Heat Death of the Internet
==========================
4 April 2024
You want to order from a local restaurant, but you need to download a third-party delivery app, even though you plan to pick it up
yourself. The prices and menu on the app are different to what you
woman behind the counter says they have to contact the company who
designed the site for changes, which will cost them, but most people
just order through an app anyway.
You want to watch the trailer for an upcoming movie on YouTube but
you first have to sit through an ad. Then you sit through a preview
for the trailer itself. Then you watch the trailer, which is
literally another ad. When it ends, it cues up a new trailer, with a
new ad at the start of it.
The first page of Google results are links to pages that have scraped
other pages for information from other pages that have been scraped
for information. All the sources seem to link back to one another.
There is no origin. The photos on the page look weird. The hands are disfigured. There is no image credit.
Your coworker sends you a PowerPoint pack to support a presentation
you are giving to the executive committee, but you can't make heads
or tails of it. You call them over Zoom and they tell you they used
ChatGPT to write it. You point out that it is near-unreadable, and
they ask what specifically is wrong with it. You mention that, for
starters, there are too many words on each slide. They tell you
they'll take care of it. They send you a new pack within the hour
saying they asked ChatGPT to remove 30% of the text. It makes even
less sense. You tell them you'll just rewrite it yourself.
A billionaire got mad, bought your favourite social media site and
ran it into the ground. A different billionaire got mad, bought the
magazine site you liked to read on your lunchbreak and shut it down completely. A third billionaire did what they do best, bought the app
you use for networking and sold it off for parts.
You want to watch a TV show from your youth so you check a streaming
service, but it is not there, so you check a second streaming service
but it is not there, so you check a third streaming service and it is
not there. You search for it on Blu-ray but it doesn't exist, so you
search for it on DVD but it is out of print. You find a seller on
eBay who has it, but the listing reads ambiguous as to whether it is
the real thing or a burnt copy. You message the seller and they reply
with an automated response thanking you for your interest.
You can't read the recipe on your phone because it prioritises the
ads on the page. You bring your laptop into the kitchen and whenever
you scroll down, you have to close a pop-up. You turn AdBlock on and
the page no longer loads, then AdBlock sends you an ad asking for
money.
The Airbnb charges you a $150 cleaning fee, but insists the place
needs to be left spotless. There will be a fee if the bedding hasn't
been stripped and the dishwasher hasn't been emptied.
Your Uber driver is lost because his app hasn't updated and keeps
telling him to turn down streets that no longer exist. You still give
him five stars.
Your mother sends you a link to a breaking story, but the article is
behind a paywall, so you switch to the website where you do pay for
news but there's no mention of it.
You buy a microwave and receive ads for microwaves. You buy a
mattress and receive ads for mattresses.
Strangers on social media assume you are American and get mad when
you correct them.
Your Gmail is approaching storage capacity.
Your smart TV needs new firmware.
Your phone schedules an update.
Fascinating how different experiences and life choices can be! Let me contrast this with some clips from my own life. Obviously this is
based on where I live in northern europe so of course my experience
does not apply equally to yours.
On Thu, 2 May 2024, Ben Collver wrote:
Heat Death of the Internet
==========================
4 April 2024
You want to order from a local restaurant, but you need to download
a third-party delivery app, even though you plan to pick it up
yourself. The prices and menu on the app are different to what you
For app only restaurants I don't go to them, because I don't have a smartphone.
You want to watch the trailer for an upcoming movie on YouTube but
you first have to sit through an ad. Then you sit through a preview
for the trailer itself. Then you watch the trailer, which is
literally another ad. When it ends, it cues up a new trailer, with a
new ad at the start of it.
I block all ads, so never see ads on youtube. I often think about how
the world would be if everyone has adblockers installed. How would
google & co try and smash that, since their economy would be
threatened?
As for videos, I frequent torrent sites, and yt-dlp enables me to
download videos from many streaming sites, including public
tv-stations who have online tv from all over the world.
Your coworker sends you a PowerPoint pack to support a presentation
you are giving to the executive committee, but you can't make heads
or tails of it. You call them over Zoom and they tell you they used
ChatGPT to write it. You point out that it is near-unreadable, and
they ask what specifically is wrong with it. You mention that, for starters, there are too many words on each slide. They tell you
they'll take care of it. They send you a new pack within the hour
saying they asked ChatGPT to remove 30% of the text. It makes even
less sense. You tell them you'll just rewrite it yourself.
