Daily Tech News 22 August 2022

• Google search is quietly damaging democracy. (Wired)
  
  The argument here is that Google moving from providing unbiased, unfiltered search results to attempting to provide you with what they believe is the right answer has a deleterious effect on individual ability in fact-finding and decision making in the modern world and thus in evaluating political news and making voting choices.
  
  Well, so far so good. Needs to be examined but not implausible.
  
  Where the whole thing comes off the rails, ploughs through a nursing home, crashes into a school, bursts into flames, and finally explodes is that this is the thesis of the author's book The Propagandists' Playbook: How Conservative Elites Manipulate Search and Threaten Democracy. (Amazon)
  
  Yes, you read that right: She claims that conservatives are twisting Google's search results with the aim of "humanizing the people whose worldviews and media practices conservatism embodies" - using trickery learned in Bible studies class.
  
  This is "Jews control the weather on Mars" levels of insanity.

• The problem with waiting for human review to untangle the mess when Big Tech's AI scripts have flagged your account for illegal behaviour is that Big Tech no longer employs functioning humans. (Yahoo News)
  
  Take a photo of your toddler so that the doctor can make a quick diagnosis and get your email and phone accounts cancelled. Permanently. And all your photos deleted. After they get sent to the police.
  
  The police basically said "Are you kidding? There's no crime here." but couldn't contact the victim because his email and phone accounts had been cancelled.
  
  In a statement, Google - of course it was Google - said "Yeah, what?"
  
  
  
• The Merge: Ethereum is finally going to Eth2, dropping proof-of-work for proof-of-stake. (Ethereum)
  
  What does this mean?

  Misconception: "The Merge will reduce gas fees."
  
  False. The Merge is a change of consensus mechanism, not an expansion of network capacity, and will not result in lower gas fees.

  Oh, but it will be faster without the proof-of-work requirement, right?

  Misconception: "Transactions will be noticeably faster after The Merge."
  
  False. Though some slight changes exist, transaction speed will mostly remain the same on layer 1.

  It does mean that no-one will be using graphics cards to mine ETH anymore, because you won't be able to mine ETH anymore.
  
  And it will mean that the electricity used by the Ethereum blockchain will be reduced by around 99.9%.
  
  This is expected to happen sometime. I think it's about two years behind schedule at this point, but it's understandable that they'd rather it be hopelessly late than lose billions of dollars of other people's money. That's a sentiment that more blockchain developers should adopt.
  
  
  
• Intel's graphics cards may suck, but they can run Crysis. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Crysis was a serious test of hardware performance when it came out, but that was in 2007. These days it will run on a potato.
  
  Similarly, a modern low-end card like the RX 6600 can comfortably beat the performance of the GTX 1080 - and that's from just six years ago, not fifteen.
  
  
  
  
  
• Hoes Mad in Your Area: Artists react to the use of AI art to illustrate an article that would not have otherwise been illustrated. (The Atlantic)
  
  This article is half groveling apology, have pathetic attempt at navel gazing, as you would expect from Fascist Quarterly when they inadvertently offend their core readership of complete lunatics.
  
  
  
• Cory Doctorow has Kickstarted a new audiobook. (Kickstarter)
  
  Doctorow won't put out a book with DRM, and Audible won't publish an audiobook without DRM. This book, then - Chokepoint Capitalism - is about the ways Big Tech - Amazon (which owns Audible), Google, Facebook, Apple, and others - have conspired to take all the value from every transaction and leave the actual content creators with crumbs.
  
  It's so far raised nearly eight times its (admittedly modest) initial goal.
  
  Fair warning: Doctorow is a leftist, but an old-school one who can write coherently even when his premises are wrong.
  
  
  
• A whole bunch of stuff on Ryzen 7000. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  With the launch a week away the leaks are probably pretty accurate at this point.
  
  
  
• The first major update for the hit fan-made game Holocure - a Hololive-oriented spin on Vampire Survivors - is out September 9.
  
  

  Are you ready?
  
  9/9
  9月9日 pic.twitter.com/uBZbeRCTsO

  — HoloCure (@HoloCureGame) August 21, 2022

  
  
  It will add Hololive Japan Gen 0 and Gamers to the current roster of characters (just Hololive English).
  
  Hololive has a very open approach to fan-made products using their IP, with some great results.

posted by Pixy Misa at 05:00 AM

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