Comment As a writer myself, I say ... (Score 1) 151
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, use AI.
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, use AI.
There'd better be a way to turn this off if MS decides to send this to Production Windows. I hallucinate just fine all on my own (particularly after a rough night). I don't need some AI to do it for me. I have more important things to deal with!
Before deciding you don't need much range, keep in mind that cold weather (I live in the Northeast) saps 25 percent of the battery's range. Then if you use the heater (or in the summer, the air conditioner), you lose another 25 percent. So that 30-mile range (just for example) may end up being only 15 miles. Most people don't need 300 miles (which can become a still-comfortable 150 mile range in the dead of winter), but crunch the numbers carefully before you buy an EV so you don't end up trying to be *too* efficient and end up with a too-small battery.
I still believe that hybrids are the way to go for now. EVs aren't ready for prime-time yet, in my opinion.
Here's why this is complex:
1. The enterprise has hundreds of legacy VBA macros, each one running mission-critical Production processes.
2. Companies are determined to sunset every single one of these VBA macros. However
3. It would cost far too much money, time, and design effort to re-write all those macros on another platform (pick your poison there, whether it be Java, Python, or some other), and in the meantime, the business depends on them. Remember, proper replacement means new UI design, new database design (in SQL Server or Oracle), developer effort to code those designs, User Acceptance Testing to make sure it all works, and ongoing Production Support to handle the inevitable bugs for each of those hundreds of macros.
4. Currently, there's nothing to stop Power Users in the company from continuing to create their own new macros, instead of submitting a request to the proper people in the company for a better-designed-and-implemented solution. It's worse than walking up the down escalator.
The solution would be for Microsoft to make it frictionless for users to continue to run existing macros, while putting something in place to guarantee that only someone with a higher-level of access than an ordinary user or manager can create new macros. Only solves part of the problem, but it's better than nothing.
Simply preventing all macros from working is a completely brain-dead "solution" that helps no one and doesn't fix the issue.
When it comes to securing your data, forget computers; stick with pencil and paper. Think about it for a second. Not only does someone need access to the specific piece of paper where the data is stored, but they also need physical access to you and the pocket the paper is stored in. No amount of computer or network hacking and no amount of communications interception will gain someone access to your data. Sure, copying or actually using that data is less than practical, but you can't have everything.
If you need to make copies of your data, there's always carbon paper and heavier pressure on the pencil (remember that copy machines are also computers and can be hacked)! Downside is it doubles the vulnerability of your data (or triples, quadruples, etc., depending on how many copies you're making).
Luddite FTW!
Depending on the meeting, if I don't have to participate, I turn off camera and mic and continue to get work done while the presenter drones on in my ear. The funny thing is, upper management recently scheduled a required-attendance meeting to tell us all to stop having unnecessary meetings!
(sigh)
TANJ! ("There aint no Justice." -- Larry Niven)
The Oscars, and similar award shows, have always been Hollywood patting itself on the back for being so very clever. It was always about The Art, and never The Entertainment, so is it any wonder that people have learned to ignore the broadcast entirely? Besides, even if one liked a particular movie, why would they care who won what award? If they did care, they could find out the next morning on the Internet. The broadcast is a boring, overlong waste of bandwidth that would be better replaced by one of those same Artistic films Hollywood is so proud of.
In any case, just because nobody cares about the Oscars doesn't mean no one cares about the movies themselves. Movies aren't dying, the waste-of-time award ceremonies are! The only votes that really matter are the ones at the box office.
That's a sure sign of cognitive decline right there. What's that they say about "an Apple(tm) a day"?
Carl Sagan wants to know: Did they find the circle yet?
Let me see here.
The rest of my team members are scattered around the country, and my customers are on the other side of the planet. Tell me again how driving two hours to work in an uncomfortably cold office (70 degrees F year-round) only to meet with people on Zoom creates a better collaborative environment than working in a comfortable home office (with no commute and zero gasoline consumption FTW) and meeting with Team mates and customers
Articles and "studies" like these do more harm than good, as it gives managers an excuse to ban working from home for everybody. The truth of the matter is that management won't believe employees are working unless they can *see* them at their desk all day. All they need is a reasonable-sounding excuse to support their already-formed opinion.
I'm concerned about weight and structural integrity. How much wood is needed to keep the satellite stable during liftoff and orbital insertion? I don't have the numbers handy, but I suspect the mass would need to be be significantly greater than that of an all-metal satellite. Possibly the bulk as well. Also, you'd likely have to enclose the wooden satellite in a metal shell to survive liftoff, which would still leave metal debris in a (possibly decaying) orbit,
A possible alternative to natural wood would be something like aligned paper, which in theory could be made stronger and lighter than wood. But I don't believe the tech to make that is available yet.
Unless this whole thing is someone's idea of a joke, in which case
If I'm going to use a Chromium-based browser, I'll stick with Brave, thank you very much. Privacy First.
Anyone who has been to Wildwood, New Jersey has experienced the Tram Cars on the boardwalk telling pedestrians to step out of the way. They need to hire the same woman to record standard messages for cars now.
This is why computer programming in school needs to be carefully targeted and introduced, not applied to every single student like history or math. As I've stated elsewhere, programming is art, not science. You don't require every last student to be a musician, so why require them to be a programmer? You want to expose every student to some sort of music, just in case they might like it and be good at it, but not everyone's cut out for it. Good programmers think differently from other people. They find the challenge of "thinking like a computer" isn't a challenge at all, but comes naturally. In the words of an old pop song by Al Stewart, "If it doesn't come naturally, leave it."
"I am your density." -- George McFly in "Back to the Future"