Lingva & Simply Translate are two different front-ends to Google Translate. I’m not running the software myself because I run Argos locally (for privacy), but when Argos gives a really bad translation I resort to Lingva and Simply Translate instances.

I tried to translate a privacy policy. Results:

Lingva instances:

• translate.plausibility.cloud ← goes to lunch
• lingva.lunar.icu ← gives “414 Request-URI Too Large”
• lingva.ml & lingva.garudalinux.org ← fuck off Cloudflare! Obviously foolishly purpose defeating to surreptitiously expose people to CF who are trying to avoid direct Google connections.
• translate.igna.wtf ← dead
• translate.dr460nf1r3.org ← dead

Simply Translate instances (list of instances broken for me but found a year-old mirror of that):

• simplytranslate.org ← just gives a blank
• st.tokhmi.xyz ← up but results are just CSS garbage
• translate.bus-hit.me (ST fork mozhi) ← shoots a blank result
• simplytranslate.pussthecat.org ← redirects to mozhi.pussthecat.org
• mozhi.pussthecat.org (ST fork mozhi) ← shoots a blank result
• translate.projectsegfau.lt (ST fork mozhi) ←translates the first word then drops the rest; this instance is incorrectly listed as Lingva
• translate.northboot.xyz ← up but results are just CSS garbage
• st.privacydev.net ← up but results are just CSS garbage
• tl.vern.cc ← up but results are just CSS garbage

~~It looks as if Simply Translate is not keeping up with Google API changes.~~ (edit: actually the CSS garbage is what we get when feeding it bulky input -- those instances work on small input)

graveyard of dead sites:

• simplytranslate.manerakai.com ← redirects to vacated site
• translate.josias.dev
• translate.riverside.rocks
• translate.tiekoetter.com
• simplytranslate.esmailelbob.xyz
• translate.slipfox.xyz
• translate.priv.pw
• st.odyssey346.dev
• fyng2tsmzmvxmojzbbwmfnsn2lrcyftf4cw6rk5j2v2huliazud3fjid.onion
• xxtbwyb5z5bdvy2f6l2yquu5qilgkjeewno4qfknvb3lkg3nmoklitid.onion
• translate.prnoid54e44a4bduq5due64jkk7wcnkxcp5kv3juncm7veptjcqudgyd.onion
• simplytranslate.esmail5pdn24shtvieloeedh7ehz3nrwcdivnfhfcedl7gf4kwddhkqd.onion
• tl.vernccvbvyi5qhfzyqengccj7lkove6bjot2xhh5kajhwvidqafczrad.onion
• st.g4c3eya4clenolymqbpgwz3q3tawoxw56yhzk4vugqrl6dtu3ejvhjid.onion

Why this is a bug

Frond-ends and proxies exist to circumvent the anti-features of the service they are facilitating access to. So if there is a volume limitation, the front-end should be smart enough to split the content into pieces, translate the pieces separately, and reassemble. In fact that should be done anyway for privacy, to disassociate pieces of text from each other.

Alternatively (and probably better), would be to have a front-end for the front-ends. Something that gives a different paragraph to several different Lingva/ST instances and reassembles the results. This would (perhaps?) link a different IP to each piece assuming the front-ends also proxy (not sure if that’s the case).

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/11375008

Whoever designed the OSM db either never uses ATM machines or they have never experienced anything like the ATM disaster in Netherlands. The OSM db has most ATM brands incorrect for Netherlands and seriously needs more fields so travelers can actually find a functioning ATM.

brands are mostly incorrect

Pick any Dutch city. Search » Categories » custom search » Finance » ATM. The brands are mostly misinfo. These ATM brands do not exist anywhere in Netherlands:

• Rabobank
• ABN AMRO
• Ing
• SNS

All those banks removed all their ATM machines and joined a monopolistic consortium called “Geldmaat”. There is generally an ATM at those locations but it’s always a Geldmaat ATM. So a simple find and replace is needed on all the Dutch maps.

