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This. I briefly owned an LG Android phone but I learned to hate it very soon for sw and hw reasons. Now I'm stuck with my old N9/N900. They're excellent phones and I love the OS. On a partly related note, Sailfish seems to be doing it right. *pokes Nokia/HMD/Whatever*

They had famously done it in a previous year to give the site's founder the win, while also manipulating the top 20 results to apparently spell out some meme.

It doesn't really matter what country the bored young adults doing this are from. I highly doubt fucking with a useless online poll is on the radar for Russian state actors. If anything it's people who would like you to think it's Russian state actors because they'd find it more amusing that way or independent hackers from Russia that are just trying to dick wave in front of the international community.

Call me when I can buy a lightweight headset that paints the image on my retina with a frikkin laser beam.

They're working on it.

According to Forbes, they're already building the factory lines. Also at Wired, MIT tech review,
Wearable.com, Techcrunch and The Verge.

That would't make business sense. I think this move is a strategically great move of Microsoft.

The price of operating systems is steadily approaching zero. macOS updates are free and the OS comes with the hardware. ChromeOS is free. Microsoft already provides the license for free for smaller devices. PC sales are slowing and that's what moves OS licenses. People have fewer reasons to upgrade. What Microsoft realized is that hardware and services are the future, not operating system licenses. And to capitalize on that, they need their software to run everywhere. That means Visual Studio for Mac and SQL Server for Linux.

So no, I really don't believe helping the WINE project is a bad move for Microsoft at this point. Anything that increases adoption of Microsoft software and services is what matters now.

There are a lot of Steam gamers already with Oculus or Vive rigs.

No, there aren't. In fact, almost nothing you've claimed is born out by the statistics.

1) There have only been about 140,000 Vive unit sales so far according to HTC. That was as of last month.

2) Vive represented 60% of SteamVR gaming according to the latest survey. If we generously assume (for your benefit) that all 140,000 Vive users were active in SteamVR this last month, that'd mean that the other 40% number about 95,000. Put together, we can say that...

3) There are less than than 235,000 active SteamVR gamers. And again, that's if we make some generous assumptions for your benefit. In reality, the actual number of active SteamVR gamers is likely MUCH lower. But either way...

4) Not even one-fifth of 1% of Steam gamers have used SteamVR in the last month. Steam had over 125,000,000 active users in early 2015. If we ignore (for your benefit) the fact that the number has likely grown since then, we can see that less than 0.19% of Steam gamers have used their VR rig in the last month.

5) Even if every single active SteamVR user was a closet Mac/Linux dual booter who would go back to Mac/Linux if SteamVR was available, it'd only shift the OS statistic by, at most, 0.19% away from Windows. Mac/Linux dual booters are clearly not throwing a wrench in the statistics like you claimed.

6) Contrary to your suggestion that Mac and Linux gamers are staying booted into Windows for SteamVR, their numbers are actually higher today than they were before VR. Mac and Linux have been growing at Windows' expense all along, with VR having no noticeable impact.

7) As for consoles, the Playstation VR is on track to outsell both the Vive and the Oculus by the end of the year, despite there being far fewer PS4 owners (~40M) than active Steam users (125M). So, no, VR is not "a much larger percentage of the PC gaming market than it is if you factor in consoles". But even if you had been right, so what? If VR was even less significant in another market, that doesn't make it significant in this market.

Finally, there's this (emphasis mine):

[...] they would be people capable and possibly willing to run SteamVR on the Mac if they were able to, with no new computer purchase.

And what Mac model would these people be using, exactly? One of the big complaints from Mac users when it comes to VR is that there isn't a Mac with the horsepower to run VR. The Mac Pro was last updated in December...of 2013. It's woefully insufficient. The iMac, MacBook Pro, and most other lines have seen updates, but they all use mobile-class dedicated graphics or integrated graphics, both of which are currently insufficient for VR. Given that the hardware doesn't exist, I think it's safe to say that today's Mac users aren't influencing the numbers by booting into Windows for SteamVR.

