Patrick LeavySep 25, 2024

I sometimes think that no one cares about online privacy, which makes me really sad, then I read this from @pluralistic - good to know!
https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/07/revealed-preferences/#extinguish-v-improve

So maybe people DO care, but just feel like they can't do much about it?

#surveillancecapitalism #dataprivacy #datarape #tracking

Pluralistic: The Google antitrust remedy should extinguish surveillance, not democratize it (07 Aug 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Show threadaxbySep 25, 2024

@patrickleavy @pluralistic I enjoyed this article, and I didn't know this and found it interesting:

> ... the advertising industry has been repeating since the days when it was waging a massive campaign against the TV remote on the grounds that people would "steal" TV by changing the channel when the ads came on.

I'm not very familiar with life before cable TV, but it seems especially offensive since cable TV is both paid and has a ton of ads. I hope this was at least before paid TV...

Show threadWinchell Chung ⚛🚀Sep 25, 2024

@axby @patrickleavy @pluralistic

When I was a little boy, in the 1960s, an issue of MAD magazine showed how to splice an on-off switch on a long wire to the feed to your TV speaker. DIY ad mute button.

The article mentioned how smug you'll feel defeating a TV ad that took millions of dollars to make with a 15 cent switch.

Show threadmtc_uk
@nyrath @axby @patrickleavy @pluralistic My dad built his own Heathkit valve-based (vacuum tubes) TV and later hooked up a 'commercial killer' switch. My mother's sister complained during one visit that this was antithetical to the American way, and that we should be listening to the advertisements because they were paying for the shows. The brainwashing runs deep.
Sep 25, 2024 at 2:56pmWeb
Show threadPer NystromSep 25, 2024

@mtconleyuk @nyrath @axby @patrickleavy @pluralistic

I believe it's no coincidence that the mute button is the only remote control function that is not reliably propagated through my HDMI setup. The TV will sometimes just show the flashing mute symbol, but the sound bar doesn't actually mute.

Show threadClayfootSep 25, 2024
@pnystrom @mtconleyuk @nyrath @axby @patrickleavy @pluralistic My (LG) TV and (Polk) soundbar do mute the soundbar through the TV remote, but I have no idea what makes this possible. Neither is high end, nor new. Maybe something to do with ARC in HDMI 1.4+? If your whole trouble is the HDMI cable version, you can't tell by looking: There's nothing on the cable to indicate.