I had a Symbian phone, and it sucked. Just a random observation to add

Good work NY AG

I have dealt with their bullshit too and can confirm that it is a bullshit hassle to cancel their shitty satellite radio service

I have observed quite a lot of evidence myself already.

Frodeo Braggins is a short-statured cowboy with big hairy feet, and has a habit of boasting about improbably grandiose adventures

Idiocracy was a prophecy

Maybe people tend to specialize because they’ve been told that’s how they should do it. The reality is there is no limit known to what the human mind can learn. I’ve found that I can do just about anything I set my mind to do.

I can do car repairs, electronics design and repair, plumbing (which I avoid if at all possible), music (guitar, keyboard, bass, and drums), painting, drawing, computer systems design and repair, basic programming (powershell and bash scripting mostly), carpentry, farming, chemistry, cooking, hunting, and math. Math was always pretty easy to me until I got into Calculus which kicked my ass initially.

When I was growing up we didn’t have the internet or cable TV so I read books all the time. I’ve read hundreds of novels, and it gave me an excellent grasp of language and a massive vocabulary. Everybody should do that too.

Actually it would be very possible to do if you transcribe the eavesdropped audio into text, as the built-in voice assistants already do on the fly. Small packets containing text could be indistinguishable from a variety of other excessive telemetry that the various apps and system services send out to their motherships in the name of providing a better user experience.

I can’t help but wonder why you people are always so quick to dismiss the reality of audio data collection when there are so many ways it could be done and so much evidence that it is happening. Are you stuck in a mode of cognitive dissonance that won’t let you distrust your devices, because you WANT to trust them with your privacy?

That’s only an issue with some of the new trek series, not the classic ones from last century. I’m not really concerned with paying attention to the new ones at all.

That’s what you call Damage Control. They are backpedaling after saying the quiet part out loud.

No but I do review code audits that certified professionals publish for things that I use when they are available, and I also don’t use any voice assistants and only use open source smartphone ROMs such as GrapheneOS.

Basically I use the opsec methods available to me to prevent as much of the rampant spying that I can. The last thing I would do is put an open mic to Amazon’s audio harvesting bots in my home because that’s incredibly careless.

it has gotten a lot better in recent years with rural broadband at least

I have 2 different ISP options for fiber to the home now, both local smaller companies rather than the mega ISPs we all know and hate. Prices are about $50 / 100Mb symmetrical for both ISPs

Have you seen this code though? Every time I hear a statement like that, I have to wonder if you’re all just taking their word for it.

I don’t take their word for it, unless they show me that code and prove that it is the code running on all the devices in use.

I just bought an E-bike with 40+ mile range for $275. 750W motor and 15Ah 48v battery bike with 7 gears, lights, an LCD, a cargo rack, and fat tires.

It was a good sale

Me probably, I don’t usually have to fill up my 15-gallon tank more than once a month. I don’t have to drive a lot and my car gets 30mpg when I do.

John Halo won the Olympics for America

I’m aware of the availability of them, I’ve looked into building a private install of GPT4All. Even though we can look into those files directly, it doesn’t prove that the large “AI” systems run by the mega-corps are not storing copyrighted data. The only thing that could prove that is a complete audit of all the data storage that their “AI” systems have access to.

This will likely play out in the courts due to the numerous lawsuits in process from artists suing over their work being stolen. Legal discovery could compel that kind of data audit.

That’s what they tell you about it I’m sure, but what proof do you have?

Not really, my old Motorola from 2017 could have beat that speed tests with its 600Mb capable modem, if the telephone carriers wanted to grant that much bandwidth.

It’s all about their shitty implementation. What you think is a “5G speed” was already possible long ago but they didn’t let us have it.

You could probably just go buy some LiFePO solar kit batteries from Amazon to power your homemade electric car. They are expensive but readily available right now. They have been getting cheaper in the last year though. A 12v 100Ah one can be as cheap as $200 …

If you took about 30-40 of those 100Ah solar batteries and wired them in series, you could make the 350-400 volts that powers a Tesla and have a comparable but not as good range. 35 of them could be about $7000 to purchase at Amazon prices.

That’s possibly not even feasible with the logistics of that many batteries, but that’s an example of what’s available on the consumer market and comparable to what Tesla is using to make their Model 3’s power. I think it’s something that could be achieved by a hobbyist with a good understanding of the electronics technology and access to a good workshop. In fact I’ve seen it done on TV when Anthony Keidis had an old muscle car converted to electric, well over a decade ago.

I’ll keep driving my old car that has no wireless connectivity.

I could also buy an old 1969 Ford Galaxie and have it fitted with an electric motor and a trunk full of batteries to build my own electric car. We can do that with any old car actually.