I get that the ancient (32-bit) PC computers are pretty much worthless now and that's mostly all of interest in the old IBM sites (wondering what the current state of the Sloatsburg location near NY 17/17A in Orange County is like - I drive past it at least once a year).

What gets me are the schools more than the malls or offices - all this talk of teachers having to buy school supplies (and now no longer getting a tax break for it), and yet every one of these buildings we see the reels walk through are full of things that current teachers could use. Why is nobody willing to connect that dot and save their county (and teachers) money?

Years back I was interviewing people for a coding position. We went through the standard tech stuff and then did a bit of project to see how they thought. We said (this is circa 2009'ish I think) - imagine you're on a team creating a new phone. You don't have time to test all the functions, so which would be your top two functions to ensure working?

All a bit Kobayashi Maru - obviously you can't release a phone testing only two functions, but we wanted to see what they'd prioritise. The very best answer we received was this one: "I would make sure it has the ability to call emergency services." Their thinking was that this was likely the most critical feature of a phone for both a user, and also for the manufacturer to avoid being sued. Absolutely great answer.

And yet here we are, with the post above. Taking the thinking of this interviewee - the ability to work with emergency services is important for general society, for the user of the vehicle (so they don't get in trouble) and for the manufacture of the vehicle (so they don't get fined/sued/both). Absolutely critical.

Can I go now?

Our AI which is nothing like a brain or neural network, but we're going to tell you they are even though no one knows how a brain functions. I begin to think these guys are drinking the kool-aid.

Likely bots.

Meaning that browsers are getting better at obscuring their OS. I mean, User-Agent string probably doesn't give anything meaningful these days anyway.

So if someone posts your image to an Instagram account without your permission Meta suddenly owns your likeness and the ability to derive images from it ?
What if you are in media and your image is your income ? Does Meta get to remake the images of "Models" for ads on their platform ?
Will you find your own image in some ad ?

I'm still not certain what the "social media" definition is in this or other legislative definitions. Would Usenet count? Would Slashdot? Would some random Phpbb board for bird watchers set up in 2005?

Personally, I've drawn the limit at "algorithms", meaning you get some sort of "feed" pushed down your throat. Whatsapp is not social media - yes, they have channels where you can broadcast but I think the app doesn't try to lure you in. Youtube is kind of borderline - if you log in, it definitely pushes something into your feed, but on the other hand, you do not need to log in, and then you just get "trending" videos. Facebook, Linkedin, X etc definitely count.

In our family, the 10-year old gets access to Whatsapp because all friends have it too. I don't see what would be the point of removing that access. Most of those friendships have formed in school, and when some families have moved away that way they can still keep in touch. They also play Minecraft and Roblox and chat during gameplay. Minecraft is a no-brainer - it's just multiplayer Lego set. Of Roblox I'm not sure but I sure as hell will not be allowing Persona to take some age-verification picture if that ever becomes mandatory.

Also, I can't follow the "no smartphones for kids" train of thought. The smartphone is *easier* to lock down that a dumb (or "feature") phone even with standard Google Family Link tools. Just disable everything except a whitelist. And if child learns how to unlock bootloader and root the phone to get rid of the restrictions, I think I'd feel a bit proud - as long as it's not just done by a geek friend of a friend. Have to at least make some effort...

It's either applications, or more properly, programs.
Apps is what steve jobs called the things on the ipad.

Now, on topic: Anything in the business/scientific world.
Not a single instrument in the laboratory I work for has software for anything other than Windows. I'd dearly love to dump Windows and move to anything else here, but the software is non-existent.

And no, I can't run critical applications under a VM or in emulation. Those who work in a lab know why.

I wonder if I could use on of my old Kindle displays ? Not that I have or am going to have a steam machine but the concept is really cool. I use my old Gal.Tab3 with their desktop emu now to handle messenger and email when I am gaming.

I've got a Oneplus tab 2 and I love it. When my Galaxy Tab3 died I picked it up for quit a bit cheaper than a comparable Samsung. I really like the active stylus.

This is the blandest, most watered-down way to say "lost their job" yet. Quite nauseating.

Fresh install of MacOS. Updated as per the built-in programs in MacOS.
Apparently I am not the only one:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS...

NO, NO, NO, JUST NO!!! No one needs to Cmdr Taco in any form, much less naked.

LOL sounds just like this place these days. There are many good reddits still that are well moderated and are home to experts in many fields. Funny but /. used to be like that as well. I don't login very often but the requirement will kill it for me.