That is where the "assholes" comes in.

How is it an asshole move to tell customers there is a minimum 15 minute wait, so they know what to expect - meanwhile the companies that HIDE a minimum wait are not the assholes??? What the heck.

It may be stupid to have a minimum wait but telling customers what you are doing is ALWAYS better than hiding things like that from them.

I only upgrade every two years or so at this point (and then only for camera improvements really).

So it's lucky for me that my last upgrade fell on the 15 Pro! I was a little sad I wouldn't get to try the Visual Intelligence stuff but now I'll be able to, very kind of Apple not to make me upgrade to get it.

Heck who knows maybe I could even wait until after this year if there's enough back ported stuff (and they don't put anything amazing in this years camera update).

But they don't transmit all your search data and response valuation to Apple.

The search photo and response may run through Apple (not if offline) but Apple doesn't "see" any of it, please read up on the details of how Apple keeps server AI private even from Apple.

You don't use dark mode to save electricity,

On mobile devices with OLED screens, Dark Mode actually does save electricity because black pixels require much less power to display.

Interestingly, that story (from 2021) sort of says something similar to what the article here says, in that it doesn't help much. However it also states if people are turning up brightness higher anyway dark mode savings can be pretty significant, so I don't know if the main story linked here has factored in how much dark mode saves on a higher brightness setting of if they are using a baseline power savings from a lower display brightness.

A bit of a counter take I'm sure, but thinking about it a little there are two good sides:

1) A lot of people probably do need to just read the docs a bit more carefully, or to look online, to find the answer they are seeking. Or even just an AI pass asking it what to do!

2) If I actually need to call a company with this policy, it's kind of nice to know there is a minimum as I can simply put the call on mute for 15 min and start a timer, doing anything else I want. The real horror of support calls is not knowing if you are going to be done in five min or out in five hours...

Instinct...that's how I code. I can feel the sweet smell of algorithm floating on the breeze.

You joke but this is not far from the truth in a lot of cases, you can tell which way is going to be better to go in terms of architecture by feel.

I'm also not going to judge anyone for weighing algorithms by smell. :-)

No argument that having a few extra pairs of eyes, including one always looking behind you, would have stopped the United Health care exec from being killed. The attacker was not especially rapid.

But realistically is anyone going to hire this service 24x7? It seems like if you hired a service like this there'd always be some kind of gap in coverage someone could find just by watching you for a few weeks. I got the feeling Luigi was actually keeping tabs on the guy for a while in order to know when he was going to be coming out of that building 9or that he was even there).

Is Zelle "highly popular"?

I do some online purchases of various collectables from individuals (got tired of eBay fees) and a lot of those take Zelle. I think it has gained some traction since so many banks make it easy to use.

I still personally prefer Venmo for a little separation from my bank. Plus some Zelle integrations have failed for me in the past.

Note to self: Always spring for the helium drives when storing really valuable data.

For lots of students, Calc II is "death by a thousand cuts". Unlike earlier math concepts, calculus (at least, as generally taught in the US) requires recursively hammering away at a problem along MANY steps that generally require a lot of time and paper... often, with no real confidence that you're even on the right path, and seemingly infinite ways to screw up somewhere along the way. Often, you don't even get the satisfaction of closure... you either just run out of time, or run into a sufficiently bad dead end that you can't figure out how to get past it.

Part of the problem is that math teachers are painfully aware that we're never more than 3 or 4 generations away from losing advanced math and descending into barbarity. The current generation of mathematicians can deal with AT MOST one or two lost generations of students before there's a risk that advanced math will die with them. So, they force almost EVERYONE to learn Calc II as a potential mathematician instead of someone merely taking advantage of a useful tool.

I believe that at some universities, there's a tense compromise between the math department and everyone else whereby students in majors that need to be able to USE calculus are required to take full-blown Calc II at least once... but if they fail to pass it with a sufficiently high grade, they can retake it as an alternate class that settles for making sure they know how to USE Calculus.

This is probably related to the well-known phenomenon where some kids coast through math with mostly 'A' grades, maybe an occasional 'B+', without much effort... then stumble a bit in Calculus I, and totally crash & burn in Calculus II. And likewise, it's the inflection point where many kids who struggled with (and often, hated) "math" while growing up suddenly have their epiphany, do spectacularly well, and decide to become math majors halfway through college.

This seems like a distraction for the driver. Distractions cause accidents. Accidents cost money.

This is very true! You might wonder "how can it matter if you are stopped"?

But even fully stopped you have to be aware if people are coming from behind you not knowing you aer stopped, so you can brace or avoid.

Or if you are distracted you might not notice a light just turned and fail to go, again getting rear-ended by the driver behind you coming in at a speed that assumed you would start moving.

Just never a good time to surprise a driver on purpose for something not vital to the operation of the car.

Heck even just the chime and subtle message my car puts on on the bottom of the screen when the temperature reaches 37 degrees, I often find annoying and distracting as I have to search out the cause for the chime!

Interesting note about it being SMS only, I had not seen that anywhere. Still useful though for the aforementioned checkin uses.

What would people say the odds are the drive can even be read at this point?

Sitting outside in English weather for years... I'm assuming some old platter drive, it seems like by now the case would be rusted through and if the elements got to the platters it has to be toast, right?

I was always happy I could potentially use my iPhone in the wilderness to send emergency SOS messages via satellite. It made me feel a lot more comfortable going on remote hikes.

But this is way better - using this I can just send status updates as often as needed along with background location updates to others back home.

And, best thing, this is not limited to iPhone (AFAIK)!! I don't know if Android devices had this same remote satellite SMS in recent years, but if not now they have this option.

I just wonder what speed would be like and just how much out in the open you have to be to use this.