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    Posted on 19-03-28, 23:35 (revision 1)
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #146 of 717
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    And here I was, thinking that empty catch blocks were considered a bad idea.

    No, but really, it is literal third world level to fail to vote in parliament. This is something you can do with paper and pen with a failure rate of approximately 0%, that people have successfully done since antiquity, and yet the EU can't manage it for important decisions with multi-billion dollar consequences?

    It's a complete farce. Not that it makes a difference anyway, since they'd just have tried it again after the next election to the so-called European parliament and eventually won by attrition (see: SOPA - the enthusiasm undergoes exponential decay as a function of the iteration count), but it irks me that they can't even be bothered to try and provide the thinnest veneer of legitimacy to their proceedings.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-03-28, 23:55 (revision 3)

    Post: #69 of 166
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    Posted by sureanem

    As for this specific referendum, you had to vote YES to oppose Article 13 and NO to back it. With buttons designed in accordance with the common UX principle of "as similar to each other and close together as possible," it's no wonder mistakes happen.


    Yeah, their system sounds like an utter mess. From what I read, seems like there have been voting errors both ways on this.

    I don't know how this will play out but many youtubers I've followed are saying youtube's Content ID system is already out of control, and has been so for a while. Making a 20min video with a 5 second bit from the Jurassic Park theme? Claimed; meaning the video is still up but the youtuber can't earn any cash from it. Worse; I think the copyright claimer is getting money out of it instead. So if they have a video with 2+ million views with a 5sec piece of copyrighted music or whatever the claimer is making money out of the entire video, not just from the duration of the copyrighted part (which would amount to less than 1% of the video). I mean, seems fair I guess.

    Anyway, sounds like this thing will make matters even worse.
    Posted on 19-03-29, 04:05
    Custom title here

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    Posted by Broseph

    I don't know how this will play out but many youtubers I've followed are saying youtube's Content ID system is already out of control, and has been so for a while. Making a 20min video with a 5 second bit from the Jurassic Park theme? Claimed; meaning the video is still up but the youtuber can't earn any cash from it. Worse; I think the copyright claimer is getting money out of it instead. So if they have a video with 2+ million views with a 5sec piece of copyrighted music or whatever the claimer is making money out of the entire video, not just from the duration of the copyrighted part (which would amount to less than 1% of the video). I mean, seems fair I guess.

    You understand correctly. Making matters worse is that Google has no real interest in what one would call due diligence. Fraudulent claims abound, from people uploading silence and nature recordings into the content ID system to claim wide swaths on to people just straight-up claiming the works of others. I've seen composers hit because someone downloaded their song off Soundcloud and then put it in the content ID system and claimed the composer's YT video.

    Google is less than helpful unless it becomes major news(like the time NASA got banned from YouTube because a swath of their videos were flagged as stolen from CNN due to CNN featuring them in the news)

    --- In UTF-16, where available. ---
    Posted on 19-03-29, 13:07
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #147 of 717
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    On the flip side, perhaps it would spur development into alternative technologies, which have historically been neglected because YouTube was Good Enough™. Depends on how overbearing the regulators are. I mean, we did get BitTorrent out of Napster getting shut down, and all the pieces are there for it, at least in theory.

    However, doing anything like that on mobile is a recipe for disaster. And that's all you can work with nowadays. Yeah, good luck making anything of value when CPU usage, bandwidth, and storage are all extremely limited and the availability is zilch.

    That doesn't mean something like a slightly more civilized version of popcorn time could emerge, though.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-03-29, 15:15

    Post: #61 of 158
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    Yeah, people in the EU could use VPN to work around the regulation, but then I'd think that would be another expense they don't need nor want.

    Conspiracy theory: VPN providers are lobbying for Article 13/17 in order to force consumers to use their services :P

    I still have no idea what I'm talking about.
    Posted on 19-03-29, 19:54
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #148 of 717
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    Posted by KoiMaxx
    Yeah, people in the EU could use VPN to work around the regulation, but then I'd think that would be another expense they don't need nor want.

    Conspiracy theory: VPN providers are lobbying for Article 13/17 in order to force consumers to use their services :P

    Think bigger, what if you design a protocol that doesn't need a VPN? VPNs cost money and introduce no benefits other than IP cloaking. If you'd manage to make a good P2P protocol, you could leverage the indirection to build in some kind of caching along with the anonymity, like in Perfect Dark but good. Of course, you'd need to implement lots of state-of-the-art blockchain technology (whew, first and last time I use that word sincerely), but it should be just possible.

