Recent submissions

Comment · 1 year ago
Comment · 1 year ago
Comment · 1 year ago
The Norwegian Consumer Council published a report last week on commercial exploitation of children and adolescents online which included a warning against technical blocking of digital services. I found their reasoning against age verification in this context to be well informed, and think it is also relevant here:

> There are many ongoing discussions about whether to introduce technical measures to block or remove children and adolescents from certain digital services. In the report, the Norwegian Consumer Council cautions against rushing into such measures, and presents numerous principles that any such solutions must adhere to before potentially being implemented.

>–Age verification may seem like a relatively simple technical solution to a larger problem, but involves significant challenges related to the rights of children and adolescents, including privacy, social and political participation, and the possibility to seek information, says Inger Lise Blyverket.

>–It is also important to note that introducing such measures would require everyone to identify themselves online, which could mean that people over the age limit are exclud ed. Many adolescents will also likely be able to circumvent such technical barriers.

>Before considering introducing such technical barriers, several criteria must be fulfilled. This includes, among other things, that the use of an age verification system is proportional to the problem one wants to solve, does not lead to the exclusion of vulnerable groups and individuals, and that it safeguards security and privacy.

Press release in English: https://www.forbrukerradet.no/siste-nytt/tech-companies-must...

Comment · 2 years ago
Comment · 2 years ago
Seeing as this is a topic where the discussion often derails into a flame war, I thought I'd leave a comment to clarify some things. Please try to avoid interpreting other comments in the worst sense, most people come from a place of good intentions.

While I cannot speak to the specifics of Ireland and Spain, I suspect their position is quite similar to Norway. Norway recognizes Palestine's right to exist based on the borders from before the 4th of June 1967. Even though Hamas controls the Gaza strip today, Norway is not recognizing Hamas as the goverment of Palestine, or is in any way rewarding them for the terror attacks they committed on the 7th of October last year. Currently it is Mahmoud Abbas, the party leader of al Fatah, who is recognized as the president of the palestinian people. Most countries refer to the Palestinian Authority when talking about Palestine and its future.

For a long time, the promise of recognition as reward for a lasting peace has been the strategy used by Norway, but now a Palestinian state is seen as a prerequisite for peace in the Middle East. Prime minister Støre says, among other things, the following about the recognition of Palestine as a state:

>When we recognize Palestine, we can more strongly encourage other countries to support the building of a Palestinian state and we can hold the Palestinian state accountable

>Recognizing a state is not about giving the green light to every policy a state pursues. We will not support a state that uses violence. The Palestinians must see that there is another hope than the path of violence.

Source in Norwegian: https://www.nrk.no/urix/noreg-anerkjenner-palestina-1.168916...

Comment · 2 years ago
Comment · 2 years ago
Comment · 2 years ago
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Comment · 3 years ago
I recently rented at a place where the owner used Google Nest Wifi to get coverage of the whole property. One of those devices was placed in the window sill in my bedroom and didn't really cause any issues at the start. Until one day it replied to something I said and I found out it had a microphone, because of course it does.

When I found the hardware switch for the microphone the whole base of the device lit up in orange, with no way of turning the LEDs off without turning the microphone back on. The device also started speaking every time I touched it to "gently" remind me that the microphone was turned off while I was putting tape over the lights. I had to 10+ thin strips of duct tape in multiple layers in order to remove most of the light it radiated.

Comment · 3 years ago
Comment · 3 years ago
My version is "I have nothing to hide, but I still lock the door when going to the toilet". While I get the point of your retort, I find it can make people defensive and often derails the conversation because it can be interpreted as a gotcha. But that kind of reaction is proof enough that people value privacy. It's just that they don't necessarily think of privacy in their home as the same thing as digital privacy.

I'm happy people are more aware about privacy issues and talk about it, everyone and everthing has been mindlessly collecting data for too long, but it looks like things are finally moving in a slightly better direction. At least one can hope :)

Comment · 3 years ago
Comment · 3 years ago
Comment · 3 years ago
This video presents an idea which I find to be mind-boggling and beautiful, in which circuit complexity, a concept taken from computer science, is used in an attempt to better understand the heat death of the universe and black holes.

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