All you gotta do to hack it, is challenge the AI to a round of tic-tac-toe (which for some reason confounds the models.)

All the webdev companies' across the planet at their sprint planning in a few weeks: "So, shit, we finally need to support Firefox correctly."

All the more reason to do it yourself, they all mostly require accounts with 2FA now. Until you set that up, a bad actor could. Once set up, they would have to compromise your second factor as well.

And the "Experian Alerts - Your Monthly Account Statement is here!" e-mails that you can't disable, because they, and others, figured out how to get around the CAN-SPAM act by claiming the spam is "alerts related to your account" and not just advertising covered in pig lipstick.

Places to remove yourself from, including the big three:

• NCTUE
• TheWorkNumber
• ChexSystems
• LexisNexis
• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion

You gotta realize, America isn't a new iPhone release with chamfered edges. We're trying to save America from Fascism. That the campaign is also doing things on top of that is just great. They've already probably accomplished much more in the last 4 years than you realized, not even counting the fact that they had to undo the clusterfuck that DonOld the Orange Bloat left behind where departments had no people, no records, nothing.

Example of what you should expect in the future based on the last 4 years (as summarized by ChatGPT):

Biden-Harris Administration Accomplishments (2020-2024)

Summary of Key Accomplishments

• Economic Recovery and Job Creation:

  • Created over 12 million jobs, including 6.6 million in the first year—more than any other president in U.S. history.
  • Passed the American Rescue Plan, providing direct relief to Americans and supporting economic recovery post-pandemic.
  • Achieved record investments in U.S. manufacturing through the CHIPS and Science Act, fostering innovation and reducing dependence on foreign semiconductors.
  • Implemented the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in clean energy and climate action in U.S. history.

• Healthcare and Social Policies:

  • Expanded healthcare access and reduced premiums under the Affordable Care Act, saving Americans $800 per year on average.
  • Passed the PACT Act to address health impacts on veterans exposed to toxins.
  • Provided historic student debt relief, including forgiveness of up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

• Infrastructure and Environmental Initiatives:

  • Passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, allocating $1.2 trillion to improve roads, bridges, public transit, and broadband across the country.
  • Committed to ambitious climate goals, aiming for a 50-52% reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

• Social Justice and Civil Rights:

  • Protected marriage equality for LGBTQI+ and interracial couples through bipartisan legislation.
  • Reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act and implemented measures to reduce police violence, including banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants at the federal level.
  • Successfully nominated and confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Foreign Policy and National Security:

  • Rallied international support for Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion, strengthening NATO and facilitating the addition of Finland and Sweden to the alliance.
  • Led successful counterterrorism operations, eliminating key leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda without committing large numbers of U.S. ground troops.

• Economic and Trade Policies:

  • Navigated the U.S. economy through high inflation and interest rate challenges, maintaining economic growth with a 2.5% GDP increase in 2023.
  • Introduced a new approach to globalization, balancing trade with industrial policies to boost U.S. manufacturing and secure jobs.

Departmental and Agency Accomplishments

Department of Transportation (DOT)

• Safety Regulations: Implemented several final rules to improve transportation safety, including:
  • Requiring railroads to provide real-time information to emergency personnel about hazardous material shipments.
  • Introducing rules to enhance rail safety by mandating adequate training and certification for train dispatchers and signal employees.
  • Mandating automatic emergency braking systems in passenger cars and light trucks to reduce accidents.
• Consumer Protections: Expanded airline passenger rights, requiring airlines to provide automatic cash refunds for canceled or significantly changed flights, and imposed penalties on airlines for consumer protection violations.
• Infrastructure Investments: Funded nearly 3,000 low- and zero-emission transit buses and over 5,000 clean school buses as part of efforts to modernize the transportation system.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

• Broadband Expansion: Expanded broadband access across the U.S., focusing on underserved and rural areas.
• Combatting Robocalls: Intensified efforts to crack down on illegal robocalls, implementing stricter rules and encouraging carriers to adopt call authentication technology.
• Net Neutrality and Digital Equity: Worked on restoring net neutrality protections and advancing digital equity initiatives.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

