shalafi
@shalafi@lemmy.world
- Comment on AWS crash causes $2,000 Smart Beds to overheat and get stuck upright 1 day ago:
Smart devices are just dandy when they don’t require an internet connection. Got a cheapo smart thermostat that works no matter what. Google could cancel my Minis and my internet could go offline, I can still control it with buttons.
Bought that 5-years ago. At this point I assume all IoT devices require internet.
- Comment on 'This is definitely my last TwitchCon': High-profile streamer Emiru was assaulted at the event, even as streamers have been sounding the alarm about stalkers and harassment 2 days ago:
“Tangentially” doing some heavy lifting here.
- Comment on Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors 5 days ago:
My view of the danger is that people are sourcing facts from AI instead of Wikipedia. Not worried about volunteers, they’re not going anywhere.
- Comment on ‘Death to Spotify’: the DIY movement to get artists and fans to quit the music app 1 week ago:
I used a free online service to rip my Spotify playlists to MP3s. Now what? (for Android)
- Comment on FCC could roll back rule requiring ISPs to list every fee, apparently, there are too many 1 week ago:
Hurts consumers by taking away transparency in their billing. Why would they do this? How does this benefit the consumer?
I’ve worked for a few ISPs, on the phone and in the field, can’t come up with an argument for this roll back being a good thing for anyone but the ISPs.
- Comment on FCC could roll back rule requiring ISPs to list every fee, apparently, there are too many 1 week ago:
I was playing this game long before Trump came around, didn’t lose once, got boring.
When you see a headline that doesn’t include any mention of Democrats or GOP, ask yourself, “Do this law/proposal/regulation hurt people?” By hurt, I mean that it hurts more people than it helps. Don’t think I need to explain the rest.
- Comment on Phones may come without bundled USB cables in the future, if OEMs have their way 2 weeks ago:
Had a guy on eBay wanting me to overnight a long outdated Fast Ethernet (10/100) switch because theirs had died. I was too late to get the message and lost the sale. Wrote him back saying any switch would work. NOPE. Had to be replaced with the exact model.
- Comment on As Microsoft lays off thousands and jacks up Game Pass prices, former FTC chair says I told you so: The Activision-Blizzard buyout is 'harming both gamers and developers' 2 weeks ago:
Lina Kahn was the most effective bureaucrat I’ve even heard of. We had a chance to stop these mergers, unwind monopolies, etc. Capitalism worked a whole lot better when there was competition, which in kinda at the root of the idea.
This isn’t capitalism, this is oligarchy.
- Comment on "I’m Canceling My Subscription": Xbox Players Call to "Boycott" Game Pass "Hard" Over 50% Price Increase As Microsoft’s Website Crashes from Mass Cancellations 2 weeks ago:
They most likely, and purposefully, relegate few assets to a cancellation page.
- Comment on Google is blocking AI searches for Trump and dementia 3 weeks ago:
Trump dementia symptoms: An AI Overview is not available for this search
Biden dementia symptoms: nothing returned
- Comment on U.S. gov't mulls tariffing devices based on the number of chips used and their estimated value — policy would impact nearly every type of electronic device 3 weeks ago:
I understand the goal here, but why the hell would an overseas investor or nation, or even a domestic investor, build a chip plant in America?
Say you’re mulling the idea, but you have a few problems. Trump’s tariffs are going to tank the economy, and already are in some places. SEE: Nebraska. Any objective observer can see that Trump has a degenerative neurological condition, and almost certainly other serious health issues. So whether he dies, loses hard in the midterms or trashes the economy first, the tariffs will be repealed.
Want to be the one left holding the bag on you’re shiny new chip plant? Constructing one in the United States is an objectively bad idea. I know jack about economics, and I ain’t too bright to begin with, but even I can see this as a no go.
- Comment on Costco Confirms It's Removed Xbox Consoles, Calling It A "Business Decision" 3 weeks ago:
Depends not only on today’s date, but subject to hourly change. At least the fascism is logical if you want to take total power, but the business decisions coming out of the White House are ludicrous.
- Comment on New Arizona law to restrict online porn access; Pornhub will block state 4 weeks ago:
Me visiting me in 1998:
“So, yeah, the United States has fallen to fascism, it’s all over but the shouting. Donald Trump is the President for the second time. Yes, that Donald Trump. Censorship is the rule of the day and the only major corporation to stand against it, taking a hit to their own profits, is the internet’s largest focal point for porn, a sort of hub for porn.”
“You are clearly demented. Get the fuck out of my house old man.”
- Comment on China Is Putting Data Centers in the Ocean to Keep Them Cool 4 weeks ago:
Sounds like a great idea. OTOH, impossible to calculate the damage to local ecosystems vs. traditional methods.
