But Trump said it was Gov. Tim Walz's fault! He is responsible for hacking all 100 systems, not the Iranians (or AI, or Canada, or ...). Minnesota is just that kind of state where crazy goes on. Remember to not vote by mail (even though I did)! Vote GOP!

It's all very stupid though, I can still play every PC game I've bought on steam for the last 20 years on any x86 computer I please as a digital license, and I have a shelf of discs that go with them. This was the standard for decades. It's not new. Soon, this will include arm devices as well. GoG packages its game with a compatibility layer too. On the flip side- my steam library needs an active internet connection to launch most of the modern titles on offer and managed to slip that under the radar while MS and Sony got a lot of hate for the same idea.

Even if it's not new, it's nice to see MS is "innovating" and hasn't just given up on Xbox after the last couple of years of missteps. It's interesting to consider the way MS has approached every console generation. They're all a little bit different. The whole Kinect idea was fun. Remember when Sony owned them by demonstrating how to loan your friend a physical disc? How far we've come, huh?

They should really just ask gamers what they want, and do that. Seems to have worked out pretty well for Steam. While it's not perfect, it's clearly working as intended.

There are many games that have been removed (sometimes forcibly) from Steam. And Steam can revoke licenses so a game you bought can be removed. It has happened several times. Sometimes it's as simple as Steam not being able to install a game you own (but if you have it installed somewhere else, you can copy it over). Othertimes, it's Steam having the game removed - it no longer is part of your library.

However, on the console side, we've seen it already with the shutdown of the Xbox 360 and PS3 stores where those games are no longer available for download. Same goes for various Nintendo stores.

Anyhow, the only reason Microsoft can do this is because of the old Xbox One DRM. You remember, the one where the disc was treated as an install mechanism? The license is embedded in the disc, and what happens is every disc contains a serial number on it (this is inherent to the Blu-Ray disc specification itself where every pressed disc can have a special serial number embedded in it). It is what let the original Xbox One DRM system transfer the license between people (i.e., resell games) because the license transfer is similar for disc or digital games.

Of course, gamers hated it, so Sony took advantage and we lost the ability to re-sell digital games. It would not surprise me if Microsoft is simply resurrecting the idea again given it's likely more amenable than it was over a decade ago.

Serious question - How does the Online Streaming Act work in practice for content on demand? When a Canadian tries to binge the latest season of Stranger Things, is NetFlix required to say "nope, go watch this Celine Dion concert first to get our CanCon ratio up"?

Nope. If you want to watch Stranger Things on Netflix, you select (or find) Stranger Things and that's it.

The OSA only requests that streamers prioritize Canadian content so if you're trying to determine if you want to show a film from the NFB (National Film Board) or some classic US film, the Canadian version is preferred. The other aspect is that a certain amount of Canadian income is spent on Canadian productions (about 20%). Which streamers like Netflix already greatly exceed since they film in Canada. (Those productions do count as "Canadian" I believe, so Netflix can promote its own series as "Canadian" content).

Of course, if you want to sell service in Quebec, you have to obey their laws too. (Many companies simply don't - there are many Canadian companies who simply do not ship to Quebec to avoid those laws, and many American companies often do "Canada (excluding Quebec)". That stuff is legal to do and is a business decision by the companies that want to go into Quebec. Nothing bars Netflix from not serving Quebec if they want to avoid French content rules.

Which doesnt âoefixâ the underlying issue - the browser is leaking data about you against your knowledge and permission.

That sounds like a flaw in the browser. That should probably be fixed.

Most browsers have fixed it. Firefox, for example, uses software libraries that implement high precision math so every Firefox user ends up looking the same because the fingerprint you get comes back the same.

Safari does something different, and it adds random noise to the audio waveform so the same browser will continually report a different fingerprint every time it's run.

I believe Chromium simply blocks the script

Before Silicon Valley, a lot of tech was done in the East. It's why some of the biggest "tech" companies were based on the east - Kodak, for example. But other ones like IBM were based on the East Coast. And many early computer companies were started in the East.

The westward migration created Silicon Valley as companies like Fairchild and such created companies in the orange groves of California.

Well, I'm pretty sure your bank has a web interface, so you don't have to use the banking app to do your banking.

Your work auth app may be more complex - if it's TOTP, you might be able to export the seed and key and there are plenty TOTP generators. (It's also one of the easiest programming assignments to do so any competent programmer should be able to come up with something in under an hour without vibe coding). Unfortunately there are a few TOTP systems that make it extremely difficult to get the seed and key values to use a third party TOTP generator.

Your state legal filing app, well, I'm sure there's a web based version of that as well - I can't imagine the state restricting legal filings to owners of Android or Apple phones.

Now, the car sharing app might be more complex - I think most car sharing sites have regular websites so you can book them from the desk, but there is also a good possibility a lot of them are app only for no good reason. Though many do use app based "car keys" which use some NFC thing to control the car.

If the C code does something unsafe, how can it be machine-translated into safe Rust, without knowing the intention of the programmer?

The key word being "if".

