Notices by Dwight Silverman (dsilverman@mastodon.social), page 5

Low-income broadband program low on money, threatening access in Texas

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/broadband-access-texas-rural-areas-18665697.php?sid=5b0231962ddf9c12eaeac904&ss=A&st_rid=ba565903-0389-4060-a5c2-560760d46479&utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_term=&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvYXJ0aWNsZS9icm9hZGJhbmQtYWNjZXNzLXRleGFzLXJ1cmFsLWFyZWFzLTE4NjY1Njk3LnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTcwODA5NTYzNzI4Mw%3D%3D&rid=YmE1NjU5MDMtMDM4OS00MDYwLWE1YzItNTYwNzYwZDQ2NDc5&sharecount=Mg%3D%3D

Partisan gridlock in Washington may claim yet another victim.

Why walking around in public with Vision Pro makes no sense | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/why-walking-around-in-public-with-vision-pro-makes-no-sense/

Also: don’t be a dork.

From the WTAF file:

Not only has Amazon started inserting ads in Prime Video unless you pay extra, but now it won't provide Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos support unless you pay the additional $3/month.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2024/02/11/amazon-prime-videos-new-ads-based-subscription-has-a-surprise/?sh=77751e427cd5

If you are at all curious about what Apple's doing here — even if you don’t use Apple products or even if you're an Apple hater — you should book a demo. It’s the most interesting 30 minutes you can spend, and it costs you nothing but time.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/tech/article/dwight-silverman-apple-vision-pro-demo-18653919.php?sid=5b0231962ddf9c12eaeac904&ss=A&st_rid=ba565903-0389-4060-a5c2-560760d46479&utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_term=news_a&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvdGVjaC9hcnRpY2xlL2R3aWdodC1zaWx2ZXJtYW4tYXBwbGUtdmlzaW9uLXByby1kZW1vLTE4NjUzOTE5LnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTcwNzU2OTM3NzM2Mg%3D%3D&rid=YmE1NjU5MDMtMDM4OS00MDYwLWE1YzItNTYwNzYwZDQ2NDc5&sharecount=MA%3D%3D

By me.

@ianRobinson @WarnerCrocker There are so many, many ways to get around paywalls (though some are pretty impervious) that most articles online are readable. The annoying thing about Apple News+ is that it paywalls a lot of articles that are available for free on the native websites. That’s one reason I won’t pay for it (and I pay for a fair share of online news). It’s kind of a ripoff.

@ianRobinson @WarnerCrocker Agreed. And micropayments would be nifty, but wherever they’ve been tried, they’ve failed.

@liquor_american That’d be oversimplifying it, and what you might think if you’d not experimented with it. It makes the overall experience richer, and in a way, less bubblier.

@liquor_american I am fascinated by the development of all these new platforms and try to be on each one. It’s watching culture grow from scratch, and if you’re at all intellectually curious about how that happens, it’s a opportunity to learn a lot.

@liquor_american To be very clear: Jack Dorsey no longer has anything to do with Bluesky, and has not for a while. There’s a bunch of misinfo out there about that. Twitter funded it initially, but it was spun out as its own entity, and he washed his hands of it. In fact, he’s not on the platform and has expressed disapproval of the direction it’s taken.

Which, given your point of view, may be a reason to try it!

Twitter alternative Bluesky shows off custom Super Bowl feeds (both with and without Taylor Swift) | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/09/twitter-alternative-bluesky-shows-off-custom-super-bowl-feeds-both-with-and-without-taylor-swift/

The roll-your-own algorithm is a great idea, and it’s one reason I keep visiting Bluesky.

Google Search officially retires cache link

https://searchengineland.com/google-search-officially-retires-cache-link-437122

If you love it, Google will kill it.

@thomasfuchs Uh, that was a very different CEO, a very different time, and a very different Microsoft, frankly. You can be skeptical, but also be fair.

Yes, Hulu is cracking down on password sharing, too | Digital Trends https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/hulu-password-sharing-crackdown/

Et tu, Hulu?

Recapturing early internet whimsy with HTML | MIT Technology Review

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/12/21/1084525/internet-whimsy-html-energy/

Modern forms of coding make most websites feel like commercial transactions. The HTML energy movement aims to bring back the joys of the early days

Where to find Houston's most beloved shop cats, from cafes and bars to a car wash https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/houston-shop-cats-18509095.php

#hounews

My occasional reminder for those Mastodonians complaining about a lack of quote-posting: You CAN quote-post using many third-party Mastodon apps, including some web apps, and do so quite effectively.

Which is one of the benefits of a robust third-party app ecosystem. Don’t wait for the official version to get around to adopting the features you and others need. Explore and adopt accordingly.

Coca-Cola launches beverage created with the help of artificial intelligence | Food Dive https://www.fooddive.com/news/soda-artificial-intelligence-AI-coca-cola-launches-beverage-AB-InBev/692912/

@fediversereport @ernie Interesting about Phanpy. It’s so minimalist as to be annoying, for me at least. I need more buttons to push!

@ernie Pinafore is pretty nice.

@ernie I’m collecting web apps for Mastodon. I know about Elk and Phanpy. Know of any others?