Google might be about to kill off website cookies for good

And we all know we should trust Google's privacy claims for their FloC tech to replace cookies.... right?

ICQ appears to have been bought by mail.ru... And according to the article, people are fleeing WhatsApp over privacy policy concerns???

Not sure if they are gonna get any better privacy with ICQ.

bigspender wrote on Jan 22, 2021, 17:02:
Don't they mean bisexual? Yeah I get that theres multiple genders, but there are only two sexes afaik. You either have a Y chromosome or you dont right?

I had to look it up, myself. Apparently Pansexuals reject the binary "definition" of gender to include the non-binaries, trans, etc. etc.
It's all very confusing to me, being an old fart.... seems LGBTQI+++ gets more letters every year.... not that I'm against it.... just fricken confusing.

What BoP said.

Bitcoin goes up, all forms of cyber extortion goes up, including Ransomware that encrypts your data.
DDoS Threats are much easier to buy / perform than getting a piece of Ransomware Malware into a decently fortified organization, so it makes sense that the lowest effort extortion method would rise.

Mr. Tact wrote on Jan 22, 2021, 16:14:
Yeah, I understood the premise you were suggesting, BoP. It might even be right. But it does lack some logic, I mean if you are going to be a crook, you are going to be a crook. Does it matter if you are asking for 5 Bitcoin or 1,000 Bitcoin as long as the cash equivalent is worth $150k? Then again, high intelligence isn't a common thing among crooks -- so the idea Bitcoin value has spiked might be sufficient motivation for the idiots isn't the craziest thing I've heard in the last week..

They usually adjust the amount of Bitcoin demanded to what they think the organization can / is willing to pay. For example... a small organization they may only demand .3 bitcoin which is around 10k right now.
The rate of more attacks is just more "bottom feeders" trying their hand at attacking due to a value spike... aka perceived easy money.

Solemn-Philosopher wrote on Jan 20, 2021, 17:47:
I'm not usually pro-big business and I am open to a different take, but I am not sure this is a positive direction for European gamers. If they have a single price for games, gamers in Eastern Europe with generally lower income will have to pay extreme prices for their games in comparison to their income. That is the reason for geoblocking, so people in lower income countries can afford games and people in higher income countries can't cheat and grab a game for cheaper.

This.

Rock Paper Shotgun Article: Geo-blocking is usually done so games can be sold cheaper in low-income countries. However, people in higher-income countries have often found ways in the past to bypass regional pricing. Obviously, publishers aren’t a fan of this, because it means those people nab the lower prices.

Seems to me that if geo-blocking isn't allowed... then those lower-income countries are going to get hit with a much higher price.

Avus wrote on Jan 20, 2021, 16:50:
I am using my RTX2060 as GTX2060 and I have NO complaint to play all my games in 1080p.

Same for my GTX1070 and 1080p gaming.
I know there's some Ray Tracing enthusiasts out there... but honestly I haven't seen anything mind blowing enough yet to warrant the desire. (for me)

I did a ton of side missions before act 2. Then I found myself sticking to the main story more. I ended up deciding to do 1 of the endings and saving a bunch of side missions for a replay.
So, I will keep the game patched... but probably won't play it again (starting over) until one or more of the free DLC's are released.

Simon Says wrote on Jan 12, 2021, 13:40:
"19% IPC increase", shows no noticeable improvement over 10700K in Intel's own benchmarks released so far...

Press X for doubt...

Ok... maybe I should have said Intel Marketing isn't throwing in the towel.

I'm still looking at a Zen 3 for my Spring Build.

Intel Teases Rocket Lake Core i9-11900K, Intends to Retake Gaming Crown With 19% IPC Increase

So, no... it doesn't look like they are throwing in the towel to me

But at the Same time, AMD has already struck back at the laptop Market:

AMD Announces Ryzen 5000 Mobile 'Cezanne' Processors, Zen 3 and Overclocking Comes to Laptops

Gotta love it when there's actually some competition to push things forward!

Orogogus wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 17:17:
I was under the impression that this was the endgame of conservatives' proposed revocation of the CDA's Section 230 protections. Removing those protections wouldn't prevent censorship, it would make censorship mandatory since otherwise platforms would be sued for illegal content. So that was something I didn't really get, since conservatives were already complaining about censorship. Were they hoping to take antifa offline, or was it just a way to stick it to Big Tech regardless of the result?

I don't know what their exact aim was, other than being able to sue if they felt there was some sort of bias.

Just to be clear... technically, I am registered non-partisan and I'm a fiscal conservative... In other words, I am anti-spending outside of government's means, yet pro-choice, for example.

I don't agree with revoking 230.
I do agree with revising 230 to define more in depth of what is a publisher vs. not. It's too vague.
I actually agree with Zucker-head (as much as I think he's a pompous ass) that the companies should not be left to police themselves or figure it out for themselves (As far as speech is concerned).

Beamer wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 16:58:
Yes, when you create something predominantly for illegal purposes, or you fail to put in good faith efforts to curb illegal usage, this is what happens.

