My ideal OS is one that is just some minimal base that is enough to run a package manager and perhaps a small diagnostic suite and recovery. And everything else is a package on top. FreeBSD, some Linux distros, etc come very close to that ideal.

While it's soldered in SSD for many Mac models, so a post-purchase upgrade is generally not practical. And while the pricing is a little steeper than NVMe, closer to 40 cents a GB, that still puts the 12GB into around $5, perfectly in your suggested range. Perhaps people buying a 512GB Mac should consider a 1TB Mac (~$200 more) if they are concerned about space wasted by the OS install.

Cloud storage is not equivalent to local storage. Not in how applications use it. Not in performance. And not in availability. The two are apples and oranges.

I generally believe the end-users should decide what is installed on their computer. But most OS vendors do not offer full customization. It seems like every major one likes to put their pet projects into a device meant for general use. And power users with unusual use cases complain that the general purpose consumer device is not finely tuned to their special needs. So maybe people should consider running an obscure Linux distro if they are unhappy with bundled software found in essentially every mainstream computing device for consumers.

Are AI services inciting desperate acts? Maybe I'd agree with the statement a different, and less loaded, word than "inciting" was used.

One of my gripes with the AI industry is these chatbot models are designed around engagement. They prey on human behavior and the elderly, young, and those with mental health issues are especially vulnerable. I don't believe that the AI agent itself has any intent (it cannot) nor does the company that owns and trains the AI likely have any specific harmful intent to "incite" something beyond engagement and purchases.

We're in the unregulated phase of humanity's adoption of learning computers as a daily part of society. We're basically at the same level as the early industrial revolution where we thought it made sense to put children to work in coal mines because they are small and fit in the carts. For whatever reason, we took 100 years of philosophical, ethical, and moral debate and flushed it because we saw a little bit of profit. Humanity has time and time again proven to me that we have learned nothing.

Keeping us safe from hypothetical threats, thought crimes, and dissents.

God bless Dario Amodei and all the other tech billionaires!

AI is a metric fuckton of cons and a tiny pinch of pros. Typically we allow bad things to happen if they come with a greater amount of good, not the other way around.

How about: No.

And how about fuck you.

Thank you for showing us that your lens is cracked.

Pervasive surveillance is antithetical to a Free Society. Period.

The fact that 659,880 vehicles were stolen last year doesn't automatically lead to a suspension of personal privacy and the granting of authority to police officers beyond what they appear to be able to responsibly wield. I don't accept hand waving past the lack of oversight, transparency, and consequences to those who abuse their authority in the hopes that some meaningful portion of the 659,880 vehicle thefts are closed or reduced in future years.

It was 850,708 in 2024. That 23% drop had little to do with Flock, and is mainly the Kia/Hyundai software fixes, post-pandemic crime continuing to trending down, and focused programs in some communities around reminding people to lock their vehicles, hide valuables, etc. (you may have seen these signs in your area or the PSAs). Supporters of Flock and other camera systems tends to claim around a 10% decrease in crime for local communities that install their cameras, while the above shows that some thefts are dropping beyond that percentage regardless if cameras were installed.

Weird. Communications just aren't all that important to you. *shrug*

Let's hope you never have a need for communications. Actually, since you do not want anyone else to have it either, I hope for ALL of us that a dire emergency where communication would save lives never happens.

I can agree that in non-emergencies, AM radio is an utter waste. I can agree that emergencies where major infrastructure is not terribly impacted, AM radio is a waste. If even one bomb gets dropped, you would be VERY glad for AM radio. The amount of infrastructure it needs is so minimal that a singular individual could stand up a station with minimal infrastructure. A shame all of the Radio Shacks are gone now. Makes it slightly more difficult to set up an AM transmitter.

This account has been active since 2004 or so. That counts as a long time. 20+ years definitely qualifies as a "long time".

LOL, do you really think the leopard will change its spots? The second step is ALWAYS needed. Who is the leopard in this scenario? The one who has the power... currently a UK company.

*hug*

Let's not put tools into the hands of people who abuse them. At least not without more significant safeguards and better transparency than we have today.

Look bro, have you ever heard this saying:

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
-- H.L. Mencken"

It was indeed, the War of Northern Aggression. The reasoning by the North was valid, the path taken was not. That should be fixed first. Centralized power is the ill that is killing the USA right now.

Since some people are unable to think clearly, what I am saying is that Slavery absolutely *IS* bad; however, the ends do not justify the means.

Aha! Someone else who understands.