Comment Maybe stop Microsoft first? (Score 1) 53
Before they try to stop routers from China intercepting data, perhaps they should stop Microsoft from just GIVING it to China.
Comment Old technique (Score 5, Insightful) 41
There is an old technique - the guaranteed winner by random chance:
You get 32 stock brokers. On Monday the boss picks 2 stocks. 16 say that stock is going up, 16 say down, and they each call 100 people and give their prediction. That evening the 16 that were 'right' call their 100 back and brag. Tuesday they repeat only with 8 on each side. Repeat on Wednesday with 4 winners. Thursday they have 2 winners. Friday they have 1 winner that brags to his 100 prospects:
"Look, I happened to predict the winner every day this week. I can not guarantee that will happen every day, but if you want to hear my predictions next Monday, I need you to move your account to my firm."
And the gullible fool does it, not knowing that mathematically the predictions were guaranteed to work on 1 of the 32 brokers. Just math, not competence.
Betting on AI was not some super genius move - especially using margin. All it involved was taking the popular opinion and going all in. While it worked you look like a genius. When it fails, you lose everything.
He just played the odds and won for a while. But the math was never going to have him win forever.
Comment Re:This is ridiculous (Score 1) 48
10% drop is large but not horrific. This is basically normal variation, not something real.
Apple is one of the "FANG" stocks - Facebook, Apple Netflix, Google. They are huge companies that have had major gains as compared to most other stocks. Over time some people just bought those stocks.
This drove the prices of their stock up a lot from greedy people The current drop is just undoing some excess greed, not really that big a deal.
On 7/31/2026, it hit a low of 300. Before 7/31/2026,. the last time Apple was at 300 was 7/2/2026
In other words, it gave up less than a month of gains.
This is not that big a deal - yet. I would be shocked if it dropped to 272. Why? Because that is just below the previous 'low point' on 6/25/26. Going below that number not only indicates a significant drop, but it established a trend of new lows being less than the last lows.
Comment Re:Blessing in disguise. (Score 1) 47
Yes. That's exactly what I meant. I definitely did not misspell 43 as 53 because I was touch typing.
Comment Battery fear is gone (Score 3, Informative) 141
Electrical vs ICE does not affect New vs used. It's not higher gas prices.
The main reason used EVs are not losing value as much as they did in the past is that the fear of used electrical batteries no longer being as strong.
Previously people were extremely worried that EV batteries were going to quickly lose their charge. There were concerns that older batteries could not be trusted. They thought a used battery was a liability. Worse, everyone kept talking about how the NEXT generation of battery would be so much better. For this reason a lot of people would rather get the newest technology which meant new EVs rather than used ones.
Over time we have found that batteries from used EVs stand up pretty well. Moreover, most people now think that 'new' battery technology is likely to be used for things besides cars (i.e. home back up) so the new cars use the same old batteries.
Combined with the fact that EVs generally have less maintaince issues, people have begun to realize that used EVs are a pretty good deal.
Comment Blessing in disguise. (Score 1) 47
Seven out of 50 is remarkably small. I am shocked they did not get more.
Now, I guarantee you, those affected will realize that the cybersecurity are not joking around. They will improve security.
And about a year later their new security protocalls will spread to the other 53 states. By the time the next group tries this crap, it will be much harder to do.
Comment They have no accuracy (Score 2) 132
There is a story about how dealer plates have small numbers on them that Flock cameras do not see. The system then accuses people of car theft.
They are proven as not reliable. If I were a judge I would rule that the police must treat Flock camera information as an unreliable, anonymous source. No drawing guns on people tracked or accused because of Flock information and their info cannot be used to obtain a warrant.
Comment Find the use (Score 1) 78
When we entered the Atomic age, there was a movement to use it for everything. Use reactors in cars and homes, use bombs to dig holes, etc. etc. Eventually we learned that no, we do not to put a nuclear reactor in vehicles that routinely crash, get stolen by children, and carry children.
The same thing is going on with AI - people keep using it for things that are incredibly stupid.
AI's are more like friendly dogs that can speak English, than adult human beings. I suspect they will never be as trustworthy as a 17 year old orphan. If you would not give authority or control to a 17 year old orphan you just met, then do not give it to an AI.
This includes:
control over more money than you would give a 17 year old.
the ability to delete computer files
the ability to set prices
guns
any military weapon more deadly than a hand gun.
