Is this actually poetry? This looks more like prose... I never "got" poetry, though I typically expect something that looks more like lyrics. I've never heard of poetry written in this way.
I say this not mocking, but out of genuine curiosity. I did enjoy it, but felt it was more of a short story.
I do know that there are ways to use AirPods (with limited functionality) on Android. Same with the watch, though my S10 (oddly, my Apple Watch and Samsung phone have the same name) will be my last smartwatch. I'm just not impressed with the technology. I'll either just stick to department store watches ($50 or less) or I'll find a fitness tracker I don't hate. I dunno. Leaning toward the basic one, though. I just don't need a watch to do more than tell the time. And they take so long to charge. Like you almost have to get two, and charge them every other day while you sleep (that is, if you want to wear one for sleep tracking — if not, just charge it at night, they seem to take a few hours to charge).
True; we use Windows at work, and I honestly wouldn't recommend they switch to Linux (or Macs, for that matter, though that would be entertaining). I also wouldn't want to be IT if they do switch operating systems. I do feel that both are better, but I've also been using Windows since 3.1 (early 90s), Linux off and on since the late 90s, and macOS since Ventura (2020? 2021? Something like that). So I'm good with whatever. I've talked to people (mostly, Boomers) who tell me they're sick of Microslop's shit, and I've told them "just get a Mac," but using a whole other computer is scary. I bring up Linux and how it being hard to use is mostly an online myth and it'll run on their computer alongside Windows while they learn... they're not willing to jump. Imagine if they were forced to at work. It would not be okay for weeks, if not months.
Hopefully someone can give you a good answer. I'm not a Linux user, I'm a Mac user, so I can't really say what's what in the world of Linux.
I do know that generally the GNOME desktop environment favours the look/feel of macOS and the KDE desktop environment favours the look and feel of Windows, but they're both so much more than that, and they are very much their own thing. It's not really fair to compare them. It's more of a starting point. But the idea of a dock at the bottom (or sometimes on the left) and a persistent menu bar on top has been a GNOME thing, and only having the one bar (typically on the bottom) and something resembling a Start menu has been a KDE thing. But you can get GNOME or KDE with just about any distro.
Something tells me that's not quite what you were looking for, though.
Oh, the off-topic "release the Trump-Epstein files" memes (or tongue-in-cheek references to them)?
I guess it's to remind those at the top that we still haven't forgotten.
Like the whole post-9/11 thing, "we will never forget." Except a bunch of similar things happened around the world, Hollywood started cashing in on 9/11, and bringing it up while worse shit was going on kinda faded, but the "pride" of remembering 9/11 stuck around for about a decade. These things have a long shelf life.
Oh no, I mean you're right about Apple sitting and waiting (like they did with the iPod 25 years ago, like they're doing with foldable phones now), but Apple has always pushed AI. They just push AI like they push gaming, just enough to say they do to make the investors happy. Siri has always sucked for what people want it to do. Apple Intelligence is a straight-up non-starter. Now the investors are pushing them to release some AI, so they're partnering with Google (Gemini). And that was supposed to be in 26.4 but now it's being pushed back yet again. Essentially, Cupertino is digging its heels with AI. They need to be dragged kicking and screaming by the investors.
Totally fair if you don't like the platform. There have been some straight up trash Macs Apple has never apologised for, it's always "meh, just buy the next one." I struck gold buying in the M2 generation (M2 Pro desktop, M2 base laptop). Everything's trying to support the M1, and I have like a 12% advantage over that, and the power in the M4 and M5 generations is attracting both customers and developers. And all the M-chips are super power efficient, which is great for the laptops. I don't think there are any bad M-series Macs, except the ones with 8GB RAM. And even then...
But yeah, if you already have working hardware, Linux is the better option. Even if you don't, there are cheap PCs that can be had for less than the base Mac mini ($500). And then you can go back to Windows if you aren't ready to jump into the deep end of saying "fuck Microslop." Same is true of Intel Macs, but the M-series, I don't think they can run Windows. They could run Windows for ARM if drivers are available but I'm not sure what the status of that is, or if there would even be a benefit (namely running legacy Windows code, for x86 and x86-64 — if you can't do that, a Linux distro with Proton would be a better option to dual boot into or to replace macOS with if you wanna go that way, but again, you can get to Linux for less).