For indoor ATMs, the brand is often incorrectly named after the shop it’s in. That’s useful for finding it but still missing important info: the actual ATM brand. ATM brand is very important because different ATM brands give differing degrees of shitty treatment. If brand X refuses your card, all instances of that ATM brand will likely refuse your card. So the “brand” field should always reflect the ATM operator. Having a separate shop name field would be useful for locating the machine.

missing key attributes

Travelers should not have to spend hours running from one ATM to another until they find one that works. There are lots of basic variables that need to be accounted for in the db:

• (real or fixed point) ATM fee
• (enum set) currencies other than local (a rare but very useful option is to e.g. pull out GBP or USD in the eurozone)
• (enum set) card networks supported (visa, amex, discover, maestro, etc)
• (enum set) UI languages supported
• (integer) transaction limit for domestic cards
• (integer) transaction limit for foreign cards
• (integer set) denominations in the machine (Netherlands quietly removed all banknotes >€50 from all ATMs IIUC)
• (boolean) whether customers can control the denominations
• (boolean) indoor/outdoor (if the txn limit field is empty, indoor machines often have higher limits)
  • (string) hours of operation (if indoor)
  • (string) name of shop the ATM is inside (if indoor)
• (enum) whether a balance check is supported: [no | only some cards | any card]; this feature is non-existent in Belgium but common in Netherlands. Note that some ATMs only give balance on their own cards.
  • (enum) whether the balance is on screen or printed to the receipt, or both
• (boolean) insertion style -- whether the card is sucked into the machine (this is very important because if the card is sucked in by a motor there is a real risk that the machine keeps the card [yes, that’s deliberate]). Motorised insertion is more reliable but carries the risk of confiscation. Manual insertion can be fussy and take many tries to get it to read the card but you never have to worry about confiscation.
• (boolean) dynamic currency conversion (DCC)
• (boolean) whether there is an earphone port for blind people (not sure if that’s always there)

Whoever designed the OSM db either never uses ATM machines or they have never experienced anything like the ATM disaster in Netherlands. The OSM db has most ATM brands incorrect for Netherlands and seriously needs more fields so travelers can actually find a functioning ATM.

brands are mostly incorrect

Pick any Dutch city. Search » Categories » custom search » Finance » ATM. The brands are mostly misinfo. These ATM brands do not exist anywhere in Netherlands:

• Rabobank
• ABN AMRO
• Ing
• SNS

All those banks removed all their ATM machines and joined a monopolistic consortium called “Geldmaat”. There is generally an ATM at those locations but it’s always a Geldmaat ATM. So a simple find and replace is needed on all the Dutch maps.

For indoor ATMs, the brand is often incorrectly named after the shop it’s in. That’s useful for finding it but still missing important info: the actual ATM brand. ATM brand is very important because different ATM brands give differing degrees of shitty treatment. If brand X refuses your card, all instances of that ATM brand will likely refuse your card. So the “brand” field should always reflect the ATM operator. Having a separate shop name field would be useful for locating the machine.

missing key attributes

Travelers should not have to spend hours running from one ATM to another until they find one that works. There are lots of basic variables that need to be accounted for in the db:

• (real or fixed point) ATM fee
• (enum) currencies other than local (a rare but very useful option is to e.g. pull out GBP or USD in the eurozone)
• (enum) card networks supported (visa, amex, discover, maestro, etc)
• (integer) transaction limit for domestic cards
• (integer) transaction limit for foreign cards
• (integer set) denominations in the machine (Netherlands quietly removed all banknotes >€50 from all ATMs IIUC)
• (boolean) whether customers can control the denominations
• (boolean) indoor/outdoor (if the txn limit field is empty, indoor machines often have higher limits)
  • (string) hours of operation (if indoor)
  • (string) name of shop the ATM is inside (if indoor)
• (enum) whether a balance check is supported: [no | only some cards | any card]; this feature is non-existent in Belgium but common in Netherlands. Note that some ATMs only give balance on their own cards.
  • (enum) whether the balance is on screen or printed to the receipt, or both
• (boolean) insertion style -- whether the card is sucked into the machine (this is very important because if the card is sucked in by a motor there is a real risk that the machine keeps the card [yes, that’s deliberate]). Motorised insertion is more reliable but carries the risk of confiscation. Manual insertion can be fussy and take many tries to get it to read the card but you never have to worry about confiscation.
• (boolean) dynamic currency conversion (DCC)

My attempt to get money out of the wall in Netherlands:

card 1: foreign, visa debit, funded and in good standing, ATM withdrawal limit by the issuing bank: ~€500, worked in the past on Geldmaat, Euronet, GWK, etc.
card 2: foreign, visa credit, no balance and in good standing, cash advance limit: ~€4k

city A:

• ATM refused card 1. Error msg falsely blamed the card. (Likely Geldmaat or Euronet ATM but did not make notes)
• ATM refused card 1. Error msg falsely blamed the card. (Likely Geldmaat or Euronet ATM but did not make notes)
• ATM (Geldmaat) accepted card 1. fee: €4.00. Paid out.
• ATM (Euronet) accepted card 1. fee: €3.95. Paid out.

city B:

