So will cameras in your bedroom. (and create a wonderful new side industry for the government selling access).

Also, letting the cops get DNA of everyone in the US will also help you stop crimes. (and cause quite a few divorces).

Furthermore, letting the government read the emails of all businesses will cut down on fraud. (And hurt all those small companies trying to compete with the big ones).

There a ton of ways to reduce crime while doing tremendous damage to innocent people.

Which is why Google waited several years to brick early Nest and Revolv thermostats: the factory warranty had expired.

Exactly. Gasoline, mains power, and batteries are standardized. So are LTE, 5G NR, and Wi-Fi. Compare what Mike Masnick of Techdirt and other Internet user freedom advocates have called "protocols, not platforms."

Though even if there were no cryptographic lockdown of these "smart" devices' system software to interact only with the vendor's server, one big obstacle to running your own server (with proverbial blackjack and hookers) is that so many Internet providers nowadays block inbound TCP connections. T-Mobile Home Internet, for example, puts subscribers behind carrier-grade network address translation (CGNAT) with the whole neighborhood behind one IPv4 address. Even through IPv6, their gateway appliance offers no port forwarding or DMZ option.

I assumed you were not an idiot. Because if you knew it is possible to add an AI via an extension, then you knew your proposed solution would not work. You knew that removing the AI functionality would not stop other people from adding AI back in.

Which was why Firefox put in a button that lets you know the AI is off.

Congratulations for insulting me for thinking you were not an idiot.

When the company has an ongoing cost - such as they have to make new content every year, then it makes sense for you to pay an ongoing cost each month.

But when the company has no mandatory ongoing cost it makes ZERO sense to pay them rent.

And fixing the mistakes in their software is not a mandatory ongoing cost. It is at best an optional one - and by some standards should be free. When you are fixing your mistakes you do not charge others for it.

The issue is that crappy companies that made sucky products saw people getting paid each month - without realizing they were doing work each month. They wanted this 'better' business model without realizing the extra costs. So they said screw it they won't pay the extra costs.

Any company trying to get into the subscription business without doing monthly work is a scumbag company that should be rejected.

That includes many car companies. Seat heaters, radios, etc. are not things we subscribe to - they are things we buy.

And yes, you can buy a seat heater that sits on top of your car seat and plugs into your car.

Bad idea. You are assuming all AI will be in one extension and that no one unconnected to Firefox will create other extensions.

Better for Firefox to assume there will be multiple AI extensions and to design the browser to turn off all AI, not just the one extension they know about.

Yes, this depends on extension builders to abide by the rules, but that always is a requirement.

The best way to try this would be to build an Electric Bus company and also build stations designed to replace the Bus battery.

Then sell both to cities. Once you have the stations up and running, offer deals to car companies to use the same station for free. (The car companies get the service for free, the car owners would have to pay to replace the battery)

But trying to build a battery replacement system when cars are not designed to have their batteries replaced is stupid.

It takes skill to mess up a firewall so that it kills 2 people.

Not everyone can be that incompetent.

As it has been for the past 200 years.

The issue with AI has always been people projecting the interesting but easy gains we have had for the past 5 years to amazing sci-fi stuff that is likely impossible.

That does not mean AI will not be worthwhile - but if so it is likely going to be in niche uses that people do not expect. Maybe it is going to be essential for certain chemical processes. Or for detecting fraud.

AGI and similar ideas are not being worked on at all. Or anything close to it. We are basically learning how to make naval ships, and people are thinking that faster than light travel is just around the corner.

What's the next step after having been rejected by several companies that had posted entry-level positions in your specialty within 10 km of your home?

No, the executive tells the civil service what it needs to do, but the civil service is wholly independent.

Difference between scientists and conspiracy theorists:

Scientists constantly revise their facts, while conspiracy theorists never revise anything.

The Scientists look at these revisions as masterpieces and proof they are right.

The Conspiracy idiots look at revisions and call them mistakes that prove the scientists are wrong.

The conspiracy idiots never realize the problem with their own thought.

I pity the people that think scientists are 'advocates'.

Actor unions have standard contracts. This should definitely be part of it. Especially for the low level actors. They get paid a small amount - when the producers feel like it. There are lots of stories of people being screwed by producers.

That alone is good reason for the actors to demand it be put in the contract.

Stop assuming that spoken words only affect people psychosomaticly. The study presents evidence that words magically strengthen us. There is no evidence the effect is just psychological. :D

It is possible to use a Black hole to power a starship. Several authors including Arthur C Clarke have written about them.