duckMuppet

Central planning is a failure throughout history.

The problem isn't the capitalism that transitioned the US into a powerhouse that feeds the world or provides goods at discounted prices, or ensures that millennials in Minnesota can enjoy avocado dip while complaning about having to much.

This is a failure at the local level. Ever spent time in the grocery isle? Children believe their meat comes from meat packages. Not that it was a living creature at one point. As people have moved into cities, they've lost the connection to the land that provides for them, and life's interconnectedness.

Top this off with the crony capitalism that gives subsidies to farmers for tariffs, or subsides for a myriad of other reasons all of which are asinine(like ethanol or which crops yield most), and prevent groups like Monsanto from any real liability (both civil and criminal) by giving them government/EPA endorsements.. Such endorsements often take years before they recognize a mistake was made or that their data from 1977 is woefully inaccurate.

No this is a horror story of central planning gone horrifically wrong again, and no one can prosecute/sue these terrible companies out of existence because they have the EPA's blue checkmark and some politicians endorsement.

In the absence of the ability for individuals to hold companies liable for their mistakes, it is absolutely incumbent on individuals and parents to make sound choices. Depending on the government to be your saviour simply leads to more tragedy.

I don't think you're understanding the point clairity was making..

Trump generally uses Twitter to fire up his base and give the other side something to stew over.

It's pretty well documented most of the garbage he spews on there has little basis in reality. But... Want to slip in an extra 500 mil in funding for planned parenthood or fund a new surveillance program without raising eyebrows? Simply make a xenophobic comment or say something vague enough that the press spend the next week making fools of themselves while his base just can't get enough napkins to clean themselves up..

Obama got that trick down too, just send the press release on Friday at about 8pm. By the time Monday rolls around, nobody cares.

The tactic has worked out really well for trump as well. He's actually been pretty milquetoast, even moderately more progressive in comparison with other similar democrats such as Bill Clinton or JFK policy wise.

He's also done a pretty good number on dismantling What's left of the tea party conservatives or republicans who espouse the ideas of limiting and reducing government, Not just reducing taxes without reducing govt.

He's essentially transforming the Republican party into the Democrat party of the 80's. All this because people love their narratives, orange man bad or Cheeto Jesus saves

Although I agree with you, the constitution now is largely irrelevant. For the most part, it is generally ignored by all three branches, except for when one political group can club the other with it. And once they do it, It goes largely ignored until it can be weaponized again.

They got him some two years later.

Beyond that, it really goes to show how much the university system is now simply a credentialing system for certain individuals, so long as they maintain the correct group affiliation it have individuals that can make the necessary donations (and make sure it stays discreet, unlike the recent Hollywood elites). Is there a place where individuals can study, and question, and learn? Unfortunately not at the university.

If you're relying on Twitter, you've already lost.

EconTalk is one of the few podcasts that really explore a wide variety of topics. His latest about climate change was phenomenal..

Talk to you on Monday!

They'll never do anything like that. They have to keep the masses safe from ideas that could be considered harmful.

You're not forced to use an app.

You can go on a web browser even a phone browser and do almost all the activities you can do in an app, and not deal with the T&C of the app once declined. Of course, no one does because they can't be inconvenienced. Again, you might believe that you can't check your Facebook/tender/whatsapp/Snapchat/etc, but that's generally untrue for most of them..

In most places due to govt regulation, you only have one or two ISP's serving a geographic area. So the T&C in this case have an actual impact, not some mythical and perceived injustice by "big tech".

Those app providers have the right to suck every last detail from their meatspace, down to what color socks they like on Tuesday and sell it to Hanes.

Well they managed to push thru GDPR, which has become an incredibly powerful tool for the elites and government bureaucracy over their people.

I think they've even weaponized it against certain archival websites, a brilliant but obvious move for control of the people. The U.S. has so far stymied attempts at government control and regulation of the internet through tools such as net neutrality, But I fear this is short lived, after all, "the children"..

That's true. Not only that, but google maps generally purges whatever query you're searching for one you close the app, likely so they can put at the top "tired of typing that? Sign in to let maps search from your history and..."

