Hi everyone!

Last year lemmy.ca ran a census for our instance, and this year we wanted to solicit feedback ahead of time. Since other instances expressed interest in running similar censuses, having some agreed upon questions would make it easier to do comparisons. (previous: lemmy.ca results, lemmy.nz results).

Timeline wise, for our instance, we are thinking of gathering feedback for the rest of the month and then running the census early in the new year. We are open to adjusting when we run it, to align with other instances.

General areas of feedback:

Self Identification / Categorization

With some questions, it is difficult to have a predetermined list of options. Last year we included a free form entry option, and then created word clouds with the full list. However, that is not as insightful, and it takes a lot of time to process. For this year, do you prefer:

• A set of options + a free form option (same as last year)
• A set of options only

Please share if you know of a resource that has a good/inclusive set of options for the question types. Even if a free form option is included, a better set of options as a base will lead to better data.

For context, these were the questions where this happened:

• What is your ethnicity?
• How do you identify? (sexual orientation)
• What is your occupation / field of Work?

Data collection & Results

Last year we used Google forms for collection, and a spreadsheet for calculations and analysis. Visualization was done with google sheets, an open source word cloud generator (github link), and DataWrapper (link) for an interactive display on our website.

This year the plan is similar, although we’re interested to try chart.js for the visualizations. We had some issues with DataWrapper displays, and having the code be open source would make it easier for others to replicate. One consideration is data privacy (do we commit anonymized data to the repo, host it elsewhere and import it, etc.).

Sometime in the future, it might be nice to have a template and/or pipeline that everyone can use, for consistency and to minimize work. In the meantime, do you have any thoughts or recommendations?

Fun Question

Last year we asked about people's favourite dessert. It would be cool to do something similar this year. Do you have any suggestions for a fun question? Some ideas:

• Favourite comfort food
• Favourite fruit
• Favourite color (with a hex code input)

Proposed Questions

Where applicable, I’ve included changes from last year. Depending on the type of instance you run (ex. regional or not), you may want to skip, add, or modify questions.

Section 1: Where is everyone from?

Where are you from?

• Canada? (yes / no)
  • If in Canada, which province or territory?
  • If not, which continent?

What is the size of your community? (rural / urban / suburban / other)

• suburban and other are new options

In your opinion, what is the quality of your internet connection? (poor, reasonable, excellent)

What is your internet speed?

• new question inspired by lemmy.nz
• we may include a link to a speed test site for convenience, and have a free form entry

Section 2: Who are you?

What age range do you fall into? (0-9, 10-19, etc.)

Ethnicity? (options uncertain, see above)

Gender Identity? (Man, Woman, Non-binary person, Genderfluid)

• Optionally, we could include a free form entry 'other' option, and list the input in a separate list.

Are you someone with trans experience (yes / no)

How do you identify? (options uncertain, see above)

Disability Status (yes / no)

• New separate question inspired by lemmy.nz

Disability Status (free form entry)

• Last year we manually processed the text inputs and displayed them in a list. We're open to hearing suggestions on better ways to run this question!

Educational Background

• Last year we had multi-select, which didn't make sense. This year we can split it into a few questions:
  • Are you currently in school? (yes / no)
    • What are you studying? (single selection, see list below)
  • Highest level of education completed (single selection, see list below)
  • All past education (multi-select, see list below)
  • List of options:
    • No formal education
    • Some secondary school (high school)
    • Secondary school (high school) diploma
    • GED
    • Trade / technical / vocational training
    • Some Post-secondary (college, university, CÉGEP)
    • College diploma
    • Associate degree
    • Bachelor's degree
    • Master's degree
    • Professional degree (MD, JD, MBA, etc.)
    • Doctorate (PhD, etc.)
    • Other

Employment Status (full-time, part-time, self-employed, student, retired, unemployed, other)

• Last year we also got responses for 'homemaker', 'disabled', 'active duty military'. We could add these as options, or include a free form 'other' entry for them.

Field of Work (options uncertain, see above)

• This question was a free form entry last year, and it was very difficult to process. Having a solid list of options would be ideal in this case.
• We could include an 'other' option with a free form entry, with a note that any response will not be included in the main results and will be displayed as-is in a separate list.

