Holding those in power accountable is a continuous process. It doesn't just happen on a specific day or another. Politically active and concious people protest and raise awareness in an ongoing manner regardless of who is in power. The world didn't end on 5 Nov 2024 or 20 Jan 2025 - fighting for democracy will never stop.
You would know this if you actually put your money where your mouth is, as it were.
I'm just making fun of the biased dynamics and what often seems like a black-and-white perspective. By no means do I think that one is "good" and the other is "bad", but I do think there is a lot of misrepresentation going around because of the latest developments around TikTok. We should also keep in kind that the executive decision was put in place over a year ago but ofcourse nobody discussed it back then because policy only becomes relevant once it factors into personal interpretations and ideology.
That's not how I remember it. The average persin in Eastern Europe couldn't afford to buy a car and cars were in short supply, resulting in significant waiting periods (we're talking years). The average citizens in the USSR and the Warsaw Pact had much less purchaisng power compared to their counterparts in the West. Soviet-made cars were much more expensice relative to Western-made ones, and of considerably lower quality, generally speaking.
I guess I must be "retarded" as well - I don't get what's so funny about someone being impressed or otherwise stricken with the landscape of a place they've never been to.
Thank god for bold platforms like TikTok that refuse to push US propaganda. Really smart of them to not censor valuable information as a way of fooling the US government into exposing its evil censorship ways. TikTok's fate in the US was never a topic before the current wave of pro-Palestinian activism started. It certainly wasn't one of Trump's main talking points ten years ago. Good thing he changed his mind after getting his hands on some Chinese money lucrative investmenet from Chinese citizens that are not at all connected to Tencent.
None of this discourse on combatting foreign information manipulation started over a decade ago, its all about censoring pro-Palestine voices here and now. TikTok and China in general are known for their calm, collected attitudes toward Muslims. They certainly would never weaponize a contentious topic every which way imaginable in pursuit of financial and geopolitical goals. We need more of these open and bold platforms.
There are plenty of ways for governments to engage in strategic communications without having to rely on social media, especially when said platforms are disentangling the fabric of society before our very eyes. Moreover, government communication (and 99% of other communication processes) does not require the constant and immediate production and consumption of information that social media are purposefully designed for. Pretending like people are addicted to social media because we really want to stay in touch with policy is just silly.
And no, one thing is not equivalent to another thing just because they belong in the same category of things. Editorial and privacy policies, ownership structures, the extent to which a company or its owners are politically exposed - these are all things that can differ drastically from one actor to another.
How about just quiting without replacing it with something else? Everyone desperately needs to stop using social media like a crack addict needs to stop doing crack. Shitter, FB, IG, TokTik, etc - it's all utter, utter shit.
Its not just software that you can buy as in the case of LoL and essence. You can also buy highly expensive hardware produced by Valve itself which you can either keep or sell irl just like you would sll your phone or laptop. I.e. there are accessible ways to convert into irl value. I'm not intimately familiar with LoL, but can you convert essence into a VR headset or something similar? Afaik, the answer is "no".
It might be something you personally like but that's not the issue. The issue is whether the system is similar enough to gambling to warrant similar regulation. And there are a lot of arguments in favour of regulation. Understandby, this is relatively low on lawmakers' priorities. However, some EU countries have already moved in that direction, ouright banning games with gambling systems if they fail to uphold laws.
You can't directly convert steam credits into legal tender without third-party services. But you can buy products and then sell yhose if you wanted to for legal tender. Using CSGO2 + Steam Marketplace and Store , you could sell enough skins to buy Valve's products, including hardware such as the Steam Deck and their VR headset. So yes, there are ways to convert the skins into value irl.
We should also keep in mind that Valve has behavioral psychologists from the casino industry working on this system. I wonder why.
Agreed, we should not make it seem like Valve has no responsibility just because it doesn't directly own the casinos, gambling sites, etc. They benefit financially from the way the whole system is set up and they know it. Every round and transaction directly benefits Valve financially. The more underage people get addicted to the casino system they have going on, the more money Valve gets.
I mean, who made the GUI a copy of a slot machine?
They could end this whole thing tomorrow if they wanted to.
Seems like you're prescribing a lot of opinions to the people you're replying to. But if you go back and read what they wrote carefully you should see that your deductions and assumptions about what they think don't really stand the test of reason and semantics. Especially given how much of a tech-focused forum this is. Every third post is about Linux - so realistically what are the chances that you are enaging with primitivists on here?
You're tilting at windmills. It's not about rejecting technological advancement. It's about ensuring its fairness and accessability.
Yes, technology can be (and is) used for social good. It can also be (and is) used to opress and supress. What's more both dynamics are happening at the same time. The world isn't black-and-white. The human condition is complex.
Regardless of who she is and who you think she is, the fact is she is correct in her assessment and there is a mountain of evidence to substantiate her claim, from her own country and the world over.
And this isn't exactly rocket science. Arguing that disinformation doesn't present a significant threat to our way of life is like arguing the world isn't round. There isn't really any debate on this in the scientific/expert community.
They'll be sending their first satellite into orbit soon. You'd think they'd need basic utilities to do that but no - its all held together by duct tape and wishful thinking.
Holding those in power accountable is a continuous process. It doesn't just happen on a specific day or another. Politically active and concious people protest and raise awareness in an ongoing manner regardless of who is in power. The world didn't end on 5 Nov 2024 or 20 Jan 2025 - fighting for democracy will never stop.
You would know this if you actually put your money where your mouth is, as it were.