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Buffalox

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In light of articles all over Lemmy about Google pushing ManifestV3 onto Chrome and the majority of web users, isn't that an antitrust violation? (www.ftc.gov)

So as I understand it, Google’s using it’s monopoly market position to force web “standards” unilaterally (without an independent/conglomerate web specification standards where Google is only one of many voices) that will disadvantage its competitors and force people to leave its competitors....

Buffalox , (edited )

I never left Firefox, and I will never understand, why people were so quick to adopt Chrome which was Google controlled from the start. Google was already an obvious problem at the time (2008).

Google never had an interest in building the best browser for users. They are not a browser company, they are an advertiser. What they wanted is the best browser for Google, meaning the best browser for delivering advertising. They only made the best browser to attract users with no political foresight. That is becoming more and more obvious. Google has been trying to kill Firefox for a while, by making parts of their services not work quite as intended. While if you changed your user agent, it would work fine!

Another place here today, we can read how Google is trying to kill Jpeg XL or JXL, which is a superior graphics format to JPG PNG and GIF wrapped into 1. lemmy.world/post/2059816

Firefox really helped protect the Internet and Internet users from the shenanigans of Microsoft. It should come as no surprise, that Google wants to control the Internet, just as much as Microsoft did, from a pure business perspective, that’s an obvious move, and our best defense is still Mozilla and Firefox and lawmakers that aren’t corrupt. So don’t elect trump to get another Ajit Pai who has no bigger wish than to kill net neutrality.

Buffalox ,

Yes because a bit faster short term, is worth sacrificing you freedom long term?

I will never get people like you.

Buffalox ,

So a bit of speed short term, is enough to sacrifice your freedom long term?

Obviously I know it was faster, what I don’t get is that people had no principles, and was ready to give everything up to a company clearly trying to control the Internet.

And that was even so shortly after we had similar problems with Microsoft, that we have now with Google.

Buffalox ,

Yes that was stupid, I don’t deny Chrome could easily be seen as the better browser in some respects.

But it was still pretty obvious that we were on our way to the exact same problems we had with Internet Explorer, and Microsofts attempt to control the Internet, through extensions only available on IE, that were necessary to use several Microsoft technologies, when Microsoft had a monopoly.

Buffalox ,

What freedom did I lose?

It’s impossible to know which freedoms we have lost due to Chrome dominance. But from an ecosphere view point, you can see it very clearly on for instance iOS, where you can’t sideload apps, and Apple for years prevented subscriptions to papers if they had any kind of nakedness. We only register those limitations when compared to options that don’t have them.

On Gaming you have consoles, that are also somewhat closed ecospheres, where you cannot develop freely like on PC. Games that exist on both console and PC, often have way more options like downloadable mods often user generated. Those do not work on consoles, because the control from the owner of the platform has not allowed/facilitated it.

In the same way there are closed Google/Alphabet ecospheres like Android, Google search and YouTube, which together with Chrome browser dominance can be used to achieve competitive advantages that keep out competition.

The fact that they may not have succeeded, does not mean there was no danger. But there is evidence that they tried. For instance they tried to kill Firefox, by making services like Google maps not work 100% with Firefox. We now see Google has removed Jpeg XL support from Chrome. So your freedom to use that format has been taken away. They are preventing adblockers from working with a double sided strategy, on both Chrome AND Goggle services. So they are trying to take your freedom to use adblockers away too.

I bet there are 100s cases we don’t know about, because mostly such things are done stealthily, some times they may not even be on purpose, but more for practicality. But the end result remains the same. Creating a closed ecosphere with very dominant control by one player, is almost guaranteed to limit your options long term. And limiting options is equal to taking away a bit of freedom.

Buffalox ,

Wow you got 2 downvotes for stating an absolutely true statement, that describes a HUGE problem.

For us to lose all our rights and freedoms, it only takes enough people not to care. And that’s the problem.

Google apps are a huge surveillance machine that absolutely threaten our freedom. Most people just don’t give a shit, because it’s convenient.

Buffalox ,

You have to realise that to most people, Google is not seen as a bad company - quite the opposite in fact.

You are right, maybe I tend to forget that is not obvious to everybody. But it’s not like I believe Google is inherently bad or evil, they just have an enormous amount of power that I think very few people realize. Google search alone or YouTube alone can make or break companies, can shift elections, can shift popular opinion in general. That’s to much power IMO.

