Also, the amount of energy required to reverse it... it's hard to see where that could possibly have come from.

The name of the product is "Bomb", and "Bomb" is the default Bluetooth name.

I don't know whether that makes you advice invalid, or all the more salient.

ROTFL

Social engineering redux... except now you only have to convince a sycophantic and overly helpful AI.

Many people incorrectly think of proxies and VPNs (especially VPNs) as a security and privacy enhancement, but unless you're operating the proxy/VPN server yourself they're just as likely to be a massive security and privacy risk. The problem is that they concentrate all of the traffic you'd most like to keep secret in one server, and depending on exactly how the system works, may require installing software on your local machine with ~root permissions. If the operator is malicious, this is a really dangerous combination.

These are useful tools for location shifting and -- in fairly rare cases, and with VPNs only -- from hiding traffic from malicious. But third-party proxy/VPN services should always be viewed with suspicion. Obviously this is even more true when the provider is Russian... though it's pretty likely that wasn't made clear to the people who used the service.

A person can be sane and immoral, sane and moral, insane and immoral or insane and moral. "Orthogonal" is perhaps a little too strong, since it implies the absence of any relationship, but certainly all the combinations are possible.

Forgot to add: you won't buy them but rent them, like a cable box.

Most non-computing folks will see them as Alexa-Plus systems that they don't have to worry about updates and other stupid computer geek chores.

Have you checked SC Top 500 lately?

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftop500.org%2Fsystem%2F1803...

They seem to be positioning these as ubiquious computing devices, i.e. the computing toaster Steve Jobs was questing after, starting way back in the late '70s and early '80s.

These will not be stand alone computing devices but likely tied to a network and corporate control systems.
That the corporation(s) and/or gov't will be monitoring everything done on the system goes without saying.

If anything these will probably be the death of personal computing.

They want to replace PCs with PCDs (Personal Computing Devices) that will have to be tied to the net (i.e. rented like a cable box) to work and monitors everything you do on them.

Oh yeah, they'll let you plot and goon on the boxes, just so they have dirt on you for control down the line.

I wonder how long it'll be before real computers are restricted to only licensed (gov't / corporate approved) individuals? Maybe we make it to 2040 but pessimist me says they'll try to start controlling PCs before 2035.

I can't dissect her shitty character non-arc any better than Matthew Kadish from Medium did in his 8000-word annihilation of a poorly written, poorly conceived, poorly executed Mary Sue.

And...Grogu is literally nothing BUT a toy commercial.

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2F%40matthewkad...

"Since a Mary Sue is partially defined by her ability to upstage all other characters she shares a scene with, regardless of those characters previously established skills and abilities, let us look at how Rey does this to other characters in Star Wars:

        Rey beats up Finn upon first meeting him, despite Finn supposedly being a trained Stormtrooper.
        Rey is able to fly the Millennium Falcon better than Han Solo, who is considered one of the best pilots in the galaxy.
        Rey is able to fix the Millennium Falcon easier and quicker than either Han Solo or Chewbacca, whoâ(TM)ve flown the ship for decades.
        Rey is able to shoot a blaster more accurately than a trained Stormtrooper, despite never having fired a blaster before.
        Rey is able to resist Kylo Renâ(TM)s Force interrogation technique, and even turn it around on him to read his mind, despite Kylo being a trained Force user and Rey never having used the Force before.
        Rey is able to defeat Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel despite never fighting with a lightsaber before and Kylo Ren being a trained saber user.
        Rey receives condolences for Hanâ(TM)s death from Leia instead of Chewbacca receiving Leiaâ(TM)s condolences, considering Chewbacca had a far closer relationship with both Han and Leia and Leia never having met Rey before.
        Rey is chosen to go retrieve Luke Skywalker, despite the more sensible choice being that of Leia.
        Luke becomes frightened of Rey after seeing her âoeraw powerâ with the Force being equal to that of Kylo Ren.
        Rey defeats Luke Skywalker in one-on-one combat, despite Luke being a trained Jedi capable of defeating Darth Vader, arguably one of the most skilled Force combatants in history.
        Rey defeats numerous Praetorian Guards and helps to save Kylo Ren during the battle, despite having very little experience in fighting multiple opponents at once.
        Rey shows she has mastery over the Force on a level with Kylo Ren when struggling over possession of Lukeâ(TM)s lightsaber despite Kylo having years of training and Rey having weeks worth of training.
        Rey is able to get a âoetriple killâ by destroying three First Order TIE Fighters at the same time in the Battle of Crait, despite never firing the Millennium Falconâ(TM)s guns before.
        Rey is able to move a mountain of rocks from the Resistance base on Crait, despite never having trained for such a feat, and which no Jedi in the Star Wars films has ever before demonstrated. Thus, she upstages Luke in respect to being the one to actually save the survivors of the Resistance."

I don't think building weapons is inherently bad, like some sort of child.
The fact is that nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles have given us the longest period of peace between the great powers in modern history, at least since the 14th century.

You probably believe if we hadn't built them the Soviets would have just showed us with hugs and kisses?

...and which have given us the longest period of great power peace in since what, Charlemagne?

Or did you think that was coincidence?
The goal is NOT to use them.

The key to 'surfing the 2nd generation techs' is that you - defacto - can't be at the cutting edge. In fact you have to be a backward society *vastly* behind the curve to avoid having to have that legacy sunk-cost infrastructure.

Nobody "skipped over" early tech, that implies agency. These are LEFT BEHIND economies. I don't think anyone chooses that as a strategy.

So it's externally-developed tech that someone is selling them.

"...the movie isn't finding audiences "beyond an aging group of core fans.""

Aren't these the core fans they basically told to go fuck themselves?

They rebranded the entire Expanded Universe as 'non canonical' so they could re-write and sell their new shit. Churn out committee-designed scripts set up to "maximize marketing opportunities" and expect nobody to notice.

Trivializing genuine criticism as racists, homophobes, alt-right, or some easily-dismissed 'engineered' ingenuous complaints. Even something as simple as fight-choreography has gotten dumber.

Rey as the lead of the series is a stupidly written Mary Sue girlboss. Challenges? None. Character development? None. Dramatic Stakes? None.
Invented powers every other film to conveniently solve incompetent writers ending up in corners.
Finn could have been a REALLY interesting character ... Wasted.
Tell me Rose Tico didn't practically have a "Asian placeholder" card around her neck, with her irrelevant go-nowhere subplot of nothingness?
Genre, beloved characters mainly got shit on before being spun out - dead, depressed, or bitter hermits.

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

The jokes about Darth Jar Jar were everywhere of course, but it could have worked. Star Wars lifted a few ideas from classic SF sources including Asimov's Foundation series - in which, we might recall, the terrifying, unstoppable galactic warlord known as The Mule was hiding in plain sight as a clown, who seemed to be merely a harmless entertainer at court. His military success was chiefly thanks to his psychic ability to manipulate others' minds to his liking - Darth Jar Jar could have done very well that way!