Hi, I'm stuck waiting on laundry to finish and am bored, so why don't I come on here and write some hot takes about YouTube?
I mean, I can think of several reasons, but too bad I'll do it anyway.
Knowing the leanings of the folks on this particular platform this is likely to spark some debate, but note that I'm not trying to paint YouTube as a saint - in fact, the first thing I want to talk about is a strategy they've taken which puts me and all YT creators in a weird place:
@TechConnectify I was subscribed to Premium since it launched as Red, until last month. YouTube started serving me full screen NFL ads on mobile despite my subscription. So I canceled it. I'm not about to pay the soon to be increased price while also seeing ads.
Don't know why YouTube had to go and ruin it, but I just subbed to a bunch of creators on Patreon instead.
To all the people crying about "Why shouldn't YouTube be allowed to make money from ads!"
If I print a newspaper entirely funded through advertising revenue - and you pick up a free copy, do you think it is ok for me to break in to your house to make sure you are looking at the ads?
Because that is what YouTube are doing when they deploy their spyware to detect #adblockers #privacy is a #fundamentalright - fight for it or lose it.
@anderspuck Or I could (and did) decide to give to the creators on support platforms like Patreon and keep watching on YouTube, since that's the only place they upload their videos.
@anderspuck Also these "you're not supporting the creators" arguments are disingenuous anyway because these days, almost everyone making a living on YouTube has a portion of their videos dedicated to a sponsor ad read. They're getting most of their money from NordVPN, Raycon, Manscaped, Hello Fresh, Ridge Wallet, Raid Shadow Legends, and so on.
I'm sure they'd rather have more views to allow them to attract more and higher paying sponsors than less people watching because that's """more fair"""
@anderspuck Literally the worst thing you can do is not watch.
Even if you block ads and can't do Patreon, watching increases view count. Helps promote the video in the algorithms. Helps bring more people in, who might watch ads or contribute on Patreon. Helps make the channel more attractive to sponsors.
Not watching is what you should do if you want the channel to die.
that uBlock Origin post about how to bypass YouTube's adblocker nags has been making the rounds, but it isn't the clearest in terms of steps, so here's a quick PSA:
click the uBO shield icon
click the settings button (gears)
go to the "Filter lists" tab
click "Purge all caches"
click "Update now"
now refresh the YouTube page.
every time I've seen one of the nag popups, this has instantly fixed the problem.
@osma Yeah that video is an especially bad comparison. I can easily see the difference between 720p 30fps and 8K 60fps just from the increased framerate alone.
And while 8K is excessive, as we move towards 1440p and 4K displays, I can easily see the difference between 720p video and 1440p or 4K video.
Doubly so if we're talking about streaming services where higher resolutions also allow for higher bitrates.
@Sheril And loads of MAGA women have no idea that if they make progress on other goals they want, they'll eventually lose this. "I never thought the leopards would eat my face!"
The US Department of Justice announced that it's suing eBay for selling 343,000+ "rolling coal" devices that enable automobiles to violate the Clean Air Act. Fines could reach $2 billion.
Yesterday's toots about serial/parallel hybrid cars vs. trains are really pushing me to make a video about hybrid car tech.
Here's the thing lots of people don't seem to know: the most efficient hybrid powertrains also do the trick of keeping the engine at optimum RPM/efficiency but the engine can still contribute directly to the spinning of the wheels
It's the technique that makes diesel-electric efficient but even more so because it largely skips conversion losses.
@drewtoothpaste Even the email he's asking for is too much to pay - they're going to sell the address and then the inbox will be flooded with spam and scams. No fucking thanks.
@apophis Ugh, the physical stuff in my mailbox pisses me off so much.
"You donated once, we spent money making tote bags and mailing labels for you, please send us more money"
How about instead of making and shipping junk I didn't ask for, you spend the money helping whoever your charity is meant to help? I have never donated more after receiving physical junk.
PSA: The US government will conduct a nationwide test of the emergency alert system at 2:20 pm with messages sent to all cellphones, televisions and radios, and with one lucky recipient to be chosen to be the new Speaker of the House.
I think I'm still in recovery from learning a few weeks ago that Canadian fossil fuel companies tell people that because it's "natural" gas that they produce, burning it can't hurt the environment. And people believe them. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, remember that and 🤯🤯🤯🤯
@helenczerski My favorite thing about natural gas is that it doesn't even have to be burned to hurt the environment. Just having it leak from pipelines into the atmosphere is damaging! And we're leaking so much that it's doing more damage than burning coal was doing.
So, this surveillance capitalism thing is totally out of hand. Today @protonmail had a great explainer (https://mastodon.social/@protonmail/111165171600485248) on the mind bending evil Google is up to with it's new "privacy features". But pretty much every tech company is now in the business of profiling you and monetizing your tidbits.
What can you do? A lot as it turns out, but if you just want ONE EASY THING that you can do today, SWITCH TO FIREFOX (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/) and make DuckDuckGo your default search engine.
@mastodonmigration Friendly reminder that stock Firefox is 100% selling you out to Google because Google is funding them. You need to take a little extra time to fix that if you actually want to protect your privacy from Google.
There are a bunch of comments under my latest video saying that the "decorative rocks" are really hostile infrastructure meant to deter homeless people.
They're not. Look at how much space is here, despite the rocks (enough for a dozen bicycles).
If anything these rocks provide shelter and make it easier to sleep here.
Examples of hostile architecture are very rare in the Netherlands.
I think these responses are mostly from Americans who are used to having hostile infrastructure everywhere.
@notjustbikes I look at that photo and I see plenty of space between the rocks where people could lie down. If it's hostile infrastructure, it's hostile to cars, not homeless people.
@TechConnectify I'm sure this is covered in the video, but my favorite thing about the whole debate is how it really doesn't matter if you install the receptacles ground up or down because so many plugs don't come with a ground pin.
Space heater pulling 1500W? Go ahead and just use hot and neutral, who needs ground? 🤡
Honest question - is a "utility room" some sort of Midwestern thing?
Talking about how to avoid running ducts through attics, it occurred to me that it might be.
Here, if you don't have a basement, there's usually a room with your furnace/air handler, water heater, and washer/dryer. Plumbing often routes there, too.
Sometimes it's less of a room and more of a closet, but we can't just stick the washer and water heater in the garage 'cause they'll freeze.
We're all just a bunch of frogs sitting in a pot as it gently warms on the stove, too stupid or lazy or comfortable to jump out just yet. But soon to be part of the stew.
In this "enshittified" world, we don't actually own any of the things we buy. The vendor either sells all customer data up front, or what's sold is offered mainly on a subscription basis, even as they're reselling that data. Any terms, prices or promises can be changed on a dime, and your only "choice" is "okay" or not to use the thing.
This fairly describes your privacy expectations for commercial services in the USA. We are long overdue for a Privacy Bill of Rights that says quite simply, if you sell it and it actively collects and transmits data, you have to up front offer consumers the option to turn all it off. Full stop. And then respect that decision in perpetuity.
@briankrebs Let's do one even better - instead of having to go into the settings and turn it all off, in other words opt out - force them to make it opt IN.
Make them make the user say "you know what yes, I would like to give you my data" and go into settings to turn it all on.
So yes, Google Chrome just rolled out a new way to track you and serve ads How to fix it? Switch to Firefox. Not to Edge. Alternatively, if you need Chome for work. Visit chrome://settings/adPrivacy and turn off each setting. Of course get Adbloker too ;)
Too many sites are now crammed with adverts like this it’s revolting. This one is PC Gamer. This is why people use adblockers when it just takes the piss.