arquebus_x

NPR is not free; it’s paid for by taxes, which means that every U.S. citizen is in fact paying for news whether they like it or not. And “not for profit” is not the same as “no cost to the consumer.” In addition, most of the outlets for NPR are local public radio stations that are - you guessed it - funded by taxes (as well as fund drives).

That phrase doesn’t mean what you think it means.

I would bet that every single person commenting here thinks of him- or herself as being deeply invested in privacy, ranting against things like ad tracking, etc. But as soon as someone (or some ones) you don’t like, or have no affinity with, wants to have the same privacy afforded to every single person who drives a car, all bets are off.

Or are you suggesting that people (including the police!) should be allowed to have real time, constant information about where you drive to every day?

Just because it’s a plane, and just because it’s a rich person, doesn’t make it any less of a privacy violation.

I was going to get this game. Now I’m not.

It also has a 1v1 mode (player vs computer or PvP) that is just fantastic. I actually spent most of my time playing the 1v1 mode way back in the day.

I've been an Apple fanboy for years, too, and I still am. The alternatives aren't exactly better. And anyone who is surprised that Apple is dragging its heels and trying to do the bare minimum to comply, well, get back to me when you're no longer twelve. Companies aren't your friends, even when they look like they are. Hell, Google's sudden about-face regarding Right to Repair is 100% intended to fuck over Apple. It's not about the consumer, it's about the money. Always, with every company, every time.

Developers want alternate app stores because they want to make/keep more money. There's no other reason. Every other reason given just comes back to more money. Is that a more valid argument simply because they're smaller?

I'm in favor of Apple opening up iOS to alternate stores. I think it's going to be a privacy and security nightmare, but the horse is pretty much already out of the barn and the barn is burning, so… whatever. But I'm not so naive to think Apple's going to fully embrace the ideal concept of alternate stores unless somehow it's a way to beat Google's or Samsung's face in, and take their money.

“We’re just not wired to save,” said Brad Klontz

Asshole. Like THAT's the problem.

House Minority Leader Mike Lynch ®

This will never not be funny to me, the way ( R ) gets translated to Registered Trademark.

I'm sure there are some "data harvesting" reasons, but honestly, the simplest is likely the truest:

Most people aren't computer-savvy, and having an app is much easier for most users than going to a website (either directly or through a bookmark that they probably won't ever be able to find again).

One must remember, always and forever: most people aren't us/you. Just because something is easy for you to do doesn't mean it's easy for everyone else.

Is it dumb for me that T-Mobile has an app that just goes to a webview that I could get through my phone browser? Yes. Is it dumb for my parents? Absolutely ten thousand percent no.

The value (in terms of money made/saved/protected) that a company gets from having an app instead of a website only is probably ranked in this order:

1 - ease of use for the majority of customers, reducing tech and customer support calls, angry customers, lost goodwill, bad reputation
2-99 - same as #1
100 - data harvesting

Even if risks are under-reported (plausible, but unlikely, given the amount of scrutiny), it's definitely the case that the risks from getting COVID are still not fully understood. Long COVID is a major issue that is still under investigation. So by your own metric - "highly reluctant to try the new possibly risky thing" - the vaccine is important. Because "the new possibly risky thing" in this case is getting COVID. You definitely don't want to "try" that.

I'll be honest, I'm surprised - I thought Estonia would have already had this in place! Among the Baltic countries they are superstars. (Among all countries, really.)

It's about the same as everywhere else. The most fun I have on any social media platform these days is blocking assholes.

Maybe? HIPAA generally covers medical-to-medical information transfer. Most non-medical entities/people aren't part of that law and it's not a violation for a hospital to release information to law enforcement.

Violating the rights of patients definitely. HIPAA…maybe not.

It makes sense why a Starbucks would be across the street from a Starbucks (coffee buyers are not, as a rule, brand-loyal, so they will go to the nearest/most easily accessible spot - so Starbucks grows like a weed to prevent other shops from taking the business of fickle customers). But two Apple Stores cheek to jowl… that's weird.

Do you mean early human development biologically, or early human development overall (including culturally)? Because if the latter, humans using fire to cook meat was probably significantly less important than humans using fire for heat and light.

If Kbin defederates from Threads, I'll just leave Kbin, and stay with Threads. Defederating over vibes is not how the fediverse is supposed to operate. And for everyone advocating for this dumb idea, I'm just using this thread as a honey pot.

I just love how the ( R ) got translated into the Registered symbol.

…Governor Ron DeSantis (registered trademark)…

The Democrats have been bringing spoons to a gunfight since the 70s.

Jesus Christ that NYT article has so many weasel words in it. "Seen as", "appear to be," blah blah blah. I hate the NYT.

If you're young and it was done, it was for specific reasons (not all of which are valid).

But if you're older, say around 40+, it was done because that's what was done.