Daily Tech News 24 March 2026

Top Story

Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh desktop CPUs are here - the 250K and 270K Plus. (Tom's Hardware)

Are they fast? Yes. They close in on the regular AMD parts for gaming, and the 270K competes with the 9950X for heavy desktop workloads.

Are they power-efficient? Not especially, but they are a big improvement over Intel's notoriously power-hungry 13th and 14th generation chips.

Are they good value? Definitely. $200 for the 250K with 6P and 12E cores, and $300 for the 270K with 8P and 16E cores would make them hard to resist if you could buy the rest of the components for a system.

Should you buy one? Probably not. These run in Intel's Socket 1851 platform and that will be retired within a year for Nova Lake and its Socket 1954.

If that's not a concern - and particularly if you already have DDR5 memory sitting around - then yes, these look worth considering.

Tech News

GrapheneOS has refused to comply with new age verification laws that target operating systems. (Tom's Hardware)
If GrapheneOS devices can't be sold in a region due to their regulations, so be it.
Meanwhile fuck systemd.
Walmart tried using ChatGPT and in-chat purchases. It failed. Hard. (Search Engine Land)

Sales rates were one third of just directing people to the website.
There are new exploits circulating that can trivially hack any iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or older. (Tech Crunch)

But there's only about half a billion of those so no need to worry.
Google's new Pixel 10a phone is a Pixel 9a. (Notebook Check)

Is it a bad phone? No. Is it a new phone? Also no.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: systemd knows what it did.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Morning all

Posted by: Tuna at March 24, 2026 04:00 AM (lJ0H4)

2 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at March 24, 2026 04:01 AM (Ia/+0)

3 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 24, 2026 04:06 AM (sAmhv)

4 Saw Led Zeppelin 2 times

Posted by: Skip at March 24, 2026 04:07 AM (Ia/+0)

5 Sleepyheads today

Posted by: Skip at March 24, 2026 04:27 AM (Ia/+0)

6 systemd knows what it did.

I don't. What did it do?

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 24, 2026 04:30 AM (sAmhv)

7 w00t

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:30 AM (+YA9H)

8 28 F here this morning. I remember snow on Easter and some time ago I remember10 inches of snow in early April. I can decided if it ever happened, but no, I don't believe the weather is changing, which I hear all the time. Local police dept has gone all in on EV, with Kathy Hochul buying the cars, with our cash... 'Sorry we can't respond to your robbery our cars are charging out back of our police station....'

Posted by: colin at March 24, 2026 04:32 AM (e8qy3)

9 There are new exploits circulating that can trivially hack any iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or older. (Tech Crunch)

Uh-oh. I don't have an iPhone so I hadn't worried but I do have an iPad.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:34 AM (+YA9H)

10 Decided on buying a new laptop. An Apple Sky. Didn't need another laptop. Just wanted one. Ordered from Amazon, will arrive Monday. Never owned an Apple anything before, so this will be different. So now I have 2 Linux Mint laptops, 1 Beelink mini PC (Win 11), and a Motorola smartphone (Android). And on Monday, an Apple laptop. I'm an amateur when it comes to tech toys. I do have lots of old workstations I need to dispose of, them being long dead. I've entertained making them into storage servers but I'm lazy.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 24, 2026 04:34 AM (sAmhv)

11 ... running iOS 26.2.1, it says.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:36 AM (+YA9H)

12 8 28 F here this morning.
Posted by: colin at March 24, 2026 04:32 AM (e8qy3)

Heh. I misread the

8 28

as comment numbers, and so I thought your comment started like this:

F here this morning.

And I thought, well, I hope everything will be o.k.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:38 AM (+YA9H)

13 Now, on my Mac, I'm running

MacOS 14.8.3

which is maybe stupid of me.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:44 AM (+YA9H)

14 Posted by: colin at March 24, 2026 04:32 AM (e8qy3)

Mid March 2003, Denver CO... 4 FT of HEAVY snow.

Lived there 15 years and only time I saw the city shut down.

Weather... it changes... /sings...

Naturally.....

Posted by: Romeo13 at March 24, 2026 04:46 AM (mP0Kj)

15 I wonder if AI has been used a lot in making the new malware stuff.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:48 AM (+YA9H)

16 systemd knows what it did.

It caused the AoSHQ server to lose those secondary IP addresses the other day for several hours, didn't it?

