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Comment Hybrids are kinda "ick" .... (Score 3, Interesting) 136

I've been driving EVs since I first got a used Tesla S (2014 P85D). I have a 2020 Chevy Bolt EV I use as my daily driver right now. I recently rented a 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid, which seems to be in high demand and very highly rated/recommended out there.

My experience was ... disappointing. Now granted, it delivered on the fuel economy part. I drove it several hundred miles over a few days' time and when I went to refuel it before the rental return, it only needed 6 gallons of gas to fill it back up. But the whole driving experience felt like a big step back from any EV I'd driven. You had the constant sensation of a gas engine turning on and off at various times, and a constant reminder the battery pack in the vehicle was tiny and only a part of a more complicated system. (You could put the car in "EV mode" to make it drive only on battery, but it would only allow it at very low speeds, like driving around parking lots.) Ultimately, it was just a car lugging around all the things required for an internal combustion engine AND electric vehicle parts at the same time. Double the complexity and a rolling compromise. (Better interior than I'm used to seeing w/Toyota though.)

I'm kind of confused w/Honda. Their "EV strategy" seemed to me like it was basically about trying to sell that Prologue which was really a GM designed car getting rebranded as a Honda product + hand-waving that they'd do cooler stuff soon.

Truthfully? I think one of the big challenges with EVs across the board is trying to mask the high cost of the battery pack, motors and other electronics involved. You can "do it right" by not caring and slapping a high price tag on it. Then you get an EV that still maintains people's expectations for "fit and finish", a nice interior, and really good handling. The BMW i4 eDrive 40 is a great example here, or even the Porsche Taycan EV. But most people just want a cheap car that's reliable, avoids the need for gas fill-ups and oil changes, while still handling well and feeling like corners weren't cut on the build quality, interior and exterior. That doesn't really seem to be doable, yet? Tesla sure doesn't. They just design vehicles that few people think look great on the outside. but "wow" them with all the infotainment / computer capabilities on the inside. Keep the interior really bare-bones but put that big touch-screen front and center to distract them. Spend enough on the seats so they're really comfortable, but use a real basic "skateboard" suspension and frame across the whole product line. It goes fast enough in a straight line so they'll ignore other handling issues.

Don't get me wrong. I like Tesla vehicles. I'm just being real about what one is and isn't. I don't think an established brand like Honda is comfortable making all those compromises, and they're just not seeing a profit margin in converting what they build now into a full EV?

Comment Just say no .... (Score 4, Interesting) 67

I.T. is going down a spiral where management treats you like a "digital janitor". I'm old enough to remember this being a fairly respected career path. People in most offices had a combination of fear and awe of the "I.T. guys" because ultimately, there was a realization the entire business relied on the technology to survive. If the server or network went down, everything ground to a halt. You simply didn't treat the team poorly who held the keys to the kingdom.

It's a very different atmosphere today. Now, everyone's worried about how to cut costs and achieve the maximum return. I.T. may be critically important to a business's success, but nobody cares. There's the constant suggestion that AI is about to replace half of them anyway, and the trick is to wring every bit of productivity out of the existing staff until they quit. Then you just replace them and repeat.

If you're reading this and thinking, "It's not like that at all where I work!", congratulations! You're part of a diminishing bit of sanity out there. The last place I worked like that, though? The owner passed away and the company was sold, and it's no longer an exception to the rule.

The idea someone needs to micro manage their "knowledge workers" to the extent they keep tabs on how many feet their mouse has rolled each day? Well, that's plain insulting they'd even think it's sensible!

Comment Re:When I hear they are going to build a datacente (Score 1) 86

How many data centers in your immediate area? Are they the modern high density data centers with thousands of GPU units per rack or the old school 4U's in a rack supporting a few websites kind of data center?

As for employment, when is the last time you saw a data center that was bustling with human activity once construction and move-in was finished?

Comment Re:AI is almost never the limiting factor (Score 1) 193

That was a joke! backhoes breaking fiber is part of the natural order.

That's why you should always carry a length of fiber with you. If you ever get stranded with no cell service, you can just bury the length of fiber in the dirt. When the backhoe guy comes along to break it, ask him for a lift.

Comment Re:Actually, congrats to the cURL team (Score 1) 63

It does nicely illustrate that AI may do a deeper scan, but not necessarily a better one.

There are existing rules based scanners for websites. Running one on any typical site will easily spit out more than 100 flagged issues. Some "consultants" will dutifully hand that report over and call it a day, but if you actually go through them, most if not all aren't even actual security flaws. Yes, if I POST data that includes the correct username and password, it will grant me access just as if I had filled in the login form. So what? Yes, if I give an invalid account number, it returns a page with (non-)error code 200. The page says "Access denied".

That isn't to say the AI tool is bad, just that it represents an EVOlution, not a REVOlution.

Comment Lots of Apple discounts out there, really... (Score 1) 32

They never really talk about any of them except for the educational discount, to my knowledge? But for as long as I can remember, Apple also offered military discounts:

https://www.apple.com/shop/bro...

They also run government employee discounts, typically by way of special online stores you have to shop in. For example, Washington DC government workers can go here: https://dchr.dc.gov/page/apple...

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