Hiker, software engineer (primarily C++, Java, and Python), Minecraft modder, hunter (of the Hunt Showdown variety), biker, adoptive Akronite, and general doer of assorted things.

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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: August 10th, 2023

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  • I feel like the amount of ads and/or length is a little excess these days, though.

    I do agree but their costs have also skyrocketed because the resolution and frame rate of videos has skyrocketed.

    Linus Tech Tips did a video about this … which agree with his conclusions or not, he paints a clear picture about how YouTube is more expensive to run than it used to be https://youtu.be/MDsJJRNXjYI

    Google also isn’t in the business of “running things at a loss in hopes of future profit” anymore … so they need YouTube to be profitable. Maybe it’s “too profitable”, maybe they could cut down on the amount of advertising they use … but you’re absolutely right that they do test this stuff and find the threshold between “annoying but profitable” and “annoying but we’re losing users.”

    More competition is always good … but Google isn’t stopping competition from showing up, just like Valve isn’t stopping competition from showing up, they’re just providing a better service that creators keep coming back to (because it’s ultimately good for those same creators to get their content out there and monetize it).



  • More like regional pricing is an attempt to maximise value extraction from consumers

    And right there I’m done with your comment. Regional pricing is incredibly important, without it everyone pays the US or EU price and there is no service provided period.

    However, you can be assured that they are charging the people they’ve identified as less wealthy (e.g. in a low average income region) more than their marginal cost. Since YouTube is primarily going to be driven by marginal rather than fixed costs (it is very bandwidth and server heavy), and there is no reason to expect users in high-income locations cost YouTube more, it is a safe assumption that the gap between the regional prices is all extra profit.

    Even if true, that’s not what this hoopla is about. It’s about someone from say … the US using a VPN to get Kenyan pricing. As another person said “The internet’s most beloved company, Steam, also bans people for abusing the store using VPNs.”

    Regional pricing is the only reason people in these countries even stand a chance at access to the service (because ultimately their costs might be a bit lower in these countries but not by much … I would not be surprised if regional pricing is pretty much just above the break even mark). People in other countries abusing those slashed prices threatens the whole system.

    This is people in “first world” countries trying to rig the system: https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/15hz5ys/found_country_that_works_to_get_youtube_premium/

    Someone in Uzbekistan for instance would feel as the average US consumer would if a year of YouTube premium was $829.






  • Hot take: GitLab is sluggish, buggy, crap. It is the “Mega Blocks” of source control management.

    If you have source files that are more than a few hundred lines and you try to load them on the web interface, forget about it.

    They can’t even implement 2FA in such a way that it isn’t a huge pain to interact with. There’s been an open issue for over 7 years now to implement 2FA like it is everywhere else, where you can be signed in to more than one device at a time if you have 2FA enabled (https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/16656).

    Not to mention this was not a GitHub failure, this was a failure by the NYTimes to secure their developer’s credentials. This “just in house/self host everything and magically get security” mentality that’s so prevalent on Lemmy is also just wrong. Self hosting is not a security thing, especially when you’re as large of a target as NYTimes. That one little misconfiguration in your self hosted GitLab instance … the critical patch that’s still sitting in your queue … that might be the difference between a breach like this and protecting your data.






  • Part of that is teaching people how to control their impulses and stay on task.

    Your workspace isn’t going to have you hang your phone up on the wall somewhere when you come into work and have someone tell you “now is the time to use your phone.”

    College isn’t going to do it either.

    We also could take some cues that maybe this isn’t all as serious as we make it out to be. My high school back in the 2010s gave us a ton of busy work, insisted on making it effectively mandatory if you wanted a decent grade, didn’t let people go to the bathroom without asking permission and using a sign out sheet, insisted every second of every lesson was crucial, and was very strict about not pulling out your cell phone basically ever (kids still snuck texts here and there).

    I see more merits for small children, but in general I’m strongly in favor of radical changes to how we approach education … because learning should be fun but is not for so many people … and we forget so much of what we’ve been “taught” anyways.




  • I was wondering if that’s where you were going in part.

    I think it’s a bit of the phrasing; you stated an opinion that’s vague to the point of tiptoeing towards the potentially loaded question: “who’s independent media?”

    It’s not uncommon in the conservative media sphere to see a similar (typically series) of leading ambiguous questions. They’re never genuine, it’s always in the style of:

    You know what the best operating system is? I’ll tell you what the best operating system is, it’s Linux. Do you know why Linux is the best operating system? It’s because it’s got penguins and penguins are great! Do you know why penguins are great? I mean, can you think of a more iconic bird? That’s why, that is why … and Big Microsoft is out to destroy your hopes and dreams aren’t they? Yes, yes they absolutely are, with their soulless Windows operating system that’s manufactured by the flying spaghetti monster. Now obviously folks, only use Linux if you support freedom not the unholy flying spaghetti monster. The flying spaghetti monster will destroy America. It’s its one true mission. Support freedom, support penguins, stop the flying spaghetti monster.

    I think it’s made a bunch of if antsy lol