Power corrupts as we know, and although Google is not worse than most, they aren’t better either, and they are using their power in subtle ways, to promote their own interests.

Buffalox ,

I think you forgot a pretty crucial point, that it is also royalty free. Royalty would be a huge problem.

I have yet to see a general royalty free image format as feature complete and up to date as IFF was for the Amiga back in 1985. From your list, Jpeg XL would finally even surpass that. As a very feature complete format improving on at least 3 formats (GIF PNG JPG)while wrapping them into 1. The only thing missing, is to become universally supported.

I wonder how the Chrome team managed to test it so poorly they claimed it wasn’t worth it? Just the versatility alone should make it a no-brainer.

Buffalox ,

Why they went through all this trouble to kill a format that they themselves co-developed, I really have no idea.

I don’t know about AVIF, but WebP is a Google format, and they might be doing it for control, like they use control of Chrome to push more advertising.

Buffalox ,

Once upon a time, you had to show an actual financial loss, to make a claim for damages. At least where I live (Denmark).

Maybe they’ve made copyright offense serious enough to not require that anymore. But without financial damages I would hope a copyright case would be frivolous. Apart from being a form of treason in the eyes of many lawmakers. Except when it’s Trump, then it’s just an honest mistake.

Buffalox ,

Oh boy, I remember they once claimed losses that were equivalent to 3 times the global GNP.

The copyright mafia has absolutely no shame.

Buffalox ,

IMO the Twitter name and logo together are brilliant. I guess most languages have sayings about birds singing, as a way to receive information. Basically what Twitter is supposed to be all about. The ONE thing that 100% isn’t wrong about Twitter, is the logo and name. Killing that makes no sense.

Musk may think he can fix the image problems he created with a campaign and a new logo. But he can’t because the image problems are all about the things Musk has done, and have very little to do with what Twitter used to be. A new name will only enforce the belief that what Twitter used to be has gone, and will most probably accelerate the downward spiral.

Maybe Musk likes the letter X for the meaning, because his exes were all better than the next?

Buffalox , (edited )

Hold on…. You’re saying I can take out a loan for $x amount of dollars against a company I don’t own yet and buy it with that money?

Yes

I take out a mortgage for a property before I buy it and I destroy the house; the bank still comes after me for the value.

Not the same, a house can’t be a legal person, the owner is the legal person of the house. The money Musk borrowed in twitter is owed by twitter, not by Musk. To do the same with a house, you need to do it through a company.

That is possible because companies can have limited financial responsibility, meaning the money they owe are not owed by their owners.

It’s a pretty nifty arrangement, to help the rich stay rich no matter what happens.

Am I being stupid or is the game more rigged than I thought?

We are stupid for not being rich enough, and still allowing the rich unfair advantages.

Buffalox ,

Great article, but it does miss one point IMO. Some fights are more important than others. Pao became unpopular among extremists who wanted to be allowed to push hate speech and discrimination. Funny the article didn’t mention the revenge porn debacle.

That actually resulted in the Voat fork of reddit, which of course quickly became a cesspool, and ended up failing.

The fight Pao fought was necessary, for reddit to have a shred of respectability, and to even stay legal, and for reddit to not fall into a hole of hate speech and idiocy. Pao took the fall for decency, and was forced to leave. But AFAIK none of the things she did were reversed, because they were necessary.

What Steve Huffman is doing is not necessary, on the contrary it’s thoroughly documented to be harmful to reddit as a service in general, and especially for mobile users, and even more so for people who are blind.

There’s an enormous difference in the importance of the Hill Pao died on, and the hill Spez chose. However the article is pretty spot on about the difference in how the 2 situations are handled, and how Spez is actively making it worse.

Buffalox , (edited )

I recall he claimed fully automated driving would be ready by 2016, and back then I actually believed him.

When other makers said the technology was at least 5 years away, and probably more like 10, I thought they were losers who couldn’t compete.

LOL apparently I too was an idiot for believing Musk, My wife and I even bought a house in the country, where driving a car is a must for shopping and daily life in general, in confidence that we soon would have fully autonomous cars.

