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AT&T Wireless launches free iPhone 8 promotion (https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/06/05/att-wireless-launches-free-iphone-8-promotion)
AT&T Wireless is dropping the price of the iPhone 8 by $20 per month, making it free on AT&T Next with a qualifying plan. With the iPhone 8 supporting Apple's upcoming iOS 13, this is a great way to scoop up a highly capable phone without forking over a lot of cash.
Hrm. Worth switching to AT&T for? :/
I think I'll have to tackle that question eventually anyway. Sprint and AT&T have better coverage out in the boonies near our hometown.
WickerBill
06-15-19, 09:18 PM
https://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Apple-iPhone-7-Unlocked-Certified-Preloved/22571957/product.html?AID=10712286&PID=1225267&SID=f594caa28fd311e98368ce95ad32fc490INT
iPhone 7, unlocked, $168. Currently oscillating between in stock and out of stock.
Present phone is a 128 gb iPhone 7. Works great. I will replace it when the new phones are released in 2020, most likely with the previous year’s model when they discount it. Not interested in buying a $1k phone which seems to be the new norm for Apple if you want state of the art.
Lux Interior
06-15-19, 10:18 PM
I?m still using an older model. Works well.
https://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Apple-iPhone-7-Unlocked-Certified-Preloved/22571957/product.html?AID=10712286&PID=1225267&SID=f594caa28fd311e98368ce95ad32fc490INT
iPhone 7, unlocked, $168. Currently oscillating between in stock and out of stock.
Out right now. Best Buy has the 8 for 24x$20.83 (~$500). As much as I hate payments I'm tempted to wander in there sometime this week and confirm I can bring it back and throw it at them if I hate it.
Am I right in thinking that I should go ahead and create an "Apple ID" so I don't have someone trying to create one for me?
I've been watching iPhone 8 pricing and hoping that there would be some kind of big July 4th sale through a no hassle outlet (Best Buy, Apple, or Verizon, basically). No such luck. Best deal right now for Verizon is that BB has the XR at the same price as the 8. The XR is 1/4" bigger than my current phone which I really didn't want to go larger than, but it does have much better battery life than the 8. I may go this weekend to see if it fits in my stubby hands.
WickerBill
07-05-19, 08:34 AM
I'm really interested in this. I can't wait for your trial period to see how you acclimate.
I think I really need to reiterate that I'm a cheapskate and I want nothing to do with this Apple "premium" hardware nonsense.
Unless of course I went to Best Buy and decided that I didn't want to downsize my screen with the iPhone 8 but also I didn't want to upsize my phone for the iPhone XR. A phone should fit in your hand well enough to operate one handed.
Ah, but the iPhone XS. Screen bigger than my Moto but no bigger in size. Heck, on sale it's only $360 more than the not on sale 8 or $200 more than the on sale XR. I played with it for 15 minutes and had figured out most of the Apple secret handshake gestures. The capper was the running apps carousel and "throw away" gestures which are lifted directly from WebOS. When Apple innovates, they steal from the best.
So I decided that I'll just put off updating my laptop a while longer to offset the cost and I took it home. Missy is now concerned that I'll sprout a man bun and facial hair but I'm too contrarian to fall for that foolishness.
Things were a bit bumpy out of the box because Apples app for migrating from Android to IOS is garbage. Not only does it only work during the initial phone setup, according to the reviews it rarely works at all. That was my experience in spite of what I'd call fairly capable troubleshooting skills.
Never mind, I really only need my contacts moved and that was accomplished by exporting my contacts to VCF format, mailing it to myself, and then opening on my phone. The phone imported all the contacts and then it easy to clean them up on the iClouds.
Getting everything else setup was not bad. The key thing was accepting that I shouldn't try to figure things out. Apples version of "intuitive" has never been intuitive to me so trying to figure things out through trial and error is just an exercise in frustration. Once I look something up and find the answer it hasn't been too bad. I'm not sure Android is any better in this regard for new users.
IOS is much more constrained on how you can arrange apps and widgets which seems a bit archaic. With a screen 5.5 inches tall it's silly having all the apps stacked at the *top* of the screen. Looks like there's no built-in solution for this. The "reachability" feature helps but I'd have to use it all the time. Looks like I'll have to find and app.
So far I love the privacy focus. I would never trust Android facial recognition. Apple assures that the data stays on the phone. So I'm using it and it's great. Some of the apps I use on Android that were very insistent about needing location data on Android seem to know that they can't get away with that on IOS. The option of providing the data only while the app is running and making that much more transparent really helps.
I'm undecided on whether to enable Siri. I may try it only with button activation. They still collect a lot of data for that which goes to the iClouds. More research required, I think.
So far I'm pleased. I don't see any reason why it won't do just fine. It ought to at that price. :gomer:
You’ll be upgrading every year :p :D
WickerBill
07-07-19, 01:40 PM
Yeah, welcome to the lesser of two evils, in my opinion.
I'm 6f4i tall and have large hands and use reachability constantly. I do have the XS Max though, but I used it on my regular sized 6S too.
It keeps nagging me about setting "Do Not Disturb" while driving. If I set that do texts still come through to Sync3?
WickerBill
07-08-19, 09:39 PM
It keeps nagging me about setting "Do Not Disturb" while driving. If I set that do texts still come through to Sync3?
