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Comment Re:Cable guy? (Score 1) 77

by AmiMoJo (#65798599) Attached to: Why Solarpunk Is Already Happening In Africa

It's a little surprising that this doesn't happen more in the US, where some people seem to like being rugged and independent.

It is very viable to go off-grid, or at least have enough backup energy storage and generation to survive days of no grid power.

You don't even need to deal with regulations, there are products that allow you to have it all isolated to your own home, or simply plug critical appliances into a box of batteries and solar panels when needed.

Comment Re: You are not an engineer. (Score 1) 36

Legally I'm a software engineer despite not having a degree in engineering or computer science.

Not much I can do about it. That's my job title and what I put down when I am told to provide accurate information to a government agency.

You may certainly petition the legislature of my state in order to force my employer to change their job titles. But it's out of my hands (I also do not care)

Submission + - Apple reportedly preparing to oust Tim Cook after Vision Pro flop and AI humilia (nerds.xyz)

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: Apple is reportedly preparing to oust Tim Cook after the Vision Pro flop, the Siri stagnation, and the weak reception to the iPhone Air. Multiple reports claim the company is accelerating succession planning for as early as 2026, and the tone suggests this may be more than routine leadership rotation. While Apple has thrived financially under Cook, critics argue that core products have slipped. Siri has fallen years behind competitors, AirPods remain uncomfortable, Apple Watch still struggles with a screen too small to be useful, and Vision Pro has become a poster child for overpricing. Even Appleâ(TM)s AI-focused iPhone Air has been labeled a flop, raising questions about whether the board is losing confidence in Cookâ(TM)s direction.

John Ternus, Appleâ(TM)s hardware engineering chief, is reportedly the leading candidate to take over, signaling a potential shift back to stronger hardware-first leadership. With competitors racing ahead in AI and new form factors, Apple is facing pressure to prove it still has a clear product vision. The timing of these leaks suggests the board wants the public to know that change is coming, and fast. For a company that once defined entire categories, the next CEO may determine whether Apple regains its footing or keeps drifting toward overpriced experiments and fading relevance.

Comment We haven't reached peak stupidity yet (Score 1) 70

by shanen (#65797831) Attached to: A 'Peak Oil' Prediction Surprise From the International Energy Agency

How fast can we make things worse by burning more fossil fuel? The answer may surprise your children, but not your grandchildren who will be sadly too familiar with the mess we've created for them.

In related news: Bears as in a plague of bears. Not a simple and direct relationship, but they have certainly become a massive nuisance in Japan. New record for human deaths, apparently because the beech trees had a really bad year resulting in lots of extra hungry bears. However what surprised me the most was an estimate of 4,200 bears already "culled" this year. I was checking on the base as the government announced new policies that essentially call for war against the bears and wondered how bad it could get...

Yesterday saw a "Funny" video of a big bear demolishing a bear trap. Smarter than the average bear?

Submission + - Chicago Property Tax Bills Finally Getting Mailed After 'Modernization' Mess

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Nearly four months later than usual thanks to a vendor’s software mess, Cook County, IL (includes Chicago) property tax bills will be mailed by Nov. 14 and be due by Dec. 15, county leaders said. Cook County tax collectors blamed a 10-year-old contract with a Texas-based company called Tyler Technologies for the delays. The contract inked in 2015 was supposed to modernize the billing system within three to five years. The months-long delay left local taxing districts, such as Chicago Public Schools, struggling to bridge costs while the tax bills sat in limbo. CPS borrowed $450 million to cover anticipated property taxes, requiring it to budget $23.2 million for interest on those loans in fiscal year 2026.

Of the delayed modernization effort, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi said: "It was hard work. You have to go through the brain damage of converting all these different lines from an old mainframe to a new system. This vendor has sometimes made a lot of mistakes, and we have the biggest market based property tax system in the U.S. All of us agreed we’d retire the mainframe this year, but the treasurer and the clerk had their hardest work to do this year. We’re glad that they’re done."

Speaking of government software modernization efforts, how's that planned DOGE rewrite of the Social Security Administration codebase in 'months' going?

Comment Re:Getting along with the U.S. [Re:Higher Costs] (Score 2) 91

by AmiMoJo (#65797597) Attached to: GM Wants Parts Makers To Pull Supply Chains From China

The Chinese government has been pushing that narrative for years. They are the stable partner. World's second largest economy with much higher growth than all the other big ones. They don't force their ideology on you either.

It sucks because they aren't wrong about those things, and the stuff we compete with (lucrative markets, less exploitative, democracy) are not quite so tangible, not such big concerns for countries trying to deal with big economic problems or lift millions out of poverty. We need to be more competitive, but in a way that doesn't compromise our core values.

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