RE: mastodon.social/@Gargron/11573…

I'll elaborate. I believe we're in an AI bubble. AI companies are pushing the overton window on AI discourse. They want the most extreme anti-AI sentiment to be "Sure, it's an overhyped technology right now but there will be reasonable applications down the road". I want to see pushback on this. It doesn't matter if I can disable some AI feature in the settings. The fact that Mozilla is jumping on this bandwagon is deeply disappointing to me.

Eugen Rochko

2025-12-17 23:24:01

I've finally switched to the @Vivaldi browser. I've been using Firefox for as long as I've been on the internet, but the focus on AI means it's no longer the browser for me. Thankfully unlike Chrome, Vivaldi supports the uBlock Origin extension which is the most important extension for being able to browse the web nowadays.

RE: mastodon.social/@Gargron/11573…

Always good when Firefox makes people to use Chromium/Blink browsers. 🤷‍♂️

Eugen Rochko

2025-12-17 23:24:01

I've finally switched to the @Vivaldi browser. I've been using Firefox for as long as I've been on the internet, but the focus on AI means it's no longer the browser for me. Thankfully unlike Chrome, Vivaldi supports the uBlock Origin extension which is the most important extension for being able to browse the web nowadays.

The European Commission lost the Chat Control 2.0 battle over access to end-to-end encrypted data. By the summer 2026, they will be back with their next attempt: Going Dark. This time some EU member states want to include VPN services.

The Going Dark initiative, or ProtectEU as the Commission now calls it, wants to “enable law enforcement authorities to access encrypted data in a lawful manner”. This is a Chat Control 3.0 attempt.

#Mozilla choosing to kill embeddable Gecko (make it a #Firefox only engine, essentially) over a decade ago was such a tragic mistake.

Alternative browsers & desktop apps had no choice but to go with WebKit or Blink/Electron.

As a result, Mozilla have nobody to blame but themselves for their minuscule marketshare and nil developer mindshare today.

Further readings:
* lwn.net/Articles/436412/ (circa 2011)
* chrislord.net/2016/02/24/the-c… from @Cwiiis
* dutherenverseauborddelatable.w… from @Yoric

#OpenWeb

The Gecko monoculture

I remember a time, not so very long ago, when Gecko powered 4 or 5 non-Mozilla browsers, some of them on exotic platforms, as well as GPS devices, wysiwyg editors, geographic platforms, email clien…

^{Il y a du thé renversé au bord de la table}

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We'll be at FOSDEM, and we have updates for you!

1. Excellent mentors signed up to our hackathon to help newcomers get started on Matrix
2. We have a booth with a solid team to staff it, but you can join the fun and help us
3. The Decentralised Communications Devroom we coordinate now has a schedule

Find all the details on our blog!

matrix.org/blog/2025/12/fosdem…

FOSDEM Update

Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communications

^{Thib (matrix.org)}

To all the other "computer people" going to see family during the holidays:

When they complain about their iPhone being messed up, the option you're looking for this year is "reduce transparency" under accessibility settings.

You're welcome in advance.

Eine Gruppe JournalistInnen hat kreativ mehrfach einen Claude-gesteuerten Snack-Automaten überredet, die Ware zu verschenken. Vielleicht ja auch schön, dass wir jetzt mit natürlicher Sprache hacken können. 🤷🏻‍♂️

golem.de/news/claude-agent-ki-…

“India Street Lettering, the new book by type designer and lettering artist Pooja Saxena, is a warm, thoughtful look at the signs that quietly shape India’s streets... It’s part archive, part love letter, and a deeply satisfying record of India’s everyday typography.”

Beaming about the book being featured in The Nod’s fortnightly roundup of unmissable cultural finds thenodmag.com/content/nod-list…

@blaft

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So so so so bored at work but at least I'm sexy

There are two types of software devs in December end:
1. Those who respect the Code Freeze.
2. Those who spend Christmas Eve or rest of the holidays stuck in their childhood room, trying to SSH into a production server over their parents' ADSL while their better half stares stares at them with pure annoyance from the hallway.

Which one are you gonna be? 🤔

Every single question (except for one) that my coworkers have asked me since they started testing the new system has been answered by:

"This is in the guide, here:"

Version 1.1.0 of #Paylino, my accessible bill scanning and splitting app, has just been released on the App Store with the following new features and improvements:

• Tip Your Way — Each guest can now choose their own, individual tip percentage when splitting a bill, making fair paying even more flexible.
• Even smarter Bill Splitting — Paylino now guides you through the splitting process with helpful prompts, showing exactly how many items still need to be assigned before you can view totals.
• Various performance and stability improvements throughout the app.

If you'd like to check it out, the following link will take you directly to the App Store page: apps.apple.com/de/app/paylino/…
#iOS #iOSDev #IndieDev #Accessibility #AccessibleDesign

Paylino‑App – App Store

Lade Paylino von Subsspot GmbH im App Store herunter. Sieh dir Screenshots, Bewertungen und Rezensionen, Benutzertipps und weitere Spiele wie Paylino an.

