Oh yeah, no I work in a tech space where some devices we do might be cellular enabled (legitimately, where users want the connectivity option) so have seen the price sheets for it. It really wouldn't be far fetched to me at all if they started to just simply grab the data that way. I do believe it's unlikely to be happening right now with major brands, only because I imagine some college kid with an RF scanner would happily have published about it already as their thesis. But other than constantly having RF scanners looking to see if it happens I don't think normal home users would be all the wiser. There really should be laws around it, for instance requiring a "all networking turned off" switch and an indication when network activity (of any kind) is happening, but good luck with that happening, as I imagine that the governments around the world have no problem having cell chips stuck in every device imaginable.

Especially when, from a cost standpoint, it's probably cheaper for them to just put a cell chip and SIM card in.

Do not share your username and password with third parties.

FFS I can't believe a tech site like /. is trying to defend a company directly asking for username and password info, with what, a cross their fingers promise to keep it safe and secure from leaking?

The registers want this, that's all. Have you seen the *cost* of these weird TLDs? They want early adopters to pay in some cases well over $10k a year for these if they're likely "good" names to have. It's domain squatting on an industrial scale by Google and the registers themselves.

The one that drives me absolutely bonkers is the way they handle luggage is such a scam. My family will pack a "free" carry on only, because checking bags costs extra, but *every single time we've flown in the past few years* the airline as we're checking in is like "Oh no! The plane is busy! Please check your bags, free just because we're so busy!" Well you know what, if checking the bags was free in the first place, and you instead charged for the carry on, then it would encourage people to put the bags where you want them in the first place.

But if I just want to check the bag? Nope they want to charge for that. So have to roll the dice and pack as if I'll be forced to carry the bag on.

I'm with you. I just don't go to movies in theaters any longer. I'd already nearly stopped pre-Covid, and once Covid hit and I bumped up my own system I no longer have any desire to watch movies other than on my incredibly comfortable couch.
The theaters cannot compete.

So it's great they're making this stuff, but if they still expect to get multiple hundred million dollar opening weekends, well I think they're missing how society has changed towards filmed entertainment. Which means they might just have to adjust and start making smaller films, or less of them, and start accounting for the profits over years instead of weekends. Because let's be honest, it's Disney, and once the merch is involved, they'll easily get their money back and then some. But if they continue to pretend like nothing has changed, then it doesn't matter how "good" or "bad" a film might be, it will never make money in the same fashion as films did at the height of things.

Agreed, this drives me insane. Do I want 2FA on all my accounts? Yes! Do I consider a phone number/SMS to be a valid second factor? Fuck no. As soon as something starts with "Well give us your phone number so there's a backup in case you lose your code!" I'm done. I'll just rely on the longest password they'll accept from the password manager at that point.

A second factor backed by a publicly (Effectively at this point) accessible phone number as a backup isn't a security feature, it's just simply broadcasting your account's open availability.

Even my previous car (so, ten years ago now) would automatically reconnect to the bluetooth phone it was last connected with on start if that phone was available. My current car is just slightly quicker on the audio starting playing.

They can still be smart even after the company is broken up over the monopoly they are.

It's a really great example of why a business needs to be careful of what pies they stick their fingers in. I'm willing to bet the engine on its own is actually profitable if it didn't have to prop up things like the store. The store may very well be profitable if it didn't spend all its timing giving away free games payed for by Fortnight. Fortnight is surely profitable, but not when it has to cover the costs of everything *else* the company might be doing. Each small chunk on its own though is likely a great business that could be run extremely well if they were separate businesses. Combined though they're pulling in such different directions they're cannibalizing each other.

Game platform Steam usage higher on platform designed specifically for Steam usage and games.

I am old enough to remember channel surfing, and I remember perfectly clearly cycling through every channel looking for something and eventually giving up. At least now I can generally always find something in the genre I feel like to watch, it just might be something I've seen before. Back in the day the choice after going through every channel was to turn around and dig through VHS tapes, or switch to music... don't get me started on the hours I spent staring at my CD collection realizing I didn't have whatever I actually was looking for at the time. People love acting like not quite feeling like anything that's currently available is a new thing, but I'd be willing to bet it's something every single generation ever has gone through regularly.

Admittedly, they've failed on the marketing on a lot of these. I couldn't do anything without seeing ads for Mario, but Elemental I literally didn't hear of until after it was already in theaters, and this is the first time I've heard of Ruby Gillman. Not to mention them desperate to rely on theaters, which at least in my area have been terrible for years (even pre Covid) and had caused many people to just wait until things come out for streaming or sale at home. Not that AI is going to fix any of these things, but they also need to put a lot more effort into showing off their original stories, instead of only marketing the rehashes.

From your own comment:

And saying they don't use things like Jira is like holding up a company trying to use rocks to stick nails in boards because they won't use those new fangled hammers. Things like Jira aren't new, and more than one industry could be improved by adopting technology that solves these exact problems of "massive to-do lists" just fine. If work isn't breaking out well, then the tasks are too large.

Look, I've been working remotely for three decades now. I've got a pretty good handle on what it takes and how to manage and work with companies and employees both above and below me on the ladder. All these companies pushing for hybrid this or come back to office that are doing it because a whole lot of people simply don't want to learn new ways to them doing things. They can all be dragged into modern times or get out of the way and let the rest of the world move past them.

Ticketing systems. Ticket goes in, work gets done, ticket gets closed. If someone isn't getting work done then their tickets aren't getting closed. If you feel they're not doing enough tickets, well assign more. If they aren't getting their tickets done consistently, talk to them or let them go. Problem solved. No where in any of this does it require constant monitoring.

It's like, tech has had a solution to this for decades, and the world has had to-do lists for millennia I imagine. Yet people still seemed shocked at how to use any of them.