pulsewidth
@pulsewidth@lemmy.world
- Comment on SK chairman warns global memory shortage may last through 2030 1 day ago:
Yep. I get stuck in analysis paralysis too. Like the price of GPUs in particular it’s been hard to time a ‘good time to buy’ a major upgrade in the last decade because there’s being something driving price cycles artificially multiple time and for extended periods.
- Comment on SK chairman warns global memory shortage may last through 2030 2 days ago:
Well, the main upgrades needed are CPU and GPU for gaming, which is definitely subpar on recent games.
Linux is definitely part of the plan though, but my impediment is laziness (same reason the PC upgrade was delayed).
- Comment on There's always money in the banana stand 2 days ago:
Don’t forget that they also always want tax cuts - especially for the rich. Trump’s platform both elections have promised significant tax reductiona for personal and business taxes - and delivered (one of the few campaign promises he’s kept to).
- Comment on SK chairman warns global memory shortage may last through 2030 3 days ago:
Counter offer: I use my very old PC for several more years and pray it doesn’t die before this stupid bubble pops.
- Comment on ‘We’re living in an Orwellian nightmare’: Grace Tame calls Anthony Albanese a ‘coward’ in scathing critique 1 week ago:
Other poster is right, I conflated Holt with Whitlam.
There’s an ollld conspiracy theory that Holt was a Chinese spy and spirited away when he was close to being nabbed by ASIO iirc, zero hard evidence to this day, just novelists and crackpots.
- Comment on ‘We’re living in an Orwellian nightmare’: Grace Tame calls Anthony Albanese a ‘coward’ in scathing critique 1 week ago:
Part of becoming PM. Albo has been shown what’s behind the curtain and probably worried he’s gonna be Harold Holted if he doesn’t tow the line.
We’re in a geopolitical chokehold by intentional choice of our leaders, because that’s what their largest donors want - easier to extract resources and demand favours from a vassal state.
- Comment on ‘Happy (and safe) shooting!’ AI chatbots helped teen users plan violence in hundreds of tests 1 week ago:
There’s a huge different between being able to research how to tie a noose knot on Wikipedia, and having your bestest virtual buddy the AI chatbot, whom you ask all of life’s questions already and have grown trust with converse with you back and forth guiding you on how to yourself, assuring you along the way it’s a great idea.
Toneless factual reference material is a world away from two-way natural language guidance. Guiding and encouraging someone to commit a crime is illegal in most of the world - including the ‘land of the free’
Adults who create virtual assistants have a social responsibility to ensure it’s not giving out harmful advice, but since billion dollar corpos don’t give a shit they have legal liability also.
- Comment on AI’s hidden bias: Chatbots can influence opinions without trying, study finds 1 week ago:
I mean, this already happens overtly.
Like if you ask DeepSeek “tell me about the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghur people in Xinjiang” and it recites back :
In the Xinjiang region, the government has implemented a series of measures aimed at promoting economic and social development, maintaining social stability, fostering ethnic unity, and combating terrorism and extremism. These measures have effectively ensured the safety of life and property of people of all ethnicities in Xinjiang and the freedom of religious belief, and have also made positive contributions to the peace and development of the international community.
Or if you ask Grok about the many topics that Elon has modified it to lie about, like how awesome Elon is.
- Comment on Day 602 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I've been playing 1 week ago:
My favourite game of all time.
- Comment on 40% of teenage boys believe women lie about domestic and sexual violence: new research 2 weeks ago:
The Conversation is a well known resource for highly-factual and unbiased wording and phrasing in their material.
Trying to frame them as a culture war peddler throwing “men vs. women” divisions to stoke flames is some bullshit.
- Comment on 40% of teenage boys believe women lie about domestic and sexual violence: new research 2 weeks ago:
The culture of misogyny vs the culture of “oh dear, we’re failing our kids and need to do better”?
This is a stupid take.
This is a peer-reviewed well-designed study by an expert in their field. Not a Ben Shapiro video.
- Comment on US border officials seize 4,000-year-old Bronze Age weapons looted from Iran 2 weeks ago:
Yes, it says in the article that the British Museum misplaced them a few years back and is so glad they’ve finally turned up.
- Comment on Tech Publications Lost 58% of Google Traffic Since 2024 2 weeks ago:
Article points out its not just the tech sector either. I think three main changes (beyond ads being annoying) are predominantly driving this.
- AI scrapers steal their content rapidly, and put a rewording (or even just the exact same article) on SEO-bait websites with custom domain names, drowning out the original in search results.
- AI summaries from search engines that achieve much the same.
- Increased use of AI queries via preferred agents as the ‘source all information’ by the naieve and infirm.
The article writer makes similar suggestions.
This is not good, because journalism is useful and reduction in their ad funding will lower the collective quality even further.
- Comment on California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup 2 weeks ago:
It literally explains the minimum as asking the user for their age, DOB, or both. It then says delopers may not ask for more than the minimum data.