Terribly annoying

I've one freenas server, one freebsd server and a fedora server, all at the house as well as small, cheap VPS for some front facing stuff.

The two bsd based servers run quite a few of services, so much so that I actually pay for an additional IP address. I run a Mastodon server, an ejabberd server for messaging, Nextcloud, Plex and Emby(primarily Plex though), DaviCal(for both contacts and calendar), a genealogy server and a basic website all for my relatives and some close friends of family.

On the back end, I'm running services such as PostgreSQL, httpd, postfix and dovecot which pull mail from the front facing VPS.

My fedora server is pretty much a workstation. I also have a laptop, but it's pretty much a thin client. The server runs several different VM's, including Win10 and bleeding edge fedora, it's also where I do tasks such as run that inefficient garbage heap known as android studio, developing on Codeblocks, as well as maintain my sysadmin with things like packettracer.

But really, when I've traveled outside the U.S. recently, using the laptop as a thin client has been great going through customs coming back, It's unfortunately garbage if you're in country where the network speeds are limited though.

Honestly if I had to set it all up again, I'd only do DaviCal, ejabberd, nextcloud and email because they are totally worth it, the others apps are great time permitting. Not being forced to give everything to Google is totally worth the time and effort to me.

That's true from the standpoint of you want everyone to have access to equally marginal service, but not the latest or greatest service. Instead, I think this is a good argument for removing regulations and stopping the cronyism that inhibits competition.

It's the internet, it drives innovation. Let's stifle it by making a bazillion rules that everyone needs to follow and pay to play. Let's make sure that like most utilities, change and improvements happen at the slowest possible pace, because I like T1 and isdn, ever since they rolled back net neutrality I been stuck on these dial up lines.. Plus, making it a utility, we can ensure that none of these 5G providers can enter the marketplace.. I guess it's cool for everyone to be a socialist now, count me all in..

you can.. It's an adjustment.

I have my own website, to which I run a mail server. It's a bit of work, but worth it, unless you aren't familiar with sysadmin or Linux, you can check out proton mail or several others out there. You won't get all the fun stuff, like Google adding things automatically to your calendar or trying to give replies for you to emails it might know better. You also miss out on ads from anything you've recently searched or said something in an email and strangely you get ads for similar products now.

Use davical for contacts and calendar.

my android phone, I only use Fdroid or yalp anonymous for apps. I do have a generic account on an older phone I develop on that if there is something I want to purchase I buy, then transfer the apk to my actual phone. You'll find pretty quickly which devs hate you as they enforce play services.

Checking all the things, you'll find can be done over browser, though more and more sites are pushing to force compliance & use their app.

You'll find that it can become (and has been intentionally I'm sure) pretty painful outside their apps, so might spend less time doing those things. Be prepared, you might get more productive or maybe You'll take up a bad habit like smoking

of course it's cultural.

People would now rather watch twitch, cat videos, or Instagram than Waste it on what ppl used to spend it on..

People now would rather pay for some proprietary SaaS or pay with their data than take some piece of software, learn it, make it better, then host it for other users for little to no compensation.

There are fewer people to create truecrypt, fewer Stallmans in the world now because the culture isn't conducive to the libertarian ideas that a Stallman of that time period might have... Let's have a looksee: -The internet is shit now because the government hasn't regulated it.

-The internet is again shit because greedy corporations force me to use their walled gardens, how the hell else would I communicate with anyone if I didn't allow them to siphon my data as payment to these fascist overlords.

-The internet is a shitshow because not everyone has accepted that both https and JavaScript should be mandatory.. It must be the children of anti-vaxxers, somehow refusing to believe the science, a clear byproduct of not having the first point and an easy solution.

-the internet is again a shitshow because the government hasn't told these fascist hardware manufacturers that I can't be bothered to read the quick start guides which clearly say change my router and IP cam password from 123456 to pa$$word.. Who the hell has time to do that with both pewdiepie and GoT having so much new content.. If the govt just had those clowns hard code pa$$word in the first place I'd be fine. Better yet, just let me get it as a service, they can just update it for me, then I can add nigahiga to my watch list.

