Who could stand up to an Ancient Psychic Tandem War Elephant? No one, that’s who.

Shout out to Philo T Farnsworth!

He grew up in Idaho and the small town he hailed from had a sign calling themselves the ‘Birthplace of TV’. That sign was frequently vandalized to read ‘Birthplace of VD’.

Both statements have some validity.

Philo, Father of TV

I suppose what I am railing against is the fait accompli of it all. Meaning the idea that the way we do things now is the best possible way.

It isn’t and the best way to get my dander up is to hand-wave away concerns, as if the problem is solved and we can’t question it any more. This is why people hate the tech-bro archetype.

And even more maddening is the attitude that these ‘features’ are for users benefit.

The TV series Silicon Valley and their Pied Piper product seems so much less funny now that Peter Thiel has unmasked himself as a wannabe anti-christ. (PTs response to this accusation? ‘no u’)

Oh, not at random. There’s an algorithm, but you can’t know what it is, because reasons.

Or monograph (shout out to my ace peeps!)

Ms Piggy was not exactly a ‘beard’ in the relationship, let’s just call it ‘complicated’. Kermit was clearly roomates with Fozzie. Sometimes they would all get Sweetums tipsy at the pool and things would get real fuzzy.

This is not checks and balances. Get those words out yo mouth. This is a fascist takeover and it is clearly illegal.

This guy fucks!

Yeah, it fucking hurts! Get mad, nerd! The object of your desire cannot recognize you until you punch-dance your feelings.

Jokes on them. I’m heading to work!

The most distressing part of this is the way the NSF, the funder here, just gave into the administrations illegal takeover if their programs. The NSF was created by Congress and isn’t even within the regular agency structure of the executive branch. Buncha Quislings

I am rooting for the one on the loose. I want to name him Luigi.

People around lemmy think Marx (generators) are cool, but I am a Cockcroft-Walton man myself.

A rock in one shoe and a buttplug askew…

I prefer to chew my own food as do most adults.

You can’t claim it’s objectively better user experience, we haven’t really tried other alternatives. You made that up. It comes from a place of contempt for the mythical ’user’ that is unwarranted and distasteful. People are not as stupid as you think they are.

There a many work flows that would protect privacy and require no additional steps or unfamiliar actions most consumers of robo vacs already know.

Users have to clean and handle a robo vac frequently. Make an app that guides them in the clean out and does the firmware update by bluetooth (which is only on when the dirt trap is open) AFTER asking permission and explaining the update.

Once more, there is no compelling use case for constant internet connection for these types of appliances. The only reason to include it is to invade privacy for Silicon Valley reasons, which are evil.

People plug devices into their computers daily for charging and updates.

They can visit websites. They have a robot vacuum ffs, they have a computer.

And firmware can be updated by Bluetooth from a phone and BT on the vac can be turned off when unneeded.

This reasoning is specious. There is no intrinsic reason for any home appliance to need unfettered internet access. Tech bros may want 24/7 upskirt photos of their users, but we don’t have to accept their requests.

We give up nothing by insisting on privacy in our homes. We can have all the cool things without giving it up.

USB port.

Internet access is absolutely not required for any technical reason

Why the fuck does a vacuum cleaner need internet access!

And I loved Godus. Such engaging gameplay

This suggestion depends on your skill level and desire to be completely free of corporate bs.

The ‘smart’ is already in home assistant. You do not need a smart thermostat at all. Instead you need temperature/humidity sensors and actuators for your HVAC system. There are several decent smart climate control integrations already and a library for PID control if you want to make your own control automations.

Of all the smart things out there, a thermostat is completely unnecessary. The only solid reason to buy one is convenience, if one is just not into thinking about it too much.

If privacy and autonomy are a priority, however, this is low-hanging fruit to declare independence from corporates who like to rummage through your underwear drawer.