UnsyllabledQuickies

joined 1 year ago

Yes! 100% agree with this and your law proposal!

[–] UnsyllabledQuickies@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Which VPN providers use domestic client IPs?

Oof. That really sucks.

Oh, this is great! I didn't know about the Stealth protocol. It's helped me log into at least one previously stubborn site! Thanks for sharing! 💯

 

I use ProtonVPN for everything, and I've started noticing more and more sites simply blocking me if I try to connect to them through ProtonVPN. As much as it sucks, I've more or less become acclimated to having to deal with an increased number of captchas while using a VPN; but I'm pretty angry about being blocked outright. There are at least two broad blocking tactics. First, some sites will say that my network traffic looks suspicious and/or that they simply block traffic from certain IP addresses. But second, and far more maddeningly, some sites tell me that my username and password combo are incorrect when I'm using a VPN. But I know this to be a blatant lie because (1) I use a password manager that auto-fills login forms with credentials that match the domain name, and (2) such sites accept my credentials when I visit them without the VPN connection.

What the hell can we do about this shit? Do I have to run my own VPN to avoid sharing an IP address with other people and thus getting blocked? I really don't want to do that because I have neither the time nor expertise, and I like that connecting through a VPN provider makes my IP address much less significant. I'm aware that this is connected to the broader conversation about WEI and other methods for determining whether requests are legitimate or not, and I'm sure that businesses of all sizes are reeling from massive increases in bot and AI activity. But solutions that end up punishing legitimate users are not good or valid solutions.

[–] UnsyllabledQuickies@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

+1

I too would like to know!

[–] UnsyllabledQuickies@lemmy.world 140 points 1 year ago (26 children)

Just a few more failed businesses and in about 50 years he'll be all set to run for POTUS as the Republican nominee.

Yeah, I agree. Less a "feature" and more a necessary evil.

[–] UnsyllabledQuickies@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's a great question! It's something I think about a lot. This is probably gonna sound sarcastic, but I mean it genuinely: Have you asked ChatGPT (or any other LLM) that question? I'd be curious to hear what it might have to say. Of course, its first few answers are probably gonna be just generic, useless stuff, so you'll have to really drill down into details to find something useful. But you might be able to find some good ideas in there.

Here are two things that immediately came to mind:

  • Democratization of knowledge and expertise. Think of the many people that now have access to (e.g.) a virtual doctor just because they have an internet connection. As with everything I'm going to say, this comes with the big caveat that nobody should trust LLMs unquestioningly and that they definitely hallucinate and confabulate frequently. Still, though, they can potentially provide quick diagnoses and relevant, immediate, life-saving information in situations where it's difficult or impossible to get an appointment with a doctor.

  • Handling information problems. I heard someone say recently that because LLMs are likely to be used for spam, ads, propaganda, and other kinds of information distortions and abuses, LLMs will also be the only systems capable of combating those things. For example, if people start using LLMs to write spam emails, then LLMs will almost certainly have to become part of the spam detection process. But even in cases where information isn't being used maliciously, we still struggle with information overload. LLMs are already being used to sift through (e.g.) the daily news, pick out the top few most important articles, and summarize them for readers. Finding a signal among the noise is actually quite important for all parts of life, so augmenting our ability to do that could be very useful.

I suspect those answers might be broader and larger-scale than what you were asking for. If so, I apologize!

 

I’m a little intrigued, but it also seems way overhyped. The website is much too corporate-feeling and buzz-word-y for my taste. However, I’ll also admit I’m interested in any tool that touts end-to-end encryption and peer-to-peer tech. What do you all think about it?