Mind you, I say this as someone who has continuously used a Mac as his primary machine since the late '80s, including for gaming. My current Mac is my primary gaming machine, just as the one before it and the one before it and so on. So I'm speaking from experience when I say that we're a vocal group, but that we don't account for much.

As for VR, it has a lot of hype, and it may eventually amount to something, but it's barely even a rounding error at this point, so your assertions that it's affecting those numbers in any sort of a meaningful way are demonstrably false.

Because Congress was never going to get it done. Not saying "because of the Republicans"... well, yes I am.
http://time.com/3741085/net-ne...
https://techcrunch.com/2015/04...

Efficiency is about 98% of classic panels. Not sure when Elon said it, maybe it wasn't in the actual announcement, but I saw it mentioned in several places, for example here.

They can also contain a heating element to melt off snow, which is nice for cold climates. Gain in production strongly offsets energy needed for melting snow.

I suggest we have a friendly competition to show who can show the most eloquent disrespect of Microsoft's idea. I like your "... its perceived advantages over Co-operation..." However, here is my entry in the competition: Quote from the story linked by Slashdot: "...it's the sort of gag..." (2016-10-29, 13:14 PDT)

Definition: gag: choke or retch. Synonyms: retch, heave, dry-heave.

So, the Microsoft Surface Tablet is a "gag" of a tablet? Was the writer of that article unconsciously showing his disrespect?

Microsoft Windows 10 is a "gag" of an operating system? From a Network World article: Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made. Quote: "Buried in the service agreement is permission to poke through everything on your PC." Windows 10 is now "Gag OS"?

That was lucky!
https://techcrunch.com/2012/11...

The problem Uber was changed from its original intent.

[Citation needed]

Initially it really was for computers who were all going to the same place, and the driver could make a few bucks while bringing a bunch of of other people to the same area they were going. It wasn't really a Taxi service, just a way to share your ride.

I don't see any evidence in the historical record suggesting this was EVER the "original intent" of Uber. Uber's name was originally "UberCab," suggesting some similarity to, well, CABS, i.e., taxis, or at least hired cars.

Here's a Techcrunch article from right after the initial launch in San Francisco in July 2010. The article compares Uber to a taxi-finding apps and notes:

UberCab calculates the cost of your trip based on milage and time in the car, similar to the way other limo companies calculate fares. However, the startup says you are able to get better fares because its drivers perceive these on-demand trips as extra money in addition to their regular full-priced trips to and from the airport.

In other words, the initial market was heavily based on limo drivers trying to get extra money. This is confirmed in a Techcrunch article a few months later when Uber was first challenged in court. The article concludes:

... Uber -- nee Ubercab -- often pitches itself not as a taxi service, but an app that helps ride seekers book a premium car and driver quickly and easily via mobile, and helps licensed limo drivers connect with clients.

Or, take the word of USA Today as Uber was interviewed preparing for its national launch in 2011:

Backed by star Silicon Valley investors, Uber offers people with iPhones and Android-based phones an app that connects them to limo drivers of black Lincoln Town Cars.... Uber partners with local limo companies that work with the start-up to earn some extra business during down times.

Then, in late 2012, Uber shifted its emphasis toward lower-end options. Here we zoom in on September 2012 and an interview with the CEO. But by this point you have Lyft and numerous other start-ups in the low end "ride-sharing" space. So, by the time Uber turned to "ride-sharing" instead of professional drivers, there were already PLENTY of amateur folks already doing "ride-sharing" as de facto cabs.

Basically, Uber has shifted its emphasis away from high-end transport over the years. However, it was NEVER this mythical "ride sharing" opportunity for folks to just hook up with "someone going my way." At the beginning it was focused on off-duty limo drivers, and then more folks with lesser cars joined. But Uber has always been about hiring a professional driver, not just "sharing a ride."

