I'm sure there's an element of tax avoidance here. Elaborate commercial arrangements like this often do.

That's only half of the potential problem here. I've experienced model hallucinations where the model seems to have completely fabricated ideas or conclusions which it says are included in a reddit thread. The latest version of mainstream Claude (via Perplexity) is still doing this.

This also pokes a huge finger into the eye of Adobe. Splitting and merging PDFs is one of the main features of Acrobat for a whole class of white collar workers.

Electricity prices in Europe are around 2x what Americans pay. In Japan it is even higher. Each 9 added to uptime has a cost, and Americans have apparently decided they don't want to pay.

I've been seeing a LOT more ebikes and small (250cc and lower) motorbikes on the road lately. I live in a state where summer is oppressively hot (winter is bike season) and most riders appear to be commuting to low-posting jobs. It seems to be the k-shaped economy manifesting on the road.

Not to mention these vehicles are a huge pain to work on. I changed the spark plugs in a 150/1500 class truck recently and had to lay down on to of the engine on a chunk of old mattress to reach any of them. And needed a 2-step stepladder to get up there. I've since changed to a Ridgeline and you can reach anywhere in the bed and most of the engine without a ladder. The interest in the Slate and recent sales of smaller trucks suggest that this is a growing market.

There's trillions of dollars of investment wanting to be thrown at datacenters and the power is part of the package. If tech bubble money can be used to help with nuclear economies of scale and building institutional experience, I will not turn it down.

It's probably so they don't have to go fetch hundreds of cars if the update goes wrong. Same reason I don't update software when I have something important tomorrow.

Recent legal cases have been on the basis that the services are/were defective by design and, as a result, presented dangers which were independent of any specific post on the platform. It's not a specific post or set of content which was the issue. It's the whole system.

I think the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are relevant here, although most probably not the dominant factor. Russia and Iran are undoubtedly spending down their Bitcoin reserves at a rapid pace to cover revenue losses elsewhere and move money sanction-free.

The only justifiable reason to tolerate coal is because it is one of the few energy sources that can store, independent of weather and other factors, large amounts of "fuel" at the project site. Generally sites will hold 1-3 months worth on the coal pile. The only other energy sources which can do this at a reasonable cost are nuclear, biomass, and geothermal, all of which are more expensive than coal (if you exclude health impacts).

The most likely outcome is that we will end up with the same deal as the previous one which Trump canceled. Arguably worse because Iran has demonstrated that they can indeed close the straight for all practical purposes. 60+ days of bombing by the most powerful nation on the earth accomplished basically nothing. A few more days will surely do it though.

Many, many places in the world get their water from underground aquifers. These are not really part of the water cycle and are being depleted at alarming rates in many areas. Even if the water is taken from a river, someone downstream may have been counting on that water for their needs.

I have no doubt that the government was an important customer but the "free" advertising and virtue signaling gained them a lot of business.

The cost is different if you hold an airline credit card. Almost all (all?) award a free checked bag and carry on bag for cardmembers. Given the high cost of checked bags now the cards are often worthwhile after just 1 trip. Plus, while taking advantage of ultra no-frills fares is technically possible, most people need to travel with clothes. The only person I ever saw on ultra budget airlines with no bag at all was a guy going from his home to his second home.