I'm curious about the Slack thing. I wonder if there could be third parties doing something (browser plugins, third party keyboards for Android, edit: someone using a TV as a computer monitor.)

One thing is for certain, if ad targeting is not being done in ways it shouldn't be, there isn't anything technically preventing it.

It could be as simple as links. People drop links in the slack discussions, other people from Geolocated IP addresses (or same) click on them. Google analytics et. al. hovers a lot of data.

Maybe the whole thing was intentional, right at the footer of viva "Cloud services by Microsoft Azure" ; #1 I've never heard of viva before #2 I've never seen an azure logo at the footer of a website.

Extensions are trivial unless they have to run external software or services. Download the extension, extract the source, audit it with a good thinking model and either strip out all third party URLs/addresses or have the agent clone the functionality you want.

They need to have an always-on camera looking at the person using the device. No camera, no discord.

This may seem like hyperbole, but this is the reality for students and test-takers every day in virtual environments now.

I assisted as TA in a virtual learning environment. While we didn't make it strictly mandatory to keep the camera on, our learners were encouraged to do it, and we kept tabs on who was "engaged" and present, because at the very least, we needed to tabulate an attendance roll for every day.

If you're taking a standardized test, whether you're at home or in a controlled lab, the camera will always be on. Multiple ones. Not optional.

There is a large storm of controversy on college campuses about adapting young students early to surveillance cultures. I attended a community college about 7 years ago, and I felt I'd be a second-class citizen without a smartphone and an SMS'able mobile.

We weren't surveilled through smartphones at the time. But there was an app to receive campus alerts about public safety and other crisis events. And our virtual class sessions had various ways of ensuring we were human, and awake.

Taking finals and certification exams, I was often sat in a special-purpose testing center, and Step One was showing ID; Step Two was surrendering my watch, my phone, my wallet to place in a locker outside. So, students simply become accustomed to showing ID and being on-camera, and it becomes a fact of life before you graduate.

It is only a matter of time before ID verification means the camera is always on watching the face of the person looking at the screen.

That's why I put black tape over my front-facing camera.

Expect a visit feom ho.eland security 10 years from now

There is a good parallel here with Myspace and Facebook. Myspace added an ad network & was hammered by spammers around the same time Facebook was opening up user registration to everyone. Facebook had no ads. Myspace was dead.

This time Linux has very good game support to the point where some games have a higher FPS on Linux. It will be so expensive for Microsoft to attempt to turn this ship around, and it will likely still fail.

This is happening at the same time AI agents have gotten really good, so users will just use local AI agents to configure and troubleshoot the rough stuff about Linux. And then they will customize it so much they will never be able to go back to Windows.

Ubuntu is just fine for 99% of non tech users. Windows has so many anti-patterns, tricks, and OneDrive rugpulls now that Ubuntu is actually much safer and simpler for non-techies to use (I can also make the case it beats iOS in that department too.)

The YT transcripts are linked to on the YT page itself. If they remove that, it is trivial to use a local STT model to transcribe the video. If they make it impossible to download a video, you could just have a microphone record all of the sound, and so on. Once you have the transcription of anything, summarizing is trivial. I have a local script that does this and I use it all of the time. Also produce diagrams for YT summaries. Hours saved, per day.

One thing that's consistent with AI negative/doesn't work/is slop posts: they don't tell you want models they are using.

"Your band was formed after 2023, we will ignore you even if you aren't AI"

By the end of 2026 the AI/no-AI thing is debate is going to be dead because there will be no way to know the difference. This is almost true right now, it just is going to take the general public a while to catch up.

One distinction which could be made: I would like to see bands that are humans because I want to physically attend and enjoy concerts. If the "artist" has never played a concert I don't want to listen to them. Which expands a whole new grey area..