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Dark_Arc

@[email protected]

Hiker, software engineer (primarily C++, Java, and Python), Minecraft modder, hunter (of the Hunt Showdown variety), biker, adoptive Akronite, and general doer of assorted things.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Dark_Arc ,
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Shorts are just a TikTok clone…

Dark_Arc ,
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every site you have ever visited tracks your browser, IP, OS, location, and more.

This is wrong to a degree of paranoia. That’s simply not true. Every site can observe it, some might even log it, but that’s a far cry for tracking it.

In most cases it’s security by obscurity from sheer numbers that hackers/sites don’t give a crap about you alone.

Also no, maybe in the 90s, but modern systems are (increasingly) designed to be secure by default.

Dark_Arc ,
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Why? At least for monetized creators, they get paid more if the ads run and even more if more of their viewers subscribe.

Dark_Arc ,
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It’s not even close. Text and image content doesn’t come near what YouTube has to deal with.

Reddit does have video, lemmy (at least for now) doesn’t, and I’m sure a huge part of that is cost.

Dark_Arc ,
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I don’t understand this comment at all. Hosting your own video is actually super easy. HTML5 video is as simple as HTML5 images. It’s just the cost factor.

You can do it all without the cloud as well, you just have to actually go buy the servers or rent them from traditional virtual private server hosts. Not everyone has gone to the cloud.

Dark_Arc ,
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Okay, but those independent content creators are often doing this trying to make money.

YouTube actually does have a pretty fair deal for “if you make us lose money, we won’t charge you” and “if you make us money, we’ll give you 55%.” That includes increased revenue to those creators if you are a YouTube premium subscriber.

Getting in the way of monetization here isn’t just hitting Google’s bottom line, it’s hitting those creators using Google’s platform as well.

I used ad blockers for YEARS until YouTube added a paid option and once I started using YouTube more (again) I went for that option quickly. I switched my mentally a few years ago to “if it’s not worth paying for, it’s not worth it” and that cleared a lot up for me in terms of priorities.

An aside but, I’m extremely annoyed with the pro-piracy, sentiment against paid game mods, and general attitude against paying people money for the work they’re doing attitude, that I’ve seen on Lemmy (and in gaming communities) recently. It’s like everyone wants to be paid a six figure salary when it comes to their life and then they want to get everything they enjoy on a computer for free.

Dark_Arc ,
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For me it was Spotify’s patent on manipulating people’s mood with music, noped right out of there after that. I’m in a position where I can afford to go back to buying songs, so I actually did that (better for the artist and I don’t have to worry about any recommendation algorithm accidentally making me depressed because depressed = “more engagement”).

I’m not sure if it was related but, coincidentally, I found my mental state in a far better place about a year later.

Dark_Arc ,
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Wesnoth, SuperTuxKart, and Xonotic

Dark_Arc ,
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I think this is the most sane opinion here really; and it’s one I share…

Like, alright, they screwed up; we don’t need to have a riot about it. I’ve followed these guys for a while, they seem genuine, they’re humans, I think they deserve a chance.

It feels like a lot of people who don’t know “how Linus is” or the history of the company getting upset and grabbing their pitch fork a bit too quickly.

Dark_Arc ,
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The problem is the founder is still a thin-skinned whiny jerk that made it about ‘his poor feelings’ and doubled down.

That’s not at all what happened, and I think you’re seriously lacking empathy here. He explained he reacted emotionally, and he’s still emotional. This is in no small part his baby. He made the decision to step down before this ever happened because he wanted someone that could do it better at the helm, he realized he had been promoted past his competency, that’s not nothing.

People just love drama…

Dark_Arc ,
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Try just watching the video. Linus is to my eye being extremely genuine.

I don’t get the absurd crusade to crucify someone one barely knows for a situation one barely understands in the name of what… Some self indulgent moral superiority?

It happens every time. “Big publicly recognized figure/company/whatever makes a mistake” and everyone wants their life ruined, speculates to infinity and beyond, and writes off their humanity, etc. And it’s happening over increasingly trivial things.

