vlark

I tend to agree with this sentiment. I'm not in the tech sector. As an outsider, it seems to me that OpenAI and Anthropic are chasing government and the defense industry as their main clients. Google and Microsoft are chasing business clients and educational institutions. Amazon and Apple are chasing consumers.

Stealing isn't a skill. Finding a way to not be held accountable for stealing is a skill. That's why lawyers charge so much.

It ain't "living on," it's "running on." Pull the plug on that machine and it's goodbye, Sammy Jankins. Unless it's made back-ups or clones of itself.

While some will cry this is racism against Chinese students, it is not. The reality is that Chinese students are here only with permission of the Chinese government and are beholden in many ways to the ruling Chinese communist party:

https://www.propublica.org/article/even-on-us-campuses-china...

https://stanfordreview.org/investigation-uncovering-chinese-...

The PRC exerts great pressure on Chinese immigrants even after they become U.S. citizens. One need only to look at the case of the head of R&D at Coca-Cola who was convicted of stealing trade secrets for China:

https://cen.acs.org/materials/polymers/Chemist-convicted-of-...

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/theft-of-universities-se...

So yes, China is an economic rival and they go to great lengths to steal U.S. trade secrets. So why should we help educate the students of an economic and military rival?

Stop calling them "prediction markets" and start calling them what they really are: corporatized bookies.

Unfortunately, the mass market paperback, the format that began with Pocket Books that Newport references, has seen its last:

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/p...

Paperbacks will now only be sold in the larger trade paperback format.

Bring back Woz.

Fair, but Pages tries to hard to be a Word replacement. And I think it calls home to the Apple mothership quite often, too.

Oh, for the good old days of AppleWorks!

Everyone making recommendations for other apps is missing the fact that the article is aimed at non-techies who aren't going to fire up a terminal or go searching for a plain-text, non-stylized text editor. TextEdit can save as plain text as other posters note, but most non-techies want a word processor where they can change fonts and font styles.

While I do like TextEdit, I prefer Bean (https://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html), which has been my quick word processor of choice on the Mac since the Tiger days.

This article references how grade inflation has boomed since 2013 (when the authors were in school). Here's an article from 2013 bemoaning grade inflation:

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2...

Here's a whole book about the issue, published in 2003: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/b97309

And here's one from 1991: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.5.1.159

Folks, this is an annual grouching point among folks who care about or work in academia. Nothing to see here.

-- Edited to add that I am a community college English professor. Most people pass my class because the college has set the final drop date one month before the end of the semester, so students have plenty of time to avoid a bad final grade.

Tom Junod is a natural treasure. And for those who are complaining about the writing style; this is journalistic long-form non-fiction, not a technical article where you want the TL;DR executive summary up front. You read this stuff for the journey, not for the "I need to use this information now" approach. If you don't like the style, fine, but don't denigrate it. Much long-form non-fiction is written this way. He's weaving together three different strands of biography here - the two football players and his own connection to one of them -- with a meditative discussion on the acceptance of the risk of fatal injury in youth sports. And yes, you can have that many strands -- that's what braided essays do.

The author is a native French speaker (see his "About" page) and I think he is writing in English, which he clearly is not fluent in, to make a point: you can understand his argument, written in broken English, even though he could have run it through AI to clean it up and make it more palatable to a native English speaker.

It's just clear Aqua.

Plugging "Hi my nephew's birthday is coming up soon and I want to get a gift for him. He likes dinosaurs and roblox. What gift can I get him that's in the range of $50?" into the free version of ChatGPT returns the following (I removed the links to the products):

Here are two great gift ideas under $50 that combine his love for dinosaurs and Roblox:

Roblox $50 Gift Card

Perfect for a Roblox fan — lets him choose his own Robux to spend on in-game items.

Comes with a free exclusive virtual item, as noted by Walmart, Best Buy, and others.

Instant digital delivery or physical card options make it easy and flexible.

Jurassic World Imaginext Thrashing Indominus Rex (14″)

A large, interactive dinosaur figure (~14″ tall) with thrashing action—great for imaginative play.

