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The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall.
I cut myself while shaving, now I can't make a call.
We couldn't get much worse, but if they could they would.
The lily-bomb for the best, expect the worst.
I hope that's understood, my lily-bomb.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We have Gila.
Good evening.
We didn't expect me to call on you first.
And Rob T. Firefly.
Good evening.
And we have Alex.
Yes.
Hello, everybody.
I'll take my cue from Kyle tonight.
And Alex, you're overseas.
Is that correct?
Actually, I'm not.
I'm leaving tomorrow morning to head overseas.
So I decided I wasn't going to head out on Tuesday.
I'm going to head out on Thursday because I had a friend from overseas coming in from Rome.
And I had dinner with him last night.
So I'm still in New York.
But I'll be overseas for the show next week.
And everybody, keep paying track of where Alex is so that you have all the information you need right now.
There you go.
All right.
Good.
So here we are for yet another edition.
We have overtime coming up after the show at 8 o'clock on YouTube.
Check the link on 2600.com or just go to channel 2600 on YouTube and find us there.
We have a few interesting stories that we're going to be hopefully getting into.
Here's a story that just came flying across our desk right before the show.
Asking the age old question, does Microsoft hate books more or its own workers?
This is from a page called Futurism.
And they're quoting The Verge.
The Verge reports that the multi-trillion dollar giant is gutting its employee library.
And cutting down on digital subscriptions in favor of pursuing what's internally described as an AI-powered learning experience.
Oh, my God.
So they're basically cutting back.
They actually used to carry 2600.
They might still up until they do this.
But cutting back on digital subscriptions and getting rid of magazines, are they in trouble?
Do they need to cut corners, Microsoft?
Hey, well, let me just read what it says here.
Seriously, we wish we could explain to you what the hell that is.
But most of the details on this AI-focused transition are maddeningly clear.
I got to learn how to say that word more.
I mean, I'm going to be using it a lot.
Maddeningly.
That's as close as I'm going to get.
But very vague.
Yeah, what we do know, according to the reporting, is that the cheapskates upstairs are ending employee subscriptions to news outlets,
which have basically been there for a long, long time.
Not only do Microsoft employees tell The Verge that they've lost access to publications,
but they're also unable to digitally check out business books from the Microsoft library,
which itself is being targeted by this new AI pivot.
According to an internal Microsoft Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ,
the library housed in Building 92 has been closed as part of Microsoft's move towards a more modern,
connected learning experience through the, ready?
Skilling Hub.
Yeah, the Skilling Hub.
I feel like I'm in a Harry Potter novel or something.
We know this change affects a space many people value, the company said.
But for some reason, we're going to do it anyway.
Yeah, so meanwhile, employee subscriptions aren't being renewed for pretty much the same reason,
because it's a, quote, part of Microsoft's shift to a more modern AI-powered learning experience
through the aforementioned Skilling Hub.
All told, the cuts are yet another example of how Microsoft has gone completely bonkers for AI.
Urban legend that the company says that Microsoft's library, when it was housed in its old location,
does anybody know where that was?
Those of us who are looking at the same story as you know where that was, but...
You're reading along with me?
Building 92 is where it is now.
It used to be on the second floor of Building 4.
And the library...
Wow.
Okay, now I understand.
I understand why they have to do what they're doing.
In its old location, at least.
The library was so heavy that it caused the building to sink.
I couldn't make this up.
Yeah.
Okay, but they moved to Building 92.
Do you have the same problem in Building 92?
Well, they say that's probably a myth anyway.
But now it sounds like Microsoft is happy to let this trove of knowledge,
if not literally sink into the earth, fall by the wayside on the altar of AI.
Boy, these people, they know how to write.
That's the Futurism website there, which unfortunately doesn't print a URL anywhere on this page I printed.
But it's probably futurism.something.
I'm sure you can find it.
Dot com.
Dot com.
Thank you, Rob.
Thank you.
So, yeah.
An executive from SNS, a news organization that worked with Microsoft for over two decades,
but is now being cut off, absolutely roasted its former customer for the changes.
Technology's future is shaped by flows of power, money, innovation, and people,
none of which are predictable based on LLMs, large language models,
probabilistic regurgitation of old information.
Wow, this is a song in there somewhere.
That's from Barrett Anderson, chief operating officer of SNS.
