Are we sure that is tracking install dates versus database-added dates? I assume Flock was quite a bit more prevalent in the greater NYC area only a year ago, whereas I can totally believe there were only that many tracked by deflock a year ago. But I certainly could be wrong.

… Elon Musk?

Just glue some raccoon fur on a raw ham, set it on a pink barrel, and you don’t even have to use AI.

Yeeeup!

I’m so here for this.

It’s genuinely infuriating to see a hundred years of movie poster art evolution discarded. It’s the first part of a movie’s artistic statement you ever see, and it gets summarily tossed in the trash so that Netflix’s internal overworked engagement metrics team can spend 2 minutes grabbing random shots of different stars in the film, slap single-color generic font text all over it, and target twelve versions to different demographics to try to get more clicks.

It’s even worse when I tell this to someone and they’re like, “I don’t really notice.”

I would usually give a lot of credit to someone trying something different, but I’d drive a 1971 Ford Pinto before I ever intentionally get within photographable proximity to a Cybertruck.

It’s true, but the value is diminishing. I’ve tried that and more than once in the past half year, the advice within reddit posts were clearly astroturf AI-generated slop, and some of them were upvoted in similar amounts to apparent real recommendations.

Companies know Reddit is a recommendation hotspot, and stealth advertising is becoming typical business practice.

Great! I can now enter a prompt into a data-center-hosted LLM, “do my job,” and the data center will conveniently also store the resulting fraudulent work product in the same location, while I relax at home on a permanent unpaid vacation! So convenient!

No, you don’t get it, Musk has a plan.

• Step 1: It fails utterly and completely.
• Step 2: Musk goes on Twitter/X, and says, “Had to add more math to training data.”
• Step 3: CSAM and MechaHitler for some reason.
• Step 4: Musk demands to speak to Grok’s manager.

After that, it’s basically a straight line to success.

Honestly, this is the eventual fate of every corporate streaming service.

The only reliable answer is to self-host it via Jellyfin or (if you have a Plex Pass already for cheaper than it is now) Plex, or another similar system. PlexAmp’s suggestion system, self-hosted “radio,” Sonic Adventure and other features really leave me quite content to never waste another second on streaming services that aspire only to be the biggest leech that is hardest to remove and has access to the most customer blood.

If you have an issue with piracy, you can still buy MP3s or FLACs from many services, or rip your own CDs. Unless you have a local, DRM-free copy, it’s always one expired license away from disappearing forever, and one ambitious employee away from being overrun with ads and your private details sold.

Yeah, I suspect Google pushes changes to the backend OS that keep breaking it on purpose, but at least we’ve got it to stick on our two TVs with a lot of effort and setting changes. Least worst option considering how pricy mini-PCs are, unfortunately.

The best cheap solution is a Google TV with Projectivy launcher to bypass the adware.

The best fully non-adware solution as others said seems to be a mini-pc running Linux or other cleaner environment you set up.

Looks like Musk finally learned Trump’s tactic of accusing someone else of what he’s doing to poison appropriate blame.

They need to sue right away, eminent domain without compensation is a violation of the Fifth Amendment.

It’s important to remember, there’s no point in fighting against a worse future. Especially if you are in the minority, since you’ll lose anyway. Resign yourself to things getting objectively worse because nobody likes a whiner.

“Instead of chasing AI”? They heavily implement AI to lay off employees, even though it severely degrades service.

Their whole business model is just typical private equity nihilism. Buy a business with a lot of user inertia, strip out all the development and maintenance costs while leaving the bare essentials to keep subscriptions or ad revenue flowing, and let the hollowed out business zombie-walk as long as it makes money.

Fluff journalism.

Dead corporation theory.

I hope you aren’t putting wrecked EV batteries anywhere there may be flammable anything, such as near your house, your neighbor’s house, a forest…

Yes, that’s of course fair. Even if it’s not perfect compliance, though, the more people hold out, the faster and lower prices drop, so there’s still value in it.

But short of regulation, is there anything else within our power to do?

OpenAI and Anthropic’s IPOs +2-4 weeks is my best guess for when the market starts sliding. Investor money is already drying up, but too many rich people haven’t cashed out yet, helping themselves (like SpaceX) to our index retirement funds to countersign withdrawals at the inflated valuations.

I’m on the fence after that if it’ll happen slow or fast. Possible we’ll get a Bear Stearns/Lehman type failure that brings down the world’s markets, after a major player no longer has a blank check at multi-billion/quarter burn rates, and hits insolvency like a freight train. But also likely it could unravel more slowly like a sweater, as de-escalating levels of market access pull on the thread in turn.