I know it's a fun word to say, but this is not enshittification. This is simply bad UI pushed out by people who need to justify their continued employment. See also Windows 8, Slashdot Beta, and Google Chrome.

(Though, this *is* Google, so I wouldn't be surprised if they've got some bullshit metrics that shows the redesign somehow increases UsEr EnGaGeMeNt).

Regarding focus, I'll admit there's a different kind of attention needed for driving vs walking amongst cars, but I don't think driving is anywhere near as intensive as you and some other posters are implying. How often do we hear about "driving home on automatic" where you get home and have no real memory of the act of doing so? Obviously there are exceptions, but often while driving, you are typically moving along at a consistent speed with other vehicles, paying them little mind unless they begin to act in an unexpected manner. Cars from the opposite direction are sometimes physically separated, but even when not they're treated the same way - an assumption of normal behavior.

Unless you're driving through a neighborhood street with cars and other visual obstacles, under the constant threat of something appearing suddenly in front of you, driving is simply not usually an attention-intensive activity. Maybe it _should_ be, but based on the number of people eating, using cell phones, etc while driving, evidence suggests most drivers don't treat it as such.

And I'll agree that if a pedestrian is well-removed from cars, such as on a sidewalk with a reasonable median between it and the road, they don't need to give cars much thought. But there are many other places where they do. The places I have the most trouble are uncontrolled intersections, which happen every block in suburbs / residential areas. None of these are metered or have marked crossings. The other are driveways into commercial areas; too many drivers pull right up onto the sidewalk, hardly slowing until their nose is in traffic, and only look left when making a right-hand turn.

This says a lot about your perspective.

Pedestrians (and runners, cyclists, etc) are arguably focused on *more* things than drivers. They're moving much more slowly relative to cars, which means that every minute they're required to consider the potential dangerous action taken by a large number of drivers, from traffic in both directions. Every single car passing them has the potential to be piloted by a distracted driver that could easily kill them by both action or inaction. I have to stop to avoid being hit by inattentive drivers nearly every single time I go for a run.

Being a pedestrian or cyclist in 90% of America is typically a terrifying and hostile experience. Commercial areas like shopping centers and strip malls and roadways are designed with cars first, second, and third, with pedestrians being a distant thought, if at all. Many areas don't have sidewalks or marked crossings. Wide arterial roads crisscross cities without controlled crossings. Arrogant "bigger is better" ass-clown drivers in SUVs and trucks who feel safe in their steel box as they bumble down the road, playing on their phone, driving 15 over the posted limit, and cursing those idiot pedestrians who are just in the way and taking up space on "their road".

I came across one of these in a parking lot a couple of weeks ago as I was walking back to my car. I did notice the sound, but definitely didn't immediately associate it with the potential danger of a moving vehicle. Once I realized what it was as the car got closer, I thought it was a pretty stupid and dangerous approach to the problem.

With phones and other similarly pervasive electronic junk, we're surrounded with a barrage of meaningless noise and sounds. EV makers should use the car sounds people are familiar with (a low growl of an engine, or a fan) instead of coming up with their own.

Maybe someday EVs will be ubiquitous enough that we can rethink the standard warning noise, but even once we reach that, it should be consistent and probably mandated by a government safety standard.

That's not the purpose of NIAC. It's a forum specifically for "far-out" concepts - ideas that are grounded in physical and technical reality, but with a time horizon of 10-40 years. It's to get people thinking outside the box, stretching the bounds of current technology, and considering the next (or next-next) generation of space exploration.

For example, the concept of using a crater on the far side of the moon as a massive radio telescope that would be immune to interference from terrestrial sources, disruption from the ionosphere, and noise from the Sun is a NIAC proposal that seems both feasible and worthwhile.

Alongside DARPA, I think it's one of the coolest programs in government. More companies and organizations should encourage this kind of distant thinking, focusing less on "HoW tO mAxImIzE nExT qUaRtEr PrOfIt" and more on "what could we be doing 5 years from now".