Totally uneducated guess: Probably better? Cooling is a major power suck, as well as consuming water.
Roughly 40 percent of the electricity consumed by an ordinary data center is for this purpose.
We’re draining aquifers that take thousands of years to build up. Don’t read up on that, it’s horrifying. So if we have to have data centers, I’m gambling that underwater is the lesser of two evils.
- Comment on OpenAI reportedly on the hook for $300B Oracle Cloud bill 5 weeks ago:
I had thought OpenAI might survive this bubble, but it sounds like a monster crash coming up. How the hell can they ever make enough to see a profit?!
- Comment on This Atari handheld with retro controls is finally available for preorder 1 month ago:
Not interested in reimagined “retro”. If it’s not the original games, I don’t care.
- Comment on Battlefield 6 dev apologizes for requiring Secure Boot to power anti-cheat tools 1 month ago:
I’d have a problem as it’s been turned off since my original Windows 10 install. I’d have to reinstall if I enabled it because I installed Windows in BIOS mode. There are ways around all that, but it’s a little risky.
- Comment on Mark Zuckerberg freezes AI hiring amid bubble fears 1 month ago:
This crash will make 1998 and 2008 seen like child’s play.
Let’s just get it fucking over with, but be careful what we wish for.
- Comment on Microsoft Store application updates can no longer be disabled 2 months ago:
People use apps from the MS Store?! I honestly had no idea. It’s been such a broken mess from the git go that I gave up years ago.
- Comment on AOL will end dial-up internet service in September, 34 years after it's debut — AOL Shield Browser and AOL Dialer software will be shuttered on the same day 2 months ago:
Me too! The crackhead downstairs tried to sell us AOL CDs.
“You guys are into computers, right!? I got this software, only $20!”
- Comment on Hackers Went Looking for a Backdoor in High-Security Safes—and Now Can Open Them in Seconds 2 months ago:
You inspired me! He has an episode on unlocking one of my safes, but it requires a special tool. :(
- Comment on In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen 2 months ago:
- Comment on In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen 2 months ago:
Right?! What an odd comment. “The best satire is good satire.” Yeah?
- Comment on The AI bubble is so big it's propping up the US economy (for now) 2 months ago:
This crash is going to make the dot.com bubble look like small beans. The kinda money behind this stunned me after reading the article. Still, might as well get it over with.
- Comment on Developer survey shows trust in AI coding tools is falling as usage rises 2 months ago:
Last job, year ago as of today, worked at small software dev. We were all talking about AI’s usefulness.
No one, not a soul from the CEO down misunderstood the applications. Yeah, it’s great for getting over a hump. Stuck? Meh, maybe the LLM will kick out a useful path I hadn’t known or considered. Got around a problem with PowerShell and Google Calendar, made a neat integration, far faster than I could have figured it myself. All I got was a couple of lines of code, all I needed, wrote the rest myself. Kinda like stealing code off any given site, but faster. Wonderful tool, really!
End of story. AI isn’t writing end-to-end working code, as some leaders think. It’s a damned useful tool for getting around roadblocks, so yeah, you can code faster. We were all amazed. But no one thought it was intelligent or would replace us. But in the end, we’ll need fewer dev hours. Sorry. That’s simply true for competent firms.
- Comment on UK households could face VPN 'ban' after use skyrockets following Online Safety Bill 2 months ago:
Nah. Shit will just be broken and insecure and the normies won’t know who to blame until they’re told “hackers”.
- Comment on Billionaire Peter Thiel backing first privately developed US uranium enrichment facility in Paducah 2 months ago:
Enrichment for a nuclear power plant is nowhere near close to enrichment for a nuclear weapon. Something like 5% vs. 90%+? And every step closer to 90% is a tall step.
- Comment on Billionaire Peter Thiel backing first privately developed US uranium enrichment facility in Paducah 2 months ago:
Why wouldn’t it be? Everyone here assumes he going to try for weapon’s grade material. Think any government would allow competition in that space?
In any case, there’s a shitload of tech and tooling that goes into a multi-stage thermonuclear weapon. I think they’d notice him sneaking all that into the plant.
- Comment on Billionaire Peter Thiel backing first privately developed US uranium enrichment facility in Paducah 2 months ago:
Energy, presumably to power AI.
- Comment on Billionaire Peter Thiel backing first privately developed US uranium enrichment facility in Paducah 2 months ago:
LOL, hell no. Not even the Trump administration would allow a private concern to enrich weapon grade uranium.
Or, if you want a cynical take, no administration is going to give up their monopoly on ultraviolence.