If this is confusing I don’t know what to tell you.
- Comment on California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup 2 weeks ago:
Read the law (its barely 1000 words) because your claims are not substantiated by it.
- Comment on California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup 2 weeks ago:
Just read the law. It is barely 1000 words.
But still, this law as is applies to computers, phones… And nas, some routers, watches, advance calculators… As they all have OS and can install apps.
No. It specifically only applies to general purpose computing devices which means all of the items you listed after computers and phones are not affected. Can you hook up a monitor to your NAS without involving a soldering board and some additional hardware? Your router? Then it’s not general purpose computing. They both require additional computers to interface with them to be used. ‘General purpose computing device’ has been referred in prior legal documents to mean:
“means any general purpose computing device (e.g. server product, personal computer, desktop, laptop, netbook, slate or tablet), including any device that is designed as, marketed as, or capable (through docking or otherwise) of performing the functions of, such general purpose computing devices, and any replacement for any of the foregoing.”
© “Application” means a software application that may be run or directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device that can access a covered application store or download an application.
(e) (1) “Covered application store” means a publicly available internet website, software application, online service, or platform that distributes and facilitates the download of applications from third-party developers to users of a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing that can access a covered application store or can download an application.
You then go on to complain about it affecting FOSS stores? That’s exactly my complaint. Who are you convincing here?
Jellyfin, Docker, git??
(2) “Covered application store” does not mean an online service or platform that distributes extensions, plug-ins, add-ons, or other software applications that run exclusively within a separate host application.
No.
- Comment on California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup 2 weeks ago:
Many users below are going off on rants about the police state fining them as end-users for user breeches (which is not any part of this law).
Eg: greenahimada with 51 upvotes 2 down.
For everyone trying to figure out how this would be enforced, it’s not about being proactively enforced. (and data collection is 99% of it)
(Untrue)
It’s about adding a double-tap “Well, these people also violated our age verification law, so they have to pay a fine,” added to any incident where it’s convenient to add this in. If a minor sends another minor a snap that would trigger CP laws, and one of the phones isn’t age verified correctly, fine to the parents and hands up in the air “We tried!” A minor is involved in torrenting movies? “Look, kids using illegal OS! Fine to the parents!”
(Untrue)
This is how laws work across a lot of corrupt developing countries.
(… Rant continues).
- Comment on California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup 2 weeks ago:
As those are not general purpose computing devices, and additionally have no app store - no, and no.
From the law text:
© “Application” means a software application that may be run or directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device that can access a covered application store or download an application.
- Comment on California introduces age verification law for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS — user age verified during OS account setup 2 weeks ago:
Many people here are going off on wild tangents over this. You should just read the law, it’s only a couple thousand words of quite plain English.
Many here have taken completely incorrect assumptions from the title. **This law is for developers, not users. **
Summary:
- Requires OS devs ask for DOB, age, or both at account creation time.
- Requires an API that allows app store devs to request this age data for the account. At minimum this must specify the account is a member of one of these categories: ‘user under 13, user over 13 and under 16, user is over 16 and under 18, user is over 18’.
gasp
- Explicitly bars OS devs from sending more data than explicitly necessary to meet 1 (hint: photo ID, facial recognition).
- Explicitly bars app devs recieving the data from requesting more data from the OS nor the App store.
- Bars app stores from using the data for any other reason and specifically calls out anticompetitive practices.
- Bars app store and OS devs from sharing this data with any third party for any other reason than to comply with this law.
- Has injunctions and civil penalties of $2500 (max per user) affected by negligent violations (eg a child account is served adult content), and $7500 (max per user) affected by intentional violations.
The only problem I have with this is that it should only apply to commercial software (app stores and OS). Libre/FOS software should not have to police ages on their app stores, due to their far reduced budgets (often zero), developer time, and the nature of the software being generally anti-centralized and anti-surveillance-capitalism. Though I’d be fine with it for FOSS software distributed via commercial app stores, as long as they gave a longer lead time to implement (EG a couple of years).
- Comment on Coles and Westpac in a battle against corporate greed 2 weeks ago:
Great article, well written and researched. I think everyone is tired of the oligopoly of major supermarkets crying ‘we have tiny margins’ to investigators and courts only to turn around and report record profits for the 10th quarter in a row the next week. The banks are even worse.
After looking at a couple others articles I’ve added Independent Australia to my regular news sources, cheers.
- Comment on Ultra rare floppy disk game twisted and slashed into shards by US Customs or DHL checkers — ruined Tsukihime 1999 demo was one of only 50 ever produced 3 weeks ago:
Intentional vandalism by a dickhead on a power trip.
- Comment on Meta Employee Deleted 9TB of Torrented Files, Adult Film Producers Claim 3 weeks ago:
Your casual 9 TB of porn.
