Pleasantly surprised he is mentioned in that way.

I stood near him on “conventions” a few times with some years in between and he is such a nasty person both while making phone calls and in the way he treats others/his staff.

Comes over as someone who can’t find any joy in the small things in his life and p*sses on everyone else because of it.

Yes this sounds like a very convoluted way to go about things, but I am not sure if it was the actual verdict that is so badly constructed that it demands this or that Google gives itself and everyone else a lot of unnecessary pain.

Samsung also does auto updates etc and co-exists with the play store on samsung phones (granted, it lives within their android skin), even updates some Google play store (installed) apps, so I am not sure what or where the issue is/lies.

But now Google wants app stores within app stores within app stores as a solution?

Well one small step would be to stop selling or dealing with subcontractors, will not fix it but does add an extra hurdle to things.

Technical issues? Go on-site to where the machine is supposed to be … have your own technicians look at the machines on site and report back.

But I guess those costs put pressure on the profits of the company.

There is also Finland, which has around 34 guns per 100 inhabitants, amongst the highest of the western world. It has a cun culture of defense (against its untrustworthy Russian neighbor), hunting and sports. But there is strict registration and regulation. Though they can buy just about any type of gun, there is no open carry “for funsies”. Carrying/transporting the guns requires an immediate purpose and must be held, unloaded, in a case or pouch. (I am not Finnish so correct me if I am wrong)

I have a bit of a feeling it’s in the US a thing of “He has a gun, so I want a gun” that reinforces itself, and after a while gets people careless since it’s a fairly common thing.

In the UK there was a study where forbidding handheld guns, mainly pistols, did see a sharp decline in gun related crime but they did not banish it completely.

I don’t know the numbers but in the US it seems pistols make it easier to act upon one’s mental state … have a tiff with your neighbor? Go to his door with a gun on your belt. A car just cut you off? Explode in rage, pull up next to him/her on a traffic light and swing your pistol around, try doing that with a non automatic hunting rifle.

“To prevent future misuse of these client-lawyer documents I order them all destroyed forthwith”

I will not be suprised if they rule him immune in that very specific case, under his excuse that he was “defending democracy with the information he had at that time”.

It blocks full immunity for everything and gives Trump a free pass, the SC will retain power, and the US saves a little bit of face, on paper, in legitimizing the jan 6 troubles.

Cancelation fees (and steep ones at that) on digital goods/“services” … shows how far things sunk towards the lower hells.

Hmm what am I missing here…

Spotify is raising prices because it wants to sell product “B” next to “A” that it already had. But now the management of Product A is claiming that the extra money from raised prices belongs to them because spotify was selling A first?

That is quite ballsy … granted I expected nothing less from the greedy music industry, but this is quite on a new level.

Yes, please, pretty please, with a cherry on top, lift my gag order so I can lay out “wishes” that should happen to the mean unfair people that got me convicted.

But then when something happens I get to loudly say “I don’t believe my people did this!”

Years ago I happily used some Razer mice and keyboards, even a headset, so in the not too far past I told people around me that Razer was fairly good, quality wise, but alas, I think each and every one I recommended Razer products to had them break and or die well within warranty, and they always had to start a stupid discussion to get the warranty/RMA accepted, a few times even replacements denied outright by Razer.

For me this stands in sharp contrast with Logitech whom has never denied me a warranty, even for products a few weeks beyond the date, and they generally just send out a new item. That is, for me it is rare for a Logitech product to actually require replacement to begin with, I have a few mice, keyboards and headsets far older than 5 years and they work fine plus are still supported in the drivers.

Speaking of drivers, Razer at one point also made the decision to have their drivers require an account login to function properly (multi-button mice would only have 2 functional buttons if not logged in etc). But after some flak from its users it slightly changed that to the login being optional, but profiles would still be hampered without a continuous online presence.

Coming back to Asus, for a few years now I hear of people having quality issues and grumpy asus service desks, but for me their videocards ways ran fine (even without coil whine, unlike some MSI cards). I am quite hesitant to buy an Asus monitor or motherboard though.

If this is true it will be devastating for Qualcomm … they hyped the new chips big time, and some huge manufacturers happily announced products with the new chip. So if this falls flat, a few influential players will not be happy at all…

Not to mention the rest of the tech media… they will happily sell the pitchforks and torches.

The thing is though it is not only now that the US was perceived as weak, it started during Trump’s time in power. The way Trump plainly kissed Putins feet in deep adoration, and utterly discredited his own forces any way he could, set the tone for the 12 years to follow… Trump being the loser he is only knows to blame others and the way he puts Biden in the spotlight as inept is not doing the US’ reputation any good.

Back then the international “politicians” could see that not only Trump’s 4 years were weak, but Bidens term and the next 4 years after that will be of the same mess with either the republicans destroying Democracy or throwing tantrums and blocking all legislation, regardless who wins the US finds itself in a gridlock of indecisiveness and infighting. (And it’s quite clear it’s all orchestrated by Putin himself … time and time again there’s evidence of strong Russian influence in the US politics and the republicans brush it aside and block investigations with a sheepish smile)

That makes it 12(!!) full years of the US rapidly losing status and power on the world stage.

All in all, Putin knew the US was so predictably incompetent that he could calculate to have 6 years at minimum to wreack as much havoc in Ukraine as he wishes… and we’re only in year 2 of his meat grinder.