sbv

Agreed - traditional media and online commentary both suffer from this problem.

We need a way for beat reporters to get paid for their work. Sadly that doesn't really exist right now.

We need experts that are knowledgeable on issues who can put them in context for lay readers.

In the past, those were often beat reporters, but academics can fit that role too.

With the collapse of traditional media ~~hegemonies~~ companies we've lost beat reporters, so we have to rely on third party experts. Of course, there are problems with that: if they're owned by bad actors, then they can spread misleading narratives.

I'm not sure who fills that role now. Whoever can tweet the most convincingly at journalists? Whoever makes the sexiest YouTube explainer?

😂^(we're screwed)

How do you market an encryption platform exclusively to criminals?

Apparently through word of mouth and suggestions by undercover agents.

innocents that downloaded this as a secure messaging system

The app wasn't made available for download. The FBI bought a few thousand Pixels, flashed a custom ROM onto them, and then installed the messaging apps. In theory they cost thousands of dollars to buy.

It's entirely possible some innocents used the system, but it's unclear how selling rooted hardware to alleged criminals would induce them to commit crime.

See https://www.npr.org/2024/05/31/1197959218/fbi-phone-company-anom

Entrapment techniques like that make me sick.

What was the entrapment? The FBI sold phones to suspected criminals and monitored the conversations, didn't they?

I got a Breville Dual-Temp for $350 CAD on sale, but you can spend less. You can always spend more if you want, but that's where I top out.

I'm not sure about ROI. I guess I've had it three years, so that's like $.33/day, but I don't track what I spend on consumables.

Espresso machines rock. I got one to cut costs, and I'm really happy with being able to make an Americano in a minute or two.

no one at Microsoft gives a single fuck about their users anymore

I don't think they ever did.

A place for teenagers to go on dates.

The invocation is complete.

I have vivid memories of sitting through the copyright banner/FBI warning, waiting for the janky menu to load, trying to figure out which button had focus, starting the movie, sitting through ads for movies that came out years ago, and then the movie would play.

Maybe my memory isn't accurate, but I don't miss DVD menus.

Cat nip is non-negotiable.

Now that I think about it, every phone I've owned has had significant issues: lousy camera (HTC), overheating (LG), poor battery life (Samsung, Google, HTC), steadily degrading performance (Samsung), boot looping (LG), weird colour handling on photos (HTC, Google), etc. So I guess they're all bad?

I wouldn't say "favourite". I've bought two Pixels because I like the photos they produce.

My current phone (P8P) has the fewest issues so far. It's only a year old, so I'm sure they'll appear.