Fortunately never happened. I have heard horror stories of 2 people
at a company trading gpt texts each feeding the output of the other
into gpt responding.
I have used gpt for nonsense-documents like environmental and gender
plans which just need to be there to tick a government box, but are
never read or acted upon. I find that gpt excels as writing walls of
text that no one ever reads, but that the government requires
(sometimes) for public tenders.
A billionaire got mad, bought your favourite social media site and
ran it into the ground. A different billionaire got mad, bought the magazine site you liked to read on your lunchbreak and shut it down completely. A third billionaire did what they do best, bought the
app you use for networking and sold it off for parts.
Don't have any social media except mastodon and usenet. Couldn't care
less that mad billionaires spend their dollars on. If people leave
social media I would actually see that as a net benefit for society.
In addition I watch the free news of the government public television
and the TV-text pages.
Overall a goal I have is to minimize my news consumption down to zero, because the older I get, the less I find that I care and I also find
that it does not affect my life positively.
Your Gmail is approaching storage capacity.
I pay for my email and download all, so never any capacity problems.
I wonder if people in general will rediscover old school technology,
or if things will become worse?
Fascinating how different experiences and life choices can be! Let me contrast this with some clips from my own life. Obviously this is based
on where I live in northern europe so of course my experience does not
apply equally to yours.
My life seems more calm, and less exposed to ads and generally more
peaceful than most people.
some of them the hard way. I used to calendar on a smartphone, and now
I have an Android device with a pre-installed app titled "Calendar".
This device has no internet connection. Recently, I wanted to start
the calendar to get the day of the week of a certain date
- but it refused to do anything without an internet connection!
On Thu, 2 May 2024, Ben Collver wrote:
You want to order from a local restaurant, but you need to download a
third-party delivery app, even though you plan to pick it up
yourself. The prices and menu on the app are different to what you
For app only restaurants I don't go to them, because I don't have a smartphone. I have my favourite restaurants and there I can either call
to order, or order through their web site from my laptop.
You want to watch a TV show from your youth so you check a streaming
service, but it is not there, so you check a second streaming service
but it is not there, so you check a third streaming service and it is
not there. You search for it on Blu-ray but it doesn't exist, so you
search for it on DVD but it is out of print. You find a seller on
eBay who has it, but the listing reads ambiguous as to whether it is
the real thing or a burnt copy. You message the seller and they reply
with an automated response thanking you for your interest.
Here I find youtube and local public tv channels online to be good
sources. But this is an interesting point. Sometimes I think about if a campaign to rescue old dvd:s and blueray:s would be successful? The idea
is to ask people to send me dvd:s and bluerays they no longer want and
build up a library. Where I live it is legal to lend out dvd:s as long
as its for private use and no money is involved. Imagine an Alexandria
of old dvd:s and bluerays which people could borrow, rip, and return.
Would anyone be interested?
Scratched discs would be your enemy here. Old DVDs find their way
to second hand stores which sell them for very little money, but
usually a good percentage of them are scratched to unwatchability.
Renting DVDs always had more risk than renting VHS tapes due to
scratched discs, even though they usually had disc polishing
machines which they might use to some effect after you went back
to the store and complained. I don't think video DVDs and audio
CDs were fit for the purpose of replacing tape in the first place,
and the rapid adoption of streaming and P2P downloads is the cost
that the old media industry paid for that. Much to the benefit of
ISPs and the new internet media companies like Amazon and Google.
CDs and DVDs also become unreadable after some years, especially when
light reaches them.
On 2024-05-02, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
Fascinating how different experiences and life choices can be! Let me
contrast this with some clips from my own life. Obviously this is based
on where I live in northern europe so of course my experience does not
apply equally to yours.
My life seems more calm, and less exposed to ads and generally more
peaceful than most people.
I didn't write this article. It did occur to me that the kind of usage mentioned in the article is very different from the kind of usage i saw
when i first got online. It is much more focused on consumption, which
is also the name of a disease. I grok many of your points, and learned
some of them the hard way. I used to calendar on a smartphone, and now
i use a pocket calendar with a pencil. I recall a statement that being
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Thu, 2 May 2024, Ben Collver wrote:
You want to order from a local restaurant, but you need to download a
third-party delivery app, even though you plan to pick it up
yourself. The prices and menu on the app are different to what you
For app only restaurants I don't go to them, because I don't have a
smartphone. I have my favourite restaurants and there I can either call
to order, or order through their web site from my laptop.
