I really loved that game! That ended when I sold my Amiga. I did buy the "sequel" for the PS2, but it just was not as good. If I could buy the original version that would run in KDE, I would buy it.

Of course, I have a password for every service I use. Most of these are not really important to my financial future, so I just use a password generator I wrote myself that is easy to use. I won't get specific, but the passwords are easy to write down and have between 60 and 80 bits of security. I know, that's not great, but I think it is good enough for posting on Slashdot. If someone brute-forced my password and started posting ... I don't know what ... What would be my exposure to harm? Maybe my Slashdot karma would plummet? Even if someone got access to my online banking account, the most damage they could do is to transfer money from one of my accounts to another one. It might cause a call that an automated payment did not go through. Okay, fixing this can use up my time, and I only have so many hours in this universe.

I remember when the drive through audio quality was often pretty bad. I think it was in the 80s when they adopted audio systems with radio, and the order takers could move around as needed. A Ham friend at the time found the frequency they used and placed his order well before going into the drive through.

(I had to remove the "cheeseburger and large orange drink" sketch because the fucking bad slashdot system claimed "lameness filter encountered".)

Now, there are stories about the order audio going off into different cities and the orders handled in something like call centers. I guess this means one less training skill for the local workers, and they can focus more on getting the food ready to serve. Using computers to interact vocally with the customers seems like the next step. But if the local fast food joint was getting reliable order info from real people somewhere else, and now have to deal with order mistakes from a computer, that is going to throw gravel into their well oiled machine.

Looking at this from the customer side, I can see my order on the screen as I say what I want. So any mistakes should have an easy way to object and have the computer delete the bad entry and try again. This would be annoying, after having decades of better service with real people. The top level execs probably think the customers will get used to the new system and just accept it.

I agree. A simple and fun prank is excusable. But submitting, intentionally, known faulty code is not an experiment, it is not a "prank", it is an attack. What if I should "pretend" to armed robbery at a bank? "It was just a prank! I was just trying to get a feel for the bank security!"

NO. Unless there is prior permission and strict rules of conduct, a mission to find vulnerabilities is a crime.

Then the only matching photo is in their system, and their servers get trapped in a recursive loop?

I am inclined to trust this engineer over the loud CEO. I am willing to agree to a lot of things that seem to be valid, and to scoff at other things that don't seem to have a solid basis. Yes, this surely sounds really subjective, and you have every right to call me a "dog on the Internet with an opinion."

I still think that true "AI" is not existent. Sure, machine learning is very real. And useful. And Tesla has used it for helping their cars. Or more specifically, helping the drivers of their cars to avoid their driving duties. Should I emphasize the word DUTIES?! EVERY driver MUST by law be safe and prudent.

Sure, I understand that so many drivers are NOT safe. Maybe I was one of them at some time (long ago). My point is that simple tech can be helpful. But the idea of "AI" is bullshit. And I condemn those who try to claim this non-existent AI is actually here.

Okay, that is crazy expensive. It was decades ago, but I bought a two month Eurail pass, 1st class for a decent price. The train service was excellent everywhere. I think (most of) the French are unpleasant snobs, but their rail system was great. I don't see why someone would choose to spend three hours to do a one hour flight instead of a four or five hour rail trip.

Note: I do not hate flying. I am a certified private pilot. But I question commercial flight in the very small distances in Europe. Flight is not needed, considering the great rail system.

Yes, "fuzzy logic" had its day. Along with the "Taguchi method", which seemed to be "fiddle with the inputs to get the best output". I thought that approach was abhorrent. That made sense a hundred years ago, but now when we have totally better information and engineering?! No. Wrong.

Going back to topic, I see so many examples of ML. It is a part of statistics that I missed. Good for them. But AI is the wrong term. As far as I know, AI does not yet exist. I think AI should work for ANY practical trade. Is there any example of such? Can AI tie a knot, make a batch of soap, evaluate my oil change intervals, or tell me how much dog food to buy? Can AI help me discover the optimum amount of pepperoni to put on a pizza? Can it help me with my various business costs?

If NO, then the "AI" crowd are lying. AI is a fiction. It is a lie. AI does NOT exist. Sure, machine learning is a thing, but AI IS NOT!

I accept your point. But while I don't disagree on your point of freedom, I have a short anecdote of anti-freedom. When Shockwave and/or Flash * took hold of parts of the web, I was disgusted. Some web sites were completely useless, because they required Shockwave/Flash. WTF?! Sure, javascript was sometimes required, and my browser could tolerate it. But there was NO, I repeat NO support for Macromedia crap in FreeBSD. Okay, some websites were just not available to me.

Second point, I was working in the same office as a "web designer" guy, who, in my opinion, was more of an "artsy" guy than a real nuts and bolts person. Okay, whatever. During a conversation about Flash, he said that he did not give a shit about people who don't use Flash. Those web customers don't exist to him. WTF?! Customers who do not accept his requirements are of no importance to him?!

I would say that person would be a speculator, not an investor. Nothing wrong with that. An investor hopes that it will be PROFITABLE. The word "valuable" is slippery, and can easily include "selling to a greater fool". Your point is good, though.

Huh? By my arithmetic, it will be $100 each. Still, that seems like an impossible bargain. FWIW, my ATT wireless Internet gets me at most 3mb/s for $62/month. I would be glad to pay hundreds of $$ to move up to a better service (eg, Starlink).

I was just looking to see if there were Alexa skills for a waitress to speak a table's order, and do something useful. I did not find anything remotely useful. Oh, well.

Moving on, I wonder if Alexa can handle the funniest joke. I reference the second book of Jones' trilogy, "Fall of Colosus", where the computer was taken down by an impossible question. To protect the English readers, I will post the German translation of the joke.

Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!

Good luck, and god be with you.

No mod points, but thanks for the informative post! I find your info on lithium especially interesting.

Linkedin is failing me. I have years of well paid remote development. If you have any leads, I would be glad to receive them.

I have been an Airbnb host for almost four years now. It brings in a few nickles and pays the expenses. This year started off pretty bad, but it is getting better lately, maybe even normal. I figured it was just one of those random and unpredictable setbacks. I never expected a "bailout", especially not from previous guests.

Maybe some of my guests prefer having their own space rather than rubbing elbows with strangers at a motel. If so, I am glad to give them what they want and take their money so I can pay my bills. I would certainly not nag them for "tips" or whatever you want to call it.

Airbnb did say they would be giving some compensation to hosts who lost guests from cancellations. I never saw a nickel of that.

This story has the stink of when Walmart was asking customers to contribute for their workers' holiday meals. WTF?!