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd suggest that Microsoft wants to refocus on Bethesda's high-profile titles like Fallout and Elder Scrolls (maybe another Starfield... maybe not). Those are huge sellers and I'd guess they're not real happy with the current pacing of one game per franchise every 10 years. While the shuttering of smaller studios in favor of industrial monoliths is tragic, I hope the silver lining is that they're going to push more money into Bethesda's primary dev teams, increasing their size to allow for parallel development of multiple big titles.

Oh, and that they fire that hack Emil Pagliarulo and hire a couple of people who can actually put two thoughts together to tell a story.

This is the correct answer. Wish I had mod points to fix the bullshit Troll mod you got.

No mod points today, so instead I'll just tell you that you owe me a new keyboard because this one now has coffee all over it :)

The real champagne celebration is still days away, and who will be celebrating remains to be seen.

Trump receives a huge number of additional bonus shares if the stock's price stays above $17.50 for 20 trading days, and lesser amounts at $15.00 and $12.50 thresholds.

I believe were at 14 or 15 trading days so far, though which day officially counts as the start isn't clear (at least to me).

Agreed on Strange New Worlds. It's a breath of fresh air for Nu-Trek.

I tried real hard with Discovery. Made it through the first two (?) seasons and just couldn't bring myself to care enough to continue to trudge through the sophomoric writing and characters (or character, since it should be called "The MIchael Burman Show").

Have to disagree with Picard though. The last season was 100% rooted in nostalgia and member-berries. And sure, it was fun to see the old cast and ship... as long as your brain has an off-switch. The story and plot, if you take half a second to think about it, was one giant non-sequitur and nonsensical to the point of insulting. It also completely discarded everything that happened in Picard season 1 and 2 which, even if you didn't completely love those seasons (I didn't) there was still important story elements and character development that was treated as if it never happened. Again, this is insulting to the audience and screams "I have a giant ego" by the producer.

I love NoScript and have been using it for ages, but I do wish there was a "curated" mode with a minimal trusted whitelist you could opt into using, sort of like a reverse ad-blocker. There are times when visiting a new site that the list of blocked domains is monumental, and figuring out the minimal set necessary for the page to function is pretty much impossible without investing way too much time.

Even an option akin to "temporarily allow all" but instead using a whitelist built from contributions (maybe ala SponsorBlock) would be a better middle-ground than what I often end up doing and just temp-allowing everything until I'm done with the site.

You can say the exact same thing about cigarette companies in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

What makes them corrupt is when they lie to the public and regulators about the health impact of their products. TEL companies knew that lead was causing problems, but tried to bury that under a pile of lies, lobbying, and obfuscation. Tobacco companies knew cigarettes were addictive and caused cancer, but tried to hide it and delay as long as possible any kind of public health campaign or laws against public smoking.

That's the line that can't be crossed if you want to pray to the Invisible Hand for guidance.

I agree that entitled is the wrong word, but it can show some antipathy and/or lack of awareness towards the more recent state of income vs the cost of higher education.

In 1980, average income was $39,000. Annual cost of a private school was $20,000 and public $9,000. In 2021 average income was $45,000, annual private school was $56,000 and public $25,000. (All of these are in 2021/22 dollars). There are some assumptions here (such as what student job wages would be relative to the median) but generally, the price of college has more than doubled relative to income.

Don't get me wrong - people who take out a massive loan to go to an expensive school when there are cheaper options available is it's own problem, but to suggest that the cost of education today is on par with what it was when Baby Boomers went is completely wrong.

I used to think breakfast cereal was a lost cause, being either nothing but trash or loaded with sugar (or both), until I discovered shredded wheat. Fiber, protein, unsaturated fat, zero sugar and one ingredient: whole grain wheat. Oh, and no ground up vitamin pills.

I like the Wheat and Bran variety the most, but you can get plain store brands that are just fine and cheaper. Especially paired with a little fruit, it's a good first meal or snack.