“a single platform that pulls that data into one view. Instead of searching for info, they [will] have immediate access to everything they need to make split-second decisions,”

So taring down “data siloes” and centralizing all to an interconnected data treasure trove… I’ve read numerous case stories from Genetec at airports, which is a provider of surveillance tech (both software and hardware), and the integration of air control systems into (relatively) modern surveillance platforms is a recurring priority. This typically allows data from various systems to be used as context, for human operators, but increasingly automated systems (generating reports and triggering alerts).

Airport operators might not even be to blame for these “operational efficiencies”, but rather the government imposing extremely stringent legislation, which must be complied with (the PATRIOT act being an example). And the following line suggests this is yet another political push:

“The greatest nation in the world deserves a state-of-the-art air traffic control system, and under President Trump, we’re delivering just that,”

Based in Princeton since it launched in 2022, PolyGone Systems developed “a floating filter” that can capture most of the invisible tons of microplastics that stream into the world’s waterways every year. […] Liu outlines how PolyGone’s filter works: Made of thousands of silicone fibers, it traps small particles due to their hydrophobic properties, meaning the microplastics stick to the bristly brush-like filter. […] Banks goes on to say that the filter allows wastewater systems to recover the collected plastics, separating them from the bristles. Since most plastic is either buoyant or lighter than water, they are usually found on the surface or in the first 30 centimeters of the water column, where PolyGone’s filter operates.

So a brush-like filter floating on the water, with the microplastics sticking to the silicon fibers penetrating the surface?

If the worker has a “choice” between a familiar application with guaranteed compatibility, there’s a slim chance a switch is going to take place. It requires standardizing document exchange on open format types (instead of continued use of Microsoft’s proprietary ones) and familiarization to the substituting software suite. This doesn’t mean these applications and formats should be dropped entirely (at least not short-term), but that FOSS applications and open standards should be defaulted to. Otherwise this should be regarded as gesture politics.

And so they double down… These regulations won’t stop until the open internet has been reduced to toddler content only, and all users, regardless of age, being required to compromise on their psuedonymity; in order to get some use out of it. Because surely an iPad kid playing a PEGI 18 game (“Call Of Duty”) should be able to expect an age-appropriate experience…

If you stream footage of a robot, wearing a wife-beater, dookie-rope and a mustache: grabbing a girl’s ass and making humping motions afterwards; I think it’s safe to say what the intentions were… This has to be dumbest shit I’ve read in a while haha.

Be subtle about it, free of judgement. Don’t lecture them on something they likely know already, and (semi)consciously ignore to maintain an unhealthy, yet comforting pattern. It’s rather about planting seeds, than doing the thinking for them: let them come to their own conclusions next time they use it.

It’s all about predatory dark patterns, that deliberately exploit human psychology; so gear them up to recognize these abusive mechanisms. Not in a direct way, but just by casual conversation about content on their timeline, with some observation woven into it, like: quite some advertisements, huh? What does that little text say? Oh, “sponsored content”. Do your friends still post things? Because I haven’t seen any on your timeline. Shouldn’t that be the entire purpose of this platform? They give you notifications about friends liking other’s posts now? That seems a little excessive.

My mom has been using the platform a lot less since I did, and she even has opened up to the concept of disabling Facebook push-notifications. The latter needing some more time, because she’s struggling with a fear of missing out. I once disabled push-notifications for news applications too without asking, so perhaps I should do the same for Facebook (Messenger being a different application anyways).

The main problem seems to be that users have, successfully, been conditioned into wanting anti-features. My mom actually clicks personalized advertisements, and I have no clue how to cure her from that; other than to joke about a particular shoe brand always being featured. I already substituted her ad-ridden weather app for a Firefox (with uBlock) shortcut, which she has really come to appreciate. So there’s progress to be made: it just requires the right approach, and a lot of patience; which is worthwhile for loved ones.

When solar energy is low, the energy is likely to come from a plant powered using fossil fuels. So instead of tanking LPG at a station, it’s converted to electricity and transported to a charger. Internal combustion engines can also run on alternative fuels, but the practice isn’t that common (think of running a diesel engine on vegetable oil); or may be further optimized to run extremely lean (requiring less visits to a gas station: if the fuel doesn’t degrade through volatility of octane-increasing additives).

I’m not really trying to make the argument that ICE-powered vehicles are superior to EVs (or the other way around for that matter), but rather that modern vehicles (regardless of energy source) are fundamentally anti-consumer (dealership lock-in, expensive replacement assemblies, on-board surveillance-tech monitoring and sharing user-data, etc.), compared to legacy vehicles (which just happen to be ICE-powered).

If it was the other way around, ICE-power vehicles would catch the heat instead; if used to force a change in fleet, arguably for economic reasons and increased control (to manufacturers, and by extension legislators and insurance companies). And this isn’t just limited to vehicles, but also insulation of homes, how energy is metered therein (“smart” meters: allowing for disproportionality in rates), or replacement appliances utilizing that energy (supposedly in more energy-efficient ways: if working in optimal conditions).

