lsmarigo

reminds me of this fun little promo short https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwK02wNVOy8

Seems unreasonable to me, who's to say which neighborhood deserves more or less noise pollution? Oh right, economic status and ability to file massive lawsuits. If that takeoff method was all around better they would just do it everywhere, Congress outlawed other airports from doing the same in 1990

"In 1990, Congress, fearing that many localities could eventually hamstring the growth of aviation by implementing their own patchwork of noise restrictions, passed the Airport Noise and Capacity Act which outlawed curfews at airports. John Wayne was grandfathered in, however, due to the original lawsuit being filed in 1985."

https://www.avgeekery.com/whats-rollercoaster-takeoffs-orang...

"California has empowered them in peculiar and powerful ways"

Fun example of this is John Wayne airport in Orange County pilots do a special takooff involving cutting power to engines to reduce noise for Newport Beach neighborhood below dating back to a lawsuit from the 80s.

I blame myself.

This is a narrative the game industry has been successfully pushing through organized PR campaigns and astroturfing online discussions, of course parents share some responsibility but this angle is disingenuous and lets publishers off the hook too easily. I wouldn't beat yourself up too much here you're aware of the situation and actively involved in fixing it.

Game shops are exploiting advanced psychological tactics to turn young generation into addicts.

This + the instantly available secondary market which allows you to gamble with your digital goods/currency is the major difference between this and it's predecessor: baseball/pokemon/magic the gathering card packs.

Belgium/EU are making strong moves on this but very doubtful we'll see any movement in the US anytime soon, a New Hampshire senator dared to question the situation and was blasted by an aggressive letter from the ESRB claiming loot boxes are not at all gambling.

The games industry is uniquely positioned to allow for this kind of abuse because the primary targets (marks) are unorganized young children that don't know any better. Most games are just a vessel for the 'marketplace' which is an online casino for kids. The current state of gaming is shocking, regulation is desperately needed.

already multiple players in this space but last time I checked none were very reputable or well reviewed so hey still an opportunity.

Why is this not allowed to be discussed here dang?

What's going on on reddit is something never before seen and has directly lead to the rise of extremism in the US. Every thread about reddit should be about this, nothing else matters in the context of what's going on here - on topic or not. How are more people not paying attention or maybe they are and OK with it, which is even scarier.

You've done the same to my comments about this exact issue in the past. You're denying visibility to an issue so much more important than some inc fluff piece, on the grounds of what - making YC funded companies look bad? Being off topic? Too political?

The admin team has shown a flagrant and criminally negligent disregard for the ethical and social impact of their platform which has lead directly to the loss of human life on more than one occasion, the rise of extremism and fascism but we're not allowed to talk about it here on any threads, why?

minor gripe the apt-x website under "Key Facts"

"Your brain can’t tell the difference between a delay of 0 and 100ms"*

Reminds me of the old "brain can't process more than 30fps" Marketing folks running wild over there.

* https://www.aptx.com/aptx-low-latency*

there "Instant-availability of the secondary market" you're just talking bullshit

https://steamcommunity.com/market/search?appid=730

https://steamcommunity.com/market/search?appid=578080

https://gamdom.com/

https://csgoempire.com/

https://csgoroll.com/

https://csgodose.com/

https://csbets.org/

https://flashyflashy.com/

https://csgospeed.com/

First page results from a quick google search, who's talking bullshit

No, This is like going after murderers for being late on their taxes. Call me a cynic/skeptic but I don't see cracking down on tracking that's ubiquitous in big tech (google, fb) on some small devs as a positive. This is a distraction and an attempt to by this DA get PR points for "cracking down on tech" for the next election.

Games are designed to keep you interested and engaged-- that's just what a game is. Children's games have included gambling since toys have existed (dreidel, jacks, marbles, to name a few).

You're not wrong, can also point to baseball cards, magic the gathering or pokemon cards. The key differences today are

1) Instant-availability of the secondary market and third party sites that allow you to gamble with virtual currency you've won.

2) Devs/Publishers hiring psychologists and cognitive behavior specialists to design these loot box experiences to release the perfect amount of dopamine to get users addicted, with frightening efficiency. In comparison your examples are extremely mild.

You could say it's the parents responsibility to educate and protect their children from these practices - but would you say the same about the tobacco industry advertising to children? For me this is the same addiction from profit motive the tobacco industry exploited for many years until they were rightfully regulated.

