I disagree the opportunities created for software engineers are reduced to those of a "glorified TSA agent".
We now have more opportunity than ever to create more of the things we have wanted to. We are able to spend more time leaning into our abilities of judgement, creativity, specific knowledge, and taste.
Countless programming frustrations are gone. I, and all those I talk to are having more fun than they have ever had.
I'm still not sure what analogy fits for me. It's closer to product manager/maestro/artist/architect/designer that helps a number of amazing systems create great code.
> I didn’t ask for the role of a programmer to be reduced to that of a glorified TSA agent, reviewing code to make sure the AI didn’t smuggle something dangerous into production.
This may be the perspective of some programmers. It doesn't seem to be shared by the majority of software engineers I know and read and listen to.
> at://did:plc:4zd6mbhgvmjri5rmlsyeq6go/3lzpamhfmfc2d: a mostly naked vivi (she/her) domming a bound matchstick (he/him) in a neon-lit nightclub called PONYBOYS
> at://did:plc:4zd6mbhgvmjri5rmlsyeq6go/3lzpamhfmfc2d: same pic but made absolutely clear that matchstick is into it and consenting :)
I'm Canadian and when I see these stats, and see that they are rising, I get the sense that there is a greater number of people able to experience a good death.
I'm old enough to have experienced a reasonable amount of death and suffering caused by aging.
A grandmother I wasn't particularly close to, but who when I asked "How are you" on the phone, would reply "I wish I was dead". Great Aunts and Uncles who experienced Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and dementia.
And a cousin who just recently chose MAID after given a terminal cancer diagnosis. I applaud her courage and bravery. My nine year old nephew was able to pass along a message to her. "Have a good death".
Far too many people don't have a good death. More people should have the option available to them.
It's possible to balance both the value and importance of MAID with the need to ensure the system is not being abused and is working well.
This seems like a different and fraudulent category of problem.
The point is that it's possible to create third-party authentication systems that require proving your age and the only extra thing the third-party learns is a verifiable age and the government does not get any information at all.
All this being said, I took a look at the article in question and saw this:
> Social media companies also won't be able to force users to provide government identification, including the Digital ID, to assess their age.
So what could have been achieved with no invasion or privacy now seems like it must be achieved with an invasion of privacy.
> the Aus Govt will be able to access citizen social media data with relative ease. So no more pseudo anonymous accounts
This isn't necessarily true.
It came as a surprise to me, but many "Government Digital ID" systems use Verifiable Credentials[1][2] and Decentralized Identifiers[3].
I live in BC, Canada. I have installed the BC Wallet app[4] which is open source code[5].
With the BC Wallet app, I can create an account using my BC drivers license.
Then I can interact with any third-party app that uses the BC Wallet as an authentication system. If the only thing this app wants to do is confirm my age, it can ask me to reveal my age. I reveal my age (the only piece of data I am choosing to reveal), and the app now knows and can trust (as long as it trusts the BC Wallet) that this is my age.
And the BC Wallet app servers/government never know when I am using the BC Wallet app.
Turns out the future may not be as dystopian as we once thought it may be.
EDIT:
I see now from the article the following:
> Social media companies also won't be able to force users to provide government identification, including the Digital ID, to assess their age.
What could have been privacy preserving seems like it won't be.
Quite a few people asking about my experience porting my number to Twilio.
A few years ago I was frustrated about paying CA$100/month for my phone plan in Canada for unlimited talk/text and a few gigs of data a month. I realized I only needed the data.
I wrote an app that directs phone calls straight to voicemail and then emails the missed calls and voicemail transcription and mp3s. SMS messages are sent to email and email replies get sent back as SMS. I made this a product at https://ringer.io.
I also picked up two CA$15/month data only SIMs (3GB each) from Fido.
So now I could only receive voicemail and I would use Google Hangouts Dialer to make traditional phone calls, which was very rare. I have to admit it was awesome not having the ability to receive a phone call.
I used WhatsApp day-to-day for texting and video calls.
Eventually the need to receive calls kicked up a notch so I switched my number over to https://openphone.co for US$10/month. They are on Twilio as well so it was a painless port (ie: one API call).
The OpenPhone app is "good enough" for me. If I had to talk a lot using traditional phone calls I would pay for a dedicated talk/text plan.
But I'm happy paying CA$30/month for 6GB of data and US$10/month for the phone/text line.
I ported my primary phone number into Twilio years ago. Most apps/websites have no problem with a `voip` number type. But some systems, including Twitter, have refused to accept it.
"As you know people, as you learn about things, you realize that these generalizations we have are, virtually to a generalization, false. Well, except for this one, as it turns out. What you think of Oracle, is even truer than you think it is. There has been no entity in human history with less complexity or nuance to it than Oracle. And I gotta say, as someone who has seen that complexity for my entire life, it's very hard to get used to that idea. It's like, 'surely this is more complicated!' but it's like: Wow, this is really simple! This company is very straightforward, in its defense. This company is about one man, his alter-ego, and what he wants to inflict upon humanity -- that's it! ...Ship mediocrity, inflict misery, lie our asses off, screw our customers, and make a whole shitload of money. Yeah... you talk to Oracle, it's like, 'no, we don't fucking make dreams happen -- we make money!' ...You need to think of Larry Ellison the way you think of a lawnmower. You don't anthropomorphize your lawnmower, the lawnmower just mows the lawn, you stick your hand in there and it'll chop it off, the end. You don't think 'oh, the lawnmower hates me' -- lawnmower doesn't give a shit about you, lawnmower can't hate you. Don't anthropomorphize the lawnmower. Don't fall into that trap about Oracle."
I'm a BC resident about to begin working remote for a US company.
I'm planning on setting up a sole proprietorship but am curious if there are advantages to incorporating.
I've only spoken briefly to an accountant (on the phone) and he recommended starting as a sole proprietorship and then looking at incorporating in the future.
Can this be used for simple IPFS file hosting with pinned files?
I'm building a small web app and want to use IPFS for image storage. In testing I was able to create the files but after a few months of not running the IPFS daemon the images are lost as they are no longer pinned.
We now have more opportunity than ever to create more of the things we have wanted to. We are able to spend more time leaning into our abilities of judgement, creativity, specific knowledge, and taste.
Countless programming frustrations are gone. I, and all those I talk to are having more fun than they have ever had.
I'm still not sure what analogy fits for me. It's closer to product manager/maestro/artist/architect/designer that helps a number of amazing systems create great code.