Sorry, but you've fallen for their legal propaganda.

The problem Uber was changed from its original intent.

[Citation needed]

Initially it really was for computers who were all going to the same place, and the driver could make a few bucks while bringing a bunch of of other people to the same area they were going. It wasn't really a Taxi service, just a way to share your ride.

I don't see any evidence in the historical record suggesting this was EVER the "original intent" of Uber. Uber's name was originally "UberCab," suggesting some similarity to, well, CABS, i.e., taxis, or at least hired cars.

Here's a Techcrunch article from right after the initial launch in San Francisco in July 2010. The article compares Uber to a taxi-finding apps and notes:

UberCab calculates the cost of your trip based on milage and time in the car, similar to the way other limo companies calculate fares. However, the startup says you are able to get better fares because its drivers perceive these on-demand trips as extra money in addition to their regular full-priced trips to and from the airport.

In other words, the initial market was heavily based on limo drivers trying to get extra money. This is confirmed in a Techcrunch article a few months later when Uber was first challenged in court. The article concludes:

... Uber -- nee Ubercab -- often pitches itself not as a taxi service, but an app that helps ride seekers book a premium car and driver quickly and easily via mobile, and helps licensed limo drivers connect with clients.

Or, take the word of USA Today as Uber was interviewed preparing for its national launch in 2011:

Backed by star Silicon Valley investors, Uber offers people with iPhones and Android-based phones an app that connects them to limo drivers of black Lincoln Town Cars.... Uber partners with local limo companies that work with the start-up to earn some extra business during down times.

Then, in late 2012, Uber shifted its emphasis toward lower-end options. Here we zoom in on September 2012 and an interview with the CEO. But by this point you have Lyft and numerous other start-ups in the low end "ride-sharing" space. So, by the time Uber turned to "ride-sharing" instead of professional drivers, there were already PLENTY of amateur folks already doing "ride-sharing" as de facto cabs.

Basically, Uber has shifted its emphasis away from high-end transport over the years. However, it was NEVER this mythical "ride sharing" opportunity for folks to just hook up with "someone going my way." At the beginning it was focused on off-duty limo drivers, and then more folks with lesser cars joined. But Uber has always been about hiring a professional driver, not just "sharing a ride."

Sorry, but you've fallen for their legal propaganda.

The problem Uber was changed from its original intent.

[Citation needed]

Initially it really was for computers who were all going to the same place, and the driver could make a few bucks while bringing a bunch of of other people to the same area they were going. It wasn't really a Taxi service, just a way to share your ride.

I don't see any evidence in the historical record suggesting this was EVER the "original intent" of Uber. Uber's name was originally "UberCab," suggesting some similarity to, well, CABS, i.e., taxis, or at least hired cars.

Here's a Techcrunch article from right after the initial launch in San Francisco in July 2010. The article compares Uber to a taxi-finding apps and notes:

UberCab calculates the cost of your trip based on milage and time in the car, similar to the way other limo companies calculate fares. However, the startup says you are able to get better fares because its drivers perceive these on-demand trips as extra money in addition to their regular full-priced trips to and from the airport.

In other words, the initial market was heavily based on limo drivers trying to get extra money. This is confirmed in a Techcrunch article a few months later when Uber was first challenged in court. The article concludes:

... Uber -- nee Ubercab -- often pitches itself not as a taxi service, but an app that helps ride seekers book a premium car and driver quickly and easily via mobile, and helps licensed limo drivers connect with clients.

Or, take the word of USA Today as Uber was interviewed preparing for its national launch in 2011:

Backed by star Silicon Valley investors, Uber offers people with iPhones and Android-based phones an app that connects them to limo drivers of black Lincoln Town Cars.... Uber partners with local limo companies that work with the start-up to earn some extra business during down times.

