ms_lane
@ms_lane@lemmy.world
- Comment on Apple sues YouTuber who leaked iOS 26’s new “Liquid Glass” software redesign 3 days ago:
I’m on the fence, it’s nicer than material design (I’ve always hated ‘material design’ though) but it’s so colourless.
Bring back skeuomorphism!
- Comment on Do the right thing and lend a friendly hand 1 week ago:
Help the cause, give Superman a ‘friendly hand’.
- Comment on ROG Xbox Ally Is $700 And Xbox Ally X Is $1050 1 week ago:
It already existed, now it’s just for an Xbox logo for an extra $200.
- Comment on ROG Xbox Ally Is $700 And Xbox Ally X Is $1050 1 week ago:
roflcopter even
- Comment on ROG Xbox Ally Is $700 And Xbox Ally X Is $1050 1 week ago:
My guess is that this will be able to play Xbox console games that aren’t on PC like The Darkness
They’ve already confirmed that no, it’s just running Windows Game Pass.
- Comment on Indeed 1 week ago:
“I occasionally evoke your cringe greatest hits”
- Comment on Every time 1 week ago:
That’s actually Kansas, but Kansas might as well be Texas Concentrate.
- Comment on Every time 1 week ago:
Precisely.
- Comment on im frend :( 1 week ago:
Tolga is not good people.
- Comment on Realized 99% of all my chargers are USB-C. This can only mean one thing. New USB bout to drop! 1 week ago:
I don’t think airlines will move away from USB-A for a long time - it’s just so much easier to clean up out a gunked up USB-A port.
- Comment on Realized 99% of all my chargers are USB-C. This can only mean one thing. New USB bout to drop! 1 week ago:
The connector is ‘ok’. It’s better than MicroUSB, MiniUSB and USB-A.
If only Tim hadn’t eschewed Steve’s wishes on Lightning though - it was supposed to be handed over to USB-IF as a royalty-free standard, instead Tim saw dollar signs and we all got a worse connector.
Reminder that lightning is strong enough to hold up a phone for display purposes, on it’s own.
- Comment on A Donkey Kong film is seemingly in development at Universal Pictures and Nintendo — registered at the US Copyright Office 1 week ago:
Crashing Waves > Some Searchlight
- Comment on BBC gains rare access to the Congolese mine powering mobile phones 1 week ago:
Worked fine in Aus? Ill paste it-
M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo recently allowed the BBC to visit a huge mining site under their control which is vital to the production of the world’s mobile phones - and over its vast expanse not one person was idle.
Thousands of miners dotted the landscape covered with pits and tunnels.
Some were deep underground digging up ore with shovels, others then hoisted sacks of the extracted rock containing coltan, which is used to make many electronic devices, on to their shoulders. They then took it to assembly points where others washed and filtered it with spades and by hand.
“We usually have more than 10,000 or more people working here daily,” Patrice Musafiri, who has supervised the Rubaya mining site since the rebels took control of it in April last year, told the BBC.
When we are deep in the mines, temperatures are very high - digging the mineral is also very hard"
It is tricky terrain to navigate - our team needed the aid of walking sticks, as well as Mr Musafiri’s guidance, to stop us falling - yet for most of the men it is the only life they have known. It may be onerous and dangerous, but it allows them to make a small living.
“When we are deep in the mines, temperatures are very high - digging the mineral is also very hard… plus there can be other harmful gases,” mineworker Peter Osiasi told the BBC.
“Sometimes cold air is pumped inside so that we can continue working,” he said.
But the young man said he was grateful that since he began mining five years ago, he has been able to save a little money for a dowry and is now married with children.
“My life has really changed. Mining has really helped me.”
The swathe of golden scarred earth they mine is found in the sprawling, lush Masisi Hills of North Kivu province - around 60km (37 miles) north-west of the city of Goma - and holds 15% of the world’s coltan supply and half of the DR Congo’s total deposits.
Little wonder that global investors have their eyes on this area.
It has provided immense wealth over the years to the various armed groups that have overseen it at different times, including the army. Hassan Lali / BBC Overhead shot of mining activities at Rubaya mine where the terrain is hilly - slightly terraced. The bare earth is a light brown, some of it has a darker more orange shade. Many groups of miners can be seen from a distance cleaning ore. One corrugated metal shack can be seen. In the distance are green fields.Hassan Lali / BBC The Rubaya mine supervisor said no armed men were allowed at the vast site
We arrived at the mine, which is around 10km outside Rubaya town, several days after a ceasefire deal was signed in Washington by DR Congo and Rwanda as part of the peace process aimed at ending three decades of instability in the region.
