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Given the interdependencies of Google's Android, I'm not sure I'd trust something so subjective to AI. I'm sure I would disagree with it regarding what's bloat, what's necessary, and which dependencies I'm willing to break

> Tying (informally, product tying) is the practice of selling one product or service as a mandatory addition to the purchase of a different product or service

MacOS isn't sold anymore, it's a free download for all supported Macs - meaning Apple is not "selling one product or service as a mandatory addition to the purchase of a different product", regardless of which product you think is being tied to the other (hardware or software).

I can see where you're coming from, but Apple wouldn't necessarily be in trouble due to the wording of the law. Maybe in some countries where the spirit of a law matters more than the specific wording, but we're quoting US legal definitions here, and my mental model of the US legal system has the phrasing mattering more than the intention

As someone that follows This Week In Matrix, is there likely to be a major shuffle in the next few weeks regarding calling configuration for self-hosting? I see that there is work being done, thoug I'm not sure how much that will affect server operators

Competitors on Apple's App store can pay to show up when consumers search for the app they're after. To counter-act this, some apps will pay to have their app show up, as an ad, after you search explicitly for them

Meaning that, due to and capitalist incentives and double-dipping from tech companies, what you're searching for may actually be what's advertised

Well this is a fun rebuttal to questions like "Why would users ever need to know about the file system?" - turns out deleting from apps, and using phrases like "Delete from camera roll" don't actually delete the file.

It's presumably a hell of a shock to anyone that uses lockdown mode as well, thinking their iPhone is relatively sterile, with nothing for customs agents (or Cellebrite) to find.

Hope nobody took a photo of their ADHD medication (illegal in some countries), their Friday night CBD softgels (similarly illegal), or had a Trump-themed political meme that could absolutely raise the wrong eyebrows at a US border

While OP discussed bootleggers, it's the extortion TFA mentions (quoted below) that's likely worth suing over. Indie devs can't fund a full-fledged lawsuit, local authorities don't have the reach to grief those responsible due to it almost certainly being outside their jurisdiction, and Valve may not have legal standing.

What could be done is forwarding the complaint to Valve, and ensuring that the bootlegged game put out by those attempting to make good on their threats gets removed, and the developer banned.

> The question regarding AI cloning stemmed from a specific threat. One developer shared that indie developers have recently been receiving extortion emails threatening, "If you don't pay, we'll clone your game with AI and release it first." While understanding the advice to showcase games prior to release, the developer noted that such threats could make creators hesitate and asked if Steam had protective measures in place.

> Tom Giardino expressed regret, noting that this was the first time he had heard of such extortion cases.

> [...]

> While drawing a line on the extortion itself, he kept communication channels open. He noted that such extortion is closer to an issue for law enforcement agencies rather than a game platform to solve

Leading to one of my favourite jokes: The Soviet Union is socialist, and bugs it's citizen's homes. America, though, is capitalist - the people must buy their own bugs.

Why bother? Block WAN access at the router, put the entire thing behind a VPN (Tailscale or Wireguard, dealers choice), and move on. If you really care, put everything you vibe code or consider security-abandonware on its own VLAN.

Keep it off the WAN and you'll be streets ahead of commercial vendors, and your weird, one-off, vibe-coded app means those same commercial vendors are the easier, more widely-deployed targets anyways.

Google started that push some time ago [0], this is a different policy. How does that require preventing the installation of unknown-to-Google apps on devices that belong to unknown-to-Google users?

And how is a 24-hour wwaiting period related to KYC, when it doesn't require a user to pass an ID check?

[0] https://testerbee.com/blog/google-play-developer-verificatio...

A 24-hour wait (or "cooldown period") prior to installing the F-Doid app doesn't require an ID check, just patience and the (IMO delusional) belief that Google will never tighten up that workaround. You might have to expand on how this is in any way related to KYC

Per the fun graph in the article, we might even assume your age (Though Canada seems to buck the trend re: dropping cash so completely).

Which I thought was pretty amazing (the graph, that is): older Americans I can see hanging onto what they're used to, but 18-25 year-olds seem to be ticking upwards, which I think is actuallyy encouraging. Privacy implications aside, I appreciate Visa/MC being less an arbiter of what I may buy, as well as cash making it easier to save money and budget.

I can't help but wonder what the yoots rationale is though. I can't imagine they're the same as mine, considering how often I seem to fall outside the Overton window of "normal" - so why the uptick?

I can see if being considered unfair if it's a single business, but I do think that it's at least a little funny, considering we have penny rounding (to the nearest nickel) here in Canada since geting rid of the penny. Now it's by default, everywhere. And as someone that uses cash for all in-person purchases, it's actually really, really nice

The first example given is for a liquor store - where a clerk is very likely to ask for one piece of ID, and in some locations, two - one photo ID, one with the customer's name embossed or printed on it.

> What's so special about 2004?

