Hasn’t this always been a possibility? People could always record their screen or take screenshots during meetings or whatever

Maybe the problem is a lot of their marketing relies on the dominance of their search engine (ie sponsored search results, and ads based on user searches, as well as tracking user web usage via their search click throughs and other cookies). If open ai’s products become the go to for questions and basic searches, they will eventually be able to use that dominance to include marketing results in their answers. I think this threat is why they want to try to compete with them to be able to offer an alternative. Because it doesn’t actually have to be better than chat gpt. It just has to be similar enough for people to continue using Google rather than change their habits to use chatgpt, or Microsoft’s implementations of it. Especially with windows 11 where copilot (basically Microsoft rebrand of chatgpt) is built in and you can use it from the task bar. That ease of use may steadily decrease people’s reliance on Google search, which will eventually hurt their ability to sell targeted ads.

GPT is just trying to get a good tip.

Yeah it takes screenshots periodically and all the storage and analysis is done on your local device, which is why it requires the newer CPUs with NPUs from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. There’s a setting to turn the whole feature off, and you can also choose to turn it off for only certain applications, etc. Microsoft seems to be making an effort to encourage chip manufacturers to make better NPUs so that their AI features can run as locally as possible. That’s likely why their new surface devices will be using the snapdragon x elite processors because they’re the only ones that have NPUs with enough TOPS to run all the AI features Microsoft wants on device, instead of having to send the data for processing to a Microsoft server. I think beyond trying to quell privacy concerns, it would be a huge cost for Microsoft if they had to have enough compute available to run all these AI tasks for users for free. I’m sure there’s still some way they are logging pieces of info here and there, but they’ll have to include some way to make sure the OS is secure enough for business operations that are handling secure information.

People are acting as if auto saving, web history, reopen last used windows, etc aren’t already features on all modern apps and OSes. If the claim about everything staying on device is true then this is no different.

Never too old to learn. I think Python is a great beginner language. It has fairly broad applications, and easy to set up an environment (don’t have to download/install a thousand things, you just install python and can run the text files in terminal). I also learned by doing starting in late middle school/early high school. I always found YouTube videos to be the most engaging way to get started. I used to like thenewboston. Once I had a handle on the basic programming language, I would do easy programming challenges where you have to solve some sort of basic problem. The challenges helped me learn basics like taking in input, changing the input based on the various rules and conditions of the challenges, then outputting the proper results formatted in the right way. Also helped me to think about algorithms, etc. After that, I started learning programming through a textbook. This was helpful for understanding some of the more technical aspects, basics of memory management, what different variable types are really for, OOP, abstraction, algorithms etc. I found that leaving these advanced topics till after I had a working understanding of the programming language helped understand the concepts better, and helped me understand why it’s important to learn the concepts in the first place. I was using Java for learning most of this, which might also be a good place to start for you, but I feel like python has simpler syntax to start with. In the end once you learn one language, I recommend learning more and not being stuck to any particular language. Every language has it’s own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding the commonalities and differences will only make you better in the long run.

Edit - now I use Go, python, JavaScript, R, Java, Julia, rust based on what I’m actually doing. It’s fairly easy to switch languages once you get used to basic syntax.

10/10 write up

Most programming (simple tasks, scripting data analysis, most common web apps, basic automation) is about as difficult as doing your own plumbing (which likely includes fixing a faucet or doing other minor tasks around the house). But just like in any profession, the “professionals” are able to handle the complex tasks that others can’t/don’t want to do. For plumbers that means building the whole home systems to maintain proper pressure/temperature at every outlet, suitable for whatever climate the home is built in, or in commercial settings where the systems are much larger and more complicated.

Ask a professional plumber which they find more taxing: being bent into awkward spaces on their hands and knees all day, or sitting at a desk thinking hard about a problem someone has likely already solved.

Not sure what you’re referring to, but Microsoft has always had security incidents because they make the platform(s) that almost everyone uses, and so is commonly the target for malicious actors. This has been the case with Microsoft as long as Windows has been the dominant OS which is since the 90s. Not sure what hiring people outside of the US has to do with this.