1 thing is for sure, when we finally switch to fully electric cars, there is zero chance they will be Tesla, and that’s not because he made 1 mistake.

Buffalox ,

IMO this is not surprising, I actually considered buying stock in Netflix, because they were so low.

I’m guessing the ones to complain the most, were the ones who were at the free end of those shared passwords.

I don’t use Netflix myself, but adding advertising for slightly cheaper subscriptions, and ending password sharing, seemed like an almost guaranteed win for Netflix to me. At least in the short term.

People here may disagree and find it outrageous, but most people probably don’t care enough to make a big deal out of it, and will simply choose the option that suit their needs best.

Buffalox ,

I wouldn’t use Chrome anyways.

Firefox plugins rule. ;)

Laid-off Twitter Africa team 'ghosted' without severance pay or benefits, former employees say | CNN Business (www.cnn.com)

Former employees of Twitter Africa who were laid off as part of a global cost-cutting measure after Elon Musk’s acquisition have not received any severance pay more than seven months since leaving the company, several sources told CNN.

Buffalox ,

they have not received the money or any further communication

I bet Musk did this on purpose, also firing the people responsible for paying severance.

I’m guessing the workers have nowhere to go to get their money, unless they take it to court.

Companies like Twitter really should be investigated for illegal activities of this kind, when firing or underpaying either workers or contractors, when sufficient suspicion is there. I think it is with Twitter, and I’m convinced Musk does it on purpose, because he doesn’t give a shit.

If guilty, those responsible should be punished accordingly.

gmr_leon , (edited ) to showerthoughts
@gmr_leon@mstdn.social avatar

The metaverse was to be for businesses what the fediverse is for people.

@showerthoughts

Buffalox ,

Something like that, but most people probably don’t realise the scope Zuckerberg had in mind for the Metaverse.

Mostly because it’s ridiculous, but Zuckerberg imagined everything could be Metaverse. Work, but not just office and meetings, but also production both design and factories.

For home use shopping was pretty obvious, but even that seemingly low hanging fruit doesn’t work. I bet he thought dating and holidays could be a thing too, somewhat like Total Recall.

It’s kind of hilarious to try to imagine Zuckerberg lying awake at night, and think: “HEY! This crazy thing could work too, man this is going to be big.”

LOL

Buffalox ,

Is it dead yet?

Buffalox ,

For sure instead of having your child scarred for life from a vaccine like the picture shows, a mild case of death is preferable.

Stay safe out there, vaccines contain stuff with long words that sound dangerous. There are also many rumors that vaccines can cause all sorts of weird things you wouldn’t believe.

In case you wonder, this is sarcasm.

Buffalox ,

Religion is perfect for making normal people act like a bunch of sociopaths.

Buffalox ,

Higher temperature is equal to more energy in the atmosphere, the result is worse hurricanes.

Buffalox ,

I think it’s 38 degrees celsius for Americans too. But I’m not quite sure, could also be 2 ounces, their system is kind of weird.

Buffalox ,

Metric:

10 mm = 1cm, 100 cm = 1m, 1000 mm = 1m, 1000m = 1 km.

1 cm3 water = 1 gram

1 Watt heats 1 gram of water 1 C°

1 dm3 water = liter = 1 kg

1 m3 = 1000 kg = 1 tonne

Imperial:

1 mile = ?? yards = ?? feet = ?? inches

1 ton = ?? stone = ??punds = ?? oz = ?? grain

1 Galon = ?? pints = ?? fluid ounce

1 inch3 = ?? grain = ?? power to heat ?? fahrenheit

There is no system to any of these, they are unscientific and impractical.

How does Imperial still have any relevance as a measurement system?

Buffalox ,

Yes, you could say Imperial is easier, because you’d never calculate anything in your head, you ask Google.

But how did that even work before we had Internet?

Buffalox ,

1 barrel is 734 ounces. Whoo what a handy table. LOL ;)

Buffalox ,

if you read the T&C

Just because it’s stated in T&C doesn’t mean it’s necessarily legally binding.

Buffalox ,

Yes it does, when the court dismisses a case, it’s equivalent to the case failing in that court. Reddit won by default.

It’s actually the clearest victory you can get, as the court deems there are absolutely no grounds for the case against reddit.