I've never ordered from a restaurant online, I expect it's a big
city thing (in Australia, at least). I just searched for a local
place that does pizzas some nights and they don't even have a
website (there's a Facebook page, of course). I went to a fish and
chip place in a city a few years ago that was cash-only.
Here I find youtube and local public tv channels online to be good
sources. But this is an interesting point. Sometimes I think about if a
campaign to rescue old dvd:s and blueray:s would be successful? The idea
is to ask people to send me dvd:s and bluerays they no longer want and
build up a library. Where I live it is legal to lend out dvd:s as long
as its for private use and no money is involved. Imagine an Alexandria
of old dvd:s and bluerays which people could borrow, rip, and return.
Would anyone be interested?
Scratched discs would be your enemy here. Old DVDs find their way
to second hand stores which sell them for very little money, but
usually a good percentage of them are scratched to unwatchability.
Renting DVDs always had more risk than renting VHS tapes due to
scratched discs, even though they usually had disc polishing
machines which they might use to some effect after you went back
to the store and complained. I don't think video DVDs and audio
CDs were fit for the purpose of replacing tape in the first place,
and the rapid adoption of streaming and P2P downloads is the cost
that the old media industry paid for that. Much to the benefit of
ISPs and the new internet media companies like Amazon and Google.
Not "especially", but "only when". My oldest CDs and DVDs date back
from the late 90s and can still be read (I am currently transferring
them to HDD for easier access), but of course I only used good blanks
(Taiyo Yuden, etc) and a Plextor burner. So the expectations (mere speculations) which predicted a quite short lifespan of a couple of
years for burned CDs/DVDs imho turned out to be too pessimistic.
Am 03.05.2024 schrieb not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev):
Scratched discs would be your enemy here. Old DVDs find their way
to second hand stores which sell them for very little money, but
usually a good percentage of them are scratched to unwatchability.
Renting DVDs always had more risk than renting VHS tapes due to
scratched discs, even though they usually had disc polishing
machines which they might use to some effect after you went back
to the store and complained. I don't think video DVDs and audio
CDs were fit for the purpose of replacing tape in the first place,
and the rapid adoption of streaming and P2P downloads is the cost
that the old media industry paid for that. Much to the benefit of
ISPs and the new internet media companies like Amazon and Google.
CDs and DVDs also become unreadable after some years, especially when
light reaches them.
For app only restaurants I don't go to them, because I don't have a
smartphone.
I also don't have one and I like it. Although, I've never seen an
app-only restaurant. In which countries do they exist?
I block all ads, so never see ads on youtube. I often think about how
the world would be if everyone has adblockers installed. How would
google & co try and smash that, since their economy would be
threatened?
They would charge money for using their services.
Fortunately never happened. I have heard horror stories of 2 people
at a company trading gpt texts each feeding the output of the other
into gpt responding.
I can image how much bullshit that has been.
I have used gpt for nonsense-documents like environmental and gender
plans which just need to be there to tick a government box, but are
never read or acted upon. I find that gpt excels as writing walls of
text that no one ever reads, but that the government requires
(sometimes) for public tenders.
Let software create bullshit for bullshit jobs. A rather good idea.
Might have been useful in school when I had to write interpretations
for stupid old German books.
Don't have any social media except mastodon and usenet. Couldn't care
less that mad billionaires spend their dollars on. If people leave
social media I would actually see that as a net benefit for society.
It is a huge benefit what happened to Twitter. Some bullshitters left
it - no loss. :-)
In addition I watch the free news of the government public television
and the TV-text pages.
Rather interesting that TV text still exists.
I pay for my email and download all, so never any capacity problems.
I operate my own mail server, so I can add disks when needed.
I wonder if people in general will rediscover old school technology,
or if things will become worse?
The latter.
On Fri, 3 May 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
I've never ordered from a restaurant online, I expect it's a big
city thing (in Australia, at least). I just searched for a local
place that does pizzas some nights and they don't even have a
website (there's a Facebook page, of course). I went to a fish and
chip place in a city a few years ago that was cash-only.
Maybe. I do have a plan, at some point in my life, to move to a smaller
city. Not yet, but maybe once I do, I might experience the same thing with
a bit of luck. ;)
Scratched discs would be your enemy here. Old DVDs find their way
to second hand stores which sell them for very little money, but
usually a good percentage of them are scratched to unwatchability.
