cabbage
@cabbage@piefed.social
- Comment on Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year 3 hours ago:
You can't make laws for every single possible future reality. We need courts that uphold laws even when billionaires try to dodge them using shady techniques. The problem is that big tech often gets away with murder because they can afford expensive lawyers. Especially in the US laws are essentially meaningless for the rich. This is not so much the case in Europe.
I have heard some positive signals from the European Court of Justice that they are taking the challenge from big tech seriously and that they are going the extra miles to understand these issues. If you're particularly interested, many judges talk about this in the Borderlines podcast series by Berkley law. But it gets really dry really fast haha.
I don't believe in signing authorities. It's not effective - Google can't even keep malware off the play store - and it's an authoritarian move. Hell, most apps in the play store spy on their users, profiling usage to sell to advertisers along with ID codes that makes it possible to combine data between apps and build detailed profiles of individuals. The problem is not apps that are not signed - the problem is the whole economy of apps that work as Google intend them to.
Also, it's a basic question of rights. It's my phone, I bought the hardware, I own it, I install whatever the fuck I want on it.
- Comment on Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year 3 hours ago:
Not unabated. They are stuck trying to find new loopholes to not comply, which are then struck down. It's a cat and mouse game, and they think they can get away with it because they have the most expensive lawyers.
Again, enforcement is the challenge, not the laws themselves.
- Comment on Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year 11 hours ago:
I have no idea as I don't follow apple much, but I am aware that they are constantly trying to find ways to avoid complying with EU law, and that it is often rapidly struck down.
What you're describing here is not a failure of the law, but Apple trying real hard to find creative ways not to comply with it. To me it only shows that they are desperate, and that EU law is in fact getting to them.
If they keep at it it'll eventually end up in court, the case will take a couple of years, and they'll be slammed with a fine and asked to get their shit together.
- Comment on Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year 11 hours ago:
Does the law demand unsigned software?
The answer is no. It's not phrased like that. But it's all about ensuring free competition in digital markets. The sole purpose of Google's move here is to hinder competition in their own digital market, and to keep control over it.
So the law does not have a paragraph stating that "unsigned software must be allowed", but it has a bunch of other paragraphs that can be used to strike down on monopolistic behaviour.
Google are aware of the law, and will try to find a loophole by designing a system that they believe technically complies with it. Then someone will sue them, it will end up in the European court, and the European court will in all likelyhood tell Google to get fucked.
It seems american tech companies think they can get away with anything because that's how it works in the US. We are repeatedly seeing that this is not how it works in Europe: the Court of Justice tends to care deeply about the intention of the law, as well as the perceived consequences of their rulings. And they don't seem to care all that much about American capitalists.
But to answer your question very simply: No, it doesn't. Thankfully that doesn't matter at all.
- Comment on Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year 11 hours ago:
What exactly do you mean?
Sure, nothing is perfect, but EU legislation has generally been quite good, from the GDPR to the DMA.
The challenges are more related to enforcement - rules on the book are worth nothing if we don't force companies to live by them. In this respect we've seen some pretty sloppy behaviour, but also some victories. It's not a one-sided story.
Another challenge is of course to keep passing good laws, and to avoid terrible ones. Chat control needs to be stopped. Stopping it is a matter of convincing national governments it's a bad idea, as well as members of the European Parliament - everyone should be writing their representatives NOW. But that's another issue entirely. :)
- Comment on Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year 14 hours ago:
Google is clearly trying to find a loophole here. Their loophole clearly sucks.
In all likelihood it'll end up in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union. And in all likelihood Google will lose again.
The Court of Justice generally seems unimpressed by American lobbyists, so the strategy of finding a dumb loophole is probably doomed to fail.
- Comment on Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year 18 hours ago:
The EU already forced sideloading to be officially supported on iPhones thanks to the Digital Markets Act, and that law applies to Google as well.
