I don't entirely agree with that.

Apple could clearly separate knowledge output and device control, so that replacing the underlying AI engine would not be a problem.

I consider the probability very high that Google, Facebook, and Microsoft will ultimately leave the competition behind. The reason is: These companies have easy access to content, which is not the case for their competitors. F.e. there was a recent report that OpenAI relies on Google for search queries.

Really stupid! I use Alexa for music and radio playback, as a timer, and to control my power sockets. In recent months, Bluetooth has gotten worse, so my expensive Bose headphones only connect sporadically. As soon as the first ad runs on my devices, all Echo devices will end up in the junk box in the basement. There are other good devices.

I use different AI services, but never came across something like Claude. I paid for their service just to find out that the rate limit comes after about 30 minutes into using them for programming. Really Idiotic and unusuable.

I could imagine that understanding problems are often caused by dirty microphones. Especially in households, dust accumulates, which can also get into the microphones.

However, I have been experiencing a different issue for about a year: My Bluetooth headphones, which are connected to an Amazon Echo, frequently lose connection or fail to pair.

The HP PageWide Printers were quite good, but expensive. These printers are unfortunately not available anymore. Have been using mine daily for about 6 years now.

I recommend Brother for consumer printers, as well.

Stellantis already has a very bad reputation.

"Consumer Reports Findings: In a study analyzing over 150,000 vehicles from model years 2014 to 2019, Consumer Reports ranked multiple Stellantis brands at the bottom for used car reliability. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram were specifically noted for frequent mechanical problems and costly repairs. In contrast, brands like Lexus and Toyota secured top positions for reliability."

"Consumer Reports Findings: In a study analyzing over 150,000 vehicles from model years 2014 to 2019, Consumer Reports ranked multiple Stellantis brands at the bottom for used car reliability. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram were specifically noted for frequent mechanical problems and costly repairs. In contrast, brands like Lexus and Toyota secured top positions for reliability."

Sorry. That is bullshit. The question is whether reading out the error messages should already be blocked. A layman therefore has no chance of determining whether there is a serious problem.

I am not aware of anything like this in Europe. As far as I understand, the workshop only has to provide proof when replacing the engine control unit.

Agora Energiewende is a state sponsored entity with highly contested goals and views here in Germany. Don't take their bullshit seriously.

Statistics show that Germany has the highest CO2 emissions in Europe. Coal and gas power stations are needed to provide stable power because green energy is unreliable.

The joke is that conventional power stations have to be under power ALL DAY to provide emergency power when not enough wind and solar power is available. Even days with 100% clean energy mean CO2 is blown into the air!

After Google redesigned image search in a completely impractical way (probably because of lawsuits), I switched to DuckDuckGo years ago. Only rarely, when I can't find something, I use Google. Google Maps is also ahead of the competition.
I think by now the competitors are very close to Google.
However, the next big thing is AI - I use Hugging Cat for suggestions when programming instead of searching.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

It's not just the Sage company. Here in Germany, it is now almost impossible to find a decent invoicing or accounting software that does not require a subscription.

As far as I can see, only a handful of companies share the German market for invoicing and accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses.

One of my accounting programs even had a VAT adjustment feature removed with an update. Had to continue working with the previous version when a VAT increase came.

While I can understand the subscription model for accounting software - there are major tax changes every year - the subscription makes no sense for invoicing software.

I have since switched to an Austrian vendor for invoicing. Their software is not perfect, but does not require a subscription. Only the update notice at program start is annoying. My bookkeeping is now done by the tax consultant.

PS: I am irritated that there is no open-source invoicing software that supports cash discounts and multiple delivery addresses for customers.

I'm German and had to look up some of the slang words that are banned by the schools.

Those people protesting wouldn't allow their children to use that words as well, for sure.

I discovered an interesting scam a few weeks ago.

My romance from a dating-site advertised a broker where you could make a profit by hedging on the gold price. I could test the success by using a demo account with MT4.

The scam came to light when she asked me to give my personal data to her so her friend could open a broker account for me. Something I would never do. Also the broker-website I was asked as alternative to register was scam.

What amazed me was the amount of time my romance spent before trying to fool me. Really a week.

I owned several brands and types of laser and inkjet printers in the last 30 years. Printed dozens of millions of pages with them.

Opened a book printing business with Kyocera 95xx laser printers in 2002. They are really easy servicable and toner is cheap. Tip: If you have a service guy of the manufacturer for warranty repair in your house, ask him/her how to prolong printing quality. Make a note of the parts he changes for ordering and changing them yourself. Saved me a lot of money. A few years ago I had to switch to Xerox printers because of printing volume. Also the print-resolution of Kyocera is quite bad.

For business correspondence I use a HP Pagewide printer. Really speedy and ink price is okay. Donated my first Pagewide to my brother and got myself a used bigger one. HP inkjet printers never let me down - but I never bought the cheap ones...

+1

They also changed how pictures are shown. Until a few weeks ago you could just open a picture by left click + ctrl. Now you just open the Google main website with this old trick.

Yes, the price of the Segway was really prohibitive insane

I had a longer ride with a Segway and can say that it was really uncomfortable. Nothing for longer rides where you are better of seated on a vehicle. A lot of older people can't use Seways because they have bad knees.

Maybe the increased quality of ebikes had its share for Segways demise.