s38b35M5

joined 2 years ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

This looks cool, but the dev seems pretty unavailable for updates for the past few years. Does the app still seem pretty solid in spite of that?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

I like NetGuard, but think that TrackerControl is a bit more privacy focused. It had tracker detection, includes a traffic log as a free feature (NG requires purchase), and a few of the other NG Pro features are implemented in TC as well. In the end having either is better than neither.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

So, he is to data brokers like Ray Bradbury is to ~~fascism~~ authoritarianism Cool!

Essentially, he wants all transactions to be online transactions, with something like Apple Pay or Google Pay on your device mediating the transaction and using your device PIN to prevent fraudulent transactions

Something tells me he wasn't thinking we should hand over control of our payments to two of the largest advertising companies in the world.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I was wrong that it was water-themed. It was "Pacific Drive" which I guess made me think of underwater. I never got a chance to play it, and it's no longer in my library. I think there was another one, but I can't remember now. It was a while back that I discovered it.

EDIT: I agree with you 100% about ABZU. Boring after the first five minutes. Also, I don't see Pacific Drive on the free games list. I need to try to remember the sequence of events. I know I never bought it, because I've never bought any games from EGS; all my titles were free ones.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Lol. 😂 I hear you. I feed at 10am and 10pm (with a 90 minute variance to keep them from getting to good at timekeeping). After almost a decade, I figured out a way to sleep in! Course, they still whine at night starting at 8pm sometimes, but my vet says my cats are unusually fit and a good weight, so I know I'm not starving them like they want me to believe. Their chirps and whines have gotten more and more elaborate and detailed on the last three years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

That fourth thing is hunger. It only comes when the cat is fed on a schedule, as opposed to free-fed with multiple piles of food out all day. Feed in a schedule and you'll suddenly see (healthy, right-weight) interested felines licking empty bowls.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I don't even remember the name of the game, but it was one that was next to a title I do play often when sorted by "recent" which is based on purchase (or redemption) date. Might have been that underwater exploration title.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

I've claimed probably 70% of the free games for the past four or five years. I've noticed some of the titles disappear. So one catch is, you may not get to keep the free game(s) you grab.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Read it twice. Not sure what the catch is. Is it that signatures gathering must be done by Florida residents?

 

Your right to due process under the law is rooted in almost a millennium of precedent, and in the United States (as in other free countries), the power of arrest and detention expressly withheld from the executive.

Here is an extremely thorough and lucid treatise on habeas corpus by Chief Justice Taney following Lincoln's illegal invocation (and delegation to military officers' discretion) of its suspension to arrest and detain a Maryland man without judicial warrant, evidence, or due process.

...Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America, to hold his office during the term of four years—and then proceeds to prescribe the mode of election, and to specify, in precise and plain words, the powers delegated to him and the duties imposed upon him. And the short term for which he is elected, and the narrow limits to which his power is confined, show the jealousy and apprehensions of future danger which the framers of the Constitution felt in relation to that department of the Government—and how carefully they withheld from it many of the powers belonging to the Executive branch of the English Government, which were considered as dangerous to the liberty of the subject—and conferred (and that in clear and specific terms) those powers only which were deemed essential to secure the successful operation of the Government.

[...]

...He is not empowered to arrest any one charged with an offence [sic] against the United States, and whom he may, from the evidence before him, believe to be guilty—nor can he authorize any officer, civil or military, to exercise this power; for the 5th article of the amendments to the Constitution expressly provides that no person "shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law."—that is, judicial process. And even if the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus was suspended by act of Congress, and a party not subject to the rules and articles of war was afterwards arrested and imprisoned by regular judicial process, he could not be detained in prison or brought to trial before a military tribunal, for the article in the amendments to the Constitution, immediately following the one above referred to—that is, the 6th article—provides that "in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence [sic].

Emphasis mine:

And the only power, therefore, which the President possesses, where the "life, liberty or property" of a private citizen is concerned, is the power and duty prescribed in the third section of the 2d article, which requires "that he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed." He is not authorized to execute them himself, or through agents or officers, civil or military, appointed by himself, but he is to take care that they be faithfully carried into execution as they are expounded and adjudged by the co-ordinate branch of the Government, to which that duty is assigned by the Constitution. It is thus made his duty to come in aid of the judicial authority, if it shall be resisted by a force too strong to be overcome without the assistance of the Executive arm. But in exercising this power, he acts in subordinate to judicial authority, assisting it to execute its process and enforce its judgments.

