As the spouse of a designer who has been on numerous re-brand, better brand, update the brand etc. campaigns I can tell you that the decision doesn't come from designers. The design team will literally be swamped with managing every existing product launch, update, news cycle, etc. Their design team doesn't need to find work, I bet money on that, but someone else thought this was an important move and thus a re-design happens.

NVIDIA cards dropping like Pokemon boxes at Costco

You can just as easily never eat at a place with QR codes or tablets for ordering in Japan too. I'm just not that interested in that experience so when we eat out, we don't go to those places. You don't have to eat fancy to avoid them. There's barely any difference in cost either and since tipping isn't a thing.

In fact, the places we go where it's "vending style" is usually ramen and THAT spits out a small slip of paper anyway so in the end it's kind of lofi, lol

Nope, there's a thing called "sub minimum" wage. Last Week Tonight just recently covered how this works. Minimum wage is definitely NOT the minimum, which is crazy.

Incorrect, the final paycheck does not have to meet minimum wage. If you are working 'sub minimum' because you work for tips there is no employer requirement to fill the gap. This was exhaustively covered just recently on Last Week Tonight's most recent episode I believe.

I hate the "pass the phone around of the person who got the menu to load" game. For something so simple, they fail too often.

At first glance I get what you're saying, but it's just a matter of how anti-cheat software is easier to circumvent in a Linux environment, apparently. Games like Black Ops or even Apex Legends recently on Steam announced when they stopped supporting Linux users the amount of cheaters found in any one game dropped dramatically. It's not that people who run Linux are all cheaters, but Linux is the platform best for cheaters to use. In competitive, PvP games this is a massive problem as at least half the lobby, if not more, has their experience ruined. Banning Linux players is an easy solution. Plus, if you can install Linux, I imagine you can dual boot with Windows if you really want to game. You're probably not a dummy =)

Disagree on the "intangible" statement since you literally end by mentioning the tangible, real world interactions with "social or intellectual elites". I mean, that IS worth money. Connections can be huge if you also have the skill and again, tangible certifications those connections accept, as you mentioned. From just a money perspective there's tons of data on placement rates out of college, their associated salary ranges and you just compare that info to tuition. It's a simple cost/benefit thing I'm shocked some people don't do.(?) I did that and found myself exactly where I wanted/expected to be both in terms of salary and specific company placement. What was 'advertised' was what was delivered. I've done this twice. I did it first for MechE at Georgia Tech and then for 3D Animation at Ringling College of Art and Design. Yup, it even works for art. Of course all of this can be done from the school of the internet, but college isn't some amorphous thing that nobody knows how it works and results are a mysterious intangible. I always thought it was a simple cost/benefit analysis.

True, but you don't hire a security guard to underestimate and hedge a bet that everything is fine the way it is. Give me a paranoid gate keeper over one that believes everything coming through is friendly until proven otherwise. With how fast AI is moving when the cat is out of the bag, it's WAY out.

Exactly what you said.

Seeing the writer say "It serves no purpose whatsoever — save to comfort bruised egos." is pathetic because it underscores their lack of understanding.

Driving a manual is fun. That's the real point. To reduce the breadth of the human experience or purchasing logic to just the fastest, most efficient, most direct experience will create an incredibly narrow window of experience. Life is meant to be more than the best answer for a certain task. For many, life is about the journey, not just task efficiency.

Given how statistically inconsequential manual ownership and sales are it's also dumb to rail against them. You could take one cruise ship out of the ocean and help the planet more than being condescending to a small fraction of hobbyists who enjoy a manual gearbox.

Very well said. There is so much we can do to improve safety other than removing our ability to drive our own cars. The test to be licensed is a joke. (at my DMV in Florida you get 3 tries to pass, it's the same test each time, they tell you what you missed... do the math) There is only VAGUELY a test to have your license renewed at a certain age. We all know people that physically cannot navigate well. Quite damn near literally everyone is on their phone, but the police find ticketing this infraction boring, so they don't. Most states don't have any form of safety inspection annually or bi-annually. Watch a YouTube for "just rolled in"... people drive deteriorating cars alllll the time. I hate how the more I read about peoples' intent for the world the more "You'll own nothing and like it" sounds so very real.

Kind of a large conclusion to jump to that the commenter is racing their car. But, since you brought up the topic of racetracks, make sure you support your local one by not closing it down because it's too 'loud'. Most racetracks in America were built FAR away from homes and developments because they acknowledged they were loud, but as cities expand people start to build houses closer and closer to what was once far away. Then, the noise complaints come, but the track was there decades prior. Then the track shuts down... but you know, the boomers and people in their fancy condo's will still parrot, "Take it to the racetrack!!" What racetrack? You lobbied your city council with housing developers to shut them all down. You knowingly bought a home next to a racetrack and then complained about the racetrack... you don't actually want people to keep it on the racetrack, you actually want them and their enjoyment to go away permanently.

Yeah, I don't think it's fairly appealing at all.
Bureaucratic establishments aren't typically known for taking context into account when logging and reporting anything.
The why you miss an appointment can be as important as the appointment itself. Bureaucracy isn't known for caring about that, at all.
Could mom be a drunk or dad just selfish and irresponsible? Oh cool, the child will be punished for 'being late' in addition to lousy parents.
It's all very akin to the compounding and punitive punishments poor people often face just because they're poor and that's proven to not aid in escaping poverty or serve as a deterrent for being poor in the first place.

"But who will control the controllers?" ... the ruling political party and people with money, obviously

It's insane. Can you imagine a minor disagreement with your HOA or an argument with Sandy in the school's PTA directly threatening your families ability to travel, take a certain job, or be subjected to a doxxing?

Nothing like having your travel limited or the ability to send your children to a certain school influenced by some interaction you had with a buyer/seller on Alibaba.