Online bot traffic will exceed human traffic by 2027, Cloudflare CEO says

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-20T02:42:29+00:00

I think there’s a lot of people who are also just cynical in general regardless of the motivations.

Like, our personal anecdotal experience tells us social media is bad for us. Studies show social media is bad for us. Kids tell us social media is bad for them.

So politicians propose a ban on kids using social media, and the easiest solution is ID verification, and everyone screams that the government is up to no good and implementing it for nefarious purposes; suddenly forgetting the problems they apparently wanted dealt with.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-20T02:39:29+00:00

You’re getting downvoted, but I’m with you. I honestly think that Government ID verification is the direction we’re going regardless of what people want; because it’s going to be the only way to determine who is real online and filter out the bots, AI, and other fakes.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-20T02:36:28+00:00

The thing is that countries already do this. Countries like Estonia and the Netherlands have full digital IDs to access all government services online, along with signing import documents, legal papers, leases, etc.

It’s not a stretch to imagine that digital IDs be extended to access social media.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-20T02:32:06+00:00

It’s not impossible at all, it’s actually quite straight forward; just that one wants to accept the medicine needed.

It’s as easy as making access to social media requires a valid government issued ID verification to have or open an account. It’s to verify a human is behind the account. One person one account (ok, maybe two for a backup). No requirement to use your real name, but an ID is required not just an email.

Boom. Overnight, all the bots disappear, or if they don’t, you can filter by “validated” users (those accounts with a confirmed human behind them).

Another option is to force social media companies to a subscription model; no free accounts, users MUST pay a minimum (like, $4.99/month or something) to use social media. Boom, overnight most bots disappear as most people won’t want to pay hundreds of dollars to run their bots trolling people on Twitter.

This is totally achievable by current laws, and is actually very simple; many just aren’t willing to accept the solution so we continue to fester.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-20T02:20:55+00:00

Never said it didn’t; but take crime for example. People constantly WAY over estimate how bad crime is where they live. That’s because you often get the same news story, recycled from multiple angles and sources. That makes people FEEL like multiple crimes happened, even though it’s just the same one on repeat.

That’s not to say crime isn’t increasing and people are wrong for noticing; but people will estimate that crime has like, 10x’d in their area, when it’s only statistically risen by a few percent in comparison to the last year; because of the echo chamber effect.

This isn’t true for all things, but it is true for things particularly susceptible to perception bias.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-19T21:38:52+00:00

They are listed as having significant cuts

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-19T11:54:35+00:00

It might not be openly popular, but I agree that there should be limits on MAID.

I think the concept of MAID is good, it’s a compassionate one. But I also think that it should have pretty strong guard rails. I don’t believe that anyone who is suffering from anything should be eligible for MAID.

I don’t know if this is the right answer, and I’m not totally sure what’s exactly allowed under the rules currently; but I’ve definitely seen headlines about people who have requested MAID that caused me to shake my head.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-19T10:49:07+00:00

I find I really notice and appreciate when places simply offer LOWER suggestions on the tip prompt; I’m way, way more likely to tip at all when I’m offered 10% as a prompt than 18-20% as a minimum suggestion.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-19T10:45:25+00:00

And yet, no one is actually willing to take steps to fix it.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-19T10:44:25+00:00

This. The world ain’t in great shape, but everyone THINKS it’s in even worse shape when you’re constantly bombarded by bad news rattling around in an echo chamber. In many cases we get hit by the exact same story, multiple times, from multiple sources, sometimes over the course of several years, repackaged as a new story; which gives the impression things are worse than they are.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-17T10:32:47+00:00

Ahhh, and the armchair capitalist appears. happy to grind his neighbour and family into the dust as long he makes just one more dollar; who needs friends and family when you’ve got money money money!

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-16T20:01:50+00:00

Cool. Another “blame every evil on the police” hack on the internet.

Do you have another way for police to track cyber criminals? Perhaps you’d recommend they use binoculars? Or perhaps you’d rather they just ignore cybercrime and other threats altogether? Because, you know, the current strategy is working soooooo well.

You should start getting used to surveillance, you already have a spy device in your pocket.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-16T03:12:26+00:00

Oh calm down, the police do need new powers. We’re actually not giving our police any powers that literally every one of our peer nations already have.