Then, in late 2012, Uber shifted its emphasis toward lower-end options. Here we zoom in on September 2012 and an interview with the CEO. But by this point you have Lyft and numerous other start-ups in the low end "ride-sharing" space. So, by the time Uber turned to "ride-sharing" instead of professional drivers, there were already PLENTY of amateur folks already doing "ride-sharing" as de facto cabs.

Basically, Uber has shifted its emphasis away from high-end transport over the years. However, it was NEVER this mythical "ride sharing" opportunity for folks to just hook up with "someone going my way." At the beginning it was focused on off-duty limo drivers, and then more folks with lesser cars joined. But Uber has always been about hiring a professional driver, not just "sharing a ride."

Sorry, but you've fallen for their legal propaganda.

Update: Conway initially declined to comment but wrote back pointing out he'd been involved in projects to help the city's homeless before and telling TechCrunch, "Prop Q only allows for encampment removal when real housing or shelter is offered and that's why I support it. It's not healthy or compassionate to let human beings suffer in tent cities and we shouldn't allow it when there's real housing, shelter and supportive services we can provide for people instead."

Bogue, who served on the board of the Bay Area homeless outreach organization the Tipping Point for the last several years, said he supported the proposition "because it would provide more resources to help get the homeless off the street and into sheltersâ¦The encampments are unsafe and inhumane, and frankly, I hope that this is not our solution to homelessness in the city."

Speaking on behalf of Moritz, Nathan Ballard, spokesman for the campaign to support Proposition Q said it was, âoeinhumane to allow people to live on the street when shelter is available. Mr. Mortiz and Mr. Conway have joined San Franciscans from all walks of life who support Prop Q because they urgently want to see an end to the human suffering on our streets."

She's also shown to be completely uninformed on technology, sponsored CISA and pushing a bill that makes encryption illegal

I really can't see how Silicon Valley would ever have voted her in, but if I recall correctly, she's been in office practically forever, so maybe being the perennial incumbent means change never happens. Probably also easily wins Hollywood voters since many studios are run by Jews like her (might be favoritism based on shared religion is all I mean).

A standalone version of its Messenger app is going to more hardware and OS.
So no matter the OS, device or location, a locked in consumer never has to exit the Zuckernet.
Facebook “Messenger Day” is the chat app’s new Snapchat Stories clone (Sep 30, 2016)
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09... Facebook launches pared back Android chat app to keep growing its messaging empire (Oct 3, 2016)
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10...

A standalone version of its Messenger app is going to more hardware and OS.
So no matter the OS, device or location, a locked in consumer never has to exit the Zuckernet.
Facebook “Messenger Day” is the chat app’s new Snapchat Stories clone (Sep 30, 2016)
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09... Facebook launches pared back Android chat app to keep growing its messaging empire (Oct 3, 2016)
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10...

The worst of it all, targeted political advertisements, now that is as evil as it gets. They are not happy with your political choices, which they get from poking you in your priavte places, no problems, send you a bunch of targeted advertisements, telling you that you support terrorism, that you support Russia, that you support China, that unless you vote for who they tell you to vote for, they will expose and destroy you https://techcrunch.com/2016/09... (the ugly reality in reality the main stream media attack on this individual, and that what is being prepared for us all - what did this guy do, he took the piss out of bullshitting politicians, oh the horror, the humanity and by far the majority do it). So the new targeted system, they do like the way you think, then they target you, attack you, expose you to others for attack.

Apart from physical size, the Mi Box has this thing beat. Same price, 4K + HDR, Google Cast, but it's also an Android TV box with support for running apps, games etc. Any ideas?

From Instagram founder and current Facebook employee Mark Systrom: https://techcrunch.com/2016/08...

Why are we being linked to a Forbes article when Forbes cites a Techcrunch article for the information?

"... according to tech site TechCrunch. The news site further noted..."

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09...

I don't think the author of the article understands what a password hash is if they think that passwords can be decrypted from them.