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 24, 2026 04:49 AM (O7YUW)

17 16 systemd knows what it did.

It caused the AoSHQ server to lose those secondary IP addresses the other day for several hours, didn't it?
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 24, 2026 04:49 AM (O7YUW)

That was a gremlin that did that.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:52 AM (+YA9H)

18 15 I wonder if AI has been used a lot in making the new malware stuff.
Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 04:48 AM (+YA9H)

Teaching AI to code, without any Morality?

If not yet, it will be.

Posted by: Romeo13 at March 24, 2026 04:55 AM (mP0Kj)

19 >>>I wonder if AI has been used a lot in making the new malware stuff.

Posted by: m

>It wouldn't be difficult. I created my first virus in machine code/assembly language back in the late 80s. That wasn't the goal, but I got an A on the project because I satisfied the project requirements.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 24, 2026 04:58 AM (Wnd0C)

20 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at March 24, 2026 05:01 AM (bQ4nt)

21 Phone says 30 degrees.
1st breakfast done, lunch packed and don't have to leave for a hour

Posted by: Skip at March 24, 2026 05:06 AM (Ia/+0)

22 Decided on buying a new laptop. An Apple Sky. [+ a petting zoo of various PCs]. Posted by: Puddleglum

I stopped by Best Buy over the weekend and looked at the Neo again and the various Windows 11 PCs in that price range. As a complete package the Neo is sort of the perfect light duty PC. The materials to build it are first-rate, It has a bright and fairly accurate screen, the keyboard is excellent, and because of the solid single core performance, it's pretty snappy. Get the one with the touch ID and the 512 GB SSD and it's sorta spiffy.

The Neo has slow SSDs but for it's targeted use case fast SSDs are not necessary. I have a Surface Go 2 with a 512 GB microSD card in it which I use for OneDrive storage; it's been working just fine for 4 years.

The Neo is also hits its thermal limits rapidly and ramps down to about 4W. That pretty much gates the it's performance. People have cracked open the case and put a thermal pad over the area where the CPU is so it makes contact with the case and that helps get rid of the heat and improves the performance.

Like you, I've never owned a Mac OS machine so I'm really interested in hearing your first impressions.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:06 AM (glnUu)

23 AP, I went up a model and got the Sky.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 24, 2026 05:09 AM (sAmhv)

24
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at March 24, 2026 05:17 AM (tljrc)

25 Good morning! It's a very pleasant 64 on the patio this morning headed for the mid 80s. Gonna take the grandkids to the par 3 after school to see if they remember how to hit the ball.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 24, 2026 05:18 AM (3Ope8)

26 AP, I went up a model and got the Sky.

Aren't we fancy. The M5 CPU for everyday computing Is rather solid. People are running Final Cut Pro and Photoshop on it without complaints. The Air address is all the limitations found in the Neo. I'm torn between buying a Neo, since it makes an affordable experiment, and jumping up to the Air as a potential first long-term Mac. Like you, I don't need another computer but the idea of having one is so intriguing that the only question is how much is it going to cost me?

Did you get an M4 or an M5 model?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:18 AM (glnUu)

27 The system became self aware?

Posted by: Skip at March 24, 2026 05:19 AM (Ia/+0)

28 >>>Meanwhile fuck systemd.

Why are we doing this exactly?

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at March 24, 2026 05:19 AM (dK+Kv)

29 "I've never owned a Mac OS machine [...]"

I don't either, but I've got one from work.

Parts of the UI will drive you mildly batshit or moderately increase your batshittiness. The UI still thinks it's on a 1984 Macintosh where there's exactly one menu bar and that's on the top of screen.

If you only run one thing at a time and it's always maximized to fill your monitor, then you'll be a happy camper. If you have multiple windows on your monitor and a relatively large screen, you'll always have to move your cursor to the top of the monitor to access your application's menu bar.

If you have multiple monitors, you'll probably find that the Mac OS doesn't understand how to properly manage application windows across them.

On the plus side, Option-spacebar, type in your application name (with completion), and you can launch any program your system knows about. Shift-uparrow and you can see all your open windows in a mosaic across all your monitors. It's a weird blend of BSD unix and NextStep, so you can open a Terminal application and run commands in a shell (zsh is the current default).

I find it much less annoying than Windows but I wouldn't buy a Mac. YMMV.