We look forward to welcoming Microsoft back into the SNS community whenever they decide they would like to return.
Boy, this is something.
I mean, yeah, I know there's a war on literacy,
but I didn't expect it to reach into, you know, the corporate employee realm
and literally have subscriptions canceled, libraries closed in favor of AI.
I mean, it just seems like such an ill-advised move.
It does, but I think there's probably something a little more sinister behind it.
And, Rob, if you could open up that article that we found, you found,
yesterday from pcgamer.com,
Microsoft CEO warns that we must do something useful with AI
or they'll lose social permission to burn electricity on it.
We need AI, so we need AI.
And I'm never sure if it's pronounced Ouroboros or Ouroboros,
but I think there is a, seriously, I have no idea,
but I think there is a weird cause and effect wag the dog thing.
Microsoft is convinced it needs AI, so it needs more AI
because it's convinced it needs AI.
Wow.
I remember when they were warning us about AI,
and now it's just they're shoving it down our throats.
Go ahead, Rob.
Yeah, and this isn't the only article, this article on PC Gamer.
The, you know, Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft,
has been all over the place trying to talk up AI
and also tell the tech world,
hey, you got to start using this stuff
and forcing it on people.
There have been the stories over the past weeks and months
about Microsoft forcing AI functionality
into the Windows operating system,
no matter how hard people don't want it.
And so the company has taken this very firm stance of,
yes, AI is definitely a thing.
And for them to go to the extent of shutting down an employee library
because the availability of actual useful things like books
makes the AI bubble look bad and look more bubbly.
I wish I could say this surprised me,
but it very sadly doesn't.
But, you know, you would think they would appreciate
the presence of a library that's strong enough to sink a building
that would maybe counteract how this bubble
is floating the building upwards and into space.
I like the idea of libraries attacking humans somehow,
whether it's sinking a building or collapsing in some other way.
It's just, it's something heartening about that.
Go ahead, Alex.
Yeah, I agree with that.
You know, this is so counterproductive
in so many ways to my mind.
You think back to the promise of technology.
I think about this very broadly.
You know, we were supposed to have these infinite bookshelves
in the cloud, but now all of a sudden budgets
and platform economics keep reminding us
that access to these things isn't actually ownership.
If you don't have what you're reading in your hand,
if you don't have it in some kind of open format
and it is placed into a DRM straitjacket
or is out in a cloud that somebody can just disappear.
Well, they did have it in their hand, though.
I mean, it's a library.
They could physically touch it and it's still being taken away.
And it's still being taken away because it's the subscriptions.
And part of this, though, I think what's really dangerous
is that it's the centralization of this type of knowledge now
and centralized control over the types of knowledge,
the authoritative knowledge now that apparently is AI curated.
And so the corporate overlords now have better access
to what goes into it and what comes out of it as well.
And so this curated knowledge is different.
And so they have more control over what the employees
are going to be ingesting in the skilling hub,
as you called it, I believe, the manual.
I didn't call it that.
They called it that.
They came up with that term.
They called it that, sure.
So this notion of centralization, though,
is what really bothers me.
And I don't think knowledge and reading
should be some kind of,
should be a power centralized
in some sort of corporate overlord.
Gila, did you have something else?
I did, just thinking about the skilling hub really quickly,
I was hopeful for the briefest of moments
that someone named skilling had donated some money
and they named it the skilling hub.
And that's not what it is.
I just looked it up.
No, it's a training.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
I've got to turn the volume off of my phone.
I'm sorry.
That was another ice raid.
Oh.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Continue what you're saying.
No, but I was hopeful that,
again, it was named after someone
with the name skilling and it's not.
And the skilling hub,
I give up.
That's it.
I'm going to go live in a hole
and just not talk to anybody ever again.
And the very fact that Microsoft
is willing to measurably make its own employees,
jobs, and lives more difficult
by forcing them to use a tool
unsuited to the purpose of anything.
It really speaks to how much of a bubble this is.
They're putting all the hype out there.
They're putting all the, you know,
let's get this going out there.
They're putting the appearances out there,
but it's impossible to put the work in.
And they've just made it harder for people to work.
I'm sorry.
I was, I'm, I'm, I'm updating my phone here.
Uh, there was an ice raid in Central Islip, New York
on Wheeler Road.
Anybody out there?
It might be something to, uh, be concerned with.
