HexesofVexes
@HexesofVexes@lemmy.world
Why, a hexvex of course!
- Comment on Sexualized video games are not causing harm to male or female players, according to new research 3 days ago:
How dare you! You can’t throw facts at puritanical arguments; that’s illegal.
- Submitted 4 days ago to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk | 3 comments
- Comment on How long do we have before PCs get locked bootloaders and corporations ban installation of "non-approved" software? (for context: Google is restricting sideloading worldwide on Android ETA 2027) 1 week ago:
Hi intel management system, you can be thrown into abnormal states where you sit there eating glue.
- Comment on How long do we have before PCs get locked bootloaders and corporations ban installation of "non-approved" software? (for context: Google is restricting sideloading worldwide on Android ETA 2027) 1 week ago:
Eh, just means it isn’t plug and play. Once you have the hardware, you are the admin.
It may get tougher, but it’ll never be impossible.
- Comment on How OnlyFans Piracy Is Ruining the Internet for Everyone | Innocent sites are being delisted from Google because of copyright takedown requests against rampant OnlyFans piracy. 1 week ago:
Just allow companies to charge a small fee to process a DMCA takedown, and establish a daily compensation rate based on view counts for the uploader (cost payable by the company issuing the takedown - not the entity they represent). Suddenly you only issue a takedown for clear infringement, with the cost paid by the uploader only when clear proof is given that it is a DMCA infringement. If there is a long delay, the uploader gets more compensation, whereas the uploader is only liable for the initial takedown fee.
- Comment on Losing my resolve 3 weeks ago:
"How do I share my screen?’
“Ctrl+shift+H”
- Comment on Stop children using VPNs to watch porn, ministers told 3 weeks ago:
Staunch conservative - wants a totalitarian state.
Nothing newsworthy there.
- Comment on Parallel Empires 4 weeks ago:
I miss thicker netbooks. Easy enough to repair most things, and it had every port you could ever want.
I hate the new “ultra-light” fashion. Give me thick, durable, powerful, and ported!
- Comment on Reddit will block the Internet Archive 4 weeks ago:
Oh no, someone might not be paying them for their user generated content (!)
To be fair, it’s probably best that history forgets this period of the web…
- Comment on THIS is always the correct response 5 weeks ago:
Honestly, I’ve used “hey, can we keep it to friends” a lot over the years. Partners I’ve more earnestly turned down have sat there and quizzed me nonstop as to why, some have turned violent, and then there are the quiet ones that just slander you continually. Emotional blackmail is the bare minimum I’ve expected over the years.
The amount of absolutely insane women out there is beyond frightening.
- Comment on Meet the AI vegans: They are choosing to abstain from using artificial intelligence for environmental, ethical and personal reasons. Maybe they have a point 5 weeks ago:
Good to know, I’ll go ask one if the profs in our school of built environment for more info. See if they can offer more insight there.
- Comment on Meet the AI vegans: They are choosing to abstain from using artificial intelligence for environmental, ethical and personal reasons. Maybe they have a point 5 weeks ago:
Definitely a good point to raise; thanks for doing so!
Here’s a fun one - where do you stand on those forced to commute dur to housing prices near inner city work (e.g. I live in near poverty paying a mortgage for a small place near where I work due to poor public transport so I can walk to work - how does this figure into the anti-car vision? Is it an employer issue, a government issue, a personal sacrifice, or something else entirely?)
- Comment on Meet the AI vegans: They are choosing to abstain from using artificial intelligence for environmental, ethical and personal reasons. Maybe they have a point 5 weeks ago:
I dunno, the use of AI Ethicist fits as they’re not against the concept of generative AI as a whole, they’re against unethical generative AI (in terms of stolen training data and environmental harm).
If the world transitioned to a post-IP (intellectual property) society (as we need to), with AI eating less power, then AI Ethicists are unlikely to object.
- Comment on Meet the AI vegans: They are choosing to abstain from using artificial intelligence for environmental, ethical and personal reasons. Maybe they have a point 5 weeks ago:
Would you happen to be a vegan who is also anti-car by any chance?
If so, I can recommend fuckcars on ml as they share your viewpoint.
- Comment on Meet the AI vegans: They are choosing to abstain from using artificial intelligence for environmental, ethical and personal reasons. Maybe they have a point 5 weeks ago:
I applaud folks like this - they make a choice and stick with it. No “I’ll never use AI to generate art but I vibe code to save time” hypocrisy. No “I use it to help me with maths, but I’d never use it to steal artistic work”.
Just straight up “it is an environmental hazard, it is unethical, not engaging”. Should be called “AI Ethicists” rather than “AI Vegans”.
- Comment on Spotify fans threaten to return to piracy as music streamer introduces new face-scanning age checks in the UK 5 weeks ago:
*so that the government can say kids won’t watch porn.
Rule 1 of computers that everyone who has taught an ICT class learns - if little Timmy wants titties, he finds a way.
- Comment on GOG NSFW Giveaway 1 month ago:
If I can buy a game on Gog I do - their lack of DRM, Linux ports, and prices just make me happy.
- Comment on UK households could face VPN 'ban' after use skyrockets following Online Safety Bill 1 month ago:
That sounds a bit like fear mongering from Reform: a VPN is safety 101 when using public networks, and most businesses make use of VPNs to secure their data. They are also a key component if WFH (you use the company VPN).
If Labour are stupid enough to go after VPN usage, I suspect it would guarantee their loss at the next election.
