Hammering something so squishy as Altman's credibility seems inefficient to me. Maybe a shovel would be more effective?

My suspicion is that they're sending a message. Trump has been busy pissing away strategic alliances while he pisses off the rest of the world with his arrogance, presumptuousness, and American exceptionalism. Tech companies are collateral damage; except they're not really "collateral" when you consider their knee-bending, ring-kissing, and sometimes out-and-out support for Trump.

Just as Austria recently sent up fighter jets to "escort" unauthorized American military planes out of their airspace, the rest of the world is distancing and decoupling itself from the US. Big Tech was already suffering from a lack of trust; now America's other transgressions on the world stage have rendered everything American toxic. That's especially true of companies such as Microsoft that hold the keys to the information kingdom.

Other countries have had enough, and are actively seeking and/or building alternatives to companies and institutions which support American hegemony. Expect lots more news like this in the coming months and years.

That insult is truly Dogbert-worthy - good job!

I can't comment on Ghost, Beehiiv, or Passport; but even I have heard of Patreon, and that pretty much ensures that everyone and his dog knows about it. I would guess that Patreon and Substack have about equal name recognition among the general population.

Investment in an AI server farm which never materializes, is probably a net good when compared with investment in an AI facility which DOES get built.

The sad irony is that most of the staff being laid off will be using the services of the company that just axed them to try to land a new job.

That's probably true; however, if the trend continues then the torch and pitchfork vendors may end up rolling in dough and pulling some serious overtime.

Remember kids - revolution is always an option, and sometimes a duty. America was founded by revolutionaries - so honour your forbears and carry on the tradition. You have nothing to lose but your chains!

(Sorry, I almost forgot - you'll also shed the propaganda that makes you think of the chains as cool jewellery).

Child, I had a Cyrix math co-processor for my 286 computer.

Speaking of "old", did you know that there was an 80186 microprocessor? The company I worked for made its own custom controller board using that chip. I had thought it was only ever used as an embedded processor, but just recently I learned that there was at least one PC produced that used a 186.

I take your points about the importance of tactile and audible feedback. Still, I wonder if esthetics might get in the way of feedback queues specific to electric drive.

Good points - thanks. TFA mentions muscle memory, which makes what you said more compelling.

I do wonder if catering to ICE-era reflexes might hinder adaptation to the possibilities that electric motors offer.

I have an Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro which I may upgrade at some point, so I've been following the Bambu situation since it became news. But I'm not terribly well plugged in to the 3D scene, so apologies in advance if what I'm about to suggest is silly or otherwise not practical.

How about setting up an open cloud service which can fool Bambu printers into using it instead of Bambu's own service? I get that might not provide some of the features and capabilities that would rely on tight integration. But it would give Bambu purchasers an alternative when they (probably inevitably) get too pissed off with "Bambu Deere" having who-knows-what access to their printers and their possibly-proprietary designs.

That might be the opening shot in a war of attrition on both sides. But it sure would get a lot of attention, and it would be yet another strong "NO" message to corporate overlords. The motto of everyone who doesn't financially benefit from Bambu-style overreach should be "jail-break EVERYTHING".

Wake me up when the penalty gets into the mid hundreds-of-millions. Until then it's just a cost-of-business that already appeared - probably at well over 12 million bucks - as a line item in a budget which existed long before the penalty was assessed.

Such fines are mere theatre. It's a show that keeps the rubes entertained, while simultaneously distracting them from the financial and privacy-oriented ass raping inflicted on them daily with the tacit assent of their government and regulatory agencies.

More people need to wake up to the fact that the oligarchs already own most of their shit and are rapidly stealing the rest of said shit, along with any power and autonomy which mere citizens may still possess.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "ersatz" as follows:
adjective Being a usually inferior imitation or substitute; artificial.
adjective Not genuine; fake

Honda's faux clutch strikes me as slightly less ersatz than the vroom-vroom noises pasted on to some electric cars to make them mimic IC vehicles. Still, the idea seems a bit silly. It's like the video game version of a traditional motorcycle.

I'd rather see drivers / riders of these new vehicles lean into their unique characteristics. I think they should develop a new mythos, rather than pasting pictures of yesterday's glories on these whole new beasts. Clinging to the trappings of an IC engine when you have stoopid amounts of torque available throughout most of your RPM range just strikes me as kind of lame.

The Tragically Hip sang "New Orleans is sinkin' man and I don't wanna swim". Substituting "Mexico City" for "New Orleans" just doesn't sound right!

In a book published in 1973, Dorothy L. Retallack described experiments in which plants responded differently to different kinds and volumes of music. Her methodology and conclusions were criticized and to some extent discredited. Nevertheless, I think the fact that she did experiments and described results that overlap with those referred to in TFS disqualifies that "first direct evidence" claim.