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Ford Patents In-Car System That Eavesdrops So It Can Play You Ads
  • I really hope my car holds out for a long time, because fuck ads in my car. I don't want my car to listen to anything but the controls I use to drive.

    Is there really anybody who thinks they would like that?

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    “AI toothbrushes” are coming for your teeth—and your data
  • Take care of your teeth. If you get problems, it hurts like a bitch, it can ruin you day, every day for years. It's also expensive as hell. Take care of them, the best that you possibly can.

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    Harry Potter and the Nuclear launch codes
  • Well, I cannot imagine wizard dieing to a nuke. You would have to surprise them I suppose. I mean, what if they teleport the nuke to some other place?

    Even if all the tech kept working, I imagine the only way you could beat a wizard as a Muggle is if they don't see it coming.

    If they see a gun, sure, the first wizard may be surprised and die, but it will not take long to find a spell that shields them. Rockets? Same story. Sure you can destroy stuff, even kill a bunch. The rest will be back though, and they can teleport, change memories, actually turn into another person or animal, turn you into an animal and whatever else.

    The one plot hole in HP that always annoyed me is how Avada Kedavra is supposed to be the worst spell. In the books it is mentioned how Peter Pippeling blew up a whole street with a bunch of muggles in it. That seems way more dangerous...

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    Harry Potter and the Nuclear launch codes
  • Actually, at some point in the books they talk about this, and somebody comments how Muggles seldom would actually catch a real witch or wizard. And if they did, the witch or wizard would cast a spell to shield themselves from the fire and pretend to be in pain.

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    2024 Suzuki SV650
  • Lots of bike manufacturers are struggling with emissions. They find a bit of power here or there, but they have to use it to offset some power loss because of environment requirements.

    It's also a beginners bike and marketed as such. The competition for huge power numbers is really in other segments.

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    The specific thing you spend the most time doing instead of the actual job you're being paid to do is your new profession. What's your new job title?
  • I work in a warehouse of a company that sells a pretty huge variation of products. I drive fork lifts on a regular basis, but my work is about 50% computer work too. But not in the office, my computer is in the warehouse.

    I used to be a computer programmer, but being in the office all day drives me nuts. I need to be a little bit more active and I also like to change my view every now and then.

    We have basically no downtime, there is always something to do, we are understaffed, the new hires don't have a clue so all the work comes to the experiences workers. We are also trying to change some processes but we barely have the time.

    So for me, the question was just really weird, I cannot imagine having nothing to do. I don't even know what I would do if I have nothing to do. Probably take the day off or something...

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    2024 Suzuki SV650
  • I am quite tall, and I currently drive a Yamaha Tracer 900 from 2018. It's not a naked, the naked version would be the MT09 which is pretty high value as well.

    Be sure to test one from 2018 or later though, the earlier versions did not have the injection figured out properly, and the throttle was choppy because of that. Very on/off. Later versions are much better. The Tracer 900 and the MT09 use the same engine, so that is nice.

    The SV650 really is a nice bike and it handles well. It's one of those bikes I can recommend anyone. Even experienced riders can have a lot of fun with it. Because it is light and agile it corners really well.

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    2024 Suzuki SV650
  • This is what I took lessons on, not the 2024 one, but the same model. It really is a nice starter bike, light, agile and also forgiving. If I remember correctly it had a support system that helped with driving away without stalling.

    It was also controllable. There is enough power there, but you could easily drive it slower, where some bikes, especially the higher power ones will accelerate very fast if you twist the throttle too much.

    To be fair, if you are just driving on the roads, you don't really need more power. More power is fun though.

    In the end I am to tall for a 650 cc bike, so I ended up on a bigger bike. But I will always like this model.

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    The specific thing you spend the most time doing instead of the actual job you're being paid to do is your new profession. What's your new job title?
  • Well that is when I am at work. My work times are clearly defined and when the time is over, I go home. So I am limited to about 8 hours in a day, with a very rare exception of 15 minutes longer.

    After work and in the weekends I still have time to chill, but at work I have no downtime except for breaks. Luckily my boss also knows how busy we are and doesn't complain if I cannot get everything finished, he just tells me what is a priority and what not.

    That is really helpful for the stress levels, but it is still a pretty stressful job.

