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Ilandar

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Ilandar ,

Your kids aren’t going to Disney Land lol

Ilandar ,

Pretty nice looking phone. I am always a sucker for primary colours.

Ilandar ,

Same. I switched to it earlier this week and it’s better than I remember. It’s either improved or I was being too picky last time, though the image search is unusable IMO.

Ilandar ,

it seems happy to use Brave’s commercial API (allowing blatant homophobia in the comments)

The “blatant homophobia” claim is an overreaction. The closest thing to this is one post by a single user who said “there’s nothing wrong with being against gay marriage…it’s political opinion and everybody has the right to theirs”. That user was basically the only one arguing in support of Eich in the thread and that was the most controversial thing they said. I think to try and frame this as Kagi implicitly supporting homophobia through a lack of moderation is very disingenuous. If you read through thread you can see many attempts to moderate the discussion, including several locks and warnings.

Ilandar ,

Affiliation with Brave and, therefore, Eich is relevant and deserves to be mentioned in the interest of potential users. I just think the way the author extrapolates their own opinion of that comment into an implication that “Kagi allows blatant homophobia on their forums because of company bias/their affiliation with Brave” to be really misleading and underhanded.

Ilandar ,

A lot of people read it from illegitimate sources simply because they can manage to release it two to three days earlier than the official every week.

This still sounds like a service problem.

Ilandar ,

Pirate websites only manage to release it faster because they get access to the unfinished product and then have people work on them with no regards to any work laws in order to finish and release it as soon as possible without any schedule or time constraint.

This is the context that was missing from the original comment. I agree, this does not sound like a service problem.

Ilandar ,

Not in Australia. Relevant section of the Copyright Act 1968 as it would have existed back then, for those interested:

:::spoiler Click to view

COPYRIGHT ACT 1968

  • SECT 111 Filming or recording broadcasts for private and domestic use

(1) The copyright in a television broadcast in so far as it consists of visual images is not infringed by the making of a cinematograph film of the broadcast, or a copy of such a film, for the private and domestic use of the person by whom it is made.

(2) The copyright in a sound broadcast, or in a television broadcast in so far as it consists of sounds, is not infringed by the making of a sound recording of the broadcast, or a copy of such a sound recording, for the private and domestic use of the person by whom it is made.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a cinematograph film or a copy of such a film, or a sound recording or a copy of such a sound recording, shall be deemed to be made otherwise than for the private and domestic use of the person by whom it is made if it is made for the purpose of:

(a) selling a copy of the film or sound recording, letting it for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing it for sale or hire; (b) distributing a copy of the film or sound recording, whether for the purpose of trade or otherwise; © by way of trade exhibiting a copy of the film or sound recording in public; (d) broadcasting the film or recording; or (e) causing the film or recording to be seen or heard in public. :::

The same laws still apply today, just reworded. By the way, this practice of recording live TV is known as time shifting.

Ilandar ,

Ah yes, Sony…the masters of smartphone innovation…

Ilandar ,

If you’re referring to the Xperia 1/5/10 series, there were earlier models by other manufacturers with a 21:9 aspect ratio. I believe LG were the first to do it with the Chocolate. Sony have certainly become the flag bearer for that aspect ratio in recent years, though. You’re correct that their sensors are used by many other manufacturers, however I think the biggest advancements in smartphone photography have really come from automated software processing which Sony is also not a leader in.

Anyway, it was mostly a joke about the static nature of their recent devices (which I would argue has often been a good thing i.e. headphone jack and SD card slot). I’m sure there are plenty of areas where they have innovated in the past.

Ilandar , (edited )

You don’t need to make an account. There is a guest login option.

The shadiest thing I am aware of them doing was the time they added a crypto miner and asked users to choose between that or ads.

Ilandar ,

Which version of the application were you using? And where did you download it from? I haven’t encountered this on the Samsung TV version or the APK from the Stremio website.

Ilandar ,

Missed opportunity for a dedicated shutter button with that camera-centric design.

Ilandar ,

This sounds promising but I do wonder how undermined any progress they make will be by:

  • the speed of advancements in AI
  • the fact that this research doesn’t necessarily apply to other LLMs
  • the fact that LLMs are being released/leaked to the public, so anyone who has access to them has the potential to jailbreak the AI and circumvent any safety precautions researchers implement as a result of this work
Ilandar ,

Good video, thanks for sharing. Not sure what people here are moaning about. I guess anything over 10 seconds is “too long” nowadays.

