It's not a false dichotomy. Volume is a separate axis. We will always need some hydrocarbon source. Better it comes from circulating carbon than fossil deposits.

We shouldn't pass up opportunities to make things better just because they're not perfect.

Which would you rather have: a world where all gasoline comes from these things using solar panels, or the current environmental nightmare of fracking and cracking? Most people don't need to think twice about it.

believing AI is not here to stay is just delusional. and universities better start adjusting accordingly.

I'm tired of hearing that this is just "a bubble that's going to burst anytime soon". You know what was also a bubble, that also burst? The fucking internet.

And now we can't even imagine our lives without the internet.

they are telling us that AI is going to replace us all, the future is 'agentic' and there's no stopping progress

also corporate: we want you back in the office 100%.

they are psychopaths.

I still use my dad's Hi-Fi and record player. I bought kilos and kilos of vinyl records in my trips to japan.

For "smart anything", I stick with "Home Assistant" and "ESPHome". The latter is an open source platform to build your own smart devices. You can DIY light switches, remote buttons, remote sensors, even build a security camera for $10 (ESP32CAM). Runs great on Raspberry Pi.

For "good behaving" smart things you can buy, you need to look for the "Matter" standard. Devices are required to always have an open, local API so even if the manufacturer disappears, your smart hardware is still smart even though it can't phone home anymore.

I still stick to ESPHome

It's the same argument every single time IPv6 is mentioned. "I prefer NAT because it gives me security". People just don't understand the difference between a stateful firewall and a NAT.

I stopped trying to explain this. You'd think that the slashdot crowd would understand some basic networking concepts, but nope.

It's honestly pretty sloppy. The maze has a bunch of smeared lines on it. I think the only "doubt" is coming from journalists using cliche phrasing.

I asked Claude to improve the design on a Vue component and it did. It didn't do any magic, it just looked up what CSS library we were using and it used it as intended (accent colors, primary colors, etc). and threw in some icons.

Could I have done it? Sure. But as a "mostly backend" developer, it would have taken me a lot of time to read the docs and examples. And another good chunk of time to choose the right icons.

If they overpower the humanity trying to stop them from doing those things, yes.

this is a stupid take that completely misses the point. no matter how "good" (by whatever your perception of "good" is), people won't visit the website because their main driver of traffic (Google) is simply hiding them.

google puts their AI crap in the most valuable space of the results page. on mobile you even have to scroll down to see actual search results

Microsoft got fined for antitrust for bundling a web browser. google gets away with stealing content to train LLMs and used their golden results page space to promote their web browser with no consequences

can you make phone calls with these? The problem in Japan is actually getting a number you can call from. Many of these sims, especially the ones targeted at tourists, are data-only SIMs. to get a phone number you need identity validation and for this they often require a proof of Japanese address.

the stories about sim card bullshit I've heard from Japanese resident podcasts and a travelers Discord group I'm a part of.

the question usually pops up whenever people are trying to buy tickets and the website refuses international phone numbers. reasons vary from "technical" to "only a small % of tickets are for foreigners, the majority we sell to Japanese"

I guess it depends. Is the phone "discounted" if you do this? For a while, committing to a yearly plan meant that you got a phone for the price of a phone plan. The alternative is paying for your phone, and just change service anytime.

This sucks however when you are traveling abroad. If your plan doesn't have roaming at your destination, you can't use a local or travel SIM/eSIM. For some people this seems to work fine.

I never owned a sim-locked phone and never will.

Funfact: sim-locking is the standard in Japan. And if you think you have it bad in america, you really need to take a look at the things they do in Japan. They have two-way SIM locking: you can't even use your current SIM on an unlocked phone!!! You HAVE to buy the phone FROM the phone company or else it won't work. Or you can get a SIM that will work with unlocked phones, but they won't sell you a phone (not even sim-locked) if you do this. Are you a foreigner? no sorry, we won't sell you service because you're a flight risk. "We have been having cases of foreigners leaving the country with unpaid bills. yes, we know you are a legan resident and you need a phone to function in society nowadays but you know, the risk of you not paying us 1 month of is far greater than whatever money we can make off you".

I post every now and then, but there isn't much to talk about with the old folks 'round here these days. Eventually every comments section looks like a Thanksgiving dinner! Most of my rambles are now on Reddit now.

Keep sharp!

Yup. It's pretty hard to do the right thing when the oil cartel that has invaded Alberta keeps threatening to shit itself and is actively trying to engineer a separatist movement entirely for its own benefit. Here's hoping Carney eventually finds a way to disembowel them.