    VPNs aren't feasible as a long-term solution. They can be banned or compelled to turn over user data, and while for your average first worlder $5 out of $3000 a month might be acceptable, it's quite expensive if your monthly wage is $300, especially considering your share of income discretionary is very likely lower in the later case. OTOH, {second|third} worlders generally aren't that bothered by copyright.

    I don't think the VPN providers have that much economic muscle that they'd spend it on lobbying, especially since there soon won't be anywhere to hide. What's the point of getting a VPN if you can only browse Article 13'd websites anyway? Maybe some 'expert' will claim you can use it for darknets, but that you don't need a VPN for in the first place.

    Here are my personal 'conspiracy theories':
    * Politicians who oppose the EU and Article 13 still vote for it to make the EU less popular.
    * Politicians who secretly are vehement opponents of copyright vote for it to bring about a real-life reductio ad absurdum of copyright law.
    * Large companies with the sufficient resources for ContentID et al lobby for it while claiming to oppose it, since it hurts their future competitors more than it hurts them.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-03-29, 20:35 (revision 1)

    Post: #62 of 158
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    Yeah, I understand providers VPN doesn't really stand much to gain from all of this, nor do they have any actual persuasive power. How about tor though? It has been around for quite some time, and probably the most effective, free (beer and liberty) method to anonymize network traffic. Bit of the downside from my understanding is that there is limited (or none?) control to specify where you'd like to appear you're connecting from. And there are some odds and ends (too technical for my understanding) that seem to prevent it from becoming a viable option.
    Posted by sureanem
    * Politicians who secretly are vehement opponents of copyright vote for it to bring about a real-life reductio ad absurdum of copyright law.

    I would hope politicians would be smart enough to realize this, but probably not.
    Posted by sureanem

    * Large companies with the sufficient resources for ContentID et al lobby for it while claiming to oppose it, since it hurts their future competitors more than it hurts them.

    This actually makes some sense.

    I still have no idea what I'm talking about.
    Posted on 19-03-29, 22:37
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #149 of 717
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    Posted by KoiMaxx
    Yeah, I understand providers VPN doesn't really stand much to gain from all of this, nor do they have any actual persuasive power. How about tor though? It has been around for quite some time, and probably the most effective, free (beer and liberty) method to anonymize network traffic. Bit of the downside from my understanding is that there is limited (or none?) control to specify where you'd like to appear you're connecting from. And there are some odds and ends (too technical for my understanding) that seem to prevent it from becoming a viable option.

    Well, you can do that, specify what exit node you'd like to have, but it's still trivial to detect it's coming from Tor. And it doesn't solve the core issue: where will you run? Even if you get your super-secure VPN hosted from a secret bunker in the former Soviet Union, it's not very useful if you're using it to connect to YouTube which censors everything on their end.

    You can run hidden services which is what you get when you use Tor to hide the location of the server. And then you could run your website, no problem. The downside is that anyone who wants to connect needs Tor to access it, and that it's a bit slow. Not that slow, I used it as my primary browser for a few years and it was acceptable for browsing, but for streaming video it can be a bit bumpy. It's relatively user-friendly though, you just download the magic browser and go.

    The main issue for scalability is that it's a dumb pipe, just like VPNs or proxies. You connect through Tor, and you use 3x the bandwidth, and that's all. This bandwidth is provided by volunteers who have to be (reasonably) trusted, and very few people are willing to run nodes because of the legal risks and that it's a good way to make an IP dirtier than a $2 hooker. You can see the total bandwidth here. It should be noted that Tor is CPU-limited, and that you can't saturate a 1Gbit connection with a regular CPU. Still, were it to reach any kind of mainstream adoption it'd collapse in on itself, and it's also quite vulnerable to DoS attacks.

    I2P is better in this regard, since traffic never leaves the network which gets rid of a lot of those issues, but it's still quite slow.

    Tor and I2P are what you'd call low-latency networks. They're perfect for browsing, and can wrap network applications seamlessly (see: torsocks). To run a forum on tor, you install phpBB, make sure it doesn't leak IP, start tor, and then you're done. Don't even need to open any ports. On the other hand, it's garbage for file-sharing.

    On the other hand, networks like Perfect Dark, Freenet, and GNUnet are what you'd call high-latency networks, and they have the characteristics of high throughput. They require much more engineering, but file-sharing doesn't strain the network. They also get the pretty cool effect that the more a file is downloaded, the more it's cached, and the faster downloading it becomes. But because of the latency, websites on it have to be either static or rendered client-side. Chat becomes straight-up impossible, although I suppose you could use Tor's hidden services for the actual messages and the HL network for everything else. Forums become a nightmare of engineering but perfectly possible.

