Pablo SB @iPabloSB@qoto.org

Texas officials reject textbooks over climate science https://www.rawstory.com/texas-officials-reject-textbooks-over-climate-science/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Sam Altman: AI companies will take your job and leave you unemployed

Sam Altman: ... wait not like that

Google announced that starting in June 2024, ad blockers such as #uBlock Origin will be disabled in Chrome 127 and later with the rollout of Manifest V3 (#Mv3).

The new #Chrome manifest will prevent using custom filters and stops on demand updates of blocklist. Only #Google authorized updates to browser extension will be allowed in the future, which mean an automatic win for Google in their battle to stop YouTube #AdBlockers .

#ManifestV3 is deceitful and threatening to your privacy, and now is a good time to switch to #Firefox (@mozilla) and/or #TorBrowser (@torproject) if you haven't done so already!

EFF (@eff) on Google’s Manifest V3:

⚠️⁠https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/chrome-users-beware-manifest-v3-deceitful-and-threatening
⚠️⁠https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/googles-manifest-v3-still-hurts-privacy-security-innovation

Chrome Manifest V3 Transition Timeline (2023-11-16)

🚩⁠https://developer.chrome.com/blog/resuming-the-transition-to-mv3/

Remember when browsers used to display an RSS icon in the URL bar when feeds were available on that website?

After the lost decade in social media, can we please bringt that back now?

#Firefox #Browser #IndieWeb #RSS

From a friend, “There is still time for your Halloween costume.”

@pluralistic How to check a friends house for a listening device. Always do this!

The worst thing about online learning is that everything has become a video. Every code tutorial. Every design tutorial. Nobody actually writes out a guide anymore.

It's just "hey guys welcome to my tutorial" and watching 10 minutes of content that mostly isn't relevant...

Recently I bicycled in Haarlem in the Netherlands. There they are experimenting with solar panels as the top layer of a cycle path. The same space is used by cyclists as well as for power generation. This "Zonnefietspad" is sophistication, next level. I guess, it is due to lack of space that got them the idea to try out this technique. Being an electrical engineer by trade, it hurts me a bit to (mis)use such (formerly) precious technology as a pavement. I guess, I need to re-think.

#BikeTooter

I'm 11 today! New Macro Wizard, new Security preference pane, a command line tool, support for Apple Text Recognition, and new actions like Prompt For Snippet, Create Calendar Event, Send Pushover Notification, Select Menu by Name and many more. (https://www.stairways.com/press/2023-10-24). Same deal as usual, free upgrade if you purchase since March, $18 if you *purchased* version 10 before then, $25 if you’re upgrading from an older version and $36 if you are crazy enough not to already own me. Emails going out.

The difference between Wikipedia and Twitter is that Wikipedia is intentionally a non-profit.

It's mushroom season! Here are all the types that you will see.
My newsletter list: http://buttondown.email/rosemarymosco

Why is gaming culture so damn toxic?

Blame marketing.

Picture this. You just come home from your very mundane job, switch on the TV, and immediately see an ad for a video game. It looks cinematic, tugs at your heartstrings, and promises a new world for you to immerse yourself in.

You don’t have to be Bob the accountant. You can be a dragonslayer or a cyberpunk hacker or a sniper.

But you have to pay C$80 for the privilege. Or, as it’s becoming more frequent nowadays, C$90. And that high price just gets you in the door.

Once you’re in, you’re pressured to pay more money. There’s new maps and costumes and loot. If you want to progress, well, you have to pay even more money.

Then you try to multiplayer. Right away, you die instantly. At first, you think it’s just because you’re terrible – but then you discover that cheating is rampant.

The problems aren’t finished, though. As you continue to play, you discover bug after bug, glitch after glitch. At first it’s quirky. But then you start encountering bugs that actually break the game.

After all these problems, do you feel entitled? Damn right, you do! After sinking so much time and money, you still don’t feel as immersed in a new world as marketing lead you to believe.

None of this is to justify all the toxic manbabies who rant and rave about not getting their way. But it is to say that if game publishers stopped marketing their products in a certain way, maybe there would be less angry and entitled gamers sharing their toxicity online.

Because right now, gamers look at publishers and developers as greedy, manipulative, and completely out for themselves. And what do gamers do? They respond to publishers and developers as adversaries – ready and willing to dogpile in a mass rage fest at the first sign of a misstep.

But here’s the thing. Gaming gets much, much better if you just shut off the marketing bullshit. Step away from the manipulation of AAA titles, and find your way over to indie gaming – you actually do encounter new worlds to immerse yourself in.

And why? Because there’s no promises. You start up a title expecting nothing. Then you realize that there’s magic.

This is what happened when I started Pony Island. When I began, I expected a simple retro title about ponies. Little did I realize I was about to challenge the Devil himself in a game of wits.

Pony Island didn’t promise me the moon. It didn’t pressure me into micro-transactions. There were no bugs and glitches. It was C5.49 for a full game – one that will give me wonderful memories for life.

This is the kind of experience that’s possible without marketing bullshit.