Hirom
@Hirom@beehaw.org
- Comment on Wine 10.16 released with fast synchronization support using NTSync 1 day ago:
NTSync is available as a kernel module. Not enabled by default un Debian nor Fedora, but it appears possible to use it without rebuilding the whole kernel.
wiki.debian.org/Wine/NtsyncHowto fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/NTSYNC-Contained
- Comment on Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law 1 week ago:
I’m not convinced an outright ban would be helpful. Regulation focused on harm reduction, ie restricting to adult like various kind of gambling, would be less heavyhanded, hopefully better compromise.
Looping back on the earlier comments, adding extra requirements on age verification is the more controversial part. Especially since privacy-preserving solutions aren’t ready. Clearly neither of us are happy with that.
I’d be happy if regulators just categorized loot box as gambling, applying the existing declarative age verification that already apply to gambling.
The choice between state regulation and self-regulation depend on various factors, eg exactly how it’s implemented, people’s opinion on freedom to operate companies without state intervention. A meta-analysis conclude results vary a lot from self regulation, it can go well or fail. This is just an opinion and nothing definitive, but I don’t think the game editors that make money from setup efficient self-regulation. It would hurt their bottom line.
- Comment on Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law 1 week ago:
If loot boxes were on the wane even before hard regulation was passed, then maybe the hard regulation wasn’t particularly needed.
That’s if and maybe. I would assume neither, but will keep an open mind in case evidence appear.
Let’s assume Loot Boxes are on the wane. Do we actually know they were on the wane BEFORE regulation passed (which started happening several years ago), or whether regulation caused them to wane? Do we know that self-regulation efficient for loot boxes? Self regulation results vary a lot, and is often ineffective, so I’m skeptical.
On the other hand, there is evince linking paying for loot boxes to gambling addiction, and plausibility since loot box exploit human’s tendency to look for rewards to extract money from players. There’s clearly a problem, and I wouldn’t bet on the companies that created it solving the problem.
- Comment on Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law 1 week ago:
The link above is the primary source, they mention “OUR recent study”. The article publication date is February 2025, but they don’t give the exact date on their study.
Even if that figure already decreased since the study, or was overestimated, would it change the point of the regulation?
If less mobiles games integrated loot boxes, let’s say 50%, or even 30%, would change whether loot boxes is gambling or not? Or worth regulating?
- Comment on Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law 1 week ago:
Who is still doing loot boxes
A majority of Android and IOS games, and 36% of PC games according to a study.
- Comment on Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law 1 week ago:
Good point, it’s a bit late, and may hit hard on some games that already implemented loot boxes. But it’s never too late, assuming it’s indeed a kind of gambling.
Hopefully it’ll lead to less games integrating loot boxes, so that people of all ages can play games with neither loot boxes, nor the age verification that comes with it.
- Comment on Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law 1 week ago:
I’m happy with loot boxes being categorized as gambling when money is involved, and regulated as gambling.
By “cool with this” are you refering to age verification? That wasn’t a comment on age verification. You’re putting words in my mouth, or I was ambiguous in the above comment, or both.
Online age verification is tricky to do right, balance effectiveness and privacy. That’s true of any age restriction, whether it’s loot booxes, other kind of gamblings. Existing age verification has bad effectiveness, privacy, or both. That doesn’t gambling shouldn’t be regulated, or that age verification can’t improve.
- Comment on Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law 1 week ago:
Good move. Loot box is gambling. Most have learned gambling is dangerous, especially for minors.
- Comment on A firewall for science: AI tool identifies 1,000 'questionable' journals 5 weeks ago:
The AI made mistakes, according to the humans, flagging an estimated 350 publications as questionable when they were likely legitimate. That still left more than 1,000 journals that the researchers identified as questionable.
That’s quite a large error rate.
- Comment on Who is the enemy? 5 weeks ago:
Everyone hate quacks.
- Comment on irl shiny 5 weeks ago:
#NotAllCockroaches
- Comment on Russia orders state-backed Max messenger app to be pre-installed on new phones 1 month ago:
state media says it is not a spying app
State media has very specifically denied it. That’s quite suspicious.
