totm nov 2023 Thread to discuss negative things in a very general way, just see where it goes y'know?

[DDE]

11 hours ago, Superfluous J said:

I don't understand the idea behind banning TikTok

I really think it's just data wars. I had to look into Amazon and Alibaba these couple of days and it struck me how much Amazon just looks like a desperate attempt to substitute Alibaba and thus prevent ReD cHiNeSe InVaDeRs from getting detailed data on the transactions of American businesses.

Alibaba famously used this data in lieu of normal financial reporting to produce credit ratings and push SME microloans.

[kerbiloid]

14 hours ago, Superfluous J said:

will have moved on to something else.

Why bother with choice, when it is so obvious?

Gazprom-Media YAPPY

[AlamoVampire]

Really hating windows, the internet and my pc. I just want to fly in msfs but it wants an update but it was downloading at 1/100th my speed capability and my launcher is acting odd then windows forced an update…. I hate tech sometimes

204903172024

if you hear what sounds like a banshee its just me losing my mind. 
205203172024

Edited March 18 by AlamoVampire

[Superluminal Gremlin]

4 hours ago, AlamoVampire said:

I hate tech sometimes

Age doesn't matter.

I for one somewhat agree (for once)(IM not even American) with what the US government is doing. Yes, there is probably some lobby from American companies to try to regain a foothold that they lost, but I don't believe I'm mistaken when I say that TikTok has some, interesting, requests when accessing your phone (We have, ahem; decently accurate GPs data (not entirely sure on accuracy), all communications through the app (ok that's not bad, pretty normal really), the full contact list (for friends or something, but is that nessercary?),  it can theoretically access other apps open at the same time, but there no recorded abuse of it (that we know of), run at startup (why?), read incoming badge notifications, install shortcuts. 

While the average teen does not give the slightest concern about security in the slightest (guess I'm an outlier ), Journalists should not have it on their phones, because there ARE recorded cases of data being assessed (They were trying to find the sources). So while banning it for the general public is probably anti-trust,  its seeming promotion of anti-American material is probably problematic, and if ByteDance sells, at least PIPL and DPL are mostly defeated (Yes the data are stored but as a case in point earlier, they can still access it, and I would not be surprised to see if some copies are under Chinese law). TikTok isn't am active security risk, its a potential security risk that can and has be exploited. 

 

[DDE]

1 hour ago, Superluminal Gremlin said:

its seeming promotion of anti-American material is probably problematic

But also unproven, as algorithmic manipulation nearly always is. It feels like USG can't face the reality that TikTok's target age groups hates them that much without any help from the Chinese, and their own attempts at psyops either fail or are actually amplifying the message.

[SunlitZelkova]

1 hour ago, Superluminal Gremlin said:

I'm mistaken when I say that TikTok has some, interesting, requests when accessing your phone (We have, ahem; decently accurate GPs data (not entirely sure on accuracy), all communications through the app (ok that's not bad, pretty normal really), the full contact list (for friends or something, but is that nessercary?),  it can theoretically access other apps open at the same time, but there no recorded abuse of it (that we know of), run at startup (why?), read incoming badge notifications, install shortcuts. 

You would be mistaken because none of that is different from any other social media app. Facebook asks for access to my contacts all the time, among other things. I have also granted it access to my location to make tagging local businesses easy when I post.

I agree it is a security threat, but I don't think banning it is the best course. For one thing it echoes what China does to its own people with X and other Western social media apps, second, if it's a problem for government employees and journalists, government employees and journalists just need to not use it. Are they that stupid that the government has to outlaw something that is a danger to them instead of being able to handle it on their own? What's next? Outlawing relationships for government employees and journalists because both romantic partners and friends could compromise them?

[DDE]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/28/energy-hungry-tiktok-data-centre-ukraine-ammunition-production-nammo-norway

Quote

One of Europe’s largest ammunition manufacturers has said efforts to meet surging demand from the war in Ukraine have been stymied by a new TikTok data centre that is monopolising electricity in the region close to its biggest factory.

The chief executive of Nammo, which is co-owned by the Norwegian government, said a planned expansion of its largest factory in central Norway hit a roadblock due to a lack of surplus energy, with the construction of TikTok’s new data centre using up electricity in the local area.

“We are concerned because we see our future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos,” Morten Brandtzæg told the Financial Times.

 

[AtomicTech]

47 minutes ago, DDE said:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/28/energy-hungry-tiktok-data-centre-ukraine-ammunition-production-nammo-norway

 

Goddammit.

[Nuke]

cat videos are important damn it.

though i have a suggestion: delete anything thats not a cat video.

we should be transmitting them into the cosmos. so that other civilizations may have access to cat videos.

Edited March 19 by Nuke

[SunlitZelkova]

Make love cat videos, not war artillery shells!

[kerbiloid]

On 3/18/2024 at 4:49 AM, AlamoVampire said:

I just want to fly in msfs but it wants an update but it was downloading at 1/100th my speed

Imagine that you are slowly piloting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager

7 hours ago, Nuke said:

we should be transmitting them into the cosmos. so that other civilizations may have access to cat videos.

The ET will be thinking that the Earth is occupied by Kzin or Kilrathi.

Wait... Oh...

Edited March 20 by kerbiloid

[AlamoVampire]

16 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

On 3/17/2024 at 8:49 PM, AlamoVampire said:

 

Imagine that you are slowly piloting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager

Would be fun to see the world.

i have a new negative thing to discuss but im processing it more before i bring it to yall.