• ATM (Geldmaat) refused card 1 instantly before even asking for PIN. Error msg falsely blamed the card.
• ATM (Geldmaat) refused card 1 instantly before even asking for PIN. Error msg falsely blamed the card.
• ATM (Geldmaat) refused card 1 instantly before even asking for PIN. Error msg falsely blamed the card.
• ATM (GWK) machine boarded up and permanently closed. This was the last non-Geldmaat ATM in the city. Spoke to bankers at 3 banks. Geldmaat totally monopolises this city. Not a single indepedent ATM and not a single alternative ATM network available. If the Geldmaat rejects you, you’re fucked and cannot get cash out of the wall in this city. Bankers of banks who are a part of the Geldmaat consortium are helpless. They have no way of diagnosing a broken ATM transaction.

city C:

• ATM (Euronet) refused card 1 after entering PIN. Error msg falsely blamed the card.
• ATM (Euronet) refused card 1 after entering PIN. Error msg falsely blamed the card.
• ATM (GWK) machine permanently shutdown.
• ATM (GWK) machine running but card insertion broken.
• ATM (GWK) accepted card 1. fee: €4.00. Paid out.
• ATM (independant) refused request for €1k, falsely claimed card 2 issuing bank refused transaction.
• ATM (GWK) refused request for €1k, falsely claimed card 2 issuing bank refused transaction.
• ATM (GWK) accepted card 1. UI accepted all input, then simply neglected to dispense cash. No error msg.
• ATM (GWK) accepted card 1. fee: €4.00. Paid out.

false errors

The obvious pattern is that the ATM always blames the card or issuing bank; never says the refusal is due to its own faults or limitations. After this shit show of card refusals I spoke to both banks. Both banks confirmed what I already knew: that the accounts are in good standing. One bank did not even see any failed ATM attempts, which means the refusal was wholly on the part of the ATM. Then that bank did a deeper check and said that the upstream payment network shows failed attempts. Which means that the card was read just fine. The ATM operator refused the cash on its side and apparently the machines are coded to knowingly and willfully print false messages.

no transparency - secretly different treatment for foreign cards

My other bank said some of the refusals were “apparently¹” due to exceeding regional limits of the ATM (not the bank’s own limits). I read somewhere that domestic EU cards can withdraw €2000 from ATMs but the same ATMs tend to impose a smaller limit of like €500 on foreign cards. These limits change with each article or person I talk to. No transparency. Obviously when ATM fees are flat it makes sense to pull out a high amount to reduce relative overhead. Being forced into small transactions increases the net fees. And since the limits are concealed, making many attempts at different amounts risks getting the account locked due to a shitty AI algo deciding multiple failed attempts resembles fraud (yes, this happened to me before).

¹ Indeed the bank could see the refusal but the bank could only speculate about why it was refused. And the bank gave some questionable conjecture, saying the daily limit on foreign cards is €400 with a transaction limit of €2000. That can only make sense if the 400 is ATM-specific and the 2k is non-ATM txns. In any case I have no trust in that info (despite coming from the bank).

anti-competition

I think the problem largely boils down to the elimination of ATM competition in Netherlands. The banks have all removed their own machines and joined a single monolithic consortium. So the yellow “Geldmaat” gets a monopoly in some cities and a near duopoly in other cities. Without competition the incentive to serve people well (with dignity, respect, and transparency) is diminishing. The biggest tourist region (Amsterdam) has the widest range of choices in NL:

• Geldmaat (consortium of Ing, ABN AMRO, Rabobank, and SNS)
• Euronet (no idea if any banks are involved)
• GWK (these ATMs are dropping like flies & getting boarded up in many cities)
• independent (hard to find, no directory)

I would hope independent ATMs would be an escape from this shit show, but they are actually coming under fire now due to claims that money launderers are filling them with dirty money. So the situation will worsen.

cash back on purchases dicey

It seems like the only possible balance against the anti-competitive ATMs is to get cash back on a purchase. IIUC, this avoids fees. I did a quick check:

• Albert Heijn: will only allow up to €20 in cash back
• SPAR: rumored to allow up to €150 in cash back but when I tried to test this the cashier said the register had no cash. So it’s still a game of chance.
• Smullers: heard speculation that they give cash back but no idea on limits.

The problem with cash back will always be that you are naturally limited to what is in the register. But it would be useful to at least know what the artificial limits of different shops are.

Is there any refuge from this nannying?

(update: one thing that would help is improved OpenStreetMap info)

In the Lemmy web client it used to be possible to open a new tab (control-tab) which would naturally be logged in. That goes for most websites. With Lemmy it started getting flakey (sometimes works, sometimes not). Lately it’s working less often and it seems browser flavor is a factor. Tor Browser (FF) generally works, but Ungoogled Chromium new tabs are logged out. So in UC, I have to do everything for a Lemmy instance under one tab.

