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2023-06-13

Non.io, a Reddit-like platform Ive been working on for the last 4 years

  • Non.io is a Reddit-like platform with an optional subscription.
  • Users can browse for free, but can interact for just $2/month.
  • Each post upvoted gets an even share from the user's subscription pool, which is split at the end of the month.

Industry Reactions

  • Non.io is a new Reddit-like platform that requires users to pay a minimum of $2 per month, but offers upvoting that will be split equally with other upvoted content.
  • Discussions on incentivizing high-quality content and moderation are ongoing as Non.io offers monetary rewards for popular posts.
  • The platform needs improvement on mobile usability and homepage design while competing with Reddit for monetizing its platform.

Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

  • Reddit is currently conducting an experiment that has disabled the logged-in mobile web experience for some users.
  • Affected users can access the site by logging on via desktop or the mobile app, or wait for the experiment to end.
  • Users are frustrated with the change and have provided feedback, stating that it is a toxic and unwelcomed change that may drive them away from the site.

Industry Reactions

  • Reddit's decision to force mobile browser users into their app is criticized for prioritizing company interests over users' privacy and control. In-app browsers can be tracked and injected with javascript.
  • Reddit's motive behind the decision is to attract more users to their app and increase revenue, advertising revenue, and push notifications while gathering more data and bypassing ad-blockers.
  • Users share their frustrations with pop-up ads and redesigned apps and suggest using alternative versions, extensions, or alternative apps like ReVanced for a better user experience.

Edge sends images you view online to Microsoft

  • The new version of the Microsoft Edge browser allows Microsoft to collect data about the images you view online
  • This feature is turned on by default and cannot be disabled in the browser settings
  • Microsoft claims this allows them to improve their services and provide better recommendations to users.

Industry Reactions

  • Edge browser by Microsoft sends images viewed online to Microsoft for "super resolution", raising privacy concerns and potential for false detail and hallucinations
  • Users criticize Microsoft's culture and past spying concerns, questioning their trustworthiness and disregard for user privacy
  • Discussion veers into concerns about Microsoft's ownership of tech companies, video game clones, FOSS alternatives, and debates about the security and trustworthiness of different web browsers.

Reddit.com appears to be having an outage- Reddit.com experienced an outage that lasted for several hours, resulting in users being unable to access the site.

  • The cause of the outage is still unknown, although Reddit's status page stated that the company was investigating the issue and working on a fix.
  • This is not the first time that Reddit has experienced an outage, with previous incidents occurring in 2020 and 2019.

Industry Reactions

  • Reddit is experiencing an outage, likely caused by the high number of closed private subreddits and increased traffic to a system that usually doesn't handle a lot of requests.
  • The outage may be made worse by Reddit operating with a skeleton crew due to COVID-19.
  • The article also contains discussions on free speech, platform moderation, and Steve Huffman's past controversial actions as CEO.

Alternatives to Reddit- A user on Hacker News asked for alternatives to Reddit- Several users suggested different platforms such as Mastodon, Voat, and SaidIt- Some users also mentioned the need for decentralized platforms and the importance of supporting open-source alternatives. Industry Reactions

  • Hacker News users discuss alternatives to Reddit due to low-quality meme and spam content in some subreddits.
  • Reddit's "New Reddit" layout is criticized for poor commenting and prioritizing mass social media and memes over community discussion.
  • Suggestions include personal AI filters and sub-subreddits for serious discussions, while the Fediverse/ActivityPub world offers several alternatives to Reddit such as Kbin, Lemmy, and Brutalinks that focus on moderation.

Fark redesign is now live (2007)

  • Fark site redesign is now live
  • Users post mixed reactions to the new design
  • Some users prefer the old design and request an option to switch between the old and new designs.

Industry Reactions

  • Fark website's redesign prompts discussion on the impact of redesigns on user experience and potential user loss.
  • Mastodon's well-developed platform accommodates new users and offers an alternative to Twitter and Reddit.
  • Reddit's redesign criticized for being user-hostile and leading to a decline in quality and relevance, suggesting a need for a new paradigm in social media.

The concurrence of three climatic events

  • Three significant climate events are happening simultaneously worldwide.
  • Antarctic sea-ice extent continues to decline, setting record lows almost every day.
  • Global 2-meter surface temperatures surpassed the 1.5°C barrier for three consecutive days, acting as a benchmark for the planet's inevitable future.
  • The world's oceans, particularly the North Atlantic, have unprecedented and alarming temperature spikes, leading to worldwide concern.
  • The International Maritime Organization's move to reduce sulfur content in shipping fuels, ushering in "termination shock," may contribute to the rapid ocean heat.
  • The combination of open ocean in the Antarctic, El Niño, IMO 2020, and years of EEI heat have produced this unprecedented occurrence.
  • The events of the next two years are a prelude to the world passing the Paris 1.5°C barrier, with catastrophic repercussions for global civilization.

Industry Reactions

  • There is debate on the severity and urgency of climate change and actions needed to be taken
  • Mismanagement of forests has contributed to increased severity and frequency of wildfires in multiple countries
  • The potential impact of the absence of dust from Sahara and how the greening of Sahara will affect the climate are discussed

Video to video with Stable Diffusion

  • The article provides step-by-step guides for advanced video editing techniques using Stable Diffusion, a deep-learning-based video editing tool.
  • The methods covered include ControlNet-M2M, ControlNet img2img, mov2mov extension, SD-CN animation extension, and Temporal Kit.
  • Each method is explained in detail with tips for best results, including samples of videos and variations using multiple ControlNets, deflickering, and post-processing.

Industry Reactions

  • Users suggest affordable hardware solutions for AI-focused graphics cards, such as used Xeon-based workstations and open-case designs
  • AI animation may become a nostalgic art form with progress made in fixing temporal inconsistencies, but concerns raised about specificity in resultant frames and cost of running
  • Stable diffusion in photo mode used to create cartoon filter applied frame by frame, with tradeoffs in coherency, but advantage in configurable mixing and matching of tools

US Patent Office proposes rule to make it much harder to kill bad patents](https://www.techdirt.com/2023/06/08/us-patent-office-proposes-rule-to-make-it-much-harder-to-kill-bad-patents/)

Industry Reactions

  • US Patent Office has proposed a new rule to make it harder to kill bad patents, which is concerning for experts
  • Inter Partes Review (IPR) process is vulnerable to exploitation, leading to abuse from lawyers and trolls
  • Critics of the proposed rule argue it favors patent holders and makes patents difficult to overcome, creating resistance for innovation and technology advancements.

The US government is buying troves of data about Americans

  • The US government has been stockpiling a large amount of sensitive and intimate information on its citizens, as revealed in a declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
  • The government effort to accumulate data on Americans is described as a nightmare scenario for privacy defenders as it flouts the law and buys information that Congress and the Supreme Court have made clear the government should not have.
  • The report warns that this mountain of data could be turned against Americans to facilitate blackmail, stalking, harassment, and public shaming, and the unfettered access of all this information can quickly increase the government's power to peer into private lives exceeding their constitutional traditions or other social expectations.

Industry Reactions

  • US government agencies are purchasing data about citizens from data brokers, raising concerns about potential misuse and lack of oversight and protections.
  • Some propose restricting the collection and acquisition of personal data and implementing better privacy laws.
  • Others raise historical examples of governments misusing collected data and suggest updating laws to prohibit the sale of personal information.