With such provisions in the Constitution, expressed in language too clear to be misunderstood by any one, I can see no ground whatever for supposing that the President, in any emergency or in any state of things, can authorize the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or arrest a citizen, except in aid of the judicial power. He certainly does not faithfully execute the laws if he takes upon himself legislative power by suspending the writ of habeas corpus— and the judicial power, also, by arresting and imprisoning a person without due process of law. Nor can any argument be drawn from the nature of sovereignty, or the necessities of government for [self-defense] in times of tumult and danger. The Government of the United States is one of delegated and limited powers.

Blackstone, in his Commentaries, (1st vol., 137) states it in the following words: "To make imprisonment lawful, it must be either by process from the Courts of Judicature or by warrant from some legal officer having authority to commit to prison." And the people of the United Colonies, who had themselves lived under its protection while they were British subjects, were well aware of the necessity of this safeguard for their personal liberty. And no one can believe that in framing a government intended to guard still more efficiently the rights and liberties of the citizens against executive encroachment and oppression, they would have conferred on the President a power which the history of England had proved to be dangerous and oppressive in the hands of the Crown, and which the people of England had compelled it to surrender after a long and obstinate struggle on the part of the English Executive to usurp and retain it.

ETA: apropos quotes

 

Two days ago, I became an unwitting victim of Amazon's lack of policing their 3rd party marketplace ecosystem. I hope I can get this in front of a few more eyeballs to save people from the experience I am now in. Here's how it went down.

Thursday, AMD dropped the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU. I won't bore you with the details, but I hoped to get one, by Friday I still hadn't and started shopping for a GPU from last generation. I setup a price alert on a few models and went to sleep. I woke at 3am to an alert (I forgot to silence my phone) that one of the models was on sale at a 27% discount from a 3rd party seller, and I groggily added to my cart. However, when added to my cart, the price jumped to 15% over MSRP. I removed and went back to the product page, refreshed, and saw the same discounted price. I copied the link and opened it in another mobile browser and the discounted price was there. I added it back to my cart and the price again increased by $150.

I contacted support, and they told me to make the purchase at the inflated price, and when it arrived, I would be given a discount retroactively by Amazon. I did so, put my phone on DnD and went back to sleep.

When I woke up, I checked my phone and saw I had two emails from Amazon. One was a price alert on another GPU, at the same deep discount from another seller. I clicked the link and saw the same price for the same GPU. This time, I was more awake, so I clicked the link to go to the "Gigabyte Store" and saw the same listing there. This one must be real, then right? I added it to my cart and the price remained discounted. I clicked the seller name and saw they had several positive reviews about fast shipping, great prices, etc.

Here's what happened next. I purchased the second GPU at the correct price and went to cancel the previous order. However, when I opened the orders page, I saw that it was already marked as shipped. Strange, I thought. It's only been five hours. So I couldn't cancel the order, but Amazon CS assured me earlier that I would receive the discount, so I shrugged and decided maybe I would sell the extra one, or give it to my son.

So I purchased the second GPU. Then I checked the second email. As I read, my face got hot, and my arms and hands began to tingle. Here is the email:

Hello,

We are writing in relation to your Amazon.com order #REDACTED.
We wanted to inform you that the seller of your order is no longer active on Amazon.com.

If you are expecting an order and you do not receive it within 3 days of the estimated delivery date, or if you have any other issue with your order, please report the problem. Our team will determine if you are eligible for a refund.
To report an issue, please follow these steps:
1. Go to “Your Orders” 
2. Locate your order in the list and click “Problem with order”.
3. Select your problem from the list.
4. Select “Request refund”.
You may also reach out to us at the following link:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/contact-us
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
Amazon.com

Uh-oh. Wait. Amazon has seller accounts that can just ...disappear? And the only recourse is to wait to see if they ship the item to you? Here is where some of you may think, "this sounds familiar." I hadn't seen that before, and I trusted the Amazon system, foolishly.

I find the seller profile linked on my order page for the first GPU. The seller feedback (that I had never even seen before, as I guess I have always used Amazon fulfillment up until now) was five reviews. One 5-stars, and the remaining four were 1-star, all with SCAM in the text.

I think to myself, 'it's a good thing I bought that other GPU... that had the same ...price. SHIT."