Um, wow.
There was a lot of ice activity on Long Island today.
Um, and, uh, every time that happens,
I get a siren on my phone.
Central Islip, uh, East Islip, Patchogue,
um, and, um, yeah, that, that general area.
Brentwood as well.
So if you're in those areas, uh, keep an eye out.
The ice is on the prowl.
And, uh, every time that happens, though,
there are hundreds if not thousands of people
who are alerted.
Uh, I only get, um, uh, results in, uh, Suffolk County
on, uh, on Long Island.
But, uh, there are, there are all kinds of, um,
ice alert apps.
We've talked about them many times on this show.
And, um, you can get them as well
and find out when something is happening in your area.
And, um, do the appropriate thing,
which, uh, I, I think is, uh, an obligation for us.
Yes, Alex, go ahead.
Yeah, well, well, speaking of ice,
I think last week we talked about,
a little about how the, this,
this pro bono type of activity
that I was engaging in and hoping to engage in
on behalf of ice detainees.
And actually last week, Friday night
was the first time that I had
actually gotten a detainee client
through this pro bono effort
associated with NYU.
And so Friday night, I'm about to,
I was actually pretty ill that day.
And I had, um,
I was about to leave for the Poconos.
And then, uh, there was a detainee
that was picked up at the immigration court.
And this was a guy,
this is my client now is he was with his partner.
He was going to immigration court,
lives over in Ossining, New York.
So upstate New York came all the way down to Manhattan.
And he shows up doing what he's supposed to do
to stay in the country.
He can go to his court appearance, uh,
because he was, he was granted essentially
parole, um, asylum at the, at the border.
And he had his two kids with him and ice picked him up.
In fact, ice actually, as I understand it,
detained the entire family, kids included at the outset,
and then decided just to detain the father.
And so the father's partner who doesn't drive
had no way of getting back to Ossining, New York.
They were stranded there with their kids.
And that night I was able to put together a petition
for a writ of habeas corpus,
file it before I got on the road.
By the time I got to the Poconos, uh,
Judge Utkin in the Southern District of New York,
who was the part one judge,
who's basically the on-duty judge
for emergency orders and whatnot,
had seen the petition for the writ of habeas corpus
and issued an order.
And generally what'll happen, Emmanuel and Co.,
is that ICE will detain these people
and then they'll quickly move them out of the jurisdiction
where they'll house them someplace
that's outside of the Southern District of New York
or the Eastern District of New York
and it becomes difficult to locate them.
Or they might just deport them to another country.
So the order that we requested, uh, prevent,
and the order that the judge issued
prevented ICE or the federal government
from deporting this person
or moving them outside of the jurisdiction of the court,
um, and, and outside of the kind of Newark, New Jersey area.
And so we were able to, to get that done,
but this, I feel like, is just the tip of the iceberg now.
Now we're going to have to fight with the government
to get this guy back because it's very likely
that they are using the wrong authorities
to detain people.
But in any event, uh, like I promised last week,
I did get my hands dirty this week,
filed that petition.
And, um, I, I have to say,
I'm very proud to be one little grain of sand
in the gears of the ICE machine here.
And, and it's not just me,
it's me and thousands of lawyers in New York
that are pushing back against these detentions
one after another, after another.
We're going to try to get these people out.
Alex, you're our little grain of sand
and, and we couldn't be prouder of what you're doing.
And I think, uh, the question is
how can other people get involved?
Do you have any kind of, uh, means for people
who might also be lawyers
or be able to help in some other way,
uh, to, to fight this fight?
Yeah. I mean, I think you just have to keep
your eyes and ears out
and watch out for your neighbors.
And, and, you know, what, what I know
about essentially being a lawyer here
is, is that we need people to help.
We need people to, to continue to file
these petitions for writs of habeas corpus.
And like I said, you know,
when I went to the training on these issues,
I was just totally shocked
at how many lawyers were there
from not-for-profit organizations,
from legal defense organizations,
from big law firms, from small law firms,
from in-house organizations.
I mean, it was really, uh, absolutely incredible.
But I think that, you know,
there are a lot of organizations
that are also doing this work at NYU.
It's called Immigrant Arc.
That's A-R-C.
Um, I, I'm also part of the,
the Tech Advisory Board of Human Rights First,
or HRF and Human Rights First.
