[–] 16 points 6 days ago

We can't do anything until legislators act in the interests of their constituents and protect our rights with harsh penalties for companies infringing on our rights to our creative output. Unfortunately the bad guys have corrupted politics and political debate, controlling the media and influencers so it is challenging raising public awareness.

There is no technical solution that will resist attack. Create strong laws and put the fuckers in jail if they don't comply. It's the only sensible way.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago*

    I have been using Linux for 30 years. Never recommend anything to anyone. It's their decision to make. I will answer questions if asked but I try and be conservative. Lots of people don't need computers and would be better off without them or only need something simple to do their jobs or play games. Also my experience doesn't translate to normies. Inlaw was asking around for laptop recommendations and I just shut my trap. They can buy a Mac or a box store Windows laptop and it will do the job and I won't be on the hook for support.

    I am not a preacher and Linux is not a religion. It is an effective tool for technically minded people to get shit done. Nothing more. If companies want to turn it into a product and an experience like Valve or Google then it will end up in more or less polished consumer ready products but that is nothing to do with why I use it.

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  • [–] 28 points 2 weeks ago

    Shut them down. It would be a huge net win for people everywhere. It is horrible seeing friends, family, clubs and institutions all captured by meta. They are a blight on society.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Framework have been available in Australia for years. A few years back I ordered one and it shipped from Taiwan to regional South Australia in about a week. I was pissed off because they almost beat an order from PCcasegear. They are manufactured in and ship from Taiwan, not trumpistan.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    I bought a 13" years ago. I thought I would have upgraded the cpu/motherboard, battery, speakers, screen by now but I could never justify the cost for the benefit. So it is the same as the day I bought it. I have bought cheap laptops for kids schooling and had to replace one for what would have been a repairable fault on a Framework but there is a massive price difference and could not justify another Framework. It is a shame. Their stuff needs to be a lot cheaper but it is a chicken and egg with volume.

    When they made a cheap "chromebook" class plastic school laptop for kids it ended up costing more than a vastly more powerful mac (even before Apple released their cheap models). The low volume manufacturing had heaps of problems reported on their forums. Its strictly for the fans sadly. People with lots of disposable income who buy one in every colour. I would have loved to buy a similar looking product at a mainstream price and with modern specs but it makes no sense with current cost of living pressures.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 weeks ago* (2 children)

    Yep, but such recommendations need to go to the states/territories in our federal system. Also I suspect Albo is spooked by the rise of the far right/culture wars bullshit in Australia.

    Conversion therapy is banned in SA, NSW, ACT, Vic. So the recommendations on that should go to shit state/territories like WA, Tasmania and NT. Any attempt by the federal govt to legislate outside of its constitutionally defined powers would have to survive a high court challenge which is just going to feed the facebook crazies. The external affairs power worked for the Franklin dam but that was a specific set of circumstances.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago

    It takes two. A sucker and someone to take advantage of them. The government can't do much about stupid people doing stupid things. Often there are underlying mental issues like depression etc I think. We don't really want to be ruining peoples lives even more for being addicts as has happened with the war on drugs. There is a limit to what governments can do though. People do need to take some responsibility for being fuck ups but we don't have to make it easy for the predators.

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  • [–] 26 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    The "good idea" isn't the data centers but the stock pumping. You propose something insanely difficult and expensive (also hopelessly impractical and stupid in this case) and because it is so difficult and expensive you claim you can monopolize the market if you succeed which is the ultimate dream of every capitalist but you just need some insane amount of investment to get there. Then when the money runs out you go back and ask for more and exploit sunk cost fallacy. All the while valuations increasing. It is an amazing way for already rich scammers to get much, much richer than could happen in a sane economy and slurp up huge amounts of capital that otherwise could have gone into more productive endeavors.

    Obviously in any well regulated economic system this shit would be subject to some proper oversight to protect the interests of the majority, particularly all the people whose pensions and livelihoods are at risk when this all goes to shit.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 child)

    It didn't click for me until I heard Zionism described as a white supremacist ideology. It cut through the bullshit for me. I am still very wary of any anti-Jewish narrative. There is a lot of dangerous and unjustified hate out there and it can be a slippery slope. But given the current state of the world, including our own country, you have to take a stand against that sort of shit regardless of the source.

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  • [–] 48 points 3 weeks ago* (11 children)

    End of an era for just about everything. Streaming is all enshitified. The job market is shit. Democracy is falling apart. Decades of progress being undone. It's just the way it will be until people get sick of all this shit and start doing things differently and move on. All the great old companies are dead. Either turned to zombie brands or run by zombies. I remember how excited I was to buy my first Sony Trinitron, my first walkman, my Sony component stereo, first PlayStation.

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  • submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by to c/environment@aussie.zone
     

    Just had to chase the neighbors cat away from a juvenile kookaburra that was on the ground in our yard. The cat has been on the other side of the fence waiting for its chance to finish the job.

    We put the bird in a cardboard box to take to the local vet tomorrow.

    Can anyone give me any good reason why cats are still allowed to roam free without consequence in this country?

    Update: We were woken by cat noises again this morning. After a safe and quiet night in a box the fledgling kookaburra was released where it was found and after several attempts it managed to fly up onto a roof where it will at least be safe from ground based predators today. Multiple adults birds in the area this morning and some amazing bird calls.

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