I wonder what kind of funny business causes session cookies to fail. My guess is they are not using session cookies for logins but rather one of the rare alternatives.

update

With just one tab running, I did a hard refresh (control-shift-R). That logged me out presumably doing the same as getting a new tab. Using the /back/ button does not recover from this.

Just wanted to run this idea past folks.

If you generally boycott Boeing over their safety scandals or over their extreme right lobbying contributions that support that climate denying political party, but you find yourself taking a Boeing anyway (e.g. your employer books you on one), why not show up to board the plane wearing a wing suit?

The idea is to convey the idea that a panel can fall off at any moment, inconveniently suck you out, and you have a sudden unplanned need to fly on your own. A parachute is likely too bulky. It’s kind of a way to make a statement.

I’m not sure if the wing suit can be comfortable enough to sit in and actually simultaneously somewhat functional. Would we have to choose between sufficient comfort and sufficient gliding capability, or could we have both?

It doesn’t have to be ugly. Consider those Nepalese and African pants with knee-high crotches. Those are borderline wing suits for the bottom half. When legs are spread, it could reveal something like “Boeing passenger safety pants”.

I suppose the big question would be: would a Boeing pilot exercise their discretion and refuse to carry such a passenger?

After eating the last pickle save the jar of pickle juice. Then when a broccoli stem becomes available cut the tough outer skin off, chop it up and toss it in the pickle juice. Works well. They reach a taste that’s very close what the pickles tasted like. After 2 or 3 cycles of that the pickle juice starts losing its strong punch. Adding vinegar and a sweetener can help at that point if you don’t have more pickle juice by then.

Otherwise broccoli stems are not too versatile. They’re not that great in veg. stock because they bring a bit of bitterness. So I only use like ½ a stem in a pot of broth (which is wholly from veg scraps).

My next experiment (untested): reusing juice from a jar of jalapẽnos to pickle broccoli stems.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/11153742

In a Dutch bar I ordered a few samples (which have no cost and were somewhat generous in size) and drank part way through them all. Then I ordered a full sized beer. I continued working on the samples.

Bartender asked if I wanted to pay now or start a tab. I asked if they accept cash. It feels silly to ask and I almost didn’t ask because the answer is always “yes”, of course. So I was shocked when the bartender said no.

WTF? Surely there would be enough customers who are wise enough to foresee possible consequences of having electronic records of alcohol consumption. It can only work against you, e.g. when the bank, data brokers, and insurance companies see an opportunity to collude and optimise your your insurance premiums using that info.

The GDPR would theoretically protect Europeans from that but bars are open to tourists -- non-Europeans with non-European bank accounts. I mentioned that to the bartender, who said “what’s the GDPR?” Wow. I was shocked again.

I made it clear that electronic payment doesn’t work for me (most especially when alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana are involved). I said: can someone pay with their own account and take my cash? Bartender asked if I have exact change. No, I didn’t but I got close enough that the bartender was able to use the tip jar to give me change.

I later noticed that the menu book (1st page after the cover) says “cash not accepted”. But I initially missed that because I ordered off the posted board. And there’s no guarantee anyway that a customer would see the first page. I often flip straight to the last page to look for drinks. When I left the bar I had a look at the entrance and door. There was no cash-hostile signage like some other shops have.

Questions for Dutch folks:

If the bar had been less reasonable, less flexible, how else might this have played out? I did not sip from the full beer before the conversation, so I suppose the bar could have just treated it like an erroneous beer pour and pour it down the drain.

Suppose I had not thought to ask if cash was accepted. What if I drank the beer and then my cash were refused with both sides standing their ground? There is a practical problem here not just a legal one. The hundreds worth of banknotes in my pocket would be worthless. So would it be no different than the situation of a deadbeat debtor who simply does not pay? Would I be cited and fined? Would I have the option to leave the bar with an invoice to pay by bank transfer, perhaps using the post office? Would I have to leave collateral such as an ID card while running the errand? And what if it’s Sunday or after hours of the post office?

What about the case where someone enters with bank card(s) that are in a broken state, unknown to the card holder? I’ve been in grocery store lines where a customer tries all their cards. Often the last card they try works but I’ve seen a case where someone had to leave all their groceries. I’ve been in situations where a card in good standing is refused for being foreign (despite the rules of the card network). Are these situations legally any different than someone who simply has no cards to pay with?

