theregister.com

brsrklf , to Technology in Majority of Americans now use ad blockers

I am surprised the reason for blocking ads doessn't include making sites somewhat readable. I guess faster loading could be it? But generally it's more of a layout problem than a bandwidth one.

I tend to not use adblockers, or when I do it's on a black list system for worst offenders rather than by default. However, I absolutely refuse tracking, and if it's the only option I go to firefox reader mode immediately.

The usual false dichotomy of "personalised ads or you're killing us!" is not acceptable.

plz1 ,

Ad tech IS the tracking, so if you're not blocking ads, you're not actually refusing said tracking. I think you might be conflating cookies with being tracking (they are), but that's only a part of it.

MyFairJulia ,
@MyFairJulia@lemmy.world avatar

I wonder why ad tech can‘t be „Let‘s show ads that correspond to what‘s being talked about on that website.“ Kinda like what Google suggested with Topics but without following me through the internet.

gravitas_deficiency ,

Because that’s not as profitable. That’s it. That’s the reason.

HootinNHollerin , to Technology in Majority of Americans now use ad blockers

Some folks still raw dog the net? Wrap that shit up

FartsWithAnAccent , to Technology in Majority of Americans now use ad blockers
@FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io avatar

This is 100% the fault of shitty advertisers spamming us with literal scams, malware, and spyware.

pachrist ,

I get that ads pay for a free internet. But that doesn't mean that 60% of my screen needs to be malware to read a local news article.

Until advertisers act in good faith, I block as much as possible.

Zikeji ,
@Zikeji@programming.dev avatar

Or those scummy click bait ads disguised as related articles? They make my blood boil with how they prey on the vulnerable.

FiniteBanjo , to Technology in A German state is ditching Windows and Microsoft Office for Linux and LibreOffice on the 30,000 PCs it uses for local government functions

Maybe soon a unified CSV handling might be possible.

ChaoticNeutralCzech ,

Commas are too common, we should go with semicolons. And \n and UTF-8 by default. And a header that defines changes from defaults, plus metadata such as data logger model and settings. These are some significant quality-of-life improvements but I'd guess it will take another file extension before that happens.

blackbirdbiryani ,

At that point why not use TSV?

jordanlund , to Technology in AI will reduce workforce, say 41% of execs in a survey
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

Can AI replace executives too?

DarkGamer ,
@DarkGamer@kbin.social avatar
catculation , to Technology in AI will reduce workforce, say 41% of execs in a survey
@catculation@lemmy.zip avatar
Nougat , to Technology in AI will reduce workforce, say 41% of execs in a survey

Say execs. You know, the people who view labor as a cost center.

They say that because that’s what they want to happen, not because it’s a good idea.

DarkGamer ,
@DarkGamer@kbin.social avatar

Freeing humans from toil is a good idea, just like the industrial revolution was. We just need our system to adapt and change with this new reality, AGI and universal basic income means we could live in something like the society in star trek.

kromem ,

And only 41%.

I've advised past clients to avoid reducing headcount and instead be looking at how they can scale up productivity.

It's honestly pretty bizarre to me that so many people think this is going to result in the same amount of work with less people. Maybe in the short term a number of companies will go that way, but not long after they'll be out of business.

Long term, the companies that are going to survive the coming tides of change are going to be the ones that aggressively do more and try to grow and expand what they do as much as possible.

Effective monopolies are going out the window, and the diminishing returns of large corporations are going to be going head to head with a legion of new entrants with orders of magnitude more efficiency and ambition.

This is definitely one of those periods in time where the focus on a quarterly return is going to turn out to be a cyanide pill.

Nougat ,

Short term is all that matters. Business fails? Start another one, and now you have a bunch of people that you made unemployed creating downward pressure on labor prices.

kromem ,

No, you have a lot of people you made unemployed competing with you.

This is already what's happening in the video game industry. A ton of people have lost their jobs, and VC money has recently come pouring in trying to flip the displaced talent into the next big success.

And they'll probably do it. A number of the larger publishers are really struggling to succeed with titles that are bombing left and right as a result of poor executive oversight on attempted cash grabs to please the short term market.

Look at Ubisoft's 5-year stock price.

Short term is definitely not all that matters, and it's a rude awakening for those that think it's the case.

db2 ,

Mostly the execs don't care. They've extracted "value" in the form of money and got paid, that's the extent if their ability to look forward. The faster they make that happen the faster they can do it again, probably somewhere else. They don't give a single shit what happens after.

kromem ,

It really depends on the exec.

Like most people, there's a range.

Many are certainly unpleasant. But there's also ones that buck the trend.

db2 ,

Yeah, and there are a few good lawyers and a few good cops and (probably) a few good politicians too, but we're not talking about the few exceptions here.

kromem ,

Well, we kind of are as the shitty ones tend to fail after time and the good ones continue to succeed, so in a market that's much more competitive because of a force multiplier on labor unlike anything the world has seen there's not going to be much room for the crappy execs for very long.

Bad execs are like mosquitos. They thrive in stagnant waters, but as soon as things get moving they tend to reduce in number.

We've been in a fairly stagnant market since around 2008 for most things with no need for adaptation by large companies.

The large companies that went out of business recently have pretty much all been from financial mismanagement and not product/market fit like Circuit City or Blockbuster from the last time adaptation was needed with those failing to adapt going out of business.

The fatalism on Lemmy is fairly exhausting. The past decade shouldn't be used as a reference point for predicting the next decade. The factors playing into each couldn't be more different.