Renting DVDs always had more risk than renting VHS tapes due to
scratched discs, even though they usually had disc polishing
machines which they might use to some effect after you went back
to the store and complained. I don't think video DVDs and audio
CDs were fit for the purpose of replacing tape in the first place,
and the rapid adoption of streaming and P2P downloads is the cost
that the old media industry paid for that. Much to the benefit of
ISPs and the new internet media companies like Amazon and Google.
You do have a point about scratches. When it comes to CD:s I know an audiophile who swears by them. Some love their LP:s, some their CD:s, and
I read that casettes are making a comeback.
To my ears (pun intended) it almost seems like it is no longer about the audio, but instead some kind of nostalgic childhood feeling that
"overrides" the pure audio to persuade the person that _this is it_.
Am 03.05.2024 schrieb not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev):
Scratched discs would be your enemy here. Old DVDs find their way
to second hand stores which sell them for very little money, but
usually a good percentage of them are scratched to unwatchability.
Renting DVDs always had more risk than renting VHS tapes due to
scratched discs, even though they usually had disc polishing
machines which they might use to some effect after you went back
to the store and complained. I don't think video DVDs and audio
CDs were fit for the purpose of replacing tape in the first place,
and the rapid adoption of streaming and P2P downloads is the cost
that the old media industry paid for that. Much to the benefit of
ISPs and the new internet media companies like Amazon and Google.
CDs and DVDs also become unreadable after some years, especially when
light reaches them.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Fri, 3 May 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
I've never ordered from a restaurant online, I expect it's a big
city thing (in Australia, at least). I just searched for a local
place that does pizzas some nights and they don't even have a
website (there's a Facebook page, of course). I went to a fish and
chip place in a city a few years ago that was cash-only.
Maybe. I do have a plan, at some point in my life, to move to a smaller
city. Not yet, but maybe once I do, I might experience the same thing with >> a bit of luck. ;)
I wouldn't expect the situation to last forever, probably just a lag
behind the trend that's set in the big cities.
You do have a point about scratches. When it comes to CD:s I know an
audiophile who swears by them. Some love their LP:s, some their CD:s, and
I read that casettes are making a comeback.
Though more than any of those I listen to broadcast radio, and
that's the one old audio technology that the general public doesn't
seem to get nostalgic about. The distinction between broadcast
radio and internet radio is being deliberately blurred by
broadcasters, but why would I pay an ISP to get content that's on
the air for free?
Am 03.05.2024 schrieb not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev):
Scratched discs would be your enemy here. Old DVDs find their way
to second hand stores which sell them for very little money, but
usually a good percentage of them are scratched to unwatchability.
Renting DVDs always had more risk than renting VHS tapes due to
scratched discs, even though they usually had disc polishing
machines which they might use to some effect after you went back
to the store and complained. I don't think video DVDs and audio
CDs were fit for the purpose of replacing tape in the first place,
and the rapid adoption of streaming and P2P downloads is the cost
that the old media industry paid for that. Much to the benefit of
ISPs and the new internet media companies like Amazon and Google.
CDs and DVDs also become unreadable after some years, especially when
light reaches them.
DVDs do apparantly have an extra protective layer that's not on
CDs, allowing the DVD polishing machines at rental stores some
material to wear away before they reach the data.
There's also a difference with recordable media. CD-Rs and DVD-Rs use organic dyes that in some cases have proven to be somewhat less than stable. Some cheaper BD-Rs (of the "LTH" variety) also use these dyes, but most of them use an inorganic phase-change layer that should be more durable.
Scott Alfter <scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us> wrote:
There's also a difference with recordable media. CD-Rs and DVD-Rs use
organic dyes that in some cases have proven to be somewhat less than stable. >> Some cheaper BD-Rs (of the "LTH" variety) also use these dyes, but most of >> them use an inorganic phase-change layer that should be more durable.
This paper notes a study that disagrees:
"A study looking at the stability of Blu-ray media has shown that
overall, BD-Rs (whether they are the dye or the non-dye type) have
rather poor stability compared to some CD-Rs and DVD+/-Rs (Iraci
2018)." https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/conservation-preservation-publications/canadian-conservation-institute-notes/longevity-recordable-cds-dvds.html
On Thu, 2 May 2024 03:54:23 -0000 (UTC), Ben Collver wrote:
You want to watch the trailer for an upcoming movie on YouTube but you
first have to sit through an ad.
