Does anyone doubt for a second that Trump would nuke the country if he was promised godhood by an advanced alien race?

Greenland would've been it, because doing so would fracture NATO. Section 5 has only been used once in NATO's entire history (i.e., come to the defence of a NATO ally) - by the USA, on 9/11.

That would be a minor war, but it may be te war that starts a precursor to WWIII because Russia would probably take advantage of a distracted Europe to cause some chaos along their borders, China sees the US as distracted to invade Taiwan and basically all hell breaks loose.

I was wondering if the 5.15 LTS being valid until 2023 was a typo in the summary, but if it was released in 2022 it does make sense.

Though these days I would've also questioned why use a 5.x kernel in 2026 when there are newer 6.12 which is LTS I believe.

The thing to note is this is 2026, and we have full IDEs in web browsers, so the need to download, install, or do anything that modifies your computer is basically nil

My present employer needed to do a coding test, and they had one set up on one of these sites. It presents a text editor with the function you write, and you write it. You can then click the green arrow to run the program with the test cases and see the results. If you make a syntax error, the compiler output is shown. They even say to try their practice test which runs through the whole thing to make sure your browser settings work and to get familiar with the system. Once you're ready, you click go and the real test starts - they tell you how long you need to set aside for a distraction-free test.

Once you click go, if the test passes, you can submit your code, do another question or revise your code some more.

All you need is a web browser to do the test. Gets rid of any issues you might run into - environment (sure most people use Windows, but what if your recruit is using a Mac? Or LInux?), licensing (if you want the user to debug code, you might need to license tools for doing so, or if you use Visual Studio, they need a license), etc.,

In person tests? Well, that's what laptops are for - you provide them a base set up laptop with all the tools set up and let them have a go at it.

These days I'm wary of anything that requires a download. I needed a TFTP server a few months ago, and had a heck of a time trying to get copyparty set up on my Linux machine. Oddly it worked on my Windows work PC, so I ran it there. I went with copyparty because it's an open source does-every-file-sharing-protocol-known-to-man server, rather than daring to try one of the many Windows TFTP server programs out there

Even my shell account in the mid 90s they had EDITOR default to "pico" (the UW editor that the "nano" GNU clone was based off of, part of the UW pine email client). That way if you needed to edit something they would default to a simple easy to use editor.

I never really learned vi until the early 2000s when I got fed up with emacs. I know the very basics at the time (like how to quit), but I never truly learned it until IBM came out with their vim tutorial which I then supplemented with vimtutor.

Of course, the problem now is I have to set everything to vim-mode, and anyone trying to drive my VS Code gets frustrated because it's got VIm mode installed.

The start is also electronically controlled - push button start where the computer starts the engine is remarkably efficient at getting the engine going quick. You don't really crank a pushbuttong start engine - it just barely turns and its running. I'm sure the computer is basically goosing the spark and mixture to get an easy start within half a turn or something.

That also means the starter gets used hardly at all.

I mean, I remember cranking for 3-5 seconds to start an engine, the modern start-stop systems have the engine going in a few hundred milliseconds. You lift your foot off the brake and the engine is started and running before you hit the gas.

But yes, the computer monitors everything - if the engine takes longer to start up because of a weak battery, you're more likely to get a code thrown at you to replace the battery long before you worry about the start-stop dying on you.

It also breaks back button functionality. If you scroll down a long list, then click a link, then go back, chances are it won't scroll to where you were, but just the beginning. And then you'd have to scroll back down again reloading pages along the way.

Pagination is a good thing.

When Admiral John Poyndexter originally proposed a stock market for violence, terrorism, and conflicts, as a means to "predict" them, absolutely everyone pointed out that you'd get the equivalent of insider trading by terrorists, warlords, and psychopaths. Which is precisely what we're seeing.

Funny enough, once they allowed sports betting, it started happening as well. And many players got in on the scam to rig the betting and they'd get a cut of the proceeds if they agreed to tank their stats or fake an injury.

The sports leagues claim they are clamping down on it, and have sued many players for participation, but you can bet it's far bigger and the corruption extends way deeper They're only able to detect the tip of the iceberg bets - the really odd bets where suspicious betting patterns come into play like a quiet bet suddenly gets a huge influx of bettors. I'm sure they're missing all the quieter schemes and you can bet all the games are basically rigged.

What I get here from my ISP (Europe) is a fiber that will serve one IP via DHCP and route that. I have to supply a GBX (optical terminator) and whatever I want on my side.

Most Fiber ISPs in the US do the same. Though they will usually supply the GPON or other adapter directly as these usually just plug into an SFP/SFP+ port. It should be noted these SFP modules are actually self contained modems and many have their own CPU and RAM to manage the connection.

A regular layer 3 router requires very little memory...
But once you add kludges like NAT the requirements go up a lot.
Many consumer routers also have other features - vpn connections, web servers, file servers etc. All of this adds to the system requirements. Yes they should be on their own devices, but many users don't realise this and just go for the higher numbers / more checkboxes.

NAT doesn't require that much memory. Certainly you can handle 64K connections with 128MB of it, and Linux certainly has been doing it for decades. You give a router 1GB or more (common) and it's basically got more memory than it knows what to do with it. Even the ancient WRT54G was capable of a decent number of connections and it only had 4-8MB of RAM.

Routers are like smart TVs. They're tossing features in like VPNs and such because there's more CPU and RAM available and it's not like they can cut down on either. Though with shortages, they may start to, but it's not going to impact basic functionality in any way.

