digdilem

joined 1 year ago
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[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

That's the joke, but it's really not true.

You can write unintelligable code in most languages.

Perl's syntax is fine, and you can write beautiful code with it - but it will also let you write fugly code that works.

I think those who say this seriously just don't understand Perl, or even programming generally. (Whilst I like Perl, I'm also proficient in C, Java, JS, Python, PHP, Bash and probably a few more, so I'm not just promoting the only thing I know.)

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Be nice if the browser version auto loaded images like most apps do.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 5 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Perl. Its installed everywhere I need to run it and stuff I wrote over 20 years ago is still doing exactly what it should.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 7 points 1 year ago

Might be worth waiting for some news outlets you've actually heard of to start carrying the story before you break out the balloons.

This feels like a cynical ploy for funding, like almost every "miracle battery" story carried over the past ten years.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

Name the decade without naming the decade.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 2 points 1 year ago

Poor lass. I don't think it was very easy being her.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a surprisingly well written article.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Good list. Some extra info on xcom, it is basically a remaster of an 80s 8bit game called Laser Squad.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago

Ah yes, the "Right to be forgotten"

You are correct, of course. However, they are well within their rights to not delete your data. Look up "Legitimate interest" - it's a huge GDPR loophole and widely abused. (Certainly in charity fundraising in which I used to work)

The LI can be for their own business purposes, including profiling, machine learning and of course, advertising.

It can also, and usually is, need to keep data in case they receive a legal order to provide it. In the event of Reddit being used for terrorism purposes (which I'm sure it has, along with every other messaging platform), they will be required to produce that information. Which they can't if it's gone.

We wave the GDPR around like it solves all our problems. And whilst it does add a huge amount of public protection and it's impressive it made it into law given those objecting to it, it does not give you the right to your own data above all else.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whilst I totally understand your comments and even appreciate them, I still believe I am right.

About four years ago I used NukeReddit - a similar script that loads your comment history, edits each posts, replaces the text with nonsense and saves it. Then deletes the post. I did that because someone got close to identifying me IRL and I didn't want them to, and wanted to tidy up my own data leakage.

After that, I continued using Reddit until the recent nonsense when I decided to leave to good. First, I used Power Delete, repeating it over several days to delete thousands of comments and hundreds of posts. About a week after that, I submitted a GDPR data request. Another week, I deleted my account. About a week after /that/, I received the GDPR response containing several CSV files containing my data. That included posts and comments I'd made from 11 years ago when I had created that account.

That data had survived two quite thorough scrubs and deletions, and whilst I no longer have access to that account, I believe my data and my account are still there - just unavailable to me.

I do know a little about data and databases, and in many mature projects, deleting posts simply sets an is_deleted column with the date it's deleted. Editing a message simply creates a copy of that message, sets the original as is_deleted with a date, and sets the copy with the edited text. That's standard and honestly, I don't know why Reddit would not do that.

Also consider that Reddit may be under a legal obligation NOT to delete data. If there is a criminal investigation at a later date, they will need to be able to provide that information. "Sorry Mr Government, we deleted Bin Laden's posts where he incited terrorism to dozens of other suspects" is not going to be received well.

The bottom line is that only Reddit architects will know for certain, but I'd put real money on betting that I'm right.#

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 11 points 1 year ago (9 children)

You didn't wipe your comments, you only created a new version. And if you deleted them, it's only a soft delete. Reddit still holds your data. I proved this by doing a gdpr request and received stuff I'd wiped and deleted four years before.

[–] digdilem@feddit.uk 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You make it sound like there's a plan involved.

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