I don't know because I turned that nag off immediately
datachicane
07-09-19, 02:49 AM
The battery in my 5s decided to go all popcorn on me just as I'm getting ready to go on vacation, worked fine but blew the screen right off. Nice. Obviously I'm a total cheapskate, so I tracked down an unlocked new-in-the-box 8 for about $350, which oughta do me until I'm ready for that sweet Jitterbug flip phone geriatric special that nice young man from America's Most Wanted keeps hawking during Perry Mason.
Also picked up a giant 5500 mah battery case for it. The whole package now weighs about half a pound, but notorious power user that I am I can't manage to drain it, even across a couple of days. As a bonus my right bicep's looking really buff, and my wife no longer asks to borrow my phone.
WickerBill
07-09-19, 07:08 AM
Even though I have an Xs, anywhere I go with a backpack or bag of any sort, I have this inside:
https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Charger-Anker-PowerCore-20100mAh/dp/B00X5RV14Y
It's good for about five 0-to-100% recharges of my phone and I only have to carry it while charging. data, you may love your case because it keeps your wife away - which is a noble pursuit, I'll grant you - but I just can't deal with the bulk. How do you carry it? Are you a holster guy or do you shove it into your pocket?
I don't know because I turned that nag off immediately
Yeah. But the only choices are:
1. Yes, turn it on.
2. I'll turn it on later in setup
3. I'm a horrible person and I really don't want to but I'll turn it on later in setup, I swear.
I tried going into setup, turning it on and turning it back off. Look's like that may have shut it up.
Next annoyance. I was undecided on whether to trust that little snitch, Siri. A lot of the Apple stuff so far has kept data on the phone when it's able but reading the description of Siri, it's unclear to me exactly what gets filed away in the cloud. So I left it off initially. But then I wanted to try Car Play which requires it to be turned on so I set it to activate on button push only.
My quick impression of Car Play compared to my quick impression of Android Auto is that Car Play is nicer. Not nice enough that I want to plug my phone in all the time to us it, but nice. As much as I hate proprietary connectors I must admit that Lightening is much easier to plug in than micro USB.
I did like being able to push the button and do a voice search so I thought I'd leave that on. But then bluetooth wouldn't pair with my car. Evidently if Siri is turned on at all it has to be set to "hands free" (always listen) for bluetooth to pair. Argh.
Even though I have an Xs, anywhere I go with a backpack or bag of any sort, I have this inside:
https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Charger-Anker-PowerCore-20100mAh/dp/B00X5RV14Y
It's good for about five 0-to-100% recharges of my phone and I only have to carry it while charging. data, you may love your case because it keeps your wife away - which is a noble pursuit, I'll grant you - but I just can't deal with the bulk. How do you carry it? Are you a holster guy or do you shove it into your pocket?
I have an older version of that charging brick. Anker's stuff has generally been very good. I got one of their five port smart charges and it wasn't smart charging Missy's Samsung so they sent another with updated firmware and it worked great.
Now that the world has finally discovered wireless charging they should sell one of those bricks with a Qi charger in it.
chop456
07-09-19, 10:34 PM
Big fan of Anker's stuff, especially their decent and dirt cheap Bluetooth speakers.
WickerBill
07-10-19, 08:44 AM
I have an older version of that charging brick. Anker's stuff has generally been very good. I got one of their five port smart charges and it wasn't smart charging Missy's Samsung so they sent another with updated firmware and it worked great.
Now that the world has finally discovered wireless charging they should sell one of those bricks with a Qi charger in it.
Those exist, but not by Anker yet. I agree - and one has to be on the way, you would think.
On the other hand, on airplanes it's pretty nice to put the battery in the pocket in front of you, have a six foot cable or whatever, and be charging without holding the brick.
Those exist, but not by Anker yet. I agree - and one has to be on the way, you would think.
On the other hand, on airplanes it's pretty nice to put the battery in the pocket in front of you, have a six foot cable or whatever, and be charging without holding the brick.
Oh yeah, it's gotta still have all the jacks and fit in a shirt pocket.
WickerBill
07-12-19, 07:38 AM
Richard, are you SURE, like REALLY SURE, you don't want another Android?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/11/google-home-assistant-listen-recordings-users-privacy
Richard, are you SURE, like REALLY SURE, you don't want another Android?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/11/google-home-assistant-listen-recordings-users-privacy
Exactly. Because it's so helpful having someone who knows everything about you. You know, to help out.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/05/google-gmail-purchase-history-cant-be-deleted.html
These stories keep piling up and the tin foil in my hat is glowing from having to deflect all their mind probes but the public seems very blase about it all. Google is the worst, but many of the companies that are mining personal data are riding that same wave.
Apple isn't immune to this, but so far it appears that their "premium" brand is allowing them to do ok by focusing on selling to the user rather than selling the user.
There isn't enough tin foil in the world for my tin foil hat.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
It's only a matter of time before someone uses one of these tracking data sets to find something compromising about a public official or candidate.
Microsoft's LinkedIn purchase is starting to pay off (https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/microsoft-linkedin-purchase-pay-off-growth-expected)
The Microsoft-owned social media platform LinkedIn is growing faster than previously estimated.