I go to my second GPU order and click the seller profile. The previous glowing reviews are still there, but so is a new one with the current date that reads:

I have been waiting since the first part of December. If I didn’t need them I wouldn’t have ordered them. I had to order from a different company and get them within a week.

It's now Tuesday. Both items have "shipped" but with no tracking number, claiming:

Strange. I've always had tracking for USPS packages in the past. Oh, and my shipping date? Changed from March 12 to April 30.

All this is typical for this type of scam, it seems. I was oblivious to it until it happened to me. Here are the signs:

  1. Steeply discounted price on a popular item
  2. 3rd party seller with relatively low review count
  3. Fulfillment completely outside of Amazon
  4. Order is marked as shipped extremely fast
  5. Shipping will not include tracking number
  6. Seller closes their Amazon account

Obviously, if you get past #3, you've already been scammed.

Now, after a day of research into this scam, I can also share the following that helps clear up how and why this works like this.

Sellers don't get paid immediately. They have a regular payout interval, usually a week or two weeks. So they need to keep the customer waiting long enough to collect their funds before Amazon can step in. But, lucky for them, Amazon never steps in. As I discovered, their SOP is to have the customer wait until the delivery date (which was four days, then suddenly fifty+ days) before any attempt to make the customer whole is offered. This delay works in favor of the scammers, since they have time to collect their money before Amazon bothers to consider there is any fraudulent activity.

All this info in my belt, I called Amazon CS last night and asked for a walk-through of the two purchases, the seller accounts, and the policy. The CS agent viewed the seller profiles and confirmed they seemed scammy, and that they were both no longer active, but still eligible for payout. They could not confirm that any products had ever been truly offered, let alone received. At the end of the call it was clear that Amazon CS hands are tied. They have policies, and they won't budge. I won't even be eligible for a refund until after May 3, which is just under two months from my order date.

I didn't do anything wrong. I was supposed to be protected by Amazon, and I wasn't. They aren't supposed to be like eBay, where you have to carefully research every seller, because the platform invites fraud. This is the biggest e-tailer in the world (or is that Ali Express?), who positions itself as the most customer-focused company in the world. Unfortunately, they are either not interested in countering this fraud, or they are too slow-moving to keep up with the fraudsters. Or maybe I'm not the customer. Maybe the seller is. Or maybe it's the advertisers. But not me, anymore.

What I will do differently in the future:

  1. Stay off of Amazon.

They are in the business of making money, and even Chinese scammers make the company money. They may have to refund me my $1,000, but not for almost two months, and they got my payment into their bank account immediately. When they pay the scammer (and they will), they get to keep a percentage (30% now? More? I forget).

Obviously, I have noticed that many products on the marketplace there seem scammy, but I wasn't prepared to see one hosted on the GPU manufacturer's official store front. Oh, and the CS agent also told me that there is no way to assure that I can even get the product I purchased from another seller. That is to say, I asked if instead of a refund, I could have them just get me the GPU I ordered at MSRP (or even better, the price that scammed me, twice), and they said no.

I'm okay. I used my credit card, and I'm protected from fraud if it comes to that. To those who wouldn't have that option and can't be without $1,000 for two months, I would recommend you stay away from any marketplaces that allow 3rd party sellers on, as there is too much incentive to scam like this. There is ZERO risk to the scammer. Newegg (owned by Amazon) also allows 3rd party sellers , and if you look, you can find feedback there about the same scam.

Good luck out there.

 

The Fortnite v30.20 patch has arrived, introducing a brand new mode called Reload. With a smaller map featuring classic locations and weapons, Reload is merging new and old to give players a fresh experience.

Below, you'll find everything you need to know about Fortnite's v30.20 update, including details of Reload mode and the unvaulted weapons returning to the loot pool.

Try a New Map in Fortnite Reload Mode

Starting with the v30.20 patch, a new experience called Fortnite Reload will be added to the game. This Squad-based mode features 40 players per match, with classic locations like Tilted Towers, and Retail Row returning on a new, smaller map.

Unlike regular Battle Royale matches, you'll automatically reboot when eliminated in Reload, as long as one of your teammates remains alive. Reboot timers start at 30 seconds, but this can be reduced if your remaining teammates eliminate other players.

There will also be a selection of classic weapons including the Revolver, the OG Heavy Shotgun, the Infantry Rifle, and the Rocket Launcher to add to your loadout in this new mode.

