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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: August 7th, 2023

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  • More like it doesn’t want to get the money to maintain those infrastructure by going into further debt.

    I’m not following German politics very closely but the article mentions that this restriction is in their constitution.

    There was something in that genre in my province decades ago when a government dedicated itself to ‘zero deficit’ by cutting on infrastructure maintenance for many years. A bridge eventually fell. Classic story. It seems like a common thing.




  • That’s excellent for their clients. I’m guessing it set a precedent and the industry stopped trying anything else.

    I didn’t follow the most recent developments here in Canada but AFAIK, a decade ago the industry tried to sue individuals that were “pirating”, and lost because they couldn’t proof that an IP could be associated with a single person, or something like that. Then the industry pretty much stopped trying to sue individuals from that point. They still send the threatening letters, but they don’t do anything else because past experiences with our courts didn’t go well for them.

    Of course, there is a very very slim chance that the industry will try to sue a few individuals to scare others and create a new precedent, but it’s going to be a civil suit because it’s not even criminal here.





  • I’d be curious to see any numbers on that. Uber and Lyft played the card of “but it’s car sharing and thus reducing trafic” but in the end, it doesn’t really change much, and sometimes even increase trafic.

    https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/uber-lyft-traffic-congestion-car-ownership-study/

    As someone that doesn’t have a licence, never have driven a car and avoids them if possible, taxis (autonomous or not) are generally useless to me. They are still cars and they keep people dependent on cars.

    In a city, people shouldn’t need a taxi (read, a car) to get around. In urban areas, people can walk, bike or use public transit. And if you want to go from one city to another, one shouldn’t also need a taxi (car) to get there.

    I’m aware that this is kind of “utopist” and requires efforts to change things but, if the solution to wanting less cars is “cars but shared!”, this is not a solution. It’s just proof of failed policies. It will not encourage any change, just stagnation. Things will stay based on cars… but autonomous… and electric (oh so green)! Oh and also, now big tech knows exactly where you’re going, and when.

    EDIT: And if robotaxis would be “part of the solution” for the last mile, why wouldn’t a normal taxi already fulfil that role? We don’t have enough? So we’d need more vehicles on the road, But autonomous? Why do they need to be autonomous? How come is the last mile such a huge problem for most people? Is walking or cycling a mile that difficult for most people? Is everyone carrying a 42" TV around?



  • You know it’s not one or another, right?

    I’ve been using Linux since 1999 and I’m a strong defender of free software. I’ve been rooting and installing roms on my phones for years. I’ve repaired them several times. I’m well aware of the issues and I still have the right not to like Louis Rossman, even if I support his cause with the right to repair.

    I don’t think it’s necessary to tell people they are losers because they don’t like him. We are not ennemies. Some people can actually dislike him, or his style, and still support the cause. But if you want to antagonize them…



  • This guy was offered an insane salary for doing engineering for US defense contracts and turned it down because he felt like calling out bad practices and improving repairability on our devices was a better thing to do.

    I guess that makes him our lord and saviour then, and we can then only take him seriously because of that. Knowing this changes everything. He is so good to help us lowly people in our quest for repairable devices! And if you just keep watching his videos he can teach you how you also can be successful like him. And by the way you can buy his tools too!

    He’s right on the right to repair, but every time I tried to watch his videos (and I tried a few times, I work in tech and like the subject), I always felt like I was being… patronized.


  • But if you just watch his videos and buy his stuff he will teach you how to repair yours!11! /s

    The few times I watched his videos, he sounded like a libertarian bro, saying that if you just put the effort, you too can become successful. You just have to pull yourself by the bootstraps or something. He’s showing you everything you need to know to be as successful as him! And maybe it was sarcasm and I didn’t catch it but at one point he muttered something about Trump fixing the potholes of New York. That’s about when I stopped taking him seriously.

    He’s still an important voice for the right to repair movement but you’re right. I also can’t stand him. Unfortunately he has very dedicated/vocal eeehm, fans, so legitimate remarks on him are often met with downvotes.


  • If you own your music, you can have it in a digital format and copy it somewhere else.

    I’m an old millennial that started with dial-up and downloaded MP3s from IRC/Napster/Kazaa/torrents.

    Eventually I started to buy what I could on CD then ripped them, then bought MP3s when possible. Otherwise I don’t mind using yt-dlp.

    Those MP3s have been played by a portable CD player, then a Samsung MP3 player, then 3 or 4 phones. I’m still playing that collection on my actual phone, using Poweramp.

    The device that plays the files may not last but you can certainly copy those elsewhere and do what you want with them, for as long as you want.


  • Quite candidly, it’s not articles selling the spiel of tech bros that is going to help us. I’m one of those commenters and I also wish “Technology” was about technology instead of trying to sell the latest gadgetbahn or a solar road or self driving cars.

    EDIT: It’s not technically about “helping us”, but more specifically about the kind of spiel those “articles” are trying to push. It may very well be about technology, but it’s misrepresented as something that could help us and save us in the future while in reality, it’s just marginally interesting, Think about how many articles there has been about bitcoins, NFTs, AI and crap like this, coming from techbros and their simps. That’s why you’ll see the sort of comments you complain about. It certainly is tech, but it’s more like tech they’re trying to hype, misrepresent and sell.

    I love tech. I work in IT. But I can also smell BS and will not hesitate to point it out.


  • Being “anti car” is good for people that love cars. More public transit means less trafic, less congestion, less demand for gas and generally just more space for people that actually like to drive cars.

    Plus, if some people don’t want to drive a car and just want to get places, maybe don’t get a car? There’s already safe and proven “technology” to do that. I understand the added safety bonus of “autonomous” cars but let’s be real, it’s not advertised as something to boost the safety of everyone around, it’s advertised as “autopilot” or even worse, “Full Self Driving”.

    I am certainly anti car, but pointing out the flaws in “FSD” or “autonomous cars” and how it’s being falsely marketed to people is also on topic and is not exactly “inserting my views”. People can still love cars and use them, just don’t BS us with the “FSD” and “autonomous” spiel.





  • This sounds like FUD.

    Fear, uncertainty and doubt (often shortened to FUD) is a manipulative propaganda tactic used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling and cults. FUD is generally a strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious or false information, and is a manifestation of the appeal to fear.

    The line about the “warning” sounds exactly like like my old boss when he was selling LCD panels and telling people they had to clean their monitor with the special liquid he was selling at 200% markup because otherwise it would ruin their warranty. Or like some big box employee trying to sell you gold plated HDMI cables so the image can be better quality. Gotta buy the certified one because the cheapo could cause issues!

    It’s an HDMI cable FFS! It probably has been made in the exact same plant than other HDMI cables, but without paying for the license.