Ilandar ,

Is that personal preference a reason to complain about someone else sharing a video link?

Ilandar ,

I’m not sure why no one suggested AudioBook Bay, but it is also quite good in my experience.

Ilandar ,

If you are new to Linux I would recommend buying a second drive or dual-booting for a bit just to ease into it. It has helped me persist with the transition because I always have the option of booting into Windows for a few hours if there’s something that I’m just too tired/frustrated to deal with at that given moment. Over time I’ve found myself booting into Windows less and less, to the extent that I’ll be able to drop it completely later this year without the big learning curve/wave of troubleshooting that I encountered the first time I tried to switch cold turkey.

Ilandar ,

Yes, that’s a great strategy and one I began before even transitioning across. I guess the only reason I didn’t initially mention it is because I’ve found many Windows users immediately switch off the moment you tell them they might need to consider non-proprietary apps and services. There are a lot of really solid and reliable workarounds these days that mean you can keep some of that Windows workflow if you really want to, so I feel like maybe it’s best to just let them try the operating system first and see how much they can get away with.

Ilandar , (edited )

Try Grayjay. It’s free (though you can buy a license to support its development) and open source has fully viewable source code. You can login through the YouTube plugin’s settings and either stay logged in or import all your subscriptions and then logout to avoid any further Google tracking. It’s pretty stable compared to other FOSS YouTube apps and also has plugins for Twitch, Nebula and other video/audio content platforms. The YouTube plugin supports SponsorBlock and dislikes. Grayjay is being actively developed by the FUTO organisation, so is unlikely to randomly die like can sometimes happen with other FOSS projects.

Depending on how you use YouTube, the one significant downside may be the complete lack of support for Shorts. Not only can you not access Shorts from inside Grayjay, but if you open a Shorts link inside the application you cannot play it in full screen vertical. I am not a Shorts viewer (I used to disable it in ReVanced) but other FOSS apps like LibreTube support Shorts so this is one notable point of difference with Grayjay.

@unknowing8343

Ilandar , (edited )

You’re technically correct, if I recall they decided to release it under an alternative license after seeing other FOSS YouTube clients like NewPipe being forked, loaded with ads and then put on the Play Store. This gives FUTO the option of pursuing legal action if bad actors attempt to do the same with their app. However, it is free and the source code is viewable.

Ilandar ,

If it is free to download, free to use and has no pay nagging or restrictions then it is effectively free to any user. As I said, you can buy a license to support its development and this is clearly what they would like you to do, but there is nothing forcing you to pay.

Ilandar ,

Although interestingly the price of the 10 series continues to fall quite significantly. I’m not quite sure what Sony’s strategy is but it seems they are trying something at the moment.

Ilandar ,

Pirating is even more woke than watching Netflix or Disney+! Take that Ron DeSantis!

Ilandar ,

The funny bit to me is how obvious they are about restructuring their business model. Netflix clearly wants a greater proportion of their revenue to come from advertisers, so they’re charging exorbitant prices for the 4K and, in particular, standard plan while keeping the “ad-supported” plan fairly low. They were probably seeing waves of short-term subscribers in response to big releases and are trying to bait those people into staying subscribed permanently while also milking then through advertisements. I wouldn’t be surprised if the standard plan is removed at some point because it’s such bad value now.

Ilandar ,

How is the standard plan a bad value?

Because of how it is priced relative to the other tiers. It is significantly closer in price to the highest tier ($7 gap) despite being almost identical to the lowest tier in terms of features ($11 gap). The only meaningful difference is ads. It’s very clear that Netflix is trying to price out customers who are unwilling or uninterested in paying for all the features limited to the highest tier (4K, double the simultaneous streams, better audio, etc) and force them on to the cheaper, ad-supported plan instead because they believe they can make more money this way.

Additionally, the middle tier is priced closer to the highest tier to imply that the highest tier is great value (because it has so many extra features for a smaller price increase than between the lowest tier and the middle tier). This is a classic retail strategy designed to trick consumers into spending more money than they originally needed or wanted to because “it’s better value”. Consumers often conflate “better value” with “saving money”, even though they are doing the complete opposite when they pay $7 more for features they didn’t initially care about at all.

