Foxconn employees in particular are very well protected:

…from the ground.

“Failing to meet a quota or making a mistake can draw public condemnation from superiors. Workers are often expected to stay silent and may draw rebukes from their bosses for asking to use the restroom.”

https://wonderfulengineering.com/story-life-death-apple-forbidden-city/

The installation of suicide nets reflects a broader commitment to employee well-being and mental health within the tech industry.

https://wheelermethodist.org/religion/suicide-nets-apple/

Yeah, say that with a straight face.

Every silver lining has a cloud.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/this-kills-the-crab

I want to get off Mr. Bones’ wild bridge

If this is true:

If you report the message it then the full text gets sent to WhatsApp.

That means there’s a software switch that dumps a plaintext copy of a supposedly encrypted message when flipped.

Therefore, all you need to read any WhatsApp message is the ability to flag the message as “reported”, and access to wherever the plaintext copies get sent.

Considering how often security is an afterthought for corporations, the access part is probably easy.

So… anyone with access to the report API can read any message they want?

This kills the bus.

The Century of Self - documentary by Adam Curtis

The Century of Self, by Adam Curtis, discusses the emergence and rise of psychoanalysis as a pivotal means of persuasion for corporations and governments. It covers the work of psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud, as well as PR consultant Edward Bernays. The series reveals how those in positions of power have used Freud’s theories to influence and control the public.

…until the next time we decide that you need to do a ‘one-time’ license check.

Yeah, “it hasn’t happened to us yet” is a very bad risk assessment. Coding bots with too much access are exactly the thing that wipes out companies.

This just happened:

https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/i-violated-every-principle-i-was-given-ai-agent-deletes-companys-entire-database-in-9-seconds-then-confesses

https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/27/cursoropus_agent_snuffs_out_pocketos/

And it’s hardly the first time:

https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/20/amazon_denies_kiro_agentic_ai_behind_outage/

https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/01/google_antigravity_wipes_d_drive/

https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/replit_saastr_vibe_coding_incident/

What matters is the outcome

If that were true, then anyone with any sense would have recognized a long time ago that deterministically incorrect is a lot more valuable than nondeterministically correct occasionally, and given up on all this language model nonsense.

A deterministic system that produces wrong output can be fixed. A nondeterministic system that produces wrong output cannot be fixed in any way that can be demonstrated conclusively.

Nondeterministic software is basically worthless in any case where accuracy or reliability are required.

The issue is how many guardrails are required just to keep the output from being completely useless. This suggests that at its core, the model is mostly worthless, and provides not-insane output only under extreme containment. This does not mean that the resulting output is reliable or trustworthy, only that it is not obviously insane.

Sure, but as I already pointed out above, it’s very relevant for an article titled:

China develops iron battery 80 times cheaper than lithium that can last 16 years

This is a misrepresentation of the facts. While iron may be 80x cheaper than lithium, the iron battery built with this design will not be 80x cheaper than an equivalent lithium battery, because it will require substantially more material, as well as additional mechanical complexity (liquid pumping).

You’re responding as if I’m criticizing the technology. I’m not. I’m criticizing the sensationalist writing of this article that is intentionally manipulative of the reader.

All of human language and culture is “made up”, that doesn’t make any of it less consequential or “real”.

Hmm, there’s no discussion of what the energy density is compared to lithium-based battery chemistries. In articles about new battery designs, that usually means it’s pretty bad. This will have limited value if you need 10x battery volume/mass for equivalent energy storage, primarily only for grid-scale systems, which the article specifically mentions near the end:

The development arrives as the international race to develop iron-based flow batteries accelerates, with the technology increasingly viewed as the most viable successor to lithium-ion for large-scale grid storage.

I’m guessing these batteries are heavy and bulky compared to an equivalent LiPo. Probably safer than the molten sodium grid storage systems, so that’s good.

On the other hand, while lithium may be trading at 80x the price of iron on the market, you’re going to need a lot more iron than you would lithium for each unit of equivalent energy storage, plus it’s going to take up more space (real estate). The eventual storage system will probably be somewhat cheaper than an equivalent lithium system, but won’t fit everywhere, especially developed urban areas due to larger space requirements, and definitely won’t be 80x cheaper, even if the iron/lithium price ratio remains the same. It won’t replace lithium batteries in mobile applications (vehicles, electronics, etc) or anywhere that physical space is at a premium.

The article is written to sound overly positive about this protoype, with a sensationalized headline, while not mentioning the drawbacks, and just hoping that the reader is to too ignorant to notice.

*Edit: Also, the picture attached to the article is bunk. Flow batteries require a pumping system to circulate the electrolyte fluid, which comes with a long-term.maintenance cost:

[…] all flow batteries include auxiliary components such as pumps and valves, which do require a regular maintenance cycle.

I don’t know man, prepping to run a session can be a lot of time and effort. Between the rapidly rising cost of living and the very troubled job market, if someone can help pay their bills by DMing a few sessions I don’t see a problem with it. People need to eat.

I think there’s a lot of demand out there right now for more human entertainment. A TTRPG is a lot more personal than playing a video game, and people want that, but not everyone has a friend group that includes a DM.

I think a lot of what is currently happening is a consequence of the COVID years. People were isolated for long periods, and a lot of small businesses that provided social meeting spaces collapsed. Post-COVID, people want to go back to socializing but so many local restaurants and other such places shut down, and it seems like habits changed too. People don’t go out as much as they used to, and there are fewer places to do it, so it’s a lot harder to meet new friends as an adult.

At the same time, a lot of people lost their jobs and didn’t get them back. They had to find other ways to support themselves and their families, and the rising popularity of D&D in particular (I think largely due to content on YouTube from Critical Role &etc) has created an opportunity for that.

The TTRPG space is changing for sure, and it’s growing. I can tell by looking at the shelves in my local game stores, there’s more and more books for non-D&D RPG games. Plus, there are groups like Legends of Avantris who are now producing their second D&D module, for which they’ve hired a bunch of artists, musicians and other creative people to help with.

I don’t have a problem with the idea that the growing popularity of roleplaying games is producing more opportunities for writers & artists &etc to make a living.

It’s literally the end of thirties.