mastodon - Link to source

This has to be some AI bullshit recommendations. I’m browsing spoken.io. Not really looking for anything in particular. I tap a coffee grinder (first image). I scroll down. I see “looking for something similar?” and it’s a bunch of products whose product photo is a black monolith on a light background:
- an indoor trash can
- an outdoor trash can (the size of a barrel)
- a cylindrical light fixture that I could mount on the wall
- a nightstand table that is vaguely similar in shape

It’s the most absurd way to calculate “something similar” It’s hard to get this stupid with natural intelligence. You have to augment human stupidity with computer stupidity to get this stupid.

Screenshot of a product page at spoken dot I o. It’s a black coffee grinder facing forward against a white background. It’s almost a featureless black rectangle except some lines that clearly mark like ground size.
Screenshot of the same listing, further down the page. It says “you may also like” and then “looking for something similar? Check out these products.” There’s an indoor trashcan, an out door trash can, an outdoor light fixture, and a nightstand. They’re all black monoliths against a black background.
in reply to Matt C

mastodon - Link to source

Paco Hope wishes ill for JK Rowling

@mkc Using product image similarity to find “similar products”—without also using some other metadata like category, size, or product name to exclude bad matches? It seems obviously broken.

Someone paid to have this implemented. If so few people click it, why do it at all?

Lots of people have pointed out that there’s no reason this needs to be AI. That’s true. It’s just the first explanation I reached for.

@feld

@Matt C @feld
in reply to Paco Hope wishes ill for JK Rowling

pleroma - Link to source

feld

> without also using some other metadata like category, size, or product name to exclude bad matches? It seems obviously broken.

Unfortunately this is our future. The cost to accurately attach this metadata is too high. It would require manual human intervention considering that they're just scraping the web to even find these images using, presumably, reverse image search tools.

The days of neatly categorized items in a database are pretty much over unless you're a giant corporation that can afford to do it right. If you're a startup? You're just going to rely on any AL/ML tools you can and hope for the best.

mastodon - Link to source

NVDA 2025.3 Beta 1 is available for testing! Improvements to Remote Access, SAPI5, Braille, Add-on Store, and more! Read the full update and downloaad from: nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-3b…

#NVDA #NVDAsr #ScreenReader #Accessibility #Testing #Beta #PreRelease #News #Update

NV Access | NVDA 2025.3beta1 available for testing

www.nvaccess.org
#Accessibility #screenreader #nvdasr #News #testing #update #nvda #beta #prerelease

mastodon - Link to source

Welcome to the RB family, Prism File Explorer 🥳

apt.izzysoft.de/packages/com.r…

Prism File Explorer is a modern, feature-rich, and lightweight file manager for Android, delivering a seamless file management experience with a beautiful Material Design interface. Thanks to the efforts taken by its developer (and now using CI to build it), the app is now reproducible.

#reproducibleBuilds #IzzyOnDroid


„Prism File Explorer“ – IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repository

full-featured and lightweight file managing app
IzzyOnDroid Repo Browser
#reproduciblebuilds #izzyondroid

mastodon - Link to source

Is Germany on the Brink of Banning Ad Blockers? User Freedom, Privacy, and Security Is At Risk.

blog.mozilla.org/netpolicy/202…

Remember Axel Spinger is that Springer that basically publish AI generated scientific books and paywall science. He is right there next to Xelon, Bezos and Zuck. And the others. And if I believed in hell I'd wish him to rot there.


