Joel

@Grummz Why would anyone employ localizers? Just let AI do it and provide a feedback submission channel so the "beta testers" will make suggestions and it can be updated 2 weeks later with a second AI pass utilising approved suggestions.

How do you have multiple brainstorming sessions just to end up localizing “Tsundere” into “fragile male ego”??? How much did all those meetings cost? For this crap result? Bring in the AI and get your fry cooker warmed up.

@BohuslavskaKate Russia is already embargoed, they can't buy or sell with USA at all.

Including Russia, right? RIGHT?

@Flumty1 @Pirat_Nation The difference is winnings items which can be sold for real money. Which means it is proper gambling.

@Pirat_Nation Almost EVERY game has some form of microtransactions and gambling in it.

New York wants a cut of Counter-Strike’s loot box economy on Valve’s Steam platform. Officials argue the game’s paid case openings amount to gambling, as players spend real money for randomized skins with real resale value. The attorney general is seeking full restitution for every resident who has ever “gambled” on a loot box, regardless of age, plus a penalty worth three times Valve’s related profits.

@RobFo1 @AlboMP It is a response to the Adobe case in USA where they were scanning people with $300 cancellation fees. There are presently of scanty web services and gyms have always been notorious for it.

@AlboMP What? Where do you get your information from? In 25 years never have I had an issue cancelling any subscription.

A subscription shouldn’t be a trap. That’s why we’re banning subscriptions that lock you in because they’re too hard to cancel.

@Mohit_Gautam139 @jack UK will ban it next, they have become just as censored as China.

@jack Bitchat vanishing in China feels like the best marketing campaign free speech could ask for.

bitchat pulled from the china app store

@libragon_ @jack @grok No why would they? Nothing related to being an encrypted chat.

@jack now i’m wondering whether china bans apple airtags. do they @grok?

@nishchayv_ @jack That is very well known. It is surprising it ever got published on the China store in the first place.

@jack So China doesn’t allow apps it can’t surveil?

@NicoGrajales @jack They will Great Firewall block them, just like they do to Google. Which means Apple loses the $25 billion dollar market. Even worse it will result in an improvement in the Android/Linux spinoffs which will compete with Apple worldwide.

@jack I don't understand why Apple follows Chinese law. Is China going to sue apple if they don't follow Chinese law? Since when do we care about Chinese law?

@TakiVan1 @Pirat_Nation There are patent pools and the licensee organisations are basically patent trolls who will stick 50 lawyers on you. If you are big enough to get on their radar then they will find a reason your free codec is violation their parents and spend the next decade in courts worldwide.

@Pirat_Nation Why don't they use a free codec? Sounds painfully obvious to me...

The Licensing Alliance just changed H.264 video royalties for new licenses starting in 2026. Big streaming services used to pay a maximum of $100,000 per year. Now the cap is much higher up to $4.5 million for the largest platforms. Old 2025 licenses stay the same. Small or new services still pay the lower rate.

@mrbusysky @Pirat_Nation It is more that they have a patent pool and go after everyone using various compression techniques.

@Pirat_Nation Time to make an open standard?

@ChrisBarrett54 @newscomauHQ The PM literally held a national address to tell people to travel and enjoy Easter.

@newscomauHQ Why would people travel over the long weekend in a fuel crisis fucking morons stay home

Chris Bowen has reminded people to avoid panic buying this Easter long weekend. Full story: bit.ly/4c41nb1

@TerribleMaps When you buy China on wish,com

China isn’t as big as people think, it’s actually smaller than Florida

The whole space toilet thing seems very unnecessary really since both types can be dealt with using plastic bags and funnel contraptions. I suspect the whole toilet thing is just non functional prop for PR reasons so they don't have to tell schools then stick a poop funnel in the butt.

For urine: Backup collapsible urine collection bags (similar to Apollo-era tech) that interface with the venting system. Crew can still dump urine overboard even if the main toilet fan or separator fails. For solids: The toilet structure can still be used as a basic collection point (without the fan assistance for separation), and waste goes into canisters that get stowed. It's messy and less efficient, but doable.

Always, always, make sure the space toilet works before leaving earth.

@GregOwen70 @Grummz Go flush a regular toilet in zero gravity and see what happens to the entire room

@Grummz LOL. When they were listing the things they had to test before leaving Earth orbit and mentioned that they had to make sure the toilet would flush, my thought was "Of course it will flush! We've been making toilets for hundreds of years!"

@ministaraw @BRICSinfo @grok It means Russia understands the threat of drones and that Iran is now Afghanistan which was a meat grinder for USA troops for 20 years (and Russian before that) before retreat. Can't beat Afghanistan can't beat Iran. Was stupid to start what they can't finish.

@BRICSinfo Very interesting, that means it's Russia that is barking and supporting Iran. Did america know about this? If yes is America afraid of Russia? @grok answer this

JUST IN: 🇷🇺🇮🇷 Russia says any attempt to take control of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran won't work. "This is an objective reality…even the United States of America cannot challenge."

@mfukowabaraka @BRICSinfo He knows all about how dangerous cheap little drones are and how hard it is to stop one guy with a backpack from deploying.

@BRICSinfo Putin is a coward , soft heart . He is bluffing , Putin is weak , soft heart , he can't do shit . If he can't finish off ukraine and he can't do anything . Waste of news article , putin has a soft heart , probably weaker than one pensive

Trump is actually threatening to pull out of NATO because a strictly defensive alliance declined to join an illegal bombing campaign he started without giving his allies any warning. The whole situation is completely insane

@TheJawnzz @AlboMP The business still pays a fee. They just have to factor it into their pricing

Explain how the banks will take 1% for every transaction now? Because we all know they will. Will this increase our monthly fees? Without doubt, this profit will simply be moved to somewhere else within their companies. You need to have more targeted legislation at the big banks. Not blanket legislation.

Say goodbye to card surcharges.

@Fuck_The_Taxman @AlboMP How would the bank stop charging a fee? As if they would just provide cards and processing for free.

@AlboMP So did you stop banks charging the fee or did you stop business forwarding on the fee? Obviously you didn’t stop the banks so businesses will just add the fee to the price and charge everyone. Great job PM you did so well

@michaelplis @AlboMP Most already do. It is only small business and tightarse Aldi who charge a surcharge.

@AlboMP Most businesses will just roll the surcharge into overall prices, usually also rising prices further them if not been raised for a while - while they at it. Convenient excuse. You will throw people's budgets further into debt and trouble. Well done for the consumer. Um no.