Would you like more sealioning?

Yes/Maybe Later

Slack has been doing this with their push of AI on users, but the really insidious thing is that they don't do it to the workspace owners.

Every area of the app has gotten a "Request AI access? [Yes / Not Now]": The unread messages, the search bar, the search results, the user list, the workspace menu, the ..., and everywhere has to be dismissed individually. But the owner? One dismiss and they never see it anywhere again.

I think the point is that if you ask "Do you want an upsell/AI/unnecessary feature?" enough times, the user will eventually accidentally press the wrong button and "consent" to whatever it is.

Happened to me last week. Opened the photos app on my phone because I needed to find a pic I took of a sign I urgently needed to ask an airport staffer about, and accidentally clicked the "Yes, store all my photos on your cloud" dialog I'd declined 5,000 times before.

@TimWardCam @gavin57 @CaffeinatedBookDragon @Oggie @pluralistic The other thing about dumb thermostats is that they have hysteresis and no prediction. Say you set it at 20 degrees C. It waits until the temp is 19 before turning on. Then it stays on until the temp is 21. But the radiators are still hot so your house heats up to around 22. A 3 degree temperature swing is pretty uncomfortable.

Our smart thermostat now keeps the temp within 1/2 a degree C of what we set.

@CoolBlenderKitten @Oggie @pluralistic

It explains why I'm hanging onto my current car with my fingernails. I hope it goes at least another 200K miles for me. I'll have it til it becomes nothing but spare parts, as far as I'm concerned.

I got probably one of the last cars that Nissan made that didn't have power windows or door locks (even the guy who sold it to me didn't realize that at first, which is why the price was so low compared to the other powered models on the lot), no touch screens, heated seats, backup cameras, "keyless entry", video setup for backseat passengers, etc. I crank down the window and hit the switch on the door to lock up. That's it.

Should my blue-green baby go to the scrapyard in the sky, I'd be lucky to find a decent used car at the same price THIS one cost me outright when it was new. Unless car manufacturers strip it down a bit and go back to basics with car safety and what's necessary, they won't be affordable for some time.

@utopiarte @pluralistic @Oggie

Considering how bare-bones it is, I doubt they'd want it.

That's the funny thing about car buying. I was close to getting an EV that (before my baby got flooded out and I had to do all I could to save her) folks online called an outdated look and not sexy.

GOOD! Get something that looks sleek and sexy and desirable and you're practically asking someone to steal it. Something that looks pretty basic and not impressive? Not worth stealing. I just want reliable and easier to fix, not a fashion statement.

Well, out here at @la tierra de nuestros nietos, 7km to the road and another 8 to the next village it's nearly basics for survival. I even managed to life with a mountain bike here, but being able to catch food once a month crossing eben a small river it's nearly basics.

You could try a VW beetle.
🤔

@CoolBlenderKitten In truth (I think), Edinburgh is hostile by virtue of it being solid granite, as much as anything. So it makes sense to not have big, expensive cars, because there will be big expensive scratches.

I think the UK does encourage smaller cars. Although I have seen a rolls drive down a very narrow lane.

@CoolBlenderKitten Mainly because it is solid when you hit it.

It means if you hit it, the car will come off worse.

@CoolBlenderKitten Ah OK. I stand corrected.

I have been, but only once. It always struck me as looking very solid.

Sandstone is much more forgiving.

@CoolBlenderKitten Ramming - yes. I am also thinking of scrapes. I think a scrape along sandstone will be better?

What do I know? I will shut up.

VW Beetles? The original kind are illegal here.

Since when are oldtimers illegal?

Sounds more like reminiscens of "we'll fight them on the beaches .."

@utopiarte @pluralistic @Oggie @tierranietos

Lucky. I live out-county, outside Houston. A 15 minute walk would get me to a dollar store &a few gas stations either direction. Hell, I'd have to DRIVE about 15 minutes to even get basic groceries either direction, too. I'm so far out in the sticks I can't get pizza or grocery delivery, and Uber would be crazy costly (if any wanted to even come out this far).

I swear my small town basically grew up around some churches and gas stations, just a pass-through place where some folks decided to live instead of move on. And taxes go up because they're trying to "keep it small", and we don't even have an urgent care clinic or ER while other towns around us have 2 or 3 each. I like living out county because I can plant what I want in my yard & no HOA to breathe down my neck, & town is boring as hell without much opportunity. The worst trade-off, though, is if I don't have a working car, I'm stranded.

@utopiarte @pluralistic @Oggie @tierranietos

the Not Just Bikes guy is one of my fave people on YouTube, and as a native Houstonian.... let's just say I agree 100% on the reasons he stated why he hates Houston. I'd LOVE to be able to just walk everywhere, and the wear and tear on my blue-green baby are why I want to find a work from home job so badly, because then I could save up to keep him around longer and maintain him right... AND pay my bills better. They make us depend on cars around here, but make the cost of keeping one go up every year.

I've got my fingers crossed that I get that grocery store job... the one 15 minutes away, funny enough, because otherwise I'm gonna have to find a way to sell one of my guitars for the vehicle registration by the end of the month (ugh, being broke sucks).

@CaffeinatedBookDragon @utopiarte @Oggie @tierranietos

Yes.

And...

locusmag.com/2023/05/commentar…

Commentary: Cory Doctorow: The Swivel-Eyed Loons Have a Point

One of the more baffling events of the first quarter of 2023 was the mass protest in Oxford (England, not Mississippi) against the “15-minute city pledge,” a movement to get city councils to strive…

^{Locus Online}

That's interesting

was it in one of the New Management novels, that a time-critical dash thru London in a cab, wherein one of our protagonists complained about speed-limiting infrastructure was a bad thing?

or was it in Rule 34?

Honestly, I thought you were in the 'automobiles first! All else be damed' camp

shame on me!

@pluralistic @CaffeinatedBookDragon @utopiarte @Oggie @tierranietos

@CaffeinatedBookDragon @utopiarte @pluralistic @Oggie @tierranietos My understanding is in a few areas there was misinformation spread suggesting people would be forbidden from travel or using businesses outside their neighborhood, which none of the proponents has ever said.

I think in a few areas it’s been rebranded and gained traction.

I’d love to have more valid walkable/bikeable options. I’m considering walking to a local store if I need a few things and the weather’s nice just to be contrary if nothing else. Plus I can use the exercise.

Oh
man

I'm sorry!

Guess I should go back & re-read everything so far!

Lol!

OK

I accept!

looking forward to it!

great ride
&
thanks very much for your work

@pluralistic @CaffeinatedBookDragon @utopiarte @Oggie @tierranietos

@Nicovel0 @pluralistic @CaffeinatedBookDragon @utopiarte @Oggie @tierranietos

Can I just thank everyone in this thread for the most meandering interesting conversation I've read this year.
I feel a strong obligation to tell that my car would do well on the mean streets of Manchester and is electronically stunted enough to be surveillance free. The Toyota Yaris Verso is a Japanese Tardis on wheels.
Please keep this up ❤️