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Submission + - Has Slashdot Become More Ads Than "News for Nerds, Stuff That Matters"? 2

FictionPimp writes: Load Slashdot's front page today without an ad blocker and count what you see before scrolling.

Above the fold, there are 6 distinct ad placements: a full-width Retool banner just below the navigation, a MongoDB Atlas inline banner styled to look like a site notice sitting directly above the first story, two sidebar ad units (one for a game dev course bundle, one for business software comparison), a "Sponsored Content" slot beginning to appear at the bottom edge, and a sticky MongoDB footer bar fixed to the bottom of the screen. MongoDB alone holds two simultaneous placements on the same page load. The ratio is 6 ads to 2 stories before you even scroll.

Slashdot has carried the tagline "News for nerds, stuff that matters" since Rob Malda was running the site out of a college dorm in 1997. It is now owned by Slashdot Media, the same parent as SourceForge, and the nav bar includes a "Thought Leadership" section, which is industry parlance for paid editorial content.

None of this is unique to Slashdot. Display advertising is how independent tech publications survive. But there is a meaningful difference between ads that share a page with content and ads that outnumber and surround the content, with some of them actively designed to look like part of the editorial feed.

The question for the Slashdot community: at what point does the original promise of the site, a curated community-moderated signal in a noisy web, get buried under the noise it was supposed to filter? Should the site be rebranded: "Ads for Nerds, News if we can fit it in"?

Comment Anonymity (Score 1) 54

Lying to yourself is the biggest danger for trying to stay Anonymous. With enough patterns to recognize, the idea that one can hide is a delusional take.

The only way to win, is to run EVERYTHING you post through an AI that changes the tone and words used in all your online activity. But even then that may itself be a lie.

Submission + - X will suspend creators from revenue-sharing program for unlabeled AI war videos (techcrunch.com)

Muck writes: From the Too Little, Too Late Dept at TechCrunch:
X says it’s going to take action against creators who post AI videos of armed conflict without disclosure that the content is AI-generated. On Tuesday, X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, announced that people who use AI technology to mislead others in this way will be booted from the company’s Creator Revenue Sharing Program for a three-month period (90 days).

If they continue to post misleading AI content after the suspension lifts, they’ll be permanently suspended from the program.

“During times of war, it is critical that people have access to authentic information on the ground. With today’s AI technologies, it is trivial to create content that can mislead people,” Bier wrote on X. “Starting now, users who post AI-generated videos of an armed conflict — without adding a disclosure that it was made with AI — will be suspended from Creator Revenue Sharing for 90 days.”

Submission + - A new California law says Linux must verify user age at startup (pcgamer.com)

alternative_right writes: The government of California is implementing a law that requires operating system providers to implement some form of age verification into their account setup procedures.

Assembly Bill No. 1043 was approved by California governor Gavin Newsom in October of last year, and becomes active on January 1, 2027 (via The Lunduke Journal). The bill states, among other factors, that "An operating system provider shall do all of the following:"

"(1) Provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder to indicate the birth date, age, or both, of the user of that device for the purpose of providing a signal regarding the user’s age bracket to applications available in a covered application store.

"(2) Provide a developer who has requested a signal with respect to a particular user with a digital signal via a reasonably consistent real-time application programming interface that identifies, at a minimum, which of the following categories pertains to the user."

The categories are broken into four sections: users under 13 years of age, over 13 years of age under 16, at least 16 years of age and under 18, and "at least 18 years of age."

Comment Re:Why do they do this? (Score 1) 13

I read that and was simultaneously laughing and angry. I'd call it a load of horseshit, but that would be insulting to horseshit.

What a bunch of windbaggery. Meaningless, feckless corporate speak.

We know. They know we know. We know they know we know. They don't care.

Nothing says "fuck you" like a "well worded" press release. It was only missing the AI EM-DASH.

Submission + - NY AG Letitia James is suing Valve (cbsnews.com)

DesScorp writes: James is going after Valve on gambling charges, stating that loot boxes are predatory, especially for underage gamers:

"This loot box model that Valve has developed—charging an individual for a chance to win something of value based on luck alone—is quintessential gambling, prohibited under New York's Constitution and Penal Law," the complaint says. In one of the games, the process even resembles a slot machine, according James. Since the prizes in the loot boxes are determined randomly in accordance with odds set by Valve, James alleges, that effectively makes Valve an online casino. "Valve, a video game developer, has made billions of dollars by letting children and adults illegally gamble for the chance to win valuable virtual prizes," James posted on social media. "These features are addictive and harmful. That's why I'm suing to stop Valve's unlawful conduct and protect New Yorkers."


Comment Re:Which TV manufacturers are still making their o (Score 1) 36

LG, maybe...

Probably not for long. You may as well buy that no-name TV made in Vietnam now, because name brands have ceased to mean anything in this space. Just about everyone followed RCA and GE and Philco, who all stopped making sets in the 80's, and made all their TV money licensing their names to cheap Asian third parties. There hasn't been a real RCA TV since 1986.

Comment Re:Zoning (Score 1) 96

Oh the day has come when people look at vile, despicable anti-capitalist actions in cities and think "lets do the same thing in farmlands".

Zoning laws, not high taxes, are the reason people are fleeing California.

Uh, it's both, and crime too.

The lack of multifamily housing (condos and apartment buildings) is why housing got so expensive.

Housing got expensive because California become like New York City: A place where the young want to be because its "the center of it all", which creates luxury pricing conditions for everything, not just housing. As packed as LA and the Bay Area have become, you're only going to get more apartments by seizing single family homes by eminent domain and tearing them down. That's not America, and even in California, that'll get you a fucking riot. Go on, try it and see.

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