I tried to go back to using an old but trusty iPhone 5 in 2018. I found that I couldn't get a signal in half the locations I used to get signals fine previously. Technology had marched on, and so had the mix of 2G, 3G and 4G bands.
Given that our beige computing boxes used to be out of date within two years, I'd say six years for a phone is good going. Time to get a new iPhone.
Our legal systems have already become like this. Only those with the knowledge on how to navigate the system or those qualified to interface in the expected protocols have any hope of achieving results.
Super-corporations are now just the next rung down, adopting all the habits of their superior, but without the responsibilities.
I do wonder if there is any overlap between the Culture novels and The Algebraist. I seem to remember mention of aHumans and rHumans in both -- a fascinating idea really.
I can't help but think the other parties would put forward better policies that don't alienate the electorate nor swathes of international business. Some would say the current conservative cabinet are the low-grade remnants of the recent party turmoil, and their policies demonstrate this. Unfortunately for us, they really have nothing to lose over the next year.
The current conservative government is on its last legs before being banished for at least a decade. It appears they already have their eyes on the lucrative private sector and are willing to vandalise the UK with little thought to public protest.
"banished handguns so you can no longer protect yourself..."
I think this view has been quite comprehensively debunked by now. I for one do not want to live in a country where most people have access to handguns.
Field 6 "sharedfromaid": "aid of the sharer's Site/Secure Note" is unencrypted. The hackers will be able to infer relationships between Lastpass users.
Field 10: "genpw": "Is an auto-saved generated password". Good for deciding whether to brute force or not.
Yikes. I can't imagine why anyone would trust Lastpass after this.
1Password also uses a secret key in addition to your master password to encrypt your data. You enter the secret key when setting up the account on a new device.
So a hacker would have to get hold of the encrypted data, together with the secret key for each account. The secret key isn't stored by 1Password, requiring the hacker to brute force it. However, each key provides 128 bits of entropy, which makes it infeasible to brute force with current technology.
It seemed to me to be a handbook on how to conduct a revolution. Much as Heinlein's Stranger from a Strange Land was a handbook on how to start a religion (hello Scientologists).
I agree. There are some playlists and songs I only listen to in the gym, and similar songs constantly float to the top of Spotify's recommendations for me due to gym being 3x week.
I did consider creating another "gym-only" user on our Family plan, but Spotify should really have a way to create named contexts for the one user. e.g. commute, gym, run, working from home, on a plane, etc.
Perhaps as technology progresses, we'll see the equivalent of Neal Stephenson's Young Lady's Illustrated Primer from his book The Diamond Age. The primer is an AI-backed story interface, designed to teach and entertain a child whilst also becoming more complicated as the child ages.
I do feel sorry for her in a way. She was riding a treadmill of expectations. Started off slowly, probably thinking "yeah, we can do this" and by the time the treadmill was moving at light speed, it was too late to get off.
Even TED has removed her talk from YouTube. What responsibility do the media bear when their shallow hype turns out to be false and damaging to all parties?
Another dark pattern is listing a page of products, and marking one as "Sold out". Makes one wonder how much stock is left of the other items, and when those might also become sold out.
I had a similar experience in Washington. Amex had an international courier deliver a new card within days. In the UK, the three companies that won't lose my custom (unless things go very downhill) are Amex, NFU Mutual and firstdirect. In my dealings with each, their staff come across as competent and efficient, with a get-stuff-done attitude and evidently empowered to make their own decisions.
Given that our beige computing boxes used to be out of date within two years, I'd say six years for a phone is good going. Time to get a new iPhone.