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Comment Re:Free vs Paid? (Score 1) 39

What can the paid version do that the free can't? I asked Gemini to set up an email vacation reply for me, and it couldn't do that, so what can it do?

I installed the VSCode version because why not? I already primarily use Gemini for anything where I want code generated. It just does a better job with some of the esoteric JS stuff I work with.

It's nice to have it right in the IDE, to be able to easily reference files as context, and less prone to weirdness from copypasta. All in all, I'll happily just use the plugin for most stuff.

Requires auth from Google, and signing into a new service (which may be counter to goals of some folks reading this). But I'm glad I installed it and I'd be sad if they yanked it. But it's Google, they yank everything.

YMMV, depending on what kind of code you're working with.

Sony

Submission + - Sony in talks to buy Ericsson out of phone venture (reuters.com)

PolygamousRanchKid writes: (Reuters) — Sony Corp is in talks to buy out Ericsson's stake in their mobile phone joint venture, a source said, in a bid to catch up with rivals. The move could help Sony recoup ground in the battle against Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics, where it has been hampered by its disparate offerings of mobile gadgets and online content.

The joint venture, formed in 2001, thrived after its breakthroughs with Walkman music phones and Cybershot cameraphones, both of which leveraged Sony's brands. But it lost out to bigger rivals Nokia and Samsung at the cheaper end of the market, and was late to react to Apple's entry into the high-end of the market. It has refocused its business to make smartphones using Google's Android platform, but has dropped to No. 9 in global cellphone rankings from No. 4 just a few years ago.

Comment Re:Some things are just for fun (Score 1) 238

When I mentioned that "He used a lighter" , I should have elaborated. Making fire is HARD .. and would be stone age 'Franklins' might have been discouraged before actually completing an experiment that led to something useful due to a lack of dexterity.

Or, they would have seen a more immediate need .. "Making this hot stuff has GOT to be easier!", hence the flint.

Comment Some things are just for fun (Score 1) 238

Yes, we could have used electricity at almost any point in time. We could have made telegraphs, but most likely, we would have realized just how hot things became during experiments and put the knowledge to a more immediate need and use.

If I traveled back in time to the age where fire was still novel and needed some form of mass communication, I would quickly rule out electricity as a tenable solution.

I might use a system of vines, smoke signals or other more practical solutions, just as our ancestors did.

The spin on TFA was bad, but that doesn't make it uninteresting. The ramifications of our ancestors discovering things earlier, or in a different order does make for entertaining thought. Try not to focus on things like:

- He used a lighter
- He had plenty to eat, so he had time to experiment (he was not addressing an immediate need)
- He may have been cold, but wasn't trying to solve that problem (sort of redundant, but worth mentioning)
- He was not distracted by other marvels that we see as commonplace, such as other uses for clay and fire .. the list goes on

Still, while the video might be silly, the thinking behind it is worth a cup of coffee and consideration.

Input Devices

Brain-Control Gaming Headset Launching Dec. 21 112

An anonymous reader writes "Controlling computers with our minds may sound like science fiction, but one Australian company claims to be able to let you do just that. The Emotiv device has been garnering attention at trade shows and conferences for several years, and now the company says it is set to launch the Emotiv EPOC headset on December 21. PC Authority spoke to co-founder Nam Do about the Emotiv technology and its potential as a mainstream gaming interface." One wonders what kind of adoption they expect with a $299 price tag.
Medicine

Apple Voiding Smokers' Warranties? 1078

Mr2001 writes "Consumerist reports that Apple is refusing to work on computers that have been used in smoking households. 'The Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, [the warranty has been voided] and they refuse to work on the machine "due to health risks of second hand smoke,"' wrote one customer. Another said, 'When I asked for an explanation, she said [the owner of the iMac is] a smoker and it's contaminated with cigarette smoke, which they consider a bio-hazard! I checked my Applecare warranty and it says nothing about not honoring warranties if the owner is a smoker.' Apple claims that honoring the warranty would be an OSHA violation. (Remember when they claimed enabling 802.11n for free would be a Sarbanes-Oxley violation?)"

Comment I'm sick of being underestimated (Score 4, Insightful) 314

Why, oh why does everyone at Intel think that people just want to 'surf the web' with whatever they happen to invent? You invent freaking brain implants and the first obvious use becomes surfing the web?

It could not be ... `write code` or `use photoshop` or .. anything even remotely challenging to a human brain?

Ah well.

Comment Re:So when is SCO going to Die (Score 1) 458

I guess the question is when is SCO going to die? I know it is close to Halloween but this is one zombie that needs a bullet in the head!!

I honestly thought they would be gone within a year of hitting the pink sheets. Right now they're on the we-may-actually-own-the-copyright-to-unix-after-all respirator, I'm just waiting for someone to pull the plug on that one.

I think most people expected them to be existentially challenged at this point .. yet they keep on living.

Comment Re:As usual, correlation is not... (Score 2, Interesting) 258

IF you have health problem, or a weak immunitary system, then you are likely to have had flu shots in the past, AND you are likely to catch swine flu now that a shot for it does not exist yet. So nothing particularly stunning here.

Though it isn't exactly spelled out in TFA, I would _hope_ that their conclusion was drawn after noticing the trend in ordinary / normally healthy people. I think what they mean is, ordinary / healthy people who get the flu shot seem to be twice as likely to contract Swine Flu.

Not a lot of information regarding the study itself is in the TFA, unfortunately. Most of the article just states current and potential ramifications.

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