The roots of the insecurity in the east of DR Congo are notoriously complicated.
There is an ethnic dimension, with many rebel groups operating here - including an ethnic Hutu militia linked to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which Kigali believes has Congolese backing.
What's the fighting in DR Congo all about? Ceasefire deal still faces many challenges The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo
In Washington both sides committed on 27 June to disarm and disengage their alleged proxies (despite denying having any).
The M23 was not party to the deal. Mainly led by ethnic Tutsis, it controls large parts of eastern DR Congo - and since January has taken control of Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports. Rwanda has been accused by many — including the UN — of backing the M23. However, the authorities there deny sending military or financial aid.
The US’s involvement in the process seems to hinge on getting access to DR Congo’s mineral resources - though nothing has so far been specified.
“We’re getting for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the [DR] Congo,” said US President Donald Trump ahead of the signing. Hassan Lali / BBC Muddy workers are seen on a slope at Rubaya mine in DR Congo. One in green wellingtons, black jeans and T-shirt looks at the camera, another in a similar outfit is seen from the back as he walks with a sack on his shoulders. A group of women are seen a little further down the slope near some big basins and jerry cans.Hassan Lali / BBC Some women work at Rubaya mine site selling food and water to the miners
During our brief visit - we were allowed access for around 45 minutes - there was no hint that the chain of command was about to change.
The supervisor, appointed by the M23, was keen to explain how the set-up at Rubaya had been reorganised over the last year and how the rebel group had brought security to allow miners to work without fear - specifying that no armed men were allowed on the site.
“We have already solved so many issues,” Mr Musafiri said.
“Presently we have a mining department that regulates and monitors safety issues and also resolves internal disputes within the mines. If a tunnel becomes dangerous, people are told to leave to avoid accidents.
“People from different groups come here to mine daily and others to buy the minerals and now we have a huge market in Goma where they can resell what they buy here.” Hassan Lali / BBC A group of five miners, wearing wellingtons, work at station cleaning the rocks brought up to the surface. They are standing next to a pool of orange, brown water used in the process. Behind them can be seen the Masisi Hill.Hassan Lali / BBC The coltan ore must be washed ready for the buyers who trade it on - and eventually tantalum will be extracted from this for use in electronic devices
In December, a UN experts’ report detailed how the M23 makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each month from taxing coltan, much of it was sent directly to Rwanda - allegations both the M23 and Kigali deny.
Surrounded by his colleagues wearing jeans, sweaters and wellington boots, all of whom buy permits to work at the site, Mr Osiasi agreed that conditions were better.
“Business is going on very well here because we have at least some semblance of peace, but the pay is very low. We are paid very little money,” the miner said.
Trump’s second term coincided with the M23’s seizure of much of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and the humiliating retreat of the Congolese army.
Political analyst Akramm Tumsifu says DR Congo decided to use its rich mineral reserves as a bargaining chip to get US assistance - for months it had sought military support.
With a tentative peace process under way, the Congolese authorities’ great hope, he told the BBC, was that American firms would be in a position to make “massive investments” in its mining sector, which is currently dominated by Chinese companies.
US companies are reportedly already looking to cash in on the opportunity to invest in Rubaya’s mining sector.
Any foreign investor can come here, as long as they come with development for our people and increase daily wages for the miners”
The Rubaya supervisor told us investment would be welcomed, but only initiatives aimed at boosting the local economy - with jobs, schools and hospitals - would be allowed.
“Any foreign investor can come here, as long as they come with development for our people and increase daily wages for the miners,” Mr Musafiri said.
Despite the country’s colossal natural endowments, most mining communities have little infrastructure, without even accessible roads to the mines where the wealth is scooped from the ground.
Mr Tumsifu reckons the presence of American investors could also act as a “caution against fighting or a resurgence of other armed groups”.
But it is not yet clear how or with whom an investor would do business given the M23 is still very much in control in the east.
A parallel mediation effort led by Qatar - which involves direct talks between the armed groups and the Congolese government - may yield more clarity in the coming months.