We, we've had quite a few of, um,
of my colleagues on this show
over the last several years.
Um, and they're doing a lot of work
pushing back against the Trump administration
and on behalf of detainees
and, and those who are continuing
to seek asylum in the United States.
Uh, and so I think supporting
those organizations, volunteering,
becoming a part,
becoming your own bit of grain of sand
in the gears of the ice machine
is, is what we all need to do.
Well, this is, uh, what I consider
to be true patriotism
and a measure of integrity.
Uh, and we've seen a real lack
of that lately with our elected officials,
whether it be through their actions
or through their inactions.
Um, we have to fight back.
We have to make our own way,
uh, whether it's, um, um,
keeping track of what's going on
or actually getting your hands dirty,
as you have done.
Um, we all have to do something
to resist this because, um,
it's a, it's a real blemish
on, uh, what this nation
allegedly stands for.
Uh, and I, you know,
I think more people are, are,
are waking up to that fact now,
regardless of how they voted last year,
uh, or, or two years ago.
Um, it's, um, it's,
it's really kind of shocking
when you see what's happening
in our streets.
And, uh, it's sad when,
when you realize there are
bustling communities,
communities filled with people,
you know, building a stronger society.
They are completely silent now.
People are hiding in their homes.
I'm not even exaggerating.
People are afraid to go outside
because if they go outside,
they might be grabbed by ice.
And when you're outside
walking around, um,
they'll just tackle you.
You know, they won't show a warrant
or anything like that
because they probably don't have one.
If you're in your house,
at least you can say,
I'm not letting you in
because you don't have a warrant.
They might kick the door in anyway
because that's who they are.
But it's, um,
it's what a lot of people
are doing right now.
And, you know,
it's not even people
who are undocumented.
It's people who are citizens
who, who might look a little from,
uh, like they're from someplace else.
That's where we are right now.
So if you think that's
where we should be,
that's how our society
is supposed to be acting right now.
Okay, sit back.
Don't do anything.
But if this bothers you,
this is the time.
This is the time to stand up
and do something.
You'll find a lot of company.
You'll find a lot of amazing people.
And you will feel great
after knowing that you have helped.
And Alex,
I hope that you're feeling that
because you are helping.
Just be aware.
These ice bastards,
they don't follow the law.
They don't follow court orders.
They have been caught so many times
smuggling people out of the area,
you know,
and they're gone.
And they shrug their shoulders
and say,
we don't know where they are.
They break the law constantly.
And that is why,
you know,
they need to be fought
at every level.
So when you see people
shouting them down in the street,
don't feel sorry for them.
Don't feel,
because they're tearing apart families.
They're tearing apart communities.
This is not about the worst amongst us,
as Trump likes to say.
You know,
the evil people
who commit all kinds of crimes.
It's not about,
they're grabbing grandmothers.
They're grabbing children.
They're doing such horrible things.
It's a nightmare.
It has to end.
And the only way it's going to end
won't be through our elected officials.
They're either cowards or complicit.
It's through us.
It's through us.
We have the power.
And this is the time to realize that,
especially young people.
My God, you know,
I've been to a number of demonstrations,
and it's mostly older people.
Where are the young people?
I know in Minneapolis,
there's young people in the streets.
Yeah, absolutely.
Do we have to wait for them
to shoot people here to wake up?
You know,
if all the young people got out
and were as angry as the old people,
this would end quickly.
It really would.
So,
that's my advice.
And I really hope
people take this seriously.
Go ahead, Alex,
and then we'll move on.
Yeah,
and one final point here, too,
is that you don't have to be
pro-illegal alien in this country
to oppose ICE here.
I mean,
the biggest issue
with ICE here
is exactly what you said,
Emmanuel,
that they're breaking up families
and that what they're doing
has a racially disparate impact,
and they're targeting
the Latino communities
more than any other,
of course, right?
Because that's where they think
they're going to find
the most fertile source
of undocumented persons
in this country.
Well,
they're also targeting Somalis
and Chinese
and people
from all over the world.
But yeah,
I hear you.
Yeah,
they're not limiting themselves
just to Latinos.
Yeah,
for sure.
But the issue is
illegal immigration.
Well,
you know,
we're supposedly
a nation of laws,
right?
We don't need to resort
to warrantless detention
or stops
that are based on
nothing even resembling
suspicion
that are based on,
that are based entirely
on immutable characteristics.
