Hands Up who has ever used the the ms App Store. I certainly haven’t and I’ve used ms since Dos.

And this from low UID.
Having no cash gives the govt ultimate control over non personing you and making you subject to global IT systems always working.

Germany is deindustrialising so fast, they will only need 3 hamsters in a spinning wheel by 2030.

The key phrase is subassemblies are still produced in China.
So Cameras, Screens, Touch Screen, Speakers, Glass, maybe even the PCBs themselves... all still made in China.
India is just a screw bits together country to get around tariffs.

The one browser I never install because of history as being spyware.

Ok, I’m getting old.
I’ve noticed the decay of logical thought process from politicians especially over the last 10 years.
For example, in Victoria Australia, the state government just paid a small fortune to place dozens of Machete amnesty bins around the city. I honestly thought it was an AI joke, yet they can’t afford to replace rural fire trucks.
As an engineer, it’s infuriating how ideology increasingly rules over logical thought process, and in the case of this article, complete nonsense makes its way into the public discourse.

For my free chat GPT in Oz subsidised by the American working poor!

Normally I read the reviews of any movie, but last Friday night I watched this in our little home cinema with my wife without checking.
First, it helps if you have ADD to watch this as the social media interaction is fast and furious. It’s really an ode to how over connected we are.
It was full of product placements for Amazon and Microsoft. I’m not sure if any scene had more than one actor on a screen at a time. It was like a work from home acting experience. The military scenes were library footage. The focus of IceCube on his kids was an annoying plot device, so we skipped a lot of those bits.
The metaphor of the aliens wanting suck up our data to destroy us was ironic given AI and were we heading.
Eva was looking good for her age and we did make it to the end.
I give it 3/10.

You forgot running your own business.
I have 4 companies on the go, the oldest being 30 years old.
But it’s not for the feint of heart!

In Australia
1000km to the in-laws, which we often do in one drive of around 12 hours. Destination house has street parking only.
Much of the UK has only street parking.
Most apartment complexes don’t have the ability to charge EVs, or have body Corp insurance issues forbidding it.

One of the many things I find weird when visiting America is their awful tipping culture.
I don’t to be asked every 5 minutes by the waiter if I need my water topped up or if my fries are still warm enough. Leave me alone.
And I certainly don’t want them knowing anything about me. Ewww.
I get plenty good service in non tipping countries without bribing the waiters.

Well the the AUD:USD still sucks. 0.65
Hasn’t really budged much in a couple of years.

No, he means C# .net

Yet the story before is now Americans are scammed out of 44Billion/year in banking fraud. There’s just going to increasing work for CS capable people as the world goes all in on digital everything just trying to keep it all working.

USA worships almost unfettered capitalism, which is why they are such a rich country but at the expense of their less capable citizens.
USA has insanely poor worker rights (termination, sick pay, mandatory paid holidays) and a completely broken health care system with outrageous expenses and second world public infrastructure. But.. in conversations I’ve had with Americans they kind of go meh, to any change.