The US will likely apply pressure, just like they are trying to force their death machines to be legalized on European roads. Apple already tried to pressure the union and failed, but the political climate has changed a bit since then, and while EU bureaucrats can be fierce, European leadership tends to be weak as fuck.
But yeah, chances are that this change won't apply to the EU. :)
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 1 day ago:
Of course, I wouldn't expect the UK government to produce information in French. However there is a traditional way of doing things: You fly a yellow flag, and you report to a port of entry upon arrival.
If this is changed without being very publisized, it is really stupid not to at least have a transition period where people can still register their entry into the country after their arrival, until the new rules are well established and the website that is supposed to be serving them is out of beta testing.
If you want to sail from the UK to France, you just raise the appropriate flags, and then you announce your arrival when you get there. Ask in the harbour and they'll let you know where to go. So you wouldn't have to navigate their legal system, you just need to know how to use flags.
That said, I had no problem being in the UK illegally, so no real complaints from my part. It just seems like an attempt at tightening control of the borders that ended up having the exact opposite effect.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 1 day ago:
Yeah, but it needs to be announced somehow. We all filled in ETAs, because this is something people have heard about. It would make sense to inform of something like this at the end of the ETA registration. Instead, the fact that I had a travel authorization lead me to believe that I was, in fact, authorized to travel to the UK.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 1 day ago:
Yeah, I suspect I have a neat little collection of views that would be considered extreme by certain layers of English society. Feels weird having to lie about agreeing with UK politics in order to enter the country as a tourist.
- Comment on what are the grievances with the "male loneliness epidemic"? 1 day ago:
Yeah, I got what you meant - it's a word that takes on a billion different meanings. I just find it to be important to push back against the strawman whenever I see it, as I'm not gonna let a bunch of dumb kids raised by a social media algorithm ruin feminism for me. Get off my lawn etc.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 1 day ago:
All good - the UK is a fascinating mix between the best and the worst. I guess that's almost part of the charm at this point.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 1 day ago:
Yeah, in order to find the site again for the purpose of this post I had to switch search engines as well.
Also doesn't make it easier that a minority of the crew spoke good English. Most are only comfortable in French. I imagine most Brits would struggle if they had to dig up obscure government websites in French that they had no idea even existed.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 2 days ago:
I'm pretty sure it's because I mention that I support Palestine Action, which although it's not a central point in the post is a pretty hot political potato in the UK at the moment. Fair enough. :)
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 2 days ago:
It's easier to find the website retroactively when you already have it and you know which vocabulary it uses. Use the wrong word and you only get a million articles about illegal immigration.
Furthermore, we had no way of knowing a website like this now existed, as in the past you would sail in and then register. We had no reason to believe anything had changed on that front and therefore no reason to conduct a whole lot of research into it.
If I wanted to enter illegally I would obviously have saved my £20 and not gotten an ETA, as I ended up not needing it anyway.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 2 days ago:
At least it feels good to be part of a statistic.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 2 days ago:
When you read guidelines about sailing to the UK anywhere this website is never linked, at least not in any source I could find, as it is too new and nobody seems aware of it yet. The harbour when we arrived were also not immediately aware of it. And to find it again I had to try several different search terms while adding "site:gov.uk" into the search engine. All the search results are just about illegal immigration. I'm not sure exactly how they expect people to gain awareness of it.
If you press the big green button saying "start now" you'll come to the website of the form, which states clearly on top: "Beta This is a new service – your feedback will help us to improve it", which is why I describe it as a beta website. Because it literally is.
- Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal. 2 days ago:
Small footnote: I noticed this post got deleted from !casualuk@feddit.uk for not being casual enough (I guess I am extreme), with a suggestion it could be put here instead. As I spent some time writing it and was lucky enough to still have it open in a browser window I figured I'd give it a shot, even though I feel like this community might be for slightly more serious stuff. I hope it's not too out of place :)
- Submitted 2 days ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 31 comments
- Comment on what are the grievances with the "male loneliness epidemic"? 2 days ago:
In feminist scholarship it tends more towards the "we are all victims of patriarchy" stance. Most my friends are academics so they tend to lean the same direction, though not always.