Market research firm eMarketer said this week that LinkedIn has 62.1 million adult users in the U.S. and that base is expected to grow by 4.2 percent to 54.7 million next year. By 2023, the firm estimates LinkedIn will have 68.8 million adult users in the U.S.
:confused:
Microsoft's LinkedIn purchase is starting to pay off (https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/microsoft-linkedin-purchase-pay-off-growth-expected)
:confused:
Social media math.
cameraman
01-10-20, 11:05 AM
Microsoft's LinkedIn purchase is starting to pay off (https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/microsoft-linkedin-purchase-pay-off-growth-expected)
:confused:
It's a typo. 62.1 * 1.042 = 64.7 not 54.7
https://i.imgur.com/dFnY0pu.png
If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold
TravelGal
07-07-20, 03:14 PM
:eek::eek: One reason I most of my registrations have "fluid" information. :irked:
If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold
You're the product. You work for them. They're telling you what to think and what to do.
Some of those companies would have practically every box on that chart checked if you included what they figure out about you and save in their profile of you rather than just what they collect directly from you. But trust them that it's all "anonymized." Tests with cell phone location data have shown that it's trivial to identify most individuals when you cross reference two data sets.
The corporate media is complicit in this and will go along as long as they think they're pulling in the same direction.
Yeah, it's really a crazy conspiracy level of paranoia at this point. But they can get there through entirely legal (although completely creepy) means. Good thing we can trust our tech overlords not to cross that line, right?
Meanwhile, six eBay executives and a contractor have been charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.
https://gizmodo.com/feds-charge-seventh-ebay-exec-over-deranged-plot-to-cyb-1844300556
James Baugh, Senior Director of Safety & Security
David Harville, Director of Global Resiliency
Stephanie Popp, Senior Manager of Global Intelligence
Stephanie Stockwell, Manager of eBay’s Global Intelligence Center
Brian Gilbert, Senior Manager of Special Operations for eBay’s Global Security Team
Veronica Zea, a contractor for eBay’s Global Intelligence Center
eBay executives hatched a plan to harass and terrorize a couple because they published a blog critical of eBay and their policies. They would send the couple creepy products and then used fake social media accounts to threaten them under the guise of ordinary eBay users. When they found out that the police were investigating they created a list of eBay customers that they could potentially frame for the harassment.
The truth is that we don't have any idea how these companies are using all the data they have. It amazes me that people are happily putting devices in their home that stream audio and video from inside their home out into God knows where. It's naive to think that these companies won't leverage that data to achieve their goals when the stakes become high enough.
WickerBill
07-09-20, 09:28 AM
This is very specific to my area of expertise, but MS has introduced new terms and conditions on Office 365 that state, in part, that you're not allowed to run Office apps (Outlook, Excel, etc) on any cloud except Azure.
Amazon and Google having fits, talking about DOJ and monopolistic practices.... clients (specifically of Amazon) talking about class action...
Very Steve Ballmer-esque, sadly.
This is very specific to my area of expertise, but MS has introduced new terms and conditions on Office 365 that state, in part, that you're not allowed to run Office apps (Outlook, Excel, etc) on any cloud except Azure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFNEgdwjEhs
I'm guessing that they've compiled a mile long list of "whatabouts" in their defense.
RaceGrrl
06-16-21, 09:11 AM
Gotta love Roger Waters telling Facebook/Instagram to F off when they asked to use a Pink Floyd song in a commercial. Personally I think Rogers is an egotistical tool, but his response to big tech made me smile.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/roger-waters-burns-down-powerful-idiot-mark-zuckerbergs-request-to-use-song/ar-AAL4X59
"Zuckerberg features in my new rock ’n’ roll show. I've got him sit — no, I shouldn't tell you. But how did this little p— who started off by saying, 'She's pretty; we'll give her a 4 out of 5. She's ugly we'll give her a 1' — how the f— did he get any power? And yet here he is, one of the most powerful idiots in the world."
Did anyone miss Facebook yesterday? Maybe this is the start of a new policy where they turn off the OASIS one day a week. :gomer:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-instagram-whatsapp-outage/
I hate that the press perpetuates these nonsense ideas about how being rich works.
Facebook fell along with other big tech stocks on Monday, sliding nearly 5%, and Forbes reported that Mark Zuckerberg alone lost nearly $6 billion.
No, Mark Zuckerburg lost nothing because he didn't buy the stock the day before yesterday and he certainly didn't sell it yesterday. :rolleyes:
This is very specific to my area of expertise, but MS has introduced new terms and conditions on Office 365 that state, in part, that you're not allowed to run Office apps (Outlook, Excel, etc) on any cloud except Azure.
Amazon and Google having fits, talking about DOJ and monopolistic practices.... clients (specifically of Amazon) talking about class action...
Very Steve Ballmer-esque, sadly.
A year old post, but is this still the case? Seems like an arrangement that wouldn’t pass muster in EU. And does anyone actually license Office instead of O365 these days?
WickerBill
11-01-21, 10:01 AM
A year old post, but is this still the case? Seems like an arrangement that wouldn’t pass muster in EU. And does anyone actually license Office instead of O365 these days?
