Inspirational tales of Glorious Unfettered Capitalism

[Büge]

Peoples' bionic eyes are shutting down because the technology is no longer supported by the company that created them

Ross Doerr, another Second Sight patient, doesn’t mince words: “It is fantastic technology and a lousy company,” he says. He received an implant in one eye in 2019 and remembers seeing the shining lights of Christmas trees that holiday season. He was thrilled to learn in early 2020 that he was eligible for software upgrades that could further improve his vision. Yet in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, he heard troubling rumors about the company and called his Second Sight vision-rehab therapist. “She said, ‘Well, funny you should call. We all just got laid off,’ ” he remembers. “She said, ‘By the way, you’re not getting your upgrades.’ ”

[Mongrel]

Doesn't get much more cyberpunk than that.

[KingRoyal]

Disney announces a residential development called STORYLIVING that will be "run by cast members" which given Disney labor practices seems like it's a potential human rights violation in the making

[Mongrel]

Saying the quiet part out loud again.

[Mongrel]

[Thad]

Doctorow: At the FTC, a quiet, profound shift on antitrust

Here's the crux: "The FTC and DOJ will host a series of listening forums to hear from those who have experienced firsthand the effects of mergers and acquisitions beyond antitrust experts, including consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, start-ups, farmers, investors, and independent businesses."

If you aren't chest-deep in weird antitrust lore, this probably seems like it's par for the course. But believe me, this is a hell of a moment – a moment of restoration, a return to a vital, long-dormant principle in American governance: the idea that corporations should not be allowed to ruin the lives of the people around them.

Doctorow's being his usual flowery self, but the point is, this is the FTC signaling that it's going to go back to the pre-Reagan standards for antitrust enforcement.

There are a lot of reasons we're not going to see big change overnight -- not least, this means a ping-pong match on regulatory policy every time we get a new president, like every damn other executive agency -- but this is still a big deal, and another step back from the New Democrats' concessions to Republican economic orthodoxy.

[Thad]

We need a federal right-to-repair law.

And don't buy HP if you can help it. I've been recommending Brother to people for the last few years; they're not perfect but they're better than most of their competitors.

[Crick]

Oh man, yeah, I have a Brother printer that's worked super dependably for years and years.

[Yoji]

Our own Brother is pretty dusty, but keeps on. I can't say I love it- I mean, it's a printer- but I don't plan to get another one until it fails.

I also heard a passing bit on public radio that one of BMW's latest models has a subscription for the seat heater. Like, paying for the functional part that is already in the vehicle. I read somewhere that it could reduce the upfront cost of the vehicle; you get the same vehicle, but don't pay for the features you don't use. But holy shit, that just seems ripe for exploitation, abuse, and hacking. I'm also having trouble imagining an actual user who would actually want anything like this.

[Mongrel]

I didn't even know they were still around!

that'snotanameI'veheardinalongtime.gif

[Mongrel]

"The peasants are revolting!"

EDIT: The 1999 literally-a-tautology entry is especially wonderful.

[Friday]

re: nobody wants to work

Seth MacFarlane mostly sucks because he's lazy and does lazy humor, but his movie (I don't know if he wrote this line himself or not) has probably my favorite joke ever in it:

[Thad]

I also heard a passing bit on public radio that one of BMW's latest models has a subscription for the seat heater.

Pirates, as always...

[Brantly B.]

The real sticking point for me isn't the sheer gall of it - don't buy a luxury-class vehicle unless you understand that you are declaring yourself a whale ready to have your blubber harvested - but the implementation of it. A monthly subscription implies that this is a mechanical feature that can be turned off by somebody other than the user, and that is an inappropriate feature to have anywhere in a device that tends to kill people when the user loses control.

[Mongrel]

*continues to cling desperately to a vehicle nearly as old as I am because, fuck*

But yeah, putting up with your vehicle being tethered to the internet for any reason or purpose, whether it's "insurance discounts" for your driving style or laughably circumventable shit like this is just way too far over the line for me.

If I'm going to own a car it's gonna be MY fucking car, keep your fucking hands off it. If the entire mantra of personal vehicle ownership is the flexibility - or "freedom" - therein, then no, I'm not ever going to be cool with anything which DIRECTLY SUBVERTS this principle, no matter how seemingly trivial. Especially since fucking car manufacturers are some of the last idiots to trust with ensuring device software security.

[Thad]

I won't even enable Bluetooth in my car.

[Büge]

If I'm going to own a car it's gonna be MY fucking car, keep your fucking hands off it. If the entire mantra of personal vehicle ownership is the flexibility - or "freedom" - therein, then no, I'm not ever going to be cool with anything which DIRECTLY SUBVERTS this principle, no matter how seemingly trivial. Especially since fucking car manufacturers are some of the last idiots to trust with ensuring device software security.

Tell that to John Deere.

[Mongrel]

"Deere John,

I cannot stay silent about this any longer..."

[Yoji]

(poor Oglaf impression) Really, the only surprising thing is that it didn't happen sooner.

I mean, I don't feel good that apparently the wireless tire pressure sensors on my old 08 Fit can be spoofed.

[Thad]

Stephen King is set to testify for the government in books merger trial

WASHINGTON — As the Justice Department bids to persuade a federal judge that the proposed merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would damage the careers of some of the most popular authors, it is leaning in part on the testimony of a writer who has thrived like few others: Stephen King.

The author of Carrie, The Shining and many other favorites, King has willingly — even eagerly — placed himself in opposition to Simon & Schuster, his longtime publisher. He was not chosen by the government just for his fame, but for his public criticism of the $2.2 billion deal announced in late 2021, joining two of the world's biggest publishers into what rival CEO Michael Pietsch of Hachette Book Group has called a "gigantically prominent" entity.

"The more the publishers consolidate, the harder it is for indie publishers to survive," King tweeted last year.

[...]

King himself would likely benefit from the Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster deal, but he has a history of favoring other priorities beyond his material well-being. He has long been a critic of tax cuts for the rich, even as "the rich" surely includes Stephen King, and has openly called for the government to raise his taxes.

Stephen King seems like a good dude.