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Comment article lies (Score 1, Insightful) 83

"They run as a rectangular banner at the bottom — part of a widget that also shows news, the weather and a calendar. "

False, they run in an optional screen saver, not when the display is being used for interaction. It's not a "widget", it's a screen saver, and only a transitional one.

"...and that overall pushback has been negligible."

Right, because the ads run in a screen saver, and no one sees the screen saver. They've walked away already.

"Bosworth thinks it's wrong to take away the new feature as a condition."

The screen saver is NOT a "new feature", and most users aren't aware it exists. I personally have not seen it.

"Wanting to keep the widget but not the ads..."

He wants to see an animation for 2 minutes before his screen goes dark? After he's done using the fridge? Please.

"He hasn't seen another since."

I've never seen one at all. That's because I use the fridge and then leave, just like everyone else.

"One 27-year-old plans to return his refrigerator after the entire display "lit up with a full-screen ad for Apple TV's sci-fi show Pluribus," according to the article. The all-caps ad beckoned him "with an oft-used refrain directed at protagonist Carol Sturka: 'We're Sorry We Upset You, Carol.'""

Doubt it. This article is really trying to lie to you.

Comment Code review is not what AI is being sold as (Score 1) 20

There's nothing wrong with using AI tools to review code and identify issues, real humans will review those issues and solutions after all. It's a far cry from what the AI industry claims AI tools will be useful for, specifically writing all the code in the first place.

Writing good code requires creativity, hard work and accountability; reviewing code is all over the map, it doesn't require creativity and does not come with accountability. Sounds like something AI might be suited for.

Comment Re:The fusion delusion strikes again (Score 2) 42

Another reason is that if you send someone up there for roughly a year just to get there

With a working fusion rocket you won't have to coast most of the way, and the journey can be significantly shorter. It's right there in the summary: "from months to just a few weeks". Though I doubt that this company will build an actual fusion rocket motor anytime soon, if ever.

Comment Re:The Mac Pro died in 2019 (Score 1) 90

Apple has never offered a product that justified a large chassis. It used to be lots of slots, hard drives and other storage that justified it. Macs have never been about that, and those days are long gone.

"...used to be a reasonably affordable machine for the capabilities it offered."

No, for the reasons above. Macs never offered these capabilities before and doesn't now. Apple's vision has always been a "Studio", a "trash can", the big desk side chassis with 4 hard drive bays never made sense.

Comment Bye bye Wikipedia (Score -1, Flamebait) 31

Wikipedia is choosing to die. There is a lot wrong with a lot of what people are doing with GenAI but it is also super useful.

Even on for authors, of encyclopedia articles, and this notihing wrong with telling ChatGTP to, "take this list of bullets and write it up as a paragraph."

Nor is there anything wrong with asking it to make a diagram of some process etc.

Someone else is going to clone wikipedia and the authorship will no doubt migrate to where they are allowed to use contemporary tooling.

Comment Re:Republicans are trying to privatize it (Score 1) 200

Doing stuff like requiring them to fund pension plans 30 years into the future

Imagine expecting an organization to have real plan and concrete assets in place to meet their defined benefit contractual obligations to employees.

I mean they should be able to use rosy predictions about asset performance and when it does not work just dump the bill on the taxpayers like state and local pension funds for teachers, police, etc do! Or maybe they should be like the cool kids in corporate American declare bankruptcy, sell all the assets to an other entity that just happens to be owned by the same people and again leave the problem to the tax payers with PBGC..

despite the fact that they are a government service

Nope congress is required to establish a post office but the post office is not an agency, constitutionally I suppose it could be but the model is more like Fanny/Freddie. Congress takes a supervisory role.

Comment Re:I think SCOTUS were concerned about a trap (Score 3, Insightful) 91

Indeed, which raises the question especially in the cause of this court's prevailing theory that the law should be read in the context of Congresses other positions at the time, if PLCAA's existence should imply the congress did not believe liability would not extend to product manufacturers otherwise.

This is the right decision here, because to decide any otherway really would invite chaos. I mean what if drive some nails partly into a baseball bat, and beat someone half to death, are the hardware and sporting goods stores liable, how about the manufactures of the bat and of the nails, there is no rational place to draw any lines, except around the principle actor who formed the intent to do the unlawful act.

Comment yes yes lasers (Score 0) 312

Yes there are some laser counter measures being tested, but there is no way we are going to be able to reliably swat down handfuls of these things arriving on target at once.

Once they are cheap enough and China decides they are willing to sell them to anti-western regimes, the era of the air-craft carrier as a means of force projection is over. It won't be possible to park anything that big in hostile waters, at least without total sat-nav jamming in effect.

Everyone one bitching about Iran right now, needs to realize this was the final opportunity to leverage our force projection capabilities to break the back of adversary that has thwarted our policy efforts in the Middle East for decades. Yes its a mess, but the world is going to become a much much scarier place, where the Pax Americana cannot but sustained, and taking Iran out of it as a major power before that happens makes it just a little less scary.

Of course Trump and Hegseth will never say this because it is not raw-raw USA! Its not flex, so they can't admit it. Reality is though any regime that can scrape together a few million to buy some handfuls of missiles will be able to bite their thumb to any "Super Power" they wish.. Asymmetric warfare will now be so asymmetric no military budget however out sized will over come it.

Comment The new MAD? (Score 1) 312

In the 70s and 80s, the threat from a handful of countries was: "We can destroy everything". With developments in Russia, Ukraine, Iran and now China, the new doctrine is: "We can destroy anything"... and that's not just from a few large states, but potentially other actors who are both willing to send these things, and do not greatly have to fear retaliation.

Comment Re:Touch ID (Score 1) 78

Dude this is China, not the USA or West.

You do something like that in the West you probably get some charge of obstruction, possibly held without bond instead of released a protracted ordeal in terms of hearings and trial.

Depending on what you're hiding that might indeed be a good or even great trade, should it actually destroy critical evidence against you in an innocent until proven guilty situation. You go to prison for your process crime for a bit and then get on with your life.

If you do this in China you might well disappear. This is a critical difference that really can't be understated in importance.

Comment Re:Touch ID (Score 1) 78

That is covered by the "providing false or misleading information" clause. In other countries it might be considered "destruction of or tampering with evidence". Around here, you can't be compelled to provide passwords to your personal devices, but providing a burn-down pin or otherwise deleting information after the police have asked for it, is a crime.

As for Touch ID or Face ID: in many places you can be compelled to unlock your phone with your fingerprint, or they can simply hold it up to your face in case of Face ID. Most phones have a shortcut to lock out biometrics and revert to password/PIN only, comes in handy if you're stopped by police and you suspect it's not just a traffic stop. (On iPhones it's 5 clicks of the side button. That also starts a call to 911 / 112 so make sure to cancel that).

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