Still the case, and Amazon has decided not to legally pursue. It's "only" the installable client apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), not things like SQL Server, and my best guess is Amazon and Google have decided the legal fees and effort is too high for the return. So MS, apparently, is just going to get away with it, unless something very large and class-action-y happens at the customer level.
Very very few companies buy perpetual Office anymore - some govt agencies and manufacturing facilities that can't / won't allow themselves to be beholden to an Azure connection to function, but virtually nobody else.
The only change recently is that Microsoft has actually made it more egregiously anti-competitive, ironically by softening the language of the terms and conditions. Now, the only places you can't run Office end user installables are "listed cloud providers", and the list contains AWS, Google Cloud, Alibaba, and Oracle. MS has basically thrown off the cover of "no cloud except ours for support reasons" and admitted "no actual good hyperscale clouds that can take market share from Azure."
Bold, and SUPER annoying for businesses.
A year old post, but is this still the case? Seems like an arrangement that wouldn’t pass muster in EU. And does anyone actually license Office instead of O365 these days?
AnkWh00?
Good to hear from you. Hope you're doing well.
I get why bidness customers go that way, but I keep wondering when the consumer is going to wake up to the fact that this "reoccurring revenue" model is tapping them dry.
"You'll be serfs and you'll like it."
Very very few companies buy perpetual Office anymore - some govt agencies and manufacturing facilities that can't / won't allow themselves to be beholden to an Azure connection to function, but virtually nobody else.
The only change recently is that Microsoft has actually made it more egregiously anti-competitive, ironically by softening the language of the terms and conditions. Now, the only places you can't run Office end user installables are "listed cloud providers", and the list contains AWS, Google Cloud, Alibaba, and Oracle.
Seen even intransigent industries such as railroads and container shipping lines convert to cloud.
The situation sounds like the type of action EU's competition committee gets in the middle of, the way you describe it. who knows.
AnkWh00?
Good to hear from you. Hope you're doing well.
Likewise! same to you two!
I get why bidness customers go that way, but I keep wondering when the consumer is going to wake up to the fact that this "reoccurring revenue" model is tapping them dry.
Just cancelled a bunch of subscriptions that had built up over time. Consumer laziness is a tailwind... Have Family O365 for $70/yr (I think, because laziness...., who can be expected to remember something as inconsequential as "price"...) w/ 1TB storage per user. Easy to say yes to that when just comparing vs storage pricing from apple/google/box/etc. Nice integration across all the mobile and desktop apps. Easy to switch b/w work and personal accts. respect to the (former) evil empire.
PS - and you were 10000% correct on your old rants on consumer data and privacy. I think about that someitmes
Everyone remain calm. Everything is not going to hell because so much of it depends on the same infrastructure. It only appears that way.
Numerous major cloud outages and that's just the stuff that has been acknowledged. I've encountered significant glitches in services that don't align with the admitted outages.
Note to self, gotta move OC off AWS.
Just cancelled a bunch of subscriptions that had built up over time. Consumer laziness is a tailwind... Have Family O365 for $70/yr (I think, because laziness...., who can be expected to remember something as inconsequential as "price"...) w/ 1TB storage per user. Easy to say yes to that when just comparing vs storage pricing from apple/google/box/etc. Nice integration across all the mobile and desktop apps. Easy to switch b/w work and personal accts. respect to the (former) evil empire.
Once laziness stops working you make it just a little bit harder to cancel. Keep ramping it up to stay one notch ahead of the effort they're willing to put in. There's a service now to manage all your paid services and cancel the ones you're not using. Imagine how hard it will be to cancel that. :D
PS - and you were 10000% correct on your old rants on consumer data and privacy. I think about that someitmes
Thanks, the tinfoil is strong with this one. Sadly it's even worse that I imagined it would be. I knew that corporate spying was going to be a problem. I never realized how easy it would become for the government to co-opt those efforts for their own purposes.
Google's deal with McLaren puts Android and Chrome on its 2022 F1 car, and in the garage (https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/16/22981140/mclaren-f1-android-chrome-google-mcl36-sponsor-2022)
Google's deal with McLaren puts Android and Chrome on its 2022 F1 car, and in the garage (https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/16/22981140/mclaren-f1-android-chrome-google-mcl36-sponsor-2022)
Good thing they canceled the Moscow GP. They might have to block the telemetry as Russian disinformation.
Good thing they canceled the Moscow GP. They might have to block the telemetry as Russian disinformation.
Speaking of which Ferrari dropped Kaspersky
WickerBill
03-17-22, 03:16 PM
Google's deal with McLaren puts Android and Chrome on its 2022 F1 car, and in the garage (https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/16/22981140/mclaren-f1-android-chrome-google-mcl36-sponsor-2022)
Sweet, McLaren with the Chrome wheels!
(sorry)
Sweet, McLaren with the Chrome wheels!
(sorry)
McLaren (@McLarenF1) Tweeted:
#HeyGoogle, show me Chrome wheels on an F1 car. ???? https://t.co/XtAoEFFpda
Musk buying Twitter has to be one of the funniest tech developments of the story so far. Talk about "tears of unfathomable sadness." Whoda thunk the folks who vehemently defended him five years ago would be recycling all the all those same arguments against him now.