Same goes for you it seems, since you wrote yet another comment…

I’m not really arguing Russia isn’t facilitating bot-traffic (nor here on Lemmy, regardless of instance), but I simply don’t agree with the framing of most articles on it. The claims are barely substantiated, or conflated with Cloudflare’s general traffic drop (including that of crawlers). Well that, and somewhat of a collation of not immediately related frustrations I have on the overall subject at the end… :)

You’ve already spent time writing two comments. Could’ve also spent that writing something with at least some substance to it. If I’m supposed to value you your time and effort, how about you value mine too?

@[email protected] already made that “argument”, if you can call it that. How about meaningfully interacting, instead of disregarding based on something irrelevant?

Unexpected, really? The “energy transition” is mostly economically motivated: in that it (indirectly) forces consumers to invest into “new” technologies (while abandoning functional appliances, substituted for newly produced ones, and infrastructure accommodating for it; carbon emissions of which rarely taken into account); and effectively spending their savings for them (if not forced to enter into a loan agreement).

The disruptions in fossil fuel supply from Russia and the Middle East (which are at least in part self-inflicted), just further “incentivize” those that are primarily financially motivated (don’t “care for the planet”). Another primary interest, if not obsession, is governments’ and insurance companies’ push for a V2X (vehicle to everything) enabled fleet: constantly monitoring and communicating with surrounding vehicles and infrastructure (directly, or through mobile carriers).

And your argument? You’re only disregarding me for using an instance with a reasonable policy, and for what you consider Russian bot traffic, which is exactly the point I’m trying to make; whether or not you consider that of a critical thinker.

And your argument as to why?

If even the US’ Cold War anti-communist propaganda station ‘Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’ states the drop is likely due to Yandex’s crawlers, what does that tell you about the credibility of Zelenskyy (having an obvious conflict of interest) and all Western outlets running with it, by extension? The Russian government might not even need bot farms at this stage, because the West keeps undermining their own credibility: with single-sided, unsubstantiated malinformation of half-truths at best. It’s so obvious to me they’re trying to pass off any critical thinker as being a Russian troll, and trying to escalate the proxy-war by attributing “hybrid-war” sabotages to the “aggressor” (that is conveniently in a weakened state because of it). Yes, Russia undeniably invaded Ukraine, but wouldn’t the US do the same to Mexico if it turned communist, following all of South-America?

Zero trust is the end station, if you allow organizations to treat your personal devices as being theirs. Organizations that could actually benefit from the increased security (which isn’t Twitter, except for some high-profile individuals, maybe), should provide the user with resources to do so, at their expense (issuing a dedicated TOTP device for example).

But what tends to happen instead, is enshittification of service, while offloading it onto the client. A similar trend can be observed with car parking: where operators remove parking meters, and require the customer to use their device and data plan, to make a payment to the operator…

We’ve been on this trajectory for quite a while now: from Outlook enforcing IT-policies of email administrators (dictating screen locking requirements as device administration app), to SMS-based 2FA requiring one to have a mobile phone number and tying all to this tamper-resistant identifier. So why not a black box snitch, paid for by the client, further restrict their freedom for “security”?

It seems perfectly in line, and I think this article draws all the right parallels.

For me it’s their ransomware-like business model of: attracting new users with free accounts, incentivizing them to migrate their Gmail inbox to Proton (Easy Switch), encrypting the content (“for security”), and then letting them find out that a paid feature (Bridge) is necessary to integrate the mailbox into a third-party client like Thunderbird (as a decryption layer in between); well, unless you want to manually export the mailbox using their Mail Export Tool. I’m not opposed to paying for a service (I also donate to Disroot), but I dropped them like a hot brick when I found out: thankfully not the hard way (I tested integration before migration).

I’m not going to waste more of my time on this “project”, because it screams AI (just like the linked video). It effectively appears like a GrapheneOS rip-off, with some pre-configured applications bundled. All for a modest $299 for just the software, or a full package for $999… Absolute leeches. And how does one even find a video like this? I doubt I could, even if I tried.

Or certificate providers are ordered to provide a false certificate; or in case of Europe (thanks to the GDPR), the “data protection officer” that larger services operating in the Union (including cloud- and hosting-services: hosting most of the modern internet), are forced to employ and provide with unrestricted access (supposedly “to monitor compliance”), may be ordered to do additional processing (including that for which their “employer” has no legal basis), whilst being gagged by “professional secrecy” (including towards this “employer”); and the NSA also has a program that seeks to weaken TLS standards (at least by pushing standards for post-quantum encryption (PQE) only, instead of AES + PQE).

On devices I use personally I haven’t encountered such examples for years, because the first thing I do is substitute first-party apps with FOSS alternatives. My mom does however, and her Samsung’s camera app for example, won’t function unless you give it permission to scan for nearby devices; among others, which I can’t fully remember. So the stock Android experience seems similar to what you’re describing for iOS.