Posted by: Richard Cranium at March 24, 2026 05:25 AM (xFpB3)

30 26: AP

M5. I figured if I'm already paying 'X' amount of dollars, I might as well pay 'XX' amount of dollars. At this point in time, I can afford it.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 24, 2026 05:26 AM (sAmhv)

31 Like you, I've never owned a Mac OS machine so I'm really interested in hearing your first impressions.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:06 AM (glnUu)

MacOS is a lot simpler than Windows.
There aren't a lot of different settings, spread around through the control panel, etc. Everything is contained in the Settings app, mostly.

Apple provides a few of their own software for free if you download them; Notes, Music, Quicktime, but also you can get Garage Band (music creator/editor), iMovie (video editing), and their iWork Suite, which you download for free, has Pages (Word processing/Publishing), Numbers (Spreadsheets), and Keynote (Presentation).

A little advice for anybody getting a Macbook Neo, or who have an 8GB RAM Mac of any kind; always leave at least 10GB free space on your SSD/HHD as with that amount of memory the system your drive as a swap file, a lot, and if you're storage is out of space it will lock up your computer and crash out until you free up more space. I had to learn that the hard way several years back.

With 256 or 512GB that SSD will fill up if you use a lot of apps or save a lot of hi-rez photos and videos.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 24, 2026 05:26 AM (6ydKt)

32 Systemd once bit my sister.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at March 24, 2026 05:26 AM (dK+Kv)

33 Meanwhile fuck systemd.

Rule 1. Don't stick your dick in crazy.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 24, 2026 05:27 AM (O7YUW)

34 ^^ the system will use your drive.

d'oh

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 24, 2026 05:28 AM (6ydKt)

35 I don't get all the complaining about the Google10a. So what if it's a slightly spec bumped 9a? Refreshes like this happen all the time. For $500 phone it's just fine and it gets 7 years of updates though the chances of owning one that long are pretty close to zero. Plus it's a huge improvement over the 6a, which I own as a backup phone, which Google had to cripple because it catches on fire If it isn't.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:28 AM (glnUu)

36 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 05:28 AM (u82oZ)

37 I wish I could go back to bed

Posted by: Skip at March 24, 2026 05:29 AM (Ia/+0)

38 @Pixy: Okay, c'mon, give with the details. Why are you particularly angry at systemd, today?

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 24, 2026 05:30 AM (O7YUW)

39 Old time Christian hymn. "His eye Is on the sparrow":

https://tinyurl.com/mry3azsm

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at March 24, 2026 05:31 AM (IeCgc)

40 I'm using one of my Linux Mint laptops (21.3) and it just had an update for,,,,systemd. A security update.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 24, 2026 05:32 AM (sAmhv)

41 Like you, I don't need another computer but the idea of having one is so intriguing that the only question is how much is it going to cost me?

Did you get an M4 or an M5 model?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:18 AM (glnUu)

Amazon and Walmart regularly sell older model Macbook Airs (13" & 15") with M1 - M4 chips on sale. You can save a few hundred dollars there. If you want to save even more, Amazon has Renewed Airs for a few hundred more off, if you don't mind a used machine.

If you want to just try it out and don't need the newest M5 chip that's an option to get a better deal.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 24, 2026 05:34 AM (6ydKt)

42 Sunday I traveled to Western Kansas to help NotSoThoreau. The day was clear ands very windy, unlike the pea soup fog on Christmas. My car seemed to get 5 mpg less in the relentless wind.

Went past 8 large installations of wind farms. In every farm, there were some turbines that were not moving, with feathered blades. Three sections of wind farms south of I-70 had no blades turning. The wind was too strong for them to work.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 05:34 AM (u82oZ)

43 >>>Meanwhile fuck systemd.

language

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 05:37 AM (+YA9H)

44 Going to and fro to see NotSoThoreau, I had to pass through Waldo, Kansas. So I found Waldo.

I helped her move stuff from an interior room to her new storage shed. Filled about 20% of it before my back said no more. The process was impeded by Jake, her wonder dog.

She treated me to a good lunch at a good tavern, just a few blocks away. She is good people.

The drive back was busy. Once north of Salina, there were cars on the road. So only 100 miles of travel without company on the road.

Got to watch the ranchers get green fields ready for hungry Angus.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 05:40 AM (u82oZ)

45 >>>Three sections of wind farms south of I-70 had no blades turning. The wind was too strong for them to work.