“The F.T.C. has made enforcement of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act a high priority,” said Juliana Gruenwald, an agency spokeswoman.

“These sophisticated tech companies are not policing themselves,” the New Mexico attorney general, Hector Balderas, said. “The children of this country ultimately pay the price.”

“This is as much a black eye on the federal government as the tech space,” Mr. Balderas said. “I’m trying to get lawmakers at the federal level to wake up.”

This is like going after drug dealers for parking violations and calling a press conference to proudly brag about it. Game publishers are doing much worse stuff and you're making a big deal about going after them for tracking!?

To not even mention in passing loot boxes, really NYT? one of the most pervasive unethical rackets in modern tech targeting children, much worse than tracking because it causes real harm to individuals.

FTC: Feel free to exploit young underdeveloped brains to addict them to gambling for profit as long as you're not tracking them.

As a content creator it's very quickly apparent the best route to driving views and subs is to push extreme/edgy content. Balanced content gets no engagement. It's really that simple, with the ADHD short attention span of the current gen of heavy media consumers (read: kids) you have to shock them/surprise them/make them laugh ~once every 5-6 seconds to keep them on the video. YouTube offers very detailed metrics on engagement and you can study the exact time where people lose interest/close the video.

Only massive established channels have the privilege of pushing non-edgy content as their audience is built in already, for anyone new it's shock value and hard-line extremism or your voice will be lost among the noise.

Panda Express kicks this up a notch and has a little bell they ring whenever someone donates their change adding an element of social pressure/shame, super scummy

The main argument seems to be that because we're not having forced arguments and considerations in meatspace, mano-a-mano, we're not challenged enough.

In meatspace social pressure exists unlike on the internet. An example is racist/misogynist jokes are not acceptable in most IRL contexts (especially those that are being logged/recorded permanently as is the case on the majority of the modern web) whereas on the internet it's not only discouraged but it's actually a great way to build a following quickly.

The internet is fundamentally changing how we communicate, ingest news, and share information.

The argument is that before safe spaces and echo chambers online, individuals that aim to engage general public with their message in any meaningful context are forced to compromise their extreme views. In my view Alex Jones wouldn't be a nationally recognized name before the internet, at best he'd be able to get influence over 30 or so of his local conspiracy theorists. No publication would print his views, because of how large a portion of the population they would alienate and anger. I'd argue this pressure is a net positive and having it removed online is leading us down a dark path.

I have no source these are just my thoughts and observations.

You bring up very good points.

Technocrats don't compromise well on social issues, they believe there is a best answer.

You are absolutely correct. Algorithms and search bubbles are just symptoms not the disease. Elite untouchable tech giants with no oversight molding human thought and behavior to increase their bottom line and power with a 'move fast a break things' attitude in regards to the any social or ethical implications - that's the disease.

this is at the core of why the fabric of our society is unraveling. We're heading deeper in this direction with no signs of slowing down. Algorithms that optimize for engagement metrics amplify this.

why would anyone entertain let alone engage opposing viewpoints when it's much more comfortable to just retreat to a place with common similar beliefs. Make no mistake Hn is an echo chamber as well.

It's not a "this community" issue

I disagree, by actively censoring and ninja burying important issues that don't reflect well on Silicon Valley the admins of Hn have cultivated an echo chamber of SV Brotopia, these are the fruits of that labor.

One of the most pervasive problems of modern tech - discouraging but at this point not surprising to see people dismissively brushing this off in this thread. This is the kind of community end up with when you phantom delete and 'ninja bury' any posts or comments that dare question the ethical and societal implications of the shit going on in SV.

correct, writers have the Writers Guild of America, VFX industry doesn't, they've tried with various initiatives to get one going but none have been successful yet.

I'm weary of anything that enhances studios ability to exploit talent - this seems like a great way to get writers by the balls the way they have they've got the VFX industry. The company that did the CGI for Life of Pi (won best visual effects) promptly went out of business and that's typical for VFX firms on major projects because studios hold all the cards. They'll find a new/desperate shop that will agree to an absurd contract with infinite revisions. Writers have a strong guild though so hopefully they make sure this doesn't turn into a race to the bottom from writing talent.

That's good to hear honestly.

In most of America things are nothing like that.

