modern” Trek than the fairly uneven S1 TNG? I think Janeway is underrated as a Star Fleet captain.