Notices by Ian Betteridge (ianbetteridge@writing.exchange), page 3

If you want to start the day with something brilliant but depressing, I have just the thing.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2024/2/1/24056883/tiktok-self-promotion-artist-career-how-to-build-following

One of the greatest tricks capitalism pulls is the myth that if a service is run privately it magically becomes so efficient that not only is it a better service for customers, it can generate enough for a tax we call “dividends” going to shareholders. Well, we don’t get the efficiencies - but they get dividends anyway.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/01/royal-mail-killed-lying-politicians-lousy-managers-ruthless-moneymen

No.

@BethanyBlack My time on it has massively tailed off over the past few weeks. There are a few people who are only on there, and some brands and companies I want to follow, but ironically the algorithm almost never shows me content I want to read. Instead it’s just endless bilge.

@BethanyBlack Oh god it’s dreadful isn’t it?

Incredible, insulting to its customers, and undermining the potential of the iPad as a computer. Oh and just one more thing that is likely to lead to a whole rain of shit coming down on Apple’s head. The last time I saw whiny teenager behaviour from anyone this bad it was from Donald Trump. Are there any grown ups left in Cupertino? https://mastodon.social/@terhechte/111824962851598832

Top marks to The Register for this subhead.

I think this might actually be the worst case of malicious compliance I have ever seen, in over 20 years of writing about antitrust and technology companies.

https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/25/apple-says-third-party-app-marketplace-creators-must-have-e1000000-letter-of-credit/

Gotta love her.

https://variety.com/2024/biz/columns/anne-hathaway-conde-nast-vanity-fair-walkout-photoshoot-1235883668/

@goatsarah @neil Anyone willing to do this is well worth a follow.

This is fine.

https://theintercept.com/2024/01/12/open-ai-military-ban-chatgpt/

I'm finally giving Arc another shake, and this time round I like it a lot more.

Alas poor Titanium…

https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/10/linux_kernel_67/

OpenAI claiming they couldn't operate if they had to pay creators for content they use is almost hilarious, until you remember that they can't operate without a massive subsidy from Microsoft either.

It's almost as if this is a land grab to create a monopoly, rather than an actual business that could be profitable in a competitive market.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/08/ai-tools-chatgpt-copyrighted-material-openai

New ChatGPT feature! A dial that lets you increase the racism!

@maxzor @arossp While I would encourage everyone to use alt text, your request that Aaron use a content warning is completely inappropriate. Content warnings are an incredibly useful tool for flagging content which may be offensive. They are not there so that you can implement an "I don't want to see content about Substack". Mastodon has tools to let you filter out posts with specific words, and I suggest you use them.

If you are ever called to jury service, always remember that in the UK the jury is entitled to bring in what's called a “perverse verdict”: accepting that the accused committed the crime, but finding them not guilty anyway.

The government hates juries knowing this.

https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/12/23/12-not-guilty-verdicts-for-elbit-8/

Why do I say governments hate this? Because they're prepared to imprison people who tell juries about that right.

https://goodlawproject.org/trudi-warner-climate-jury-facing-prison/

If there is one thing I can't stand, it is people on here who tell others posting about topics they're not interested in to “use a content warning”. Mate, if you would rather not see posts about Substack, or any other topic, YOU CAN FILTER OUT POSTS.

CW's are extremely valuable for handling sensitive topics, particularly ones which affect minorities. They're not there to act as filters for stuff you just don't like. And by demanding that people use them like that, you undermine their value.

@mastodonmigration It is really easy -- moving my posts and subscriber list took 20 minutes. The one area that's less easy is dealing with paid subscribers. You can identify them easily enough, and you can comp them in on WP for as long as their subscription lasts, but they will all need to reauthorise payments through Stripe. That means you will get drop-off and lose income, which can make life hard for creators who rely on it for the bulk of their money.