171403202024

Edited March 20 by AlamoVampire

[Watermel00n]

I don't have any motivation to do anything anymore. Not even play ksp, study or recreational. It feels like I can only operate normally for 3 to 4 hours of a day.

[SunlitZelkova]

2 hours ago, Watermel00n said:

I don't have any motivation to do anything anymore. Not even play ksp, study or recreational. It feels like I can only operate normally for 3 to 4 hours of a day.

Sounds like depression.

[Watermel00n]

6 minutes ago, SunlitZelkova said:

Sounds like depression.

Not really, it's just that I don't feel productive. I'm lucky to have a supportive family and friends and overall my mental state is okay. I just end up watching mindless content/doing nothing when no one tells me to do anything.

[DDE]

3 minutes ago, Watermel00n said:

I just end up watching mindless content/doing nothing when no one tells me to do anything.

In general, don't be ashamed. So long as you highlighted to your immediate superior that you're short of work at the moment, you're entirely moral in watching cat videos on company time. It's your boss's problem to keep you occupied.

[SunlitZelkova]

26 minutes ago, Watermel00n said:

Not really, it's just that I don't feel productive. I'm lucky to have a supportive family and friends and overall my mental state is okay. I just end up watching mindless content/doing nothing when no one tells me to do anything.

Lack of interest in doing things you usually enjoy can be a symptom of it though.

On the other hand, watching mindless content and doing nothing are pretty normal methods of filling empty time.

[AtomicTech]

7 hours ago, Watermel00n said:

I don't have any motivation to do anything anymore. Not even play ksp, study or recreational. It feels like I can only operate normally for 3 to 4 hours of a day.

I definitely know that feeling

Is there anyone that you can talk to about this? Maybe a parent, friend, cousin, therapist, etc.?

5 hours ago, Watermel00n said:

Not really, it's just that I don't feel productive. I'm lucky to have a supportive family and friends and overall my mental state is okay. I just end up watching mindless content/doing nothing when no one tells me to do anything.

Oh hey, I know a neat trick. If you've been asked to do something, set a ten minute timer and (more or less) force yourself to do it for just that 10 minutes. See how you feel after that. If you're feeling good, then keep going. If not and you're not done, take a 5 min break and do another 10 mins!

[Nuke]

On 3/17/2024 at 5:49 PM, AlamoVampire said:

Really hating windows, the internet and my pc. I just want to fly in msfs but it wants an update but it was downloading at 1/100th my speed capability and my launcher is acting odd then windows forced an update…. I hate tech sometimes

204903172024

if you hear what sounds like a banshee its just me losing my mind. 
205203172024

things were better when computers were just computers. not a data mining apparatus used by someone who didn't pay for it. tech especially in the last 5 years feels like its all been phoned in. software is a barren husk when they sell it to you. the goalposts are constantly being moved, and reliability has gone to hell. cloud services and accounts shoved down our throats even though nobody really wants/needs them. i bought hardware i want to run software on it, not something out of my control. i dont like the internet being a requisite for basic functions. i want to go back to physical software bought anonymously at a store for cash.

[kerbiloid]

Cat videos are not mindless. They are cute.

[DDE]

Microsoft Office 2024, coming up!

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/upcoming-preview-of-microsoft-office-ltsc-2024/ba-p/4082963

How's that always-online, cloud-based architecture coming along?

[kerbiloid]

7 hours ago, DDE said:

Microsoft Office 2024, coming up!

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/upcoming-preview-of-microsoft-office-ltsc-2024/ba-p/4082963

How's that always-online, cloud-based architecture coming along?

Happily, M$ is going to save the users from Russia from the upcoming evil by the end of the month.

Since early 2000s I've migrated to Star Open Libre Office, and am glad about it.
Also we've done that to our main corporative software in 2010s.

If desktop L**ux was not such piece of nothing...

https://www-interfax-ru.translate.goog/russia/951144?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ru&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[Lisias]

On 3/21/2024 at 2:47 AM, Watermel00n said:

I don't have any motivation to do anything anymore. Not even play ksp, study or recreational. It feels like I can only operate normally for 3 to 4 hours of a day.

Try taking a walk in the Sun, and buying yourself a nice ice cream - it's what I do when I'm feeling like this. If where you live is winter now, take a hot chocolate instead (but ice creams can be nice on winter too).

it doesn't changes anything, really - but Sun light helps on Vitamin D, the exercise is good for the body, and the ice cream is good for the mood.

Speaking seriously now - our body and minds need Sun light to be healthy. Nothing changes, but our moods - a very little bit, but a little bit for the better.

Keep Walking!

Edited March 22 by Lisias
tyops as usulla...

[DDE]

4 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Happily, M$ is going to save the users from Russia from the upcoming evil by the end of the month.

Since early 2000s I've migrated to Star Open Libre Office, and am glad about it.
Also we've done that to our main corporative software in 2010s.

Well, we've been sticking with an Office 2016 permanent license once the corporate 365 got yanked in 2022. It's going to be interesting how many companies will purchase keys abroad and stick with the familiar product, no matter how much hassle it would be.

[kerbiloid]

54 minutes ago, DDE said:

Well, we've been sticking with an Office 2016 permanent license once the corporate 365 got yanked in 2022. It's going to be interesting how many companies will purchase keys abroad and stick with the familiar product, no matter how much hassle it would be.

They will do this together with Autodesk products (same today).