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I would rather prove my age to Apple than [insert random website].

I think that’s what Apple is banking on. They sell privacy as a feature of their products, and I’m grateful for that.


And I would rather have the _choice_ whether to prove my age to Apple or not. I think if it were optional, with the additional option of "share my age with websites & apps", nobody would have an issue with it.

The issue is that if you don’t prove your age, access is blocked.

So it’s not optional. At least in Australia.


It's entirely optional within Australia - I don't use Apple, nor do my kids or their kids.

If a website/app requests you to prove your age, you can’t optionally avoid it and continue to use the website/app.

Hasn't happened in any meaningful way yet, so I'll deal with that if and when it happens.

It is optional, you can skip past it. Presumably you will lose access to some websites and apps though.

This is where the lack of installing software (sideloading) becomes problematic.

They made it mandatory already, while still not being required to do so.

It would be exceptionally simple to NOT make it mandatory and automatic, and to allow a parent (to make Apple's lie more like actual concern) easy to flip on.

From what I see it also doesn't distinguish between, say, 11 year old and 17 year old. These two ages have vastly different.....development levels. Just to put it in perspective: 16 year old can legally drink alcohol in a pub, can literally have sex with anyone without anyone getting into trouble but apple decides they need to be maintained like primary school child?

I know some of my kids' classmates are barred by their parents from attending any sex ed/relationship classes. Today Apple proudly joins the most backwards and restrictive sects, just because (no, it's not the law).

I don't access any age-restricted content as far as I know, I refused to bend over to Bluesky and instead use alternative services to access my DMs.

Like, come on. That's a very hostile, unnecessary move from Apple, likely a secret agreement with the government of the UK.


> Our phone numbers are not identifiers.

I think you missed the point. The process creates an identifier, by strongly associating you with the phone number.

This association allows the bank to quickly establish your identity later when you call up or use online services.


As the sibling commenter pointed out, in their case, it totally failed to create a meaningful identifier, because he used some other person's phone to get past the ridiculous gate.

It’s not ridiculous. It’s for you to verify. It’s setting up 2FA. How can you not understand that?

2FA presumes user-ownership of the second factor, and that possession of the second factor authenticates that the possessor is the account owner. It's ridiculous because in the OP's case, he literally had someone else temporarily hand him the second factor in front of the clerk: the 2FA didn't really authenticate anything, and the clerk could even see that.

Yes. It presumes things but it also allows the bank deniability. If you get completely hosed - it’s mostly on you for supplying a shit 2FA.

Come on guys. It’s obvious why banks have this. Everything identity related is stolen constantly.


Even if it was useful in OPs case -- which it wasn't -- SMS 2FA is frowned upon by all modern security standards because it has several severe security issues.

I agree it sucks. Sadly, the world we live in. It’s a stop gap. Most people aren’t special enough to have their shit scooped up by some foreign telco operator.

The issue goes far beyond foreign telco operators.

1. It is quite easily to accidentally take over someone's account(s) on various mobile apps when you get a new phone number these days. Many apps will allow you to log in with your phone number, reset password or do one-time login via SMS, etc. Some even do it automatically as a convenience. This isn't an edge case issue -- this happens on several of the top social media platforms, etc.

2. SIM swapping is still a viable fraud vector for identity theft and financial crime.

3. It is very vulnerable to phishing, and its prevalence only has exacerbated that.


Surprisingly, I immediately noticed that “Gaming Copilot” is missing (i.e. The version of Copilot that Microsoft shoehorned into the Xbox mobile app).

> “Gaming Copilot” is missing

It would be ironic if there was nothing called "CoPilot" for Microsoft Flight Simulator.


The PM: “People love watching streamers play games, so people who play games must want to watch a game play itself! Introducing Xbox GamePass CoPilot with Microsoft Flight Simulator CoPilot+, all included with your GamePass Ultra subscription for $199.99 a month! Never play your games again!”

There is also another Xbox Copilot missing (though it has been renamed, probably due it not being an "AI"): https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/account-profile/accessib...

It has always amazed me that the US is so unusually rich in a variety of natural resources.

Southern Missouri, at the exposed roots of crust that formed the Ozark Mountains, is alone responsible for significant amounts of the world's metals. It used to provide 80% of the world's lead, for instance.

Like almost all mining areas, the people are poor, undereducated, and damaged healthwise (lots of lead there!).


Is it unusually rich for any region that big? I don't actually know, but it'd be interesting to see a comparison to another similarly sized country.

Microsoft told developers to target Windows to develop for the next generation Xbox.


This article describes how to convert from the sRGB color space, not RGB.

sRGB like Lab* is device independent so a transformation between the two is possible.

RGB on the other hand is device dependent, and would therefore require a device ICC Profile to convert to Lab*.


To be more specific, RGB is a color model, and sRGB is one of the color spaces that uses this model, alongside device-specific color spaces.


> RGB on the other hand is device dependent

No, it isn't. RGB is just a color model. You cannot convert between a color model and a color space any more than you can covert between float and Euros.

In order to convert between RGB and L*a*b you need a color space. That could be an ICC profile, sure, but it could also just be any well defined color space like sRGB, Display P3, or bt2020


It seems like you two agree on everything except what "device dependence" means...? GP acknowledged that there is no direct conversion between RGB and Lab, distinguished RGB from sRGB (implying the former is not a colour space), and indicated that a colour space like sRGB does solve the problem (since TFA is about using it to solve the problem).


I agree. The market is flawed because there isn’t a guaranteed entropy.

Because of this, the prediction market will remain niche.


In 2023, the Australian government announced a direct pathway to citizenship for New Zealander citizens who live in Australia for four years.

I think that’s a pretty big incentive to move from New Zealand to Australia.


There has been free movement back and forward since 1973. Citizenship hardly matters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Tasman_Travel_Arrangemen...


That's really hardly an incentive at all. We Kiwis have always been granted a special category visa which gives us permanent residency in Australia. Unless you want to vote, commit crimes without being deported or milk the welfare system there's little benefit to citizenship.


You are describing Wirth’s Law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirth%27s_law


Doesn’t gas generators set the market price 98% of the time in the UK?

They need to fix their market pricing mechanism before the public benefit from cheaper renewable energy sources.


It is important to realise that the current pricing mechanism is not an accident, and has some non-obvious benefits that need to be weighed against the obvious drawbacks. Clearly other mechanisms exist, which might solve the obvious drawbacks, but it is a choice of tradeoffs rather than a simple fix.


Not any more, according to this article you're commenting on, no.


the comment you are replying to is talking about marginal cost pricing, which wasn't addressed by this article.


> This price-setting dominance is being eroded by renewables, with recent analysis from the UK Energy Research Centre showing that gas set power prices 90% of the time in 2025.


The more often you have renewable surplus the rarer you need to fire up the gas turbines.


One could argue that it’s the “big boys” favour to build out “just enough” renewables in places that are further away from demand, so that gas still sets the price even if it’s just a fraction of what’s actually being used.

Min/max profits, but that would be crazy talk right! I’m sure the large energy producers have my best interests at heart really.


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