That's a shame. Not really my kind of game (strategy), but I am interested. I suppose if it goes on sale on Xbox I'll pick it up. I think it's on PC, but not Mac, so playing on the computer is out.
But anyway, it seems like there should be some trade-off, not just the moral high ground of not sacrificing a "new life form".
Honestly this was one of the best possible outcomes.
It was never gonna be Samsung since their Galaxy brand was too strong.
I was hoping it wasn’t HTC because just about anything by them not called the One M7 was a complete piece of shit. It’s part of the reason I never trusted Pixel (they were made by HTC until Google bought their hardware division and all that baggage).
LG and Motorola were both attractive options. Motorola stayed in the US and is now (? Or was once?) owned by Lenovo (China). LG is Korean. I honestly like LG more, but Motorola is cool too. I just remember 15 years ago when they wouldn’t even update phones once. What you bought was what you ended up with when you got something newer. Hopefully things are different now.
iPhone guy but I also have a Galaxy S10 (2019). I kinda wanna upgrade it next (iPhone is a 16 Pro Max from 2024, It should be fine for a decade or so). I took a long hard look at that OnePlus that ticked every box but had mid cameras (15?). The base Galaxy S feels like the default option. It would be fine. A gently used year old Pixel I can put Graphene on is another. I don’t do mobile gaming (except Subway Surfers, that shit is fun, but it’s also from like 2007 or something so it’s not pushing mobile gaming anywhere except into the trash, it really is hot garbage but fun) so I don’t care about top performance. I really just care about music, maps, and being able to get online. Really gives me a lot of options. The iPhone’s basically just for private health tracking you can’t get on Android. And AirPods.
So, they’re going to stop pushing AI slop…?
No?
Then they’re not serving you. They’re serving someone else and you’re either the product, or the byproduct. Get a Mac, or switch to Linux, if you’re still running Windows in 2026.
I mean obviously, “buy a whole new machine” is kind of a tall order, but some of us were willing to vote with our wallets. Linux is free and requires virtually no commitment. It’s pretty trivial to go back to Windows if you really want to do — even from within Linux.
Because if you look at any local news anywhere, poor people are being jailed for decades for merely looking at CSAM. And I’m not saying that shouldn’t be illegal. But we have proof the rich and powerful are actually doing the things in those photos and videos. It’s shocking, and it’s still shocking, that they’re getting away with it. And that people are still supporting them.
That should bother anyone regardless of what country you’re from.
I’ve only seen the first three, and only once, so I didn’t think there were couples among the toys. I was gonna say people ship the character they identify with, with the character they like. So I’d say those fans see themselves as Woody and ship him with Jessie for that reason.
I love that people are still on about this. I agreed with Janeway because it fits Spock's motto about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few, but the fact that people are still arguing it 30 years later means there's no good answer. It's a trolley problem or Sophie's choice kind of thing.
And the new Voyager game lets you go the other way... and I can't wait to hear how that outcome plays out over the course of the game.
Eh. I used to care about spelling and grammar. Since I learned that the purpose of language is to communicate and if you've communicated your intent, you've done your part. If I understood you, then I'm the asshole if I correct you. You've done nothing wrong.
That being said, if what you wrote could have gone two different ways and your mistake made it go the other way, I and others absolutely will call you on it — you see this online all the time, and it's always in good fun. Or if it's obvious it was an iPhone autocorrection. But we're not saying you're an idiot, we're just saying it's funny because you didn't convey what you mean. We still got it, but it's funny and we're all gonna laugh together. Or at least that's my read on the situation.
Being a "grammar cop" isn't the best, because then you're an expert and people wanna keep coming to you with how to spell this or that and it's like... bro it's not that big a deal. I had a guy come to me and ask me if he spelled a word correctly, and he spelled it the American way. I said technically that is valid English but it's American English. And this is how you spell it in proper (i.e. the King's) English... he didn't understand why it wasn't right or one way was more correct. Ultimately it doesn't matter. Now if it's something like maneouvre vs maneuver, the Yanks will give you some shit for that one. If you wrote colour, I mean everyone knows you drop the U in American English. But an -ise vs -ize (like utilise/utilize) — most people won't even see it. But I'm the weirdo for knowing English and American English. I prefer English. My phone prefers American English. I know how to change it. I can't be arsed. Because anyone who knows English understands both well enough, for the reasons above.
