Notices by Dwight Silverman (dsilverman@mastodon.social)

Stack overflow is almost dead - The Pragmatic Engineer

https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/stack-overflow-is-almost-dead/

How has Apple stumbled of late? O, let me count the ways! The company isn't doomed, but its hubris is its own worst enemy.

Gift link:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/tech/article/apple-challenge-app-store-ai-google-20314879.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvdGVjaC9hcnRpY2xlL2FwcGxlLWNoYWxsZW5nZS1hcHAtc3RvcmUtYWktZ29vZ2xlLTIwMzE0ODc5LnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc0Njg4MDA1MjgzNg%3D%3D&rid=YmE1NjU5MDMtMDM4OS00MDYwLWE1YzItNTYwNzYwZDQ2NDc5&sharecount=Mg%3D%3D

As AI worms its way into the devices we use, I continually feel like something's missing. Generative AI like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude are pretty amazing, but I feel like they just aren't doing what I REALLY want. They feel like a techbro's idea of what THEY think I want.

Example: https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/windows-11-new-experiences-announcement-may-2025

What do you think AI should do for you that it doesn't do now? This may end up as a column, not sure. (And I don't want to hear "AI IS EVIL AND MUST DIE." Not useful in this context.)

In case you missed it from the weekend: Comcast keeps rolling out new products and tiers without data caps - but you have to use their internet gateway. https://mastodon.social/@dsilverman/114443997092128898

Deciding when to upgrade a smartphone, laptop/desktop or tablet is hard enough, but now buyers have to deal with looming, onerous tariffs aimed at Chinese-made goods – which includes most of the tech gear sold in the U.S. Here's how to decide when to pull the trigger in this confusing landscape.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/tech/article/iphone-tariff-price-hike-upgrade-20277040.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvdGVjaC9hcnRpY2xlL2lwaG9uZS10YXJpZmYtcHJpY2UtaGlrZS11cGdyYWRlLTIwMjc3MDQwLnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc0NTA2ODMwNzIzMA%3D%3D&rid=YmE1NjU5MDMtMDM4OS00MDYwLWE1YzItNTYwNzYwZDQ2NDc5&sharecount=Mw%3D%3D

Be careful what you say on social media, part 2

by @mathewi via his excellent The Torment Nexus newsletter.

https://torment-nexus.mathewingram.com/be-careful-what-you-say-on-social-media-part-2/

So long Amazon – Baker On Tech

Veteran tech journalist and Amazon shopping junkie Phil Baker gets an email from Amazon saying he'd had too many returns. But it didn't way what "too many" is and didn't say whether he was being penalized in any way. It also said he could send an email in response but the decision would not be reversed - though it never said what the decision was!

@onejarednewman called it "Kafkaesque" in his Advisorator newsletter. Yep.

https://bakerontech.com/so-long-amazon/

@WarnerCrocker Yes. In other countries where protests have been effective, they involve not just weekend activism. You gotta show up every day for weeks.

The headline I originally saw on Instagram for this op-ed by Hillary Clinton was “This is Just Dumb.“ It has been watered down a little bit now, but the original headline is very fitting. Stupid is as stupid does, and in this case, stupid is dangerous.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/opinion/trump-hegseth-signal-chat.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

I don't need Windows anymore. One final tool broke my reliance on Microsoft | PCWorld

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2648498/i-dont-need-windows-anymore-one-final-tool-broke-my-reliance-on-microsoft.html

Companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple keep making product changes in the service of AI, whether users want them or not. Amazon's dropping of the ability for three of its Echo devices to process Alexa commands locally may not affect many users, but it's part of a disturbing trend toward erosion of choice - and trust.

Gift link.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/tech/article/amazon-alexa-commands-cloud-20230410.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvdGVjaC9hcnRpY2xlL2FtYXpvbi1hbGV4YS1jb21tYW5kcy1jbG91ZC0yMDIzMDQxMC5waHA%3D&time=MTc0MjY1Mzc2Njk5MQ%3D%3D&rid=YmE1NjU5MDMtMDM4OS00MDYwLWE1YzItNTYwNzYwZDQ2NDc5&sharecount=NQ%3D%3D

WTAF???? https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:o4pdps2jkn7uhrdgadni7djk/post/3ljq4dqhe422y

Can you really get Windows and Office for free? These hackers say yes | ZDNET

https://www.zdnet.com/article/can-you-really-get-windows-and-office-for-free-these-hackers-say-yes/

From @edbott: "Is this legal? LOL, of course it's not."

Very long but very much worth your time to read. All of it.

A snippet. https://mastodon.social/@daringfireball/114023069259473451

How I Automated My Computer Routine With macOS Folder Actions - Alexander Deplov – Senior Product Designer Blog

https://interfacecraft.online/posts/blog/2025/how-i-automated-my-computer-life-with-macos-folder-actions/

I and many others, based on what I'm seeing on social feeds, have reported the relabeling of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Google Maps and Apple Maps as an error.

You can, too!

Apple:
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/report-an-issue-with-maps-iph2c075a8e8/ios

Google:
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3094088?hl=en

The Microsoft 365 Copilot launch was a total disaster | ZDNET https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/work-life/the-microsoft-365-copilot-launch-was-a-total-disaster/

By @edbott

@WarnerCrocker "Eventually? Why not now!?"

Seems to me the whole point of "Jurassic Park" is that we shouldn't make "Jurassic Park" happen.

Texas company raises $200 million to make Jurassic Park happen

https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/colossal-biosciences-mammoth-20038093.php

@WarnerCrocker The whole point of confirmation hearings is to see how a nominee would do in a ... checks notes ... hypothetical situation. To answer that way should get a swift rebuke: "The reason we are here is to ascertain the hypotheticals and how you'd respond to them. To refuse to answer is evasive at least, and certainly disqualifying."