Posted by: NaCly Dog

>Most likely the proprietary bearings were shot because of poorly anticipated and scheduled maintenance. The boondoggle continues and the boneyard grows larger.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 24, 2026 05:42 AM (Wnd0C)

46 I find it much less annoying than Windows but I wouldn't buy a Mac. YMMV. Posted by: Richard Cranium

Thanks for the good input. I don't particularly find Windows 11 that annoying. I know the OS so well I know how to work around 95% of the complaints with the remaining 5% I don't care about. The long-term trend though has me scratching my head and because of that I've been looking at Macs as an alternative. If Microsoft actually follows through and fixes the legitimate complaints people have with the OS I have less incentive to go shopping elsewhere. Another reason that keeps me in the Microsoft ecosystem is the Snapdragon ARM CPUs. Over the holidays I was able to pick up a Surface Pro SD Plus ARM machine for $700 as an experiment using the ARM platform. It's been nothing but great for me. The SD X2 Elite/Plus machines are due to hit the market any day now. How those pan out will likely factor in how I move forward in the future.. More likely than not, I am going to pick up a Neo for no other reason than because.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:42 AM (glnUu)

47 @43/m: "language"

Yup, that certainly was some language. When you hear Pixy start dropping f-bombs, you just know the story is going to be epic.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 24, 2026 05:43 AM (O7YUW)

48 Most likely the proprietary bearings were shot because of poorly anticipated and scheduled maintenance.

Is that the same issue affecting the woblin pin in the knibbling bushing?

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 24, 2026 05:45 AM (3Ope8)

49 Good morning! Today Dougie Thomson, bass guitarist of Supertramp, turns 75. According to Brave AI, "School" (from Crime Of The Century) is one of the best examples of his work, so here's a live version from the famous Paris 1979 show, riding the high of their then-new hit album Breakfast In America:

Supertramp - School (Live In Paris '79) [4K]
https://youtu.be/ZuxVt-OqCpI

Also, Nena (Gabriele Susanne Kerner) turns 66. This 2018 performance is a bit indulgent; but assuming you're already familiar with her most famous song, it shows Nena defying the years, and still apparently having fun after 35 years of singing it:

NENA | 99 Luftballons (Live 201

(HD)
https://youtu.be/oIO5lfJ9dhs

Posted by: SciVo at March 24, 2026 05:46 AM (Sy6m/)

50 Evening and morning, satellites of the great and powerful AoSHQ Empire! 'Tis Tiu's Day again, innit?

Salty, you make Kansas sound lonely . . . but fascinating. Like a High Plains version of Russell Kirk's Mecosta, Michigan, or Lovecraft's New England. I look forward to seeing some of it, and maybe much more later.

No workout this morning; I need a day off. And big Stirling cat did not wake me early, so I feel a bit more rested.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 24, 2026 05:47 AM (wzUl9)

51 Rev. Wishbone

We know that wind power takes more energy to set up that it delivers. A thermodynamic failure.

But to see tower after tower without rotation, in a 20 mile span of road, while my car was buffeted by the 45 knot winds, seems to be a particular waste.

A modular nuclear plant array, close to larger towns, would be a better choice.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 05:48 AM (u82oZ)

52 49 NENA | 99 Luftballons
https://youtu.be/oIO5lfJ9dhs
Posted by: SciVo at March 24, 2026 05:46 AM (Sy6m/)

My dad loved that song.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 05:48 AM (+YA9H)

53 Amazon and Walmart regularly sell older model Macbook Airs (13" & 15") with M1 - M4 chips on sale. You can save a few hundred dollars there. If you want to save even more, Amazon has Renewed Airs for a few hundred more off, if you don't mind a used machine.

If you want to just try it out and don't need the newest M5 chip that's an option to get a better deal.
Posted by: SpeakingOf

Thank you for reminding me of that option. I don't need latest and greatest computing devices anymore as my needs are rather set and have been for 10 years. The Neo has to be revved up because it's all new and shiny but a used M4 odds on would be most excellent.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:50 AM (glnUu)

54 Wolfus Aurelius,

The Smoky Hills have a subtle beauty. Like a well behaved lady with a twinkle in her eye, compared with a tall, brassy blonde, with silicon implants and lots of make up. Colorado, looking at you for the second woman.