Surprisingly, youtube-dl (or its successors) continue to be actively maintained.
On Sun, 28 Jul 2024, candycanearter07 wrote:
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote at 08:34 this Sunday (GMT):
Surprisingly, youtube-dl (or its successors) continue to be actively
maintained.
I thought youtube-dl was shut down? yt-dlp works better for me anyway.
Yes, this is the truth!
Works wonders for
downloading documentaries, rare clips, some stuff you cannot torrent. All available for free om youtube, to download and watch at your leisure. =)
You want to watch the trailer for an upcoming movie on YouTube but you
first have to sit through an ad.
Gregory Bennett is a writer and filmmaker from Wellington whose accent
comes from Invercargill.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jul 2024, candycanearter07 wrote:
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote at 08:34 this Sunday (GMT):
Surprisingly, youtube-dl (or its successors) continue to be actively
maintained.
I thought youtube-dl was shut down? yt-dlp works better for me anyway.
Yes, this is the truth!
No it's wrong actually, youtube-dl is still developed, latest
commit 2024-07-24. I've already mentioned that in two responses to
that poster though (when they went by "candycane"), so I doubt the
value in correcting their statement again.
But development did cease on another YouTube downloader script
recently:
https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/06/youtubedown-help-needed-2/
Works wonders for
downloading documentaries, rare clips, some stuff you cannot torrent. All
available for free om youtube, to download and watch at your leisure. =)
Exactly the case for youtube-dl too, and it supports more Python
versions.
On Mon, 29 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Exactly the case for youtube-dl too, and it supports more Python
versions.
youtube-dl stopped working for me, so that is why I switched to yt-dlp and everything started to work again.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Mon, 29 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Exactly the case for youtube-dl too, and it supports more Python
versions.
youtube-dl stopped working for me, so that is why I switched to yt-dlp and >> everything started to work again.
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly: https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly: https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >and it usually starts to work again.
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update and it usually starts to work again.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >> and it usually starts to work again.
It is. Youtube is constatantly making "changes", presumably to try to
break downloaders and the like in an attempt to prop up their ad
revenue.
But different laws for different people and organizations, that is the
rule nowadays.
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Rich wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >>> and it usually starts to work again.
It is. Youtube is constatantly making "changes", presumably to try to
break downloaders and the like in an attempt to prop up their ad
revenue.
This is the truth! I find it hilarious that youtube is allowed to have
loads of copyrighted material on it, and no one even blinks.
But should a new torrent site pop up, that does not even hold the
data, the police are all over the place.
But different laws for different people and organizations, that is the
rule nowadays.
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
[...]
But different laws for different people and organizations, that is the
rule nowadays.
It has always been the rule.
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Johanne Fairchild wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
[...]
But different laws for different people and organizations, that is the
rule nowadays.
It has always been the rule.
Not in the state of nature! ;)
Jokes aside, to me it seems that it is getting worse.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >> and it usually starts to work again.
It is. Youtube is constatantly making "changes", presumably to try to
break downloaders and the like in an attempt to prop up their ad
revenue.
Rich <rich@example.invalid> wrote at 12:45 this Wednesday (GMT):
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >>> and it usually starts to work again.
It is. Youtube is constatantly making "changes", presumably to try to
break downloaders and the like in an attempt to prop up their ad
revenue.
And ad-blockers! The other day, they made some change that made the
video appear to buffer while I presume it was trying to play an ad. Thankfully, the guys at uBlock managed to block it within a day or two.
Rich <rich@example.invalid> wrote at 12:45 this Wednesday (GMT):
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on
their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >>> and it usually starts to work again.
It is. Youtube is constatantly making "changes", presumably to try to
break downloaders and the like in an attempt to prop up their ad
revenue.
And ad-blockers! The other day, they made some change that made the
video appear to buffer while I presume it was trying to play an ad. Thankfully, the guys at uBlock managed to block it within a day or two.
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Johanne Fairchild wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
[...]
But different laws for different people and organizations, that is the >>>> rule nowadays.
It has always been the rule.
Not in the state of nature! ;)
That's quite correct. :)
Jokes aside, to me it seems that it is getting worse.
It looks worrisome.