Me, I'll wait and see. The truth remains that he has made a lot of money from the American taxpayer in the form of kickbacks, incentives, misguided regulations, and sweetheart deals. Maybe it's fitting that he blows a big chunk of that on turning Twitter into a place where people can communicate without the approval of our blue check overlords.
WickerBill
04-26-22, 09:07 AM
The Washington Post ran an opinion piece that said rich people shouldn't have that much control. The irony.
Elon is brilliant but super idealistic. No idea how that's all going to translate when it comes to drawing a new "ban line" - there are so many people banned from Twitter who absolutely should be banned, and a bunch who definitely shouldn't be, and a huge grey area in the middle.
datachicane
04-26-22, 05:18 PM
The Washington Post ran an opinion piece that said rich people shouldn't have that much control. The irony.
Elon is brilliant but super idealistic. No idea how that's all going to translate when it comes to drawing a new "ban line" - there are so many people banned from Twitter who absolutely should be banned, and a bunch who definitely shouldn't be, and a huge grey area in the middle.
Yep. A thin-skinned free speech absolutist. This should be fun to watch.
cameraman
04-28-22, 03:35 PM
What is truly nuts is Elon financed the deal so in theory he needs to pay back over a billion a year but Twitter doesn't net that much.
https://i.redd.it/l9twi89eqe091.jpg
This is just creepy and wrong.
Amazon shows off Alexa feature that mimics the voices of your dead relatives
https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/23/23179748/amazon-alexa-feature-mimic-voice-dead-relative-ai
Also can mimic the voices of your live relatives. :saywhat:
TravelGal
06-25-22, 02:03 PM
Also can mimic the voices of your live relatives. :saywhat:
Like anything it can be used for good or ill. Angry mother in law? Oh dear.
pfc_m_drake
06-26-22, 04:59 PM
Like anything it can be used for good or ill. Angry mother in law? Oh dear.
I know, right.
I was thinking 'That's the last thing I need...'
https://i.imgur.com/15z9mEu.png
I see people buying Eero from Amazon or GOOGLE Wifi and I want to ask folks what profit they think those companies see in selling a $100 wifi router. Or home security. Or wireless cameras. :rolleyes:
I keep trying to buy less through Amazon. I've found that it's usually easy enough to buy a single item that I have targeted through someone else, usually Wallmart, Target, or direct from the vendor. But what drags me back is that I'm usually buying a few things. Today it was an Anker bluetooth speaker for the pool and a battery powered camp shower from some alphabet soup CHYNACO. No luck finding the shower at a decent price elsewhere so it's Amazon again.
And it doesn't help that the shopping experience at the other big retailers still sucks.
TravelGal
07-07-22, 11:38 AM
And it doesn't help that the shopping experience at the other big retailers still sucks.
And there you have it. Or, as has happened to me, the price online is *higher* than the price in the store. Or, you know they have something in the store but they won't ship it to you. Or, they insist you buy online to get a deal, meaning you can't evaluate properly. Recently--towels. I ain't buyin' no towels without a bit of touchy-feely to be sure I want them.
I'm old school enough that I actually try at least two local stores when I'm looking for something. Most times, I end up at Amazon because I can't find what I'm looking for. Recent--kitchen tongs that have a central hinge and are not metal. Plus I have Prime which means I pay for shipping every month. I mean it has "free shipping." :laugh:
My use of Amazon reminds me of what people used to say about their phones. To wit: Amazon: I only use it for buying things (none of those myriad services). Phones: I only use it to talk (none of that other stuff). You can see where Amazon is going with this. Now we use our phones for a thousand things and that's what Amazon wants.
PS, do not ever try to buy anything at Samsung.com. I ordered a phone because the order IN THE SAMSUNG STORE was approved and then cancelled online. (don't ask) The online order refused to take my normal delivery address. Said it was coming by FedEx and I had to be home to give a signature. After waiting half the day, I get a message that it's been delivered. What? Where? To the address the website refused to accept. And that's just the half of it. :thumbdown:
The Guardian has dumped a collection of stories about corruption and unethical business practices from Uber.
"A global investigation revealing how Uber broke the law, duped police and regulators, and secretly lobbied governments across the world."
https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/uber-files
Ouch. This one hurts. I've always been a fan of iRobot products and it looks like Amazon is going to suck them up.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/08/08/with-irobot-acquisition-amazon-wants-to-scan-every-inch-of-your-home
Fortunately none of my iRobot products phone home. But I was looking thinking about getting one of the smarter ones. What kind of future is it where we have to vacuum our own floors if we don't want to be spied on? Did Rosie rat out George Jetson to the feds?
Fortunately some of the competitors have come a long way, but how long until some other surveillance company grabs the others?
Mark’s toddler had a painful, swollen penis. His wife contacted their doctor, whose nurse asked Mark to send him a picture of the toddler’s penis, because the pandemic was raging and the doctor wasn’t seeing patients in person. Mark’s phone synched the photo to his Google Photos account, and Google’s scanning tools automatically detected the picture of a child’s penis and turned Mark into the SFPD, accusing him of molesting his son.
https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/22/allopathic-risk/
But beyond reporting him as a pedophile, Google disabled his account, shutting off access to all his email, contacts, photos, calendar, cell phone, and stored credentials for other accounts. Even after the police cleared him of wrong-doing, Google refused to return his access. They say they found another "problematic" image in his files - "a young child lying in bed with an unclothed woman." The woman is his mother sleeping. "If only we slept with pajamas on..." he says.
