As a long term Linux user I am delighted by this move on the part of Microsoft.

I suspect that at some point, even the most die-hard Windows user will tire of AI being shoved down their throat and decide to try out this "Linux thing" they've heard so much about. Given that so many Linux distros are now as easy to use as Windows (or even easier -- to the extent that my 71 year old wife uses Linux now), this will only boost the market share of the Penguin.

The other benefit is that the more people we have using Linux, the less ability big-tech will have to shift us to "hardware as a service" due to the massive costs of high-performance desktop computing systems now. NVIDIA's GeForce NOW is the perfect example of how we're increasingly being pushed to simply rent hardware rather than buy it. Today GPUs, tomorrow - entire systems because nobody can afford DRAM or a GPU that's up to the task.

I've got Linux running very happily on 3rd and 4th gen Intel i5 processors here with as little as 4GB of RAM and even my most powerful system is just an AMD 5600G with 32GB that serves perfectly well for everything but video editing.

Just keep drilling holes in the bottom of your boat Microsoft, we don't care.

Yes, the AI-revolution will be hugely different to various "revolutions" that came before and not in a good way.

The industrial revolution saw manufacturing automated -- but the jobs that were eliminated were usually low-skill laboring ones. People could retrain and take on more skilled work with higher pay so the net earnings of the workforce actually increased.

The IT-revolution once again saw relatively unskilled roles automated by computers and once again people could retrain for more skilled rolls that grew due to the productivity improvements that IT systems offered.

However, the AI-age is hugely different.

That's because the roles being displaced are what we already consider to be "skilled" ones. Programmers, artists, writers, musicians, management -- in fact a huge swathe of professional or semi-professional roles will be hugely affected by AI systems. There no *new* jobs being created by AI (other than a handful of people to dust the server racks in the data-centers) so this will mean unemployment will rise.

Rising unemployment means less money in the pockets of the average citizen so the economy as a whole will suffer - despite the vastly improved productivity of AI-enabled companies. Without a market for the products and services that AI-enabled companies make, their revenues and profits will also be negatively impacted, despite that higher productivity.

This downward economic spiral could be even worse than a bursting AI bubble and lead to huge socio-economic problems with massive destabilizing effects.

I'm pretty sure that during the great depression of the 1920s, lots of people were on four, three or even zero day working weeks and that didn't work out too well for them.

With the potential for the Kessler syndrome to kick in any time now, it's an economic necessity for Starlink to do whatever it can to reduce the risk.

As Anton Petrov points out in this video, a Kessler syndrome catastrophe could be just around the corner and the only way to reduce the risk is to reduce the levels of congestion in certain parts of LEO.

In the event of such an event, Starlink would become worthless and SpaceX's stock price would fall through the floor so I guess someone's crunched the numbers and figured that they now have little option but to do everything they can to reduce the possibility.

Sadly, simply placing a work into the "public domain" means nothing these days.

I regularly see YouTube creators who are hit with copyright claims/strikes for using public domain footage from the likes of NASA -- because broadcasters have used that same footage in their own production and YT's content-ID system automatically issues a claim/strike when anyone else uses the same footage.

This wouldn't be a problem if YouTube's appeal process worked -- but it doesn't, it's so badly broken that even big creators like Scott Manley are being hit and having the revenues stolen from their efforts simply because a broadcaster like Channel 4 in the UK has claimed his video for using the very same PD NASA footage that they used in one of their videos.

Copyright is so easy to abuse and misuse that is now almost laughable.

It can't be reversed but it can be mitigated to a degree.

As someone who was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD) about five years ago I can tell you that one of the most impactful effects of that disease is *not* the tremors but the sleep disruption. A fairly high percentage of PD suffers go on to develop dementia and I'm pretty sure that this progression is hastened by the fact that sleep is so disrupted and limited.

My mitigation for the effects of sleep deprivation associated with my PD is creatine monohydrate. I've been taking this for several years and it does make a huge difference to my ability to function when sleep deprived as well as with other effects of the disease.

One thing to remember is that sleep naturally occurs in a cycle of about 90 minutes duration so even if you can't get a full 8 hours in one session, if you can accumulate multiple 90-minute sleeps during the day you're a lot better off. Of course that's not practical for someone whose in paid employment but for us older folk it means that catching a nap whenever we can is essential.

