pk97 (u/pk97) - Readit News

pk97 commented on Sikkim and the Himalayan Chess Game (2016) historytoday.com/archive/... · Posted by u/pepys

orangeboats · 4 months ago

>Do you have any sources that say they don't support being part of India ?

I never said anything to that effect.

I simply said referendum, especially one regarding the sovereignty of a nation, is a wildly inaccurate tool to assess popularity.

Hence,

>You come across as CCP shill.

Is a very, very disappointing direction that you have decided to take the discussion toward.

pk97 · 4 months ago

As someone who has been to Sikkim and spoken with people there, I can say they are proud and happy to be Indians. In fact, they receive several concessions from the Indian state for being part of the Union - for example, they are exempt from income tax. While a referendum may not always be the best measure of sentiment, the absence of insurgency in Sikkim (unlike in some other regions in India) suggests that people are broadly content with being part of India.

pk97 commented on Ask HN: Cursor or Windsurf? · Posted by u/skarat

pk97 · 7 months ago

the age of swearing allegiance to a particular IDE/AI tool is over. I keep switching between Cursor and GH Copilot and for the most part they are very similar offerings. Then there's v0, Claude (for its Artifacts feature) and Cline which I use quite regularly for different requirements.

pk97 commented on “Fewer Users” Warning Hurting Specialized and New Apps support.google.com/google... · Posted by u/pk97

p_ing · 8 months ago

On the other hand....

https://chromewebstore.google.com/search/ublock

As a user who suddenly knows nothing about uBlock the ad blocker, are you going to trust an addin with 2k installs and 4.3 stars, or an addin with 30m installs and 4.7 stars?

Install base can be informative when choosing.... anything, really. In many people's minds something that is used more is better in some metric, be it performance, reliability, price, et. al.

EDIT: My numbers were way off :-)

pk97 · 8 months ago

I agree with what you have said. It's what you mentioned at the end about people judging based on metrics - it should be up to people to judge for themselves, not the platform! The platform should present data, not try to sway opinions. Besides the message itself is so hand wavy if I am using the phrase correctly, what is Google trying to convey through the message? If something is a legit scam, they should either not be publishing such apps or be testing and removing them.

I am increasingly convinced they are trying to direct traffic to apps that use their Ads network under the guise of such vaguely-about-security messages.

pk97 commented on AI suggestions make writing more generic, Western news.cornell.edu/stories/... · Posted by u/gnabgib

dalmo3 · 8 months ago

In PT-BR is also more common to say you have a "dúvida" than a "questão", so I immediately got the intended meaning.

I imagine Spanish speakers will have no problem either.

pk97 · 8 months ago

Thanks for sharing. Another interesting part is how similar the word "dúvida" is to Hindi's word for "doubt": "Duvidha" which itself is derived from Sanskrit!

pk97 commented on “Fewer Users” Warning Hurting Specialized and New Apps support.google.com/google... · Posted by u/pk97

robertlagrant · 8 months ago

I doubt they're aware of you enough to do it behind your back. They're more wanting to flag this "Bank of 4merica" app you're about to install has 8 other users.

pk97 · 8 months ago

I am obviously a very small player doing things as a hobby, I don't matter to Google. But what I am pointing out is that they already take a cut of whatever few dollars I earn (beyond the initial $25 I paid years ago just to get on the play store). If you see the thread, the OP asked their customer support and they said: "Especially, since the response from customer service seems to suggest that the best way to get it removed is to run Google AdWords (which I am already running, btw)"

If the angle here is running ads and if they are already taking a cut, why are they doing this? If the angle is security, why not test the apps and have them removed! And in either case, why keep the developer in the dark? And why is there no way for small time insignificant devs like me to know how to get rid of the banner!

pk97 commented on “Fewer Users” Warning Hurting Specialized and New Apps support.google.com/google... · Posted by u/pk97

ncr100 · 8 months ago

It does seem like an Anti-Pattern.

Presumably (some faction inside) Google wants to warn users about scam apps. However this seems like blatant shaming and ostracization of smaller developers who did not spend $$$$$ on Marketing through Google's Ad Network.

Seems Monopolistic of Google to me.

pk97 · 8 months ago

exactly. Imagine the audacity of this company. I have a paid app and they are already charging me a percentage of the revenue. And behind my back they have begun running this banner.

pk97 commented on “Fewer Users” Warning Hurting Specialized and New Apps support.google.com/google... · Posted by u/pk97

pk97 · 8 months ago

I noticed this banner on one of my own apps while installing it for my mom on a new phone. The banner said "This app has fewer users than others...", almost as if they are discouraging users from installing it without even informing me. I looked it up online and it seems like many people have begun seeing this. I am linking a thread. If anyone from Google is reading this, such opaque policies are not appreciated!