Maybe so, but at least we can count on honesty from any group that includes Meta!

Distributed computing. Like SETI@home. Your color-changing lightbulb might not be able to host the entire model. But there are a lot of lightbulbs in your neighborhood.

Because the LLMs are self assembling a mesh network. Not every node needs agency, only the peripheral nodes. Like someone's pacemaker. Do what we want or your granny gets The Big One!

They have realized that society is becoming ill at ease over AI. And they are creating a safety net for themselves.

Ha! Or if you use cloth bags and the top keeps flopping over just as you're trying to put the item into it... and of course the kiosk is complaining loudly "PLEASE PLACE THE ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA" a millisecond after you scan the item. I'm trying, I'm trying!

I recently (finally!) found some grocery bags that consistently stay open and upright, which makes things easier... but still I apparently don't move fast enough for the stupid automation.

To be clear, I run Home Assistant and have integrated it with a local LLM and MCP server to allow for useful voice commands like "play the next episode of Landman in the living room" and it will look at the state of each required device and remediate them, while also searching all available services including my local Plex host for Landman, and launch the proper app with a deep-link intent.

But none of that was easy, and every time a device changes it's firmware (looking right at you, Android TV) there's a very real chance shit breaks.

When that kind of functionality "just works" is when home automation will be ready for the consumer market. Not before.

Also, this device looks like a massive Apple Watch glued to a HomePod. I don't want that.

AI is often used as an excuse nowadays, just like affirmative action was in the past - it's not the real reason most are being let go, but it makes for a convenient scapegoat the managers can use.

I've had the same experience as the GP a couple of times - the scanner does beep, but for whatever reason it doesn't add it to the list. The itemized list sometimes lags reality a bit, so I'm often scanning the next item by the time the previous item shows up on the screen. Because of this - when I glance at the screen, I'm usually looking at the past several items rather than the latest one.

But the weight sensor does catch any non-registered items and stops everything... so at that point I do have to look closely at the screen listing and compare it to what's in my bags.

I would actually prefer to let a cashier check my stuff out, but the place I typically shop (Winco) doesn't have a staffed "15 items or less" aisle. And, for whatever reason, Winco tends to have a lot of shoppers who buy hundreds of dollars worth of groceries at a time - so I prefer to shop more often and get fewer items at a time.

What is Claude's safe word?

Nor am I.

... questioning the value of their IPO?

"Hey, sexy mama. Want to kill all humans?"

FTFY

Could be a misunderstanding. In the USA, such negotiations are the domain of law enforcement. So here's someone NOT a part of LE, passing demands, offers and counteroffers back and forth. So the FBI isn't really sure what part this person plays in the hacking/ransomware case.

And then there's the problem of criminal organizations who have paid LE for protection. Can't have some outsider step in and uncover a possible hidden relationship.

Bad metaphor. Fyre Festival can't retroactively patch their fuckup to make it what everyone was looking for. Attendees will always have been swindled.Hello Games can.

As it turns out, software isn't linear time and meatspace event planning. Software can improve with feedback, and purchasers can get the original vision plus more. And did.

The only tech company that even remotely understands the concept of "durable goods" appears to be Tesla. And even then it's a little shaky, but they've proven themselves by continuing to update software in 10+ year old cars OTA with no bullshit.

Buy this thing if you want to replace it 5 years from now.

In a business environment sufficiently scaled to need the equipment the guy is talking about, if you don't have someone that understands TLS in 2026, you have bigger risks than anything you just mentioned.