Section 3: Instance Usage

How many {instance name} communities do you participate in? (0, 1-9, 10-19, 20+)

If you moderate any communities, how many? (number input)

• Last year this was a multi-select, but a number input would be more straightforward

What community do you want to see on {instance name}? (free form entry)

What existing community do you want to see more people using? (free form entry)

• This is a new question.

On average, how much time do you spend on Lemmy each day? (<1 hour, 1-2 hours, 2-3, 3-5, 5-8, 8-13, 13-21, 21+)

How often do you visit {instance name}? (multiple times a day, daily, weekly, monthly, rarely)

• This is a new question.

How do you access Lemmy most often? (desktop, mobile (including tablet), both about equally)

• (including tablet) is a new addition
• both about equally is a new option

If you use desktop, what operating system do you use? (Windows, MacOS, Linux, I don't use desktop, other)

• New question

On desktop, which interfaces do you use? (default, Mlymym, Photon, Voyager, Alexandrite, I don't use desktop)

• I don't use desktop is a new option, and will be separate from the 'skip this question' option

Is there another interface you would like us to add? (free form entry)

• New question

If you use mobile, what operating system do you use? (Android, iOS, I don't use mobile, other)

• I don't use mobile and other are new options

On mobile, how do you access Lemmy?

• We will include an updated list of apps, and a free form entry for any new ones
• We will include an option for I don't use mobile, web browser, and other, in addition to the skip this question option

If you primarily access lemmy.ca through different Lemmy/Kbin instance, please list it below (optional) (free form entry)

What other decentralized / federated platforms do you use?

• Some potential options: none, Mbin, Kbin, PieFed, Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, Peertube, Loop, Bookwyrm, WriteFreely, Pleroma, Friendica, Misskey, Writefreely, + free form entry

Fun Question (yet to be determined)

Feedback (free form entry)

General Changes:

• All questions will have a 'skip this question' option
• Fewer random comments from me when reporting the results. I looked back at them afterwards and thought they might be a bit much.

The Sea to Sky Highway linking Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., has been closed in both directions after a mudslide near Lions Bay brought down trees and debris to block the road.

The RCMP in Squamish, B.C., says the road is not expect to reopen until midnight and no detours are available.

The Ministry of Transportation is asking drivers to avoid travelling to the area as emergency crews are on the scene and heavy equipment and ministry personnel are on the way.

Drivers are encouraged to check DriveBC for updates on when the highway may be reopened.

Also from https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/landslide-closes-sea-sky-highway

Officials with the District of Squamish said drivers who are stuck north of the slide near Lions Bay should plan to stay the night in the area, either with friends or family while the Resort Municipality of Whistler urged people to find a hotel for the night.

There is an alternate route through Lillooet and Lytton for people stuck on the north side of the slide who want to get back to the Lower Mainland, according to RCMP.

No other detours are available and North Shore Rescue staff are urging drivers not to go by what Google Maps is showing as a detour through the Coquitlam Watershed. There is no public access that way, according to NSR.

I thought the CT scans were neat

Overall, B.C. was given a “B” grade by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in its annual report, released in July, on the status of interprovincial trade, but a dispute with Alberta over direct-to-consumer wine sales earlier this year indicates there is still room for improvement.

Jairo Yunis, a B.C. Business Council policy director and former director of B.C. and western economic policy at CFIB, said one example is that trucking in the province is essentially facing a five-per-cent tariff to bring goods into Alberta or other jurisdictions in Canada.

“There was an analysis done by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, months ago, that calculated the average internal trade cost for the trucking industry in B.C. was around five per cent,” said Yunis.

“I know that there is a working group looking at a pilot project to mutually recognize all these standards and regulations across all provinces. So that’s definitely something that would remove some of these internal trade barriers in some of those sectors, specifically trucking.”

It's a weird headline, but the discussion is around how journalists and the public look through internet history in cases like this. Some of it is helpful, some of it is not.

In particular, it's a response to this article:

'Extremely ironic': Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO slaying played video game killer, friend recalls (NBCNews)

The game in this case being AmongUs...