Submission + - Does Growing Food Reduce your Petroleum Foorprint More Than an EV? (youtube.com) 1
Skystrider writes: Paul Wheaton, author and gardener, asks if we can really reduce our petroleum footprint.
explore practical ways to reduce our petroleum footprint beyond simply driving less or buying a more efficient vehicle. By looking at where petroleum is actually used—from transportation to food production—the discussion challenges conventional advice and highlights lifestyle changes that can have a far greater impact.
Instead of focusing on sacrifice, are there solutions that improve quality of life while dramatically reducing petroleum consumption? Sharing resources, growing food, shortening supply chains, and building stronger local communities can reduce thousands of gallons of petroleum use each year, demonstrating that regenerative living can be both more resilient and more rewarding.
Comment Re:Conflicted (Score 1) 91
You are biting off your nose to spite your face.
Capitalism works and this is NOT capitalism.
It is totally true that China steals IP. But most of that is done by the companies in China that American hire to manufacture their products. The solution is to laugh in the face of American companies that decide to manufacture things in China, collect their tears and drink deeply. They want to save money this year to lose in next year. Do not yell at the car thieves, yell at the people that willingly gave them their car keys.
Make it in Ireland, Spain or South Korea if you can't find someone to make it in the US.
Comment Re:Government based attackers (Score 2) 76
It is very cheap to find low priority low severity bugs. That is, if you want to find a way to change someone's smart thermostat to display Farenheit when all the numbers are actually Celsius, yeah you can do that for cheap.
If you want to find a critical severity, critical priority bug that lets you empty people's bank accounts and then over-writes the movie "The Fast and the Furious" on the bank's current database forcing them to revert to the last backup not connected to the system, well that is another story.
Submission + - China wants physical buttons on cars instead of touchscreens (autobuzz.my)
cantle2000 writes: The Chinese Government has mandated physical buttons on Chinese built cars instead of using touchscreens, from July 1st 2027. Essential functions such as the demister, defogger, power windows, lighting,and gear shifting will be button controlled instead of touchscreen controlled.
Comment Government based attackers (Score 5, Insightful) 76
The AI bug finder is not particularly helpful to most criminals. It is a relatively expensive way to find lots of small bugs.
But if a nation state decides to invest a few 100 million dollars, it can find enough of these things to plan a cyber assault around them.
That is the real fear from AI bug finding.
Submission + - Gen Z wants AI to organize notes not write them (nerds.xyz)
BrianFagioli writes: A new survey commissioned by Notability suggests many students are taking a more measured approach to AI than the cheating headlines might imply. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they want AI to organize their notes, while just 13 percent want it to write those notes. The survey also found that 78 percent believe handwriting helps them retain information better than typing, suggesting traditional note-taking is far from dead.
The results should be viewed with some skepticism because the survey was commissioned by a company that sells note-taking software. Still, the findings raise an interesting question about AIâ(TM)s role in education. Rather than replacing learning, students may increasingly see AI as a tool to organize, summarize, and study material they created themselves. More details are available at the link below.
The results should be viewed with some skepticism because the survey was commissioned by a company that sells note-taking software. Still, the findings raise an interesting question about AIâ(TM)s role in education. Rather than replacing learning, students may increasingly see AI as a tool to organize, summarize, and study material they created themselves. More details are available at the link below.
Submission + - Your Brain Can Rewire Itself to Allow True Multitasking (sciencealert.com)
alternative_right writes: Our daily lives are built on multitasking, but are our brains actually doing two things at once, or just switching very quickly between them?
Well, it depends. The science shows it's the latter, for cognitively demanding work.
But in a new study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center in the US have revealed that we can put certain tasks on autopilot in a way that enables something closer to true multitasking.
Driving is the perfect example: When you take your test, your entire mental and physical energy is concentrated on executing the right combinations of movements and thoughts.
After a decade behind the wheel, the brain is no longer consciously thinking everything through in great detail.
Well, it depends. The science shows it's the latter, for cognitively demanding work.
But in a new study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center in the US have revealed that we can put certain tasks on autopilot in a way that enables something closer to true multitasking.
Driving is the perfect example: When you take your test, your entire mental and physical energy is concentrated on executing the right combinations of movements and thoughts.
After a decade behind the wheel, the brain is no longer consciously thinking everything through in great detail.