Is Germany on the Brink of Banning Ad Blockers? User Freedom, Privacy, and Security Is At Risk. - Open Policy & Advocacy

Across the internet, users rely on browsers and extensions to shape how they experience the web: to protect their privacy, improve accessibility, block harmful or intrusive content, and take control ...
Daniel Nazer (Open Policy & Advocacy)

mastodon - Link to source
Hey Mastodon, I need your help! Any #arabic or #polish learners who would be interested in testing out my new #languagelearning app? You'd get a lifetime access, and if you want, you let me know if you have any suggestions or see any bugs. The content is 100% human-made. The app has vocabulary, easy stories and SRS-based reviews (for all the #Anki fans out there). I programmed it myself, and I put my heart (and savings ;)) into it. Any help would go a long way.
Thank you so much! :)
#fedihelp
#fedihelp #polish #arabic #LanguageLearning #anki
in reply to André Polykanine

mastodon - Link to source

Gos Salsitxa

@menelion Hi Andre! I indeed have no experience with accessibility, and I'd really welcome your help. Right now the app is at a very early stage and unfortunately I don't have any capacity for it, but once I put out all the fires, and if that's okay for you, I'd reach out again. The app is heavily audio based and I think it might be a nice resource for visually impaired people. Thank you so much!
Oh, and I'm working with a webview based app.
@André Polykanine

mastodon - Link to source
Hier ma femme et moi avons visité le couvent au Mont St.-Odile. Je recommande vivement : un lieu tranquille, extrêmement beau, avec un air frais aux arômes d'arbres et herbes, possibilités de hiking ou simple marche. Un lieu où j'ai eu envi de rester quelques jours en détox digital, sans téléphones ni ordinateurs, juste à contempler la nature et redémarrer mes pensées.
Pour ceux et celles comme nous, n'ayant pas de voiture (ou autre transport privé), le bus 257 part de l'arrêt Les Halles à #Strasbourg en passant par Geispolsheim, #Obernai, Bœrsch, Ottrott et deux ou trois autres places. #Alsace
#strasbourg #alsace #obernai

glitchsoc - Link to source

A reminder here that arbitration always favours the abuser -- which, in the case of a corporate/individual dispute, is almost invariably the corporation.

Background: Air Canada decided to skirt labour laws by saying that flight attendants aren't on the clock until the plane leaves the runway. This, combined with the fact that the contractual pay did not keep up with inflation, has led to a strike against the company, well-known for being abusive and dismissive towards employees and customers alike.

12 hours after the strike began, the Liberal government, known well for sucking off Air Canada's fuel line, declared that forced arbitration would need to be done.

The union saw that arbitration would, by its nature, favour Air Canada and fuck over their members, and said, 'No.' So good on them.

To those who've had their flights cancelled by Air Canada, remember that they legally have to reimburse you for a flight on another airline unless you accept another option, so don't accept a refund when the replacement might be more expensive.

cbc.ca/news/canada/air-canada-…

This entry was edited (2 months ago)

hometown - Link to source

As humans get older, their hair slowly loses pigmentation, becoming grey and then finally white.

This behavior is shared by common printers, which suggests it evolved before the last common ancestors of humans and printers diverged. However, humans do not possess replaceable pigment cartridges, indicating this trait evolved after the split. In this paper I will...

mastodon - Link to source
Je donne une TV LCD pas tout à fait neuve, puisqu'il s'agit d'une Acer AT3235
720p /32"/2 ports HDMI/1 entrée VGA/sortie audio composite et ....2 prises SCART (pratique pour brancher votre magnétoscope ! )
J'avais mis une annonce sur Le bon coin mais faut croire que personne ne veut plus payer pour ça 😄 A récupèrer à Illkirch centre.
Pour les détails, contactez-moi en privé.
Edit : elle a trouvé preneur !
#don #strasbourg
Ma vieille télé ACER et la télécommande.
#strasbourg #don
This entry was edited (2 months ago)

mastodon - Link to source
Welcome xfangfang as #curl commit author 1405: github.com/curl/curl/pull/1829…

cookie: remove expired cookies before listing by xfangfang · Pull Request #18299 · curl/curl

If the cookie returned by the server is expired, curl_easy_getinfo(curl, CURLINFO_COOKIELIST, &cookies) will still retrieve one expired cookie(Only the last one). Below is the test code: server...
GitHub
#curl
in reply to Fiona

mastodon - Link to source

Pietervdvn

Glad you enjoyed it. Will do another dancing workshop next year.