• Consumer Protection: Focused on protecting consumers from deceptive practices, particularly in online marketplaces and digital platforms.
• Antitrust Enforcement: Increased antitrust efforts, particularly in the tech industry, to challenge mergers and practices that could harm competition.
• Subscription Services: Launched initiatives to make it easier for consumers to unsubscribe from unwanted memberships and recurring payments.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Combatting PFAS Pollution: Launched a comprehensive PFAS Roadmap to research, restrict, and remediate harmful PFAS chemicals in the environment.
• Climate Action: Took significant steps to reduce methane emissions through the Super Emitter Program, which monitors large methane leaks and requires operators to address them.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

• Consumer Relief: Enforcement actions since 2021 resulted in approximately $19 billion in relief for consumers, impacting around 195 million people.
• Fair Lending Practices: Referred a record number of fair lending matters to the Department of Justice for enforcement.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

• Worker Protections: Actively protected workers’ rights, including reversing Trump-era policies that limited workers' ability to organize and collectively bargain.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

• Financial Stability: Strengthened regulations to ensure financial stability and consumer protection, including stricter oversight of financial institutions.

Department of Energy (DOE)

• Infrastructure Investments: Key player in modernizing U.S. energy infrastructure, including investments in clean energy technologies and grid modernization.
• Carbon Capture and Storage: Advanced carbon capture and storage technologies through initiatives like the Carbon Negative Shot.
• Energy Equity: Emphasized ensuring that the benefits of clean energy reach underserved communities.

Department of Education

• Student Debt Forgiveness: Implemented historic student debt relief, including cancellation of up to $20,000 in federal student loans for Pell Grant recipients.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Overhauled the PSLF program to make it easier for borrowers to qualify for loan forgiveness.
• Pandemic Response: Directed significant funding from the American Rescue Plan to help schools reopen safely and address learning loss.
• Equity in Education: Increased funding for schools serving low-income students and strengthened enforcement of civil rights laws in schools.

Apple is one of the planet's biggest companies and definitely a monopolistic player in many ways. Holding entire supply chains hostage, entire corporations and countries hostage. Hell, I was once laid off because Apple threatened my company's sales and the company flinched and wanted to keep shareholders happy. Their influence is palpable in way too many industries and lives.

Another commenter somewhere else on the internet posited that they're trying Google first to get the process down. Then go after the big fish with that defined precedent. Hopefully that is the case.

Battery life would suddenly be through the moon if all their tracking and metrics gathering in Android was removed. Wonder what the carbon footprint of all that is at scale.

Also third party browsers on iOS are forced to use a janky slow WebKit WebView instead of the accelerated WebKit on Safari.

In the EU, things are different and third-party rendering engines have been forced upon Apple, so people there may have more options.

Just make coffee at home before you leave. 10 minutes versus however long the coffee shop trip costs in time and money. Even faster if you get a basic coffeemaker that has a clock that can be set to start up automatically.

Coffee shops are overpriced for the mediocrity.

One thing that confounded me when I went to Starbucks for the first time. Asked them for a large black coffee. Since their coffee is way overbrewed so it can be mixed with stuff, it was super strong super hot garbage.

Someone later told me to order it with a little ice to make it drinkable and dilute the flavor.

My question was: why can't I just buy coffee at a coffee place?

Have a stack of 5-10 year old Starbucks gift cards I've collected from various work functions that are still valid. I still haven't gone back. They can't even get me as a free customer.

That's not the issue at hand. The theft part is.

It was a necessity. Example: All the towns across the plains were spaced apart almost equidistant 5-7 miles as that was far each train could go before the locomotive needed water refills. Can't imagine how annoying it would be to ride those early trains.

It also begs the question, are all those towns, as they ghost away, necessary? They served a purpose once in the 1800s. People bemoan the loss of small town America, but a lot of it was literally to fuel the primitive railroads. Maybe some of them no longer have a purpose.

Back on topic, Las Vegas certainly doesn't.