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I’m surprised more people aren’t more skeptical about Bluesky’s “choose your own algorithm” feature.

If there’s something I’ve learned over and over again, it’s that the bulk of social media users don’t like choice.

What they want is to open an app and immediately see something interesting. And they want social media companies to implicitly know what their content preferences are without having to make a choice.

If they want to see something specific, they’ll utilize search. And if they don’t want to keep searching for the same thing again and again, they’ll save their search query as a feed.

Some people compare Bluesky’s “choose your own algorithms” to Zapier or IFTTT. But how many people actually use Zapier or IFTTT? I’m not saying there isn’t an audience for that feature, just that it tends to be niche.

People either want a laidback “don’t make me think” social media experience or they want an active intentional one.

“Choose your own algorithms” is neither passive nor active. It’s in the grey zone. It’s presumably for people too lazy to search but too active for the default Home feed.

It’s a feature that tries to be everything to everyone—and for that reason, it looks to be a feature for no one.

—@atomicpoet

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On Friday, we reported an issue with Google Chrome Version 114 and JAWS 2021 and earlier. Thanks to Google’s prompt response and dedication to accessibility, this issue was resolved quickly, leading to a solution that restores access to the Chrome browser for all versions of JAWS. To solve the problem, download the latest version of Chrome, 114.0.5735.110, then restart Chrome to begin using the updated version.

https://support.freedomscientific.com/Support/TechnicalSupport/Bulletin/1795

—@freedomscientific

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Goddamn even if the cops leave the phone locked to view the ID, they’ll just pocket the phone afterwards and “give it back to you when we’re done here” – you willingly handed it over to them, they can keep it.

Now they know you can’t be recording them. You want to hand over the one thing that they know might keep them honest?

Are people just not paying attention? How the fuck can anyone be in favor of this? You want your ID on your phone so bad, get a sticky ID holder and slap it on the back.

—@rodhilton

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Here’s a case where a man got shot for reaching for his phone, the officer involved thought it was a gun.

“Hold on sir, don’t unlock that. There have been reports of people triggering explosives with their phones. Hand it to me and give me your passcode.”

This is easy as fuck. I could come up with 10 bullshit excuses to make you unlock your phone in as many minutes.

Don’t give cops a reason to take your phone. Your recording is likely your only protection.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/us/sacramento-police-shooting/index.html

—@rodhilton

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You know what you can’t be doing if you hand your phone to a police officer, whether it remains locked on the ID or not?

You can’t be recording the police officer on that phone.

So let me say it real loud for the people at the back who think that the convenience of not carrying a 10mm piece of plastic is worth putting folks who are disproportionately targeted by police in even greater risk:

DO NOT PUT YOUR FUCKING STATE ID ON YOUR FUCKING PHONE.

—@rodhilton

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The precautions that tech companies put in place (because historically they’re so very careful right?) are irrelevant when the people trying to bypass those precautions have the threat of state-sanctioned violence backing them up implicitly.

“Unlock your phone so I can make sure that isn’t a lock screen wallpaper”

See how easy that was? They can say whatever the fuck they want.

You ever try to “show your ID” by leaving it in your wallet? They make you take it out. Why? Because fuck you.

—@rodhilton

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Yo this is getting boosted enough that I’m getting a lot of replies talking about the technical precautions that are taken to make this safe so let me be clear:

Folks like me were talking about how nervous it makes us that tech companies are keeping so much data on stuff like locations and even menstruation cycles. Folks like you called us paranoid.

Then states made abortion illegal & immediately police started subpoenaing that data to arrest women.

You’re wrong. Consistently and dangerously.

—@rodhilton

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Mitch Wagner (@mitchw@mastodon.social) (Mastodon)
No, a rogue AI drone simulation did not kill its operator, despite recent news reports. Why make up a story about something like that? Because it enforces the narrative that AI is super-powerful and threatens human extinction, which is bullshit. But it’s profitable bullshit for AI grifters, who are literally the same people who were peddling crytop/blockchain grift untill last year — @pluralistic@mamot.fr https://doctorow.medium.com/ayyyyyy-eyeeeee-4ac92fa2eed
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Brian C. Keegan (@bkeegan@hci.social) (🌱 hci.social)
Since some consequences of climate change have trickled up to the bigwigs concentrated in a narrow stretch between DC and Boston, there’s an approximately 48-hour window to remind them that this is only a preview of coming attractions unless we immediately invest in alternatives to the status quo. At the end of the 48 hours, these arguments will return to their default state of being fringe ideas promoted by woke leftists unmoored from real world concerns like preserving the status quo.
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The “#a11y is not accessible” discussion wants to get back to the early 2010s.

It’s a signifier, for some users (for example who are dyslexic) it’s easier to type, you need some explanation, like any in-group language. Even accessibility needs explanation.

It’s not a big deal and the energy is better used elsewhere.

https://www.a11yproject.com/posts/a11y-and-other-numeronyms/

#accessibility

(Edit: LOL mistyped accessibility in the hashtag…)

—@yatil

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You never see time travelers use salt in get-rich schemes, but for a few bucks at the supermarket you can have salt of quality and quantity rarely seen in the ancient world. Show up to feasts and just hand the salt around. Make it rain salt. You’d be able to get plenty of shiny rocks for that.

But no, time travelers always bring gold. Never salt. Despite the fact that “salary” literally comes from the Roman word for salt.

Basically, go back in time, bring salt, exchange salt for worthless trinkets, return to future, make a killing on the antiquities market.

For that matter, show up with some stainless steel. Or what about aluminum? The ancient world would go apeshit over aluminum.

And that’s saying nothing of going back in time and being a wizard because you remember a little calculus from high school. Hell, the concept of zero and Arabic numerals would blow their minds when used at the right time.

What about going back in time and bringing refined sugar? You could print your own money.

But no, they always do the boring thing.

—@intransitivelie

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It’s amazing to me that we’ve built a system where you’re punished for trying to do the right thing and rewarded for fucking things up.

Want to build a better web? Sure, man. Sounds great. How about you toil under financial insecurity and spend inordinate amounts of time worrying about keeping a roof over your head? That should be fun.

By the way, why isn’t it ready yet? Look at what those billionaires are achieving. What’ve they got that you don’t?

Hmm, let me think about that for a second…

—@aral

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I don’t know who needs to hear this but abandoning that open source project that is burning you out is not a personal failure.

You can just mark it as unmaintained and walk away.

Maybe someone else will pick it up.

Maybe they won’t.

It’s not a child. You don’t have to raise it to adulthood.

—@dreid