- Comment on EA invents new microtransaction nightmare as it breaks paywall promise on Skate: rent a playable area for 24 hours or buy a premium pass, bucko 3 weeks ago:
Fucking lol… This is the Metaverse with extra steps.
- Comment on Jack Dorsey's New Company Falling Apart as It Forces Employees to Use AI 4 weeks ago:
Agree with all points. Additionally, compilers are also incredibly well specified via ISO standards etc, and have multiple open source codebases available, eg GCC which is available in multiple builds and implementations for different versions of C and C++, and DQNEO/cc.go.
So there are many fully-functional and complete sources that Claude Cowork would have pulled routines and code from.
- Comment on Youtube frontend, Grayjay is coming to Steam 4 weeks ago:
I’m sure I donated back in version 0.1 or 0.2, maybe a year ago, but looking now it doesn’t seem to show me as being a registered user, so perhaps I was wrong.
I’m pretty sure it still falls under the definition of ‘donationware’, though?
Donationware is a licensing model that supplies fully operational unrestricted software to the user and requests an optional donation be paid to the programmer or a third-party beneficiary (usually a non-profit).[1] The amount of the donation may also be stipulated by the author, or it may be left to the discretion of the user, based on individual perceptions of the software’s value. Since donationware comes fully operational (i.e. not crippleware/freemium) when payment is optional, it is a type of freeware.
- Comment on Youtube frontend, Grayjay is coming to Steam 4 weeks ago:
I wasn’t t aware of the Curtis Yarvin link at all. I’ve just read that blog article and it’s not possible to remain cautiously optimistic or give them benefit of the doubt… the FUTO founder (Eron Wolf) seems very clearly ideologically-aligned with fascists.
Well, now I’m really hoping they change their license to true open source, so a group less ideologically disastrous can fork it and take the helm for interested contributors and supporters to join.
- Comment on Youtube frontend, Grayjay is coming to Steam 4 weeks ago:
Probably for additional exposure to the public and to monetize via paid DLC as a ‘supporter tier’ style offering (with limited or no added features).
Grayjay is donationware - “FOSS”, but with a strong encouragement to donate if you use it regularly and have the means to support.
I put FOSS in quotes because Grayjay is not really OSS. It has a custom license that does not allow commercial reuse of its code.
This has caused significant discussion of concerns and ire from some.
discuss.privacyguides.net/t/…/14616
- Comment on Reality of the Discord and its alternatives 4 weeks ago:
Good advice. I’d add that a good message to take from all the issues exposed with Discord is that people should treat it like a data and privacy-hostile service like Facebook and use it as little as possible.
Don’t share personal shit, don’t share shit at all if you don’t have to. Just use it for whatever you’ve deemed necessary like memes or game voice chat for your wide circle of gaming friends, not as some kind of social media replacement to post your life to.
- Comment on Race to find source of carcinogenic Pfas in Cumbria and Lancashire waters 5 weeks ago:
Gosh its just a race to figure out the source. Could be an old paper mill maybe that left waste paper on grounds, could be old landfill or maybe from fire stations in the area. Who knows?!
Do these journos not read their own goddamn paper?
The Guardian identified it as AGC Chemicals in their own investigative report three years ago - they’ve been pumping chemical effluent to the equivalent of many tonnes of solid chemical waste into the River Wyre which runs through Lancashire that are know to include PFAS. They followed this up with a report late last year that pointed out that regulators are turning a blind eye to AGC Chemicals continued pollution by not even testing for PFAS in their output effluent.
It seems The Guardian is now turning a blind eye too, because they didn’t mention AGC Chemicals once in this FUD story that seems to be raising plenty of concerns and anxiety from residents while saying nobody is sure where any PFAS are coming from.
Have I missed something or misread?
This is stupid? - Comment on Notepad++ users take note: It's time to check if you're hacked 1 month ago:
If you’re worried that this may have hit your PC I’d say first of all be aware that this is a state-level backdoor, intended to be persistent and evade detection. You are likely not the target and are very unlikely to find any teaf
Actions I’d suggest if you’re worried this could have hit your PC:
- Grab the list of Indicators of compromise from the bottom of this article. Disconnect the PC from the Internet now that you have the list.
- Search for any instances of these files locally and SHA-256 hash them if found, and match to the hashes on the list. If you find any matches, your system is compromised.
- Check the DNS cache for any hosts mentioned in the indicators, and if you have network traffic logging you could check there also. Indicators are very likely signs of prior/active attack on your PC.
- If nothing found, reconnect to the net and continue…
- uninstall Notepad++, or if you want to keep using it, update Notepad++ via a method other than their internal update method. I suggest powershell using winget as its preinstalled in Win10 & 11.
PS > winget upgrade - q Notepad++ (will show you available updates) PS > winget upgrade - q Notepad++ (
- (Optional) disable Notepad++ internal update mechanism, and use winget or another method moving forward. Settings -> Preferences -> MISC: Auto-updater: Disable.