    Oh, and both are useless on mobile.

    If you will, Tor (and friends) are to HTTP what Perfect Dark (and friends) are to BitTorrent.
    Posted by sureanem
    * Politicians who secretly are vehement opponents of copyright vote for it to bring about a real-life reductio ad absurdum of copyright law.

    I would hope politicians would be smart enough to realize this, but probably not.


    I don't see why it'd be their concern what they're voting for. EU politicians simply are told to vote for Article 13, no further analysis is needed on their side. The main proponent of article 13 didn't know what was in the bill, and most EU politicians don't even bother raising their hands when voting.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-03-30, 02:19

    Post: #63 of 158
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    Posted by sureanem
    The main proponent of article 13 didn't know what was in the bill, and most EU politicians don't even bother raising their hands when voting.

    And this is why I have very little faith in the political system. I still do exercise my right to vote though...

    I still have no idea what I'm talking about.
    Posted on 19-04-04, 19:54
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #171 of 717
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    And in the next episode of EU roulette...
    Posted by https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/veggie-burgers-sausages-eu-steak-meat-industry-food-a8854961.html

    Veggie burgers renamed 'veggie discs' under proposed new EU food labelling rules

    Veggie burgers could be rebranded “veggie discs” and vegetarian sausages turned into “veggie tubes” under new EU rules proposed in Brussels.

    The latest round of food labelling regulations approved by the EU parliament’s agriculture committee this week would ban the use of terms such as “burger”, “sausage”, “escalope” and “steak” for products that do not contain meat.

    Some MEPs believe the plan bears the fingerprints of Europe’s powerful meat lobby, keen to protect its profits and crush a trend towards veganism and vegetarianism among young people.

    “It’s obviously an attempt to attack vegetarian meat substitutes. For me, it’s number one a sign that the meat lobby is worried about a rapid change in diets, especially among young people – a lot of which is about their response to climate change,” Green MEP Molly Scott Cato told The Independent.

    “The meat industry is feeling the pressure of people shifting to what is basically cheaper and healthier food – namely a plant-based diet.”


    Truly schizophrenic. Is it like Microsoft, every other bill is great and every other horseshit?

    Well, good job nevertheless, credit where credit is due.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-04-05, 00:10
    Full mod

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    I guess that's a new, vegetarian retelling, but the basic story is old enough that it was comic relief thirty-five years ago.

    The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.
    Posted on 19-04-11, 14:00
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #186 of 717
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    They got Assange.

    https://www.rt.com/news/456212-julian-assange-embassy-eviction/
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-11/assange-charges-revealed-by-u-s-hours-after-london-arrest

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-04-11, 16:46 (revision 1)
    Post: #31 of 203
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    Posted by sureanem
    They got Assange.

    https://www.rt.com/news/456212-julian-assange-embassy-eviction/
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-11/assange-charges-revealed-by-u-s-hours-after-london-arrest


    Finally, an end.

    Assange stopped being relevant years ago, as did Wikileaks as an organisation. The world has moved on to other things. Right now environment is #1 on the agenda, and that means putting an end to corruption... And unfortunately, Wikileaks proved to be a poor guard against corruption.

    Sucks to be him, but at this point... Meh.
    Posted on 19-04-13, 23:03
    Stirrer of Shit
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    IMF approves $4.2bn loan for Ecuador
    WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved a $4.2-billion, three-year loan for Ecuador, part of a broader aid package to help support the government's economic reform program.

    The Washington-based lender agreed to the terms of the financing late last month, and the final approval of the IMF board on Monday releases the first installment of $652-million.

    IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the aid will support the government's efforts to shore up its finances, including a wage "realignment," gradual lowering of fuel subsidies, and reduction of public debt.

    Does this remind you of anything?

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-04-26, 18:59 (revision 1)
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #217 of 717
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    Hey, you know that meme with the Internet getting split up into different packages?

    That one.

    Posted by https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cox-elite-gamer-internet-fast-lane,39176.html
    Cox Introduces 'Elite Gamer' Internet Fast Lane

    ...

    Cox Communications['] ... new Cox Elite Gamer service ... allows its customers to pay an extra $15 per month to make sure their connections to multiplayer game servers are handled as optimally as possible.

    ...