There's a ton of C code out there, the vast majority of which doesn't do anything unsafe. Take say, Apache httpd - what unsafe thing would it do? It just forks, spits a file out over a socket and that's it. The most unsafe thing it does would be to run a plugin, but that's mostly handled by the dynamic loader.

In fact, most userspace code out there isn't really doing anything irrational or unsafe - they're using kernel interfaces to do the unsafe bits, and everything else is just system calls and library functions.

And even if you can't convert all code, you can protect most code. Never let perfect get in the way of good enough. The few bits of C code that need to exist because it's unsafe is much easier than millions of lines of C code that doesn't do unsafe stuff but can become unsafe in certain weird situations.

It's not just compensation. Compensation for electricians is quite high already - the problem is the ramp up to those levels is long tedious and hard.

Pay for apprentices is abysmally low - honestly, it's not much above McDonalds, and the physical strain and effort of the work is similar, if not more. (Which is why "join a trade" is not quite a solution - most trades are physically demanding jobs and unless you start in your 20s, you won't be able to do it in your 40s. But by then you should have enough to either be leading a bunch of apprentices or running your own business).

Also, the historic demand for transformers, breakers, and other such equipment has usually been sufficient to keep the few companies in business. If there's worldwide demand for say, 12 mega transformers a year, and everyone has surge capacity to produce say, 15 transformers a year, you don't invest in a new factory because demand is unlikely to change. Things like AI datacenters and such have driven the demand up - but it takes years to bring on new factories and they'd want a solid order book confirmed before they invest millions to make 15 transformers a year because if demand drops back down to 12, you're screwed because now you have a factory that isn't being used. And this stuff is custom manufactured so you can't even make a spare.

It's why Airbus and Boeing have 5-7+ years of orders for new aircraft (and likely closer to 10 for both). Ditto things like fabs - ASML is the only company to make it not because they're the only ones that can do it, but because they fill worldwide demand. A competitor starting up will need to make a case for competing in a segment where current production satisfies demand and future demand will not only increase, but stay increased to keep both companies viable because if demand suddenly drops, then it can be hard to get a return.

Right now the lead time on many parts is in the 4-5 year range, and it's hung around that for the past 4-5 years now showing production and demand is basically steady. Someone might be able to produce more but then orders are going to run out and now you've got no customers because you've emptied the queue.

You're not understanding the incentive structure that led to this state of affairs in the first place. To use USB would mean that they would have to do a ton of driver work. They would have to implement these generic control surfaces and they would have to ensure that their hardware does what the USB specs say it should. You'd end up with a USB RGB controller chip.

If you haven't noticed, RGB controller chips are a lot more electronically simple than that. They are small-project simple I/O-programmed chips running on simple control buses clearly designed and implemented in a hardware world of Arduinos and Raspis, GPIO buses, I2C, the old stuff. If you were around in the 1990s, you would recognize this immediately for what it is: the way things were done before NT, when DOS and Windows software frequently shoved the OS aside and ran on bare metal. In the late 90s as NT crept toward the home PC world, the impending loss of direct hardware access was one of the obvious compatibility issues visible on the horizon with the NT world-to-come, and the begrudging acceptance that this stuff was all "legacy" and we'll all have to drive our hardware like grownups in the future began.

There is a USB driver designed for simple things. It's called USB HID. And while "Human Interface Device" is actually very misleading because it's really a way to send things via USB that can be described as a report. And USB HID is a standard interface, because well, human interface devices use it. But also things like UPSes and anything else.

You want RGB control? HID provides a stupidly simple way to do it, and you don't need anything high speed.

Alternatively there are plenty of I2C busses on a PC - the modern chipset provides easily a half dozen serial-bus controllers which can be made into UARTs, I2C, SPI or other devices. You don't have to hang it off SMBus. It's just a minor BIOS tweak to initialize the chipset serial I/O controller to the right setting. The reason manufacturers don't like this option is they have to write a driver and getting it WHQL signed and all that. But the Intel and AMD chipsets likely have reference drivers.

If you're worried about costs, I'm sure there already is a USB RGB chip from some Chinese supplier. And likely a half dozen RPi Pico versions.

And likely why bother with RGB. There are USB to WSxxx addressible LED chips out there so you can control those addressible pixel LEDs from your computer

Heck, there are ESP32 projects where you can control those LED arrays over the network so you can have your room and PC dance the same 2way.

Oh and one more thing. Walmart could pull a "Winco Foods" and not accept Credit Card payments at all. In my area there's a Winco Foods about 30 miles from where I live. They only take debit cards, not credit cards. They do beat Walmart's prices so whenever I'm nearby, I take advantage of that.

Yes they could, but they'd lose out on a lot of money. Winco foods likely saw their average receipt size and realized most of their patrons could either do debit or cash. Being a grocery store, cash is likely a viable option if you're not doing big shopping trips and spending $20-40 a trip, and more for debit.

Walmart however does sell more expensive stuff that most people will not have cash for which can be expensive. Think video game consoles, TVs, etc. Limiting yourself to debit and cast would make those transactions very annoying.