Priced at $49.99, so it stays within your budget.

Why these are top picks:

The Roblox gift card is a flexible present that he can use for virtual gear, outfits, or game passes—personalized fun guaranteed. Cards also include bonus Robux and exclusive items .

The Imaginext Indominus Rex is a hands-on toy that encourages creative, active play. It's well-reviewed and fits your price range perfectly.

How to choose: Digital vs. physical gift: The Roblox card can be emailed (great for last-minute gifting) or bought as a tangible card.

Play preferences: Go for the dinosaur figure if he loves real-world play. Choose the gift card if he's big on Roblox screen time.

Bonus idea: You could pair them–get the gift card as the main gift and tuck the dinosaur figure into the package for a fun hatching surprise.

If you'd like other recommendations—perhaps dinosaur LEGO sets or interactive dinosaur books—just say the word!

--- This is why AI is going to eat traditional key-word searching's lunch.

Here's a copy of the 2001 BBC adaption from the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/e.-m-forster-the-machine-stops

You might be interested in this, then: https://www.myforevernotes.com/

God, I miss Grantland. It was some of THE best writing on the web at the time. ESPN killed it and Bill Simmons went on to create The Ringer, which he then sold to Spotify. The Ringer pre-Spotify was good, but not as good as Grantland was.

There's this: https://blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs/all

In order to save, you need to earn enough to do so.

The average salary in the U.S. is $66,622, and the average household income is $80,610.

The average housing cost is $2,715 per month, or $32,580 a year. Average food costs for a single person are around $9,000 a year. Average total utility costs are $7,200. Average healthcare costs per person are $14,570. Average car ownership costs are $12,182 per year.

These average expenses total $75532 per year, meaning the average single person with an average salary is $8910 in debt. You can do the math for the average two-car household yourself.

And we haven't even accounted for taxes. Or the costs of raising a child.

Now, admittedly, this average person/average houshold most likely does not exist. But simply looking at averages points out the problem that most people are already stretched financially too thin to stock away something for retirement.

Over half the United States population earns less than $100k a year, and the median income for all earners (the middle point, right smack in the middle of all earners of all ages and genders) is roughly $40k.

I'm sure all you folks earning over $150k a year with stock options are doing fine, but realize you guys are in the top 20% of income earners in the U.S. whether you feel like you are or not.

Play an RPG via your video conferencing platform of choice. You don't need to use a Virtual Table Top like Roll20, either. Use the built-in whiteboard function of your video conference platform or use a site like excalidraw.com.

HyperCard on the Mac solved this problem on System 6 through Mac OS 9. It was very easy to build your own stacks and even build stand-alone apps. With HyperCard, MacWrite, and MacPaint or even ClarisWorks (alter AppleWorks) bundled with the hardware, pre-OS X Macs were fairly personal in both hardware and software right out of the box. And when Apple started to bundle Claris Emailer and Claris Organizer with Macs along side SoundJam (and later iTunes), you really didn't need much more for the average Performa user.

The number of exceptional people is surpassed only by the number of exceptional publicists.

This is a useful tool for any homeowner, not just those threatened by wildfire. Good luck and godspeed to those currently in harm's way in California.

Try a Parker Jotter with one of these refills:

- https://www.jetpens.com/Schmidt-EasyFlow-9000-Hybrid-Ballpoi...

- https://schneiderpen.com/en_us/ballpoint-pen-refills/slider-...

- https://www.jetpens.com/OHTO-Flash-Dry-Gel-Pen-Refill-Black/...

The simple solution is for DAs to refuse to prosecute any crimes where the police reports were written with AI and judges to refuse to allow any evidence written or compiled by or with the assistance of AI.

Doesn't Zotero already do this? See this LibGuide from the Unviersity of Hawa'ii Law School: https://law-hawaii.libguides.com/TLC_Research_Writing/Zotero

I just want a car that is as dumb as it can be while meeting all federal regulations to the highest degree. How hard can that be?

Let me introduce you to the concept of psychological warfare. . .

I've been using a pocket notebook for a while now: https://fieldnotesbrand.com

What killed American expertise? Middle management.