    Cox said on the Cox Elite Gamer website that the service offers 34 percent less lag, 55 percent fewer ping spikes, and 45 percent less jitter than its existing service. That's because traffic for specific games--including Apex Legends, Overwatch, and Fortnite--will be routed through a gaming-specific network. This also means that people who pay for Cox Elite Gamer won't suddenly have faster connections to other sites and services.

    ...

    Those benefits and hindrances were previously hard to work around. Some companies offer their own network optimization tools for specific games, but generally speaking, the options were to find a different service provider or deal with the less-than-stellar connection. Cox Elite Gamer changes that.

    To make things even funnier, I can't visit their website. It's geo-blocked for anyone who doesn't have an IP from (presumably a specific region of) the US. I tried with a few different proxies, but none seemed to work. Brave new world.
    Someone on reddit took some screenshots though. I mean, don't you want to "get more megs from your modem"?

    (it ought to be noted, this likely has nothing to do with net neutrality, judging from Reddit comments - my understanding is that only ISPs are obliged to treat traffic equally, and that an unrelated third-party can provide private "fast lanes" and ISPs sell software for using it)

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-04-26, 23:45
    Custom title here

    Post: #414 of 1150
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    Cox: we always live up to our name.

    --- In UTF-16, where available. ---
    Posted on 19-04-27, 00:12

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    Posted by sureanem
    it ought to be noted, this likely has nothing to do with net neutrality

    This assessment is probably correct. That doesn't make this not-scummy, though; this very much carries the stink of snake oil with it.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Screw_Yall
    Posted on 19-04-27, 01:00
    Stirrer of Shit
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    Posted by Covarr

    This assessment is probably correct. That doesn't make this not-scummy, though; this very much carries the stink of snake oil with it.

    Well, they're either scamming people or screwing them over. But the former doesn't cause any direct damage to the bulk of their customers, at least in theory.


    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-05-18, 21:47 (revision 1)
    Stirrer of Shit
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    Posted by https://archive.fo/M4TyR (from https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/16/coming-soon-sat-an-adversity-score-offering-snapshot-challenges-students-face/)
    When students send colleges their SAT scores in coming years, the admissions office might also get another number that rates the level of adversity applicants typically face — or privilege they enjoy — based on crime and poverty data and other demographic information about neighborhoods and high schools.

    The “overall disadvantage level,” known in admission circles as the “adversity score,” will be a single number from 1 to 100. With 50 set as the average, under a formula established by the College Board, higher scores will indicate higher adversity.

    ...

    The adversity score, which officials described Thursday, will focus on social and economic factors associated with a student’s school and neighborhood, such as median family income, crime reports, housing circumstances, college attendance rates and parental education, according to the College Board. The formula does not consider race, the College Board said, or individual data about a student’s family or financial circumstances.

    (archive link due to the wapo playing the GDPR silly-buggers)

    What the fuck? This used to be the stuff of jokes/utter strawmen just a few years ago.

    It's better than I first thought when I read the article, I guess. That it would have been the default way of computing the score, with your real score staying hidden. I reckon we've still got a good five years until that happens.

    Also, a horrible article that doesn't even pretend to be neutral. Of course grades are a poor indicator. Kids who go to bad schools get straight A's just for showing up, while those who go to the kind of schools where they'd actually learn anything get graded on a curve. And as for poor people scoring worse, well they'd continue being poor even if they got into college, no? So what difference does it make that that's the cause?

    If they wanted to test willpower, just give them some ridiculously hard take-home assignment ("here are a few thousand words in some non Indo-European language with Latin alphabet, you have a month, good luck") and see how they fare.

    Gee, am I glad not to be American.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-05-19, 10:17 (revision 1)
    Full mod

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    Posted by sureanem
    Kids who go to bad schools get straight A's just for showing up, while those who go to the kind of schools where they'd actually learn anything get graded on a curve.

    Wikipedia says "The SAT is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. [...] It is administered on behalf of the College Board by the Educational Testing Service, which until recently developed the SAT as well." The SAT is a standardised test, so the same questions are given to everyone, from good schools or bad. The SAT is not administered by the schools, so it doesn't matter whether a given school gives out As like confetti or gold doubloons.

    And as for poor people scoring worse, well they'd continue being poor even if they got into college, no? So what difference does it make that that's the cause?

    If somebody's not academically inclined, college probably isn't for them. If somebody's poor but smart, well, scholarships are a thing, but even without a scholarship college is a good excuse for someone to get out of the environment that's holding them back.

    (Granted, America's student loan system makes tertiary education far less effective than it would be in other countries, but it's still better than nothing)

    The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.
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