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Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

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Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#91

Ironically, I bet that a significant majority of the users that turn on the AI kill switch — which must have some kind of phone-home telematics attached — will also be users who have disabled Firefox metrics collection and so will not have their opinion counted. So, the most effective path here for y’all to be heard is not flipping the switch off yourself (do so anyways!) — anyone who cares at this stage has probably…

The other thing people can do is install Firefox and use it. An uptick in user share also serves as a metric to reinforce the move. Let's be honest, most people complaining are using chrome or some flavor.

But current Firefox users could probably temporarily turn on telemetry, activate the kill switch, and turn telemetry back off. Just make sure you wait long enough to ensure the information is sent

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#92

Ironically, I bet that a significant majority of the users that turn on the AI kill switch — which must have some kind of phone-home telematics attached — will also be users who have disabled Firefox metrics collection and so will not have their opinion counted. So, the most effective path here for y’all to be heard is not flipping the switch off yourself (do so anyways!) — anyone who cares at this stage has probably…

> will also be users who have disabled Firefox metrics collection and so will not have their opinion counted. Gee. If only there was a way to collect users opinions on things. Welp.. guess we have to live with subtly spying on everything they do with our software.

If we replaced telemetry with some sort of survey emails and phone calls, we'd get exactly another 500-thread discussion on HN about how "Mozilla is collecting emails to sell to the highest bidder!", "Mozilla is sending us spam!" and whatnot.

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#93
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not all bad is it? On device translation of websites for example is much better than the alternatives.

Until very recently, on device translation was not marketed as AI.

Yet translation was the main application for applied language machine learning.

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#94
post #85

Great, let's see how it works out. Firefox for Android has been killing it for me with the latest ux updates, I didn't expect major improvements there and was pleasantly surprised.

This UI is great but do you get this horrible thing where sometimes the browser is shows a white screen and you have to force stop the app? Happens all the time on the latest version for my Pixel 9a. And did on my Pixel 7 too before. It's really horrible and I can't pin down any rhythm or reason other than loosely seeming to happen more often when I'm in battery saver mode.

not happens on my Poco

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#96

Great, let's see how it works out. Firefox for Android has been killing it for me with the latest ux updates, I didn't expect major improvements there and was pleasantly surprised.

for me, the killer feature is that I can use uBlock Origin.

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#97
post #64

[flagged]

I was being sincere, my friend. I genuinely envy that worldview. I long for it. I wish above nearly all else I could reset. I was being authentic and vulnerable. Why does that infuriate you? Read your statement again and tell me who the pessimist is, and who is most in need of a break from the internet.

The legal structures that mandate what power google actually has over mozilla still presumably exist though. Pretending that we are in full blown dictatorship is, in my view, still cynical.

Though of course there’s no telling how far we will eventually go in a trumpworld.

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#98
post #85

Great, let's see how it works out. Firefox for Android has been killing it for me with the latest ux updates, I didn't expect major improvements there and was pleasantly surprised.

This UI is great but do you get this horrible thing where sometimes the browser is shows a white screen and you have to force stop the app? Happens all the time on the latest version for my Pixel 9a. And did on my Pixel 7 too before. It's really horrible and I can't pin down any rhythm or reason other than loosely seeming to happen more often when I'm in battery saver mode.

Are you using some weird extension ? Never had this on my pixel 6.

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is, there's a large (or at least certainly vocal) contingent of users (and mostly techies, to boot) that view "AI" as the Devil, and transformer models as the original sin, and they want to refuse to partake, wholesale. This feature seems to be a nod to people with this worldview. EDIT: See e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47133786 liking AI features to defecating on your food. It's not a technical obj…

I figure, hey, at least Mozilla listened and provided the opt-out. It could be worse. I also happen to be in the "food defecating analogy" camp, and I can give the developer an unenthusiastic thumbs up for at least listening to the peanut gallery this time. Ideally they wouldn't make the product bad, with a badness opt-out, in the first place, but everyone in Silicon Valley's got to feed the AI monkey. So I guess thi…

FWIW, I may be in the other camp but I strongly respect them for providing this feature. It perhaps wouldn't be necessary if the pro-AI push wasn't so ham-fisted and utterly disrespectful of users for the past years.

(Also I didn't realize how bad this push got until I visited California recently, and saw every other billboard - that's physical ad over a road - pushing some unqualified form of AI magic on me).

Re: Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements

#100
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's up with the avalanche of straw men? Poor quality comments lead to poor quality replies. I won't deny mine is as well.

Can you explain how openly admiring someone's idealism is of "low quality"?

Admiring? You mean your backhanded remark followed by

> Read your statement again and tell me who the pessimist is, and who is most in need of a break from the internet.

And that was to them replying to your first backhanded remark.

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