People call AI training "theft." Historical reality check: The legendary Library of Alexandria was the original non-consensual dataset scrape. Around 240 BC, Ptolemy III made the library the world’s knowledge hub through pure imperial muscle:

(1) Mandatory Port Seizures: Customs raided every docking ship for books, returned hurried hand-written copies, and kept the originals.
(2) Deposit Fraud: "Borrowed" Athens' master play scripts with a massive silver deposit, then forfeited the cash to keep the original master copies.
(3) Market Monopolies: Aggressively hoarded scrolls across the Mediterranean.

We romanticize Alexandria as a temple of pure learning, but its foundation was state-backed intellectual looting. Every leap in aggregating global human knowledge looks strikingly similar in the rearview mirror.

An LLM is just a tool. A tool that can be used masterfully, or misused horribly.
What we see today with the controversy surrounding AI in writing is merely a restaging of the same play we have seen countless times before. Mark Twain bought a Sholes & Glidden Type-Writer in late 1874. He became one of the very first authors to adopt the machine and famously submitted what is considered the first typewritten literary manuscript to a publisher, his 1883 book Life on the Mississippi. This put him at the center of the intense cultural resistance, suspicion, and etiquette controversies.
A typewritten personal letter became viewed as deeply offensive. Etiquette guides of the 1870s and 1880s dictated that penmanship was an expression of intimacy, personal character, and respect. A mechanical letter implied you were treating a personal acquaintance like an impersonal business transaction, or you assumed the recipient was illiterate and incapable of deciphering cursive hand. Recipients often responded with outrage, returning letters unopened, and demanding an apology for the cold, robotic insult.

The core problem is not the watermarking, or the requirement to disclose. It's the false positives, and an anti-AI crowd that is attacking and destroying anyone they perceive, rightly or wrongly, as using AI. IMHO, false claims of AI use are far more harmful than any actual usage of AI. Writers are being shut out because of such false claims. A false positive can badly damage a writer's career, causing them real harm.

Previously existing tools, such as ZeroGPT, are so egregious with false positives that they can somewhat be dismissed. But these so-called watermarks turn an annoyance into grevious harm. Statistical LLM watermarking relies on a symmetric secret key, and makes unsubstantiated claims of very low false positives. This places a falsely accused writer in a guilty-until-proven-innocent situation that is effectively a death knell to any writer so accused. Without knowing the algorithm and the secret key, the falsely accused are effectively defenseless.

Unless the algorithm and the key are disclosed, any claim of AI use is, IMHO, unsubstantiated, and writers need to go on the offense and bring tortious action against any making such false claims.

Most VPNs over promise and under deliver on security. So, I wonder, who holds the keys? What length keys? Elliptical curve? Ehat curve? What encryption is used? What about quantum-proofing?

Maybe I should apply to beta-test?

You have to get a Microsoft account.

No thanks.

No one on Slashdot uses Windows, right? So, nothing to see here...

This is probably not a benefit to the homeowner, but whether it is depends on the pricing.
Batteries degrade with each charge/discharge cycle. Putting a battery in your home is an expensive proposition, and it will eventually have to be replaced. The initial cost of purchase, eventual replacement, and the environmental impact of recycling (hopefully) or disposal (realistically) of the dead battery must be considered.
Knowing PG&E's track record, and that of California in general, I will NOT consent to this without a full, detailed breakdown of the usage and compensation. Even then, they must earn a degree of trust that neither PG&E nor the state of California has earned. Any agreement with either entity is worthless if they won't abide by it. And they won't, you can be sure. Been there... Fool me once...
Why would I spend thousands of dollars on a capital expense, only to allow PG&E to use it for pennies? Not happening in my home. Show me the benefit, and I will consider it. As long as its voluntary, then fine. I don't volunteer. But the inevitable moment it ceases to be voluntary? Trust me, it will! Unless we push back massively.
Technically, this is a wonderful idea. I would support it eagerly, if I trusted them not to screw over the participants. But... Well, I don't! So, include me OUT!

I am still running Ventura, and contemplating upgrading to Sonoma. I have had too many bad experiences with Apple breaking my work environment with new upgrades. I'm in no hurry to upgrade. I use lots of software that Apple does not bless. If Sequoya is going to be a huge new pain, I may just stop at Sonoma.

I don't need 'app signing.' I would rather NOT have the annoyance.

Ask me again in a year, (or maybe two) and I'll reconsider it.

Change for the sake of change is not always welcome. Some of us have real work to do, and having to spend time and effort learning a new UI is counterproductive. The WinXP UI was perfectly fine. There was no reason to change it, and the newer UIs are not necessarily an improvement.
But, of course, the underpinnings, especially wrt security issues, are troubling. So, it's a trade-off.

Some of the updates are for security reasons, absolutely. But Microsoft (and Apple, too) really need to rethink this mantra of constantly buying new hardware to get the latest features. It's starting to get annoying. As long as a machine works, and can run a modern OS, it should not be obsoleted. But, often that "modern OS" is Linux, and that fact should give upgrade-mongers some pause. You do not need Windows, or MacOS to keep using your computer. There are real alternatives.

My newest computer (A Macbook Pro) dates from 2019, and at some 4 years old, I have zero intention of replacing it anytime soon. My next newest is a Lenovo dating from 2015. Ditto. Both platforms are capable, plenty fast, and do what I need them to do. I also run a MacBook Air from 2011, and an iMac from 2009. The iMac runs Ubuntu 2204, and is as serviceable as the day it was new. I also have an HP from 2006, that, admittedly, is getting long-in-tooth, but, as it too runs Ubuntu, it is still quite serviceable.

When Microsoft retires Windows 10, my Lenovo will be running Linux. I will NOT be buying a new machine to run Windows 11.

Uh! No! Just No!

I have had to use Outlook for years in my day job. Now that I don't have a day job and my computer is my own, no thanks. I'll pass.

Why? This doesn't sound right to me. Some critical piece of the puzzle is missing. IPv4 devices existing behind a NAT on an all IPv6 network is a non-issue.

When I update a Kindle book to fix a typo, Amazon REFUSES to update those books already sold. Only the new buyers get the fixed version. But for these changes... LoL... I guess print versions will gain value as collectibles.

The oldest reliably documented person, I believe, lived to about 122. A great deal of research conducted in multiple disciplines is starting to produce results. We know caloric restriction can add up to 20% or so. Many nutrition improvements are on the horizon. Various medical interventions have been discussed in the research. Based on the research I have read about, I have some belief that my grandkids (ages 14-20) have a moderate chance of making it to 120 or so, with outliers in the 125-140 range. I thus imagine that 120-130 will be realistically achievable as a possibility for a lucky few, in about 50 years. By 100 years from now, I imagine my 14-year-old granddaughter has a good (~20%) chance of seeing 140. But predictions are difficult, especially about the future, so I don't discount the possibility of a breakthrough that will transform the prospects, enabling much greater spans. Which is a mcguffin in my science fiction stories.

My EV has a lot more "engine braking" than my ICE car with a CVT transmission. My Nissan Rogue just free-wheels when I let off the gas, and the 1.8L engine has so little braking that forcing a downshift just spins the engine faster with no increase in braking. My Kia Niro, OTH, slows down significantly when you let off the "gas." You can drive all over town and never touch the brake, if that's your idea of a good time.