- Comment on Strange relations between numerical expressions and physical constants 1 month ago:
There are so many numerical expressions and many physical constants. The number of possible combinations is huge. It’s fun but not surprising to see some expressions approximately match a physical constant. Chance alone can cause this.
- Comment on Stop the free ride: all motorists should pay their way, whatever vehicle they drive 1 month ago:
I’m unaware of any country that setup a road toll infrastructure on small road, tollbooth or otherwise.
This is only for highways and major roads.
- Comment on Stop the free ride: all motorists should pay their way, whatever vehicle they drive 1 month ago:
Have you heard of toolbooths?
There are variations that require neither self reporting nor tracking cars. Grab a ticket uppon entering the highway. Feed the ticket in the exit booth and pay with cash or credit card. The machine uses the ticket to compte the distance.
- Comment on Stop the free ride: all motorists should pay their way, whatever vehicle they drive 1 month ago:
The article has some suggestions
The payment should be based on a combination of vehicle mass and distance travelled. That’s because damage to roads is overwhelmingly caused by heavy vehicles.
- Comment on Stop the free ride: all motorists should pay their way, whatever vehicle they drive 1 month ago:
If a commuter and or courrier drive the same distance on the same road with a similar car, they should contribute the same road toll for maintenance.
A courier should be able to deduct the toll from his income, counting it as a business expense. So it’s a bit less of a burden for profesionnals who depend on their vehicle.
- Comment on Stop the free ride: all motorists should pay their way, whatever vehicle they drive 1 month ago:
That make sense.
Also, an hybrid vehicle may pollute more if it’s never recharged and only use gas. Or less if it’s frequently recharged.
So that change could get rid of an automatic insentive for hybrid. Taxing gas and fossil fuel is a more direct and efficient insentive. If gas cost more, hybrid owners will recharge more often.
- Comment on Common food bacteria could help make vitamins cheaper and greener 1 month ago:
… eventually, after the patent expires, once other private and/or public manufacturers can produce vitamins the same way.
- Comment on IBM and Moderna have simulated the longest mRNA pattern without AI — they used a quantum computer instead 1 month ago:
How much energy does this technique uses compared to AlphaFold?
- Comment on Think about it 1 month ago:
There are more quarks in a single water molecules than planets in the solar system.
- Comment on Shortcut to Weight Loss: No Nausea Required 1 month ago:
Tweaking brain cells to reduce appetite? Better be cautious with that.
A cautinary tale about unintended conequences: I recall a sci-fi movies about a planet that manipulated people brain to prevent violent emotions and reduce crime. Many lost all will, became lethargic let themselves die of starving.
It’s probably not going that bad. But tweaking the brain may not be free of side effects.
- Comment on GET BOMBADEERED, IDIOT 2 months ago:
The same way living thing evolve. Through millon or billion of years of mutations and natural selection.
- Comment on cookie combs 2 months ago:
I suspect having round shape pushing against each other isn’t enought to get a hex shape.
In the picture, cookies are tiled such that they are surrounded by 6 other cookies. So it probably has to do with the tiling.
- Comment on Microsoft suddenly kills its movies and TV store on Xbox and Windows 2 months ago:
Hopefully they focus their resources whatever game studios remain.
Just make easy to access movies and films from other sources on XBox, we don’t need a Microsoft monopoly on streaming.
- Comment on The Amount of Electricity Generated From Solar Is Suddenly Unbelievable 2 months ago:
Could you share a link to the infographic? I’d be curious to see the details.
Renewables line solar have a great potential at reducing CO2, but only if solar replace fossil fuels.
As an example, nig tech is wasting so much energy of AI they’re increasing both renewable and fossil fuel consomption to cover rapid rise in energy use. The end result is more pollution.
- Comment on The Amount of Electricity Generated From Solar Is Suddenly Unbelievable 2 months ago:
The amount of energy wasted on stupid shit is unbelievable as well.
We need to laud efforts put into renewables, as much as we need to decry wasteful energy usage.
- Comment on Inside China’s plan for ‘621mph floating train’ that goes faster than a plane 2 months ago:
Maglevs are overhyped. Adam Something call those GadgetBahn.
- Comment on oops 2 months ago:
Please, do name and shame.
- Comment on lik lik lik 3 months ago:
Murder mittens