They can and are. "Salting" the passwords with extra complexity makes it a lot harder (to the point of impractical to crack if done right) and is the usual practice now to avoid situations like this when it was not done right:
https://techcrunch.com/2016/05...

How are they evil? Sure they're selling some information...but I guess I just don't equate that with being evil. But not only that you're suggesting that they're "far beyond evil." What does that mean? Has Google started assassinating people? I mean "beyond evil it's not even funny" just seems like a massive stretch.

Google's entire business model is to strip mine your privacy and sell it.

As bad as Oracle may be, they actually sell real products, not you nor your life.

As bad as Verizon may be, they actually sell real products, not you nor your life.

As bad as ExxonMobil may be, they actually sell real products, not you nor your life.

Between Oracle, Verizon, ExxonMobil, and Google, guess which one has a private jumbo jet for its executives....

If such an invention, whatever it will be, that really cures all (or even merely most) illnesses, ever comes to fruition, why should it not be treated as Uber et al are treated today?

That is, why wouldn't Mark and Priscilla be asked pointed questions about doctors and nurses who — despite spending years and thousands of dollars on education and certification — will become obsolete? What of the hospitals and other health-care infrastructure, that is no longer necessary?

Will we be expected to sympathize with the struggling medical personnel beating up staff of whatever corporation/organization is set up to make the new method and burn their vehicles? Will we have "insightful" comments on Slashdot demanding "level playing field" between this hypothetical new method and the old ones?

Will the FDA meekly disband itself, or will they keep fighting for relevance (and their cushy jobs) the way cities' "Taxis and Limousine" commissions do today?

Sorny's Walkerman models have never been lighter then the predecessor. They're latest mp3 Walkman weighs in at about a pound.

The market share for Android world-wide is 80%. Its share in the USA is 60%.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2016/05...

As they say, there's always a silver lining...

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09...

...and breached 60 million accounts!

https://techcrunch.com/2016/08...

The reason why Linux will never make it to the mainstream desktop is because OS X is the best and easiest UNIX-based GUI to use. And things, "just work."

I take it you have never heard of the "Microsoft Tax"? Linux seems to be doing fine on most computing devices except the desktop.

Android (has a Linux kernel) has 86.2% compared to Apple's 12.9% of market as per Q2 2016 market share.. Also Android tablets account for 66.1% while IOS accounts for 27.87% of market share .

As for Super Computers, Linux dominates with about 99%.

Note: The figures I gave you are Q2 2016 so they are current.

Firing rates:
  * Human neuron: a couple hundred milliseconds
  * Chip: A couple dozen nanoseconds. (note: not microseconds!)

Size:
  * Human neuron: 4-100um on each axis
  * Chip: Currently 100nm square on a thin wafer, with a 90nm process; scalable to 14nm process.

Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves: they are far from demonstrating the ability to emulate a human brain here. But if they do manage to implement a system that properly models human neural activity, the potential to vastly outperform the brain should be obvious. The number of neurons that make up the human brain could be packed into a single layer chip a third of a square centimeter (times some factor to account for the interconnects) operating at ten million times the speed. To say nothing of the ease of integrating it directly with storage, networking, and general purpose computing hardware.

And there is motive to advance this field, too. Neural nets are starting to have direct consumer applications (leaps and bounds improvements in image recognition, image enhancement, bandwidth reduction, etc). And we're talking about neural net chips that could readily be sized as a coprocessor in a phone. If there's a market, they'll make them. And advance them with time.

No, IBM is far from having a "brain on a chip". But it's very interesting research, to say the least.

* People were fed up with carrier-crap on their phones
* People were fed up with Google-crap on their phones
* CyanogenMod offered a crap-free phone OS

The "Cyanogen Inc" outfit tried to cash on the popularity of CyanogenMod. But they turned around, sold out, and baked their own crap into the OS. https://techcrunch.com/2016/01... Yes, MS Cortana. If I wanted a smartphone run by MS, I'd buy an MS smartphone already. This was a major betrayal of why people use CyanogenMod. And "Cyanogen Inc" is paying the price.

