Spyke

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Non-Profit Registration: Name suggestions.

I would like to caution against opting for a name that may be too open ended as it may dilute the purpose of the foundation simultaneously; in what people may misunderstand/perceive its purpose to be, and the scope of actions the foundations takes to achieve that unclear or shifting purpose/goal.

Firstly, a general or vague name will not immediately define the organization and therefore require more explanations and time to always explain its purpose/mission so as to avoid misunderstandings and/or apathy.

Secondly, an open ended or general name may look convenient because we do not yet clearly know everything the foundation may need to do in the future so we settle for a “catch-all” and hope for the best.

However, a vague or general name also leaves open the possibility to have the foundation's initial purpose be diverted to something completely unrelated or maybe even counterproductive due to the nature of a changing context (original decision maker leaves, communities has diverging and incompatible priorities, takeover à-la-twitter, lopsided/frivolous legal threats, etc...).

Hence, we should first list all the goals and purposes we may have, wish and foresee for the foundation first. Then, vote on what make overall sense to include before selecting a name that succcintly and neatly encompasses those goals/missions.

Thank you for coming to my probably pointless Ted Talk™©® 🤣

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The Reddit Protest Is Finally Over. Reddit Won.

Really‽ I just checked and many of the small subreddits I used to follow became much less interesting/active if not dead.

Meanwhile, some of the bigger subs became a repost dumping ground of years old posts/images/videos/memes by fairly new accounts (i'm guessing those are bots karma farming).

The fediverse is the much better way IMHO.

In any case, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit have become too toxic to use I will keep away (though, I never had a Facebook nor a Twitter account)

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Star Citizen Introducing a $48,000 Ship Bundle, but Only for Players Who Have Already Spent $10,000

I wonder if games that require such farfetched amounts of money should be included in the Luxury tax?

A lot of those "whales" have cognitive difficulties and/or gambling addictions issues. Since many if these game developers/publishers have no qualm blindly milking and profiteering. It should be no surprise if some sort of tax is levied to help societies (à-la-tobacco or sugar tax) attenuate the ravages of gambling addictions.

Moreover, Star Citizen has been released over 10 years ago while been continually updated.

At what point is it just senseless greed that has taken over the game?

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Whats your such opinion

Copyright should have stayed the original initial 14 years with possible renewal to 28 years. But like in France back then, also include the original authors (last one alive, if several) lifespan. Hence, a copyright would last either the authors lifespans or 28 years, whichever is longer.

Moreover, the patent system is being abused and does not serve the original goal of "any useful art, manufacture, engine, machine, or device, or any improvement there on not before known or used." It granted the applicant the "sole and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to others to be used" of his invention.. It needs major changes, including the requirement to have the "invention" be under examination by reputable third-party laboratories (such as Intertek, SGI, Underwriters Laboratories, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technischer Überwachungsverein, SGS - Société Générale de Surveillance, etc…) before being granted a patent. Nowadays, patents are given almost willy-nilly to anyone no matter how vague or obvious the supposed invention.

Nowadays, patents are being misused in Patent Ambush mechanisms and scenarios, meanwhile Patent Trolls and Hoarders whole existence is are to impede/obstruct legally and impose exorbitant levies/fees onto organization and companies actually innovating and developing useful art/process/devices. Even more incredible, there are Submarine Patents being hidden away to suddenly take hostage existing products and process of various companies by imposing extortionate royalties.

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Exploring Reddit’s third-party app environment 7 months after the APIcalypse

The essential part at the end:

“ When reached for comment, Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt directed me to Reddit's API FAQ page and said the company couldn't comment further because it's in a quiet period and doesn't "comment on confidential business conversations and/or agreements." ”

We can infer that it was not the fountain of money they thought it would become. Hence, all the special exception for leftover third-party apps to not abandon a leaking ship.

More telling is their silence. Who doesn't want to promote and advertise how profitable they are to potential shareholders just before an IPO.

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Canada declares Flipper Zero public enemy No. 1 in car-theft crackdown

Honestly, I am embarrassed with the whole "look like were doing something" shtick by my government. An expensive gathering of decision makers from various sectors, a National Summit, just to say: we are now gonna be soooo tough on crime and let's ban the toy we just saw on TikTok.

Car theft was a major problem before 2010 until engine immobilizers became mandatory since 2007 on all vehicles made in Canada

Then everyone got too comfortable. The regulatory bodies and car manufacturers were too focused pretending doing some work and publishing all the buzzword-of-the-day "accomplishments" they were doing while patting each others backs without explicitely requiring manufacturers to comply/implement immediately anything. Meanwhile, manufacturers were happy to integrate almost off-the-shelf "children's RC" car starter pack obfuscated through invisible/non-existent security and protected under dubious industrial secrets.

