Comment Re:Only unproven treatments? (Score 1) 381
Comment Check out the cognitive dissonance on this guy... (Score 2) 70
Comment Re:Another unconstitutional law out of Texas (Score 1) 469
It might actually be fair to view and regulate the social networks exactly like public telecom utilities:
- they are primarily for communication
- they benefit (and suffer) from network externalities, which means the space will inevitably be dominated by large players
- refusal of service has increasing potential for negative impact on users as the networks become more integral to commerce, employment, and other aspects of day-to-day life
I'm not sure exactly what the rules should be, but there must be something more just and reasonable than "Zuck's way or the highway."
And here's an even larger question about the new political dynamics: have regular people not been relegated to second-class citizenship behind first-class corporate "persons" that the Bill of Rights was never intended to protect?
Comment Re: They're not missing out on much. (Score 5, Funny) 247
You must be 20 years younger than me, video games have been stagnant since at least 1972. Think about it: Tetris was Pong with a Russian soundtrack. Super Mario Bros. was kinda only Pong with platforming. And Doom was just Pong but with guns and demons. Hell, even Minecraft is Pong with some insignificant open-ended lego aesthetics and a crafting system. Nothing anywhat innovative anywhere.
Comment Re:ivermectin will be the next hydroxychloroquine (Score 1) 86
Comment Re:Expert at what? (Score 1) 734
Comment Re: Clickbait headline (Score 1) 312
Comment Re:That's the world we live in. (Score 1) 131
Comment Re:EFF Puts its finger on it (Score 1) 640
Minsky is known to have visited Epstein's island in 2002, when Epstein sponsored Minsky to host a symposium. At the time nothing was publicly known about Epstein being a criminal pedo scumbag.
Minsky's wife and others deny any sex occurred. In her deposition Giuffre said she was "told" to have sex with Minsky. She did not know where or when the sex occurred; she never stated that it happened.
Stallman had the audacity to suggest that Minsky should not be accused of "sexual assault" because the most plausible scenario was that *if* Giuffre approached Minsky for sex, she would have presented herself to him as willing. That is, Minsky would not have done any coercing, but it would have been Epstein/Maxwell who had done the coercing.
The media ran with this and published a flurry of ragebait hit pieces (metoo era BS) against Stallman, spreading a warped image of the man and creating an unduly hostile public backlash against him, the repercussions of which we are seeing again now.
Comment Re:"Sonos" and "audiophile" are incompatible (Score 1) 104
Even if HD audio were a real sonic benefit over 44.1/16 (which we agree is not clear,) a Sonos loudspeaker system would a poor medium for conveying that benefit to your ear. It would be like viewing an 8k video source through an NTSC standard CRT TV.
Undeniably they are shitty for this purpose. The article is literally headlined "Sonos Targets Audiophiles..." so that's the frame we are discussing this within. If you want audio quality, you don't choose Sonos.
If you want plug and play speakers with little hassle and don't care so much about sound quality? Sure, go for the Sonos, that's where they excel.
Just don't fall for their marketing hype about HD sound quality, it is disingenuous puffery of the highest order. Shitty, indeed.
Comment "Sonos" and "audiophile" are incompatible (Score 1) 104
Besides that, it is not at all clear that 24-bit audio produces an actual, real-world, listenable difference even on audiophile-tier (aka not Sonos lol) equipment at this point. Misinformation and dishonest marketing on the subject are everywhere, and it has received a decidedly cold reception that audiophiles generally have still not warmed up to even though it has been available to consumers for more than twenty years.
tl;dr: dont buy the hype. this article is astroturf. HD audio to date has been an expensive and spectacular failure
Comment Re:Political activists, not researchers. (Score 1) 500
tu quoque: accusing another of authoritarian hypocrisy does not invalidate your own authoritarian acts
it might make you feel better about the commission of those acts, however. might even help you to convince yourself that they are justified
Comment Re:not sure... (Score 1) 500
get educated. you are on the internet. there is no excuse for being this uninformed
Comment Re:No more common stories (Score 1) 473
Ebay Marketplace is not a retailer. It is a platform that facilitates trade between private individuals; a piece of commercial infrastructure.
Given the multitude of items that individuals regularly trade on Ebay's platform, given that many of these items are potentially offensive to certain people, and given that Ebay generally allows all of these items to be exchanged without intervention, the present circumstance does raise questions about Ebay's decision to interfere with the private exchange of Dr. Seuss literature on their platform.
As one of the worlds largest online marketplaces, Ebay is indeed in a position to suppress free exchange between individuals on its platform. Luckily, Ebay is not the only marketplace on the internet and individuals who find themselves so suppressed can simply trade elsewhere.
However, Ebay marketplace is sufficiently large and ubiquitous, it's recent Seuss ban so bizarre, and the ban occurred in such a tight concert with the recent media reports and calls to condemn the "problematic" Seuss material that it is not surprising that some people find the ban to be concerning.
Is it within Ebay's rights? It would seem so. Will it be good for their business? Maybe. Does it make everyone feel good inside when an important trade platform bends to calls for censorship? Perhaps not.
What will the censors call to ban next time? Will Ebay oblige? Will others? Is this a slippery slope?
I don't think these are unreasonable questions to ask in light of all of this. And while I don't personally find this story as dire as some are decrying it for, I must admit I am troubled at the morally-righteous trumpeteers who are celebrating the censorship.