Sure, but is this actually a good idea?

The argument would be that these “short form videos” improve discoverability. I can’t speak for Netflix (since I’m not subscribed), but I am subscribed to Disney+. I completely agree that the discoverability in the Disney+ app is bad. But I’m also subscribed to Hulu, which is now owned (fully) by Disney. The discoverability in Hulu is actually pretty good.

Everything that is “Disney+ Exclusive” is only available using Disney+. Everything that is “Hulu Exclusive” is available on both Hulu and Disney+. So Disney+ has everything I want, but the app sucks.

The plan is by the end of 2026 to turn down the Hulu app and only use the Disney+ app. So, is Disney improving the Disney+ app? Nope, they’re adding “Verts”.

This is what bothers me. If you have an interesting idea to improve your app, do that. If you’re just chasing the current flavor of the week, stop. Spend that time doing something useful.

Disney+ has “Verts”. It’s fucking ridiculous.

It’s wild to watch these companies chase after one another with no thought. Just “TikTok is popular! Can we be TikTok?!?!???”

You have a product. Do that product well. Fuck!

Even with false positives it won’t change anything. It’s just a small group of people. It’s worth it to “save the children”. If “the system” rejects you, then you must be at fault. Maybe we can even sell a “Super ID Check”. Just a one time $200 fee and then the system will leave you alone. (For 3 years, then pay the fee again, but renewal is even faster this time.)

I’m not a SQL wizard and I’m typing from my phone but couldn’t you just do something like,

select name from sys.tables where name like 'wp%users'

To get the table of WordPress users, then do whatever bad things you want to it?

I get that that’s an extra step, and I suppose in the example even though “best practice” is to add random characters, if everyone knows that, then best practice for bad people scripts would probably be to add an extra query.

But my real point is more about adding obfuscation for your developers and server owners. If you’re making their jobs harder for no benefit, is it a good change?

I also wonder about adding obfuscation and it causing issues when debugging.

I think adding obfuscation is fine, but it’s important to be careful when it comes to your developers and debugging.

Most creatures use ears to hear sounds.

Also sometimes Digimon split evolution into undead skeletons.

Even when set to 0 you’ll still see shorts, it just stops (or limits) the infinite scrolling.

Marcel Vos!

If you ever wanted to learn more about RollerCoaster Tycoon 1/2/OpenRTC than you thought possible, this is the channel.

This video is a follow up to the longest coaster, and if you’re thinking “I want to get off Mr Bones Wild Ride” then yes, that coaster is long but…

So Cohn did mention comprehensive privacy laws and the ability to leave platforms. These are absolutely things that need to happen.

However as an individual there are still things you can do. Cohn mentions Bluesky because it has no algorithm (except the “Discovery” feed). Cohn also mentions (in the video) Mastodon. And the truth is you don’t need to switch fully, just don’t only slurp down the concentrated hate machine(s).

Look at Lemmy. Reddit decided to be pricks and a bunch of individuals jumped over here to create what I think is a pretty good community. That doesn’t mean the problem is solved. That doesn’t mean Reddit isn’t still a problem. That doesn’t mean Lemmy is perfect. But that is a win and something individuals can do.

Additionally, those are things you can do now. You don’t need to wait for some law to be passed to fix things. You can make the move now. (While still advocating for laws to fix things.)

I mean it’s not a carbon copy of Dragon Quest Builders 2, but it’s made by the same team/company and has obvious overlap. They definitely took DQB2 as a starting point and made it Pokemon themed.

We’re on Minecraft 26.

You can install Debian on your Chromebook like you would any app, which I feel makes it a bit less controlling since you have access to a complete Debian install and all the benefits that provides.

Windows also has WSL, which gives you Ubuntu, although that process isn’t quite as user friendly.

Is Tic-Tac-Toe a good game? I know people who played it a lot at one time. Does it hold up?

If you had fun playing it, it was a good game.

Fruit Ninja? Doodle Jump? Angry Birds?

Games take a simple concept, possibly copied from elsewhere, possibly a mash up of others, possibly original ideas, and of it’s fun, it’s good.

Now was the hype over Flappy Bird strange and over the top? Probably. But remember fidget spinners? Yo-yos? Sometimes trends/fads happen.

When I first played Skyrim it was the “complete” edition with all the DLC. The game starts fun enough, I complete the intro, wander around a bit and find an interesting quest that takes me to a big city.

Immediately two vampires attack me. I know now this is the start of a plot hook for one of the DLCs, but it was so confusing. Suddenly I was forced to do a whole vampire side plot because every time I ignored it more vampires showed up.

I hope DLCs have improved since then because it was a terrible introduction to the game.

Exactly. This is Sony declaring victory in the console wars. You could argue “But Nintendo”, but Nintendo was never playing the same game as Sony & Microsoft. You want to play Nintendo games, you buy a Nintendo. You want to play Sony games, Sony says you have to buy a Sony PlayStation.

I’m not a fan, but it could work.

stop selling the item until the incorrect price is corrected

Not a lawyer but couldn’t they just refuse to sell it to you? We all know it would be bullshit but couldn’t a company say “Oh that minimum wage clerk made a mistake, but don’t blame them, just an honest mistake.”

Or is the law, if it’s on the shelf, it must be honored?

Sorta. It’s developed by the team that made Dragon Quest Builders, which leans more towards Minecraft/Terraria, or maybe Harvest Moon/Stardew Valley.

It’s hard to tell, but it should be like Animal Crossing, but with more complex building.

You’re right that putting people in bubbles is probably one way some of these things get worse. If all you see is toxic, toxic is the norm, now you’re always toxic.

Maybe they can tricked.

Although really what we’re talking about is the algorithm that currently exists being focused on highlighting terrible people doing terrible things. Can we turn that same algorithm around and use it for good?

Interesting article and I think it really highlights how toxic some parts of the Internet are. My only issue is the conclusion,

A social media ban for under-16s might prevent young boys seeing endless content that treats women with contempt and hate. Boys at this age are very susceptible to the cool and funny framing of what is, in reality, relentless misogyny. A ban might not fix the problem, but it would help. If society can’t stop it, it can show it disapproves.

Emphasis mine. Having grown up in a different era I can confirm that boys of a wide variety of ages, including much older “boys”, can also be scumbags. Even if we had the perfect technology to ban under-16s from social media, once they hit 16 they’d still be exposed to it, still become terrible people, and the author of this article, although a but older, would still see it. I don’t know if that really is a better world, just a slightly delayed one.

I don’t know the solution, but I remember reading once that some online game would put all the reported and abusive players into a special category where they would be forced to play only with each other. Maybe we can do that in this case.