This is another warning about how much access and control the likes of Google, Facebook, and Amazon have in your life. If anything the story is too trusting of Google, accepting the premise that some faceless AI scanned the picture and called police. What is probably really happening is that thousands of pictures that people take on their phone everyday thinking that they're private are being flagged and delivered up for review by Google employees who decide whether you will be reported to the police. If you think they won't rifle through your files searching for evidence that you're guilty of thoughtcrimes before deciding whether you turn you in then you haven't been following along.
It's kind of precious that the author thinks that the government would come to the rescue and protect our privacy. The government is thrilled to have a channel where they can have all this data collected and then gain access to it through their cozy relationship with the tech oligarchs.
A former coworker turned his work provided laptop in for repair to his employer’s IT dept. He had personal photos of his family on it, including his young children around their pool in various states of undress. The IT department scanned the laptop’s hard drive and as a result he was summarily fired. It took a few days to unravel that.
Big brother is watching, always watching.
https://i.imgur.com/HzH7ACU.jpg
WickerBill
12-20-22, 11:07 PM
ChatGPT, folks. Put five years more into this thing, then Elon's neuralink it directly into your brain...
I asked it for some help on an Excel formula (I'm not a beginner, but I'm not good). Check it out:
Me: How can I simplify or make better the Excel formula: =IF(F7=$B$34,7,(IF(OR(F7=$B$33,F7=$B$35),1,0)))
ChatGPT:
There are a few ways you can simplify or improve the Excel formula you provided:
Use the "nested IF" function more efficiently: The "IF" function can be nested, which means that you can use one "IF" function inside another. In your formula, you are using two nested "IF" functions. However, you can achieve the same result using a single "IF" function with multiple conditions. For example:
=IF(F7=$B$34,7,IF(F7=$B$33,1,IF(F7=$B$35,1,0)))
This formula will return the value 7 if F7 equals B34, 1 if F7 equals B33 or B35, and 0 if none of these conditions are met.
Use the "OR" function more efficiently: In your formula, you are using the "OR" function to test whether F7 equals B33 or B35. However, you can achieve the same result by using the "OR" function to test whether F7 equals either B33 or B35. For example:
=IF(F7=$B$34,7,IF(OR(F7=$B$33,F7=$B$35),1,0))
This formula will return the value 7 if F7 equals B34, 1 if F7 equals either B33 or B35, and 0 if none of these conditions are met.
Use the "SWITCH" function: Instead of using multiple "IF" functions, you can use the "SWITCH" function to evaluate different conditions and return a corresponding value. The "SWITCH" function has a more concise syntax than the "IF" function and can be easier to read and understand. For example:
=SWITCH(F7,$B$34,7,$B$33,1,$B$35,1,0)
This formula will return the value 7 if F7 equals B34, 1 if F7 equals either B33 or B35, and 0 if none of these conditions are met.
By using one of these approaches, you can simplify or improve the Excel formula you provided. It is always a good idea to try to make your formulas as concise and easy to read as possible, as this can help to improve the clarity and efficiency of your spreadsheet.
________________
So it's teaching me the how, not just the what, in natural language. I had a 25 minute conversation with "it" about making a prime rib roast last night. You can also tell it write an essay on anything, and it will, with incredibly natural language.
pfc_m_drake
12-21-22, 05:34 AM
The last part of your story (e.g. write an essay on anything with natural language) is the really problematic one in the short term. I forget what I was watching the other day (some news show) but they were discussing the idea that kids going through school were now using AI bots to do their homework for them (e g. writing essays). But it certainly works with math problems as well "Ok Google, what's the integral of x^2*ln(x)/exp(x)"?
Your Excel example was probably 'easy' for the bot in that it breaks down into a straightforward ogic tree which doesn't even require AI to analyze. But I take your point in that the dialogue the 'two' of you had and the associated learning that it helped you with was the truly impressive part.
I can't comment on prime rib as I'm a vegetarian :) :p
WickerBill
12-21-22, 08:25 AM
I bet "it" would really help me roast my brussels sprouts better, also.
I do understand the concern about writing essays, but almost wonder if we're right back to the "you won't have a calculator wherever you go!" argument my teachers made in 5th grade math.
pfc_m_drake
12-21-22, 08:53 AM
I do understand the concern about writing essays, but almost wonder if we're right back to the "you won't have a calculator wherever you go!" argument my teachers made in 5th grade math. Another good point (e g. you won't always have your calculator). It does make me think about ways you might be able to detect if something is AI created. I should research.
True story: Our Calculus II professor in College did not let us use calculators. Never touched it once during the semester. He was one of the best teachers I ever had.
Then their was my High School Guidance Counselor who told me that computers were just going to be a fad and that I'd be better off taking Latin rather than the advanced programming class I was there to sign up for. Luckily I didn't take his advice.
Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audio
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/01/microsofts-new-ai-can-simulate-anyones-voice-with-3-seconds-of-audio/
Well, this should come in handy
Well, this should come in handy
"Wolfie's fine, honey. Wolfie's just fine. Where are you?"
>click< "Your parents are dead."
