It’s searching and digging through other people’s follows. I found a bunch of people that I followed on Twitter, but didn’t really enjoy the content, so I stopped using Mastodon. I don’t think I’m cut out for microblogs.

Also: it’s really hard to spell gonorrhea.

Not known to cause gonorrhea.

That sounds really frustrating. What kind of phone is it?

The developer mentioned in the article complains about a:

worsening struggle with red tape, [other stuff], and rampant piracy

The article goes on to describe some of the costs of piracy to the developer:

Piracy doesn’t just mean lost revenue, Reichenstein wrote, but also increased demands for support, feature requests, and chances for bad ratings from people who never pay. And it builds over time. “You sell less apps through the [Play Store], but pirated users keep coming in because pirate sites don’t have such reviews. Reviews don’t matter much if the app is free.”

it sounds more like a poor choice of backend tech (syncing via Google Drive instead of your own server + allowing exports elsewhere)

I’d rather sync to Google Drive than some weird home grown service. My expectation (probably unfounded, but whatever) is that Google Drive is likely to exist for a while and, when it folds, I’m likely to have a couple of months to get my crap out of there. I’d feel less confident about some rando service from a company I’ve never heard of.

In theory, as a user, we should not at all dislike companies having to jump through more hoops to proof they’re not shitting our stuff out every orifice the moment we close an app.

I think the complaint is that there’s a heavyweight validation process (pay KPMG), a stupid review process from Google (suggesting a writing app should use read only access), and 90% of users aren’t paying for the app.

The last one is clearly the most important, since a robust income stream would justify the other problems.

I’ve seen a bunch of developers complain that piracy is rampant on Android. As in this case, the ongoing cost of pirates outweighs the income from paying users.

It’s shitty.

tell me more about matamaid

holy shit gabbo

The industries supporting journalism have basically collapsed over the past few decades. If you have the means to support decent research and writing, please do so.

[citation needed]

From 1972 onward, between 10-20 percent of all housing built in Canada was public, non-profit, or co-operative owned. These units came with various affordability covenants that anchored prices. Suddenly, private landlords had to compete with a robust public sector that prioritized affordability instead of wealth extraction, lowering costs for everyone.

…

Renters could have their monthly payments subsidized through the Assisted Rental Program (ARP).

…

Low-income folks who wanted to own a home could secure below-market rate mortgages directly from the federal government, or have their private mortgages subsidized through the Assisted Home Ownership Program (AHOP).

…

In Toronto, where participation in FHAP programs was high, real housing costs fell by 30 percent between 1974 and 1978.

no no no just do thirty year mortgages it’ll be fine

I tried this with Gemini. Regardless of the number of rs in a word (zero to 3), it said two.

Earlier this month the government changed one of its rules on mortgage payments, allowing first-time buyers or people purchasing a newly-built home to take loans with 30-year amortizations, instead of 25 years.

Although the move is intended to lower monthly payments and make home ownership affordable to more people, critics say it may have opposite effect by boosting demand and raising prices.

It’s hard to see how this won’t increase prices and costs for buyers. It clearly benefits lenders, but everyone else will pay more.

There are a tonne of realities that are very close to ours are populated by cockroaches and mutants.

Synergy can be pretty good. I think it syncs clipboards and stuff like that, doesn’t it?

I can’t speak for 404 Media, but the rest of them build products that people enjoy using. They fill a niche that the users appreciate and do a good job at it.

It’s hard to fault people for liking things.

Gotta keep those waves away from their delicate grey matter.

That or their phone has shitty palm detection and will unwittingly treat their face as a touch if they hold it too close.

Is the car something you use for work, or is it a benefit?

I’m from Canada. Employers mostly give company vehicles for jobs that require it.