On Thu, 1 Aug 2024, Johanne Fairchild wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Johanne Fairchild wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
[...]
But different laws for different people and organizations, that is the >>>> rule nowadays.
It has always been the rule.
Not in the state of nature! ;)
That's quite correct. :)
Jokes aside, to me it seems that it is getting worse.
It looks worrisome.
But together we can change it for the better! ;)Trolling for Trump doesn't help.
On Fri, 2 Aug 2024 22:06:16 +0200
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
Trolling for Trump doesn't help.
On Thu, 1 Aug 2024, Johanne Fairchild wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Johanne Fairchild wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
[...]
But different laws for different people and organizations, that is the >>>>>> rule nowadays.
It has always been the rule.
Not in the state of nature! ;)
That's quite correct. :)
Jokes aside, to me it seems that it is getting worse.
It looks worrisome.
But together we can change it for the better! ;)
candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
Rich <rich@example.invalid> wrote at 12:45 this Wednesday (GMT):
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on >>>>>> their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >>>> and it usually starts to work again.
It is. Youtube is constatantly making "changes", presumably to try to
break downloaders and the like in an attempt to prop up their ad
revenue.
And ad-blockers! The other day, they made some change that made the
video appear to buffer while I presume it was trying to play an ad.
Thankfully, the guys at uBlock managed to block it within a day or two.
Yes, that too, since ad-blockers also reduce their ad impressions.
Remember, youtube/google are, first and formost, advertising companies. Anything even remotely useful to us (video streaming, search, etc.) is
a far distant second to the needs of those advertisers.
If they could still serve ad impressions but not offer all those
secondary (to them) useful services, guess where the useful services
would go.....
On Fri, 2 Aug 2024, candycanearter07 wrote:
Rich <rich@example.invalid> wrote at 12:45 this Wednesday (GMT):
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2024, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:
You were probably using a distro-packaged version or the old one on >>>>>> their website. Newer executables built from the development code
are available here:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/
Or to download the latest one directly:
https://github.com/ytdl-patched/youtube-dl/releases/latest/download/youtube-dl
And of course after saying that, it's not working for me today.
Try yt-dlp, worked great for me yesterday! ;)
Jokes aside, it is probably just some change from youtube, so do an update >>>> and it usually starts to work again.
It is. Youtube is constatantly making "changes", presumably to try to
break downloaders and the like in an attempt to prop up their ad
revenue.
And ad-blockers! The other day, they made some change that made the
video appear to buffer while I presume it was trying to play an ad.
Thankfully, the guys at uBlock managed to block it within a day or two.
Ahh... so that is the explanation! I wondered why this started to happen,
but good that the good guys are on top of it! =)
Trolling? On the contrary, this is a public service education to lead more lost sheep back to the fold of our great leader! If you repent, Trump will forgive you when he wins! =)
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
Trolling? On the contrary, this is a public service education to lead more >> lost sheep back to the fold of our great leader! If you repent, Trump will >> forgive you when he wins! =)
Are you the same D who's posted OT crackpot stuff to otherwise
untrafficed rec.crafts.blacksmithing and sci.bio.misc?
On Sun, 4 Aug 2024, Mike Spencer wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
Trolling? On the contrary, this is a public service education to lead more >>> lost sheep back to the fold of our great leader! If you repent, Trump will >>> forgive you when he wins! =)
Are you the same D who's posted OT crackpot stuff to otherwise
untrafficed rec.crafts.blacksmithing and sci.bio.misc?
I don't think so, but you can never be sure. ;) Maybe there's a clue in
the headers of the messages?
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
On Sun, 4 Aug 2024, Mike Spencer wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> writes:
Trolling? On the contrary, this is a public service education to lead more >>>> lost sheep back to the fold of our great leader! If you repent, Trump will >>>> forgive you when he wins! =)
Are you the same D who's posted OT crackpot stuff to otherwise
untrafficed rec.crafts.blacksmithing and sci.bio.misc?
I don't think so, but you can never be sure. ;) Maybe there's a clue in
the headers of the messages?
Different originating news servers. Suggestive but not conclusive.
| Sysop: | Keyop |
|---|---|
| Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Users: | 388 |
| Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
| Uptime: | 06:03:35 |
| Calls: | 8,220 |
| Calls today: | 18 |
| Files: | 13,122 |
| Messages: | 5,872,262 |
| Posted today: | 1 |