Classic. Skynet now has a voice. :rofl:
Apple's AI strategies, especially for Siri, aren't very smart
https://www.businessinsider.com/apples-ai-strategies-especially-for-siri-not-very-smart-2023-5
Not a great week for Apple. First they release this completely cringe video that includes nonsense like they're going to "totally remove carbon from the atmosphere."
https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1701732427897491578
Then their store crashes during the iPhone 15 pre-sale.
https://twitter.com/theapplehub/status/1702659041166782901
A little more focus on the fundamentals may be in order.
Expanding access to safer AI with Amazon
https://www.offcamber.net/forums/newreply.php?p=350538&noquote=1
Today, we’re announcing that Amazon will invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic. The agreement is part of a broader collaboration to develop the most reliable and high-performing foundation models in the industry. Our frontier safety research and products, together with Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) expertise in running secure, reliable infrastructure, will make Anthropic’s safe and steerable AI widely accessible to AWS customers.
And just like that Amazon jumps in the deep end with the big boys. AI will vastly impact all industries. No one knows the extent though. ChatGPT just announced added ability to understand spoken prompts and to respond audibly. There is also the ability to synthesize your voice based on a small amount of spoken content. Podcasters could have their podcast translated into foreign languages using their own voice using AI. Expect AI driven call centers to begin replacing off-shored call centers. ‘Citizen coders’ is now a thing as anyone can have AI produce code just based on prompts. Probably not as elegant as a software engineer but functional. There is deep concern though that AI inspired fraud could become rampant. AI is a big, big deal.
Google paid 36% of Safari search revenue to Apple (https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/11/13/google-paid-36-of-safari-search-revenue-to-apple-in-deal)
Bloomberg reports that Kevin Murphy, a professor at the University of Chicago, told the court that Apple gets in the region of 36% of the revenue for Google searches in the Safari browser, due to the deal to make Google the main search in the browser.
TravelGal
11-14-23, 10:55 AM
Does anyone have experience with the anti-air tag solution, i.e, Galaxy Smart Tags or the like? I'm reading that the latest, Smart Tags 2, is an improvement over the Plus with range now up to 400 feet. (Yes, I have a phone that works with version 2.)
My question is, if the luggage is in Senegal and I'm in Santiago, how is that luggage information transmitted to me? It transmits its last known location to the cloud they say. What I'm not clear on is whether there have to be other Android devices turned on and/or turned on with the app functioning to do the transmitting about my luggage. Is it automatic? If not, how likely is it that phones with the app will be around? Obscure locations mean few cell towers. How dependable is transmission?
Can I depend on this or is it just better than nothing? Gracias.
Does anyone have experience with the anti-air tag solution, i.e, Galaxy Smart Tags or the like? I'm reading that the latest, Smart Tags 2, is an improvement over the Plus with range now up to 400 feet. (Yes, I have a phone that works with version 2.)
My question is, if the luggage is in Senegal and I'm in Santiago, how is that luggage information transmitted to me? It transmits its last known location to the cloud they say. What I'm not clear on is whether there have to be other Android devices turned on and/or turned on with the app functioning to do the transmitting about my luggage. Is it automatic? If not, how likely is it that phones with the app will be around? Obscure locations mean few cell towers. How dependable is transmission?
Can I depend on this or is it just better than nothing? Gracias.
It works similar to Apple Air Tags - to locate something outside of your immediate area someone with the smart tag app needs to come within range of it. I'm not sure if Samsung ships their phones with smarttag detection turned on by default or not. One review I read said that they weren't common enough yet for remote detection to be useful.
Missy uses a device from Tile which works the same with the same limitations. They have some nicer form factors but the batteries aren't replaceable.
The bluetooth trackers aren't useful for real time tracking. They're more like "hopefully I'll find it eventually" devices. If you want real time tracking you'll need a GPS device which probably will require a subscription service.
TravelGal
11-18-23, 11:50 AM
to locate something outside of your immediate area someone with the smart tag app needs to come within range of it. .........
Missy uses a device from Tile which works the same with the same limitations. They have some nicer form factors but the batteries aren't replaceable.
That's what I was afraid of. The bigger question is: Does it have to be a device with the SAME unit?. Meaning, if I get the Galaxy thing, does it have to be another transmitting Galaxy device? Since that just occurred to me, I'm now leaning toward Tile since they work with everything. Price is about the same as the Galaxy units. I had originally thought to use Galaxy-specific because of the longer battery life. I mean, if travel time is in the 24 hour range, how much juice is left for transmitting after the bag is lost?
PS, the for Galaxies, you just download the compatible app.
Google launches its largest and ‘most capable’ AI model, Gemini
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/06/google-launches-its-largest-and-most-capable-ai-model-gemini.html
Who’s next?
All of the websites owned by Apple
https://viewdns.info/reversewhois/?q=%40apple.com&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
indyfan31
12-22-23, 10:11 PM
All of the websites owned by Apple
https://viewdns.info/reversewhois/?q=%40apple.com&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
applecare.sucks | 2015-06-20 | CSC CORPORATE DOMAINS. :rofl:
Apple quietly released an open source multimodal LLM in October
https://venturebeat.com/ai/apple-quietly-released-an-open-source-multimodal-llm-in-october/
Who’s left that hasn’t released a LLM? Will Apple trust this enough to allow Siri access?
