• 3 Posts
  • 129 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 23rd, 2023

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  • PR if it was honest:

    Why & When Is This Happening?

    To better monetize your attention and data, we’ve decided to streamline all communication into a single, ad-optimized, engagement-maximized system. Maintaining multiple messaging systems was cutting into our profit margins, so we’re sunsetting the old one — which, let’s be honest, wasn’t generating nearly enough revenue anyway.

    Reddit Chat is engineered for the future (read: future monetization opportunities), unlike PMs, which were quaint relics from a time when this site wasn’t a corporate data-mining operation.

    We’re announcing this change now so we can say we “listened” when it inevitably breaks the way you use Reddit. We’ve talked to a hand-picked selection of mods and power users (mostly the ones who didn’t complain too much), but there’s still time for you to provide feedback we can pretend to consider. Drop your thoughts in the comments below, where they’ll be skimmed for marketing insights.


  • It’s a scary amount of projects these days managed by a bunch of ZIP files:

    • Program-2.4.zip
    • Program-2.4-FIXED.zip
    • Program-2.4-FIXED2.zip
    • Program-2.4-FIXED-final.zip
    • Program-2.4-FIXED-final-REAL.zip
    • Program-2.4-FIXED-FINAL-no-seriously.zip
    • Program-2.4-FINAL-use-this.zip
    • Program-2.4-FINAL-use-this-2.zip
    • Program-2.4-working-maybe.zip
    • Program-2.4-FINAL-BUGFIX-LAST-ONE.zip
    • Program-2.4-FINAL-BUGFIX-LAST-ONE-v2.zip

  • I keep a Jellyfin instance running as a hedge. Here’s the thing with Plex (and actually a lot of companies set up similarly): those “lifetime” memberships are a trap. Think about it: Plex gets your money ONCE but they have ongoing expenses. Sooner or later, they’ll have spent every single cent made by a lifetime membership unless they either get more folks OR squeeze everyone a bit more.

    Once they started adding their own shows and making strange UI decisions, I could sense the end was coming. A move like this brings it up fast. Jellyfin is not nearly as good as Plex in a lot of ways, but it’s really Open Source.

    Anyway, a lot of rambling, but in short: when there is a “lifetime” subscription, watch out!





  • HP Introduces the Future of Printing: The HP Smart Printer 9000Wearable

    Freedom to Print, Anytime, Anyplace with the Stylish HP Smart Printer 9000Wearable

    Today, HP is excited to announce the launch of its latest innovation, the HP Smart Printer 9000Wearable, a groundbreaking device that redefines portable wearable printing. This cutting-edge AI printer not only offers portability but also sets new standards for functionality and convenience.

    Innovative Design and Features:

    The HP Smart Printer 9000Wearable is designed to be worn on your wrist, making it the ultimate companion for on-the-go professionals and tech enthusiasts. Measuring a sleek 4 inches in width and weighing just 7 ounces, this printer is effortlessly portable. It can print pages up to an impressive 3 inches wide, perfect for large-format projects or creative printing needs.

    Premium Performance and Reliability:

    With HP’s renowned commitment to quality, the Smart Printer 9000Wearable delivers superior performance. Its advanced ink technology ensures vivid, long-lasting colors, while HP’s innovative print heads provide crisp and clear prints every time. The printer is engineered to handle heavy-duty tasks with ease, offering a lifespan that exceeds industry standards. By automatically locking itself to genuine HP ink cartridges and detonating if it detects a 3rd party cartridge, HP assures the very highest quality in printing.

    Subscription for Enhanced Functionality:

    HP recognizes the importance of keeping you connected. The Smart Printer 9000Wearable comes with a mandatory premium subscription service, HP AI Cloud Print Plus+, ensuring seamless connectivity and access to advanced features like remote printing and cloud-based solutions. This subscription model guarantees uninterrupted functionality, allowing users to print from virtually anywhere, at a minor cost of $89.99 per month.

    Smart Integration and Security:

    Featuring HP’s enhanced firmware, this printer is equipped with the latest security measures to protect your data and ensure privacy. Each print job is shared with HP’s cloud and scanned by state of the art security software. Your privacy is top of mind, so these files are automatically deleted after 10 years and the chance of a security incident leaking all your prints is quite low.

    Smart Functionality:

    Unlike older devices, the Smart Printer 9000Wearable doesn’t include a cumbersome screen or keyboard. Instead, interact with our HP Humane AI Assistant and get all your work done through the power of your voice, whether you’re on a crowded train or sitting in a public restroom.

    Get Yours Today!

    The Smart Printer 9000Wearable will be available shortly at retail outlets for only $1,499.99. Get yours today while supplies last!








  • The thing is, tariffs aren’t new. Manufacturing (or the lack thereof) in the US isn’t new… the only NEW thing appears to be voters that can be led around by the nose and lacking any kind of critical thought altogether. What % of people that voted for tariffs thought that China’d be paying for them? Probably the same folks who thought Mexico was going to build the wall and pay for it. Last time I checked, I don’t think we’ve received any money from Mexico for this.


  • If tariffs cause a rise in US production

    This is one of the problems with the Trumpian approach to tariffs. I don’t know if you hadn’t noticed, but there’s remarkably little manufacturing in the USA for quite some time now, but let’s play this out.

    The cost to set up a laptop manufacturing firm in the US is anywhere from $50,000,000 to $200,000,000. Then, you’ve gotta acquire all the raw materials and components to assemble the laptops, let’s call that another $500,000,000. Then, of course, you’ve gotta staff the place, and this is in a country where we do not have a lot of people that are experienced in manufacturing. Let’s call that another $100,000,000. By the time you add in R&D, logistics costs, legal and compliance (because the US is a bit more stringent than China in this area), you’re talking about $1 - $3 BILLION in costs.

    Now, out of the few people / companies that have enough money to actually set up a laptop manufacturer in the USA, think about how confident they’d have to be to pull this off. The largest problem is, if you spend your billion dollars and build this factory and then the next week Trump removes the tariff, you’re instantly competing with foreign firms again, and you’re going to be going under pretty fast.

    I’d say this tariff would have to be in place at LEAST 10 years before anyone gets confident enough to spend the massive amount of money and effort quoted above. When you think about how many millions of laptops are going to get sold between now and then, it’s pretty clear the American consumer is going to take a huge bath in the meantime.

    Like so many things Trump is doing, this tariff is supposed to piss off China but just ends up fucking the consumer. Trump and his billionaire friends don’t care if a laptop is an extra $200. That’s change they can find under the couch. For your average American trying to make ends meet, that $200 sure as fuck would be useful.

    So go ahead, vote Republican to “own the libs”. Just don’t be surprised when the sudden pain you feel in your wallet is very real.



  • Good. At this point reddit is just a weak sauce place for bots/marketers to post where other bots/marketers scrape them. It’s rumored that 10% of their revenue is from content deals with Google. At this point, most of the interesting communities on reddit have gone elsewhere and it’s long ago jumped the shark.

    It’s clear that the corporate goons in charge are busy just trying to squeeze any remaining nickles out of the userbase. At this rate it won’t be long before a private equity firm buys reddit and you start seeing articles “Reddit: what happened?”

    Too bad, it was a site that used to be so good and was sold out 5 ways to Monday and the corporate overlords have fucked it again. At least lemmy is around… it doesn’t have the scale of reddit but it’s way better in a lot of ways already.