There is a very wise “EU Recommendation” that cash be accepted on payments towards debts specifically (not necessarily points of sale). I believe if you have a bar/restaurant tab that would be a /debt/, not a /point of sale/. But what are EU recommendations good for? Is it just to guide lawmakers, or is there some courtroom value when national policy deviates from the recommendation?

FWIW, this thread is where I learned that cash acceptance is optional in Netherlands. The original post was censored but that cross-post mirrors it.

If fedi node A and node B both have an anti-spam rule, it makes good sense that when a moderator removes a post for spam that it would be removed from both nodes. But what about other cases? Lemmy is a bit blunt and nuance-lacking in this regard.

For example, the parent of this thread was censored despite not breaking any rules. More importantly, it breaks no rules on slrpnk.net. Yet the slrpnk version was also removed.

I’m not sure exactly what the fix is. But in principle an author should be able to ask a slrpnk admin to restore the post in the slrpnk version of that community, so long as no slrpnk rules are broken by the post.

It’s one thing for various nodes to federate based on having compatible side-wide rules, but they aren’t necessarily aligned 100% and there are also rogue moderators who apply a different set of rules than what’s prescribed for a community.

It’s probably a good thing to find that nlemmy.nl is down, considering the parent of this thread was censored despite not breaking any rules.

(update) the moderator just admitted the removal was to silence an idea that clashes with the moderator’s anti-cash / pro-forced-banking view. So it was not a good place for open civil discussion.. just a black hole for msgs that oppose the mod’s world view.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/11153742

In a Dutch bar I ordered a few samples (which have no cost and were somewhat generous in size) and drank part way through them all. Then I ordered a full sized beer. I continued working on the samples.

Bartender asked if I wanted to pay now or start a tab. I asked if they accept cash. It feels silly to ask and I almost didn’t ask because the answer is always “yes”, of course. So I was shocked when the bartender said no.

WTF? Surely there would be enough customers who are wise enough to foresee possible consequences of having electronic records of alcohol consumption. It can only work against you, e.g. when the bank, data brokers, and insurance companies see an opportunity to collude and optimise your your insurance premiums using that info.

The GDPR would theoretically protect Europeans from that but bars are open to tourists -- non-Europeans with non-European bank accounts. I mentioned that to the bartender, who said “what’s the GDPR?” Wow. I was shocked again.

I made it clear that electronic payment doesn’t work for me (most especially when alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana are involved). I said: can someone pay with their own account and take my cash? Bartender asked if I have exact change. No, I didn’t but I got close enough that the bartender was able to use the tip jar to give me change.

I later noticed that the menu book (1st page after the cover) says “cash not accepted”. But I initially missed that because I ordered off the posted board. And there’s no guarantee anyway that a customer would see the first page. I often flip straight to the last page to look for drinks. When I left the bar I had a look at the entrance and door. There was no cash-hostile signage like some other shops have.

Questions for Dutch folks:

If the bar had been less reasonable, less flexible, how else might this have played out? I did not sip from the full beer before the conversation, so I suppose the bar could have just treated it like an erroneous beer pour and pour it down the drain.

Suppose I had not thought to ask if cash was accepted. What if I drank the beer and then my cash were refused with both sides standing their ground? There is a practical problem here not just a legal one. The hundreds worth of banknotes in my pocket would be worthless. So would it be no different than the situation of a deadbeat debtor who simply does not pay? Would I be cited and fined? Would I have the option to leave the bar with an invoice to pay by bank transfer, perhaps using the post office? Would I have to leave collateral such as an ID card while running the errand? And what if it’s Sunday or after hours of the post office?

What about the case where someone enters with bank card(s) that are in a broken state, unknown to the card holder? I’ve been in grocery store lines where a customer tries all their cards. Often the last card they try works but I’ve seen a case where someone had to leave all their groceries. I’ve been in situations where a card in good standing is refused for being foreign (despite the rules of the card network). Are these situations legally any different than someone who simply has no cards to pay with?

There is a very wise “EU Recommendation” that cash be accepted on payments towards debts specifically (not necessarily points of sale). I believe if you have a bar/restaurant tab that would be a /debt/, not a /point of sale/. But what are EU recommendations good for? Is it just to guide lawmakers, or is there some courtroom value when national policy deviates from the recommendation?

FWIW, this thread is where I learned that cash acceptance is optional in Netherlands. The original post was censored but that cross-post mirrors it.

Not sure if this is useful to off-gridders but I guess if you are in an area with voice towers that do not offer data, this could be useful.

I wonder if a software fax app on a GSM phone would be able to send faxes without needing data service. Or in fact, might it have to? Otherwise I guess if it were to use mobile data it would have to run over VOIP, perhaps with sketchier results.