Comment Sorry if this sounds Marxist (Score 1) 41
If you don't want their to be only two choices that serve corporate masters then you must: vote, protest, and be prepared to withhold your labor (general strike).
Comment Re: Magic (Score 1) 41
Republicans and the Heritage Foundation have made it their mission to make Unitary Executive Theory more than a theory. It's more than partisanship, it is a dedication to a radical ideology.
Comment Re: Rounded tabs? (Score 1) 40
If you're posting on slashdot you should be old enough to recognize that designers cycle through the same trends perpetually.
Guess they gotta justify their jobs and salaries somehow...
Comment Re:Rounded tabs? (Score 1) 40
These clowns keep finding new ways to waste screen real estate.
Oval tabs do seem to waste some space, especially on the left/right margins, but I don't know if it's a lot of space.
A more pertinent question is, "How do oval tabs enhance the browser, its usage, and/or actual browsing experience?" 'cause I can't see any real benefit over rectangular tabs -- and the latter is actually more space efficient.
Comment Re:Just Updated (Score 1) 40
It's dark mode that's affected. Yes, it's possible to adjust it out. I think it's arrogant of the developers to make an appearance choice like this.
Agreed. Disable dark theme for private mode: "browser.theme.dark-private-windows" => false
In "user.js"
user_pref("browser.theme.dark-private-windows", false);
Comment Re:Rounded tabs? (Score 1) 40
Agreed. I just watched the video and they've doubled down on the annoying changes they've been making for years now. All that rounding wastes space by definition - a square holds more of squares and circles than a circle holds of circles and squares, if you know what I mean. Why all the rounded corners? Are they afraid users will cut themselves, so they've created the browser equivalent of kiddie scissors?
They've also kept the monochromatic controls bullshit which eliminates colour as a cue for identifying the function of a button. (Wait, sorry... there are no buttons - just graphics in the areas where a button should be). What do they have against colours and defined borders?
For a long time now Mozilla has been forcing pointless changes on users in a misguided effort to stay "relevant". This is more of the same. I'll stay on version 128 as long as I can, thanks very much. And if I could go back farther, I would. I still regularly swear at my browser, and older versions were better. Ditto for Thunderbird.
I wish Mozilla would stop dicking about with esthetics. At the very least, they could make UI customization much easier than it is. All the money wasted on UI churn could be better spent on ad campaigns that would increase market share. I don't think many people are going to say "Oh, I like all those new shiny interface changes - I'm switching to Firefox!"
Comment Great (Score 1) 77
I'm not buying one until it's 39 cents again.
Comment Re:Just Updated (Score 1) 40
It's dark mode that's affected. Yes, it's possible to adjust it out. I think it's arrogant of the developers to make an appearance choice like this.
Someone needs to justify their existence.
Comment Re: comparable (Score 1) 236
You can see Waymos at intersections on the "most dangerous" list, therefore it must have to do with traffic or navigation algorithm differences (distance calculation/traffic lights etc).
Here's a list of the most dangerous intersections in San Francisco:
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsfstandard.com%2F2026%2F03...
Here's a recent YouTube video of the first intersection on that list:
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3F...
You can see a Waymo enters the frame at the top left at the 20 second mark. Also the 2 minute mark.
Comment Masks? (Score 2) 28
US AI Safety Debate Masks Competitors' 'Negligence'
Perhaps this is more about deflection.
Also, the recent related SNL Weekend Update skit was pretty entertaining, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on AI’s Threat to Humanity, "We do not condone what we are doing."
Comment I can't wait (Score 2) 77
How long will it be before there's a phone app which allows people to take pictures of the menu boards at McD's and have the geo-located data posted in real time? In a region where the density of McDonald's locations is high, such an app might make following Head Office's dynamic pricing suggestions counter-productive for franchisees.
I can also see this becoming a zero-sum war among LLMs. Zero-sum, that is, only if you ignore the societal and environmental cost of data centres churning bits.
Call me old fashioned if you must; I still say that spending all that new compute just to end up with pretty much the old pricing is a tad irresponsible, anti-social, and self-defeating. In other words, it's very corporate and very Capitalistic.
Submission + - New Ai-Powered "America.gov" Government Website Uses Gemini and Grok (cnn.com)
fahrbot-bot writes: CNN is reporting (and others) that President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled America.gov, a government website meant to serve as a one-stop shop for people trying to accomplish basic tasks like renewing a passport, enrolling in Medicare or applying for disaster relief.
The site, which launched with some basic functions ahead of a full rollout next year, is designed to serve as an AI-powered guide through the thicket of government agencies that Trump officials pledged would ultimately save people a whole lot of frustration.
The administration’s new initiative aims to allow Americans to access dozens of federal websites through a single point, making America.gov akin to a search tool that pulls information from across the government. And in the same way that people increasingly use AI models like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to compile information and provide customized answers, Trump officials claimed that America.gov would be able to do the same for people’s interactions with the federal government.
Enrolling in Medicare, for example, will become a matter of typing the request into the America.gov AI tool and following its step-by-step instructions. The same goes for applying to a government job — the new tool will now let people upload their resume directly to the site — or answering questions about federal benefits, publicly available documents or other necessities that fall under the federal government’s vast umbrella.