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    The specific thing you spend the most time doing instead of the actual job you're being paid to do is your new profession. What's your new job title?
  • You guys have time for other things? I do my job and can fill my day with that. I sometimes have to stand my ground to make other people understand that no, I cannot do this additional tasks everyday, I don't have the time for that.

    95% of the time it is busy. The other 5% I use to catch up with the stuff I have no time for when it is busy.

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    YouTube tests server-side ads to make your coveted blocker obsolete
  • The number of ads per hour of video is higher. And people get addicted to the dopamine fix. Short videos generally will have to be incredibly stimulating to keep people watching.

    Your dopamine goes through the rood for 15 seconds or 30 seconds, after that it drops down again and you need the next video to get it higher again and again. In between the videos you get ads, so in the end they lure you into watching a whole bunch of ads.

    They optimize their algoritms so they know what keeps you watching. Could be cute puppies, could also be fake news about how everything is somebody elses fault, but they just want to keep you watching. They don't care about the truth, they need your eyes on the ads.

    And that is how generations will be ruined.

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    YouTube tests server-side ads to make your coveted blocker obsolete
  • They had a service I paid for. I paid for youtube without ads. Just that. And then they changed prices and made me pay for something that I did not need, YouTube Music. So I canceled.

    They had me as a subscriber, they just wanted more money and lost me.

    And I block ads. Not specifically for youtube, but for all sites and apps that I can. I use Blockada and most days the number of blocked tracking cookies goes over 1000. Laat 24 hours it is 3426 trackers blocked. Is it really necessary that I am being tracked that much?

    I don't think so, and I am not even talking about malware, or crypto ming scripts that will be loaded as ads. Most ads are not checked properly so I have no idea what malicious bullshit I can get on my systems without even asking for it.

    If I find something that I use a lot and adds value, I will donate some money. For example, I support some creators on Patreon.

    And ads always do their best to be loud and intrusive. And if I have a guest at my house that is loud and intrusive, they don't get invited back. The same with ads.

    Remember when ads were just a small rectangle on youtube? You clicked it away and that is it? That was the way. Serve ads in a normal, non intrusive way and I can handle them just fine.

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    Frustrated by School Web Filters, One Teenager Created His Own.
  • This remind me of my school. At the time they used some software to block sites. So I searched for the name of that software, and found an executable file with that name plus config.

    I executed it, and much to my surprise, I could now configure the filters for the whole school. I tested it by entering the URL of a game my classmates was playing at that moment. It was a very weird sensation to see his game getting closed by the software the moment I added it to the blacklist...

    So:

    • I and every other students had read and write acces to the directory where the software was installed.
    • The directory was indexed to make it easier for students to find.
    • There was no extra password or authorization.

    I showed a classmate. Told him to not show anybody else. A week later, he added the startpage to the blacklist. As a result, if you opened Internet Explorer, it would close immediately. Obviously, this caused admins to check out what was going on....

    It was fixed later, but it was fun while it lasted.

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    EU limits anonymous cash payments to €3k and all cash payments to €10k. Pirate party reacts.
  • The point for me is that the government automatically seems to think that cash payments are for something illegal. And all of a sudden, the burden is on me to proof that it is not.

    While technically speaking, paying with cash is a very legal way to pay and should not require any explanation at all. Nor should it be more difficult.

    Of course, there is a limit, and I get that paying a 2 million dollar house in cash is reason to at least ask where that money came from. But 3000 dollars or 100000 are amounts of money that in my opinion do not deserve the same amount of checking.

    A lot of random but legal stuff can be done with 10000 dollars of cash. And yes, sometimes you use cash because you don't want your identity known. Doesn't mean you are doing something illegal. If the government thinks it is illegal, they should open an investigation and proof it.

    Instead they put the burden on you. Doesn't seem fair to me, and a limitation on my personal freedom to spend money however I like.

    Not to mention, even things that are legal now, could be made illegal by governments to come, and dictators or oppressive regimes will have no problems with checking logs to see which assholes did something that goes against their values in the past. For that reason alone, governments should only be tracking the minimum amount of information they need.

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    Windows 11 is nagging users to try OneDrive to "fully backup" your PC
  • This. It is annoying for 100% of the users, but a small percentage will be fooled and end up using OneDrive and probably end up paying.

    It literally works like spam. Very little effort to cast a wide net and a small succes rate is enough to make a profit. Of course long term they keep pushing people out. But hey, profits this year, we'll see about next years when it hits us ..

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