-The internet is finally a massive shitshow because, all these companies making money from me being the product have no right to, especially if I'm not getting a piece of the action. Time to break up these corporate capitalists and redistribute the wealth to the people where it belongs.

I can keep going, but I'm certain it's scorched earth now. The truth is, a society that prefers the government give them things or provide their safety net, the Stallmans are going to be harder to find, because the ideas that go with such are very threatening. Pretty soon, it'll lead to making decisions for yourself AND taking blame for the outcome, good or bad, with or without a physical profit.

Catch up???...

Anyone even semi educated or over 55 recalls that when they grew up, most items came in glass containers, containers that you were required to place a deposit, and return for a refund.

It's only recent history, that a non conservative society which values expediency at a price of disposability and non ownership for freedom has become the norm.

More than this, the recycle scam is finally being exposed, and not soon enough in my estimation.. Islands of plastic in the Pacific ocean, so that people in cities feel better about themselves while driving to and from yoga in their prius while finger wagging truck driving hillbillies in the middle of the country.

Meanwhile, mayors, local reps, and governors try to export the problems somewhere else while millenials look to the federal govt and the administrative state as their saviours, so nothing really has to get done. Cue the food/milk/bag/whatever delivery as a service folks. This has cash cow written all over it..

The truth is, if they let it die It's highly likely it was not useful. G+, wave, RSS feeds, etc, legacy services that needed to be replaced for security sake.

It's unfortunate end users have to be dragged along kicking and screaming, but thankfully google is willing to do it for the end users own good.

Additionally, relying on another app such add WordPress leaves you at the mercy of that app and it's development.

Yeh, I terribly unfortunate the beacon of liberty has chosen to embrace censorship..

Obviously reddit mods "got it" that some political opinions just shouldn't be allowed.. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/01/12/project_v...

https://www.dailydot.com/news/reddit-technology-banned-words...

https://slate.com/technology/2013/11/reddit-politics-r-polit...

Thankfully, the science is complete, and as these guys noted, open debate just can't be done with people who disagree or cherry pick the datas..

https://grist.org/climate-energy/reddits-science-forum-banne...

https://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-unbanned-russia-magic...

These are just a few of the posts you can find outside of the goog..

I'm not saying I agree with any of the above opinions. However, I think it's pretty well documented that depending on your political persuasion, ideological bend, or ability to put aside reason in the name of "completed science", some opinions definitely hold more value than others. I for one am glad reddit has always appreciated that fact.

There's a strong case to be made that the censoring in certain countries like China, is actually helping the masses make sense of their world better.

You have no more right to learn what a particular device is doing than you have in intercepting emails of guests on Wi-Fi.

You might have purchased a particular device, but you generally don't have the rights to the software or firmware that runs it.

If you're truly concerned, you should support manufacturers that leave their system open by design, or support open source devices, and contact manufacturers describing your concerns.

But the tradeoff wars of freedom v. security were lost long ago. The idea that one should shoulder any blame for choices is lost on a generation that needs YouTube videos to cut an onion. Likewise, a significant number of individuals can't be bothered to change their router password from 123456, and an even greater number of folks think the govt needs to regulate the internet to keep it fair and safe for everyone.. Forced encryption with no choice by design is a feature, not a bug.

Use open source or

Pretty sure most news agencies consider anything remotely conservative fake news now. I rarely ever see corrections or retractions from ANY of the big outlets. It's largely become infotainment, and everyone drinks from the fire hose of their own perspective. It's no wonder there is so little tolerance of any other perspective.

This will likely lead to another push for controlling the internet/media a la net neutrality, because we all know people can't be left to do their own research, use any amount of discernment, or have an alternative viewpoint.

Bring forth the gulags, the people need jobs...

He's a millennial. All us Millennials know that it's 2019, and there isn't a reason for war in 2019, anywhere..