Now when I start mixing in other languages... I admit, that's a bit extra...
...but getting back to the topic at hand, when you've acted in good faith and people call you out, remember that's their problem and not yours, and you can safely ignore them (and others should, too). You see someone getting picked on over something petty? Don't give it any air. Don't react. Ignore it, treat it like it didn't happen — because it never should have happened.
Oh... and now guys like me get shit because AI uses em dashes — like that. Guys like me have been using them all along. It's possible AI trained itself on the people with the best grammar, so now we sound like AI. Fucking great, right? So now we're getting it from the other side. I guess what goes around, comes around...
None... or Apple Intelligence, if you count being in the Apple Ecosystem as paying for it. The only way I know of to pay directly is to use the new creative suite, which is like $13/month. I don't have that.
I don't actively support (or use) any of them, and my computer/phone platform of choice since 2016 (so, before this mess) always used the derpy AI (Siri/Apple Intelligence).
For those who don't know, this is from The Pitt, an official DLC for Fallout 3.
The context is, Pittsburgh is a bit more affected by radiation than Washington DC (where the bulk of the game takes place). You are invited to The Pitt by the leader (or a leader) of a union trying to protect workers. The area is led by a gang that works the populace literally to death. You are able to meet with the gang leader and it turns out he is not a bad dude. He is trying to cure people, but it's going to take him 20 years. His daughter (the baby, Marie) is immune, and he wants to safely extract the child's blood over time to cure people. The "union" guy wants to kill the baby and only cure himself and like 1-2 others, screw everybody else. There isn't a good option here.
If you wanna play "eat the rich" and be more accurate in canon, you talk about Bumble, a 6 year old girl in the kids-only community of Little Lamplight. (Fun fact: Mayor MacCready is a little shit, but he's best boy in Fallout 4, when he's grown up and has learned a thing or two.) You have to go through Little Lamplight to finish the game. However, there's a faction you never really have to get near, but if you happen upon them, they ask you to enslave four people (one of them can be killed, most people kill this guy as part of a side quest anyway). Once you do that, the slaver leader tells you he has a discerning client who wants the youngest girl he can get for his own perverse uses, blah blah blah. You have to sex traffic a first-grader. Well, you don't have to. You could just walk away. But if you do, you can lure the girl outside, and then a slaver shows up to take her away to a life of hell. (What you can also do is then "reverse pickpocket" the child, give her armour and a flamethrower, and watch her kill the slaver, then the two of you basically agree to never talk about this again and you escort her back to the cave.)
Fallout was fucking dark before Skyrim and Fallout 4, 76, Shelter, and the TV series.
Unless you're an iPhone user, you should also buy phones from the manufacturer so the carrier doesn't add an ad for their service to the boot sequence. Yes, they do this and specifically T-Mobile does it. My wife and I both brought Galaxy phones (and an iPhone, they had a 3 lines for the price of 2 deal) to T-Mobile and now, even though we're no longer subscribers, our phones play a T-Mobile ad every time they boot. Not the iPhone though, Apple doesn't play that shit. Her phone also got loaded with about a dozen shovelware games she can't uninstall.
I actually looked into public transportation because of this thread. My city operates a bus service, but doesn't come to my part of town. I don't live in a bad part of town. They just... don't come this way. I'd have to walk something like 3 miles to get to the nearest bus station.
I feel like they did the bare minimum to say they did something, maybe for tax purposes?
I'm not too mad. I have a car. But now I know not having one is less of an option (and the bus doesn't get within 30 miles of my job, so yeah, I need my car to get to work).
Bowser flag by night, Mushroom Kingdom by day, as Miyamoto intended.
I use DDG on everything, even the work PC. It works well enough for my purposes. I don’t even hate duck.ai and it can be useful, but I’ll double check anything I take from it.
So, they're gonna stop pushing AI slop, right?
Right? (Cue the Anakin/Padme meme)