The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread
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@test said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
test
Fehler, Fehler, Fehler. Test nicht bestanden. For all the others concerned there’s an excelent book out there by Stanisław Lem called Test they even made into a movie.
So long Slpr -
+1 for Lem, though it has been a long time.
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@Slpr said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
@test said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
test
Fehler, Fehler, Fehler. Test nicht bestanden. For all the others concerned there’s an excelent book out there by Stanisław Lem called Test they even made into a movie.
So long SlprOoooo I know how the story turned out!
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Permissions for an app the Indian government rolled out and said was mandatory for every phone. Apparently it’s also preinstalled on all new phones.

According to comments, they’ve walked it back somewhat in response to citizen outrage saying it’s now optional but apparently it’s still preinstalled on all phones and most people won’t even know to look for it to uninstall it.
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If the Indians haven’t done anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about.
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Pffft that’s amateur hour! In real modern countries like ours the government pays companies like Palantir to data-process all that without even telling the user!
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@Gators1 said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
If the Indians haven’t done anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about.
Don’t go feeling all superior - they got the idea from what our government has been doing since teh 9ty-'leventy.
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@oyaji said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
@Gators1 said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
If the Indians haven’t done anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about.
Don’t go feeling all superior - they got the idea from what our government has been doing since teh 9ty-'leventy.
Sarcasm deaf are we?
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@Blanks said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
Pffft that’s amateur hour! In real modern countries like ours the government pays companies like Palantir to data-process all that without even telling the user!
Watched a few videos about Flock and they seem like bigger assholes than Palentir. They are basically selling CCTV video to law enforcement to track people and issue speeding fines and also tracking people of interest to them…all warrantless. Then they are also a data broker, selling the same type of data to insurance companies and others. So like if you get a scratch on your door, their AI recognizes it and your insurance rates go up. Their AI sucks too as there have been several arrests based on the AI misreading license plates and the cops subsequently for sued.
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@Gators1 said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
@Blanks said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
Pffft that’s amateur hour! In real modern countries like ours the government pays companies like Palantir to data-process all that without even telling the user!
Watched a few videos about Flock and they seem like bigger assholes than Palentir. They are basically selling CCTV video to law enforcement to track people and issue speeding fines and also tracking people of interest to them…all warrantless. Then they are also a data broker, selling the same type of data to insurance companies and others. So like if you get a scratch on your door, their AI recognizes it and your insurance rates go up. Their AI sucks too as there have been several arrests based on the AI misreading license plates and the cops subsequently for sued.
They shouldn’t be allowed to conduct warranty-less business!
We need more Democrats!
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@Jam said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
@Gators1 said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
@Blanks said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
Pffft that’s amateur hour! In real modern countries like ours the government pays companies like Palantir to data-process all that without even telling the user!
Watched a few videos about Flock and they seem like bigger assholes than Palentir. They are basically selling CCTV video to law enforcement to track people and issue speeding fines and also tracking people of interest to them…all warrantless. Then they are also a data broker, selling the same type of data to insurance companies and others. So like if you get a scratch on your door, their AI recognizes it and your insurance rates go up. Their AI sucks too as there have been several arrests based on the AI misreading license plates and the cops subsequently for sued.
They shouldn’t be allowed to conduct warranty-less business!
We need more Democrats!
Democrats are behind all those extended car warranty calls?
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Of course . . .
They are just smug Democrats trying to get money from gullible Republicans!
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Interesting segment on WNYC though I only caught ten minutes of it while driving.
A guy working in the blockchain development business hires folks who work overseas. Our own Hog would be the kind of person this company historically would hire.
The technical exec hires a guy from Singapore to do some contract work and the Singapore guy brings another colleague into the company project and over time, they do some pretty good work and get great pay. The project ends and two years later, the FBI shows up.
Turns out that the company exec who did the hiring had never met the two guys from Singapore face-to-face. In fact, because of the time difference, nearly all the contact was via email. The FBI identified these two developers to be among hundreds who work for Kim Jung Un in North Korea, part of a large group of developers working for peanuts in cubbyholes all day long and into the night. The big money goes to DPRK weapons development.
As the story developed, the work was legit and there didn’t seem to be any nefarious intent other than to grab large handfuls of western money.
As part of the new hiring process, now, when the technical personnel guy interviews candidates over the phone, he asks them to say: “Kim Jung Un is a very fat man!” 50% of the candidates refuse to say the phrase and they hang up. ;-)
Related . . .
Chinese and North Koreans recruit low-level US independent developers to set up laptops in their homes for a monthly fee per laptop. Some of these setups turn out to be “laptop farms.” The overseas developers use the US location and carefully constructed identities to work from the US.
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The children’s commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, has called for nudification apps such as ClothOff, which was investigated as part of the Guardian’s Black Box podcast series about AI, to be banned.
Given how capricious Apple and Google are about policing content on their app stores and how many times they’ve banned shit for questionable reasons, how is the above not a no brainer? The app is even called “ClothOff” so it’s not like its an unintended feature of some more general image program.
Not saying banning phone apps would make the problem go away but it would cut it down by a huge margin.
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I don’t get why people get so upset about deepfakes. Like they take it like it’s an invasion of privacy, but pretty much everyone knows they are fake. Hell, I would be like “yeah, that’s me with the huge porno dick”.
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@Gators1 said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
Hell, I would be like “yeah, that’s me with the huge porno dick”.
You might feel differently if you were still a teenager and it was a huge porno dick in your butt.
But, yeah, I agree I guess that it’s like trying to plug a leak in a dam so society and individuals are going to have to develop some psychological tolerance or coping mechanisms for shit that can’t be stopped altogether.
Edit: and the deepfakes will probably be all but undetectable as being fake within a few years given how quickly the tech is evolving.
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It wouldn’t be such a big deal if people didn’t wear clothes.
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Yeah, they will get a lot better but also everyone knows how good they are. I guess teenagers are kinda stupid too and will go off about it instead of rationally just saying it’s not me. Still, I have seen celebs complaining about it and like it’s part of your job to be someone that a bunch of weirdos want to sleep with.
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@Gators1 said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
Yeah, they will get a lot better but also everyone knows how good they are. I guess teenagers are kinda stupid too and will go off about it instead of rationally just saying it’s not me. Still, I have seen celebs complaining about it and like it’s part of your job to be someone that a bunch of weirdos want to sleep with.
They sure bank on sexual attraction.
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@Hog said in The OFFICIAL tech stuff thread:
I guess that it’s like trying to plug a leak in a dam
Put your finger in the dike!
