First A, then B? Bricks are sturdier than fascists.

Reduce, re-use, recycle.

They probably try to keep the normal users out, so that their spy-ware infested normal version is still the default for most of the users.

Either that or they didn’t remove the crud but replaced it with AI crud that needs the RAM.

Oh, I just singled them out because they are big offenders and completely unnecessary in general.

You already can get from A to B without them, the only usage they have is to save rich people time and the indignation of traveling with the poor.

I’m not against the abolition of the plastic straw. It’s a step in the right direction. But if you look around in a supermarket and count the plastic on the shelves…

The plastic straw ban was a drop in the ocean, a symbolic act, a propaganda piece without addressing the heart of the problem.

What would have been a real solution? Make plastic more expensive, for example by introducing a tax going towards research for a solution and subsidizing plastic alternatives.

Why wasn’t something like that done before? It would cost money, and rich doners control the politicians.

So we get performative actions only - rolled back by the next government of course.

Oh, I’m not saying that there are no activists anymore, just that the corporations successfully distracted large parts of the population by shifting blame to the consumers.

One of the most brilliant (and evil) tricks that big corporations have used is to shift the blame for climate change to normal people: just recycle, don’t use plastic straws, and buy our CO₂-neutral products, and everything will be fine!

While not unimportant, it’s a very small change compared to the pollution of corporations and private jets. It’s easy for them to pay lip service to the environment while the real pollution goes on unimpeded.

Environmentally inclined people feel like they do something and don’t rally against the real problem. They just have to convince everyone to live like they do and the environment will be saved!

There is also the ‘jagged frontier’ that can throw you off. The AI will solve hard problems for you, and you think, “Wow, it is more useful than I thought,” and then it gets absolutely stumped on a simple problem: completely stuck and unable to continue. If you are not a developer yourself, but just a vibe coder, you will be stuck there with your AI, with no solution.

Might be a couple of reasons. Corvid, economic downturn, political turmoil. People are just more stressed - and rightfully so, as the world is a clown show, currently.

I think I was around 26 when I started working.

Well, that really varies from person to person, doesn’t it?

My 30s were worse than my 20s.

Having to work full-time sucks.

It might be different for people who love their job or for those who are rich enough not to worry about work at all, but for me, the time when I had to work full-time was more or less the end of the ‘good times’.

Don’t Be Evil

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StrawmanHasAPoint

Leads to

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KickTheDog

If he had just implemented the list as a default that anyone could edit, he would have gotten pretty much what he wanted. I mean, some people would have edited the list, some would have deleted the list, but most people are lazy or uninformed and would have simply accepted the default.

To be fair, they all could have gotten the sword after siring an heir.

What better time is there to go on birth control than after you have the right amount of kids?

Kenobi could just be a common name, like looking for a John Smith. Also, with multiple planets full of people, there could be thousands of ‘Kenobi,’ even if the name is not common.

Then why haven’t we heard about all the criminals (pedophiles, terrorists,…) being caught by Microsoft surveillance? Because they don’t care about the crimes you do. Their tracking is for money making only.

If I were a criminal I would not bank on it - they might use it for blackmail, too - but for the most part they are not in danger.

That sounds serious, but I wonder what it is that OpenAI wants from Apple? Currently they are mostly on the software side and Apple’s secrets more on the hardware side.

Is it for the rumored physical AI thing they wanted to build?

Have you heard about “Tokenmaxxing”?

Since many AI companies didn’t have a reasonable limit on the number of tokens for the amount of money you paid, companies started telling their employees to use as many tokens as possible. LLMs improve with more tokens (although there are diminishing returns).

So users tried to exploit the ‘lure offer’, and AI companies had to change the billing. It’s still below the real cost, but no longer this insanely expensive option.

They tried to sell a nothing burger.

What did they offer? A boring VR world.

They should have tried to copy a known hit game to VR, like Minecraft, Sims, Second Life, or any of the popular shooter games… Of course, with enough changes not to get sued.

After a successful start and a loyal player base, the chatrooms and monetization might have worked.

I was also thinking about buying it, but I want my phone to be my phone.

I actually use my browser from time to time. What is the use of a phone if you need a “backup phone” just to look something up?

Also, their reasoning for blocking the browser is absurd: “you could use the browser to access social media.” I don’t use TikTok, Instagram, X, or the like, so why do I need to be nannied?