You may find it funny to learn that Signal's early development was funded by an arm of the govt that focuses on distributing ideology worldwide -- US Agency For Global Media (Radio Free Asia and Open Technology Fund)
You may also find it interesting that Trump eliminated this entire agency about two months ago
Why did the USA run all these programs and fund privacy software? Ostensibly to help people in oppressive regimes communicate. To broadcast alternative media
If you follow the link to fedidb, refer to the "mau" monthly active users. Do some brief math and realize that lemmy.world accounts for about 50% of all active users
Email market share is harder, but many estimate that Gmail accounts for over 40%. Many many orgs use Google apps to make custom branded gmails with their own domains too
This is the typical "business power law" that states that the top player should control about 50%, the second player about 25%, etc. This is just kinda how the world works
I genuinely don't understand why people here are railing him. All the article said was he wanted to research environmental causes for an increasingly common condition. That seems totally reasonable. Look at car pollution reducing avg brain capacity. Look at plastics pollution. Look at toxins in ultraproceassed food, many of which are banned in EU but not USA. Look at our water quality and lead pipes problem
Look, I know he has talked about vaccines before, but literally didn't mention it here. It's totally reasonable and good for all of us to tackle pollutants, toxins, environmental quality. Yes, it's likely that many health problems would be resolved if we understood this better; that's a valid theory to pursue. But yes, I know, I know "maga bad"
Yeah there were similar battles in music copyright about whether a style of music as a whole can be copyrighted. Overall, the answer is "hell no" but with a couple outlier cases. This steps a lot on stuff like parody, which is protected by the first amendment as "fair use". But it gets messy when things are "too similar" -- a grey area exists
It seems like there's more to it since you generally also have to pay the union dues, is that factored into the math here?
Unions are tricky. Police union that keeps cops from being punished? Idk maybe not great. Union that pays dock workers that don't actually work to keep automation from ruining the job landscape? I'm not sure. Teachers negotiating for fair pay? Seems great!!
Like all things in society, we need nuance, not "unions good" or "unions bad"
I think for those that wanted Teslas, they realized they have to buy them before the tariff war gets too hot. So ironically there's a surge of purchases
Ideology aside, they make some very good cars, and I don't blame people for buying them
VPNs don't help here, the website asks you for your driver's license. Tbf giving your credit card to them is typically enough for them (big tech + govt) to construct a full profile of who you are anyway, and that was the original "age gate" -- though there are some services that make CCs modestly privacy preserving -- not the case for IDs
I've been lucky enough to find some women that are a lot of fun to be around, and understand my interests at a deep level. I'd describe it as kind of like friendship, but with a woman
Men become feral if left alone long enough. They identify with the mountains and the moss. They smoke their pipe tobacco while looking longingly along a river. They maintain weight for the winter. They become one with the universe. Then they become horny and the great cycle continues
Jesus, my very gentle post was "Removed by mod"? Even though it has 6 upvotes and 1 downvote? Okay
Ok, here's the definition of capitalism, plain and simple:
Capitalism is an economic system where private individuals and businesses own the factors of production, and prices and production are determined by supply and demand.
Characteristics of capitalism
Private ownership: Private individuals and businesses own the means of production, such as capital goods.
Free market: Prices and production are determined by supply and demand in a free market.
Profit motive: The primary motivation is to make a profit.
Market competition: Businesses compete with each other for business.
Private control: Private individuals and businesses control the production and consumption of goods and services.
You may find it funny to learn that Signal's early development was funded by an arm of the govt that focuses on distributing ideology worldwide -- US Agency For Global Media (Radio Free Asia and Open Technology Fund)
You may also find it interesting that Trump eliminated this entire agency about two months ago
Why did the USA run all these programs and fund privacy software? Ostensibly to help people in oppressive regimes communicate. To broadcast alternative media