It’s an internet mob out on a witch hunt and it’s disgusting. This dude and his wife built a company from nothing that has been good to many many people from everything I’ve taken in over the years. They didn’t kill anyone, they screwed up some data in a YouTube video, an employee sold something they shouldn’t have (which Linus then tried to rectify), and some allegations have been made without proof by one former employee with no information from the LTT side (and no proof Linus or his team knew anything about the situation or its severity). Meanwhile, y’all are out here screaming for the demise of the whole damn thing, and to screw any second chances. It’s a completely disproportionate and unjustified response.

I absolutely hate to see people treat other people in this way.

Dark_Arc ,
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That is for sure really cool!

Dark_Arc ,
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Write your reps folks! I wrote my senators and congressional rep; if enough reps hear about this and realize how important the internet archive is they can help (even having a senator/representative getting in the middle with the threat of changes to the law to protect the internet archive could result in a much more favorable outcome).

Dark_Arc ,
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Mickey would like a word

Dark_Arc ,
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Not really an app, but I’m going to add kagi.com here; it’s time for a shakeup in the search industry that actually works, and Kagi delivers.

Controversial, but Telegram is such a solid open source app in terms of UI/UX and a good middle ground between something like Discord and Signal.

Now that I’ve shared my unpopular opinions…

  • Standard Notes is a really solid secure note taking app.
  • All of the Proton AG apps and services (Proton Drive, Proton Calendar, Proton VPN, Proton Mail, SimpleLogin).
  • Bitwarden.
  • “Privacy” (while not FOSS) is a pretty great software for using unique billing information per site (which helps with fraud protection, tracking, etc).
  • ZeroTier is awesome for remote access (everyone seems to recommend TailScale these days, but ZeroTier is very much of the “do one thing and do it well” mindset, they’re also the “OG” FOSS encrypted VLAN solution).
  • Kopia I’ve been really liking for backups (great features include: the ability to clone a cloud repository of backs to a hard drive or different cloud via the software itself, a GUI, a simple CLI interface, and configurable policies to keep track of your preferences so you don’t have to)
Dark_Arc , (edited )
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Prices seem high

They talk about their prices better here: blog.kagi.com/update-kagi-search-pricing. Including:

Q. What is your cost per search? A. Currently it is 1.25 cents per search. But search indexes are about to become several times more expensive and we now have the AI integration cost. We will try to keep the cost at 1.5 cents per search or below by rethinking our partnering strategy and investing more into our infrastructure.

“Boosting” and blocking domains: basically permanent filters.

I mean, yes and no; it’s not quite a filter as it can tweak the ranking not just outright put something at the top or remove it.

“Lenses” - Similar to SearXNG’s different tabs, but more like a profile style system.

These are actually super cool because they put things like the old “site:reddit.com” trick on steroids and help.kagi.com/kagi/features/code.html is like site:stackoverflow.com on steroids.

Bangs are the same as in SearXNG, and I think you can do the same, or similar, thing in Firefox.

You definitely can do this in plenty of things; I don’t think it’s all that compelling really, but it’s a nice feature none the less, and it’s arguably easier to sync “bangs” than it is to sync these shortcuts between browsers and different software; but yeah, not a big motivator for me.

Custom CSS is cool and all but you can get that with a browser add-on (like Stylus).

Similar comment about the syncing of this; but yeah, this also wasn’t a big motivator for me.

Their “Comprehensive result filtering” seems that same as every other browser

True, but I think it’s there 1 for completeness, and 2 because the count of ads and trackers as a criteria is pretty unique to them. It’s also quite a bit more user facing, and easier to work with than say, getting the same options from Google search.

“Widgets” - Seems like Google’s quick answers, user created ones are cool I guess.

Not sure what you mean by custom ones, haven’t seen anything about that; but it’s definitely in the feature parity category.

