Sounds dodgy to me.
Australis13
joined 2 years ago
One of the parcel delivery drivers in my area does that. Usually I can get whatever parcel is on the doorstep to shift enough (without damaging it) to squeeze out the front door, but I'm expecting at some point to have to go out the back door because the parcel blocking the front door will be too heavy!
I guess I'll be avoiding those models when I'm next in the market for a TV, or work out how to disable it/block it at my router if I am forced to connect the TV to the Internet for firmware updates, etc.
Fortunately my masculinity isn't threatened by the use of a battery-powered lawnmower.
Unfortunately the right seems to be much better at propaganda (on a number of levels) and I suspect people who are struggling with any of those problems - mental health, physical health, financial, etc. - are more vulnerable to it. Even worse is that it may be too painful for them to accept that they were wrong about something important (e.g. supporting Trump and co) and the internal conflict would likely worsen their mental health.
Poor bloke. This sounds like he was in a lot of pain. I feel for his family and friends.
In his writings, the driver of the Cybertruck said the incident was intended not as a “terrorist attack” but rather “a wake-up call,” according to police. He wrote in a letter recovered by investigators that “Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence” and “fireworks and explosives” were best to get his point across. Livelsberger wrote that he needed to “cleanse” his mind of the “brothers I’ve lost” and relieve himself of “the burden of the lives I took.” He said the US was “terminally ill and headed towards collapse.”
In Australia, I'd actually expect DVD players to be supported by the major manufacturers longer than Bluray players. DVD is the dominant video format and you can find shows and movies still being repressed on DVD a decade after the limited Bluray run sold out. Some stuff doesn't even get a Bluray release locally. However, I am becoming more optimistic about this as Via Vision is starting to tackle stuff that has long been neglected on Bluray here.
Interesting. I can imagine a scenario where the resolution of CCTV is low enough that a mask would impede recognition in that instance. It's definitely not something I would want to rely on, though.
I honestly can't see players completely disappearing. Despite Disney ceasing physical media releases here in Australia, the other smaller operators seem to be doing well and putting out a fair bit of stuff (some for collectors, some for the general public). Even if the major manufacturers cease production of players, I would expect one or two boutique operations to launch their own product (particularly if they're working with one of the boutique bluray distributors). It probably won't be cheap (and for Australian consumers I'd expect to have to import a European player should Sony and Panasonic withdraw), but I doubt physical media and players will disappear completely. Streaming cannot compete for the quality and reliabilty of physical media and there's something to be said for not having to worry that your favourite show or movie will disappear from a streaming service (or your digital library) when the rights expire!
Sorry, but facial recognition software has basically caught up. I would not rely on a mask to prevent me being recognised today:
https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4511/can-covid-19-face-mask-protect-you-facial-recognition-technology-too https://www.ft.com/content/42415608-340c-4c0a-8c93-f22cdd4cc2d6 https://www.techtimes.com/articles/304431/20240508/new-software-shows-promise-facial-recognition-underneath-mask.htm
Most of this article is snippets from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jan/01/elon-musk-donald-trump
Definitely the latter.