I aver the Flint Hills around me are slightly more scenic, if you like vistas of grasslands, ranches, and farms in bottomland.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 05:52 AM (u82oZ)

55
Most likely the proprietary bearings were shot because of poorly anticipated and scheduled maintenance.

Is that the same issue affecting the woblin pin in the knibbling bushing?

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at March 24, 2026 05:45 AM[/]

probably should replace the johnson rod gasket while you're at it

Posted by: AltonJackson at March 24, 2026 05:52 AM (tljrc)

57 >>>Is that the same issue affecting the woblin pin in the knibbling bushing?

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead

>I drove thru Idaho and saw maybe 4 out of 50 units in the wind farm functioning. They should have been tasked to pump water and not generate electricity.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 24, 2026 05:53 AM (Wnd0C)

58 AltonJackson

Good catch. Now I know you don't have close tags in your nic.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 05:54 AM (u82oZ)

59 My dad just liked balloons.

Posted by: Did you know that babies come from vaginas? at March 24, 2026 05:54 AM (3czDZ)

60 For example, here's a 13.6" Mackbook Air with a M3 chip, 8GB RAM, and a 512 GB SSD for $749.

https://tinyurl.com/4ne9h8rf
(Amazon)

It's refurbished and the 8GB is a bummer, but it's $400 off of a brand new M5 model.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 24, 2026 05:54 AM (6ydKt)

61 “ When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Posted by: Marcus T at March 24, 2026 05:55 AM (3g5Xe)

62 The Neo has to be revved up because it's all new and shiny but a used M4 odds on would be most excellent.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 05:50 AM (glnUu)

Yeah, if I had to choose I'd go with an Air, with any M series chip, over the Neo, but I use my stuff for more than web browsing and watching videos.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 24, 2026 05:55 AM (6ydKt)

63 My MacBook Air, 2014 vintage, is still skimming along nicely . . . with only *4* GB of RAM! I dunno how it does it. Especially since the 8 GB-equipped iMac from around the same time on my desk occasionally hesitates (you know, the whirling rainbow ball) in operations. The hard disk is nowhere near even half full, though there are some files I could delete; I've updated the OS to the latest the system is supposed to be able to handle; I clean out the cache regularly; and I've disabled a number of startup and other background apps.

Anything else I can try? Aside from slapping a hot iron to it, adding memory, or buying a Win machine or refreshed iMac?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 24, 2026 05:59 AM (wzUl9)

64 The Smoky Hills have a subtle beauty. the Flint Hills around me are slightly more scenic.
Posted by: NaCly Dog

I saw both last year. I stayed in El Dorado and fell in love with the little town and the surrounding countryside was lovely. The Smoky hills resonated with me like all the best places in the Western United States.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 06:01 AM (glnUu)

65 @"Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions.", if it's in your budget to buy a Neo, do it.

It'll work and you'll be able to use HomeBrew (https://brew.sh/) to install free software if you need it. Most applications have a MacOS installer as well as Windows.

A Terminal window will give you a unix shell experience versus the Windows DOS/PowerShell equivalent to Terminal. (TBF, I've only kept my Windows partitions around to run Steam and I haven't been playing games so much recently.)

Posted by: Richard Cranium at March 24, 2026 06:02 AM (xFpB3)

66 Anything else I can try? Aside from slapping a hot iron to it, adding memory, or buying a Win machine or refreshed iMac?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

The current M series silicon run circles around the hardware you have. You might want to look at picking up some newer gear. The differences are dramatic.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 06:05 AM (glnUu)

67 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at March 24, 2026 06:05 AM (AN2gy)

68 Hmm. HomeBrew (AFAICT) only works on machines running Intel processors, so the Neo may not play with that.

My work machine has an Intel processor, so I've been able to use it.

Posted by: Richard Cranium at March 24, 2026 06:06 AM (xFpB3)

69 56
Posted by: AltonJackson at March 24, 2026 05:52 AM (tljrc)

Ahhh, first breakfast!

Posted by: The Barrel, who's a Tolkien fan at March 24, 2026 06:10 AM (eOFY+)

70 The age verification on an OS is going to be an interesting battle. Whatever problem they think this is going to solve will not be affected and it will simply become a worn-out punchline by the end of the summer.