Don’t forget things like redirects (change your lemmy UI?) and their own index, which includes things like wayback machine results – particularly relevant with CNET deleting old content to boost their Google ranking.

Their generated summaries are also pretty cool, e.g. from the CNET article:

  • CNET has been deleting thousands of old articles from its site in recent weeks in an effort to improve its search engine rankings on Google.
  • CNET confirmed it removes old content to appear more “fresh, relevant and worthy of being placed higher than our competitors” according to an internal memo.
  • However, experts say Google does not encourage deleting old content simply because of its age and that older content can still provide value to users.
  • The perception that “the Internet is forever” and content placed online will always remain accessible has proven untrue over time.
  • Link rot threatens old web content as links go dead and content disappears from original locations.
  • Copyright trolls have pressured sites to remove old images rather than risk expensive lawsuits over fair use.
  • Large portions of the historical web record are missing or inaccessible now due to link rot and deliberate content removal.
  • Archives like the Wayback Machine help preserve some content but can’t capture everything.
  • Sites focused on SEO are driven to extremes like mass content deletion to rise above noisy search results.
  • Archivists play an important role in preserving digital history by making copies of content before it disappears.

Additionally, it seems that they don’t have seem to have any external audits … (correct me if I’m wrong).

They don’t, but they do have a clearly worded privacy policy kagi.com/privacy.

or releasing of code (correct me if I’m wrong).

The search engine itself, no; but their browser extensions are open source: github.com/kagisearch/browser_extensions

This actually looks very cool, so many new backup solutions to try after this thread. 🥲

I’ve tried a lot of different backup solutions… I’d be curious where you’re leaning, but I’d say this one is likely going to be your winner for ease of use, privacy, and cross-platform functionality.

Dark_Arc ,
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It was at 78 last I knew, this would put it at 88.

Dark_Arc ,
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What do you use for a wireless access point?

Dark_Arc ,
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Interesting, I’d never heard of them, thanks!

Dark_Arc ,
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Yes, we 100% should be using our school kitchens as kitchens, not just reheating premade “GFS Food.”

Dark_Arc ,
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… what are they using?

Dark_Arc ,
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That’s roughly where GFS lies…

College professors are going back to paper exams and handwritten essays to fight students using ChatGPT (www.businessinsider.com)

College professors are going back to paper exams and handwritten essays to fight students using ChatGPT::The growing number of students using the AI program ChatGPT as a shortcut in their coursework has led some college professors to reconsider their lesson plans for the upcoming fall semester.

Dark_Arc ,
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That argument is great until someone gets maimed or killed because the “AI” got it wrong and the user didn’t know enough to realize.

Dark_Arc ,
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It absolutely will not, “AI” is not anywhere close to good enough to replace humans.

Dark_Arc ,
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What exactly are they preparing students for? No job will ever require the skill of writing code on paper.

Maybe something like, a whiteboard interview…? They’re still incredibly common, especially for new grads.

Dark_Arc ,
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if you CAN learn

I always found this argument completely unsatisfactory…

Imagine someone coming up to you and saying “you must learn to juggle otherwise you can’t be a fisherman” and then after 14 years of learning to juggle, they say “you don’t actually need to know how to juggle, we just had to see if you CAN learn. Now I can teach you to fish.”

You’d be furious. But, because we all grew up with this nonsense we just accept it. Everyone can learn, there’s just tons of stuff that people find uninteresting to learn, and thus don’t unless forced; especially when the format is extremely dry, unengaging, and you’ve already realized… You’re never going to need to know how to juggle to be a fisherman… ever.

The show “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” (IMO) accurately captures just how worthless 90% of that experience is to the average adult. I’ve forgotten so much from school, and that’s normal.

The actual learning comes when the crowd has been whittled to those who have the discipline to be there.

Also this is just ridiculous, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Dark_Arc ,
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You do realize you get to choose which courses to take in undergrad right? Universities aren’t forcing you to take any of the courses, you choose ones in subjects you are interested in, and first year is to get you up to speed/introduce you to those subjects, so you can decide if you want to study them further.