Meta joins rivals in pursuit of human-level AI (https://news.yahoo.com/meta-joins-rivals-pursuit-human-201204165.html)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said his company is joining the pursuit of creating super artificial intelligence, putting it in a race with Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google.
Sometimes called artificial general intelligence or AGI, the goal, given in an interview with The Verge, is to create AI that can problem solve and rationalize on the same level as humans.
Apple has introduced their Apple Vision Pro.
https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/guided-tour/
Very cool. Very creepy. I can't imagine wanting to spend time with this thing on my face but maybe "these kids today" will go for it. It's right on trend in the way they talk about experiencing recordings as if you were in them. The recording is more important than the experience. Witness every concert that is a sea of cell phones held high recording. I expect that these will be banned from concerts immediately.
This is very "Strange Days" or "Ready Player One."
It’s spendy. But I’d like to try it for a week. Not so much for entertainment but productivity; Word and Excel. And surfing the web. Theoretically you no longer would be tied to a desk.
Ha. Something like this. In fact, exactly like this.
https://x.com/barstoolsports/status/1753972900262990077?s=20
In action
https://x.com/ayeejuju/status/1754062178284679295?s=46&t=FtBbY0VGTU6tkFPNjgS-pg
https://x.com/nathanwchan/status/1754000777272779185?s=61&t=oFXcsN2wTfApq6UdUB40Qg
In action
https://x.com/ayeejuju/status/1754062178284679295?s=46&t=FtBbY0VGTU6tkFPNjgS-pg
I'm sorry, I didn't see that bicycle. It was hidden behind my TikTok.
This is why we can't have nice things. There should be a lifetime driving ban for this sort of thing. :irked:
https://x.com/SecretaryPete/status/1754559027688685941?s=20
https://x.com/SecretaryPete/status/1754559027688685941?s=20
One story says that this was a prank and that the googles weren't displaying anything but the road. But I've seen similar videos which may or may not have been a prank and we all know it's just a matter of time.
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/dont-worry-goggles-wearing-driver-wasnt-creating-havoc-on-utah-highway
Then there’s this…
Tesla driver pulled over after wearing new Apple vision glasses on highway
https://www.the-express.com/tech/tech-news/126783/tesla-Apple-Vision-pro-driver-pulled-over
One more idiot
https://x.com/warrenjwells/status/1754997423494312112?s=61&t=oFXcsN2wTfApq6UdUB40Qg
https://x.com/influencersitw/status/1755230703577419995?s=46&t=FtBbY0VGTU6tkFPNjgS-pg
Beware: The Apple Vision Pro may rewire our brains in unexpected ways
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ar-BB1i6Hln
OpenAI releases Sora, creates rich video from text
https://openai.com/sora
Magnificent 7 profits now exceed almost every country in the world. Should we be worried? (https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/19/magnificent-7-profits-now-exceed-almost-every-country-in-the-world-should-we-be-worried.html)
The meteoric rise in the profits and market capitalizations of the Magnificent 7 U.S. tech behemoths — Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — outstrip those of all listed companies in almost every G20 country, the bank said in a research note Tuesday. Of the non-U.S. G20 countries, only China and Japan (and the latter, only just) have greater profits when their listed companies are combined.
pfc_m_drake
02-20-24, 08:55 AM
I'm surprised that Amazon hasn't been broken up into 2 separate companies: eCommerce and AWS. Same argument could be made for a few of those companies - you could break iPhone from Apple, Android from Google, Xbox/gaming from Microsoft etc.
nissan gtp
02-27-24, 05:29 PM
I'm surprised that Amazon hasn't been broken up into 2 separate companies: eCommerce and AWS. Same argument could be made for a few of those companies - you could break iPhone from Apple, Android from Google, Xbox/gaming from Microsoft etc.
I could see splitting Apple into devices and services, but splitting the iPhone (and IOS) off wouldn't make sense as it would impact iPad and Mac sales (to the extent MacOS and IOS are merging/sharing).
Apple Cancels Electric Car Project
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/02/27/apple-cancels-electric-car-project/
Apple Met With DOJ in Bid to Avoid Coming Antitrust Suit (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/antitrust/apple-met-with-doj-in-final-bid-to-avoid-coming-antitrust-suit)
Antitrust enforcers, who have been probing the company since 2019, allege that Apple has imposed software and hardware limitations on its iPhones and iPads to impede rivals from effectively competing. The suit is expected in the coming weeks, likely by the end of March, the people said.
Apple Met With DOJ in Bid to Avoid Coming Antitrust Suit (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/antitrust/apple-met-with-doj-in-final-bid-to-avoid-coming-antitrust-suit)
Sure, Google controls handsets, browsers, search, and advertising but go ahead and sue their competition for trying to control their own device. Honestly, I think it's payback for not playing nice with the government when they come looking for info.
Apple just hinted at its AI plans, and they could be game-changing. Here’s why
https://www.fastcompany.com/91047728/apple-ai-applegpt-generative-siri-m3-macbook-air-cloud-device
Apple referred to its new M3 MacBook Air as the ‘best consumer laptop for AI, raising questions about the company’s plans. Here’s one possible answer, which could be jaw-dropping.
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