Sumocat

The solid decision to stay out of that business was made when Jobs signed the deal with AT&T for the iPhone. Apple handles the device. AT&T handles the network. This ensured iPhone would not get bogged down by carrier software, branding, etc.

By contrast, Android launched on carrier devices, like the T-Mobile G1 and Verizon Droid, and Google has gotten deeper into those devices over the years, from app stores to messaging. Taking on the carrier role is in line with that creep and Google’s mission to access and use the world’s information.

Color printers weren’t good enough for high-quality counterfeiting when Xerox introduced the encoding in the 1980s, and they’re less capable of it now that bills are improved, but counterfeiting doesn’t stop being a crime because the fake bills suck.

Also, if appeasing the Secret Service isn’t the real reason, why aren’t black and white printers printing gray dot codes? Since yellow dot encoding was introduced, the vast majority of office documents were churned out on BW printers. Seems like a big miss for mass surveillance.

To be clear, yellow dot encoding is done voluntarily by printer makers to ensure their printers cannot anonymously enable counterfeiting schemes. So yes, there is no legal obligation to do this, but only because printer makers don’t want Secret Service intervention. Basically, there’s no law requiring yellow dot encoding because they already do it. Black and white printers are exempt because they are inadequate for counterfeiting, but they are certainly capable of gray dot encoding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots

For me, the best part about this EV is no touchscreen. No CarPlay or whatever integration the car manufacturer supports or doesn’t support. If someone wants to mount a display or iPad on their dash, that’s up to them. I just want to stick my iPhone on the dash for nav and music, one small screen with Home Screen set up for my driving focus.

Saturn cars used plastic panels, and they held up better than the company did. No, seriously, I see one every now and then, and the 20-years old panels are fine.

It’s not just homes. I was working at a place when it moved to a newly built office. Plagued with dumb mistakes. Most striking was when we got into summer. First really humid day, AC stopped, wouldn’t turn back on, and then we realized water was seeping from the ceiling in the bathroom. Room was drenched. Turns out, the original building plan was for AC to use a water drain, but the building or fire inspector said it needed to be pumped. The builder did order a pump installed, but because it wasn’t in the plans, no electrical was built for it, so it was never plugged in. Just blatantly sloppy.

Between that and the condition of friends’ new homes we’d seen, we bought an older home, which has its own problems from age and previous owner workarounds, but we know any hidden and/or structural builder errors are long revealed.

Access to food, transportation, housing, it’s almost like he thinks the job of government is providing decent infrastructure.

I strongly support this idea as long as it is funded by universal healthcare and/or basic income.

Apple Maps. The integration across my iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch is too good, and I have Shortcuts and automations to bring up directions as needed. Also, we build guides for vegan-friendly restaurants for out-of-town trips, so it’s a real stress reliever.

I set most of my timers using Siri and avoid 30, 40, 50, and 60 exactly because I can’t seem to emphasize “TY”in a way to distinguish it from “TEEN”. My wife needs to me to clarify those too, so it’s definitely a me problem, not a Siri problem. I instead go over or under a minute or two, depending on the task.

FYI, new alarm app coming in iOS 26 could be what you need.

https://mastodon.social/@simonbs/114687924840611437

App Clips. I’ve used these several times to pay for meals at restaurants. Those use Local for Toast. QR code on bill. Scan it. Check the items. Add the tip. Pay with Apple Pay. I eventually installed the app, but I think it still uses the clip interface instead of opening the app. Did it for parking once too, different app. My local Sunoco also has App Clip tags at the pumps, but I don’t need those. Definitely a self-serve deal in my experience. I’d see more if I went out more often.

https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-app-clips-iphb3a73ec53/ios