That’s not true at all, every degree has a required core curriculum at every university I’ve ever heard of (e.g., humanities, some amount of math, some amount of English, etc). It also says nothing for the K-12 years.

Dark_Arc ,
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Because of an essay?

Yes, or “AI generated software.”

We need to teach people to work with technology. Not pretend it doesnt exist.

It’s fine if you use it as something supplementary (i.e., a really fast “I would’ve typed roughly this anyways”). However, you absolutely shouldn’t trust it to get things right when you have no knowledge of the subject matter.

When these models came out, the world changed. If you arent using them right now you are being left behind

🙄 the world didn’t change; a new overhyped technology appeared. Like the cloud, smart phone, voice assistant, etc, it’ll find its place. However, it’s place isn’t everywhere or writing all your essays, thoughts, opinions, and reports that you don’t want to do.

Dark_Arc ,
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That’s a valid opinion, and I largely share it. But, all these students need to work somewhere. This is something the industry needs to change before the school changes it.

Also, I’ve definitely done white board coding discussions in practice, e.g., go into a room, write up ideas on the white board (including small snippets of code or pseudo code).

Dark_Arc ,
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bulletin.uakron.edu/…/general-education/…

That’s roughly 10-14 classes. Most universities I’ve seen the first 2 years is mostly general education with a little bit of your major involved. Then there’s your “college” requirements inside of the university, another 8 credits so 3-4 classes typically. Then the rest if your major credits, but that’s at least 1/3 of your time on non-major work, and a lot of your degree program is going to be adjacent not totally relevant work, so, it’s more than that.

Dark_Arc ,
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It’s a close enough problem; a lot of professors I’ve known aren’t going to sweat the small stuff on paper. Like, they’re not plugging your code into a computer and expecting it to build, they’re just looking for the algorithm design, and that there’s no grotesque violation of the language rules.

Sure, some are going to be a little harder “you missed a simicolon here”, but even then, if you’re doing your work, that’s not a hard thing to overcome, and it’s going to cost you a handful of points (if that sort of stuff is your only mistake you get a 92 instead of a 100).

How is it even possible/practical to obey traffic laws?

I’m talking specifically about obeying the speed limit, doing a full stop at stop signs, etc. After receiving a speeding ticket for doing 53 in a 50, As an experiment I went a full day obeying all traffic laws 100% and it caused so much road rage. For example, there is a 2 lane road near me with a speed limit of 50 (where I...

Dark_Arc ,
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More than that, if you’re at the front of the line, that indicates you’re holding up traffic (even if it is “worse speeders” you’re holding up) and creating a dangerous situation.

If you’re speeding and someone is tail gating you, just let them pass.

Georgia prosecutors have messages showing Trump's team is behind voting system breach (www.cnn.com)

Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump’s legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County, sources tell CNN.

Dark_Arc ,
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If it wasn’t for the electoral collage and the house being locked at 435 seats… I think this would be a more compelling argument.

I live in Ohio, there were 647,284 votes for Joe Biden that were invalidated because there were 713,546 votes for Trump. There are an estimated 12 million people living in Ohio. That’s less than 2 million votes.

It’s not “rural” vs “urban”, it’s “rural voters” vs “urban voters” plus all the other stuff. If we went off popular vote, we never would’ve had a Trump presidency; Clinton won by almost 3 million votes.

Dark_Arc ,
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Are you proud of who you were today?

The US just invested more than $1 billion into carbon removal / The move represents a big step in the effort to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere—and slow down climate change. (archive.ph)

The US just invested more than $1 billion into carbon removal / The move represents a big step in the effort to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere—and slow down climate change.::undefined

Dark_Arc ,
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I’m fine with that. If it gets jobs, gets more political support, and gets carbon out of the air… I’m all for it.

