If it's school-issued, then they aren't repurposed old laptops, so that everyone is on the same platform.

Indeed: what does it matter if the kids are running google docs or Office-365 on a Macbook Neo?

I'm old enough to remember when most schools had a "computer lab", and every box was an Apple IIe.

It's pretty clear that the current US Government doesn't give too fucks about the care and feeding of the golden goose that is basic science. Too many uncomfortable answers to difficult questions, perhaps. Too many questions, period. And definitely too many of 'those people'. Technology companies are good - 'cause we love money - but the research that makes them possible is way too speculative, and why should we pay for that, anyway?

But the rest of the world recognizes the value, and sees an opportunity in luring away top researchers. This story about the TMT is only kinda related - the issues in Hawaii go back a long way - but goes to show that Europe, Canada, Japan, China, are perfectly happy to put up money to get that talent.

Jeeze, why all the hate for Nic Cage on this thread? IMDb lists 120 actor credits. There's crap in there, for sure. There's also a decent measure of so-bad-it's-good-at-least-for-entertainment-purposes. But there's also Leaving Las Vegas (oscar for best actor), Adaptation (oscar nominee for best actor), Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Pig, Lord of War, .... You can't find anything worthwhile in there?

The sales manager must have been a film studies major and, when it became obvious he'd never actually become an actor, took on being a sales manager to eke a living. But film studies doesn't teach you much about that, so he thought back and tried to find a model for how to do the job. His solution: Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. I can picture it now: "you gotta have brass balls to sell internet service."

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon:

The longer the key you are trying to generate, the longer this takes. Randy is trying to generate one that is ridiculously long. He has pointed out to Avi, in an encrypted e-mail message, that if every particle of matter in the universe could be used to construct one single cosmic supercomputer, and this computer was put to work trying to break a 4096-bit encryption key, it would take longer than the lifespan of the universe.

“Using today’s technology,” Avi shot back, “that is true. But what about quantum computers? And what if new mathematical techniques are developed that can simplify the factoring of large numbers?”

“How long do you want these messages to remain secret?” Randy asked, in his last message before leaving San Francisco. “Five years? Ten years? Twenty-five years?”

After he got to the hotel this afternoon, Randy decrypted and read Avi's answer. It is still hanging in front of his eyes, like the after image of a strobe:
I want them to remain secret for as long as men are capable of evil.

When matchsticks are heavily tariffed, only arsonists will have matchsticks.

"Industrial Revolutionar"

The what now?

Y'all are lazy trash..

"Industrial Revolutionary"

The what now?

Y'all are lazy trash..

> it's amazing how little we know about what happened.

Agreed. This is definitely a PR stunt. Nothing but red flags in this PR (public relations vs press release, either way, lies to sell you more shit).

wine macos support is dead dead dead.

TFS: "GM said between 30% and 40% of eligible owners continue paying after their included three-year Super Cruise subscription expires." That's more than a small percentage.

On the flip side, it means that 60-70% - well more than half - aren't continuing. They also don't define what "eligible owners" means.

You've owned five phones in the last six years? Either you're lying in saying you've never had issues, or you've not had any one phone long enough for issues to show up. That's like saying "my car's never had issues - I buy a new one every year!"

I wonder what a modern-day sequel to Repo Man would look like today. The ground for social commentary and absurdism is more fertile than ever! We can get Harry Dean Stanton back, right?

That's cool and all. Samsung has done a lot to develop their foldable screens, and it's nice to see them playing around with the form factor.

On the other hand, MSRP $1899?! I don't think I'd be willing to pay even 1/3 that for my next phone. Plus: although the foldable tech is neat in demos, Samsung probably hasn't eliminated the crease problem, nor the fact that the screen's surface is very scratchable plastic. I guess capitalism is gonna do it's thing, and there'll be some folks that'll eat this up. I just won't be one of 'em.