Alex,
we don't.
We don't.
They do
because they have nothing else.
Intimidation.
Intimidation is our MO.
That's exactly right.
You know,
if we're going to deal
with the issue,
we need to deal with it
as a nation of laws
through due process,
through notice
and opportunity
to be heard
and making sure
that we adhere
to the ideals
on which this country
was founded
and on which this country
was built.
You think back
a hundred years ago,
what was New York like
but for all of the immigrants
that came in,
the Italians,
the Polish,
everybody that built
the subways,
that built
the very infrastructure
of the buildings
in which we're sitting
right now,
you know,
we're all immigrants.
So it's an idiotic,
crazy time.
Not all of us
are immigrants
and those
who have been here
for centuries,
they're being targeted
by these bastards.
That's true too.
Which is the ultimate irony.
Yeah,
it really is.
Yeah.
So in any event,
I'll get off my soapbox.
Yeah,
let's step down
from this for a while.
I just hope people wake up
and I think,
you know,
it's appropriate
to remind everybody
as much as we can
regardless of the forum
what's going on out there.
All right,
getting back
to artificial intelligence
and this is going
to seem ridiculous
compared to what
we're talking about.
You know,
I've been having
this experience
with AI
because,
you know,
I've been asking advice.
I had this,
you know,
this tooth extraction
a week or so ago.
By the way,
I'm doing much better.
Thank you.
And,
you know,
I've been asking AI
for advice
and I've noticed
something interesting.
It's been very helpful.
It really has been
providing me
with great information
on that.
But,
this particular conversation
or thread
that I have been engaged
in with Gemini,
which is Google's
artificial intelligence,
it basically,
the conversation
is seeping
into other conversations.
I'll give you an example.
I was asking a question
about a Samsung Galaxy.
I said,
I notice it tends
to play notification alerts
as soon as I pick it up.
Why don't they play
when the notification
actually comes in?
You know?
Like,
right now,
what happened?
I picked up the phone
and that's when
that cyber went off.
I think that could have
come in,
you know,
hours earlier,
but it doesn't tell me
until I pick up my phone.
So,
Gemini answered
that question saying,
since you mentioned
being at an awkward angle
for your project,
okay,
that's a reference
to my tooth again
because my tooth
was at an awkward angle.
I used that phrase
weeks ago
because the crown
was falling out,
so I said
it's at an awkward angle
so it's hard for me
to,
you know,
to access it
and everything
I've asked it since then
makes reference to that.
So now I'm talking
about a Samsung phone
and it brings up
the awkward angle
and then it says
you might be using
flip to mute
without realizing it
and it gives
helpful information
after that,
but,
you know,
that wasn't necessary.
That wasn't really
part of the conversation.
Here's another one.
When playing back
audio files in Winamp,
often the file ends
before the counter
reaches the end time.
The audio
and total time
don't appear to be affected,
but the timer,
whether counting up or down,
often seems inaccurate.
Is this a known issue?
Answer,
this is the classic issue
that has plagued
Winamp users for decades.
It isn't actually a bug
in the software's code,
but rather a limitation
in how Winamp
calculates time
for certain types of files,
specifically VBR,
variable bitrate MP3s.
Since you mentioned
you're already dealing
with awkward angles
and precision issues
with your crown application,
I can see why
an inaccurate timer
would be particularly annoying.
What?
What does that have to do with it?
What does my tooth
have to do with Winamp?
This is ridiculous.
Okay, here's one more.
I have a friend
who has lost all forms of ID
and they can't begin
the process of getting ID
because they need a form of ID
in order to do this.
It's a catch-22 situation.
Is there any recourse for them?
Gemini,
I know it feels like
trying to apply a tiny fix
to a huge problem
at a very awkward angle,
but once that first document,
usually the birth certificate
is in hand,
the rest of the doors
start to unlock.
Then every single conversation
I've had
bringing up different items
comes back to
the awkward angle
of how am I ever
going to turn this off?
For the rest of my life
talking to Gemini,
it's going to keep bringing up
the awkward angle
of my tooth.
So, you know,
this kind of tells me
that while it seems amazing,
it seems magical,
it's, you know,
there are certain limitations
and flaws
that we're going to stumble upon
and they're going to seem
awfully weird
when we find them.