“Our vision is that one day, this type of convenience and simplicity will be across every government service,” said Joseph Gebbia, who leads the government’s National Design Studio.
But the reality is that the most advanced actions won’t be available until some point in 2027, raising questions about how long it will take for the administration to revamp the way the people interact with the government’s websites. The current version of America.gov can only do “answers.”
In related news, Variety notes that America.gov confirms, for now anyway, that Biden won the 2020 election.
The site, which launched with some basic functions ahead of a full rollout next year, is designed to serve as an AI-powered guide through the thicket of government agencies that Trump officials pledged would ultimately save people a whole lot of frustration.
The administration’s new initiative aims to allow Americans to access dozens of federal websites through a single point, making America.gov akin to a search tool that pulls information from across the government. And in the same way that people increasingly use AI models like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to compile information and provide customized answers, Trump officials claimed that America.gov would be able to do the same for people’s interactions with the federal government.
Enrolling in Medicare, for example, will become a matter of typing the request into the America.gov AI tool and following its step-by-step instructions. The same goes for applying to a government job — the new tool will now let people upload their resume directly to the site — or answering questions about federal benefits, publicly available documents or other necessities that fall under the federal government’s vast umbrella.
“Our vision is that one day, this type of convenience and simplicity will be across every government service,” said Joseph Gebbia, who leads the government’s National Design Studio.
But the reality is that the most advanced actions won’t be available until some point in 2027, raising questions about how long it will take for the administration to revamp the way the people interact with the government’s websites. The current version of America.gov can only do “answers.”
In related news, Variety notes that America.gov confirms, for now anyway, that Biden won the 2020 election.
Submission + - New Ai-Powered "America.gov" Government Website Uses Gemini and Grok (cnn.com)
fahrbot-bot writes: CNN is reporting (and others) that President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled America.gov, a government website meant to serve as a one-stop shop for people trying to accomplish basic tasks like renewing a passport, enrolling in Medicare or applying for disaster relief.
The site, which launched with some basic functions ahead of a full rollout next year, is designed to serve as an AI-powered guide through the thicket of government agencies that Trump officials pledged would ultimately save people a whole lot of frustration.
The administration’s new initiative aims to allow Americans to access dozens of federal websites through a single point, making America.gov akin to a search tool that pulls information from across the government. And in the same way that people increasingly use AI models like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to compile information and provide customized answers, Trump officials claimed that America.gov would be able to do the same for people’s interactions with the federal government.
Enrolling in Medicare, for example, will become a matter of typing the request into the America.gov AI tool and following its step-by-step instructions. The same goes for applying to a government job — the new tool will now let people upload their resume directly to the site — or answering questions about federal benefits, publicly available documents or other necessities that fall under the federal government’s vast umbrella.
“Our vision is that one day, this type of convenience and simplicity will be across every government service,” said Joseph Gebbia, who leads the government’s National Design Studio.
But the reality is that the most advanced actions won’t be available until some point in 2027, raising questions about how long it will take for the administration to revamp the way the people interact with the government’s websites. The current version of America.gov can only do “answers.”
In related news, Variety notes that America.gov confirms, for now anyway, that Biden won the 2020 election.
The site, which launched with some basic functions ahead of a full rollout next year, is designed to serve as an AI-powered guide through the thicket of government agencies that Trump officials pledged would ultimately save people a whole lot of frustration.
The administration’s new initiative aims to allow Americans to access dozens of federal websites through a single point, making America.gov akin to a search tool that pulls information from across the government. And in the same way that people increasingly use AI models like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to compile information and provide customized answers, Trump officials claimed that America.gov would be able to do the same for people’s interactions with the federal government.
Enrolling in Medicare, for example, will become a matter of typing the request into the America.gov AI tool and following its step-by-step instructions. The same goes for applying to a government job — the new tool will now let people upload their resume directly to the site — or answering questions about federal benefits, publicly available documents or other necessities that fall under the federal government’s vast umbrella.
“Our vision is that one day, this type of convenience and simplicity will be across every government service,” said Joseph Gebbia, who leads the government’s National Design Studio.
But the reality is that the most advanced actions won’t be available until some point in 2027, raising questions about how long it will take for the administration to revamp the way the people interact with the government’s websites. The current version of America.gov can only do “answers.”
In related news, Variety notes that America.gov confirms, for now anyway, that Biden won the 2020 election.
Comment Translation (Score 1) 77
... a tool, not a mandate, designed to provide restaurant-specific recommendations to help franchisees deliver value for customers and make informed business decisions
... a suggestion which owners would do well to follow if they want continued support from Corporate, designed to help franchisees suck every possible penny from customers while engaging in rapacious business practices
McDonald's is a vampiric real estate business with a synergistic side-hustle slinging burgers and promoting malnourishment and diabetes. May they rot in hell.
Comment Extinction! (Score 1) 38
Florida Invokes Extinction Fears In Legal Bid To Halt OpenAI Development
Next thing you know, they'll start believing in Evolution -- or, climate change.
