Skip Navigation
Jump
*Permanently Deleted*
  • Unpolished and sincere obscure YouTube vids. The kind where someone is clearly passionate but is doing it solo and in one take, warts and all.

    47
  • Jump
    Reddit is removing ability to opt out of ad personalization based on your activity on the platform
  • No, you're not being forced of course. But advertisers are absolutely trying to bend your decision making process towards their products. That's how ads work, right? They ultimately want you to spend money on something. Not saying you're like Homer Simpson driving down the road stopping to obey all the billboards, I'm just saying it's the inherent nature of ads. I didn't mean to imply anything else

    1
  • Jump
    Reddit is removing ability to opt out of ad personalization based on your activity on the platform
  • I'm in my late thirties, actually. I think the difference in the ads we were exposed to compared to young people today is that nearly all of ours were broadly targeted. ie there was no micro targeting or anything really tailored to the individual outside of direct mail. We all watched the same commercials, you know?

    Modern ad tech is much less "spray and pray" but as to what difference that makes vis-a-vis people's ability to see BS, idk. I'd imagine the proportion of young people who are skeptical of advertising hasn't changed much but the effectiveness of ads on those who are susceptible to it has increased. But again, I'm just talking out my ass here haha.

    But all ads share the goal of altering your behavior to their own ends. Isn't that in and of itself a reduction of your free will? An idea or thought you might have had is supplanted by one placed there by an advertiser, right?

    1
  • Jump
    Reddit is removing ability to opt out of ad personalization based on your activity on the platform
  • I think they are an assault on free will. Ads aren't well reasoned arguments for the purchase of a product or service; they're whatever they need to be to get you to change your behavior. If they have to scare, shame, trick, etc. they'll do it.

    1
  • Jump
    How cities can stem the tide of pedestrian deaths from large cars and SUVs – Ars Technica
  • My personal favorite: the fines for moving violations should scale with vehicle size. It's total BS an F150 and a Miata get the same ticket for running a red light.

    37
  • Jump
    "Text editing on mobile isn’t ok. It’s actually much worse than you think, an invisible problem no one appreciates."
  • I used to have a Blackberry Pearl which had a seemingly unique keyboard layout of two characters per key. It was the perfect compromise between the old school T9 and qwerty. That keyboard (with physical keys nonetheless) combined with that little trackball thing, it was easily the best handheld device I've used for text entry and editing. I know the article was focused on editing and not necessarily text entry but it really got me thinking. By doubling up and having two characters per key, it would open up a big chunk of real estate for things like cursor keys and other shortcuts.

    I love typing and using keyboards in general. I love using Ctrl and Shift with the arrows, end & home, all of it. I would love to love doing it on my phone too.

    5
  • Jump
    Leaked Xbox Boss Email Perfectly Explains Why Game Publishers Are Eating Themselves Alive
  • Agreed on all points but there's some nuance I feel you're neglecting.

    I never said Nintendo was blameless or beyond reproach (they suck in lots of ways) only that they do have physical carts that work out of the box. This is something that continues to benefit me. For example, I picked up Advance Wars reboot on the way to the airport and was able to pop in the cart and start playing at the gate. Credit where it's due, you know? I harass everyone I know with a Switch to buy physical because that's the only way we'll continue to have this shred of ownership.. at least that's still on the table as a possibility compared to the other two.

    1
  • Jump
    Leaked Xbox Boss Email Perfectly Explains Why Game Publishers Are Eating Themselves Alive
  • Yeah, cloud versions (which are stupid) require an internet connection.. do they even sell the cloud version as a cart? If they do and it's not advertised as such, that's obviously a problem.

    2