Don’t know if it’s a low service state. They have pretty strong welfare programs, despite what Republicans will have you believe. Their public education is ranked pretty similarly to California for K-12, if not better depending on the specific list. Their public universities are among the best in the country. Their hospitals are the best in the country.

The biggest drawback is that their legislators think they can practice medicine without having the relevant qualifications. But Californian medical laws and viewpoints have their own drawbacks. Let’s not forget, before covid, anti-vaxers were primarily associated with crunchy liberal moms refusing to vaccinate their children. California was among the first to have a resurgence of measles. CA is also a state trying to obfuscate medical roles by allowing advanced practitioners (NPs and PAs) to practice independently (without a surprising DO or MD), as well as allowing naturopaths to identify themselves as physicians. While it’s easier to see the harms of Texas’s medical laws right now, California has had it’s fair share of negative impact on it’s populous.

A lot of the Republican rhetoric is empty, meaningless, and far from the truth. This is what makes Republican politics so frustrating. They say one thing, want something else, and do something entirely different. As a liberal it makes it difficult to engage in a meaningful conversation with them. But this sort of state comparison based on broad generalizations also increases the divide, while being very unhelpful.

Even if they aren’t earning income, they should be able to show they had a product/prototype actually built with the patent before the company they’re using developed their product. That way legitimate patent holders who weren’t able to monetize their technology but had a working prototype will still be able to protect their patents. So many times, patent trolls hold patents to “ideas” rather than working inventions with prototypes.

I’m not sure what you consider to be people on the ground, but one would argue the people publishing peer reviewed research in the field have dedicated a significant part of their lives to that topic and are as “on the ground” as possible when it comes to their area of expertise.

Yeah it’s definitely cost effective over time, and the printers generally seem to be higher quality. I’ve heard about inkjet printers breaking a lot during moves, but I’ve moved with my brother printer like 5-6 times and it’s been fine through everything.

Yeah the Canon has been pretty good. I’ve had it for around a year now. I sort of print in batches, like I’ll have a week where I print a few photos then nothing for a month or so. When I had a long break once (2-3 months), the printer started printing streaks so I had to run some sort of fixing cleanup cycle which fixed the issue although it wasted some ink. I haven’t had to buy any replacement ink yet because again I don’t print a lot, but I’m sure if I was using a traditional inkjet I would’ve had to buy replacement ink cartridges a few times already.

Not OP but I only use a brother MFC black&white laser printer for printing documents at home. It addresses the HP issue in 2 ways. 1 - The genuine brother toner costs much less per page to the point that it’s not terrible to have to buy it if necessary. And 2 - brother does not put DRM on their printer and there are tons of 3rd party toners available at about 1/3rd the price. Generally brother printers cost more up front, but basically last a lifetime, and the toner is pretty cheap. I’ve had the same printer for around 12 years now, and it still prints fine. I don’t print a lot at home so I’ve only had to buy 4 3rd-party replacement toners, which have cost around $80 altogether. I think the printer was $200 when I originally bought it.

Also I want to add that if you need color inkjet printing, the Canon Megatank and Epson Ecotank printers are an awesome option for most home printing. I use a Canon g6020 at home for photo printing and I love the photos that come out of it.

That’s a good point. I’m not sure why Microsoft doesn’t get a spot there. I think when the acronym was made these were the tech stocks that were growing like there’s no tomorrow, whereas Microsoft just always has steady growth, and isn’t as sexy.

Netscape must’ve stuck around much longer than I imagined lol

I mean FAANG stands for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. So they’ve always been one.

Oh that’s cool! Is this local for the Czech Republic? How does it compare to Google maps/navigation?

This has been my experience as well. I’ve been using it on my Honda since 2015, and have not had any problems except 2. Once it was just an old USB cable that needed to be replaced. The other issue was sometimes the Bluetooth doesn’t connect the right way so I have to turn off Bluetooth on my phone then connect the USB to my phone which forces it to connect correctly. The Bluetooth issue was recurring (once every month or two), but hasn’t happened for nearly a year now.

Pretty sure there’s an android auto API for music apps and stuff (that’s why Spotify and pocket casts and many audiobook players support it), but unfortunately there aren’t non-Google navigation apps (unsure if that’s because Google won’t allow them or because there just aren’t any).