This is like,
if anyone's ever been
that person
who shows up to,
say, school or work
and you're wearing
like an interesting belt
or something
and everyone's noticing
your belt
and all of a sudden
you're the person
with the belt
and you come in the next day
and everyone's like,
you're wearing a different belt,
where's the other belt?
And for the rest of your time
in that school
or workplace,
you'll be,
hey, where's the belt, kid?
Except in artificial
large language model form.
I think you're just permanently
the awkward angle guy now
unless you find some way
to clear Gemini's memory
of what you did before.
It's just weird
how that particular phrase stuck.
I've said many things
to artificial intelligence,
but why those two words?
It's constantly bringing it up.
And, you know,
I was thinking,
do I bring it up to Gemini?
You know,
do I have that awkward conversation
with Gemini?
Say, will you please
stop referencing my tooth
whenever you try
to solve a problem?
Or I don't want to offend it,
but then it might
start referencing that.
I don't know.
Kyle, go ahead.
I was just going to ask,
I think it's probably
an obvious question,
but this happens
across conversations
with this particular
chat.
Yeah, I open different tabs
to have different conversations,
but apparently
they link together.
Well, in a way
that sort of remembers
some of your,
you would think,
contained conversations,
but it's now becoming
a part of the way
you speak with
this particular one.
Yeah, it's going to remember
this for all time,
I guess.
Although, you know,
I think it doesn't last
beyond a few weeks,
but if I keep having
a conversation,
it might prolong
the life of this.
All right, let's hope it doesn't.
January has become
a nightmare
for millions of Windows users
as Microsoft,
you know,
we're picking on Microsoft tonight.
Microsoft's latest
January update
creates a surprising
raft of issues.
There have been
multiple emergency updates,
but serious problems remain,
and there's no timeline,
no firm timeline
on fixes.
Yeah, Windows Latest,
which is a publication
of some sort,
says,
this year's first
mandatory Windows 11 update
is a mess.
Users keep reaching out
to share their
nightmare experience.
For those unaware,
this update is a mandatory
security patch,
so it's going to attempt
installation whether
you like it or not,
and that makes failures
unavoidable.
Three of the issues
have been acknowledged
by Microsoft,
the classic Outlook
freezing bug,
the remote desktop bug,
and the failure
to shut down bug.
But it doesn't look like
there were only three issues
that needed Microsoft's
attention.
They're looking into
an issue with
desktop.ini
that likely means
it'll be fixed soon,
but there's also
a new sleep state issue
that is garnering
increasing user complaints.
This preserves
battery and power,
but the issue is
PCs are not falling
asleep as planned.
Windows Latest says
there's a regression bug
in Windows 11.25H2
on the desktop
S3 sleep path.
Wow.
Even with hybrid sleep
and wake timers disabled,
the system-level
maintenance activator
called System Events Broker
does not properly clear
the maintenance wake context
after the first wake,
causing the second sleep
to wake immediately,
and that's the weirdest
sentence I think
I've ever read.
Yeah, so that's what
Microsoft users
are dealing with today.
So our sympathies
go out to you,
and there's not much
else we can say.
Yeah, it's so good
that we don't use
anything like that.
We are just like
way above anything
like that
affecting us ever.
Well, you know,
I think when updates
are forced upon you,
it's unavoidable.
This is going to happen.
If you can say,
you know what,
I'm going to wait,
see what happens
with the rest of the world,
and I'll do it next week,
that should be your right.
And with increasing
number of new machines
and new OSes,
you don't have that right.
They just say,
no, you have to reboot now,
and, you know,
you get screwed as a result.
Yeah, it's a really
important part of
the life cycle
of running a computer.
I feel like software companies
that specialize
in operating systems
should have a special attention
to maintaining the software,
being somewhat competent at it,
and, of course,
making when those things occur,
making them accurate
and convenient
in a way that doesn't disrupt
the user experience.
Did you have something, Alex?
Go ahead.
Yes.
I kind of feel bad
for Microsoft
in this respect here.
I haven't used
a Microsoft machine,
Windows-based machine,
in quite a while now,
actually,
I guess a couple of years,
but, you know,
you find them really only,
I wouldn't say only,
but you find them
all the time, really,
in the corporate environment,
right?
They're cheaper machines.
They run Windows.
