Interesting findings on the internet

[Specmaster]

Crusty the Mac that wouldn't die: https://geocities.ws/rehasoft/crusty.html

Haha drop the bugger from a 1st floor window, that should kill off Crusty

[tggzzz]

Don't forget, "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear", a very naive statement in my view.

When I've heard that, I've stated that I'm not worried about correct information, but I am worried about false information. Then I add that if anybody thinks information in databases is correct, then perhaps they would like to buy my bridge.

[AVGresponding]

Don't forget, "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear", a very naive statement in my view.

Blair and Hague have been pushing for the sale of NHS records. I seem to recall in the 90s, when the MMR vaccine controversy was at its height, Blair absolutely refused to say whether his own young child had been given it. He said it was a private medical matter and people had no right to ask. So probably not.

Yes, but he's a Catholic, so not subject to rational thought.

[Zenith]

Don't forget, "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear", a very naive statement in my view.

When I've heard that, I've stated that I'm not worried about correct information, but I am worried about false information. Then I add that if anybody thinks information in databases is correct, then perhaps they would like to buy my bridge.

Exactly. These systems are written by imperfect and perhaps mischievous people and they inevitably have bugs as well as vulnerabilities. The notion hat the computer is right and is beyond challenge, is a very dangerous one, especially when politicians, whose basic skill is climbing the greasy pole of party politics latch onto it. We've seen this amply demonstrated by the Post Office Horizon episode. The individual finds it very hard to fight the state or a large company.

[Zenith]

Yes, but he's a Catholic, so not subject to rational thought.

Jesuits were notorious for rational thought, or at least skillful rhetoric which sounded like that.

I thought Blair was a late convert to Catholicism and it seemed false. Blair never believed in anything but the greater glorification of Blair, and what he came out with was claptrap designed to that end.

[bd139]

Don't forget, "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear", a very naive statement in my view.

It's a bit of an absolutist statement. If you hide everything you stick out like a sore thumb. If you share everything you are probably hanging yourself. There's a happy bit in the middle where you look like pretty grey and boring 1's and 0's.

I discovered this after having to explain why an HR team couldn't find me on LinkedIn or Facebook.

I still use neither.

[bd139]

Exactly. These systems are written by imperfect and perhaps mischievous people and they inevitably have bugs as well as vulnerabilities. The notion hat the computer is right and is beyond challenge, is a very dangerous one, especially when politicians, whose basic skill is climbing the greasy pole of party politics latch onto it. We've seen this amply demonstrated by the Post Office Horizon episode. The individual finds it very hard to fight the state or a large company.

My ears are burning here.

Totally agree 100%. You'll always know if someone works in fintech when they tell you to buy medicines, ramen and a baseball bat instead of ISAs. They (me included) know what a shit show it is behind the scenes.

Horizon is NOTHING compared to some of the shit I've seen over the years.

[Zenith]

I got a couple of jobs where HR said I was totally unsuitable, and the technical people who wanted the vacancy filled, and had to live with the consequences said, "We're having him".

I never had much time for HR. I thought they looked for "joiners" and "Hale well met good fellow" types. Very often the ads they commissioned showed they had not the slightest clue what the job entailed. "Exposure to language X", "Experience of UNIX running under FORTRAN" etc.

[vk6zgo]

Don't forget, "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear", a very naive statement in my view.

When I've heard that, I've stated that I'm not worried about correct information, but I am worried about false information. Then I add that if anybody thinks information in databases is correct, then perhaps they would like to buy my bridge.

Exactly. These systems are written by imperfect and perhaps mischievous people and they inevitably have bugs as well as vulnerabilities. The notion hat the computer is right and is beyond challenge, is a very dangerous one, especially when politicians, whose basic skill is climbing the greasy pole of party politics latch onto it. We've seen this amply demonstrated by the Post Office Horizon episode. The individual finds it very hard to fight the state or a large company.

Google for "Robodebt", although in that case, the perpetrators, when called on it "doubled down" on the story that it was a good idea.
Most of them seem to have been washed clean, recycled & are still prominent in their political party.

[vk6zgo]

I got a couple of jobs where HR said I was totally unsuitable, and the technical people who wanted the vacancy filled, and had to live with the consequences said, "We're having him".

I never had much time for HR. I thought they looked for "joiners" and "Hale well met good fellow" types. Very often the ads they commissioned showed they had not the slightest clue what the job entailed. "Exposure to language X", "Experience of UNIX running under FORTRAN" etc.

I once applied for a job, in the early 1990s which specified "knowledge of modern communications equipment", & was interviewed by a person who seemed completely "out of their depth".

The solitary "technical" question was "what is the pinout of an RS-232 connector"?
My answer was that if I needed to know, I would look it up.
It became obvious that whatever they were looking for it wasn't a Technical Officer who could delve into the guts of equipment, but more a "cable puller".

Also, somewhere along the line the salary offered had dropped by $6000 PA.
This was a govt department (the licensing authority for all stuff that emitted RF, in fact) so such total stuffups did not augur well for its longevity.

I said, "Thanks but no thanks", & went on my way.