Don't forget the corollary to Hanlon's razor, Grey's law which i think is far more applicable here: 'Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice'.

I'm not sure why others who respond think if something is old it isn't applicable, I suppose I'm on the X/millennial border so I don't get it though.

Censorship can come from anywhere. But I can choose to visit YouTube, FB, et al, or I can choose to go to a different platform, though it may not be as populated or as polished as the former. It's much harder for me to choose a govt which doesn't censor or enforce censorship.

The govt controls many aspects to out lives.. The police can come to my house and take away my children if I tell them being gay or transgender are mental health issues. YouTube can only kick me off for stating such.

The govt also can censor based on which grants out gives funding for. Another reason academia is broken.

They are some real reasons to fear censorship.

Although I enjoyed that comment, is really more about lighting someone else's money on fire.

Tariffs, like taxes, adversely affect the people those who use said commodities.

U.S. Tariffs are a tax on U.S. consumers. My guess is, in typical fashion, politicians (all of them) are fairly well insisted from feeling the effects of their policies. (e.g. their own healthcare, their own security detail, federal pensions, sure pay on the 1st and 15th, job security, ...)

Actually, many places you need to be registered to a particular party to vote in the primary, which actually might be more important as you are actually selecting the candidate..

Registering as an independent, leaves the selection process up to the registered party members, or those who are motivated enough to get out there. Those folks typically don't necessarily look to out forth a candidate who's moderate, instead you get, Trump, Clinton, Sanders or Cortez.

There's something to be said for registering to a particular party to select a proper candidate.

The stigma associated with being registered to a particular party leads many to register as an independent, which means their voice generally isn't heard until the candidate is chosen. It's unfortunate this data is public, it's even more so that politics has become so much of an identity for people that they can't see past it.

Mom: "What are you doing on your computer?"

Child: "What's a computer...."

Additionally, he must've missed the last 20+ years after Apple moved away from the ppc chip.

Subsequent editions of os x after were always removing great tools, then rebranding and repackaging them to sell as a new feature. Up until you had to pay for the dev tools..

The best has been iDevices though. Premium price through artificial resource scarcity.

Ask that being said, the author and like the type who instead of looking for a better product, would look to govt and regulations for Apple, and the web dev sphere. In the name of fairness I'm sure.

You most certainly can use the web and a smartphone without being tracked.

It's not difficult at all actually.. it becomes increasingly more difficult when you want to use these services and apps which you are the product by design, and the truth is this is week within the rights of those companies that are giving you their services for free..

This is all virtue signaling to the max as well as endorsing a more censored, controlled internet by these media outlets, tech, or govt..

After all, mums the word on an actual problem, the data breaches of credit reporting agencies, e.g. Equifax. These companies have essentially a govt endorsed monopoly on all of our data. And no one goes to jail when my actual important info gets hacked even after being warned, (DL/SSN, last 10 addresses, loan amounts and who I owe, etc.). On top of this, these companies can sell my info to other 3rd party vendors, and I literally have no recourse..

All this Facebook nonsense is hogwash. If your conspiratorial, there is a strong case to be made that this is about censorship, deference to the experts who know the web better than the masses who are "incapable" of using any discernment regarding bots or fakenews. These are the same people who brought us SESTA, FOSTA, PIPA et. al., same ones who told us we'd go back to dial up without net neutrality..

I personally think it's just virtue signaling to the max..

And a great example..

Look above, comments from Josh Cole... bots control the internet.. only regulation, govt censorship, and censorship by tech companies can save the uneducated, unwashed masses which could never understand or be left to make their own decisions with regard to the web and information contained therein..

I always get a chuckle from those who have such arrogance and avarice, that only the govt can fix societal ills. It's horrifying. Experts...

Using any of the big tech firms, they are actively moving against freedom or anonymity on the net, specifically the web..

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/411002-leaked-presenta...

This is an asinine, Deference to authority, nanny state garbage take..

No-one is forced to give all their info to fb. Better yet, no one is forced to use fb.. Of your using these services, and you give all your info to them, that's on you, not engineers just earning a check.