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basfo commented on Volkswagen gates a new vehicle's full horsepower behind monthly subscription   dexerto.com/entertainment... · Posted by u/taubek
userbinator · 9 days ago
just to use my own car

At that point, is it really "your" car?

As the dystopian slogan says: "You will own nothing, and be happy."

basfo · 9 days ago
yeah, i suppose we bought "a license to use the car", like a really expensive entry fee. If the car was free and i was just renting it then maybe it makes sense, but capping something you bought is crazy and asking recurring money to unlock it is crazy.
basfo commented on Volkswagen gates a new vehicle's full horsepower behind monthly subscription   dexerto.com/entertainment... · Posted by u/taubek
basfo · 9 days ago
The idea of a service is that you pay a monthly fee and can use it during that period. It implies that the vendor has some kind of ongoing or recurring cost, or that they need to continuously provide or produce the service in some way. For example, in software they need to keep the servers running, push updates, and so on. If the service is related to goods, they deliver you a set of products that you’ve subscribed to on a recurring basis.

This new approach, however, often means you need to pay to use something that has already been produced, with its functionality fully available, but locked unless you subscribe. In that case, they are not really providing a service, they’re just holding a feature hostage until you pay. That isn’t a service; it’s basically extortion. If the car were free, I could understand having to pay to unlock it. But needing a subscription just to use my own car at full capacity? That’s dystopian.

I can totally see a TV that refuses to turn on until you’ve paid Samsung, a fridge that stays locked until you cough up more money, or a toilet that only lets you flush twice a day.Unless, of course, you upgrade to premium.

basfo commented on Claude says “You're absolutely right!” about everything   github.com/anthropics/cla... · Posted by u/pr337h4m
basfo · 14 days ago
This bug report is absolutely right
basfo commented on Starlink is currently experiencing a service outage   starlink.com/us... · Posted by u/throwmeaway222
basfo · a month ago
Don't worry, just press and hold the power button on the satellites until they turn off, then release and press it again to power them back on. Should be fine.
basfo commented on Yes, It's Possible to Safely Jump into a Black Hole   popularmechanics.com/spac... · Posted by u/Bluestein
basfo · a month ago
i know a friend that... (imagine adult joke here)
basfo commented on I watched Gemini CLI hallucinate and delete my files   anuraag2601.github.io/gem... · Posted by u/anuraag2601
basfo · a month ago
This will happen in production at a large company in the near future.

I keep seeing more and more vibe coded AI implementations that do whatever... by anyone. And managers celebrate that the new junior engineer created something that "saves a lot of time!" (two full time positions in their heads)

I agree it can be useful for some tasks, but the non deterministic nature of AI will inevitably impact production once someone plugs an AI tool into a critical part of the system, thinking they’re a genius.

basfo commented on TODOs aren't for doing   sophiebits.com/2025/07/21... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti
basfo · a month ago
The example in the article:

> // TODO: If the user triple-clicks this button, the click handler errors because [xyz]

looks more like a comment than a real TODO to me. I agree that comments like those are useful, but shouldn't be a TODO.

A TODO implies a specific type of comment. One that implies a task, points to something that should actually be done (like TODO: This function should return another value with XYZ). And I agree that the proper place for that is a tracker, not buried in the code.

In the example just documents a bug. , there is no actual action.

In my experience, TODOs are often a way to get quick and dirty code approved in a PR. They usually never get done, they're just a way to push the responsibility onto some future developer who "will have more time" (which means it will likely never happen).

basfo commented on Java was not underhyped in 1997 (2021)   dylanbeattie.net/2021/07/... · Posted by u/SerCe
basfo · a month ago
It was so hyped by Sun Microsystems that they even called their implementation of GNOME on Solaris the "Java Desktop System", even though there wasn't a single line of Java in it.
basfo commented on Retro gaming YouTuber Once Were Nerd sued and raided by the Italian government   androidauthority.com/once... · Posted by u/BallsInIt
Aurornis · a month ago
> buying and showing something that is sold legally (like a console purchased from China, which I assume went through customs, or even sold on Amazon in some cases)

Going through customs does not make something legal to buy or possess.

Customs is a spot-check that doesn’t catch everything and Customs cannot possibly verify every single product’s legality.

Many people buy illegal drugs internationally and just hope they get through customs, for example. That doesn’t make it legal.

basfo · a month ago
Well, but they are controlling that, the fact that they fail to check it shouldn't be on you.

But besides that, if they consider that aliexpress is selling illegal stuff, they can easily block access to ali express in the country, decline all credit card transactions to ali express, block in customs any package coming from ali express... since is basically a criminal organization. I mean, they are selling the product in amazon.it and you put in jail a reviewer?

https://www.amazon.it/portatile-illuminazione-Joystick-integ...

I don't think putting in jail a customer that is just reviewing what he bought is the way to go.

basfo commented on Retro gaming YouTuber Once Were Nerd sued and raided by the Italian government   androidauthority.com/once... · Posted by u/BallsInIt
basfo · a month ago
To me, it's kind of strange that buying and showing something that is sold legally (like a console purchased from China, which I assume went through customs, or even sold on Amazon in some cases) can make someone a criminal. I believe this should be protected under freedom of speech: he's legally buying a product and demonstrating what it does. Maybe posting a referral link and profiting from it could be considered questionable, but come on... If you want to stop piracy, start by blocking these devices at customs and investigating the businesses that import and sell them to the public. Never put someone in jail for what is, after all, a form of journalism.

u/basfo

KarmaCake day146December 13, 2023View Original