Ilandar ,

Wonder if ads actually makes up for the difference or if it’s just under priced to push people towards it.

The ads are almost certainly making up the difference and then some, otherwise I don’t see why Netflix would pursue that strategy at all. The only other theory I can think of is that people are less likely to initially cancel an $8 monthly subscription than a $19 subscription, and are therefore more likely to forget to cancel it in the future.

Like the rest of the tech industry, Netflix is way past the point of making a loss just to drive growth and is now obsessed with driving maximum profits because their shareholders are demanding (or are owed) returns on the big investments they made in a different financial climate years ago. That’s why Netflix is introducing ads, pushing up prices and cracking down on shared subscriptions (and now even a one-off payment to “add” an account member from outside of your household) and cancelling projects with real artistic merit at short notice when they don’t show immediate signs of becoming the next massive hit. It’s all about making as much money as possible now. We are no longer in the age of focusing on providing a reasonably priced and objectively good service and that will drive people back to piracy, just as it has done previously.

Ilandar ,

That’s a boring answer but it is sadly true for Google and every other big tech company currently. They focused on massive growth for years off the back of heavy investment but now that the financial climate is bad and interest rates are up, all these companies suddenly need to refocus the business around profitability. It’s why this wave of enshittification has hit the internet within the last few years.

Ilandar ,

Through subscriptions. Both Google and Samsung are focusing heavily on that at the moment. That’s also why their unique software features are often free at first. If Galaxy AI started off as a monthy subscription everyone would ignore it but their plan is to get you reliant on it then introduce a fee.

Ilandar ,

I think the previous model had the best battery life of any phone GSMArena had tested, so I guess that’s the niche. But I’m sceptical of a crossover between people who buy phones with with an extreme focus on battery life and people who buy phones with pretty unimpressive and out of date mid-range processors. Particularly at the price the 10 series retails for. I’m struggling to understand why Sony continues with the 10 but I guess there is a market somewhere.

Ilandar ,

This is even more concerning (or funny, depending on how dark your humour is) when you realise that it will be replaced by AI-generated webpages. Humanity’s presence on the internet is disappearing before our eyes.

Ilandar ,

I think the Wikipedia article needs to be updated to be honest. Continuing to describe it as a “conspiracy theory” is quite misleading given the phenomenon is already underway and only picking up pace.

Ilandar ,

It’s not as though Motorola doesn’t offer support for the device. The company confirmed that it would offer “three major Android updates and four years of security patches” over the course of Razr+’s lifespan, but it’s clear that customers will be left waiting for any major updates.

It also promised at least bi-monthly updates for the 2023 razr line, another area in which it has failed to deliver. My razr 40 is still stuck on the February security update. Before that it was stuck on the November security update until the middle of March. This is the first time I’ve owned a Motorola phone so whilst I knew they had a bad reputation for support, I was clearly a bit naive. I never imagined they would be so far behind within the first year of release.

Ilandar ,

It appears to have a 10 GB limit per month, which is so low that it would essentially be useless for most common torrenting purposes I can think of.

Ilandar ,

How often would you be forced into torrenting those mediums and how great is the risk? E-books do not need to be torrented as there are plenty of alternative ways to access them (including legal methods such as libraries). Audiobooks potentially do, but AFAIK are not prosecuted to the same extent as films and TV or video games. It can definitely be convenient to torrent music and it is a riskier medium than e-books or audiobooks, but similar to e-books there are plenty of alternatives to torrenting. I just don’t see why you would bother signing up for a free VPN if that’s the stuff you’re after.

Ilandar ,

I would argue the opposite. These big companies have discovered what they believe to be the Holy Grail of technology (generative AI) and are now in a race unlike any seen before to deploy it as quickly as possible to the world and gain market dominance. Big tech is completely out of control right now, even the CEOs are describing it as “frantic” behind the scenes.

Ilandar ,

I don’t think anyone is actually so clumsy that they need a phone like this. If you think you are, it’s likely because you’re not focusing enough on using the phone when you’re using the phone. Inattentiveness is a major cause of phone drops from what I’ve seen and experienced.

