Well, the EFF can get in the bin then. A pity.

From: @eff
https://mastodon.social/@eff/113789440544631242

@angry_drunk I might have mentioned this before, but I recently saw an American who moved to France talking about a fundamental disconnect in terms of what people think of as freedom. Often in the US, it’s “freedom to”, whereas the EU prizes “freedom from”. That feels very apt in the tech space.

“A BBC spokesperson said: ‘It is essential that Apple fixes this problem urgently’”

Thing is, Apple can’t. No company can ‘fix’ errors going out in AI summaries, because they’re fancy autocomplete. AI doesn’t understand information and context.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx27zwp7jpxo

UK: “It’s still illegal to rip a CD you legally own to MP3!”

Also UK: “Hey, let’s exempt those AI guys from copyright law!”

FFS.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/copyright-and-artificial-intelligence

Do other writers have that thing when they read themselves from 10 or 20 years ago and it’s like reading someone else entirely? I mean, some old columns still sound like me to some degree, but many feel weirdly… alien? (I suppose this is a good thing. Evolution rather than always being the same!)

EDIT: Thanks to the lovely @chrisphin, this is now sorted!

Very long shot: I don’t suppose any of you lovely people 1) own a Mac clone, 2) have a photo of it handy (or would be willing to shoot one I can use in an article)?

(I’m hoping to use the subject for my back page in Stuff, but there’s no good art in Commons and press shots from that era are long gone. So I might have to abandon the idea, fun as though it was)

@Gargron He could put the tape on YouTube and X and he’d probably win another few million votes. Too many in the US seemingly keen on a bit of fash. And many of the guardrails have long been destroyed. This four years is not going to be pretty. Assuming it is just four years.

Weeknote: AI, iOS 18, Apple keycaps and live events

🤖 Meta’s AI slop pivot – and HP’s good AI use case
🎨 Zuckerberg thinks AI has value but what feeds it does not
0️⃣ Why are Apple keycaps so dreadful?
📱 Power up the iOS 18 Lock Screen and Control Centre
⌚️ Best Apple Watch to buy
🎤 The robotic nature of modern Apple events

https://reverttosaved.com/2024/09/28/weeknote-28-september-2024-ai-ios-18-meta-apple-keycaps-and-live-events/

Column: I love my Apple TV – so why doesn’t Apple? https://www.stuff.tv/features/i-love-my-apple-tv-so-why-doesnt-apple/

Surprisingly lacking in cynicism – I must be ill. And I make up a new word.

Column! Apple stealing Windows Vista’s worst feature is not a good look. https://www.stuff.tv/features/apple-stealing-windows-vistas-worst-feature-is-not-a-good-look/

Weeknote: lights out edition!

💡 Tech companies: stop adding obnoxious eye-searing lights to gadgets
📲 Apps that can give you better than iOS 18 features today
🪞 iPhone mirroring looks fantastic, frustrating and distracting
💬 Wanting a unified social feed
🗳️ Hoping for an election miracle this coming week

https://reverttosaved.com/2024/06/29/weeknote-29-june-2024-lights-out-edition/

Column! How Apple’s iPadOS 18 killed pro-user hopes for the M4 iPad Pro • https://www.stuff.tv/features/how-apples-ipados-18-killed-pro-users-hopes-for-the-m4-ipad-pro/

YouTube increasingly feels deranged. I’m trying to watch a video and there’s an ad about every few minutes. I get YouTube is urging people to the paid tier, but honestly this is just starting to wean me off of YouTube entirely. (And the war on blockers means on mobile I can’t turn on something for this video. Nothing I have installed works. Videos now just pinwheel when they hit an ad. If anyone has any advice, I’ll happily receive it. Or I might just download this vid and watch elsewhere.)

Column! Google’s AI disasters are a warning shot for Apple’s iOS 18 AI plans • https://www.stuff.tv/features/googles-ai-disasters-are-a-warning-shot-for-apples-ios-18-ai-plans/

@HauntedOwlbear This was the deputy head too. I’ve written to her and asked for a reply.

School’s response today was to criticise the girls for not telling a teacher right away and then vaguely say that the issue would be dealt with. This after another day of the boy who hit my kid repeatedly calling her and her friend a “ficking bitch”. (He thinks he’s being clever in not swearing, you see…)

😡 < Current status

I love my daughter to bits and, yes, it’s “not all boys”. But that she’s having to navigate this kind of shite in primary school just makes me so angry and sad all at once. Fortunately, she’s not put off school and has merrily called the boy an “idiot she’d like to yeet into the sea”. But this kind of thing seems all too common even at this age. “Boys will be boys!” (And I bet if she’d have fought back, she’d have been in way more trouble than the boy.)

@WarnerCrocker What gets me is these people will still receive the content, just not the paper version. Rolling Stone should never have made this offer in the first place, mind, because it feels like everyone is devaluing magazines.

This Reddit thread does not inspire confidence about the future of Bartender. And that sucks, because Bartender is a great app.

From: @lapcatsoftware
https://mastodon.social/@lapcatsoftware/112559634359309136

Cheery column time! Why Google AI will help you – but kill the web as we know it • https://www.stuff.tv/features/why-google-ai-will-help-you-but-kill-the-web-as-we-know-it/