Recent posts

#1

Off the Record / Re: Elon Musk: Always A Douche

Last post by Darth Wagtaros - Today at 01:23:08 PM

I can understand not entirely trusting these big media companies but I am not sure the answer is always "just find somebody else to blindly trust" that right wing commentators always seem to go with.

That sounds like Marxist talk to me Valms.  You Do Your Own Research and will almost always find that the truth is the one that you already suspected and happens to align precicley with your political views.

#2

Off the Record / Re: Elon Musk: Always A Douche

Last post by Zanza - Today at 01:10:54 PM

Surprised that Welt publishes this. Ulf Poschardt seems to be a Trumpist.

#3

Gaming HQ / Re: Victoria 3

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 12:16:58 PM

Yeah ironically Austria feels more stable than ever despite the dozen or so cultural political movements.

That seems accurate for most of the period

#4

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 12:16:15 PM

You built an empire, and then decided nothing else must be built. Ever.

In all seriousness I do find this striking when there's been some decisions to block projects because of the impact on Victorian built heritage. Because they're a complex bunch, but I can't imagine a society more indifferent to the claims of the past on the present than the Victorians (albeit normally creating something radically, violently new and dressing it up in Medieval costume). They tore anything down if necessary to build a railway, that viaduct, that reservoir etc - which shapes why we have the cities we do to this day. On the one hand that spirit (which I think carries on into the early-to-mid twentieth century of building the future) is why we've now ended up so restricted, but on the other I sort of admire it and think we've maybe swung a bit too far.

#5

Off the Record / Re: Elon Musk: Always A Douche

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 12:11:55 PM

Having editorial staff write the headline is not new.  It has always had to be eye catching.  The change is that now every single article needs to attract clicks.  Back in the day the whole paper just needed to be sold.

Yeah - but also digital is different than print and I think we've only just started to scratch the surface of that. I've heard a guy who's been at the Guardian and led their digital innovation and experiments over the last 20 years talk about this.

Because he started (and the way they look at "clicks" started) because they wanted to understand headlines - in particular the previous, traditional model had been to just cut and paste the print headline onto the website. I think within a month of measuring it and experimenting they were able to make the case for why they needed specific digital subs because it's not the same. Similarly I think the data and visualisation stuff that's started in digital editions in the last 5-10 years is incredible, but also only the beginning of what digital news will be/look like. Sadly very few news organisations have the spare cash to actually invest and play around with it.

The ones that do are massive with successful paywalls like the NYT and/or massive corporate subscription bases like the FT (plus, in the case of the FT, an admirable pitch to advertisers: "literally all our readers are high earners" ).

I think it's leading to a divergence of local news getting worse and worse because it's driven by clicks for the worst, most intrusive, most disruptive online advertising rather than a paywall, while the best journalism is being read by fewer people because the only business model that works (so far) is a paywall.

That could still work if enough people subscribed to newspapers in digital form.  But people like getting their "news" from social media.

Also not everyone can afford a paywall - especially if you're interested in multiple perspectives. And the winners are winning very big in a way that's not healthy - I saw that 10% of journalists employed in America are employed by the NYT. Separately I think CNN is now planning to go behind a paywall. Especially because subscribing was always a niche interest many people would just pick up a paper on the day and it's why headlines mattered. Now with paywalls there's not even necessarily a digital version of the rack in the newsagents so you can't necessarily see what all the papers are covering and how before buying because they're (often - not always) behind a paywall). I think experiments on different commercial models is needed.

I think this is the biggest impact of the platforms (social media but also Apple and Google) is that they destroyed the business model of the free online press (with a few exceptions). People talk about social media's role and the rise of disinformation - and I think there is something to that - but it also coincides with the rise of paywalls. I get the business reasoning for paywalls, but I basically think good drives out the bad and the fact that much good information (and certainly multiple perspectives) is behind monthly subscription costs is not a good thing socially.