[tggzzz]

Don't forget, "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear", a very naive statement in my view.

It's a bit of an absolutist statement. If you hide everything you stick out like a sore thumb. If you share everything you are probably hanging yourself. There's a happy bit in the middle where you look like pretty grey and boring 1's and 0's.

That provokes the other response:
If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.
attributed to Cardinal Richelieu 1585–1642 French cleric and statesman
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display ... 5-00008828

I discovered this after having to explain why an HR team couldn't find me on LinkedIn or Facebook.

I still use neither.

You spoiled their "background research", made them think and work, and rattled them because they wouldn't be able to say "we aren't to blame for hiring him since we successfully completed our background checks".

I like the thought of the latter.

[tggzzz]

I got a couple of jobs where HR said I was totally unsuitable, and the technical people who wanted the vacancy filled, and had to live with the consequences said, "We're having him".

I never had much time for HR. I thought they looked for "joiners" and "Hale well met good fellow" types. Very often the ads they commissioned showed they had not the slightest clue what the job entailed. "Exposure to language X", "Experience of UNIX running under FORTRAN" etc.

My team once had an excellent technician in his 50s who had done far more than that in his past[1]. At a recruitment agency he saw "PSBD" handwritten on his CV. He had to insist they told him what that meant: "past sell by date". And people are surprised that avoidable mistakes are repeatedly made.

HR wants malleable bodies that won't make their life difficult.

[1] e.g. been a safety inspector in a company, spotted a dangerous electric motor, written it up in a report for the MD, left the company. Somebody died, MD attempted to blame him, but MD was convicted after he produced the report as evidence.

[tggzzz]

Cory Doctorow's McLuhan lecture on enshittification (30 Jan 2024)
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/

Although it is a transcript, it is perceptive and relatively succinct. It describes the process of enshittification, the checks on enshittifications, the methods of enshittification, and some remedies.

"But in case you want to use enshittification in a more precise, technical way, let's examine how enshittification works. It's a three stage process: First, platforms are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die."

It also explained (to me) why so many companies push their apps on users. Summary: web adblockers are legal, but try that on apps and you get hit with the DMCA and Euro equivalent. That leaves companies to stuff their customers adverts into your eyeballs. Obvious when you think about it - which I haven't since I don't have a smartphone and therefore can't run apps

[bd139]

You do know you don't get adverts on smartphones right? Only if you install ad supported stuff you will get adverts. So basically avoid anything Google and if you have anything Microsoft, pay for it. And if it's Apple you already paid for it, twice just to make sure. I don't think I've seen an ad for at least 5 years.

The enshittification is mostly tied to products where a revenue stream is based advertising subsidy and products which there is nothing wrong with that idle hands are mutilating.

[tggzzz]

You do know you don't get adverts on smartphones right? Only if you install ad supported stuff you will get adverts. So basically avoid anything Google and if you have anything Microsoft, pay for it. And if it's Apple you already paid for it, twice just to make sure. I don't think I've seen an ad for at least 5 years.

The enshittification is mostly tied to products where a revenue stream is based advertising subsidy and products which there is nothing wrong with that idle hands are mutilating.

Doesn't a Farcebook (et) app just shove its customers' "valuable offers" in your face? Too many people think Farcebook==web

[bd139]

You do know you don't get adverts on smartphones right? Only if you install ad supported stuff you will get adverts. So basically avoid anything Google and if you have anything Microsoft, pay for it. And if it's Apple you already paid for it, twice just to make sure. I don't think I've seen an ad for at least 5 years.

The enshittification is mostly tied to products where a revenue stream is based advertising subsidy and products which there is nothing wrong with that idle hands are mutilating.

Doesn't a Farcebook (et) app just shove its customers' "valuable offers" in your face? Too many people think Farcebook==web

I wouldn't know - I don't use it!

[Specmaster]

You do know you don't get adverts on smartphones right? Only if you install ad supported stuff you will get adverts. So basically avoid anything Google and if you have anything Microsoft, pay for it. And if it's Apple you already paid for it, twice just to make sure. I don't think I've seen an ad for at least 5 years.

The enshittification is mostly tied to products where a revenue stream is based advertising subsidy and products which there is nothing wrong with that idle hands are mutilating.

As you know, I have a Google phone, the Pixel 6A and I have Google on it, clearly they are going to make that part of the package but I don't get adverts other than in emails or in other programs like free games etc. I love the phone, the biggest bleeding issue with it is the biometric thumb scanner, does my head in at times.

[tggzzz]

You do know you don't get adverts on smartphones right? Only if you install ad supported stuff you will get adverts. So basically avoid anything Google and if you have anything Microsoft, pay for it. And if it's Apple you already paid for it, twice just to make sure. I don't think I've seen an ad for at least 5 years.

The enshittification is mostly tied to products where a revenue stream is based advertising subsidy and products which there is nothing wrong with that idle hands are mutilating.

As you know, I have a Google phone, the Pixel 6A and I have Google on it, clearly they are going to make that part of the package but I don't get adverts other than in emails or in other programs like free games etc. I love the phone, the biggest bleeding issue with it is the biometric thumb scanner, does my head in at times.

