FCC closing loophole that gave robocallers easy access to US phone numbers
I currently have (almost) only VoIP numbers. My cell phone technically has a carrier number, but only my immediate family and two friends (8 people in total) actually have that number for my contact, and I keep it that way for safety/security purposes. As a result, I already can't do things like try ChatGPT, use the some vendor apps, or get quasi-2 factor codes from several businesses - including the IRS. Their systems simply can't interact across a VoIP gateway. There really should be a certificate authority for these things, but the POTS system is just so fucking old.
I know a Wookie who is gonna have to resign from congress now.
This it the reality of right-wing neuropathy. Republicans will go on for days about how checks and balances (regulations) are bad and being successful and safe is about personal responsibility. But when something bad happens to them, suddenly the entire system is bad and should have been keeping them safe. Musk's complete lack of empathy shows in his hubris and his political associations.
Storage and transport of H2 is a big deal because of the unique properties (very low transition temp/very high pressure for liquid). That generally means for a non-pressurized, non-cryogenic storage it has to be combined into another molecule and then catalyzed back out, real time, for use. And, of course, the ignition ratio range (4%-75% in air) means that it's very easy to accidentally ignite a H2 leak; substantially easier than most other fuels, though this is mitigated by it's density and ability to disperse in an unenclosed area.
Production is theoretically energy efficient as you can create it with hydrolysis, but the cheapest way of producing it, by far, is cracking of methane, which requires a high temperature process to create. It may not produce a high volume of CO2, but it perpetuates the cycle of exploration and extraction of gaseous hydrocarbons and the related environmental dangers and downsides.
Sorry, in advance, for the long, descriptive post, but the value of a dedicate, slide mute switch is somewhat nuanced.
The mute switch on an iPhone is a physical slide switch. Without looking, you can feel if it's muted (back) or active (front) position. Alternately, you can see the condition as, when it's in the "mute" position, it has an exposed orange (painted) indicator. Neither of these verifications require that the phone be awake or to light up the screen. It can also be activated with the device off, so that if you turn the phone on in a quiet place you don't have to wait for the UI to become responsive (usually after start notifications have actuated, which occur before software buttons can be pressed to mute the phone). It is a single action to mute, compared to a 5 gesture sequence to silence the phones primary sounds (which can be ringtone OR playback volume, but not both) and an 6-8 gesture sequence (depending on the wake-status of the last used app) to silence the secondary phone sound. Note: I'm assuming that face unlock is active and you are staring at your phone obtrusively; entry of the unlock code would add 7-9 additional touch gestures.
While I agree that a button is nice, it still takes at least two actions - press the button and visually confirm its actuation puts it into the desired mode. There are times when you are unsure what mode the phone is in. On an iPhone, that is not visible from any screen until you either a) wake the phone and actuate a volume button (neither visual nor haptic feedback occurs when a volume button is pressed) or are logged into the phone (two minimum gestures plus face authorization) and use the action center (swipe function) to visually verify th volume position.
Now, you could easily argue that this is fucking terrible UI design, and I would 100% agree with you. I would, likewise agree, that most technical features on an iPhone are certifiably obtuse - ex: you cannot turn on your hotspot without entering the settings app; it's not even an action center icon option as it is on Android. I would add that it's also monumental dumbfuckery that your hotspot is the name of your phone and cannot be changed. Or that there is no function to alter the Prompt volume in the phone (ie. for GPS directions) unless the prompt audio is actively playing - difficult if the prompt volume is accidentally (or temporarily) set to zero. In 3rd party apps the prompt volume is several menus deep; for the OEM map application, it doesn't exist - there is literally no setting.
But, it remains - if you want to mute the alerts on your phone, the switch requires fewer actions and zero view of the device to actuate, and zero activation of the screen or login to verify it's condition. You may never need to discretely silence your phone or check that it is in silent mode without taking the phone out and unlocking it, but many of us find it quite useful.
The author is under the impression that the button will be infinitely remappable. Given Apple's history, I expect it to be rather limited. I will sorely miss the mute switch which has both a tactile and visible position indicator which does not require waking the phone, or even having the phone on, to actuate (should you want to turn on your phone without getting bombarded with notification sounds).
It will be the think I probably miss the most when I eventually upgrade. The brilliance of the switch is that it is a switch - which means can be verified by feel or by sight to be in the silent position without needing to wake or even take you phone out of your pocket.