DarkGamer ,
@DarkGamer@kbin.social avatar

I just want to say I appreciate your informed opinions in contrast to the doom and gloomerism combined with class warfare that is so pervasive here.

FabledAepitaph , to Technology in AI will reduce workforce, say 41% of execs in a survey

I always ask myself who will buy the products these companies produce if all the workers have been fired. Maybe inflation is just the natural ramp up to McDonald's charging 5,000 dollars for automated chicken nuggets when there are only billionaire left with money lol.

gravitas_deficiency , to Technology in AI will reduce workforce, say 41% of execs in a survey

Here’s a thought: let’s get rid of 41% of execs instead.

tedu , to Technology in Why making pretend people with AGI is a waste of energy

What should we make pretend people with?

rigatti ,
@rigatti@lemmy.world avatar

Play-Doh

Edit:
And candy!

FaceDeer , to Technology in Why making pretend people with AGI is a waste of energy
@FaceDeer@fedia.io avatar

The headline was confusing and reading the article doesn't really clear things up. I don't think Gill is imagining the same sort of "pretend person" that I would want out of AGI. What I want is a personal assistant that knows me extremely well, is able to tirelessly work on my behalf, and has a personality tailored to my needs and interests. It should be general enough to understand me on a personal level and do a good job anticipating what I want.

That would not at all be a waste of energy to me.

KRAW ,
@KRAW@linux.community avatar

Depends on how much energy it takes. If it takes more resources than it frees, then I'd say it is not worth it.

FaceDeer ,
@FaceDeer@fedia.io avatar

I am quite sure it'll cost less than it would to hire a human for the job.

KRAW ,
@KRAW@linux.community avatar

I'm talking about the energy and resources to actually create and provide this service.

SkyNTP ,

knows me extremely well, is able to tirelessly work on my behalf, and has a personality tailored to my needs and interests.

Those may still be ANI applications.

Today's LLM's marketed as the future of AGI are more focused on knowing a little bit about everything. Including a little bit about how MRIs work and a summary of memes floating around a parody subreddit. I fail to see how LLM's as they are trained today will know you extremely well and give you a personality tailored to your needs. I also think commercial interests of big tech are pitted against your desire for "tirelessly work[ing] on my behalf".

mojofrododojo ,

What I want is a personal assistant that knows me extremely well, is able to tirelessly work on my behalf, and has a personality tailored to my needs and interests.

and you're not concerned at all about this information being compromised and used against you?

phew.....

FaceDeer ,
@FaceDeer@fedia.io avatar

Of course I'm concerned about it. That's why I would take measures to ensure the information is well protected. I already run local LLMs and image generators for most of the stuff I use AI for, both to ensure that I have control over what sort of outputs they generate and to keep any inputs I run through them private. An AGI assistant like what I'm describing is something I would want to run on my own hardware too.

mojofrododojo ,

Do you really think you'll be able to run a full fledged, real-feeling AGI on home hardware?

Perhaps an assistant, maybe...

but good on you for forethought.

FaceDeer ,
@FaceDeer@fedia.io avatar

Yes, I do. Perhaps not the current generation of hardware, but the chip manufacturers are currently throwing hundreds of billions of dollars into designing the next generation of AI-specialized hardware so I expect the next generation to be very impressive. The software has also been getting more efficient, making better use of the hardware that already exists. I've been experimenting a lot with it.

DdCno1 , to Technology in EU tells Meta it can't paywall privacy

Very interesting. Lots of news websites are operating on a very similar principle, with the user having to either accept all cookies or pay for an expensive subscription that allows them to opt out of tracking cookies. I've always thought that this couldn't possibly be legal.

phoenixz , to Technology in Why Microsoft is a national security threat

Which then raises the question: why isn't the US using open source software everywhere, paying the same -or very likely - much less to maintain and expand said software? Can you imagine the money stream towards thousands of devs fixing any (but, feature or security) issue, which they would already do for free? Finally some recognition and so on.

Finally they'd have software that they can trust and rely upon, it'll kill one huge company and spawn hundreds of smaller companies. Win-win all around

lud ,

Because there is seldom a good replacement for the majority of software that enterprises use.

s1nistr4 ,

As much as I like FOSS it's significantly harder to fund.

With proprietary you keep the source code, ship the app, collect data & sell it, and charge for a premium /subscription. They then use that money to fund talented devs and give them deadlines to make good software.

With FOSS it's largely contribution work by people who work on it in their free time. They use donations or paying for enterprise support, and if they do add a subscription service / premium version you can just modify the code and get it for free.

That's largely why FOSS software is behind, what's the direct incentive for someone to make it good?

phoenixz , to Technology in Why Microsoft is a national security threat

Now for all governments in the world: install Linux already and get it over with. Cut your dependence on an abusive and crappy software vendor

gravitas_deficiency , to Technology in Lawsuit alleges Grindr illegally shared users' HIV status, sensitive data with third-party advertisers.

Ooh boy. In the states, that’d be a Big Fucking HIPAA Violation and they’d be pretty seriously boned. As in: they might be fined out of existence.

I assume the UK has some similar mechanisms. I will say that it’s more than a bit shocking that literally ANYONE at ANY LEVEL at Grindr thought this would be in any way, shape, or form morally or legally justifiable.

Edit: yeah, they’re not a covered entity so not applicable. Still unbelievably shitty.

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