Comment Re:Why the auto-repeat? (Score 1) 43
Seriously. So annoying!
Submission + - A SiriusXM Update Sent Some Audi Screens Into A Forced-Reboot Loop For Months (thedrive.com)
An anonymous reader writes: This week, a reader wrote to us sharing that the infotainment in their 2020 Audi A4 had been “rebooting every five minutes all year.” It looks like the problem was caused by a compatibility issue with a SiriusXM app update. Audi tells us the situation’s been rectified, but it illustrates a serious pain point in modern cars—myriad apps interacting with a diverse population of in-car software systems. Our reader was not the only Audi owner affected. “Randomly restarting” Audi infotainment screens have been discussed on Reddit, the Audiworld forum, and elsewhere, going back many months. Audi’s recall notice and related service action only went out this summer.
It looks like this particular problem was caused when the satellite radio app pushed an update that was supposed to work on the latest version of Audi’s infotainment software, but not all cars were running that. Then SiriusXM reverted, which, I guess, did not solve the problem for every owner. Audi now states that the problem has been fixed and originated with the SiriusXM app, but really, the automaker bears more than a little blame, too. [...] I dropped our own contacts at Audi a note about how and why this might have happened, and they added this clarification: "At the beginning of the year, SiriusXM did a programming update which was addressed via a software update to the MMI. However, as not all customers had their cars updated and SiriusXM then reverted back to the previous category numbering. Nonetheless, a MMI update is recommended as the two versions do seem to cause the issue."
It looks like this particular problem was caused when the satellite radio app pushed an update that was supposed to work on the latest version of Audi’s infotainment software, but not all cars were running that. Then SiriusXM reverted, which, I guess, did not solve the problem for every owner. Audi now states that the problem has been fixed and originated with the SiriusXM app, but really, the automaker bears more than a little blame, too. [...] I dropped our own contacts at Audi a note about how and why this might have happened, and they added this clarification: "At the beginning of the year, SiriusXM did a programming update which was addressed via a software update to the MMI. However, as not all customers had their cars updated and SiriusXM then reverted back to the previous category numbering. Nonetheless, a MMI update is recommended as the two versions do seem to cause the issue."
Comment Re:Easiest way to help? (Score 1) 43
The preferred feature is "Nuke from high orbit"
Comment Re:I still don't see how there's a basis to compla (Score 1) 32
An additional level of this is that Reddit is itself crowsourced. They didn't pay anybody to write their content. I'm more sympathetic to something like the Encyclopedia Britannica or NYT or the movie studios. (Although even there I agree it's still debatable).
Comment Eight Sleep is a truly horrible product (Score 1) 96
I bought one of their mattress toppers for Burning Man figuring that it's much more efficient to chill a bed than chill a space. However, setting the thing up required an internet connection. By using my phone as a hotspot, I was just barely able to bridge the gap so the mattress would connect to the internet. But then it also required a Bluetooth connection from the same phone to the bed, to actually turn it on, and the bridging-the-gap location was just outside Bluetooth range. What a completely frustrating, overengineered piece of crap. How about a simple couple of buttons to set the temperature?
Comment Re:Product killed because it's not a chat bot (Score 1) 29
Everybody is so negative these days. Why not say, "I'm glad to hear google is doing real physics-based research with big potential for long-term impact instead of just chat bots!"
Submission + - Dungeons & Dragons is more than a game, leisure expert says (phys.org)
alternative_right writes: The game provides players with "the sense of a safe space and a place to create their own identity," Messina said.
In the 1980s, D&D was often dismissed—sometimes demonized—as an inappropriate game due to perceived but unfounded links to the occult. Today, it's widely recognized as a place for players to explore, connect and express themselves.
"Players were comfortable being themselves by engaging in the game pursuit," Messina said, "but at the same time were building personas in line with, or in contrast to, their normal personality. They described it as a way to take charge, or lead an effort in ways that their normal personality would allow for, but they wouldn't be inclined to do."
In the 1980s, D&D was often dismissed—sometimes demonized—as an inappropriate game due to perceived but unfounded links to the occult. Today, it's widely recognized as a place for players to explore, connect and express themselves.
"Players were comfortable being themselves by engaging in the game pursuit," Messina said, "but at the same time were building personas in line with, or in contrast to, their normal personality. They described it as a way to take charge, or lead an effort in ways that their normal personality would allow for, but they wouldn't be inclined to do."
Comment Re:Could star ship ever land without the chop stic (Score 1) 57
Developing a landing capability that requires a trip to the moon to test must be a huge challenge. Want to have an external camera view of the attempt? Hard. Want to return debris from a failed attempt for study? Very very hard.
As we have seen even with any amount of theory and computer simulation there is still a lot of trial and error.
Comment Re:Quoting Robert Crumb's Brother Charles (Score 4, Interesting) 60
It sounds good to me. The robots are standing in for Japanese workers who were never born. They direly need to largely automate their economy or they are going to be in a world of hurt.
As for the Filipino workers being 'exploited,' this gives them an employment opportunity they didn't have before. What's bad about it? It sounds like easy work.
Comment But will cost customers ... (Score 1) 32
... uncountable time and money!
Comment Re:Well yeah (Score 1) 33
What do you think - thicker display cases?
A lot of security goes towards making sure people can't sneak in, but these guys didn't play by those rules anyways.
Comment Re:Applied Darwinism? (Score 1) 87
100 is a lot more than 4, but there's still no way it weeded peanut allergies out of the gene pool!
Comment Re:Applied Darwinism? (Score 2, Informative) 87
"peanut allergy is the leading cause of death from anaphylaxis due to food, particularly in teenagers, though the rate is low. The national food allergy death registry reports fewer than four deaths per year over the past 10 years in the US."
https://icer.org/assessment/pe...
4 deaths per year nationwide!
It's one of these things where there is so much written and discussed about a niche issue that all the information leaves people grossly misled more than informed.
Comment Re:Is there such a thing? (Score 1) 92
I would assume my ASRock H510M-HDV/M.2 Intel LGA 1200 microATX motherboard can if it runs W10. I still use my OmniCube KVM from Y2K!
Comment Re:Definitely worth to look further into this. (Score 1) 101
Out of curiosity, I opened the web version (https://teams.microsoft.com/v2/, in Firefox 144.0, on Mint 22.2, using Cinnamon 6.4.8 on a Beelink mini-desktop). To make the usual "test call", I can't go to three-dots (...)--> Settings --> Calls --> Devices (there is no "Devices" under THAT version of "Calls"). However, I CAN go to the "Calls" menu on the far left of the window --> Custom Setup (gear menu) --> Device Settings, and then do a Test Call.
From there, all works fine, including sound and video. Of course, all my Sound Input/Output devices work OK in the OS itself....
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