Notices by Walter van Holst (whvholst@eupolicy.social)

@HerraBRE @rysiek It is fantastic for helping people write in a second or third language, I get told by my migrant partner.

From a comment on Fark.com

"If you look up 88 into a ASCII table you see that it is X. While in the past I'd just say it's a weird coincidence I now have serious doubts about it being a coincidence. "

@je5perl Yes, it was about Tiktok. So the recommendation for using VPNs is even more useless than I already thought.

Am seeing ProtonVPN mentioned to circumvent certain regional bans on certain platforms. Do know that their CEO is aligned with the incoming US regime and that this may not work for platforms disliked by said incoming US regime. See https://archive.ph/McxeT

As far as VPNs go, I would go for MullvadVPN, but in general VPNs fundamentally are a band-aid with their own risks attached.

@bumi @rysiek That the speaker is part of an active group of oligarchs pushing for fascism.

For those who are attending #FOSDEM this year, this link to the lyrics of Bella Ciao might come in handy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_ciao#Partisan_version

@rafi0t @th There is a French taco place in my town as well. Time for American champagne, methinks.

@rafi0t @th But to be fair, Vietnamese baguettes are delicious.

@rafi0t @th Yes, báhn mí, but they are sold as "Vietnamese baguettes" at a Vietnamese place around the corner here.

@rafi0t @th See, there are *upsides* to colonialism 😛

Phrase of the day: "matroshka of unsavoury tech-messiahs" - MB

@glynmoody Given that the USA has elected the second coming of Hitler a second time, I think this all is moot by now.

@glynmoody As if the Chinese wouldn't spread lies and hatred. Tiktok recommends very different in China than outside it.

@pluralistic These are all valid questions. The point still stands that the classic "common carrier" exemption for liability we like to grant to intermediaries has worked best in situations in which the intermediaries did not curate or otherwise touch what they were carrying. And especially social media and other platforms that remove a lot of agency over that curation process by using recommendation engines do not deserve such immunity. /1

@pluralistic To use a (of course flawed) metaphor from the past: we would hold a newspaper liable for libel if there was defamation on part of the newspaper, but would not hold liable the postal service through which that newspaper edition had been distributed. Because we recognised that postal service as a common carrier, whereas the editors and the publisher of that newspaper would not be recognised as such. So the point is less the algorithm, more the curation. /fin

@pluralistic How about "If you algorithmically recommend content you are liable unless you are a search engine"?

Here's a proposal, @signalapp @Mer__edith you stop pestering me with requests to turn on notifications, give me a 'no, never' option instead of 'not now', and I will donate. It doesn't reflect well on your values that currently you are assuming that consent will be given eventually.

@bruces @altbot

@swope @skry No, the rocket is a Falcon 9, but the whole point was that @pluralistic might start having alt-text in the pictures he posts.

@quinn That mostly goes through Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg.