Netscape, which was essentially the predecessor to Mozilla, was a well funded VC-backed startup. That’s how they did it.

I think they are trying to ensure that no future Windows is ever good again. I mean, it was Win10 that made me frustrated enough to permanently kick the habit of using Windows.

His megalomania is so boundless he would sacrifice the entire planet to make money.

As for what ByteDance plans to do with a new LLM, a person familiar with the company’s ambitions said one goal has to do with the search function for TikTok.

Last week, TikTok released an update to its current search function focused on [keywords for ads], basically allowing advertisers to search in real time for words that are trending on TikTok. It allows marketers to build an ad with relevant keywords that would ostensibly help the ad show up on the screens of more users.

…

“Given the audience and the amount of use, TikTok with a search environment that is a completely biddable space with keywords and topics, that would be very interesting to a lot of people spending a ton of money with Google right now,” the person said.

A dark vision just flashed in my mind. And I am certain this is what will happen. AI-generated ads done in real time based on the latest “trending” thing. Presented to users basically as soon as the topic has the slightest amount of “trend”.

Just emitting untold amounts of CO2 to show you generated ads in near real time.

Wait… again???

This company has already laid off a bunch of employees, too.

Why should they stand down? So that Israel can keep assassinating people in Iran’s territory with impunity?

Comedy is legal on Twitter again

I really hate to “back in my day” this but we had computer labs for that when I was younger. And that didn’t require giving a monopoly company my name or any other information about me. And I wasn’t being ad-tracked all day long going to websites.

That’s really wild to me. They give each grade school student a chromebook? That is honestly terrifying.

A long time coming, but because of their recent changes in the past couple of months if I have JS disabled on Wikipedia I either have an obnoxiously large blank margin on the right, or I get pop-up annoyed by this dark mode announcement with JS enabled and private tab browsing.

The one caveat to building is if you build a PC and a single component is faulty, you are now responsible for determining which component is to get the RMA done. That can be a big hassle. One time for me it was actually two different components that needed to be replaced by the manufacturers, and that was a pain to figure out.

I wish I could get an x201 with an identical form factor and keyboard, indicator lights, etc, but otherwise upgraded components (cpu/ram/display/ports). That is my dream.

I also have an x201, but it runs too warm and too noisy for me to keep up with it. I now have an M1 Macbook which I use Asahi Linux and macOS on with about a 50/50 split. But the x201 feels better in the hand and on the desk.

That headline is really bewildering because “at home” made me think homeschooling, but in the context of university. Took a triple take to realize “home” meant the entirety of China.

Guo, who is also known by the name Miles Kwok, left China in 2014 during an anti-corruption crackdown that ensnared people close to him, including a top intelligence official.

Chinese authorities accused Guo of rape, kidnapping, bribery and other crimes, but Guo said those allegations were false and designed to punish him for publicly revealing corruption as he criticized leading figures in the Communist party.

He applied for political asylum in the US, moved to a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park and joined Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Come on. It’s too on the nose. I just have to assume that every allegation about this guy is true.

Maybe a few more bitcoin mining warehouses and datacenters for “ai” will offset this. Perhaps a few sweetheart deals where all available “renewable” energy gets diverted to such facilities, meaning traditional carbon-emitting sources have to be kept ramped up… maybe that will help. While we’re at it, those sweetheart deals should be further offset by rate increases to everyone else.

Oh, and double while we’re at it all the big tech companies claiming they’re already or at least definitely on the way to carbon neutral by purchasing carbon credits should be allowed to do everything they want. This always bodes well.

In case it’s needed: I’m being sarcastic.

“Don’t show me personalized ads”

Oh so you will continue to try and track me, you just won’t show me targeted advertisements?

That’s what passes for privacy on the internet today.

native tab grouping would be a much more desirable feature, to me

That would be the behavior of a rogue state.

Maybe power is more reliable in central Texas, my family still has no electricity from the derecho that hit Houston. And they lose power frequently from all the heavy storms or hurricanes that pummel the gulf coast.