Also (again often powered by the platforms), advertising agencies absolutely hate anything remotely worrying from a "brand safety" perspective. And in the old days you sell advertising in the newspaper and basically all that you can control is whether you're in the first half (more expensive) or back half (cheap) - but you absolutely could be next to a story about a catastrophic flood in Spain or terrorist attack in Moscow. From an advertiser and reader perspective that was kind of okay. Now agencies want far more control over what content their clients are near (and I think reader views on this are different too - though I'm not sure) - and the bit of online media they are least interested in appearing near is hard news. They don't want their Christmas food campaign next to a photo of Trump or rebels in Syria (it's why most of the platforms are trying to backout of news ad focus on lifestyle stuff more). So even that advertiser model is increasingly structurally challenged.

Obviously the other big challenge will be AI, where you ask the generative search engine or chat about an issue to get it explained to you. It's why the platforms absolutely love news content to train their models (broadly speaking it's accurate, legalled and edited) but so far are still trying to avoid paying for it, even if they're then producing a tool that will further displace it.

#6

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Razgovory - Today at 12:08:09 PM

The best example of I can come up with for a government run like a business was the Congo Free State.

#7

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Josquius - Today at 12:02:52 PM

New York City has discovered the concept of bins.
No scribes allowed.

Just read this and was amazed they didn't use bins until now.

https://www.newser.com/story/360180/trash-bins-now-required-for-much-of-new-york-city.html

For half a century, New York City residents have taken out their trash by flinging plastic bags stuffed with stinking garbage straight onto the sidewalk. When the bags inevitably leak or break open, they spill litter into the street, providing smorgasbords for rats. In the winter, the trash mounds get buried in snow and remain frozen in place for days, sometimes weeks, reinforcing the city's reputation as filthy. Now, New Yorkers are slowly adjusting to a radically new routine, at least for America's biggest city: Putting their trash in bins. With lids. In November, covered bins became a requirement for all residential buildings with fewer than 10 living units, the AP reports. That's the majority of residential properties. All city businesses had to start using bins earlier this year.


"I know this must sound absurd to anyone listening to this who lives pretty much in any other city in the world," said Jessica Tisch, the city's former sanitation commissioner, who oversaw the new measures before becoming the city's new police commissioner this week. "But it is revolutionary by New York City's standards because, for 50 years, we have placed all our trash directly on the curbs." The bin requirement, which took effect Nov. 12, comes with its own challenges. Among them: Finding a place for large, wheeled bins in neighborhoods where most buildings don't have yards, alleys, or garages. Landlords and homeowners also have to collect the empty bins and bring them back from the curb in the morning—something you didn't have to do with plastic bags.


In the early 20th century, New York City required trash to be placed in metal cans. But in the era before widespread plastic bag use, refuse was thrown directly into the bins, making them filthy and grimy. Then in 1968, the city's sanitation workers went on strike. For more than a week, trash cans overflowed. Garbage mounds piled high on sidewalks and spilled into the streets like some dystopian nightmare. Plastic bag makers donated thousands of bags to help clean up the mess, and New Yorkers never looked back, said Steven Cohen, a Columbia University dean specializing in public affairs. "It had to do with convenience," he said. "After the strike, the sanitation workers preferred the modern advance of lighter and seemingly cleaner sealed plastic bags."

story continues below
 
But Democratic Mayor Eric Adams' administration has deemed trash bag mounds Public Enemy No. 1 in his well-documented war against the city's notorious rats, which have little problem getting into a plastic bag. Still, not all residents are convinced. Caitlin Leffel, who lives in Manhattan, said residents of her building had to hire someone "at surprisingly high cost" to bring out the bins the night before and bring them back in. Eventually, the largest residential buildings—those with more than 31 units—will have their own designated container on the street. New trash trucks built with automated, side-loading arms—another innovation that is already common in many other locales—will then clear them out. Fines ranging from $50 to $200 will kick in Jan. 2

#8

Gaming HQ / Re: The Miscellaneous PC & vid...

Last post by Syt - Today at 12:00:51 PM

Oof.

#9

Off the Record / Re: Star Wars Megathread

Last post by HVC - Today at 11:56:42 AM

Although along the lines of the acolyte not knowing how fire works, I don't know how a ship infiltrated by plant roots is space worthy.

#10

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by HVC - Today at 11:53:09 AM

You built an empire, and then decided nothing else must be built. Ever.