Dark_Arc ,
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Similar point on nation state activity

Dark_Arc ,
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Pixel “a” Phones are basically the continuation of the (formerly midrange) Nexus. Though Fairphone is entering the US market, they look like they’d be a solid choice.

Dark_Arc ,
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Yeah, I definitely mourn the headphone jack too… I’ve learned to “live without it” on a lot of stuff, but it was such a nice port, I wish Apple hadn’t killed it.

Dark_Arc ,
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Lots of them have an emergency access feature, definitely worth looking into if you haven’t

When the fuck did a mobile hotspot become something you have to pay extra for?

It’s my goddamn motherfucking mobile data and MY PHONE. I should be able to use it however I want. My wifi went down because the greedy, cunt-faced shitbags at Comcast stole taxpayer subsidies to enrich themselves instead of actually providing the service we’re paying for. I tried to switch to a mobile hotspot and my phone...

Dark_Arc ,
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I was about to say maybe look at the newer satellite tech, but that’s way better!

Dark_Arc ,
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From “the olden times” (Reddit link):

The type and scale of the data that TikTok collects is different than other Chinese apps.

There will be replies that talk about advanced ML and predictive algorithms. There will be replies that talk about potential hacks the app can use to bypass iOS or Android policy. That’s a threat, sure, but we don’t even need to go there. We can just focus on the basic data that companies like Google, Meta and TikTok explicitly tell us that they collect in their privacy policy.

Every time you open TikTok, you should assume that the Chinese government knows exactly where you are at that moment, because the app gives them access to your location through GPS. If you use the app frequently, they not only have time and location data, but they know your travel patterns too!

They know who you interact with and who those people interact with. They know what kinds of content you like and what you dislike. They can use this information to intentionally feed you with disinformation in ways that make you more likely to believe it.

The misinformation feed attack risk is not unique to TikTok. Others have already been misused in this exact way. The important difference is that when information is housed by companies like Meta and Google which are incorporated in the US, its use and storage is subject to US regulation. We can simply disallow use and storage of data and practices that we don’t approve of.

If you’ve done something illegal or embarrassing on TikTok, it could be used to compromise you for a foreign nation’s interest. If you are a 20 year old wild child, they won’t have any interest in doing anything with that information right now. In a few decades, if TikTok continues its dominance in social media, China will have compromising information on an uncomfortably high number of powerful leaders and politicians. You don’t even have to do something obvliviously stupid like say something racist or admit to a crime in a DM. For example, with just location data they can know if a politician cheated on their spouse and with whom! Imagine a politician publicly saying that they did not meet with some business leader or politician about some scandalous thing. Well, in a world where everyone has TikTok, the Chinese government knows if that’s a lie or not. In theory Verizon/Meta/Apple wouldn’t know that since that data is purported to be anonymized. Even if they did have that information, it’s hard to imagine any US tech company using it for their own interest. A US company would likely not survive that kind of act - it would be corporate suicide. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine a foreign adversary NOT engaging in that type of blackmail when given the opportunity.

Now consider companies like Tencent. How can information on League of Legends play sessions can be used to blackmail a politician, manipulate an election or foment widespread social unrest? It might be possible, but it’s not easy to think of how it could be done. With TikTok, it’s blindingly obvious how all of those things could happen.

Most other Chinese apps don’t collect anywhere near as much personal and sensitive information. The ones that do collect the same level of sensitive data, like Tencent’s QQ, aren’t used by enough people where it would be realistic to speculate that this information can be used in a similarly widespread and extremely damaging way. Even then, the US government should seriously think through the damage that could be done with the information QQ collects by assuming the Chinese government has complete access to all collected data and hostile intent. With TikTok, you don’t need to spend more than a few seconds thinking about this to frighten yourself.

Dark_Arc ,
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That’s really disappointing honestly, I “grew up” reading CNET; I don’t read it much anymore, but the articles they’re deleting are likely the ones that initially got me up to speed with technology.

Dark_Arc ,
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Swamp monstas gonna make me rich, get outta my way

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