- Comment on what are the grievances with the "male loneliness epidemic"? 2 days ago:
It's worth emphasising that concerns about male mental health in large part comes from feminism. Feminism is not inherently man hating, and research of gender dynamics through the lense of feminism is what made it possible to observe how patriarchal structures in society harm not only women, but also men.
It's kinda like how a marxist will tell you that even rich people are happier in egalitarian societies: Capitalism hurts everyone, including the ones seemingly profiting from it. In the same way, feminism gave way to the insight that patriarchy hurts everyone, including men.
That said, you're not wrong that here is a (perhaps more popular rather than scholarly) feminist critique of male grievances. Feminism is a bunch of different things, and there's a bunch of contradictions between different understandings of feminism.
Not too weird then that people end up hating the whole issue. Some feminists hate it because it's sympathising with the oppressor or whatever, while anti-feminists hate it because they see it as soft feminist bullshit or whatever. Having a nuanced opinion about anything this day is difficult.
- Comment on Is it better to: [A] watch videos content on a flagship/midrange smartphone that you already have, OR [B] get a cheap tablet (say, around $200 USD) to watch videos? 6 days ago:
How about getting a portable monitor?
Pros:
- Cheaper
- Less e-waste, doesn't require a whole new computer
- Fewer components that can break
- Stays up to date along with your phone - won't be unable to update netflix in five years because of lacking software updates
- Probably a better screen than what you'd get from a cheap tablet
Cons:
- Your phone would need to support an external monitor
- Not a separate device; good for watching videos, less good for sofa surfing
- You'd need to connect your phone somehow while consuming content. I think there are some wireless options, but personally I'd probably just use a cable.
- Comment on Investigation into 'horrifying' death of French Kick streamer 6 days ago:
Sarah El Haïry, France's High Commissioner for Children, described the death as "horrifying".
"Platforms have an immense responsibility in regulating online content so that our children are not exposed to violent content. I call on parents to be extremely vigilant", she wrote on X.
The satire writes itself.
- Comment on The EU still wants to scan all your chats – and the rules could come into force by October 2025 3 weeks ago:
Yeah. "EU wants this, EU wants that" - bullshit, the EU has no will of its own. A set of politicians within the EU, on the other hand.
- Comment on Zuckerberg says people without AI glasses will be at a disadvantage in the future 3 weeks ago:
Training LLMs is not surveillance. As long as the platform doesn't need to know who I am I'm good.
- Comment on Have most people never seen a full starry night sky 3 weeks ago:
The entire sky is a carpet of stars.
- Comment on Have most people never seen a full starry night sky 3 weeks ago:
I grew up in a green-ish area of this map in Norway, and in Winger it gets pitch black. If theres even faint aurora in tje North we can see it behind the house.
For sure there is some light pollution - we don't draw the curtains in the evening - but it's pitch black by any standard observable by humans.
- Comment on X fails to act on 97% of calls for violence against migrants or Muslims 3 weeks ago:
Launching their own nazi chatbot hardly counts as "failure to act".
- Comment on The Substack app sent a push notification promoting a Nazi newsletter to several users. 3 weeks ago:
Yeah, it would be wonderful if that symbol could eventually be reclaimed. Seems a bit far off though. Would English speakers know what you refer to if you say hakenkreuz?
In my native tongue it's called hakekors, and I speak some German, so I'm not in a position to assess how understandable it would be to folks who only speak English.
- Comment on The Substack app sent a push notification promoting a Nazi newsletter to several users. 3 weeks ago:
Oh yeah. Circulating random swastika-labelled push notifications talking about a sickness that "aflicks (?) all Jews" is a pretty big no-no in most, if not all, of the civilized world.