Posted by: NR Pax at March 24, 2026 06:11 AM (99eI0)

71 40 I'm using one of my Linux Mint laptops (21.3) and it just had an update for,,,,systemd. A security update.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 24, 2026 05:32 AM (sAmhv)

Same here.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at March 24, 2026 06:11 AM (dK+Kv)

72 Beau died trying to save minority children from systemd.

Posted by: Joe Biden at March 24, 2026 06:13 AM (eOFY+)

73 70 The age verification on an OS is going to be an interesting battle. Whatever problem they think this is going to solve will not be affected and it will simply become a worn-out punchline by the end of the summer.
Posted by: NR Pax at March 24, 2026 06:11 AM (99eI0)

Some parents are going to need to parent again, instead of passing it off to Big Government.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 06:13 AM (+YA9H)

74 It'll work and you'll be able to use HomeBrew (https://brew.sh/) to install free software if you need it. Most applications have a MacOS installer as well as Windows.

A Terminal window will give you a unix shell experience versus the Windows DOS/PowerShell equivalent to Terminal. (TBF, I've only kept my Windows partitions around to run Steam and I haven't been playing games so much recently.)
Posted by: Richard Cranium

My first professional years were in a Unix environment. It would be fun to get back to fussing around with the proper shell. I will fuss around with Homebrew to see what is available. Being retired I don't have any professional development software needs which simplifies my computing stack. My key software requirements are Microsoft Office and Photoshop/Affinity. The rest is made up of various utilities that make my home network highly useful. This software stack will run equally well on Windows or Apple boxes.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 06:13 AM (glnUu)

75 Have a great day, everyone.

May you get the weather you want. But, head on a swivel, and have a plan.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 06:13 AM (u82oZ)

76 Parenting is for iPads, not moms and dads.

Posted by: Did you know that babies come from vaginas? at March 24, 2026 06:14 AM (3czDZ)

77 My dad loved that song.
Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 05:48 AM (+YA9H)

I didn't really delve into the details, but I was surprised to learn that the English version is not a direct translation. They're both anti-war, but "99 Red Balloons" is more of a generic romantic tragedy, while the original "99 Luftballons" is a morbid absurdity: a fake UFO prank leads to scrambled fighters, a gung-ho pilot goes weapons hot, a neighboring country gets alarmed, and provocations escalate until everyone is dead (except for her and one balloon).

Posted by: SciVo at March 24, 2026 06:15 AM (Sy6m/)

78 47 @43/m: "language"

Yup, that certainly was some language. When you hear Pixy start dropping f-bombs, you just know the story is going to be epic.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 24, 2026 05:43 AM (O7YUW)

It was just kind of a footnote, though, seeming misplaced at the end of the GrapheneOS post.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 06:16 AM (+YA9H)

79 I do miss that Audi's heated seats
Have a great day horde

Posted by: Skip at March 24, 2026 06:16 AM (Ia/+0)

80 G'mornin' everyone!

systemd update? probably age verification ...

*new interest in GrapheneOS*

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at March 24, 2026 06:21 AM (MIIRH)

81 Anything else I can try? Aside from slapping a hot iron to it, adding memory, or buying a Win machine or refreshed iMac?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 24, 2026 05:59 AM (wzUl9)

Go into the App Store on the Mac and search for "Memory Clean 2". Install that app, and open it, runs in the background on your taskbar next to the Volume, WiFi, Date/Time.

It shows you how much RAM is being used at all times, and you can click on it and hit "Clean Memory" which will clear out anything stored in RAM that is safe to unload.

I use it on my 8GB iMac all the time, and it helps when things start filling up the RAM.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 24, 2026 06:21 AM (6ydKt)

82
I'm trying to imagine Wal-mart shopping inside ChatGPT. I tell Chat-bot that I want to get a comb at Wal-mart, it shows a bunch of combs, I say That one, bot asks me for my credit card info...? And they say what's changing is that Wal-mart's chat bot will now reside inside ChatGPT and they'll work across platforms...? I've got to see this to get it.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 24, 2026 06:25 AM (n7rxJ)

83 Computers and software are just too much fun. And occasionally they're highly useful except when they're doing things you never expected or wanted.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 06:25 AM (glnUu)

84
I just asked ChatGPT if it can help me shop at Wal-mart. It said this:

🛒 How it works
I suggest items, quantities, and even links
You either:
Click the links I give you → opens Walmart
Or search the items in the Walmart app / website
Then you:
Add to cart
Choose pickup or delivery
Check out normally

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at March 24, 2026 06:26 AM (n7rxJ)

85 40/Puddleglum: "I'm using one of my Linux Mint laptops (21.3) and it just had an update for,,,,systemd. A security update.

