• 0 Posts
  • 421 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: June 13th, 2023
  • frunch@lemmy.worldtoTechnology@lemmy.world•Russia targets WhatsApp and pushes new 'super-app' as internet blackouts growEnglish
    431·
    11 days ago

    This article is worth reading, imo. There’s more going on here than the introduction of the “Max” ‘super-app’. I wasn’t aware of this but Russia has also been subjecting its population to a “digital detox” where Internet blackouts are becoming increasingly common. In some areas the Internet is down most of the time, in others service has returned but is extremely poor compared to before the blackout. Mobile Internet blackouts have been performed claiming without evidence that it’s to disrupt drones coming from Ukraine.

    In some areas this Max ‘super-app’ (which handles banking, communication, and more–and is a direct line for government surveillance) is the only option to do banking or communicate with anybody by phone. This practice is sweeping the country after declaring Meta a terrorist organization, and swiftly eliminating any Meta apps from Russian access including Instagram, Facebook, and the most popular app for communication in Russia: WhatsApp.

    This is fucked on another level and i think we should be paying attention because this is presumably where Trump gets his inspiration and/or his marching orders, so i have a suspicion we’ll see something similar wash up on our shores soon enough.

    I’ve been thinking about this for a while now–a mass, extended Internet disruption would not only screw up communication on a grand scale here, but business would also be tremendously impacted. It’s the next ‘privilege’ for us to have taken away and replaced with an enshittified surrogate, forcing large swaths of people to sign over even more of their autonomy to big brother in exchange to have all the things the Internet has now made possible. Want to be able to easily get navigation on gps? Talk to your friends or family? Pay bills using your bank account? Imagine there was only 1 app that will allow you to do that from now on. I can only imagine how shitty the user experience is on “Max” but i suppose in time i won’t need to–I’ll have a front row seat to try it out here in the comfort of my home one of these days, seeing the direction things appear to be heading in. I mean shit, we’re probably already nearly there and i just don’t realize it yet 🫠

  • frunch@lemmy.worldtoLemmy Shitpost@lemmy.world•meme
    2·
    15 days ago

    Damn, that makes me appreciate the convenience of bottles. I can’t imagine you can simply place a bag of soda on the typical surface without risking a mess (though i suppose there’s probably tech or methods for dealing with it of course)… Def learned something interesting today!

  • frunch@lemmy.worldtoLemmy Shitpost@lemmy.world•Why aren't you creating more workers??
    16·
    23 days ago

    To me, that’s the most disgusting part: they could live the most lavish lifestyle possible and not put a dent in their savings.

    Nobody deserves that kind of wealth, nor should any one person control that much wealth. All those billions they’re sitting on are funds that should have been allocated for better education, healthcare, transportation improvements and upgrades, affordable housing, etc.

  • frunch@lemmy.worldtoTechnology@lemmy.world•TikTok plans to lay off several hundred of their moderation team in the UK in favor of AI content moderationEnglish
    2·
    25 days ago

    I feel like that’s where we’re headed at this point. Major corps have all the tech and all the money. At this point we are seeing every new iteration of consumer tech/electronics costing more, lasting less time, and offering no greater value than previous iterations while sometimes actually taking away features and functionality in the process. They know they are the only game in town now and they only have to offer what they feel is enough to placate their clientele–if they even choose to go that far. People grumble, then they pay.

    AI will replace people in many of these situations and it will suck and be less helpful and very problematic but that’s the best they’re going to offer. If anyone comes along trying to offer anything better they’ll be swiftly dealt with by defeating and/or buying them out. There will probably be like 5 corps that own everything one day (maybe that’s too many–3? 2 perhaps? I just can’t see it being 1 for some reason)