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Comment Insightful use of protest as self-promotion (Score 1) 98

by couchslug (#66388400) Attached to: Google Staff Resign In Backlash Over Its AI Contracts With Military

Not jumping ship until a politically fashionable trigger event offers itself is a fine way to profit from a system to which one expediently objects. That's an admirably shrewd career move, not rage against anyones machine.

Bailing out "in protest" when you're making phat bank to go make even phatter bank is great self-promotion with no downside. Seriously capable people don't stay unemployed long. The departing will be easily replaced which reinforces corporate policies they object to. No one loses anything because nothing is sacrificed.

Comment Proprietary tech has its price long after purchase (Score 2) 23

by couchslug (#66388372) Attached to: Bose Is Buying Skullcandy

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcmag.com%2Fnews%2Fbos...

"In addition, the SoundTouch app will no longer function after Feb. 18, 2026, though it will still be available for download until then in markets outside of Japan. Users' My Bose accounts will remain active.

As for why itâ(TM)s cutting support now, Bose says technology has evolved since the speakers first launched in 2013 and that itâ(TM)s âoeno longer able to sustain the development and support of the cloud infrastructure that powers this older generation of products.â

This likely isnâ(TM)t welcome news for audiophiles who have spent large sums of money on the SoundTouch rangeâ"particularly as units such as the SoundTouch 30 retailed for north of $1,000. One Reddit user claims heâ(TM)s now sitting on âoe$4,000 worth of bricks" following the move. Meanwhile, others called the ending of support "exploitative,â shared links to a petition calling on Bose to renew support for the SoundTouch range, and asked their fellow users to send emails to Bose's management team."

Comment What crowd control options SHOULD be used? (Score 1) 112

by couchslug (#66387776) Attached to: America's War Department Will Test Heat Ray Weapon For Potential Use

There are few options for low-damage area denial. Which ARE acceptable and why?

A heat ray beats tear "gas" (which is really a cloud or spray of particulates) whose misery lasts after the target quits the area.

Even if you wear a CBRN mask the rest of you often gets smegged and that IME is not pleasant.

A heat ray does not require physical combat with attendant injuries.

 

Comment Used auto, motorcycle and other parts (Score 1) 46

by couchslug (#66387146) Attached to: eBay to Cut 9% of Workforce

While of course my Lenovo fleet is mostly from Ebay and of course runs Linux (with some Windows guests because why not?) I buy far more via Ebay.

People often part out personal vehicles and parts stashes cheaper than I can buy them from my local salvage yard buddies.

I don't even have to travel to save money. Much love for my local self-service salvage but that's also a drive so Ebay keeps winning with small sellers making bank.

I also bought my used commercial toaster for small money after my junk new Panasonic toaster oven died in a year, and repaired my Kenmore microwave with a used magnetron (then repaired my shit new Panasonic with used control board).

Submission + - Nuclear Power Now Has Bipartisan Support (reason.com)

Submitted by fjo3
fjo3 writes: Nuclear power has historically been a divisive issue: During the Cold War, an entire generation feared annihilation at the hands of the same basic technology that some want to use to power their homes.

That's unfortunate, because nuclear energy has considerable benefits—a reliable source of power with very few greenhouse gas emissions—with increasingly lower risks.

Thankfully, it seems that message is catching on with people from both major political parties.

"About six-in-ten U.S. adults now say they favor more nuclear power plants to generate electricity," Pew Research reported in October 2025. "That's up from 43% in 2020, driven by increasing support among both Republicans and Democrats." The authors noted that "Republicans are more likely than Democrats" to favor the policy, with "roughly seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents" expressing support, but it still included 52 percent of Democrats and independents who lean in that direction.

Submission + - EA Shutting Down Bioware (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by atari_kid
atari_kid writes: According to a recent report by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, EA has reportedly decided to shut down BioWare. While the closure has yet to be officially announced, it appears the studio's future may already have been decided.

Submission + - Physicists Trapped a Particle of Antimatter And Kept It Caged For Months (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Theoretically, the birth of the Universe should have produced equal quantities of particles and antiparticles.

Why the current Universe is so heavily skewed in particles' favor is an enduring mystery – one whose solution remains all the harder to find because of antiparticles' tendency to go and collide with particles.

But an extraordinary effort may have finally tamed one of the biggest tricksters of the antiparticle milieu – the positron, the antimatter counterpart to the ubiquitous electron.

In a cryogenic, superconducting vacuum trap, physicists at Northwestern University in the US successfully kept a single positron for months – a breakthrough that, they say, paves the way to the most rigorous probes yet of particle physics.

Comment IP itself is government charity (Score 3, Insightful) 78

IP is mere legal creation by and for the rich, not some moral obligation.

FOSS demonstrates the value of free public use of information though it requires IP protection AGAINST legal adversaries of freedom due to existing political structures. Billions of dollars made with FOSS show freedom can be profitable.

IP eventually expires (at least until company shills make IP permanent, easy to manage under weak governments like the US which greeted Sonny Bono with legs akimbo). No loss if it never begins because profit remains a motivator.

Comment That's cheap these days. (Score 1) 79

by couchslug (#66385806) Attached to: Ukraine Claims World's First Drone Evacuation of Wounded Soldier

The tech is not exotic. DJI Agras T100 will carry 220lbs max payload at the price of a used car. A complete ag drone with spray system is only about forty thousand bucks and could be bought with a small business loan if you want to make it pay for itself then ride it for fun after dismounting the spray rig.

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fshorts...

Of course use to carry you is at your own risk, just like parasailing etc.

Submission + - Enterprise IT dependency erodes choice

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: CIOs admit they are being forced to upgrade enterprise IT

“The deep integration within the organisation makes it increasingly difficult for IT departments to select alternative enterprise IT systems, says survey”

“Switching off a service became easier technically; switching away from the provider could become harder commercially and operationally”

“Over several decades, dependence accumulated with few external guardrails to constrain it.”

“Economists have studied this problem for decades: once a customer makes relationship-specific investments, the vendor gains leverage that no contract can fully anticipate.”

Submission + - Old Blood Cells Have Been Transformed Into Brain Stem Cells That Get Younger (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Now, scientists have transformed old blood cells into young brain stem cells, which continued to grow younger as they grew older.

The researchers, from the University Hospital of Bonn and the University of Bonn, in Germany, described their methods in the journal Aging Cell.

Cellular transformations can be done in two main ways. The first, more circuitous route turns a specific cell back into a pluripotent stem cell, or an embryonic "blank slate," and then into a different cell type.

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