Obviously, criminals smelled the easy money. Starting around 2013 — mystery car unlocking device | 2015 — signal repeater car burglary, car thefts by relay attacks were known by automakers but ignored as one-offs, too technical, already dealt with by law enforcement to lets pretent it's not that big of a problem or leave it to the police. Meanwhile, insurance claim replacement vehicles are selling like hotcakes and it is "convenient" to ignore the problem.

The following years various reprogramming theft become known and finally CAN bus injection — new form of keyless car theft that works in under 2 minutes or in depth investigation by Dr. Ken Tindell, becomes so easy, so cheap and widely available that even kids uses them to gain Youtube/TikTok followers.

Car hacking was a becoming serious concern during the pandemic, but now it's simply ridiculous and as if current automaker included/provided anti-theft/GPS tracking were (un)knowingly made "defective".

Hence, everyone is playing catch up and blaming left and right on who is responsible for this in-slow-motion public safety disaster.

Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, which includes Ford Motor Company of Canada, General Motors of Canada and Stellantis, said increasing the risk of prosecution is the most effective way to deter vehicle theft.

"And at the same time, providing more outbound inspection controls at the ports to prevent the flow of stolen vehicles to foreign markets by organized criminal organizations," he added.

New vehicle safety standards have been published (rushed?) recently. We will see if all the panic settles down like after 2007.

Moreover, the exponential prevalence of car theft also laid bare the incredibly poor and ineffective security at the various ports of Canada. Unsurprisingly, it has been a known constant devolution:

The devolution of port authorities in Canada has not been without debate over the past 70 years. This paper provides a brief introduction to the role of ports in Canada and then examines the history of port policy and devolution, concluding that past policies were considered to have failed due to their inability to respond to changing circumstances.

world

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‘They lied’: plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals

TerraCycle dumping "recycling" items in poor countries with inadequate regulations/enforcement (article in French). Moreover, a insightful documentary available on CBC The Recycling Myth regarding all the recycling fraud many multinational companies engages in.

It is not surprising to see environmental fraud happening so overtly under our nose or in plain sight in front of our eyes when there is little to no repercussions for doing so (legal or otherwise). I would even go as far as to suggest it is currently financially extremely profitable for corporation (and people) to lie about all the greewashing they carry out.

Youtube: The Recycling Myth

196

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HP Printrule

I wish there was a cheap simple laser engraver that could just “burn” black the surface of generic bulk printer paper. As in an inkless monochrome printer.

A bit like How to Cut, Score, and Engrave Paper With a Laser but without the need to use dedicated laser cutter.

With the explosion of interest in 3D printing, machining and laser cutters, I'm just eager to get hold of a printer like that and forever give up on liquid ink and toners of all sorts.

canada

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Majority of Canadians now have more debt than savings, StatCan says. Here’s why the wealth gap is widening

Unfortunately, the solutions are fairly easy but it would be political suicide for anyone who would even dare to actually propose anything that would ruffle the feathers of the vested interests, the powerful or (God forbid /s) the wealthiest 10%, or the "untouchable" 0.1%.

Simplify/Regularize the tax code by eliminating all ambiguity :

  • by removing exceptions and loopholes for corporation and individuals (it only helps the wealthy with "top gun" accountants to "legally" avoid/reduce taxes).
  • pre-filled tax declaration should be expanded or made automatic for every individuals with simple tax situations (they should not be worrying about taxes and tax credits when their income in lower than a inflation indexed preset treshold)
  • make everyone's tax information public or accessible for every citizens similar to Tax transparency in Finland (PDF) it helps prevent/detect/reduce social inequalities and keep every one accountable toward each others
  • exclude tax filling softwares and companies whom have vested interest in making tax declarations as complex and as unintelligible as possible by lobbying government
  • increase financing and auditing of Canada Revenue Agency to help better pursue, prosecute and recover wealth hidden in tax Havens, or create a new separate branch of the CRA tasked exclusively to handle corporate tax shenanigans/evasion and deep pocketed individuals

This is a partial, but relevant, copy of one of my previous post (check my post history for the original long post).

news

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No Fap (Masturbation abstinence) is popular online. Doctors and therapists are worried - NPR

I am not sufficiently qualified to comment on this particular sociocultural trends nor can I give medical recommendations. However, some may want to inform themselves by evaluating the current status of relevant research. A number of studies have found that greater ejaculation frequency is associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer.

