And instead of fixing this, they focus on AI and...notepad...for some fucking reason.
Because for the past 30 or so years, it has worked very well for MS to keep their main products barely useable, rely on lock-in and chase the next big thing so they can get their dirty hands on it early and lock more people into more products.
if you sign up to try beta versions (aka Insider channel), don't complain there will be bugs.
That is exactly wrong. Beta versions are there to find bugs. If nobody complained about them, they won't be found. So if you try beta versions, please DO complain about bugs.
'vibe-scheduling'
I guess "vibe-something" is going to be the anti-word of 2026. People are slowly waking up to what it actually means to let the AI do the work.
I'm not dissing AI, I'm using it extensively myself and there's a few AI whitepapers with my name on them. But like any tool, it can be great when used correctly and ruin your day when not.
Manufacturers are simply filling a demand.
That doesn't mean what they do is automatically legal.
I'm pretty sure there's a demand for "murder my husband", or for "can someone please drown my neighbour". And yet it's illegal to offer such services.
[smoking] Why? Tax revenue.
Also: Voters. Smokers are still a fairly substantial fraction of the population, enough to swing a vote, especially if, and that appears to be the trend in most western democracies these days, there are two opposing political sides roughly evenly matched.
I mean, does it not strike anyone as a very weird coincidence that we have almost perfect 50/50 splits in so many countries?
No one forced anyone to eat those ultraprocessed foods.
No, but they do everything BUT force to make it the most attractive option. Just as one silly example: With wages and prices as they are, having both partners work full-time is basically required unless you're in the top few percent of earners or inherited wealth. So who's going to cook? After a long work day? Convenience food is the obvious choice. You are not being forced, but unless food is a high-priority item in your life, you are very much steered into that direction.
Seriously, storage is so cheap
Can you let Tim Cook know that?
I'm an Apple fan, but the money they charge for internal storage is ridiculous, especially given that I can buy an external SSD with 2 TB for like $150 if I shop around a bit.
something about 'AI' seems to have caused people who should have known better to just ignore precautions
The cynic in me wants to say that they see "intelligence" and go "great, it has something I don't, let's just 100% trust it".
The social critic in me wants to say that it's due to the gigantic hype about AI and how it'll revolutionize everything, replace everyone and solve all problems.
And the tech/security guy in me wants to say "doh, people do dumb shit. What else is new?"
AI tools behaving in ways that "would get a junior developer fired,"
AI isn't a junior dev. It's an intern. Someone who doesn't much care beyond the current session, and whose skills can surprise you - in both directions, and whose primary focus is that you like him at least in the moment.
And like an intern, if you include the code in anything even close to production without review, it's your fault, not theirs.
Luckily - other than with criminals - covering yourself in naff tats seems to have been a millennial fad that is slowly fading.
My observation is the opposite. In my 20s tattoos were just common enough to be accepted as normal, but the majority of people didn't have them and most people who did had one or two fairly small ones.
Today, it seems everyone and their dog has them.
It's good that there is scientific proof, but seriously, "stuff you put into your body doesn't just sit there" is the expected outcome, isn't it?
There's a huge difference:
Our governments, at least in theory, are controlled by us, the people. Ok, the 1% who make the major campaign contributions. But that's still a lot of people.
The number of SpaceX or Amazon shareholders who have enough shares to have a say in these matters is single-digits. So power is concentrated in much fewer hands.
Marriage is the sole cause of divorce.