Nontechie Talk 

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133 Following
285 Posts
Conducting traffic at the intersection of #tech, #business, and #life | he/him | #YYZ

Hi, we're a tech startup run by libertarian Silicon Valley tech bros.

We're not a newspaper, we're a content portal.
We're not a taxi service, we're a ride sharing app.
We're not a pay TV service, we're a streaming platform.
We're not a department store, we're an e-commerce marketplace.
We're not a financial services firm, we're crypto.
We're not a space agency, we're a group of visionaries who are totally going to Mars next year.
We're not a copywriting and graphic design agency, we're a large language model generative AI platform.

Oh sure, we compete against those established businesses. We basically provide the same goods and services.

But we're totally not those things. At least from a legal and PR standpoint.

And that means all the laws and regulations that have built up over the decades around those industries don't apply to us.

Things like consumer protections, privacy protections, minimum wage laws, local content requirements, safety regulations, environmental protections... They totally don't apply to us.

Even copyright laws — as long as we're talking about everyone else's intellectual property.

We're going to move fast and break things — and then externalise the costs of the things we break.

We've also raised several billion in VC funding, and we'll sell our products below cost — even give them away for free for a time — until we run our competition out of the market.

Once we have a near monopoly, we'll enshitify the hell out of our service and jack up prices.

You won't believe what you agreed to in our terms of service agreement.

We may also be secretly hoarding your personal information. We know who you are, we know where you work, we know where you live. But you can trust us.

By the time the regulators and the general public catch on to what we're doing, we will have well and truly moved on to our next grift.

By the way, don't forget to check out our latest innovation. It's the Uber of toothpaste!

#startup #business #tech #technology @technology

#Bluesky is booming.

#MAGAts on #Twitter #Xitter are melting down about being blocked there, and that it's going to be a woke echo chamber.

Why are they not crying about #Mastodon?

Mastodon's PERCEIVED relative complexity is a double-edged sword; it has apparently hampered faster uptake, but that also applies to uptake by MAGAts.

@so_treu

My experience may be in the minority, but I LIKE the cooler temperature here on Mastodon.

I set up on #BlueSky yesterday to check it out and ALREADY had to block a MAGAt.

I've been on Mastodon for two years and haven't felt the need to block ONE user yet. Have had plenty of...passionate discussions, but they've remained civil throughout.

Of course, we Black folk are not a monolith, no one of us speaks for all of us, least of all me.

@BrentToderian

Mastodon/Fediverse is functional, but not sexy.

BlueSky is pretty on the eyes and easy/accessible.

Most of the people with large followings on Twitter want to keep that wherever they go, and Mastodon doesn't make transition slick.

@Mx_EddyNikko

It may have its pluses, but it's still just another site that's #dtbo.

@shaedrich

Article 7.3.4 sets forth "It shall be as easy to withdraw as to give consent."

"Easy" needs to be enforced, not in terms of the technical nature of clicking on "yes/no", but easy in terms of how a user is to UNDERSTAND HOW clicking determines the choice.

What prompted my recent mini-rant was a toggle that was labeled "Block/unblock", which is different from "allow/disallow".

The box was empty.

Do I check it TO BLOCK?

Does leaving it unchecked mean "unblock"?

WTF?

There should be a law against making #cookieconsent so confusing that people don't realize they are accepting cookies they thought they took action to decline.

It's annoying AF.

#UX

I hate when apps load a screen and, as I'm about to tap a button, the position of the button changes.

It's so bloody annoying. Since when did being a PITA become good #UX?

@davidgewirtz

Hey mate, I appreciated your article https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-tried-replacing-twitter-with-bluesky-threads-and-mastodon-heres-what-i-found/ which you signed off with "let's check back in six months."

So, how are you feeling about where these platforms are now?

I tried replacing Twitter with Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon: Here's what I found

More and more ex-Twitter/X users are seeking new online homes. I kicked the tires on these three nascent services. Here's what you need to know about them.

ZDNET

@wardgeene
Hey mate, how might you compare your experiences thus far across #Mastodon, #Threads, and #Bluesky?

For people contemplating life after X, any recommendations based on what you've found to-date?