One such research in question :

Ejaculation Frequency and Risk of Prostate Cancer: Updated Results with an Additional Decade of Follow-up | doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2016.03.027

linux

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When Windows 10 dies, I am going to jump ship over to Linux. Which version would you recommend for someone with zero prior experience with Linux? **Edit: Linux Mint it shall be.**

Like most others have stated here, I'll also add my recommendations for Linux Mint.

I have helped most of my family, relatives and several friends move and familiarize themselves with Linux Mint, especially those that do almost everything within the web browser (shopping/email/Facebook/youtube/travel reservation/etc…). Since I already was their goto tech support, I showed them around on Linux Mint and they pretty easily got going as everything was intuitively similar to Windows. All was point and click (after my initial setup with their network, peripherals, printer and some basic automatic updates configuration), no terminal voodoo magic for them.

For the younger ones I typically set them up with Pop!OS and Steam and they are ready to jump without me having to explain much. Sometimes, I had to install and help setup a server (Minecraft) so they can play with their friends.

Personally, I use a mix of LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition), Alpine Linux, TrueNAS Scale, OPNsense and VMware ESXi/Workstation/vSphere for virtual machines.

Mind you, I would not recommend VMware as I am currently evaluating my transition options toward XCP-ng with Xen Orchestra or LXD/Incus or something else entirely.

climate

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Is global heating accelerating?

Man… I never complained about Winter, I actually love everything about it; the cold, the wind, the hoarfrost, the blizzards, the ice storms, the freezing rain, even the brown slush on the road. However, nowadays snowfalls have become thinner and thinner or even just raining instead and melting away whatever little snow had accumulated. It's sad.

On the other hand, Summer, I turn into a lazy Grinch that avoids the heat and the Sun as if I was a human snowman.

Everytime I see that graph, beyond the constant reminder of the hyperobject that is Climate Change, I am anticipating the dread of a even more scorching summer on its way in a few more months. On top of that, I also have take forest fires in consideration and prepare air filters and/or n100/n95 masks and replacement cartridges for myself, family and older relatives.

It is sad to see we still, all considered, have not yet even begun to lower emissions and will probably continue to argue over keeping the status quo for as long as possible until maybe, unfortunately, entire cities are regularly assailed by amplified natural and man-made disasters in back-to-back sequence and until everyone is affected directly or indirectly by those irreversible damages.

(Reposting my same reply to an identical post as this one regarding daily sea surface temperature; you can check my post history)

Comment on

Masturbation abstinence is popular online. Doctors and therapists are worried

I am not sufficiently qualified to comment on this particular sociocultural trends nor can I give medical recommendations. However, some may want to inform themselves by evaluating the current status of relevant research. A number of studies have found that greater ejaculation frequency is associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer.

One such research in question :

Ejaculation Frequency and Risk of Prostate Cancer: Updated Results with an Additional Decade of Follow-up | doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2016.03.027

linux

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But Windows 11 is so good!!11!1!

I have a single windows 11 system while everything else is on some form of Linux distro.

That windows system has never been connected to the internet, and it has been great without ever causing any of the typical update issues (although I update applications/components manually over an isolated NAS link).

It's sad to see that everyday users have gotten habituated to these constant workflow braking updates. No wonder many people I know are jumping to the Apple ecosystem after getting a taste with a M2.

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HP TV ads claim its printers are 'made to be less hated'

With all the interest in 3D printer and large communities building their own printers, where are the amateur 2D printers? Did we just jump to 3D printing because it was cooler (which I also admit is amaizing)?

I just want a basic 2D inkjet or laser printer that doesn't stop printing because magenta is low or doesn't waste ink to “clean” the print head, nor make up weird errors because it doesn't have access to the internet.

What about printers without ink? Would it be too hard/complicated to use a lower power laser (instead of a laser cutter) to burn/scorch a thin micrometric, if not nanometric, layer of normal everyday printing/copy white paper?

As a child, I remember scorching magazine/journal paper and all sorts of wood materials with my grandmother's handheld magnifying lens under the summer sun in the yard. I was able to draw stuff without burning some of the material completely.

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Tech execs are reportedly 'scrambling' to score a ticket to a dinner with China's president in San Francisco

Yup… and just after they are done setting up their manufacturing plant or tech hub, they will act all surprised (surprised-pikachu.jpg) when some made up excuse are fabricated to shake down their newly minted “investment” just like Several foreign businesses have been raided by the authorities. and cry how could this possibly have happened, all offended, while demanding for a bailout or a loss carryover of their future taxes.