Fortnite Reload goes live on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 2 PM ET.

Earn Free Rewards With Fortnite Reload Quests

To celebrate the arrival of Fortnite Reload, a new set of challenges has arrived. These introductory quests are designed to get you stuck into Reload mode, with each one offering 20,000 XP when finished.

There are also free rewards to unlock, including the Digital Dogfight Contrail for completing three quests, the Pool Cubes Wrap for completing six quests, and the Nana Bath Back Bling for completing nine quests. Score a Victory Royale in Fortnite Reloaded, and you'll get the Rezzbrella Glider.

More Weapons Have Been Unvaulted

Over in regular Battle Royale mode, Remote Explosives and the Heavy Impact Sniper Rifle have been added back to the loot pool.

You can purchase Remote Explosives from the NPCs Bravo Leader, Brite Raider, Drakon Steel Rider, and Vengeance Jones for 300 Gold Bars. You can purchase a Heavy Impact Sniper Rifle from the NPCs Artemis and Hope for 300 Gold Bars.

Jack Sparrow Arrives in Pirates of the Caribbean Crossover

The latest crossover to arrive in Fortnite as part of the v30.20 patch is Disney's popular movie franchise Pirates of the Caribbean. The **Cursed Sails Pass is available to purchase for 1,000 V-Bucks **and features a Captain Jack Sparrow skin as well as matching cosmetics.

Shortly after the Fortnite v30.20 patch went live, the Cursed Sails Pass was removed from the Item Shop. It's currently unclear when it will return.

 

Wasn't doing that a few days ago as far as I noticed...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I appreciate your reply. I agree with the principals and ideals, but I just don't get worked up over every bit of outrage out there. I used to be a real worked up individual, willing to throw everything I've got at anything that didn't fit with my ideals, but I'm older now, and sometimes I want places where I don't have to fight for every inch of ground.

I don't disagree that the mod actions are worth highlighting. I disagree that defederation is the first and only solution. It reads to me like some users argued with mods about topics known to be hot-button over there, on a post guaranteed to be controversial, and a temporary ban occurred. That action and its reach is worth discussion.

I don't agree that the users should go to the biggest lemmy instance and try to soap box their POV in order to trigger user outrage in hopes that they pressure the admins to enact some vengeance on an entire instance in the form of defederation. I disagree even more since the source of the outrage is not a user at LW, and wouldn't be affected in any way by the proposed defederation. What they really want is for their subbed communities to move away from ML.

SpaceCadet coming here suing for defederation is barely different to me than the mod that banned them from unrelated communities. "Someone I disagree with did a thing I don't like and I want to flex on them," is what I see from my POV. I don't care they got banned. It seems like a foregone conclusion that would happen there, and I've known that since the first fifty posts about how Dessalines and Nutomic behave (on social media and on github) were posted.

If I follow their weird rules, I won't get banned. The implicit rules include not talking shit about topics cleansed by glorious fascist leaders? OK. I don't care. I have no interest in changing the hearts and minds behind the eyeballs on ML. I'm not on a crusade to fix the world one post at a time. I'm browsing while my game loads, or the water boils, or on the bus.

What I care about is a few idealistic users posting picture evidence of a clear power-trip ban and expecting admins to defederate. That's the corruption of the marketplace of ideas. Silencing the entire instance for thousands. For all we know, half the users on LW would like to learn more about their point of view, if only to dismiss it as wacky and untenable, but not only do they lose that opportunity, they lose the opportunity to engage with unrelated communities, of which there are several that are more active than anywhere else.

At the end of the day, its a lot easier for anyone up in arms about this to block and move on than the workarounds required for the majority who don't care and want to stay engaged in the communities they are subbed to. They'd have to make accounts elsewhere, or even at ML.

Call me apathetic, but I just don't care about this fight.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

As a user subbed to multiple communities there, I never see this stuff. Ever. I stay far, far away from news and current events though. I actively seek news from sources, not aggregation platforms.

I would prefer to have the option to interact with those communities rather than have a few users brigade the admins into defederating. There's a reason one of the SCOTUS cases that is cited as binding precedent in freedom of speech cases relates to the distribution of Communist propaganda. The marketplace of ideas is meant to be freely available to all, not curated by the most opinionated or noisy.

 

An empty community?! Not anymore! Here is a feature request I opened this morning.

Does anyone else dislike the current notification?

Edit: May be fixed by #1707

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