Yes? I’m forming my opinions based on reporting. You’re basing your opinions based on opinions.

Again I’m not saying you’re wrong. Look at the information Snowden revealed. Before the reveal it was conspiracy theory. Now it’s fact.

This reporting isn’t fact, it’s reporting in progress. At the moment it doesn’t find the always listening allegation to be true, but not impossible either.

It’s not trusting Big Tech, it’s understanding that Little Tech can also lie.

Cox Media Group wants to hype up their product and use AI buzzwords. To be seen as reliable they say that they work with Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc.

The report is basically CMG saying they can do X, and everyone else calling bullshit. (And in response CMG clarifying “No, we don’t actually do that” and then also removing the companies they don’t actually work with.)

It isn’t definitively saying they don’t, but also isn’t saying that they do. You can assume the worst if you like, but that doesn’t mean the worst is actually true.

Is it possible this type of spying exists? Yes. Is it possible this is a cover up? Yes. Do we have actual data to support that? No.

Tomorrow an investigation may reveal otherwise, but for now it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Yes but PROVE IT. Define what wrong they did. That’s my point.

Take a look at the recent monopoly trial, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/technology/google-antitrust-ruling.html

They claim that spending $18 billion per year to be the default search engine makes them monopolistic. That’s it? That’s all they got?

So the result will be Google stops paying $18 billion and device/browser manufacturers have to put up a Browser Choice dot EU type option.

Go back 10 years and put that law in place. AFAIK Apple has always defaulted to Google. Samsung probably would have sold out to Bing to be the default (although in this case Bing wouldn’t reach a monopoly, so I guess that’s ok for some reason).

I’m not saying paying to be the default didn’t help, but is that the reason they have 90% of the searches? No.

Did they do some else? Maybe. Someone should prove it and we can have an actual change.

Being a monopoly and engaging in negative monopolistic behaviors are also different things.

For example if the only two burger joints in the world were McDonalds and Burger King, and Burger King decided to replace their burgers with literal shit, actual human and animal feces, would McDonalds be a (I hope and assume) monopoly? Probably. Are they engaging in negative monopolistic behavior? Not necessarily.

Obviously, as a quick aside, fuck Google for their shitty software decisions, their cancelling of great products and their enshittification of a majority of their applications.

However simply having 90% of the market does not technically mean they have done anything wrong. You can’t say they have 90% of the market therefore they have done something illegal or have abused being a monopoly.

You have to be specific. You have to call out payment to companies to be the default. But even that isn’t quite enough because companies sold access. Can a company be at fault for buying access as the default? It was for sale. It’s a weak argument, or at least an incomplete one. You need to prove they abused their position. Or you need to make a case that the industry they are in requires additional regulation as a whole.

I say this because although it sounds like I’m defending Google I’m not. There is a difference between something feeling illegal and something being illegal. Technically, although a recent judgement would disagree with me, they haven’t done anything wrong. It feels like they have. I agree it feels like they have. But they haven’t (or there are further pending results which will prove otherwise).

I use flat case most of the time, but I also try to stick to single word files so there is no case to get in the way.

I think for documents I might share like a PDF I’d use Pascal case.

In a classroom or teaching setting I will sometimes use Kebab case as I find it is the least confusing and makes it extra clear where the word division is. Similarly I avoid Dot notation since it’s confusing for folks coming from a Windows world.

And I would avoid Screaming because that’s just too loud anywhere.

Sure that reveals your distro, but also consider what is in the logs you’re sharing. If you’re asking for help you probably also already said that you’re running Debian. Or the logs are full of apt logs already, querying a well known Debian mirror.

You’re right that PC is a fine default, but think about the whole picture as well.

A feel a little bad for the Logitech CEO here. It was basically a softball question, do you ever think you’ll have software subscriptions, which is a common thing, and he answered “Yeah, that’s possible.”

Obviously for a mouse it doesn’t really make sense, but paid software updates are common in the industry so who knows.

Obviously it’s stupid, but it’s funny to see it play out.

Some players in the ecosystem have not been transparent with their use of Reddit’s content, and in those instances, we block access to protect Reddit content and user privacy.

Aka “Fuck you, pay me”, at least Reddit is transparent that data is for sale and they think they own it.

They killed support for the first gen Chromecast and the YouTube “app” has been broken for 3+ years. They’ll just stop supporting it one day and you’ll have to buy a new one.

“the annoying webp” AFAIK is the same problem as JPEG XL, apps just didn’t implement it.

It is supported in browsers, which is good, but not in third party apps. AVIF or whatever is going to have the same problem.

It’s funny because they add a bunch of stuff to try and justify the huge cost increase, but realistically I don’t want any of the new stuff they are trying to add.

Hopefully these sell terribly and will be at least half price after the holidays, then it makes sense.

To frame this question differently, why is Apple able to sell default access on their devices?

Quick math shows Apple makes ~100 Billion per year. The article states Google pays ~20 Billion to Apple per year. That’s a significant value to Apple.

I’m not necessarily disagreeing with the decision, but curious how Google paying Apple is a monopoly, but Apple offering search to the highest bidder isn’t also a problem (or maybe it is).

As another example, how well did the EU browser choice ruling have on consumers choosing a browser.

I have to disagree.

Casting from my phone is the easiest method. I can have YouTube playing and jump between the different streaming apps to look for something to play. It’s easy enough to have a conversation with someone to discuss what to play next.

Excellent! I look forward to it then.

I did, but that requires either using a smart TV, which isn’t happening, or the Android TV interface which would require a new device and then a clunky interface.

Casting from my phone is the only acceptable method and all other apps support it.

An Apple TV app with Chromecast support and I’ll finally subscribe. Apple has put out a handful of great shows but piracy is the only way to watch them for Android users.

Obviously I don’t know what the details of he suit against Disney but the truth is Disney fucked up and they knew it.

Disney tried to gain a few extra bucks at the cost of a legal battle with Johansson. If Disney won it would have been a clear signal that Disney is willing to screw over top talent for a few million dollars.

Not to compare “Black Widow” to “Endgame”, but that’s squabbling over millions when billions are at stake.

Looking at someone like Johansson that’s squabbling over millions when tens of hundreds millions are at stake. Contracts with top talent now take longer, top talent is a little less likely to work with Disney.

It all but guaranteed a loss for Disney.

The settlement was Disney’s way of saying “we fucked up”, and truth be told was probably at least partially responsible for Bob Chapek being replaced as CEO.

I’ll die alone on this headphone jack hill if I need to, I only buy phones with headphone jacks.

Currently using a Motorola of some sort, replacement for another Motorola.

Layoffs also shake every other employee in an immeasurable way.

Even if you didn’t lay someone off they may now change their priorities. Maybe they focus on the people pleaser tasks. Maybe they focus more on what is good for them to keep their job vs what is good for the company.

Layoffs should be a last resort but tech companies are just playing follow the leader right now. In a few years we’ll see memoirs and books stating “in hindsight we may have made a mistake, but we made the best decision we could with the information we had at the time”, it’s all absolutely bullshit. This is all being done for a temporary stock boost.

That scene, https://youtu.be/6ovsKnljcIk , was a reference to this actual event, https://youtu.be/IW7Rqwwth84