I'm nearly 73.

Iran has announced the first deployment of its disco-ball drone.

500 people were critically injured during the first clash between the disco-ball drone and Israel's drone defense laser. Officials said "the collateral damage over a wide area was significant and is something we're working to reduce".

Is there critical information being left out?

Impressive response times -- but is that just for the panel alone? Is it only when in the non-upscaling mode perhaps?

There has to be some degree of overhead (aka latency) involved in AI upscaling so I would be very cautious that they're carefully referring to many key performance metrics when in regular monitor mode and seemingly not clearly stating the effects (if any) of introducing the upscaling.

Of course it's "AI" so it must be good... right? Sigh!

Something else to consider... Donald Trump Jr has millions of dollars in Unusual Machines stock and also has a position on the board. UM is one of the companies that stands to benefit hugely from this ban, as commercial drone users are forced to find alternative sources for their equipment.

Parents like to take care of their children when they can, or so I'm told.

Also, this isn't a ban on imports from potentially enemy states such as China, it's a ban on imports from *all* countries -- including the USA's closest allies. This is pretty clear proof that the reasons behind this ban are purely financial and that Trump's son reaps a significant amount of that benefit through is stock-holding and position on the board of Unusual Machines.

The USA has the best government money can buy I guess.

It's not just drones that are on the covered list -- its crucial parts of drones that also have other uses.

For example -- lithium polymer batteries, brushless DC motors, flight controllers, cameras and sensors as well as other stuff.

For the hobbyist who wants to fly RC planes and go drone-racing this is a disaster. I'm unaware of any (affordable) US-made lithium polymer batteries suitable for these applications and the vast majority of motors, flight controllers and cameras are imported.

This effectively shuts down the hobby because even if US companies eventually start making this stuff it will almost certainly prohibitively expensive -- beyond the reach of most hobbyists.

The reality is that this has far less to do with "national security" than it does ensuring that certain people's pockets get lined with cash. For instance -- how does a brushless motor made in the USA pose less of a security risk than one made in China, Germany or Australia? Likewise a plain, simple lithium-polymer battery without any electronics -- what's the security risk that such a product poses?

The hobby of RC model aircraft and drones was on a count-down to oblivion from the moment the Commerical Drone Alliance convinced politicians to revoke S336, a piece of law that protected the hobby from regulation. The CDA made it very clear that they wanted the skies cleared of pesky hobbyists so they could exploit it for financial gain and now those in power are using the "national security" card to disguise their true agenda. Nobody can complain about a restriction or ban if its saving the lives of American's... right?

In related news:

Glock have announced that their new Glock 726-plus-AI model comes already loaded with one in the chamber and cocked with the safety off right out of the box.

Purchasers/survivors can, after purchase and unpacking, activate the safety, remove the magazine and rack the slide so as to eject the chambered round if they wish to opt-out of this fantastic new feature.

Safety first!

Maybe YouTube's AI decided to flex?

Why just pick on Meta? YouTube is also a haven for scam advertising. That robot AI puppy ad has been running for *weeks*, despite thousands of people reporting it and tweets to @teamyoutube on X who simply say "leave it with us, we'll look into it" -- yeah, on what timescale?

The reality is that big-tech is not interested in protecting users of their services, they're only interested in the bottom line and a scammer's money is as good as anyone's.

How is it that YouTube can take down *millions* of videos and masses of channels for "scams and deceptive practices" yet can't act in a timely fashion when blatant scam ads infest the platform?

It's not because they can't, it's because they choose not to -- and that ought to make them every bit as culpable as Meta.

In fact, I think there's an argument that if, after being made aware that an ad is a scam, the platform continues to run that ad then they should be charged with conspiracy to defraud and face criminal charges. That might smarten-up their responses a little.

Damn, I was a happy Firefox user for years... now I'll have to try and avoid AI using some other browser.

Don't you think a smart company would have surveyed their market before making such an announcement?

It's much easier to keep customers happy and attract new ones if you give them what THEY want, rather than what you think they want.

Damn... another botched Windows 11 update from Microsoft? :-)

I guess, given the recent social media ban for under-16-year-olds in Australia, these kids can't apply to enter the USA now... hahaha!