askchapo

Natural enshittification, planned sabotage, or both?

Since a lot of miscellaneous online accounts are reacting glibly to the idea that states like California and Colorado could force Linux to bake forced age verification into the kernel, my instinctual response is to a) disregard the opinions of smug computer guys because they're usually libertarians and b) consider which vectors these laws will actually be enforced through. There is a clear sweeping effort to implement these policies, so I assume the effect will be somehow tangible.

Since I'm doing self-study for IT certs at the moment, I’ll list out all the ways I can think of off the top of my head, though some, if not most, will be overcomplicated/inefficient. Disclaimer that I am only doing some investigating here and relying on my prior experience/knowledge otherwise (reason: eepy) so do not take this as anything definitive/inherently correct. I'll try to skip over the ones that have the same vector of implementation/execution (I.E. where are they enforced through?)

• Client-side:
  • via hardware/manufacturers - controls on boot loaders via boot-restriction mandates, so that commercial laptops and desktops sold in the US are required to ship with UEFI firmware that refuses to boot un-American operating systems.
  • via OS distributors - operating systems/distributions made by companies operating in the US are required to integrate age verification protocols into their onboarding experience in order to continue operating/doing business in the US, or in order to avoid fines. Microsoft, Apple and Google would probably already be on board with this from the jump, so what's a few rankled Linux distro maintainers going to do? Not comply? Time to pack your shit and move, then! Now you can't access the consumption core as a market anymore. Sucks to suck!
  • via browsers - Browser controls. This is how it could transmit your information reliably to web servers. Google is based in the US, Mozilla is based in the US, Apple is based in the US. Chrome (plus all US-based Chromium forks), Firefox and Safari now ship with a process that verifies you have a digital ID registered on your device, prompts you to register one if you don't, and locks you out until you do.
• Server-side:
  • via websites/applications - All social media (or even all sites/apps) operating out of the US are legally required to validate against a digital ID protocol baked into your operating system, routed in via your Freedom-Compliant Browser as a mandatory fingerprint that you can't not expose. If the digital ID is determined to be not present, either through subversion or non-compliant software, you cannot access the site. This would probably be selectively enforced w/ regards to penalizing the sites themselves, because otherwise Silicon Valley throws a tantrum, but it would force your browser to expose your age at best and your identification hash (or however they would decide to implement the protocol such that you are a traceable entity) at worst.
• Social enforcement:
  • on an individual level - Even if it's not 'truly enforceable' if you find a hack that lets you bypass it because you know how your device works, it could be used as a charge-stacking/pinning vector for dissidents, call it Digital Identity Fraud.
  • on a corporate level - Most of them will pre-comply, but if they don't, just declare their products non-compliant with the law and treat them accordingly, killing their legitimate revenue and forcing all non-compliant systems underground so laymen decide it's not worth the trouble of navigating even if it's better for them, like piracy

Ultimately this is just me theorizing with my limited half-finished A+ cert study knowledge and general tech understanding, but I tried to engage the thought experiment on how this could be turned into something tangible as best I can.

I'd like to turn this over to people who might know more than me here. Is my idea of how this might be implemented (if done competently) consistent with the underlying tech, or am I misunderstanding some things? What other vectors might be used here? If these new bills pass, does anything change for us? What could our approach be individually/as a site/as a movement? What behavioral changes should we implement with regard to our internet usage as precaution? Would appreciate answers to any of these bits, even individually. Thus far the only approach that I can think of on 5 hours of sleep is the correct approach and has always been the correct approach and that is to but I'm curious if and how we can struggle against the furthering of the panopticon as targets of it.

If I'm using CC suite for InDesign/Lightroom/PS/Premiere Pro/Acrobat is there a cheap/free combination of options that actually replaces the functionality of those programs? Alternatively, are there any maritime options that will work and not come with Israeli malware? I don't know enough about it anymore to confidently pick something that wouldn't end up being more trouble to keep working than it's worth.

Can anyone recommend any books/articles/essays/videos on the topic? I've often heard it referenced as a low point in Soviet foreign policy and one of the causes of its breakup, not to mention the aftereffects, from the war on terror to the opioid crisis. But I haven't stumbled upon any videos on the war by popular Breadtubers, and most sources are probably going to be strongly biased towards the West.

It's just a gap in my understanding of recent history I'd like to try and fill. Any source suggestions are welcome, thanks!

Basically the title. If you're unfamiliar with CES it's

The Community Exchange System (CES) is a community-based trading and exchange network that enables people and groups to trade their goods and services, both locally and across the world. It can be described as a global complementary economy that operates without money in the conventional sense.

It's also known as time bank and mutual credit system. There are slight variations in the systems (as in, they can be set up however the users decide) but it's basically like I fix your bike and you give me a Time Dollar (that you generated via my work to give to me) and then Alice is offering piano lessons for 1/2 Time Dollar for half hour lessons so I take my Time Dollar and get 2 piano lessons from Alice, and Alice needs a sweater and Bob knits sweaters so she goes to Bob with the Time Dollar and....

It's like that but multiplied by many people and can be distributed further than local area if you find someone to trade with, say like translation services online (e.g. 1 document translation via email exchanges for 2 Time Dollars).

