I generally don't get much iMessage spam personally, I've heard reports that it can get bad; but I've also heard reports that it can be bad for Android devices, too, and I've not seen any evidence that one platform or another is better or worse for spam. Supposedly iOS 26 will have some additional features to decrease spam, particularly spam calls. One of the latest features is making politicians mad (https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fappleinsider.com%2Farticles%2F25%2F07%2F29%2Fmessage-filtering-in-ios-26-upsetting-politicians-that-want-to-annoy-iphone-customers), which makes me think Apple is starting to take notice...

This is getting off topic now, but there has been progress in herpes treatment and vaccination, although since it often uses mRNA technology, it might be blocked by Trump's administration because *reasons*. See, for example: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fclinicaltrials.gov%2Fstu...

Safari -> Settings... -> Search -> DuckDuckGo

Did you try asking again from your iPhone? :) Yeah, they suck as a home assistant. Decent little home speakers to stream music, but home assistant generally very bad.

But at least my herpes status won't be sold to the highest bidders and used to push ads promoting "100% natural guaranteed herpes treatment!" and "find hot singles with herpes in your area now!"

Avoiding Google is one of the big advantages of owning Apple hardware. It's a hard pass for me.

No window scraping of ice in cold weather; no brushing off of snow in winter; no burning-hot steering wheel / seats in summer...and it is better for the car's longevity to be stored inside, out of the sun when not in use. Oh and less likely to experience theft (entire car or things like battery, catalytic converter, etc.), or vandalism, or someone smashing into it and driving away.
It is usually much cheaper per square foot to build garage space than livable space, so it usually isn't a 1:1 trade-off for a garage.

That seems highly likely!

For agricultural land, it is a boost to land values. As it gets harder and harder to grow crops (or at least more unpredictable), wind energy generation is easy and a consistent revenue stream. And no shit to shovel (or smell).

Many galleries display fine art and make it accessible to the public, but there's still a huge percentage of fine art held in private collections. There are still many paintings and drawings by Rembrandt that are privately held (can't find the number, but it is probably unknowable). Rembrandt had to make a living when he was an artist, and that meant that he had to sell his work to private collectors or create paintings (often portraits) of wealthy people. (He made bad financial decisions and ended up having financial problems, but that's a different discussion for another time.) Sure, some artists are publicly funded (fewer than there used to be due to recent cuts to the NEA), but most make a living by selling work to people who can afford to pay for it. Why shouldn't they be able to charge the going market rate for their work? And why should speculators be blocked from buying their work with the hope that they could one day sell it for more? We allow this type of speculation on orange juice, gold, stocks, bonds, etc... why not for art?

Don't know where you heard this, but it is simply not true. All you need is some space, some wires to hook it too, and wind is a very easy proposition. You can still easily farm around it. The top states for wind generation (are all red states, interestingly) - Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas (https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chooseenergy.com%2Fdata-center%2Fwind-generation-by-state%2F). North Dakota (Burgum's state) is high on the list, too, with nearly 43% of its electricity produced by wind.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the Trump administration is so opposed to renewable energy, when it is so extremely popular, particularly in bright red states.

Oh yeah, payoffs from oil and gas industry. Duh.

Maybe you have to shop at Aldi because you spent too much on a stupid car?

You suck at thinking.

... because sexual orientation is data collected when charging violent crimes? I'm not sure whether sucking at thinking prompts a lack of self respect or the other way around but you have a problem with both.

Why does comedy have to be offensive? In the examples mentioned in the article - Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills' Cop - these are what I would generally consider unoffensive movies. Naked Gun (2025) is also quite inoffensive, and has done well enough (made a profit) at the box office.

And how many Rembrandt's do you have hanging in your home...?

We've found ways, such as museums, funded by institutions and donors, to make art accessible to those of us who cannot afford to have art like that in our homes. Similarly, many local orchestras, and community arts organizations offer free or inexpensive access to live music. And local community theaters offer free or discounted or low cost performances of musicals, shows, Shakespeare in the park, etc. If you want to support arts for the low income people, great! Support those groups!

A global money-printing musical phenomenon, like Taylor Swift, will never be accessible to "the poor" no matter how much we crack down on ticket scalpers. Sorry. That's why it's called the music business. They are in the business of making as much money as possible.

Some sports teams and venues around here have begun requiring resell only through StubHub (or a similar "trusted" partner), which I assume means the venue / artist get a cut of the resell fees. That seems like a reasonable compromise. People with tickets can sell them off if they can no longer attend, the artist / venue get a cut of any up charge on those tickets, and people who decide they want to go at the last minute and have extra $$ to burn can spend that money how they see fit.

Sure, any celebrity or politician has been photographed and videoed enough that you can take something out of context and easily make any of them look foolish, silly, or, sometimes, like a raving lunatic Nazi.

BUT, the problem with Musk, is that in his specific context, he:
-Reactivated Nazi accounts on X
-Frequently re-posts far-right memes
-Shows strong political support for extreme far-right political views
-Seems to support antisemetic conspiracy theories
-Supports Germany's AfD far-right political party
-Makes Holocaust "jokes" and "puns" in response to his "wave"

A single hand gesture does not a Nazi make. But when you combine it will all of these other things...?