Monday night, NBC News published an article with the headline “’Extremely Ironic’: Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO Slaying Played Video Game Killer, Friend Recalls.” This article is currently all over every single one of my social media feeds, because it is emblematic of the type of research I described above. It is a very bad article whose main reason for existing is the fact that it contains a morsel of “new” “information,” except the “information” in this case is that Luigi Mangione played the video game Among Us at some point in college.

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/72744

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/34674387

Toronto's Michael Jarman wins 2024 Microsoft Excel World Championships in Las Vegas

Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/vrr89

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/72352

[...] Many users are complaining of hallucinated artists' stats, songs they've never heard appearing in most listened lists, and more. Some users aren't happy with the way that Spotify Wrapped looked this year, complaining that it was boring, and not as creative as previous years. [...]

One of the most common complaints seems to be that Spotify Wrapped has misreported on the stats in claims to represent. Now, while this has happened in previous years, this year it seems to be a whole lot more prevalent — as you can see in this Spotify support thread. It's filled with users complaining about top artists they've never listened to, songs appearing in at the top of their lists that they didn't even know existed, or a mixture of the two.

Just anecdotally talking with people outside the internet-o-sphere and you'll quickly find people with iffy Spotify Wrapped statistics. I have friends who listen exclusively to bizarre, underground punk acts, and their Wrappeds were topped by the likes of The Weeknd and Taylor Swift. Even on the Tom's Guide team, we've seen strangeness — our own Millie Fender discovered Swift among her top artists, yet her songs didn't appear in her top 100.

Just read people's reactions online, especially in the trending topic on X or even the announcement thread on Reddit. Many are blaming Spotify's pivot to AI this year for the lack of personality, and some even hold it responsible for their weird Spotify statistics. I have reached out to Spotify for comment, but I am yet to hear a response.

What can we do?

First off, there are other streaming platforms with year-end roundups. Deezer, for example, has unleashed My Deezer Year, and like everything the French streamer does, it's filled with creativity and personality. That's a streaming service with better sound quality too. Apple Music has its Replay feature, which similarly takes you through your year. There are options.

If you're duty-bound to Spotify, then there is a way to really check your most-listened-to artists, songs, and genres — Track your listening with Last.FM, for example, which gives you breakdowns over the course of the year. Whatever happens, I (and many others) are hoping that Spotify Wrapped is a whole lot better next year.

Welcome to release v1.122.0 of Immich. After a long release break, Immich is back and brings many new features with loads of bug fixes to enhance the user experience further and make Immich more delightful to use. Some of the highlights below:

• HDR video support in the mobile app
• Multiple URLs for machine learning service
• Automatic switching between server URLs in the mobile app
• Ability to hide users when searching in an Immich instance
• Access the most recent albums through the web navigation bar
• Custom email templates
• Automatically clean up files left behind by interrupted uploads
• More responsive hosted maps for users in Oceania
• Notable fix: swiping between videos failing on older Android devices

Description from github:

A C++ based, lightweight music and noise remover for YouTube and other internet media, using DeepFilterNet for audio enhancement.

Demo Video & Info

Direct link to demo video

Source post: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1h7k7fa/

I am introducing you Fast Music Remover (https://github.com/omeryusufyagci/fast-music-remover); a free and open source tool that filters internet media.

We consume, willingly or not, large amounts of media everyday, and that includes content that is emposed on us. I want to give you the choice to opt-out of them without missing out on the core content.

We're building a feature rich media processor that is efficient, modular and cross platform. It's being built for you! This means: clean and light APIs for programmers, containerized on GHCR for remote users, with a Web UI for anyone interested!

Today, we support background music filtering and noise removal to enhance audio quality. In the near future, we are looking at supporting multiple ML models as well as DSP modules to empower you with the tools you need to take control over the media you consume.

There is a demo video on the readme as well as clear instructions on how to use FMR. You can immediately start by getting the docker image available at: https://github.com/omeryusufyagci/fast-music-remover/pkgs/container/fast-music-remover

If you have any feedback at all, please let me know. Thank you!

https://downdetector.com/

I assumed my internet was down until I opened Lemmy. Looking around, I'm seeing complaints about google and google services (gmail, drive, etc.)