It isn't the phone, per se. It is the apps that you run on the phone.

A Farcebook app allows Meta to forcefeed you with adverts, and it contravenes the DMCA to try to remove/hide the adverts.
Ditto the Reddit app.
Ditto... you get the idea.

When accessing those services[1] using a browser, adblockers are legal.

[1] an ambiguous word in this context

[Specmaster]

It isn't the phone, per se. It is the apps that you run on the phone.

A Farcebook app allows Meta to forcefeed you with adverts, and it contravenes the DMCA to try to remove/hide the adverts.
Ditto the Reddit app.
Ditto... you get the idea.

When accessing those services[1] using a browser, adblockers are legal.

[1] an ambiguous word in this context
[/quote]
If adblocker is legal on those, how about YourTube?

[tggzzz]

It isn't the phone, per se. It is the apps that you run on the phone.

A Farcebook app allows Meta to forcefeed you with adverts, and it contravenes the DMCA to try to remove/hide the adverts.
Ditto the Reddit app.
Ditto... you get the idea.

When accessing those services[1] using a browser, adblockers are legal.

[1] an ambiguous word in this context

If adblocker is legal on those, how about YourTube?
[/quote]

Google might find the answer. If not you might have to resort to court cases

[bd139]

Difficult to use an adblocker on Android. The provided and incumbent Chrome and YouTube do not play well with such things. I can recommend Firefox and NewTube if you have Android. Those do support uBlock and do not have any advertising respectively. It's pretty ok on LineageOS but then again none of my banking apps will work on that...

One thing I like about iOS is that Apple actually don't allow you to install another browser engine on it other than Safari. Even Firefox and Chrome are Safari engine underneath. This is usually reacted to with shock, horror and dismay thanks to a lot of PR done by other vendors but I assure you it's a benefit. Firstly no apps can bundle their own browser with it meaning you don't end up with 10 vulnerability stuffed memory hogging browser engines shipping with every app. Secondly all of them are subject to the device wide content policy and block lists which you can lock down heavily. It's quite a pleasant experience unless you are lobbying on the pro advertising side of things or are a useful idiot. Ergo you end up with a content blocker list which is system-wide and applies universally to everything and cannot be circumvented at all.

[tggzzz]

Difficult to use an adblocker on Android. The provided and incumbent Chrome and YouTube do not play well with such things. I can recommend Firefox and NewTube if you have Android. Those do support uBlock and do not have any advertising respectively. It's pretty ok on LineageOS but then again none of my banking apps will work on that...

One thing I like about iOS is that Apple actually don't allow you to install another browser engine on it other than Safari. Even Firefox and Chrome are Safari engine underneath. This is usually reacted to with shock, horror and dismay thanks to a lot of PR done by other vendors but I assure you it's a benefit. Firstly no apps can bundle their own browser with it meaning you don't end up with 10 vulnerability stuffed memory hogging browser engines shipping with every app. Secondly all of them are subject to the device wide content policy and block lists which you can lock down heavily. It's quite a pleasant experience unless you are lobbying on the pro advertising side of things or are a useful idiot. Ergo you end up with a content blocker list which is system-wide and applies universally to everything and cannot be circumvented at all.

There are advantages, but there are also potential vulnerabilities.

A good example of the latter is gurgle's chrome browser's incognito mode. Gurgle recently very quietly stated that it isn't quite incognito. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... vate-mode/ and many other places.

[Zenith]

It isn't the phone, per se. It is the apps that you run on the phone.

A Farcebook app allows Meta to forcefeed you with adverts, and it contravenes the DMCA to try to remove/hide the adverts.
Ditto the Reddit app.
Ditto... you get the idea.

When accessing those services[1] using a browser, adblockers are legal.

[1] an ambiguous word in this context

If adblocker is legal on those, how about YourTube?

Ad blockers are legal to use with Youtube, but Youtube doesn't want them used, so there's a struggle between ad blocker developers and Youtube. If Youtube decides there's an ad blocker in use, it refuses to play. I have heard of more sophisticated ad blockers which accept ads, but don't show them, and click on a few behind the scenes to give the appearance of click through.

I use Firefox and Adblock on both PCs which access the Interweb through the same connection. On one Youtube definitely won't play unless Adblock is disabled, on the other Adblock still works with no problems. Both run the same version of Linux. I haven't checked the Adblock versions.

I haven't investigated Pi Hole, but some people have told me it's good. On the face of it, it doesn't do anything something like Adblock doesn't do and you have the trouble of setting up a server.

At first glance, I'd guess the argument with apps is that you are modifying the operation of proprietary software in contravention of the licence terms, and this is backed up by the DMCA.

[bd139]

DMCA is not applicable to the UK. We have another act that covers it but I can't remember what it's called. And we're a tiny island and there is no automated filing so no one gives a crap here

[BU508A]

DMCA is not applicable to the UK. We have another act that covers it but I can't remember what it's called. And we're a tiny island and there is no automated filing so no one gives a crap here

Have you guys tried YMCA instead?