It's easy to upgrade,
to patch,
and, you know,
they just have become
these unloved
corporate workhorses
that, you know,
nobody wants to have
in their home anymore.
These are work machines.
They're not fun,
and they're,
and I don't know,
it just seems like
the experience
has just gotten worse
and worse for,
at least for me,
with respect to Windows
since Windows 95.
I mean,
and that was the first time.
Windows 95.
I remember when I installed it
back in 1995
and dropped down
to a DOS prompt,
and it was the first time
when you typed V-E-R
that Windows became
the actual operating system.
It wasn't DOS anymore.
It was Windows 95
was the operating system.
It wasn't a program
that you ran on DOS.
It became the OS,
and that was the beginning
of the end for me.
Yeah,
I looked firmly back
at the DOS days,
and I still use
command prompts occasionally
if I'm on a Windows machine
to actually get things done,
but, yeah,
you know,
it's,
you're right,
a corporate machine,
and that's why they feel,
you know,
they can just do a reboot
overnight
because you're not
using your machine then.
You know,
a recreational machine
you're using all the time,
and it should be up to you
when you have to do updates
or reboots
or things like that.
Yeah,
I was looking at
an online discussion
about this on Reddit,
and somebody said,
and this is hilarious
to anybody familiar
with the conventional wisdom
around things like
running an OS,
Windows in particular,
the wisdom has always been,
you know,
as soon as an update
comes out,
you've got to install
that update in order
to be the most safe you can,
in order to be running
your computer safely,
but somebody is talking
about all these issues
and says that
my Windows 11 workstation
hasn't had a Windows 11 update
since October of last year.
I don't like living dangerously,
so that's why I've got
automatic updates disabled.
Nice.
Up is down,
left is right.
Well,
you know,
I agree
because I think it should be
up to the person
running the machine
when an update
is convenient for them.
You know,
rebooting in the middle of work,
you know,
I had a laptop
that would do that,
and you couldn't turn it off.
It would just keep updating
and rebooting,
and you would lose things
as a result of that,
and that's not serving.
One of my colleagues
had to completely reinstall
every single thing
on his machine at work
a couple days ago,
one day last week,
because his machine hung
at 95% of a Windows update,
and he couldn't get anything done,
so he just had to wipe the machine
and start from fresh.
Wow.
That's a nightmare.
Hey,
you guys know
what skip lagging is?
There's some controversy
about this.
Now I'm getting blank stares
from everybody.
No?
Nobody knows what skip lagging is.
Okay,
let me tell you
what skip lagging is.
It's a lot of fun.
It basically involves
airplane travel,
and basically,
it works like this.
Say a passenger
wants to travel
from New York
to Charlotte,
North Carolina,
but the nonstop route
is pricey.
So,
instead,
they book a cheaper flight
that takes them
from New York
to Denver
with a layover
in Charlotte,
and rather than fly
all the way to Denver,
they just get off
in North Carolina
and ditch the rest
of the ticket.
Yeah,
I mean,
you know,
think about how crazy
that is,
that a flight to Denver
via Charlotte
is cheaper than a flight
to Charlotte
from the same place,
but that's the reality.
That's what's going on.
Now,
travel agents have known
about hidden city fares
for decades,
and in some cases,
travel agents
would knowingly tell
their customers,
and there's one site
that has helped
popularize hidden city
ticketing.
It's called
skiplagged.com.
The website allows users
to type in
their desired destination,
locating flights
where that destination
is actually a stopover
en route to another city
with a less expensive fare.
The customer simply
exits the airport
at the connecting city
and never completes
the second leg
of the journey.
Well,
last week,
American Airlines
filed suit
against skiplagged
in federal court.
In its complaint,
American alleges
that skiplagged's practices
are deceptive
and abusive.
Yeah,
up is down,
that's for sure.
Skiplagged deceives
the public
into believing
that even though
it has no authority
to form and issue
a contract
on American's behalf,
somehow it can still
issue a completely
valid ticket.
It cannot.
Every ticket issued
by skiplagged
is at risk
of being invalidated.
I don't know
if issuing a ticket
is the issue here.
Officials for the site
could not be reached
for comment,
but skiplagged,
which has been around
for a decade,
has survived
past lawsuits
from the likes
of United Airlines
and Orbitz.
It even brags
about these victories
on its site,
saying,
our flights are so cheap,
United sued us,
but we won.