(The following is trimmed down to summary information only):

systemd (255.4-1ubuntu8.14) noble-security; urgency=medium

* SECURITY UPDATE: Local unprivileged user can trigger an assert in systemd
* SECURITY UPDATE: Local root execution via malicious hardware devices

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 24, 2026 06:27 AM (O7YUW)

86 Go into the App Store on the Mac and search for "Memory Clean 2". Install that app, and open it, runs in the background on your taskbar next to the Volume, WiFi, Date/Time.

It shows you how much RAM is being used at all times, and you can click on it and hit "Clean Memory" which will clear out anything stored in RAM that is safe to unload.

I use it on my 8GB iMac all the time, and it helps when things start filling up the RAM.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 24, 2026

***
I'll try that, Speaking! Thanks.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 24, 2026 06:27 AM (wzUl9)

87 Have you met the Cuban poor? Charming people!

Posted by: Hasan Piker at March 24, 2026 06:27 AM (eOFY+)

88 The privilege to see the poor Cuban communist comrades in their native habitat is a treasure.

We’re in danger of losing our economic Heritage!

Posted by: Common Tater at March 24, 2026 06:33 AM (C3G19)

89 I'm trying to imagine Wal-mart shopping inside ChatGPT. I tell Chat-bot that I want to get a comb at Wal-mart, it shows a bunch of combs, I say That one, bot asks me for my credit card info...? And they say what's changing is that Wal-mart's chat bot will now reside inside ChatGPT and they'll work across platforms...? I've got to see this to get it. Posted by: Blonde Morticia

This sounds like forced use cases. Having AI go shopping for combs and then completing the transaction strikes me as ridiculous. It's just as absurd as having AI order a pizza, complete the transaction and schedule the delivery. Why? What's the advantage? Maybe some day this will all be common, but I don't think we'll be the better for it. The e-commerce revolution changed the economy; I don't see how using AI to automate consumer purchases adds value, rather it seems that it complicates everything.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 06:33 AM (glnUu)

90 I just asked ChatGPT if it can help me shop at Wal-mart. It said this:

That sounds like normal E-commerce shopping with one layer of added complexity on top. I don't get how this improves anything.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026 06:37 AM (glnUu)

91 . . . The e-commerce revolution changed the economy; I don't see how using AI to automate consumer purchases adds value, rather it seems that it complicates everything.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at March 24, 2026

***
Including when the AI starts recommending toppings for the pizza and warning you that pepperoni is bad for your health.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 24, 2026 06:38 AM (wzUl9)

92 from the GrapheneOS article:

California's law doesn’t require photo ID or biometric verification [for all operating systems]; users simply self-report their age during setup. Critics, including over 400 computer scientists who signed an open letter, have argued that the laws create surveillance infrastructure without meaningfully protecting children, since self-declaration is trivially bypassed.

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 06:38 AM (+YA9H)

93 44 Going to and fro to see NotSoThoreau, I had to pass through Waldo, Kansas. So I found Waldo.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 24, 2026 05:40 AM (u82oZ)

haha!

Posted by: m at March 24, 2026 06:48 AM (+YA9H)

94 I'll never forget how mad our music teacher was in middle school when he arrived in class to find us listening to this, from Led Zeppelin.

To think, Robert Plant is still touring. He's at the Ryman on Thursday night.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at March 24, 2026 06:48 AM (wY7nr)

95 87 Have you met the Cuban poor? Charming people!
Posted by: Hasan Piker

Out in the streets, dancing! So happy!

Posted by: Auspex at March 24, 2026 06:49 AM (Y8DZL)

96 I don't like apple

Posted by: TheCatAttackedMyFoot at March 24, 2026 07:01 AM (LOZbR)

97 Orange and grape OK

Posted by: Common Tater at March 24, 2026 07:02 AM (C3G19)

98 And I just got a notice that I have to renew my registration. My car is ten years old so I don't think it's wise to pay for anything more than one year. First World Problems.

Posted by: NR Pax at March 24, 2026 07:02 AM (99eI0)

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