I've also read your section on alcohol with great interest. I can handle seeing alcohol, but don't drink that and would hope that society can leave it behind one day. And I've had negative reactions on not drinking before in the youth movement, as if someone who doesn't drink should be 'fixed' by learning them to drink (which I found very rude)

mastodon - Link to source
We are impressed with the new fightchatcontrol.eu/ website, and the way it provides all the info needed to engage in distributed diverse action to prevent the EU from preparing the ground for, or sliding into, authoritarianism by breaking end-to-end encryption for everyone. Germany and France are particularly important to engage with and we'll see what we can do from our circles. We don't know the people behind @chatcontrol but big kudos!
#chatcontrol

Fight Chat Control - Protect Digital Privacy in the EU

Learn about the EU Chat Control proposal and contact your representatives to protect digital privacy and encryption.
fightchatcontrol.eu
#chatcontrol @Fight Chat Control
This entry was edited (3 months ago)

pleroma - Link to source
Why can't there be decent furniture stores anymore. It's all crazy rich people garbage that nobody should be buying in the first place (how the fuck is that bookshelf $4000?) or you're forced to buy online now and pray that you don't get ripped off because you couldn't actually inspect the product and it's a nightmare to think about shipping back
in reply to Ann Annas

mastodon - Link to source

Bradley M. Kühn

Criminals can — with easily acquired components — construct weapons more deadly than the foot-long hogies that @Ananas would outlaw.

Militants today buy French loaves anonymously on the open market. In nary a week, these become hard enough to cause serious bruising.

& consider the biological weapons they construct from moldy provolone!

Anyway, delis already have waiting periods before purchase. (Haven't you seen the little numbered tickets?)

🙃
Cc: @StefanThinks @Urban_Hermit
@kevin @jbqueru

@Kevin P. Fleming @Urban Hermit @count stefancula 🦇 @Ann Annas @Jean-Baptiste "JBQ" Quéru
This entry was edited (2 months ago)

mastodon - Link to source
So apparently humans can now be downloaded. What I tried to send to the moderation server of a Reddit community. I am helping to moderate in response to a bunch of users, causing drama over somebody not liking their posts, if I complained every time I was down voted, I would have a lot to complain about. What dictation heard, if I complained every time somebody downloaded me, I would have a lot to complain about.

mastodon - Link to source

Ook deze week kwamen activisten terug naar de Burg in #Brugge om krijtboodschappen aan te brengen tegen de genocide. #stopgenocide #freepalestine #freedomofpress

uitgezonderd.org/week-7-van-he…


Week 7 van het “Krijtprotest” vraagt aandacht voor vermoorde journalisten in Palestina

Sinds het begin van juli wordt op de Burg in Brugge, door middel van krijtboodschappen, geprotesteerd tegen de genocide op het Palestijnse volk. Vandaag, 17 augustus vormde daar geen uitzondering …
uitgezonderd.org
#brugge #freepalestine #StopGenocide #freedomofpress

mastodon - Link to source

What can be done about London's overheating homes?

Andre says he saves a lot on heating in the winter
As a musician, Andre Louis works a lot at his home in Kilburn and in summer, despite having numerous fans placed around the rooms, he says it gets unbearably hot.
"The way that these places are built, they are built for warmth, but that means that in heat, it is doubly warm," he explains.
"We don't turn the heating on in the winter, for example. We haven't done in about eight years. In that time, we've actually saved a lot of money by not having to turn the heating on.
"But because these places don't come with air conditioning, we find that anything we do to mitigate doesn't help."

Source: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clydlx…


City living: What can be done about London's overheating homes?

The city's concrete jungle means it is now considered one of the world's most extreme urban heat islands
Alice Bhandhukravi (BBC News)
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