The M23, which is part of the broader Congo River Alliance, said the Washington-backed deal had fallen short of addressing the causes of the long conflict. It maintains it took up arms to protect the rights of the minority Tutsi group in DR Congo.
While the belligerents try and hammer out their preferred pathways to peace, local people at the Rubaya mine, like elsewhere in eastern DR Congo, only hope for a definitive end to the fighting and bloodshed which has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes.
“My appeal to fellow young men and our leaders is to keep and maintain peace in our area,” said Mr Osiasi.
As he prepared to go back to hours of more digging, he added: “I also appeal to the owners of the mines to increase our pay because it’s very little.”
- Comment on Switch 2 vs Steam Deck: the Cyberpunk 2077 face-off 1 week ago:
The difference being 25 v. 30 is the murky side of DF here.
The game runs at 40fps on Switch2 in handheld and in docket with a 120hz display. DF chose to lock it to a 60hz display so the game would lock back to 30.
It’s disingenuous.
- Comment on Musk's AI firm deletes posts after chatbot praises Hitler 1 week ago:
If you reload and stop you’ll see it, it’s failing on the comments section since it was… as expected.
- Comment on The Switch 2's price won't be impacted by Japan's new tariffs, but its games might 1 week ago:
Impactfullted.
- Comment on The Switch 2's price won't be impacted by Japan's new tariffs, but its games might 1 week ago:
In some cases ‘they do’ (they don’t) as the tariffs imposed may well be enough to stop people buying X at 150-200% of normal price, if selling X to US was a big enough chunk of BizY’s business, then that does impact the target country, not just US citizens.
In all cases US citizens hurt, but in a few the target country does too.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
- Comment on wish 1 week ago:
We should have something real, we should have something true.
- Comment on Musk's AI firm deletes posts after chatbot praises Hitler 1 week ago:
github.com/…/c5de4a14feb50b0e5b3e8554f9c8aae8c97b…
They removed the following term from the default prompt given to the AI-
-The response should not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, as long as they are well substantiated.So I guess things no longer have to be substantively true.
- Comment on How Nintendo locked down the Switch 2’s USB-C port and broke third-party docking 2 weeks ago:
THIS is technological fox news though.
90% of the article is wrong - it’s just dogpiling for clicks on ‘controversial topic’ It’s the Faux News playbook to a tee.
- Comment on Yikes 2 weeks ago:
‘short film’
- Comment on Microsoft layoffs are reportedly underway, with ZeniMax and King employees losing their jobs 2 weeks ago:
“When you preorder a game you’re just committing to buying something some assholes in California haven’t even finished working on yet”
- Comment on Microsoft layoffs are reportedly underway, with ZeniMax and King employees losing their jobs 2 weeks ago:
Zenimax?
I thought TESO was actually rather profitable?
- Comment on Has Xbox Considered Laying One Person Off Instead Of Thousands 2 weeks ago:
Bring back Peter Moore.
- Comment on I think my server might nit be a fan of the upcoming heatwave 2 weeks ago:
12 disks go to sleep after 60 min of inactivity
That will kill your drives far sooner than a temperature spike. load/unload cycles is one of the biggest HDD killers.
- Comment on I think my server might nit be a fan of the upcoming heatwave 2 weeks ago:
Google did some research on this way back when. Failure rates start going up at an average temperature of 35 °C and become significantly higher if the HDD is operated beyond 40°C for much of its life. That’s HDD temperature, not ambient.
On the contrary, they found that temperature had almost no bearing on failure rate.
- Comment on I think my server might nit be a fan of the upcoming heatwave 2 weeks ago:
My fileserver regularly ‘enjoys’ 45-50c during the day when I’m not home in summer.
Aircon isn’t cheap to run, so everythings getting fried while I’m at work (getting fried since we don’t have AC at work)
- Comment on Young men are 'playing videogames all day' instead of getting jobs because they can mooch off of free healthcare, claims congressman 3 weeks ago:
*Used to get free healthcare.
Dunno how it is where you are, but bulk billing GPs just don’t exist anymore in SA.
- Comment on Young men are 'playing videogames all day' instead of getting jobs because they can mooch off of free healthcare, claims congressman 3 weeks ago:
They’d have to have free healthcare in the first place…