Well there are certainly hints that something like that may be in the offing...

It arguably is an objective sign; there is a shortage of legal weed in most states, since demand for legal weed is far higher than supply.

A better way to increase supply in the real estate market is to just change the rules regarding construction; see here for a more thorough explanation.

Airbnb is just letting people capitalize on SF's own mistakes with its real estate market. See this article for a pretty good explanation of how badly SF fucked up. Getting rid of Airbnb wouldn't help all that much, the system is screwed up too much already.

https://techcrunch.com/2014/08...

“The kernel cache doesn’t contain any user info, and by unencrypting it we’re able to optimize the operating system’s performance without compromising security,” an Apple spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Their using something called MyVCM to "to ensure we operate a robust information security and privacy program", whatever that actually means. I found this, which at least mentions " HIPAA, NIST, FedRAMP, COBIT, COPPA, ISO/IEC, and PCI DSS". Not sure just what particular NIST their referring to, but any company that actually pays attention to the 800 series and doesn't just go by the scant HIPAA security "regulations" is at least looking in the right direction. All of this is straight off the HIPAA Security ruling. Caremonkey won some award. Their based out of Australia.

I wouldn't use them. Because CodeMonkey comes from Australia, and, as everyone knows, Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. So you can clearly not choose the cloud-based provider in front of you.

The Safe Network project is reaching its first alpha version, but it is the culmination of 10 years of research and planning.

Skeptical? It is healthy to have some skepticism, more info here:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Article at Techcrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2014/07...
Maidsafe explained for bitcoin lovers: https://safe-network-explained...
Maidsafe presentation on Google Techtalks (June 2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Maidsafe forums: https://forum.safenetwork.io/

Well, one big difference between these sorts of designs and helicopters is that the blades are bounded. You're not worrying about rotors touching because other stuff will hit first. That's subtle, but critical at ensuring safety.

Another big difference is that presumably a computer would be controlling the blades to ensure level flight, and the vehicle would be in a fly-by-wire mode where the user controls altitude, forward velocity, and turning. Presumably the vehicles would, then, be absolutely level, even when turning.

But yeah, you're probably right about that buying you only one layer. I don't think even computers can compensate for turbulence quickly enough to deal with multiple layers at 15 foot separation. :-)

BTW, there are ways for quadcopters to continue flying after a rotor failure. It requires computers to control the speed of the rotors, but that goes without saying anyway. So they're potentially even safer than a single-blade design, but only if you have the right computer control system.

Julian Assange has previously done great work unmasking the nefarious schemes of Google to enslave the world.

Given that Dropbox has previously considered passwords to be optional, I'm not convinced that Dropbox engineers adds much credibility to this research.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/...

And how are they hashing the passwords if they are allowing for typos?

https://blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code/

http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/please-dont-learn-to-code/

What ridiculous arguments.

"Please don't learn maths. Teaching maths assumes that the world needs more math theorems in the world. It assumes that adding more poorly-trained professional mathematicians to the world is a desirable thing when it's not; we already have enough professional mathematicians. It implies there's a thin easily permeable membrane between those learning Algebra-1 and those who work in Field Theory -- but there's a huge gap."

(I've copied out the arguments from those blogs but replaced "code" with "maths" to show it's ridiculous. Like learn-maths, the benefit of learn-code isn't to produce professionals, but instead to produce citizens who are empowered by it to live their lives better. How does a small amount of coding know-how help you live better lives? because you no longer have to consume the rubbish that gets thrown at you, and you can instead whip up a small spreadsheet to test how your mortgage payments will work, or a small web-scraper to extract out price information, or you can explain a non-coding task algorithmically to someone.)

What a ridiculous counter-argument.