- Comment on As governments around the world are set to make the Internet more restrictive and privacy-invading, we need a solution 1 month ago:
Trouble is, there is little that can be done.
Enough folks drank the coolaid, and now we’re stuck with surveillance laws masquerading as child protection laws.
Those laws can, and will, get worse over time. However, new mediums will arise, or old ones will rise to the occasion (IRC goes brr). The main thing to do is remain calm, make it a key voter issue, and watch the bastards fold right before the next election.
- Comment on The Age-Checked Internet Has Arrived 1 month ago:
See, there are a few ways this could go.
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Age verification is as secure and private as promised, and it’s left at that. I like to call this “the miracle”, and we all know those don’t happen.
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Age verification is as secure and private as promised, but a government asks for “access to data to prevent crime” - things degenerate from there. This is the “systemic failure” scenario.
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Age verification is as secure and private as promised, but new scams evolve around it to make it dangerous. This would be the “criminal element” scenario.
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Age verification is not as secure and private as promised, and a leak occurs destroying lives and careers. This is the “system failure” scenario.
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Age verification is as secure and private as promised, but a few companies start scraping and selling data, leading to widespread harms. This is the “unethical merchant” scenario, and the most likely outcome.
All in all, there is only one “ok” scenario, and a lot of horrific ones. The math says we’re entirely boned ^_^
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- Comment on UK Government responded to the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" Petition. 1 month ago:
Well we all saw that coming.
The parental and elderly voting bloc is very hard to ignore, and those groups tend to be less privacy conscious (as well as pro-anything “protect the children”).
The only way it’s getting repealed is if enough labour voters raise a fuss. Given Reform’s messaging (i.e. repeal it) and how worried Labour are over Reform’s polling, that is likely the only lever that’ll work. However, that’s a long game - one that will take years to play out.
- Comment on introducing copyparty, the FOSS file server 1 month ago:
Elderly raspberry pi B [✓]
Large portable drive gathering dust [✓]
Guess I’m setting up a locally hosted file server in the near future.
- Comment on "Tea cup" app - user database leaked today (incl. drivers license & IDs). Daily reminder not to give your ID to online services [THEY DO NOT PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION] 1 month ago:
I can’t wait till I read a similar article about porn sites; especially one where the doxxed individuals are politicians.
- Comment on Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors 1 month ago:
Those ladies are really unpopular at the moment.
Still, it further highlights just how much power over law payment processors have - a worrying thought that the morality of a company (influenced by problem life nuts) dictates international law.
- Comment on Adblockers stop publishers serving ads to (or even seeing) 1bn web users - Press Gazette 1 month ago:
Well now, here’s one that comes up under “other”.
I started using an adblocker because I was using an elderly netbook for my studies. Ads junked up resource usage so much they used to freeze my laptop, and render most sites unusable.
Thanks to my adblock, I was able to finish my studies.
These days I use adblock because I object to virus-like code execution on my hardware. I tell others about adblock and get them set up to get free tea/coffee (and to watch their faces as sites become usable again).
The quiet mention of the 12ft.io being taken down is disturbing, it was a good tool for students to read article sources. This kind of change forces them to rely on AI (Gemini respects paywalks, Copilot just ignores them), which risks misinformation being spread!
- Comment on Nexus Mods to Enforce Digital ID Age Checks Under UK and EU Laws 2 months ago:
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Add censorship for mods containing adult (sexual) content.
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Slowly move the bar so that more content falls under definition of “adult” (themes of violence, LGBTQ+ themes).
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Continue to move the bar until desired level of censorship is obtained.
Well done, you’ve used moral panic to control your media.
Dark futures aside, why do I think that folks are just going to VPN their way in?
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- Comment on UK’s Major Porn Providers Agree to Age Checks From Next Month; Aylo, Owner of Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube, Will Add Age Assurance Checks by July 25. 2 months ago:
And when this measure fails to protect children and, instead, becomes a data security nightmare, another scheme will be proposed to further erode the freedoms the web brings.
I look forward to hearing about the workarounds kids find.
- Comment on Teachers Are Not OK 2 months ago:
I’ll extend this further - students are also not ok.
What I’ve observed this year is that a lot of students are opting for AI taught methods, or asking AI to summarise course materials for them. They then make bad copies into their notes, conflate these methods with those taught in class, then fail hard when an open note exam comes around.
The truth of the matter is we’ll see a post-AI degree lose its value against a pre-AI degree, and this will create a new vehicle of intergenerational inequality.
Teachers are never going to be ok - we’re “essential workers”, and we all know what that means. Our students though, they believe their actions are buying them a better future; when they learn otherwise, they’ll need all the support they can get!
- Comment on Dune game 2 months ago:
But we already have dune video game at home.
- Comment on VPN Registrations Increase by 1,000%, less than Hour After PornHub Blocked France From Accessing its Website. 2 months ago:
Ehh… Application of a addiction model is somewhat controversial for pornography (the ground seems divided on whether it’s a compulsion or an addiction). Social media, however, is no less controversial (it’s just the media likes to hype this more).
I will say - the point of a porn site is to sell user data and deliver ads, whereas the point of social media is to keep the user scrolling by any means possible. By its design, the latter cultivates addiction as a clear goal (the goal to scroll is artificially imposed), whereas the case for the former is less clear (the goal to masturbate isn’t something porn created). In essence, one creates a drive and then sates it, whereas another sates an existing drive.
Honestly, I think, at the moment, we’re on the “violent video games cause violence” stage of the research. In other words, not enough data to decide so the media has decided for us.