It's why Costco always retains a credit card option - because they know cash and debit only get you so far. (And because debit protections are worse, I refuse to use debit, so it'll be cash only).

Sorry, no, any touch screen interaction is requiring you to look at what you are pointing at.

Which is fine when they're things you shouldn't be touching while the vehicle is in motion.

Other controls, like HVAC, radio volume and the phone answer button have to be real buttons you can access without looking. While the car is in motion, the touchscreen should disable itself and be a view-only thing - showing things like where you are on a map or what your next turn is. Anything you might need to adjust quickly should be a knob or button.

That means changing the radio station or media source - you do it while parked (it's not an emergency if your least favorite song comes on). But if you need to turn down the volume that is something you might need. As with answering a phone call. Texts and other things, not important enough to be done while in motion and if they text you, they aren't expecting an immediate response.

Ditto HVAC controls - defogger, A/C, heating, fan speeds and temperatures are stuff that need adjustment while moving to be comfortable whilst driving.

Nothing wrong with a touch screen. Just as long as the UX designers take into account that the screen should be view only while the car is in motion, and anything you might want to adjust must be available on a button. You shouldn't need to use the touch screen while driving.

And a large screen is nice - it can display a huge map, show driving information and other things without crowding out things. But it shouldn't need to be interacted with whilst in motion. Heck, why not toss in a couple of unprogrammed buttons so you can have the option of a few more adjustments you can program on your own. Maybe you might want bass boost or something. Or a quick "everything off" button that turns off climate control, radio, etc.

USE FUCKING FIBER.

Not hard, either. Because there's a cable you can use - the poewr lines. Fiber lines can go along with power lines quite neatly, and many power companies already have fiber network deployments. In fact, there are more than a few rural utilities where your electricity provider will also do fiber. (Typically GPON).

The power cable is being run to the house anyways, and the poewr company's portion is the triplex to the weatherhead. From there it can run down the weatherhead and end at the ONT. Fiber cables cannot carry power so running them along power cables is perfectly safe.

Mostly in the inaccuracy.

You can tell at best a "blob" walked between two endpoints that are participating in the monitoring network. You can't tell what that blob is, or even how big the blob is - you can guess based on how much distortion was caused, but telling the difference between a toddler and a dog would be impossible.

It requires a transmitter and a receiver to work. If you don't want to participate, all you have to do is not use their equipment. The gateway by itself is useless - you need their mesh network nodes and other stuff as well. And it only covers the path between the devices.

If you wanted to defeat this, you can either buy your own equipment - use your own mesh network nodes for example, or position it so the detection area just isn't somewhere you're likely to be (e.g., putting the mesh node on top of the gateway on the floor above).

Sure they could use better technology, but it relies on the body interfering with the wifi signal and better technology costs more money. It also requires a receiver capable of doing the requisite measurements and the monitored area is between the two devices. So it's basically trivially easy to defeat

People keep assuming the AI funnel is taking all their ram when the sad fact is that memory manufacturers simply stopped making desktop memory to use the raw materials on purpose built chips for data centers.

Well, it's not purpose built memory - it's HBM (high bandwidth memory), which is a standard thing AMD was heavily pushing for their GPUs.

But the fabs are being redirected from producing standard DDR5 memory to HBM memory because the AI companies are literally throwing money at the RAM companies "take my money!".

You know those eBay auctions you see where someone puts something up for sale at a ridiculous price? You know, someone wanting to sell it for $100 whilst they go for $50 normally? They don't sell and just sit around. But the AI companies are going "I need it now, I'll pay $100!". And prices rise because everyone sees those sales happening at those ridiculous prices.

The whole term "base load" was invented to justify inflexible nuclear power plants. It is not special and the trifecta of wind, sun and batteries can provide it just fine.

Exactly. "Base Load" is a fallacy. Nuclear suffers the exact same problem as wind and solar. In fact, the industry has a term for it - it's called "non-dispatchable".

The term means a power source whose output cannot be synced to a load. If you turn on a light, the power plant needs to supply extra power for that light. And wind, solar and nuclear cannot do that.

Wind and solar are obvious why, but nuclear is also problematic because it takes hours to change its output.

Dispatchable sources include fossil fuel (natural gas especially), hydro, heliostat solar, as well as storage technologies (grid battery). These can vary their output in minutes which as far as the grid is concerned, sufficiently fast. Battery is especially fast and can react in under a second which can fix sudden grid lopsidedness.

Nuclear advocates want it, and it makes sense. But it's just another source of power that cannot be controlled. Grid batteries make nuclear more practical, the same way they make solar and wind more practical. Because it's actually a disaster if grid demand drops below what a nuclear plant is producing - you cannot shut down a nuclear plant and a grid with too much production will also shut down to protect itself.

Of course, the other problem with nuclear is heatwaves, as we've seen Europe struggle with production through their heatwaves when cooling water that is too warm to use, jellyfish, and other things. And remember, European nuclear power is far more modern than US nuclear so it's not old designs or anything.

So the US can have more nuclear power, that's no question as its deployment is far lower than Europe, but it's no panacea because the US can suffer with nuclear power the same way Europe does.