It seems to me like they do more than just generate QR codes that download a static document. They’ve built out software that helps the visually impaired navigate pedestrian and transit infrastructure. The software seems pretty complex, beyond what a city would likely have the expertise or budget to build from scratch on its own.
You point out the key weakness to the whole approach (dependency on a single third party). Though I suspect that the content in question is also hosted by NaviLens, so the codes would still stop working if they ever shut down.
Just taking a look at their website, it seems to me that NaviLens’ value proposition isn’t just “codes that download a document”, but an entire framework for building and presenting essential documentation in a way that is accessible to people with vision impairments. I can see why it would be cheaper and more effective for a city to buy a service like this than to hire their own software developers and accessibility experts to build out their own bespoke system.
QR codes are rarely contentful themselves, they are almost always just a URL pointing to the real content.
It’s done this way because URLs are smaller, and you can update the content without needing to go around replacing all the QR code stickers.
A lot of cheap kitchen scales are also just crap. Talk to your local drug dealer about what brand of scale might be right for you.
Easier, yes. But nowhere near as much fun.
Food, especially fresh food, used to be a lot more expensive when adjusting for inflation. A canned chicken like this doesn’t look super appetizing right out of the can, but it probably tasted OK after you shredded it and put it in a casserole. And it was significantly cheaper than buying a fresh whole roasted chicken, assuming you lived somewhere that fresh whole roasted chickens were even readily available. Food like this became particularly popular during the great depression, and stuck around for decades afterwards.
Nowadays, between industrialized farming, highly optimized supply chains, and a buttload of government subsidy, fresh food is comparatively cheap. You can get a whole roasted chicken right off the spit for $5-10 at just about any grocery store. So for most people the value proposition of a $3 canned chicken isn’t really there anymore, especially if you don’t have an enormous baby-boom-era sized family to feed.
Yeah, you’re not really paying for the soda. You’re paying for the labor that goes into providing the service, maintaining the equipment, etc. Oh, and the paper cup which probably cost more than the liquid you put in it. The high margin on things like soda also subsidizes the cost on lower margin food items.
The true value of soda is also somewhat obfuscated by the fact that most people’s point of comparison is packaged soda. A bottle you buy at the store also didn’t necessarily cost a lot to make, but actually distributing pre-made soda to retailers is a lot more expensive than shipping syrup which can be mixed with water on-site. That added cost is built into the price of packaged soda.
if data has no value then why do people want it so bad?
disability benefits can’t be garnished. i think it’s ok to be mad at people for spreading misinformation even if they themselves are fighting a just cause. lies like this help nobody.
They aren’t charging for convenient access to the data though, they are charging for bulk access. The limitations of the new API should not impact people casually pulling in subtitles with VLC when they watch a movie, which is the purpose the API was intended to fulfill.
To me it was about as good as the Comedy Central seasons. That is to say, not as consistent as the original Fox run but still plenty of bangers in there.
If this run follows the same path as CC, then the quality will trend upwards after this first batch.
that’s totally fair in my book
i would think “the best tv show ever” is worth at least a little more than nothing
it’s on hulu, and in higher quality than this torrent
Some things cannot be effectively regulated in this manner. At all.
There is simply no way to stop people from building their own 3D printers. There are too many open source designs, and they can be built with very simple parts that are readily available at the hardware store. Most hobbyist-level 3D printers basically come as a kit that they have to assemble themselves anyways. What happens next? Background checks to buy stepper motors? Background checks to buy a microcontroller?
To me this is like trying to mandate government backdoors in encryption algorithms. There is literally nothing that would stop criminals from just using an open source encryption algorithm that doesn’t have a backdoor, so you end up just making it so all legitimate communications are less secure than they should be.
go ahead and look at the comment you were replying to
putting a tax on something is not the same as prohibiting it.
I have a YouTube Premium family plan. We use it so much that it’s easy for us to justify.
The Steam Link app is exceptional. the Apple TV natively supports Xbox and PlayStation controllers so it all works pretty seamlessly.
The Apple TV is quietly the best little streaming box. It is very capable, and according to my PiHole it’s far less chatty than my Roku or Android TV devices.
Also, I love Tailscale. I love how this press release reads like it was written by nerds for nerds rather than by writers for investors.
QR codes wouldn’t solve this problem, because they would still house a link that has to be opened in the NaviLens app to be of any use.
These codes don’t just take you to some static document. It opens up in the NaviLens app, which when use features like the gps, gyro, and camera in your phone to provide more rich, contextual information.