Anomandaris

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to technology in Advertising revenue in Twitter crashes by 50%

-50% ad revenue says otherwise

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to nostupidquestions in How safe is open source software? What are the general benefits?

Like most things, it's about balance. All changes to open source software must be approved by the community managing it, and if that community is lazy or poorly managed or simply too busy then there's an opportunity for new vulnerabilities to be created, either accidentally or maliciously.

But for well managed software, as other people have said you can get more changes more frequently, more security as many people are evaluating the code base, and greater attention to what users want rather than what's profitable. Whereas with closed source software there is a greater focus on profitability, and sometimes that leaves vulnerabilities open when development is rushed and/or vulnerabilities are not seen as important enough to justify the cost to fix, but sometimes that tendancy towards profitability can also ensure the product stays a market leader. Steam may be a good example of a good closed source product.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to technology in Meta confirms it is blocking EU-based users from accessing Threads via VPN

It would be interesting to see exactly how Meta is managing to block VPN users. Is it simply a matter of looking up instagram or facebook account related to email addresses used to sign up? Is it evaluating some sort of browser fingerprint? That's assuming VPN users are doing so via desktop, if it's an Android device for example is the OS itself providing information that's not getting obfuscated by the VPN?

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to programmerhumor in To type or not to type ?

I don't know if I'd go that far. If you're talking about a quick script then sure, whatever gets the job done. But for any actual project the use of good, consistent typing does a lot for readability and future-proofing. And in strongly-typed languages it can have a notable affect on the overall functionality too.

If you can't tell from context whether something is a float or if it'll overflow the int max then you probably need to re-think the entire method.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to world in China kindergarten stabbing: Six dead in Lianjiang

But it's definitely only part of the solution, that alone is not enough, but nothing else will have a strong effect while so many guns are on the streets and easily accessible.

No I didn't, I think I was pretty clear. We need to reduce the number of guns available, nothing else will be effective until we do. I do believe any solution that does not involve removing guns at some point is incomplete. But removing guns on its own is not enough.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to world in China kindergarten stabbing: Six dead in Lianjiang

Yes, technically weapons are tools

Again, I'm not arguing a gun isn't a tool. In fact, in the very comment you're replying to I said they are.

But all of this is besides the actual point, you derailed the point of gun culture and availability driving gun violence with an ultimately meaningless conversation about semantics.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to world in China kindergarten stabbing: Six dead in Lianjiang

Yes, technically weapons are tools, that's because the definition of a tool is so broad, just a device used to carry out a particular task.

That's why I never said he was wrong to call a gun a tool, I said it was misleading, which it is. When a reasonable person thinks of a tool they do not think of a gun, you think of a wrench or a screwdriver or a swiss army knife, or something like that.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to world in China kindergarten stabbing: Six dead in Lianjiang

Calling a gun a tool is intentionally misleading. A gun's sole purpose is as a weapon, using it any other way is a misuse of that "tool". Whereas knives have various practical purposes. Which was obviously the purpose of my initial reply.

In some cases, yes, having a gun is entirely legitimate (assuming used safely) such as protection from dangerous wildlife. But the number of legitimate cases does not even come close to justifying the number of guns, or the gun culture, in America. Violence doesn't happen in a vacuum, no, the presence of guns, the acceptance of gun culture, and the normalization of gun violence are things that make gun crime so common.

The removal of guns, and restricting of them to legitimate use cases IS dealing with the underlying social issues. But definitely only part of the solution, that alone is not enough, but nothing else will have a strong effect while so many guns are on the streets and easily accessible.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to world in China kindergarten stabbing: Six dead in Lianjiang

Yeah man, let me just get my kitchen gun or my box shooter or my letter pistol.

Oh wait, sorry, it's not gun I'm thinking of that has many completely harmless uses, it's a knife!

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to technology in Twitter is suing the law firm that used to represent Twitter. - The Verge

Although it may very well be caused by Twitter running out of money, which would be corroborated by Twitter's lack of payment to various other parties. Giving Musk three options: Use more of his own money, admit defeat and massively scale back Twitter's functionality and availability, or try to scam money out of other people.

Clearly he's not willing to spend his own money, or admit failure.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to nostupidquestions in What’s the fediverse’s answer to email? And everything else we use?

Nice, thanks, I didn't know about this! I assumed the ads were just an unfortunate necessity to maintain the site, but you can definitely tell there's a bigger difference when you compare the two.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to nostupidquestions in What’s the fediverse’s answer to email? And everything else we use?

Aside from email already being federated as others have said, there's a site called PrivacyTools with lots of links for the other things you talked about and lots more.

Anomandaris , 11 months ago to til in TIL that according to an FBI report, Elvis Presley believed the Beatles had led young people astray “by their filthy unkempt appearances and suggestive music”

It's also really weird. Elvis was around to see The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, and technically Sex Pistols too although that was towards the end of his life.

Point is, he should have known about much "worse" musicians and music than The Beatles.

Anomandaris , 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago) to til in TIL of The Business Plot of 1933, a failed attempt to overthrow FDR and install a dictator. Led by a covertly bankrolled Wall Street coalition of affluent businessmen

I think the movie was intentionally a bit "Forrest Gump"-esque, we're not meant to focus on the Nazis, the Nazi sympathizers, or the treasonous business owners. We're supposed to focus on the human bond, the relationship between the main characters, and how it all comes together at the last minute to resolve the plot (and the Plot).

I'm of a mixed opinion regarding the marketing, on the one hand the plot they uncover is a fundamental aspect of the story and would have definitely drawn more attention, but on the other hand drawing attention to the Plot in the wrong way was exactly what they wanted to avoid, do they leave the Business Plot out of the marketing or do they give in and weaken the whole message of the movie?

Anomandaris , 1 year ago to til in TIL of The Business Plot of 1933, a failed attempt to overthrow FDR and install a dictator. Led by a covertly bankrolled Wall Street coalition of affluent businessmen

These events were the basis for the movie Amsterdam, which I enjoyed quite a lot although admittedly it has mixed reviews