Computer Science and Classical Mathematics are competing philosophies of mathematics. Computer Science is rooted in constructivism while Classical Mathematics is not. Coding is to Computer Science like arithmetic is to Classical Mathematics---an abomination. The most beautiful parts of mathematics are the parts that no one can find a use for. Once a use has been found, the beauty is tarnished.

Now if you want to teach algorithms to children, it should be done as part of maths class, and that would require asking students maths questions that require writing algorithms to solve (such as how many prime numbers are there between 6 and 2**24, or create a multiplication table for base 13). I think that would fulfill the basic need to enrich people's lives without creating the false impression that coding is a skill distinct from saying arithmetic. It is basically learning how to make your calculator work for you instead of working with your calculator. However, it is cruel to teach people at an early age the means by which they are going to lose their job.

I don't know how much IP Lenovo got... Google seems to have kept much of it.

https://blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code/

http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/please-dont-learn-to-code/

What ridiculous arguments.

"Please don't learn maths. Teaching maths assumes that the world needs more math theorems in the world. It assumes that adding more poorly-trained professional mathematicians to the world is a desirable thing when it's not; we already have enough professional mathematicians. It implies there's a thin easily permeable membrane between those learning Algebra-1 and those who work in Field Theory -- but there's a huge gap."

(I've copied out the arguments from those blogs but replaced "code" with "maths" to show it's ridiculous. Like learn-maths, the benefit of learn-code isn't to produce professionals, but instead to produce citizens who are empowered by it to live their lives better. How does a small amount of coding know-how help you live better lives? because you no longer have to consume the rubbish that gets thrown at you, and you can instead whip up a small spreadsheet to test how your mortgage payments will work, or a small web-scraper to extract out price information, or you can explain a non-coding task algorithmically to someone.)

https://blog.codinghorror.com/please-dont-learn-to-code/

http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/please-dont-learn-to-code/

since Cortana and all MS services default to MS Edge no matter what you set, it's going to be a mixed operation from now on

You set it in control panel now.

I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid you can't do that. (Maybe it works in non-Cortana "MS Services", whatever those might be)

I declined to enable Cortana on my laptop during the upgrade. We'll see how long before I start getting popup windows insisting I turn it on (with options for [Enable] [Activate] [Turn On] and an [x] button in the corner that automatically agrees to Cortana's EULA)

will eat M$'s lunch soon. Their doing their initial roll-out for video, plus Slack has a growing third-party dev ecosystem. Of course, M$ will probably just swoop in and buy Slack up if it ever actually gets too annoying and strangle it just like their doing to Skype. And I just love how Skype argues with me about actually closing it out, practically begging me to keep it running.

The market buys a lot of things, such as e-ink readers due to LCD sucking in direct sunlight. If the deliberately restricted market of e-ink opens up a bit due to real competition and is able to actually act like the market you describe then I think there will be room in the market for more devices.
Your snarky "market" comment is amusing considering the topic. Do you really know that little about what has been going on with e-ink for a decade?

But does it?
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/...
http://goodereader.com/blog/el...
http://www.mobileindustryrevie...

The e-ink readers has been in a decline for long and have had their peak "many" years ago.

The other guy said "oh buy you don't need color and animation for this purpose!" - yeah, that's the same Amazon argue and that's why their e-ink readers still suck. "But we don't need it because books don't have colors!" (or animations) - If you build it they will come. I don't fucking care that for thousands of years it's been ~black ~ink on ~pale surface of some sort for text. There's been other things too but that for text. I still want more, there's other things with more (magazines, comics, photos, ..)
The new Kindle Oasis is £270!! £270!!!! That's more than the fucking One Plus 3!!
It still has a shitty small grey-scale screen which is somewhat good for one purpose alone and that's to show black and white text. £270!! (And they don't even sell to Sweden.)
Heck, even I could likely get laid for less!

It's just a new enrollment of this case: http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/...

I'm reminded of the recent story about Comcast. In California at least there are efforts to make this type of nonsense illegal.

This might work:

Neural net on a stick.
http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/...