Buffalox ,

European values are irrelevant for being a NATO member. But I believe being a democracy is a requirement, but USA is a somewhat flawed democracy too. But hen again no democracy is perfect.

Buffalox ,

That doesn’t even make any sense. Erdogan has done nothing but backpedal on all the efforts Turkey had done before him to increase cooperation and become a member of EU. Erdogan clearly does NOT want Turkey to become a member of EU.

Also it’s completely unrealistic for Erdogan to wish to Join EU before Sweden becomes a member of NATO. In NATO all members want Sweden in, except Turkey and Hungary. In EU there are ZERO countries that want Turkey in the EU. So how would he realistically imagine it would be possible for Turkey to join EU before Sweden joins NATO.

Turkey is probably more at risk of being thrown out of NATO, unless they begin to moderate their behavior. Technically they don’t meet the requirements to be a member of NATO anymore.

Buffalox ,

Absolutely, use the Wikipedia model, ask for donations with a target to cover cost.

Buffalox ,

Yes that would absolutely make sense too.

Buffalox ,

I think they named the soft drink Mønster after him:.

Fronkensteens Mønster.

Buffalox ,

Funny observation, but admittedly I fit 100%

I’ve seen people post about “understanding” Lemmy and the fediverse, and “figurring out” how it works, although it seems pretty straightforward. If this is a barrier for some people, preventing them from joining, I think that might be a benefit.

I’ve seen statistics saying the dominant age group on reddit is around 13 years. I don’t mind teenagers participating, that’s good. But they shouldn’t dominate, if they do it becomes to much like a “follow me, I’m blind too.” community.

It seems to me the debates here are better than on reddit. I hope we don’t lose that.

Buffalox ,

Yeah kids today are everything the grownups complained about when I was a kid. ;)

Buffalox ,

That’s exactly what Elon Musk wants, and what could be expected from a South African white supremacist raised on the fortunes of an Emerald mine.

Buffalox ,

No you are wrong. Musk constantly align himself with the Maga crowd, the anti liberal and anti woke. If he is not an extreme right totalitarian, he sure acts like one. Of course he is also a narcissist and without principles. But being without principles doesn’t mean being without opinions.

Buffalox ,

When he needed to finance Tesla, he used all the environment arguments to gain public incentives and leverage for electric cars. Which was in line with leftist policies, but for Musk it was for his personal benefit.

Later we have seen that he is not really an environmentalist. Obstructing public transport projects and building rockets.

That he is a Trumpist began to become clear when he held 2 economy advisory postions under Trump, and he refused to leave them, when they were revealed to be nothing but instruments for Trump corruption.

He does everything a fascist would do, he fights unions vigorously, and he is proven racist and anti LGBT. Not a liberal minded person at all, and he believes fascists should be allowed to propagandize on Twitter.

Buffalox ,

I know Musk managed to get someone to foot half the bill for him, why they did that I have no idea. But you are right, they might absolutely have an agenda too.

Buffalox ,

But why did he change? He was praised for Tesla for “saving the world” with electric cars. He had no reason from that perspective to change side.

The change of side and pandering to the extreme right is because he is showing his true colors now.

Buffalox ,

An 18 day period? Weird, but I wouldn’t put to much into that.

Still kinda funny to see Huawei up by 52%

Buffalox , (edited )

I don’t get it, it’s a high end Sony Camera with OIS? The review describes it as “flagship-grade Sony IMX890.”

It’s also praised in other places for being very good, in basically all aspects like low light, density, colors and for video.

It’s not just a good camera, but a VERY good camera.

Buffalox ,

Wow, that seems like a pretty solid option for a nice quality mid range phone.

I don’t tolerate crapware and I don’t compromise on that. and as I understand it, this phone doesn’t have any.

Buffalox ,

Yes I can see what you mean, Seems a bit reddish, and a bit sharpened, which doesn’t flatter the motives. But I suspect the light conditions and the motives don’t promote best results. Despite that they call the portraits “superb”.

But I understand competition is steep in this range, so maybe there are better options? Personally I think I’d be very happy with this one.

Buffalox ,

That’s a bummer, hope EU will keep a keen eye on them then. Unfortunately USA and UK have a history of not doing shit.

Buffalox ,

Yes you are right. They can. I wasn’t thinking straight.

Buffalox ,

Yes you are right, it was a brainfart on my part.

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