Ilandar ,

I didn’t say anything about building sites. I was responding to the part of your comment where you claimed you need a fugly brick phone because you’re clumsy.

Ilandar ,

Oh, it will impact a lot more than one private search engine. Watch The AI Dilemma presentation given by Asa Razkin and Tristan Harris last year if you want an idea of what could be coming.

Ilandar ,

Slightly outdated already, with AutGPT being a thing.

That’s the really disturbing thing and what makes this challenge so different to all others humanity has faced to date. I think Asa even referenced in the presentation that some of his slides were going out of date on a daily basis, that’s how fast the technology was moving.

Ilandar ,

Agreed, I think it is a mistake to think we are somehow above it and that only stupid people fall for this stuff. The Social Dilemma explained this idea really well, I thought. One one side of the screen we have computers that are gaining power exponentially and constantly improving algorithms designed by graduates from the top universities in the world. On the other side of the screen is our monkey brain which has barely improved at all across hundreds of thousands of years. Who do you really think is going to win in that battle, particularly when we throw generative AI into the mix? Maybe I can sort the fake from the real today, but if we continue on the same trajectory then that is going to change very quickly.

Ilandar ,

To me the real issue is not trust in the design, but rather trust in the warranty/return/refund process. The technology is fairly new and still has potentially significant weaknesses that may leave the occasional customer with a damaged or completely broken phone through no fault of their own. To me, that is an acceptable and understandable problem and one that doesn’t inherently make the product unfit for sale to the general public. The real problem is that several manufacturers of these folding/flipping phones have warranty policies and/or practices that attempt to make the customer foot the bill for a defected product that they have not mishandled or mistreated in any way. Shane Craig has done a couple of videos on his experiences with a broken Pixel Fold and Google’s warranty service recently that highlight this practice. That is completely unacceptable and is definitely an extremely valid reason to avoid folding phones if you live in a country like the US with weak consumer laws.

Youtube Rant from a paying customer

I used to use NewPipe back in the days of yore. Then I got Youtube Premium since it bundled in Youtube Music as well which I used. But the former’s app on mobile is a shit show. Even after paying, you are asked to tip random creators, purchase merchandise[ which are shown as actual ads below videos] and join channels to access...

Ilandar ,

I don’t think recommendations being messed up by the algorithm is the real issue with YouTube (or any big tech social media platform). It’s the fact that the algorithm is so good at predicting what you want to watch before you even think about watching it, that you slowly become pushed into an echo-chamber where your entire online space is inhabited only by people who agree with you, issues that you think are relevant, etc. It’s the entire concept of algorithm-based recommendations that is messed up and it’s damaging society.

Ilandar ,

Yes, exactly. Negative emotions have been shown to drive more engagement in users, so the algorithms are designed to highlight conflict and increasingly extreme viewpoints. For younger viewers, the algorithm favours addictive content to ensure they stay glued to the screen.

Ilandar ,

I disagree with you on politics, I don’t think that is important to a relationship if the people involved are able to discuss and disagree about ideas amicably. Unfortunately that seems increasingly less common in our modern society as algorithm-based social media continues to push people further into their respective echo-chambers. Of course, I am not here to tell you that you can’t look for that in a partner, I just don’t think the concept of political compatibility should universally apply to every relationship or even a majority of relationships.

Ilandar ,

I’m not sure I agree with that either. In my experience it depends entirely on the willingness of the people in the relationship to listen to one another and their ability to understand that disagreements about political issues, current affairs, religions, etc, don’t actually have to define them as people and, therefore, their entire relationship. People from opposing sides of politics and life actually have a lot in common because the human experience is a universally shared one. It’s all about breaking through the artificial barriers that would keep us separated online and finding those commonalities.

Ilandar ,

Nah I definitely disagree with that statement. It is absolutely possible to maintain a healthy relationship with someone whose perspective on ethical issues differs to your own.

Ilandar ,

There aren’t many explicitly racist or anti-racist people in the world. I think that’s a pretty big misconception people have about racism; that it is predominately an individual quality as opposed to a much broader systemic problem. Even then, my personal experiences suggest these views do not have to define a relationship if you take the time to unpack and better understand them. Most racism we see in the world is generally not born out of evil or hatred but rather fear or ignorance, which are universally relatable human conditions.

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