Ubuntu's first release, IIRC

The bill the end user receives being zero doesn't change how telecom billing is set up. The fact that it's "Free" and costs are hidden from the user in America isn't exactly uncommon.

> non-standard (say parking cameras...

Those are, and have been legally required, for several years in Canada because cars have gotten so big, and visibility so bad, people kept hitting (typically their own) toddlers.

Isn't this in part because so many cities need all the cash they can get to fund individually-insolvent infrastructure? [0] If the goal is to be able to maintain roads that can't pay for themselves by enabling revenue generation, then I can absolutely see why cities would need to accumulate income in whatever way possible.

[0] https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/8/25/if-strong-town...

In case it's helpful for anyone else having the issue: mmv [0] means you only have to run the command once to rename every file. It's pretty fantastic.

[0] https://ss64.com/bash/mmv.html

> Plex which seems to have stagnated

Besides a pointless re-arranging of the UI, which we all hate, what should they be doing? I'll grant you "Bugs to be quashed", but fewer features to fill, fewer devs on the payroll, and less selling out to make payroll sounds perfect to me.

Little late, but I think I see how we have such different experiences. Assuming other comments are right, and Reddit's pulling pretty much entirely from cache, you probably just scroll longer than I do - long enough to run out of the first ~1000 (cached) posts, and hit uncached items.

You'd get timeouts, and I'd never see them - despite being West Coast (Canada) as well. Or at least, that's my best guess so far.

To be clear: You mean you have timeouts and failures using Reddit's own "new and improved" web UI and mobile client? Because using RedReader, old.reddit.com, and other third-party apps, I don't actually recall the last time Reddit didn't load for me.

Good call - I'm sure the next private company won't eventually treat their users like garbage.

> no one is ramming pronouns down anyone's throats?

From TFA: "...the correspondence indicates the company insisted on completing the gender field on Scharf’s employee profile, rather than it being an initiative initiated by Scharf himself."

As far as workplaces go, I don't think you can get more forced to go along with it than "Do it or you're fired."

> the worse dystopian case (see Russia and a lot of the third world)

> a pretty smile you get off with a warning, but if you're black with resting bitch face then you'll get a ticket or maybe even some K9 action

Per your own example, America currently belongs in the "wors[t] dystopian case... [including] a lot of the third world" where laws are being used to harass those the state does not like.

I agree, to an extent, I just don't think the average American sees how far they have to go in terms of equality.

Hell, I currently don't even have gigibit fiber and self-host a Mastodon instance at home. Currently hosting Plex (meaning content-sharing with friends and family), Mastodon, Matrix, Airsonic, Wireguard, PiHole, and more. Everything runs off an HP EliteDesk with QNAP hosting all the media. The SFF PC is quiet and uses relatively little power.

I am glad I have no data limit though - I apparently went through >3 terabytes (split 30/60 between up and down) last month alone, mostly due to Plex and Wireguard.

Why would Discord want to do that? I get why we, as people, want that; I do not get why Discord, as a company, would want their platform less sticky. "You have to have an account we can track before we let you get an answer" is all but a literal goal for them.

> Most people outside... like cars and their convenience

Everyone loves [the first order effects of] cars. Climate control, directly to where you need to go, whenever suits you, for a high upfront, but low ongoing cost.

Everyone fucking hates the second order effects (see: literally anybodys take on traffic). Climate change, more danger to everyone around them (from pedestrians to motorcyclists to other drivers), noise pollution, and air pollution from tires and exhaust. Everyone likes them, typically right up to when they aren't the driver [0]

[0] Some gearheads break this rule, but I think nearly all of them would agree that requiring the average person to maintain and drive their car isn't great, considering the average driver's skillset.

High gas prices are explicitly why I take transit and avoid driving. I have a car, but it works out to $10 CAD every day to drive to work - so I make the effort to get up a little earlier and take the train when I can.

"It's regressive and has an undue effect on the poor" and "It's moderately effective" are not mutually exclusive. That was a major reason public transit bounced back so fast in the Lower Mainland of BC, Canada - because driving is decidedly not cheap. Moreover, high gas prices are something I endorse, loudly and often, because it subsidises transit, and how much more expensive it makes the biggest (most dangerous to pedestrians) vehicles.

Still need to drive, and don't want to pay an arm and a leg? Skip the Silverado, get a hatchback or moderately-sized SUV or van. Need to haul your boat (or 40-foot camper instead of a tent)? Sounds like an expensive hobby - and anyone who's owned a boat can attest to that.

Appalling what that says about Google, or what that says about the average search user?

Sounds like it'll be the new drivers license. Instead of waiting to take the test and get a car, which has fallen out of vogue in many circles, some will impatiently wait for their 13th birthday to join their friends in the forever-online world. Grand for those with early birthdays, less great for those born late in the year (assuming they weren't bumped one grade higher or lower based on birth date).