iamben

Also, most people don't want to build software. They just don't care. There'll be tinkerers like with anything, and I'm sure some people will create solutions to their niche problems with (as you say) 'whatever free thing MS bundles in Windows'. But like the programming trope - they'll build the 'ultimate' todo list and feel like it's an amazing achievement, but be back to pen and paper/notepad/todoist within 6 months.

This is absolutely amazing. Well done.

Wonder if this one will be smart enough to run the automations in my Google Home that all broke now they've forced Gemini to replace the Google Assistant.

Spent most of the day trying to figure out why my phone can no longer control my Google Home - no automations, no routines, "Hey Google" doesn't work anymore. Turns out Google just binned the Assistant and forced Gemini.

Except Gemini doesn't work. Can't do automations. Won't respond to voice activation. Even if I button push it and ask it to run the automations, it just searches the web and explains how to set up new ones.

Absolutely infuriating - breaking a product that's worked for years for 'AI'.

I think Gemini's own response to me explains it best:

"It comes down to a fundamental difference in how the two systems were built, and Google rushing the transition before the new platform was actually feature-complete.

It really is an absolute mess, and you shouldn't have to jump through technical hoops just to fix basic phone functions that worked fine yesterday."

Allbirds were just dreadfully uncool. Basically shoes manufactured for tech bros?

Even with another 5 years, I'm not sure they would have taken the market Hoka and On did.

I think that's a default for a lot of the older (and some of the younger!) generation, same goes for news and media. They grew up in a time where there was a practical barrier to publishing and (largely) laws behind you doing it.

So they trust literally everything they read. I still don't think my folks can fathom you can spin up a very real looking newspaper website with fake articles in about 10 minutes.

Yes. I read the article. You leave your car in a close and available garage so you don't have to search for a space. The robot takes your car and finds you a parking space to leave it.

What about my comment was wrong? At some point my dad gets to park his car in a garage close to the airport, a robot deals with it. At that point what does it matter if the space is 30 seconds from the garage or 5 miles?

I think this is solving the 'airport parking' problem my dad has. He drives to the airport, parks a mile or so away in some field and the company that owns the field drops him off at the terminal. He can leave his car there for the week.

This feels like a clever solution to have some spaces closer to the airport and many spaces further away.

One of my absolute favourite things as an impressionable teen getting into music was reading through the liner notes in the CD booklets.

You'd read the lyrics, see some pictures, and best you'd scour through the thank you section and those would be the bands you'd look for next time you were in the record shop. Great times.

UK: A dentist will see you for an emergency appointment pretty quickly. I can usually get a routine appointment within a few weeks, but if it's a routine check-up I don't mind scheduling it for a few weeks/a month out. If I'm going private I can usually get a routine appointment same week.

For more urgent enquiries with an NHS doctor I can usually get a phonecall next day, and they'll ask me to come in if it's serious. For routine/non-urgent stuff you might wait a week or two.

Obviously this is going to vary depending on where you live, and the NHS is not without it's problems... But it's essentially free and a wonderful thing.