TheGrandNagus

TheGrandNagus , 8 days ago to Technology in Bill Gates says not to worry about AI's energy draw

Rich billionaire twat who owns a shitload of Microsoft shares says AI is good, don't let the bubble burst. More at ten.

TheGrandNagus , 9 days ago to Technology in Steam announces game recording beta.

If my screen recorder software doesn't put an "UNREGISTERED HYPERCAM 2" watermark at the top left corner, then I'm completely uninterested, smh

TheGrandNagus , 9 days ago to Technology in Apple finally adds support for RCS in latest iOS 18 beta | TechCrunch

They won't do E2EE until it's part of the standard. That is being worked on.

Google only has it because they have an extremely proprietary, non-standard RCS implementation. Tbh, Google should've open sourced this and had it as part of the RCS standard, but they didn't.

And yeah the EU isn't going to force anything on iMessage because it's literally irrelevant outside of the US. I don't know anybody who seriously uses iMessage tbh, despite like 40% of people here using iPhones.

TheGrandNagus , 10 days ago to Technology in India to mandate USB-C connectors on smartphones and laptops by 2026

Indeed. USB-C is already a lot more feature-rich now than it was when initially designed, yet it hasn't necessitated moving to a different port or broken protocol compatibility with older USB versions.

I'm just pointing out that even if we decide to move beyond USB-C, the law already allows for that.

I truly don't understand why some are against the law pushing for a standard here. Would these people like it if different branded lightbulbs used different sockets? Or their TV, toaster, washing machine, playstation etc all used different plug sockets? Or only Volkswagen garages had fuel nozzles that fit into Volkswagen cars? Standards are a good thing.

TheGrandNagus , 10 days ago (edited 10 days ago) to Technology in India to mandate USB-C connectors on smartphones and laptops by 2026

Oh yes I’m almost as smart as the geniuses involved in EU tech laws that wanted to spy on all your encrypted conversations.

Do you mean the one that was proposed and then was immediately shot down? Try reading beyond the scary headlines. Any representative can propose a law, doesn't mean it'll get voted through and enacted.

Could is not the problem. Nearly all of today’s problems could be solved through effective legislation. The problem isn’t could they, it’s would they and who would push for the updated laws.

Like I said, the law doesn't need to be updated as it was forward-thinking in its design. It already allows for emerging standards. And why would they decide not to update it if they didn't have that provision? Why would they do that?

TheGrandNagus , 10 days ago to Technology in India to mandate USB-C connectors on smartphones and laptops by 2026

Omg you are so SMART! How is it that ONLY YOU have thought of this?!! You should, like, rule the world or something, because you're clearly so much SMARTER than everybody else!

Ah wait no, the EU directive already has allowances for newly emerging standards and isn't actually tied to USB-C specifically. I.e. if a USB-D came out, it could be used without changes to the law.

This India one is likely the same, or can be easily amended if it isn't.

And new standards take time to propagate in the market. USB C was designed in 2012 and the first phone with it was in 2015, from some unknown Chinese brand. It took major brands until 2017! And other devices took even longer than phones. Do you really think they couldn't update USB-C to D in the law in a timeframe like that? Of course they could.

TheGrandNagus , 10 days ago to Technology in Mozilla has acquired ad metrics firm Anonym

I have really mixed feelings on this.

On the one hand, I have to be pragmatic. The truth is that the internet kinda needs at least some ads to be viable. Hosting stuff and creating stuff isn't free. It needs to be paid for somehow, and I doubt people are willing to pay a fee for each site they visit (not that the infrastructure exists for that anyway!)

Accepting that undeniable truth, I guess we should push for ads to be as uninvasive and privacy respecting as possible. Which is what this project is.

If this takes off, it would certainly be a net positive, and it could even pressure the likes of the EU to force Google/Meta/others to adopt the same kind of thing. It would also be good from the perspective of Mozilla lessening their reliance on Google.

That said... I can't help but feel Firefox is playing with fire here. A lot of their users hate ads (same, ublock origin ftw), and they might view getting involved with this very poorly, risking Firefox losing even more market share.