Clear containers for anything that isn't commercially labeled. My wife used to wrap leftovers (or anything, really) in aluminum foil. more than two thirds of the time I'd end up throwing it out after a couple of weeks because, since nobody knew what was in the mystery packages, nobody ate it. I bought some glass storage containers (the kind with the plastic, locking lids) so it's obvious what is contained within. A lot less waste.
Also, I've got pull-out bottom freezer with one basket and one deep "bin" and shit got lost so I 3D printed dividers and organized it.
I had high hopes for Dex when it was first announced and I was on android for my phone, but dragging around a monitor was more work than just bringing my laptop. I got a 12.9" iPad a couple years ago as a portable library, then last year thought I might replace my (Windows) laptop by adding a keyboard and mouse to the iPad so I wouldn't have to take both into the field for minor work. I've also got a Samsung S7 so I tested it out as well. The capability/usability gap between the full desktop version of Word and the mobile versions made me give up. Understand I have a dozen templates, from simple to complex, in Word, and around 20 calculation or tracking Excel sheets - so transitioning to Pages/Docs and Sheets/Numbers would cost me about $20k in productivity time. And I still wouldn't have my CAD, finite element analysis, or industry-specific utilities with me.
I mean, what else are they doing? Grilling Zuck and Musk on AI? Might as well be talking to the head of the CEO of the American Medical Association about neurosurgery techniques. There's 2087 federal work hours in a year; put those 700 hours between now and the new year to use and get it done.
It's the present in the US. Many people own personal train cars, and you just contract with Amtrak to hook you up and you're off on vacation. You can even bring Babu. You can rent personal cars as well, though you probably should make sure yuor ocelot is housebroken if you're taking a rental.
Now, I say "many" but what I means is that's more than a few. Many is still probably in the 3-4 digit number (I'm guessing). And you'd be correct in assuming that it's not a luxury most people can afford. But it does exist.
That would require making more land and increasing the capacity of existing high-use, aging infrastructure for water, sewage, power, and trash. I can find you a cheap place to live out in the sticks. Hell, the town down the road from me has brand new, 3BR 2.5BA 1900SF homes with garage for $270k (USD). You only need 2BR/1BA and 1100SF? $150k. Thing is, it's a 30-40 minute drive to the center of my 200,000 person MSA. But this isn't a fun, entertaining city with excellent walkability, public transit, a major airport, and multiple concert venues and public spaces so people aren't flocking to move out here.
Forbid corporate ownership of anything under 4 units/12 bedrooms, and require them own 100% of any contiguous building over 4 units. Added taxes will just be passed on to residents. Corporations are used to aggregate money (both public corps and family/friend groups) and avoid taxes.
Then make a financial law that forbids making property loans with collateral which includes any real property that is not the property being purchased. No condo bros buying units and then re-fi-ing out to buy more.
vote manipulation is going to be a problem for federated communities
I guess, but since the feed isn't algorithmically created to maximize engagement (the tools are better than commercially driven sites) I don't think it matters as much. I think of it as a "Who's Line Is It Anyway" condition - everything is made up and the points don't matter. And, tbh, I really like that I can click into a stupid-x story without worrying that I'll be fed stupid-x content for the next week. It's worth a little vote tomfoolery, imho.
100% true - but if people feel the need to create so many mods, then there are probably lots of things people feel aren't good enough about the game. I'll admit my gaming time is limited, so just researching and adding mods could easily take all my time. I mean, fuck, I sold my Warthog HOTAS and went back to a cheap thrusmaster not because I liked the thrustmaster better, but because I was spending more time writing and fixing scripts and updating my bindings than actually playing the game. And every time an update would come out that would break a script I would spend pretty much my entire gaming time budget for a couple weeks just getting it running again. It got to the point where I just didn't play those games because every patch would change something and something (even something small) would break or be incompatible. I'm kind of over that.
I was kind of hoping for fallout and elite; real space flight and exploration, but with an actual story and story line to follow. I'm mostly over real-life gaming that looks like a cartoon, so I'm glad it's not nms.
Mods are the very first thing that turns me off in a game. I want to play a game, not go stack mods on top of mods just to fix the shit the studio didn't feel like working on.
SMS and (at least for craigslist) voice 2FA doesn't work with VoIP (Google Voice numbers, including numbers ported from mobile operators). IRS 2FA via SMS definitely doesn't work, nor does Dunkin Donuts (which invalidates use of their entire app on all mobile platforms). Some services offer voice 2FA which will go through, and some offer email, but many don't. Of course the vast majority of 2FA over SMS work with the major VoIP providers, but if you hit one where it doesn't...there's either no way around it or you have to wait for a snailmail 2FA token (IRS).