resist1984 @resist1984@social.privacytools.io

@joerebelloharley@tilde.zone While most programming languages are designed with some kind of technical niche advantage to justify yet another language, I believe C# brings nothing of real significant technical value to the table. I believe C#'s main purpose for existence is to serve to produce programs that only run on MS Windows. I find that to be a serious pitfall that outweighs any unique feature of C#.

@joerebelloharley@tilde.zone I should probably also mention why I would be so bent against #Microsoft w.r.t programming languages. Over a decade ago MS invented J++ in attempt to sabotage #Java. Java's top goal was platform independance, & MS expanded libs/constructs to make J++ a java superset that exclusively ran on Windows, effectively ruining Java's advantage. Sun quite rightly sued MS & won.

@joerebelloharley@tilde.zone Why C#? I wouldn't go near it because it's a vendor-specific language by Microsoft for MS products. The linux port (mono) does not have the entire library, IIUC.

@krock AFAIK, DDG only gets images (!image) from Google, but normal searches are sourced from #Microsoft Bing. And because MS is also the hosting provider for DDG, MS sees both the IP address and the query of every user. If you want Google results without google contact, Startpage is the common tool for that.

@krock I didn't know ddg used CF. Do you mean that DDG gives CF results, or something else?

@jumboshrimp @mxtthxw Another exceptional circumstance: the bike lane becomes optional when a cluster of cyclists need more space from each other.

@mxtthxw @jumboshrimp Not sure what you saw, but sometimes the cycle lane is immediately next to parked cars where a door can open at any moment. Cyclists in western europe (not sure about UK) have a right to 1 meter clearance from cars, moving or not.

Good news: "Scraping is not hacking and doesn't violate the CFAA" https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/eff-ninth-circuit-recent-supreme-court-decision-van-buren-does-not-criminalize-web

@Br0m3x I think Rabobank & Triodos took the ethical path of not sharing with the US. So pro-privacy ethical consumers who don't have US citizenship should support those banks by putting their money there.

@Br0m3x The ethical banks opt to reject US clients so that at least they aren't a party to the abusive info overshare.

@Br0m3x Yeah, that's a rather despicable treaty. The US strong-armed each EU nation to make their banks spy on Americans. They never should have agreed to that, and both sides can be blamed for it. Banks have an ultimatim: share data about Americans, or reject American customers. Both options violate EU equal treatment laws.

@Br0m3x in what circumstance? Do you mean when opening an EU bank acct?

@Br0m3x ah, I didn't realize you were European. Well certainly you have it easier than Americans b/c you probably don't even have to report your earnings to Europe if you move and cut ties. OTOH, your tax is probably at a level that really pressures you to leave.

@Br0m3x Note there is that ~$90k exemption, where you can live outside the US & pay zero US tax if your annual income doesn't exceed ~$90k, even if the tax in your country of residence is zero. The only escape if you exceed thresholds is renounciation.

@Br0m3x OTOH, US income tax is relatively low compared to the rest of the developed world. Hong Kong is the only developed (country?) with lower tax than the US AFAIK.

@Br0m3x well the income tax is a can of worms. To some extent, you do have choice. If you don't like the tax regime where you are, you can relocate into a different tax regime. Of course, that option isn't available to those too poor to move. And if you're a US citizen, you still must file with the fed even if you leave (which is quite nasty compared to other developed countries).

@Br0m3x But I should also say I'm not at all bothered that Bezos is financing space programs. Considering the unjustly miniscule funding that goes to NASA, SpaceX is filling a gap & it's much needed. It's only objectionable how the scumbag acquired the money he invests on #SpaceX.

@Br0m3x As someone who boycotts #Amazon, I reserve the right to bitch about Amazon's continued oppressive & destructive existence. We all have fewer choices in the market as a consequence of Amazon's anti-competitive practices, which continues to harm all consumers (myself included) despite my boycott.