Grok has been integrated into Tesla vehicles, and I've had several voice interactions with it recently. Initially, I thought it was just a gimmick, but the voice interactions are great and quite responsive. I've found myself using it multiple times to get updates on the news or quick questions about topics I'm interested in.
I wish there was a "power user" mode in Windows that you could activate and you'd get the ability to have classic themes (my MS themselves), classic Control Panel, no constant nudging, no weather/Xbox/Solitaire apps, etc...
It worked for China because they were in position of power. The US wasn't established in China and they needed Chinese users to grow their global user base and influence. Meanwhile, China had the wealth and power to say no and instead fund and develop their own homegrown tech equivalents.
Europe doesn't have that same level of power. If tomorrow morning you banned Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Salesforce in Europe, you'd destroy their economy.
What Europe needs to do is create the conditions for tech companies to emerge that could truly compete against US big tech. As long as European will prefer working for US corporation, there's no chance for Europe to compete. Simple as that.
The P2P aspect of Skype was really interesting. I remember there were even physical handsets you could buy that had Skype built-in, which I thought were cool. I remember seeing business cards with Skype username on them also. That's how popular the thing was!
It's honestly baffling how we're still relying on old PSTN/phone numbers to reach people in 2025.
To me, that kind of product is what sets Apple apart from other companies in the industry. There's an optimism and playfulnes to that design that is refreshing.
The reality is most people are well served by either Windows and/or macOS.
Both platforms have received billions of dollars in developpment by MS and Apple over the years and both have an extremely rich and mature app ecosystems. For most people, there's no real need or desire to use anything else.
That's it.
It's not an issue of drivers, games or app compatibility. If there were serious demand for Linux on the desktop, there would be good money to be made there and these issues would get fixed pronto.
Never tried LSD, but a couple of weeks ago I consummed canabis oil from a small spray bottle I bought from our province's official canabis store. Not knowing much about canabis and proper dosage, I decided to try it, but it's clear I took too much...
The trip was like a mental battle between moments of lucidity and negative thought loops and light paranoia. It forced me to see my own automatic thinking process and this "inner voice" I have with more clarity.
I realized we can orient our thinking and it's polarity at any moment and it would influence our perception of reality. Sounds obvious on the surface, but it became clear when I realized negative thoughts were appearing and I would reorient my thinking elsewhere, the vibe changed and it felt like I was becoming more lucid.
Discovered VATSIM by chance watching a Youtube video about MS FlightSimulator and was impressed by the dedication of the various participants. This is the kind of stuff that make the internet awesome.
*Along with the termination of perpetual licensing, Broadcom has also decided to discontinue the Free ESXi Hypervisor, marking it as EOGA (End of General Availability).
Regrettably, there is currently no substitute product offered.*
You can feel that the employee that wrote this knows this is a sinking ship.