Then there is the multitude of spying and theft: Allegations of intellectual property theft by China or through their Thousand Talents Program by offering high salaries, privileges and rewards to the chinese diaspora in various countries to bring back sensitive documents, blueprints, diagrams, formulas, and manufacturing-related proprietary data before leaving their previous workplace.

Unfortunately, China is at the crossroad of multiple extraordinary challenges it had been delaying, exacerbating or skipping for the last few decades :

  • demographic collapse, whereas population over 65 will increase from 200 million today to 400 million by 2049, while the overall population will decline slightly caused by the one-child policy since 1979 but also the high cost of raising a child in China to be successful
  • hundreds of entire cities of unproductive tofu dreg construction and litany of unfinished projects (roads, bridges and train lines to factories, airports and houses) causing huge insolvent debt among Chinese property developers, all amounting to a beleaguered US$55 trillion property sector, which accounts for between 22% and 29% of the Chinese economy
  • numerous environmental challenges that have only accelerated, including air and water pollution, deforestation, and dealing with increasing local natural disasters (flashfloods, heatwaves, heat domes, droughts, soil erosion, desertification, typhoons, etc…) due to Climate Change
  • feeding 22% of the world population with 7% (and decreasing) of their global arable land
  • youth-unemployment crisis whereas millions of well-educated graduates (21,3% of jobseekers between the ages of 16 and 25) are struggling to find decent white-collar jobs in urban areas
  • prevalence of corruption, nepotism, grift and extortion by every level of governance and institutions (local, city, regional, medical, education, police, etc…)

All of the above while an ongoing China-U.S. trade war.

Hence, my doubt on foreign investor's (voluntary, well informed and rational) return into a unfriendly and drastically changed Chinese economy.

I hope I am wrong and I absolutely wish for the best for China and the everyday peoples of China currently struggling to eke out a living due a series of unfortunate natural and/or preventable human caused disasters, all amplified by a leadership prioritising ideology over effective governance, or control over pragmatism.

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Revealed: car industry was warned keyless vehicles vulnerable to theft a decade ago

In Canada, car theft was a major problem before 2010 until engine immobilizers became mandatory since 2007 on all vehicles made in Canada

Then everyone got too comfortable. The regulatory bodies and car manufacturers were too focused pretending doing some work and publishing all the buzzword-of-the-day "accomplishments" they were doing while patting each others backs without explicitely requiring manufacturers to comply/implement immediately anything. Meanwhile, manufacturers were happy to integrate almost off-the-shelf "children's RC" car starter pack obfuscated through invisible/non-existent security and protected under dubious industrial secrets.

Obviously, criminals smelled the easy money. Starting around 2013 — mystery car unlocking device | 2015 — signal repeater car burglary, car thefts by relay attacks were known by automakers but ignored as one-offs, too technical, already dealt with by law enforcement to lets pretent it's not that big of a problem or leave it to the police. Meanwhile, insurance claim replacement vehicles are selling like hotcakes and it is "convenient" to ignore the problem.

The following years various reprogramming theft become known and finally CAN bus injection — new form of keyless car theft that works in under 2 minutes or in depth investigation by Dr. Ken Tindell, becomes so easy, so cheap and widely available that even kids uses them to gain Youtube/TikTok followers.

Car hacking was a becoming serious concern during the pandemic, but now it's simply ridiculous and as if current automaker included/provided anti-theft/GPS tracking were (un)knowingly made "defective".

Hence, everyone is playing catch up and blaming left and right on who is responsible for this in-slow-motion public safety disaster.

Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, which includes Ford Motor Company of Canada, General Motors of Canada and Stellantis, said increasing the risk of prosecution is the most effective way to deter vehicle theft.

"And at the same time, providing more outbound inspection controls at the ports to prevent the flow of stolen vehicles to foreign markets by organized criminal organizations," he added.

New vehicle safety standards have been published (rushed?) recently. We will see if all the panic settles down like after 2007.

Moreover, the exponential prevalence of car theft also laid bare the incredibly poor and ineffective security at the various ports of Canada. Unsurprisingly, it has been a known constant devolution:

The devolution of port authorities in Canada has not been without debate over the past 70 years. This paper provides a brief introduction to the role of ports in Canada and then examines the history of port policy and devolution, concluding that past policies were considered to have failed due to their inability to respond to changing circumstances.

(A partial repost of my same reply for a similar thread about the Canadian Government rushing to look like they are doing something, please check my post history for the other thread)