Android phones have supported ipv6 natively since 4.2 (2012). So unless you are rocking the OG droid or a Nexus One your phone probably does support it.

I can't speak to how woefully outdated your work network may be though.

Every mobile device supporting LTE and 5G support IPv6. It's required as that's the only protocol supported by those systems. The carrier though, may not allow IPv6 traffic through and use CGNAT to get you onto the internet. Finding out which carriers do support IPv6 out is tricky and often the only way is to subscribe and try to see if you can make an IPv6 connection.

Heck, it might not even be a direct IPv6 connection either, and also be NAT'ted to IPv6 just to make routing easier. Mobile IP is a really tricky thing - when you roam you actually get an IP address assigned from your home provider and your packets are tunnelled through to your carrier

Well, the Ford guy toured the Chinese companies, got scared, and decided that it's a good time to squeeze the automakers for the last dregs of profits. Before they go down for good.

Meanwhile, Africa and Asia are getting flooded by Chinese EVs. That are now superior to gas cars on price and reliability. And that can be charged from local solar, not depending on imported gas. The cheapest Chinese EVs are now less than $10k, and you can get a very reasonable EV for $15k.

It's amazing seeing the entire industry self-destructing before our eyes.

And Trump might be the cause for them to come into North America. Because of Trump's Terrific Tariffs, Canada was forced to find new trading partners, and China, as the #2 customer, was next on the list to fix trade issues. And now Chinese EVs are on the way to Canada. Where they might get a foothold and attract US consumer attention when they travel to Canada.

People are predicting doom and gloom for Canada - but the Canadian auto industry was basically just Canadian branches of US automakers, or spare capacity to build models their other factories cannot because they're too busy. Many of the GM ones are shutting down, leaving them ripe for Chinese takeover and investment and suddenly we have Made in Canada Chinese cars.

Or Spotify has simply laid off their best developers and replaced them with AI.

Or Spotify has gone to crap and no one gives a damn because Spotify blames all their problems on Apple Music Monopoly.

Or Spotify is trying to cash in on AI hype money while they still can.

Or Spotify's developers were on vacation since December. They're in Europe, so they get like 2 months of vacation, right?

Or Spotify just hasn't done anything that requires code changes in 2 months. The backend systems are mature and the APIs work, etc. Web/front end developers might not be best developers - I know companies that just hire junior developers to do web front end stuff because they're likely to have knowledge on the latest frameworks and it's just providing a view into an already stable backend.

Then again, wasn't Spotify the one whose entire music database was ripped and uploaded last month?

This isn't quite the same. A video tape does not block or impede traffic if you don't rewind it. An autonomous car with it's door(s) open does. For these systems to be successful, they need to be able to self correct for errors, including doors left open.

And closing doors isn't easy. Because there's a lot of things that can go wrong and you still can end up with a stuck car.

Basically, you can try to close the door, but then you have to handle the case where there's something holding it open. Elevators have sensors and they sound loud alarms when their doors have obstructions. Garage doors have sensors that cause the door to reverse direction and reopen on obstruction. On a sunny day this can make closing the door hard at certain times.

Now, you can also incentivize people by not only billing the person who didn't close the door, but also rewarding someone nearby with a free trip at the previous person's expense. If you see a Waymo with its door open and no one inside, wouldn't a free ride anywhere it can go be a nice incentive to use it (and close the door at the same time)? All billed to the previous user. Of course, you need a Waymo account to use it (in case YOU leave the door open), but hey. Or maybe you can get credit for a free ride if you do "the nice thing" and close the door. Either a full ride, or a credit for like $5 for closing the door. (You can't make it a free ride later on as the offender might close their account, but you can draw out that $5 then and there).

The problem is that's how it's being sold.

Ring themselves have shut off the surveillance tap for LEOs. However, they partnered with Flock Safety, a company in the news about their license plate reading cameras. And Ring shares video with Flock.

Flock does allow warrantless access of video data with LEOs, so they're getting access to the Ring network indirectly.

And Amazon has to sell this to cusomters as a "lost pet detector". There's ways to protect your pet - get them tattooed, get them chipped, put an AirTag on them (lots of collars and accessories that will hold an AirTag for your pet). They even make GPS collars. When a pet is turned into a shelter, they scan for any ID information - chip, tattoo, AirTag, even a rabies or license or an ID tag. Most pets that are lost and end up in the shelter are reunited this way, and ones that don't have any of it end up as rescues. Granted, collars can be taken off, which is why tattoos and chips are still important as they're implanted. And yes, get your pet licensed as it's yet another database to be searched if someone finds your pet.

The only reason this exists is to sell the public on surveillance. "Enable 24/7 surveillance of your neighborhood so we can see lost pets" (and spy on your neighbors and your street).

How much trust can you have in any data coming out of the current USA government these days?

Should be none.

But look at the numbers - no job growth? Trump is boasting the economy is better than ever and jobs are plentiful. The fact the BLS is reporting that no jobs were created goes against what Dear Leader is saying. Which means likely Dear Leader needs to pick a new chief of BLS. The old one was fired because she refused to make the numbers look better.

Remember, Dear Leader keeps saying the economy is booming and jobs are easy to get. A department saying otherwise generally would be going against it.

I would doubt the numbers if it said jobs grew at 10% in 2025, because that contradicts the numbers that were being reported by the BLS until she got fired.

There are still some people that care and they're still reporting accurate numbers. (BLS is another one of those "nerd agencies" where people who join them have doctorates in mathematics).

Another thing to check would be to see what happens to the BLS - if news comes where people are getting fired, then you know likely the numbers are real.