Can't speak to America at large but the game industry in California is absolutely like this, tech seems to be in a similar situation. It's a v complex problem with no apparent fix.

Interesting that this one is doing well compared to the longer in-depth kotaku article a few days ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17710188 - fwiw that piece has since been corroborated by a ton of former riot employees on twitter.

At the risk of sounding overly cynical, this is all true and everyone knows about it, people feign disgust at these articles but we're all complicit and understanding that this is way things are. If people are truly shocked by this I would contend they are either young and inexperienced or incredibly naive. This article will get some discussion going for a few days then we'll quietly return to the status quo. Nothing will change.

  There is almost no institution in the USA which actively publishes a broadsheet newspaper you could call left, let alone "far" left. Middle of the road looks pretty left from a ranty right view maybe.

  they decided to doubled down on being another partisan rag like WaPo, feeding off the outrage culture 

You think businesses are that forward thinking?

Definitely. Adhering to new regulations costs man hours and $, companies understandably would rather not be forced to comply. No grand conspiracy just long term bus dev.

To offer a non-dev perspective on Hn, it feels like tech companies are really trying to annoy us users with GDPR updates in an effort to nurture opposition to similar proposed regulations in the future. I hope it doesn't work.

I love GDPR, getting rid of the WHOIS database stuff alone is enough to make me a huge fan. The option to delete my data is also amazing.

Reddit has been overrun by extremists and special interest groups and has become a dangerous tool for indoctrination and misinformation.

This interview feels disingenuous and a thinly veiled humble brag/promo for Imzy.

Jailbait Really? How can you mention jailbait but not coontown, KKK, fatpeoplehate, incels, boston marathon, there are so many worse communities/incidents that have spilled into general reddit than jailbait.

the cycle is media backlash > ban a few subs > replacements/under the radar alternatives readily available in the ban announcement comments.

no one seems to fully appreciate the massive influence that reddit has on the news cycle/national discourse and how the company policies can actually shape world politics. It's insane we're not studying this and talking about it more.

We need law enforcement to be able to keep pace with advances in technology

Agree, Kumail Nanjiani (comedian) has a great rant on twitter about exactly this, ethical implications of tech-

As a cast member on a show about tech, our job entails visiting tech companies/conferences etc. We meet ppl eager to show off new tech. Often we'll see tech that is scary. I don't mean weapons etc. I mean altering video, tech that violates privacy, stuff w obv ethical issues. And we'll bring up our concerns to them. We are realizing that ZERO consideration seems to be given to the ethical implications of tech. They don't even have a pat rehearsed answer. They are shocked at being asked. Which means nobody is asking those questions. "We're not making it for that reason but the way ppl choose to use it isn't our fault. Safeguard will develop." But tech is moving so fast. That there is no way humanity or laws can keep up. We don't even know how to deal with open death threats online. Only "Can we do this?" Never "should we do this? We've seen that same blasé attitude in how Twitter or Facebook deal w abuse/fake news. Tech has the capacity to destroy us. We see the negative effect of social media. & no ethical considerations are going into dev of tech.You can't put this stuff back in the box. Once it's out there, it's out there. And there are no guardians. It's terrifying. The end. https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/925828976882282496?lang=e...

It is scary, big tech orgs have no incentive or motivation to even consider ethical implications, whats worse is the American consumer has shown repeatedly that you're OK to do really shady stuff and as long as it means a lower price product/service for the consumer. We're in a kind of dark age of tech regulation and he's right it is terrifying.

"actually executing on a rather ethical business model"

artificial scarcity seasonal events with limited availability on loot boxes which are marketed to children, with fancy skins they want, there's nothing ethical about marketing and profiting from children gambling. Just because even less ethical business models exist, Blizzard and Valve don't get a free pass for being slightly less evil than the competition.

This is good and long overdue, hopefully we can come up with something effective unlike the regulations in China/Korea which are skirted by publishers gifting the loot boxes with other purchases instead of outright selling them. The amount of money at play here is no joke, Activision/Blizzard alone earns $13.4m daily revenue (2017) on just in-game microtransactions. They've even re-organized their financial results to downplay the dominance of microtransaction loot box revenue if you compare 2016 to 2017.

http://investor.activision.com/results.cfm

Should be framed as an extension of existing laws regarding child gambling.