Comment Re:we can all go BinFaced (Score 2) 2
The article does not explain how this might not work as well (or at all) in a more crowded (or even slightly less austere) space.
Comment we can all go BinFaced (Score 1) 2
Since we cannot perfectly avoid being near wi-fi much of the time
We can at least make ourselves BinFaced to avoid detection.
cf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Binface
Comment the papers do not rule out all the possibilities (Score 1) 155
When I first read this post, I thought the same as you: garbage framing.
You've nicely posited some alternative explanations -- NONE OF WHICH are addressed in the first paper linked (Is the iPhone Birth Control? Causal Evidence from AT&T’s 2007–2011 Carrier Monopoly), contrary to one reply below yours.
Correlation, as we know, is not causation. Until proven otherwise, those research efforts are just blind to many other possible causes.
Comment burner phone elsewhere will always exist ... (Score 4, Insightful) 166
Maybe I'm confused, but I think that FCC rules will not impact the verification of burner phone elsewhere in the world.
Which, I suspect is where much of the spam/fraud/etc originates.
Voice over IP from elsewhere will always exist, thus this isn't the protection that the FCC wishes to create.
Or am I confused (I am 80 years old, and long retired from tech)?
Comment especially bad translations of pronouns (Score 1) 100
For many years, my friends and I have noticed that Google Translate (and YouTube) have a better chance of getting a European language pronoun wrong than correct.
We've noticed this: French, Italian, German, Spanish
It must somehow be related to how those LLMs are trained.
Submission + - A completely unfair, subjective take on the latest laptops 1
davide marney writes: I am in the market for a replacement laptop. I need a snappy machine with a high-resolution screen because I do a lot of detailed work. Off I go to the nearest box store. After testing a baker's dozen Windows, Chromebook, and Apple laptops, here is my purely subjective take on how they compare:
All the Windows laptops have invested in adding AI features at the expense of hardware. I found only two machines that I would call snappy and with a high-resolution screen. The price floor for this level of hardware was $3,200. Every single laptop below that level was sluggish. We all know how Windows performance sags with age. If they're this slow brand new ... ?
All the Chromebooks were pitifully underpowered. While I admire ChromeOS for its efficiency, simplicity and no-maintenance ethos, an embarrassingly underpowered CPU is a guaranteed poor experience. What are these vendors thinking? The entire lineup is aimed straight at the bottom of the price pile. But so what if they cost just $350? Bad is still bad at any price.
Apple, thankfully, is generations ahead of everyone else in hardware. Even the most base of base models is snappy and has an excellent, finely-detailed display. My pick was the M5 Air 15-inch, a delightful machine to use. The price is $1,300, less than HALF the equivalent Windows laptop experience-wise. The world has turned upside down.
All the Windows laptops have invested in adding AI features at the expense of hardware. I found only two machines that I would call snappy and with a high-resolution screen. The price floor for this level of hardware was $3,200. Every single laptop below that level was sluggish. We all know how Windows performance sags with age. If they're this slow brand new
All the Chromebooks were pitifully underpowered. While I admire ChromeOS for its efficiency, simplicity and no-maintenance ethos, an embarrassingly underpowered CPU is a guaranteed poor experience. What are these vendors thinking? The entire lineup is aimed straight at the bottom of the price pile. But so what if they cost just $350? Bad is still bad at any price.
Apple, thankfully, is generations ahead of everyone else in hardware. Even the most base of base models is snappy and has an excellent, finely-detailed display. My pick was the M5 Air 15-inch, a delightful machine to use. The price is $1,300, less than HALF the equivalent Windows laptop experience-wise. The world has turned upside down.
Comment I suppose the BBC owns the trademark for K-9 (Score 1) 1
Talking robot dog?
K-9 was introduced in Doctor Who during the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) serial The Invisible Enemy, which first aired in October 1977.
Comment "Drink up, the world's about to end." (Score 1) 77
"Drink up, the world's about to end." -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Submission + - Pluribus insanum et ridiculum
Mirnotoriety writes: Pluribus: S01E01: 12:53: Jenn the scientist removes her gloves and starts poking a rat infected with an unknown virus sent from an alien race six hundred light years away and the rat bites her. Jenn isn't even sent into quarantine (that's for amateurs like in actual science ) instead she's allowed to wander the lab and infects Mel at the vending machine. They both go on to infect the rest of the lab.
I was expecting better from Vince Gilligan. Reminds me when those exobiologists in “Alien: Prometheus” got stranded in that crashed alien ship and took off their helmets and had a sniff to determine if the air was breathable.
I was expecting better from Vince Gilligan. Reminds me when those exobiologists in “Alien: Prometheus” got stranded in that crashed alien ship and took off their helmets and had a sniff to determine if the air was breathable.
Comment Re:France should threaten huge fines for the threa (Score 1) 2
It's funny how quickly corporations respond to financial threats.
Comment France should threaten huge fines for the threat (Score 1) 2
Meta would quickly oblige.
Comment my 40TB home solution (Score 1) 4
I have 2 MacBooks, and I network attach 6 Seagate 5TB portable external drives to those Macs (three to each of the 2 Macs). That's about 30TB available directly over my home router.
Seems to work fine, and the Seagates are far less costly than most NAS drives. Though, they do die occasionally. Oops.
Basically, I found a way to make my older Mac useful by simply leaving it on all the time, with the external drives attached.
Comment I'd love to read what Bruce Schneier has to say (Score 2) 60
My concern, beyond giving my phone to another party
There's always a hack, but I'm not clear on what this could entail.
Comment this is very cool -- can humans outsmart bacteria? (Score 1) 3
maybe sometimes?
Comment Re:Who believe this fairy tale? (Score 1) 121
Exactly. Almost never in the history of the world has major power and wealth simply been given away.