And I know the ads will be private, but despite that I think any ad associations at all with Mozilla products risks undermining that reputation.

They should be very cautious with this.

TheGrandNagus , 10 days ago to Technology in VW will invest up to $5 billion in Rivian as part of new EV joint venture

Not only that, but they had to create a company/infrastructure that they had little to no expertise in.

I guarantee if you asked someone in 2015 "of all the companies out there, who do you think has the knowledge and expertise in civil engineering, US planning law, electricity infrastructure, and wireless communications required to build out a US-wide charging network?", very few would have come back with "VW would be great at that!"

I can definitely see the logic in it - it pressured VW to pivot to EV platforms, which I guess was the goal. But expecting them to be able to properly run a completely different business to what they have expertise in was always going to have problems.

TheGrandNagus , 11 days ago (edited 10 days ago) to Technology in VW will invest up to $5 billion in Rivian as part of new EV joint venture

Well yeah I don't feel bad for any big company when bad stuff happens to them (well, within reason, I obviously don't want massive layoffs and people left unemployed).

My point isn't to be an apologist for VW, my point is that the others are just as bad, and plenty are even worse, yet they got away with it. They shouldn't have.

TheGrandNagus , 11 days ago (edited 11 days ago) to Technology in VW will invest up to $5 billion in Rivian as part of new EV joint venture

For what it's worth, all automakers had illegally high emissions (well apart from Tesla I guess). This is something I never see people bring up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_emissions_scandal

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/27b7ee82-7a19-4202-b1fb-5ca73d11ab53.png

VW wasn't even close to being the worst for it (surprisingly they were among the least bad). They were just the first to be tested, and their leadership owned up to breaking the law immediately, meaning news media could happily call them out without fear of a libel/slander case.

VW alone took the PR hit for an entire shady industry.

TheGrandNagus , 12 days ago to Technology in Even Apple finally admits that 8GB RAM isn't enough

Apple's SoC long predates CAMM.

Dell first showed off CAMM in 2022, and it only became JEDEC standardised in December 2023.

That said, if Dell can create a really good memory standard and get JEDEC to make it an industry standard, so can Apple. They just chose not to.

TheGrandNagus , 12 days ago to Technology in Even Apple finally admits that 8GB RAM isn't enough

Well no, not this specific scenario, because of course devs will generally buy machines with more RAM.

But there are definitely people who will buy an 8GB Apple laptop, run into performance issues, then think "oh I must need to buy a new MacBook".

If Apple didn't purposely manufacture ewaste-tier 8GB laptops, that would be minimised.

TheGrandNagus , 12 days ago to Technology in Apple Hits a Major Roadblock as EU Targets App Store

I have a bad feeling that there will be a significant reduction in the EU making pro-consumer moves like this. EU parties are experiencing a major swing to far right populism right now.

I hope there's still an appetite for holding tax-dodging, anti-competitive multinationals to account.

TheGrandNagus , 14 days ago (edited 14 days ago) to Technology in Impossibly thin fabric could cool you down by 16-plus degrees

To be clear, the headline refers to yank degrees:

In outdoor tests in Arizona, the textile stayed [...] 16 F (8.9 C) cooler than regular silk, a breathable fabric often used for dresses and shirts.

They didn't really compare it to many materials it seems.

I also don't know why they said 16+ degrees. That was the largest temperature delta they saw, not the least...

Besides, this is only part of the tale:

• Is it affordable?

• Is it mass manufacturable?

• Is it comfortable?

• Is it durable?

• Is it washable?

• Is it crease prone?

• Can it be easily mixed with other materials, e.g. to make it elasticated?

• Is it recyclable?

• Is it dyeable?

• is it fine for sensitive skin?

• etc

Sounds cool (heh) though. I'm often too warm.

TheGrandNagus , 15 days ago to Technology in Majority of Japanese support government-run dating apps

Didn't say tone was an argument. I said you're a fucking idiot.

Wow you actually don't think companies have a profit motive. HAHAHAHA. You are mentally deficient.

Aww nooo I like a TV programme you don't like and that huwts your wittle feewings. Struggle to see what kind of argument that is, but if that's what you want to latch onto then be my guest.