My 2024 Outback Touring has physical buttons for temperature and front/rear defrost. The rest of the HVAC controls are on the touchscreen, but never move, and I can reliably use them with just a momentary glance, about what I would do for analog controls. Coupled with CarPlay, I rarely have to use the touchscreen for regular driving chores.

That's because Facebook jams Threads down the user's throat. My wife uses FB and is constantly confused by why links don't work properly, and what is this Threads thingie?

But, blinders are for horses, and this is a horseless carriage.

It doesn't matter; blinders are a requirement, and we're just trying to keep our roads safe.

I stopped trusting CR many years ago based on a car review. They significantly downgraded what was generally accepted as a great car because the hatchback didn't open high enough, and somebody might hit their head on the corner of it. Yes, it's a valid point. Making it a significant factor not to recommend the car was ridiculous.

Subaru just pushed out a new version of their app that contains a privacy policy that explicitly allows them to harvest the data and sell it to 3rd party companies. So, if you want to use the features of the vehicle that Subaru sold you on, you must give up your right to privacy and allow Subaru to profit from your personal information.

How about we force the companies mining crypto and running AI server farms to pony up to build out more resources? Crypto is a massive electricity user with limited to no social value and arguably is a substantial detriment to society. Whether AI has a net negative or positive effect on society remains to be seen. Still, since multi-billion dollar companies are doing it, I see no reason they shouldn't pony up to build out the resources they will use to profit.

Harkens back to the S100 bus days.

At least in Washington State, they are not allowed to charge any maintenance fees, and the total value of the gift card must be available to the owner. For example, I just cashed a gift card, for its full value, that had initially been issued in 2014.

should be grounds for a corporate death sentence. The company should be completely dissolved, and the executives banned from being involved in any kind of financial company for the remainder of their lives.

ChatGPT: What are non-market practices?
Answer: a long description of all the various aspects about non-market practices.

Britannica: What are non-market practices?
Sorry, the Britannica knowledge base does not contain this information.

I recently entered the country and elected to have a facial recognition scan. The other line was hundreds of people long. Instead, I walked up to the counter, waited for the one person ahead of me to be processed, and then proceeded with the scan. I couldn't recognize my face, despite it looking exactly like my passport photo with no changes. I was then manually processed through. I asked why it couldn't recognize me but wasn't given a direct answer. But reading between the lines, it was clear that it was not an unusual occurrence. That sure made me feel nice and safe. Not.

Was this truly well received, or was it well received in the sense that they could keep their jobs if they didn't complain?

A while ago I added .us to the list of garbage domains that I block. It cut down on a lot of garbage that I was receiving. If you are a legitimate business using .us, sorry, I won't see your emails.

Our EMS department uses Zoom for our Run Reviews. These run reviews contain sensitive patient data, which by HIPAA we are allowed to discuss for training purposes. However, if Zoom is recording, retaining, and later disseminating these sessions that would be a HIPAA violation. No idea how we address that mess other than not using Zoom.

You can also use PayPal.