By Who's opinion that this happened with the platform in question? Yours? Or Your Side of Politics? You really think 3 tech companies should have that kind of power??? Wow!

And you all think the Right wing is fascist?
Extremism on either side is fascist, and the double standards are dangerous.

Beamer wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 16:45:

Ok. Who was banned for things that aren't TOS violations?

A whole platform was silenced by 3 tech companies. Not Individuals that were violating TOS.

This is the same as if Twitter was hosted on Amazon, and the apps hosted on Apple and Android were completely and suddenly removed because Twitter wasn't fast enough at getting the small percentage (compared to the entire platform) of illegal content (death threats, etc.) removed.

Just to be clear... I have no "skin in the game". I don't use any Social media platform mainly due to privacy reasons (which is why I hate all of them). But we can't let companies pick who can or can't have a platform.

This comment was edited on Jan 11, 2021, 17:11.

The Pyro wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 16:22:
This is arguably more dangerous than government censorship. It would be easier to hold the US government accountable. Instead, we've got a small group of private tech executives who hold a near-monopoly on the communications infrastructure running half the planet, and they're using their power to remove content from millions of people who had absolutely nothing to do with storming the US capitol or inciting violence.

The scale of these tech companies gives them a frightening amount of power concentrated in the hands of a few individuals, and I don't see this monopoly getting broken up by market forces any time soon. Maybe the government can't throw you in jail for expressing unpopular opinions, but the tech companies can shut down your entire social network and basically freeze your assets by shutting down payment processing. Google and Apple suddenly don't like your pro-Hong Kong independence views? Bam, now your smartphone is a brick. Good luck finding an alternative.

At this point I don't know what the better solution would be - more aggressive antitrust laws, or more comprehensive classes of protected speech, or an overhaul of section 230 - but I do know I'm not comfortable with the status quo.

Well said.

This comment was edited on Jan 11, 2021, 16:42.

Verno wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 14:22:

Is this fair though? Generally speaking the stories are labeled appropriately and most of the time they're sectioned off. No one makes me click on this stuff, I choose to do so. I don't think anyone clicked this comment thread expecting a discussion on GPUs. What I dislike is when people derail existing threads with political comments and the silly quote cheerleading, the latter of which I would love to clamp down on.

Yeah yeah... don't like the topic don't click. I get it.
It would be just nice to get away from political crap on every site.

I agree on the derailing too.

Agent.X7 wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 13:56:
Everyone is OK with censoring people they disagree with. Just wait until it's your opinion they disagree with and you get censored. I don't agree with either side, since they are both full of self-serving politicians just looking to get rich and powerful off the backs of the people. The logic defying twists both sides play trying to redefine reality is just mind blowing.

This.

Honestly, I have been trying to stay away from Political threads.

I just wish Blue would stop posting Political Headlines... unless directly related to gaming, like the Jack Thompson asshat.
Couldn't care less what twitter and other shit companies are doing. (Has nothing to do with Trump... hated Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of them long before politics... and I hope the Dems break them up)

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 12:59:
The Polish government is getting involved?!? What the fuck is going on, on this fucking planet? Tens of thousands of people dying every day from Covid19, possibly millions of new infections every day worldwide, and any government is spending one iota of time on this fucking video game!?!

Clearly I am living in some sort of simulated Hell or Twilight Zone.

Yup.
I could see a consumer protections "agency" getting involved if no refunds were offered... but they were, so there's no need to get in CDPR's face over it.

RedEye9 wrote on Jan 11, 2021, 13:10:
How much do you want to bet that some well-connected Poles "lost" money when the stock decreased.
'Follow The Money' and you'll get the real answer why the government is involved.

But that wouldn't be "consumer protections"... that would be something like the equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission we have in the US.

Cutter wrote on Jan 7, 2021, 14:20:
I thought Bezos had surpassed 200 billion this year? Yeah, just googled it and Bezos passed $200 billion back in August.

Didn't a quarter of his wealth have to go to his ex-wife? Probably puts him under Musk at that point.

Harvey Smith... yeah he'd say something like that.

Arkane died when Raphaël Colantonio left.
Harvey Smith (Deus Ex Invisible War... which was horrible) was and still is a joke.

MeanJim wrote on Jan 6, 2021, 13:03:
Player count dropping... on a single player game... roughly about the time it takes to play it. I wonder why?

Ayup.

The flow rate of people finishing vs. buying what is going on.

I'm almost finished myself... have to decide if I want to do a bunch of of side missions I have left before finishing the main quest or go ahead and finish the main quest and put the game away untill more fixes / DLC etc.. and play again.

Pretty sure I'm done with the Elder Scrolls series if they tie modding into Steamworks (Meaning it won't ever appear on GOG like the previous games vs. Skyrim).

Also... we already all know damn well it's just going to be another highly modified "NetImmerse / Gamebryo engine game. (That they will label as "New" and "Their own" with super wonky animation because that engine's foundation is incapable of good character animation in the first place.)

Then, of course... There is the sell-out to Microsoft. Fuck that. If you think Oblivion and Skyrim were "consolized" before... wait until MS starts calling the shots.

This series is dead to me, now.