^{App Store}

TikTok Deal Done And It’s Somehow The Shittiest Possible Outcome, Making Everything Worse

techdirt.com/2025/12/19/tiktok…

TikTok Deal Done And It’s Somehow The Shittiest Possible Outcome, Making Everything Worse

There were rumblings about this for a while, but it looks like the Trump TikTok deal is done, and it’s somehow the worst of all possible outcomes, amazingly making all of the biggest criticis…

^Techdirt

@adguard I knew I liked you guys for a reason. So cool, thank you! AdGuard VPN for Windows v2.8: Now with accessibility support
December 18, 2025
We’re excited to bring you a new version of AdGuard VPN for Windows — one that meaningfully improves comfort, usability, and inclusivity. With this release, we’re taking an important step toward making AdGuard VPN easier to use for everyone, including people who rely on assistive technologies.

Accessibility support
This version introduces a range of accessibility enhancements across key parts of the app. The home screen, authorization flow, and onboarding experience now support screen readers, offering clear and accurate descriptions of icons, buttons, and interactive elements. These improvements help make navigation more intuitive and seamless.

Accessibility is an ongoing commitment for us, and we’ll continue improving AdGuard VPN to ensure it’s comfortable for all users, regardless of device, experience level, or abilities.

You say — we do
Thank you for staying with us. As always, if you have suggestions or any requests, feel free to share them on social media or on GitHub! Your feedback helps shape the future of AdGuard VPN.

Just wait until these guys learn about how companies like Apple buy future years worth of hardware and fab time for stuff that hasn't been sold yet or doesn't even exist

Or I don't know, the entire concept of futures contracts. Did you know they've even proposed the idea of organ futures for human organs ?
RT: mastodon.social/users/mhoye/st…

mhoye

2025-12-18 21:39:06

To spell this out clearly, the reason RAM has quadrupled in price is that a huge quantity of RAM that hasn't been produced yet has been bought with money that doesn't exist to populate GPUs that also haven't been produced to go in datacenters that haven't been built powered by infrastructure that may never exist to meet a demand that doesn't exist at all to make profit margins that mathematically can't exist while economists talk about this thing they call the "rational markets hypothesis".

What’s really amazing about vibe-coding is how people are replacing programming languages which are strictly deterministic with human speech which is highly ambiguous and expect programming to be faster and better.

“Well only use it when you’re already an expert!”

None of the people starting their careers using this technology are experts yet, nor will the ever be.

And within some finite amount of time nether will you, the expert, be an expert anymore.

Törmäsin Linkkarissa uuteen, kotimaiseen äänikirjapalveluun, josta voi ostaa kirjoja yksittäiskappaleina. He lisäksi lupaavat reilumpaa korvausta tekijöille. Toistaiseksi vain Aviadorin ja Aula & co teoksia tarjolla, mutta mielenkiinnolla seuraan, miten tämä lähtee kehittymään. 🤔

#kirjamastodon #kirjailijanelämää #äänikirja
kuulokuva.com/blogs/news/aanik…

Äänikirjat kappalemyyntiin – Kuulokuva takaa tekijöille reilun korvauksen

Lukuaikapalvelut ovat pienentäneet kirjailijoiden tuloja, joten Kuulokuva tarjoaa vastavoiman: äänikirjojen kappalemyynnin. Kuulokuvassa äänikirjat tuottavat yhtä hyvin kuin paperikirjat. Kuulokuva laajentuu kustantamosta äänikirjakaupaksi.

^{Sami Kuusela (Kuulokuva)}

Short and succinct, @neil lays down the incredible danger of the UK's current political talk about "banning under 16y olds" from using online services.

UK's "age assurance" is similar to #chatcontrol 's "age verification" plans: the end of privacy when using online services. Basically policing everywhere demanding "show me your passport!" before you can cross the street to a web shop or forum.

decoded.legal/blog/2025/12/a-p…

A proposed legislative amendment to attempt to ban under 16s in the UK from common messaging services, sharing family photos, using Wikipedia, and doing much else online, by imposing age assurance on everyone

Earlier this week, I wrote about a proposed legislative amendment to attempt to compel VPN services providers to prevent anyone under 18 in the UK from using their VPNs.

^{decoded.legal}

Hegseth disappointed Sexual Assault Training only covers prevention

duffelblog.com/hegseth-disappo…

Hegseth disappointed Sexual Assault Training only covers prevention

Defense Secretary allegedly confused training for a ‘how-to’ seminar.

^{Red Friday (Duffel Blog)}

HN elitists: omg FreeBSD is so retarded I can't believe this exploit existed what kind of idiot still uses shell scripts for stuff this important

Oh I don't know, like everybody??

Yeah FreeBSD manages resolv.conf changes using shell scripts from a BSD licensed project called openresolv

But Debian does the same goddamn thing with their version of it called resolvconf: salsa.debian.org/debian/resolv…

Debian / resolvconf · GitLab

Debian Salsa Gitlab

^GitLab

Planespotting is wildlife photography of the common man. 📷 🛬

#Photography #Planespotting #Spotting #Aircraft #AircraftSpotting #CGN