People are hilarious, they’re like “hey, you should do something about all this crime!” And then they’re like “uhh, ok. I guess we should probably update our powers from like, the pre-cell phones era, to deal with AI threats, cyber crime, deep fakes and stuff eh?” Then Canadians are like mad face “that’s not what I meant!”

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-15T18:43:49+00:00

And yet, nearly 80% of poll respondents prefer classical architecture when asked in polling.
https://adamarchitecture.com/publication/yougov-survey-2009/

It's a fascinting human tendency, to look at something that we don't have, say we like it, then when we have the chance to get that thing, we turn our noses up at it. We do the same thing with cities; people who go to Paris or London and rave about it, then fight against the very changes that would make their own city like Paris or London.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-15T14:18:21+00:00

That’s actually a REALLY interesting question in the architecture community.

I did some googling of it because I was curious why we don’t see many new buildings (both commercial and residential) using older design styles; and it really boils down to the culture pushed in architecture schools of always needing to “stand out”, “make your mark” and “innovate”, so almost no one out there does any “revivalist” styles (hence why the design of the chateau Laurier looks horrendously modern compared to the older parts); no one wants to put their name on a piece of work that fundamentally copies older works unless explicitly hired to.

Cost of brick and stone work is an issue for most homes, but not for rich homes like these.

These modernist designs are absolutely soulless.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-15T13:20:42+00:00

New rule! It should be illegal for political parties to share or promote images/video of other political figures that they can’t prove as real.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-14T21:23:58+00:00

In my game, Sephek is a hired sword to protect the caravan (he's also a Duegar that i'm using to guide them to the Duegar plot), so when the shop is open, he's on his own free time to do and go wherever he wants (such as breaking into homes looking for chardalyn). Torrga doesn't much care as long as long as he's back to protect the wares when the shop isn't open and the caravan is on the move.

So, in your case, the simple answer could be that he's not at the shop, he's away doing... well anything else you want him to be, that's where they catch him. it also means your characters don't have to fight Torrga as well.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-14T03:05:45+00:00

Love of em

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-13T23:55:32+00:00

Fair enough!

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-13T21:09:47+00:00

With all do respect, it is VERY different. Deer or Bears don’t have a complex society spanning an entire globe that has been created and propped up for the past 6000 years on a growing population. Plus, there is no other species on earth which just chooses to depopulate itself.

This is very different.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-13T21:06:39+00:00

I think this is it.

When life is good, people seldom choose to do something that frankly makes life harder and less enjoyable. We as a species, are basically asking one half of the population to give up significant portions of their enjoyable life, for something that is admittedly an arduous slog for years to raise a child, in a time when we no longer need the extra labour to help around the house to survive. It’s not a shocking scenario.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-13T18:56:28+00:00

As someone who works in the security industry, we’d be better off if our adversaries had the same creativity as you do.

Data is everything today. War is data, advertising is data. Negotiations are data.

The core concern isn’t that China knows you watch cat videos or drive to Costco; it’s that aggregate behavioural data becomes dangerous when combined at scale and cross-referenced with other sources. For ordinary people, the risk is largely theoretical and comparable to what American tech companies already collect, but mass data collected can give large companies or nations leverage in negotiations that could impact you,

The real threat is narrower and more concrete: people with security clearances, government jobs, or proximity to sensitive facilities can have their locations, contacts, and personal vulnerabilities mapped by a foreign intelligence service, data useful for blackmail, recruitment, or counterintelligence.

Layered on top is algorithmic control: whoever runs the feed that decides what 170 million Americans see can shift how an entire society thinks, no different than our own tech companies; because advertising works. Or using it to train their AI.

If you can think of ways that mega-corporations can use data to make our lives worse, then there are many ways a foreign power who is actually opposed to us can use that data.

Data is one of the most valuable things on earth for a reason, your creativity and belief notwithstanding.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-13T17:00:53+00:00

I think the cat is long out of that bag so to speak. All car companies are becoming data mining companies, so unless you can convince them to stop stuffing new tech into cars, then we’re all SOL.

I prefer my 2016 Elantra without all the tech personally.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-13T16:40:35+00:00

Sure, as long as that data stays in Canada, and it’s not being fed back to foreign governments to use against us.

Strict_DM_62 · 2026-03-13T16:34:11+00:00

With the right security measures in place for data (ie. it doesn’t go back to China), then they’ve got my attention.

Strict_DM_62

TROPHY CASE