The CES system is getting a complete overhaul btw with open source software and a shiny new UI, so excited for that.

I'm very interested in how others do it so please share if you've got something.

I'm finally trying to do something about not being involved in any sort of real world organizing, so I've been looking for local orgs to get involved with. The unfortunate thing is that the only socialist organization in my area is DSA, and from the looks of it this chapter seems to be not so radical. They work closely with a lot of local political groups that back the democratic party and have a pretty heavy focus on electoral politics. I know that theres quite a wide variety of socialist / communist tendencies within DSA but the chapter here is tame in comparison to the more ideologically revolutionary caucuses in the US.

What have your experiences been like with DSA if you've ever been a member or if you just worked alongside them? I want to give it a shot at least and get a feel for what its like to be involved but I'm concerned that theres going to be a lot of reformists and social democrat types. Though, maybe I'm being too judgmental before even getting started. I just wanted to gather other peoples' thoughts and opinions first before I really dedicated any time or money to the org.

well the war in iran seems inevitable and trump will probably strike after the markets close on friday. so what can i do to best prepare me and family for this? i already have around two weeks of canned food stocked up but besides that i have no other emergency supplies. if there are any protocols or useful handbooks i would appreciate it if you shared them. if you have experience in this type of situation i would be glad to hear from you as well.

that's it i suppose. wish you all the very best.

EDIT: removed the terrible joke because it's sort of a serious post. also thanks for all the answers in advance sorry if i can't reply to all of them

My Eastern European ass is contemplating moving. So If you guys got any reccomendations Id like to hear them.

Im taking a nap before work 2hs . N i c e. Just had a banana and now im back to bed . Before another grueling day in the Funko Pop fields.

EDIT . Oh yeah the question ...hehe . Wish me a good nap please. Channel your energy, soulstones or whatever.

Hi. I have been banned form Tankie Jerk at piefed.social

No wonder there. I asked how they defined tankie and fun followed. But:

I am trying to understand how piefed differs from lemmy and how people end up on piefed?

Yes im aware some folks would consider that a first world problem but it kills all of my sparetime. Like I just spent over 19h in bed yesterday. It completely fucks up my sleep rythm as you can imagine. I just enjoy dreaming to much and the peaceful oblivion that sleep brings.

How do I sleep less ? I had a sleep rythm before that wasnt optimal but I could work with it. If I set an alarm I usually get up before it rings and turn it of. I already set 2 alarms.

If you wonder how that works with work- I basically do freelance work and as long as I finish my work within the deadlines all is good. So I dont have set work times like a normal human bean... Which doesnt help. The last couple of years I have been basically a nocturnal creature.

I have like 0 willpower when it comes to sleep

Sorry for being a girlfailure

I guess my sleep problems are the imho most embarassing thing about me. So now I have shared my very soul essence with Hexbear.

Lenin's powers: class analysis and organization.

Who saves more lives?

Asking because I value opinions here.

Personally I don't think anyone can influence what the general audience of chat users ultimately coalesces around. That's going to happen, and it's going to be out of anyone's control as people discuss and compare and decide which they prefer of the dozens of alternatives appearing.

This however looks interesting to me. I know it's not Matrix and thus not secure like everyone here wants. But it is fully open source and it is AGPLv3.

It feels like it's getting some traction and interest. If it has problems that anyone here can spot (besides the full encryption which isn't something the rest of the discord users looking to leave are going to demand), I am interested in hearing them.

So far my setlist includes Olivia Rodriguez and Green Day.

Kind of an odd question to ask here I guess but are pier and beam style homes common in northern climes in the US and elsewhere?

I'm a few miles north of the southernmost part of Texas/mexico so it freezes for a day here. Plumbing is exposed, underside of flooring is exposed, etc. is this common elsewhere or just a southern/hot weather thing?

I'm rerouting plumbing under here today. Made me curious if this happens elsewhere...

Boneappletea ? What does it mean ?

Signing up for X dollars a month to have access to an interface that will simply allow me to make notes about how i might feel at a certain time. Best of all, companies will probably use my own reflections on my mental health to...sell me more shit.

Anyone got a mood tracking app they like, or should I just set up a spreadsheet month by month and invite my therapist to collaborate on it?

Or at least events commonly considered in the bourgeois media to be "conspiracy theories." Personally, I believe that Joseph Stalin was assassinated in 1953 by the Khrushchev clique to ensure their rise to power.

I would love to hear the thoughts of this leftist community, not least any comrade in Russia. In the US it's so hard to get any serious Russia news/analysis because of the propaganda here- you have red guys that love Russia & Putin to own the libs, and you have blue guys that hate Russia & Putin because it's their favorite boogeyman. I ask because I personally don't like Putin for his war on gayness (wake me up when we get to war of gayness) but I understand that countries in the US's crosshairs are those that make their history under the least self-selected circumstances. I was looking at some stats when this question came to mind:

UA

RU

So material conditions have definitely improved under Putin, which is a miracle considering the fall of the USSR and the disgrace of Yeltsin, which makes me think there are probably people out there who like Putin for rational reasons, besides owning the libs. I would love to hear your thoughts either way.