I am going to Friday afternoon armchair bet that Microsoft makes waaaaay more profit selling to companies than to individual consumers. I going to bet it's not even close.

So for AI, where Microsoft wants to make that money is by selling their AI scam to companies. Who will then turn around and use it to scam - er, sell - it to their customers and shareholders by claiming their "investment" in AI tools from Microsoft will drive a "new age" of productivity and profitability.

And when the house of cards comes tumbling down it will hurt, bad, and it will hurt everywhere, not just tech. But if Microsoft times it right, they could very well walk away with piles of $$ from the overeager companies who are buying-in to the scam.

Looking back, "racist, bigoted rant" was a bit over the top and not super helpful. I'll withdraw that line.
But I do stand by my other points - people use anecdote after anecdote to try to claim that white men are the victim in the "DEI" wars; but if you look at the data it is very clear - they aren't. And much of society is built around the goal of keeping white men at a place of prestige and power.

The story about Hollywood and screenwriters being a fixed game, no arguments from me there. But those who are winning the fixed Hollywood game are usually family members of other Hollywood elites, not particular racial, ethnic, or gender groups.

And video production and entertainment is much more meritocratic than it used to be. All it takes is a camera and YouTube channel and you can start your own show. Although such channels and activities are rife with biases and challenges too, particularly around how the algorithm recommends certain content to certain people (https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fsections%2Fcodeswitch%2F2022%2F02%2F14%2F1080577195%2Ftiktok-algorithm) and how some ideas, challenges, or memes do not become popularized until "borrowed" by white influencers from black influencers (https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hercampus.com%2Fschool%2Famerican%2Fwhite-creators-continue-to-steal-ideas-from-black-creators-on-tiktok%2F).

It looks like his access to his account has been restored (https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidbits.com%2F2025%2F12%2F18%2Fcompromised-apple-gift-card-saga-ends-well-but-risks-remain%2F).

Five days without access to your accounts is a LONG time, and should not have happened. But, as an Apple ID holder, I do want my account protected and don't want other people to access it for any reason (especially because that might open access to other accounts, such as my bank). Hopefully Apple (and other tech companies) learn from these sorts of issues and improve their systems.

It's simple: a Playstation 5 is just 7 Best Buy Gift Cards, of $79 each, that you then combine together, and voila, Playstation 5!

And what, if not gaming on a Playstation 5, could make me more hungry for 6-month old Snickers bar!?

But if everything is free, imagine how much you'll sell! You'll be tired of all the winning!


Point being, it doesn't take much to manipulate the basic logic programmed into most AI.

Exactly. I was at a big-box store yesterday - okay, Walmart, don't judge me - and they were playing an advertisement broadcast over the store-wide speaker system that was celebrating "Walmart's contributions to the needy in the community by supporting donations of food, clothing, and toys..." I literally laughed out loud. Many of the recipients of such donations are Walmart's EMPLOYEES who receive poverty-level wages and hours just low enough to keep them from qualifying for benefits. If Walmart really cared about their poor employees, they would pay them a living wage and give them enough hours to qualify for benefits. But no. Instead, we get "low prices" and advertisements about how great of a store they are...

I try not to shop there when possible, but there are not really any good options in town otherwise as they all do this...and shopping online is usually just as bad (looking at you, Amazon). I try to buy direct from the manufactures whenever possible and shop responsibly...but in the U.S., not possible unless we change state and federal laws...

Asians also have near historic low rates of unemployment. It's in the data.

Yes, the unemployment RATE is the percent of people who are wanting to work but are not able to find employment. Rates already account for the varying percentage of people in the population.

Parent was arguing companies have "severely curtail[ed] the hiring of white men for entry level and mid level positions". I am pointing to the FACT that white men still have a lower unemployment rate than black men (and both of those numbers are lingering near historic lows). So if companies truly are hiring white men at a lower rate, it is not showing up in the unemployment numbers. And if they are, in fact, hiring white men at a much lower rate, then it is STILL a higher rate than for Black men (who have a higher unemployment rate).

What different strategies? Submit your MCAT score, your GPA, recommendation letters, (often an interview, too) and the medical school decides who to admit. If you were to pick to applicants at random, one man, one woman, the man is more likely to get it. So tell me, how are medical schools biased against men?

I think the safest solution is to peer out your window, across the yard, and into your neighbor's home and watch whatever they're watching. No sound, but you can make up your own dialogue and sound effects! Way more fun and creative!

Wrong. The data show the fact: white men (and white women) are less likely to be unemployed than black men and black women. It's not even close. You can look at all the tables you want right here: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bls.gov%2Fcps%2Fcpsaat...

The employment gap between men and women is very, very small. Negligible.

In terms of medical school admission, the admission rate for men is HIGHER than the admission rate for women. That is to say, men are more likely to get admitted than women. Now, way more women apply to medical school so the number of women admitted is higher than the number of men, but it's still "EASIER" for a man to get admitted to medical school (in terms of admission rates). https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwiareport.com%2F2023%2F12%2F...

Now STFU with your racist, bigoted rants and look at what data actually say about what's happening in the workforce.

I didn't want any new "updates" from Samsung on the TV, so I kept rejecting its "Updated User Terms" earlier this year (after owning the TV for 5 years). I don't want "updates" - I just want it to work the same way it worked in 2020, when I bought it. But that's not possible, as the TV booted itself off my WiFi and won't connect to the WiFi any more. Could be just coincidence?

If I bought a pair of pants in 2020, and then 5 years later Levi's decided to "change the terms of the license" and turn them neon green, and if I didn't agree to turn them neon green they'd essentially stop working as pants...consumers would throw a fit and so would Congress. But with electronics, for some reason this is the accepted modus operandi and we as consumers just have to sit here and take it?

Ummm...children don't vote. So what does their access to social media have to do with voting?

I don't think social media is good for democracy in general (because it's manipulation through power, $$, and algorithm, and driven by outrage, not empathy), but that's a different discussion.

There's nothing illegal about a grocery store developing, marketing, and selling its own brand of corn, soda, cereal, etc. and nothing illegal about Amazon doing the same. BUT, that's not what Amazon does. Amazon:
A) Carefully tracks sales of all products to see where it could compete and steal your sales
B) Copies your designs - even trademarked, proprietary, or otherwise protected designs - sometimes even making a 'deal' with your same supplier
C) Buries your product behind pages and pages of "sponsored" products unless you pay the extortion, er, "advertising" fee to make it nearly impossible for customers to find your original product
D) Uses its immense size and power to exploit any successful product selling on its site for its own benefit, destroying the small, independent companies it claims to support.

I would never sell on Amazon or enter into a legal agreement to deal with Amazon, but for many companies they have no other choice and Amazon exploits them in ways that your local grocer and convenience store could never fathom.

Yes, poverty sucks, and it sucks for everyone. And it really sucks when society only seems to help certain people, or seems to help people from certain groups more than others. Historically and statistically we can see the trends of what society has done on average, but within those groups there is still tremendous difference in experiences. And, in general, the U.S. has done a terrible job of helping those in poverty finding a way out or even having a decent life, no matter the race, gender, veteran's status, disability status, etc. of the person. Most people in poverty stay there, and society is designed to keep them there.

I consider myself a progressive, but I don't mourn for the ending of many DEI programs, as many of them were A) not effective and B) just for show. We're not going to solve a society designed to keep the poor poor, and to keep the disfavored groups "in their place" with a few offices, catchy phrases, and websites - it's going to require real hard work to remake how our society works, so it works for everyone.