Word is that Apple will launch its Vision Pro headsets in February https://www.pymnts.com/apple/2... Do they have more money to flush down the drain than Microsoft?

Did anybody even talk about a limited lifetime when they installed 2G and 3G? By the way, the average lifetime of US cars is now 12.5 years, meaning many cars are older than that. So short lifetimes can matter, and contribute to junking cars that are still usable.

If Southwest indeed paid for their screwup by admitting they screwed up and trying to make it up to passengers, what would other airlines have done? Would they have been better or -- probably more likely -- would they have ignored passenger complaints altogether?

It was supposed to be streamed from where it was visible, but it was clouded out.

They signed because they felt threatened. From the original post above: "While over 95% of the company's employees signed an open letter after Altman's firing demanding his return, "On social media, in news reports and on the anonymous app Blind, which requires members to sign up with a work email address to post, people identified as current OpenAI employees also described facing intense peer pressure to sign the mass-resignation letter.""

One of the problems of Google's notice that they will delete accounts not used for two years is that they don't define what they mean by "not used" (at least not where I have been able to find it). I have Apple Mail download my gmail and almost never open Google's Webmail. Does that mean I'm not using it?

The big problem may be the 501(c)(3) corporation structure. I belong to a couple of professional organizations that changed to that structure because that structure allows people to deduct donations on their income tax returns. Turns out the legal requirements to maintain that status can get in the way of things that used to be important to the organizations. For example, they can't do any kind of lobbying because 501(c)(3) corporations cannot spend money on lobbying or other political campaigns. So the groups cannot campaign for issues important for the members, such as fair pay for their work or protecting their intellectual property. Likewise, organizations that had paid medical expenses or legal fees for members in financial trouble now have to offer the same help to people in the same profession who aren't members. Being tax exempt makes 501(c)(3) seem like a good idea, but it can hobble the organization. I am not a lawyer, so I won't speculate on exactly what went wrong, but I suspect at least some of the problem was related to the 501(c)(3) status.

We really don't need to split email up into a bunch of separate channels. The more you split it up, the more things you need get lost and you never know about your bills before the collection company comes calling.

The ultraviolet can cause photokerititis https://my.clevelandclinic.org... It's basically sunburn of the cornea, and the Cleveland Clinic says, it's painful but the symptoms last only a few hours to a couple of days. So they'll live and should be able to see afterwards, and might even have learned how bad an idea that was. Lasers can cause permanent damage, depending on the power. Kinda doubt the light show passed a safety inspection.

After the first fatal Tesla accidents, public opinion of driverless cars dropped like a rock. I haven't seen any recent survey results, but I don't know why public acceptance would improve much. The public seems to have no problem with driver assist features based on similar technology, but most of them don't want to turn control over to the machine. This is a technology well ahead of its time.

Good luck trying to get hydrogen autos into production. The problems start with how to handle the stuff. The basic problem right now is trying to shift the whole auto industry to a different power system on command.

I rarely order from Amazon, but some people selling elsewhere used Amazon from shipping, and I've been receiving small boxes rattling around in larger ones. It's obvious the manufacturer's box was dropped into a larger box from Amazon with no packaging to keep it from bouncing around. It's not too bad if the product is light and the manufacturer packs properly, but not if the product is heavy -- like a book.

"the company is doesn't have the money and trying to hide it." +1

Getting the right match of heat pump, ductwork, and other factors is complex. We have about 2500 sq ft in eastern Massachusetts (Zone 4, the green zone, just below the blue zone) and our contractor put in a 5-tone heat pump for about $18K. We saved a lot of money because we were replacing an oil-fueled forced air. If we had to install ductwork or splits, we would have paid a lot more. Many installers in our area will leave the old furnace in place as a backup in case of extreme temperatures. The layout of our forced-air oil system did not allow that, but one morning in January it hit single digits and the heat pump could not get above 50 until noon. We were freezing in the house, and I rushed out to get a portable heater. It was not pretty, but it was the only problem, and in a week they came and installed backup heating wires that increased the heating capacity, and we haven't had problems since. We didn't have AC before, and I had to adjust the ductwork to get more cool air into the attic where I work, but made the attic livable. Bottom line for the first 9 months of this year: Electric bill up from $1200 in 2022 to $3000 in 2023; oil bill down from $2700 to $0. Subtract the previous electric bill, and our heat dropped from $2700 to $1800 for 9 months, and we got cooling in the bargain, which we didn't have before. Your experience may differ because a lot depends the old system you're replacing.

If the parts are too small to see, you're also going to need microsurgical-grade equipment to pick them up and manipulate them with the precision needed to put the thing together.