Now,
it should be pointed out,
skiplagging is not illegal,
but most major airlines,
including American,
Delta,
Southwest,
United,
they don't allow it.
I'm not really sure
how you prevent it.
For one thing,
airlines,
I'm reading from this article here,
and I might take exception
to this,
which comes from NPR,
airlines lose money
on the practice.
Yeah,
I'm not really sure
how they lose money.
For a non-direct flight,
they have a lower price ceiling
compared to direct flights
so that they can attract customers.
When someone skips out
on the final leg of a trip,
airlines can't fill
the empty seat,
which would have sold
for more money
had it not been booked
as part of a multi-stop itinerary.
But they sold the ticket.
If you had stayed on the plane,
they would make exactly
the same amount.
So,
I don't see
what the difference is.
Now,
according to this
travel expert,
professor at the University
of British Columbia's
Sauter School of Business,
Tim Hugh,
they are selling that seat
with a 95% probability
that you'll show up.
That's what the airline
accounted for.
So,
that's a big loss
in the system.
In addition,
failing to board
a connecting flight
can cause confusion
and delays at the gate.
The airlines will make
announcements such as
paging passenger
John Doe or Jane Doe.
The airline doesn't want
to leave people behind.
Well,
that's not really true.
They don't care
if they leave you behind.
They don't want
to have to fish out
your luggage
if you check bags.
It's a bad idea
to check a bag
and do this.
Now,
if an airline finds out
what you're doing,
it could simply cancel
your ticket
or even ban you
from flying with it.
That's what reportedly
happened to a North Carolina
teen recently
who booked
an American Airlines
flight from Florida
to New York
but disembarked
at his Charlotte connection.
The boy's father
told Insider
that American banned him
from flying the airline
for three years.
If you've done this repeatedly,
the airline is going
to say you owe us money.
They may be willing
to settle
or they may want
to collect all of it
but airlines can
and will take the steps
to protect themselves.
Again,
protect yourselves
from what?
From yourselves,
it sounds like.
There are other drawbacks
as well.
Even if your attempt
at skip lagging
is initially successful,
it's only likely
to work for one-way travel.
Once the airline realizes
you didn't fly
to your ticketed destination,
it's almost certain
to cancel your return
and that does make sense.
And finally,
any checked luggage
would arrive
at the ticketed destination
without you.
No,
if that's not true,
they will take
your luggage out
because if they didn't
take your luggage out,
that means that
a potential terrorist
could load something
onto a plane
and then just leave
and have things happen
without them being present.
And that's a big,
you know,
a big red flag.
Gila,
do you have something to say?
I have a question,
actually,
which is
what moved you
to share this article today?
Well,
the lawsuit,
I think,
is in the news.
This story just came on,
came across
right before the show.
So I believe
the lawsuit is new.
It's also called
a travel hack,
which it is in a sense,
but, you know,
it just seems like
common sense,
you know.
The consumer
should be looking out
for themselves
and if this is cheaper,
do what's cheaper.
They should,
but,
you know that thing
where your Google alert
will sometimes
feed you old stories?
Sure.
This lawsuit
was settled
in 2024?
Oh, look at that.
The date is 2023.
But the story
I looked at
was today.
Wow.
Okay.
But, okay,
the issue is still
a current issue.
I was just
a little thrown
by,
I was like,
I,
You keep track
of all the lawsuits
against airlines?
I do, actually.
I have no other hobbies.
This could have
happened yesterday.
I swear.
I looked up
skip lagging
because I was curious
what the etymology
of it was
and then the article
popped up
and I was like,
oh, this is from 2023.
Okay.
Well, then you can tell us
what happened.
Did they win?
In 2023,
skip lag was sued
by American Airlines
in 2020,
in August 2024,
a district court judge
in Texas ruled
that skip lag
had not breached contract
but had violated
Americans' copyrights.
Copyrights?
Oh,
are they having
something on a website?
I'm just reading
from Wikipedia right now.
Okay,
this is unusual
that we report a story
and the story
has a conclusion
that would normally
take a year.
So,
I consider this
a public service.
Woo-hoo!
Wow.
But, you know,
the way the airlines speak,
it sounds like
they're being ripped off
and this is just
typical legal contortions
that we put ourselves
through
where we believe
this nonsense.
You know,
they're the ones
setting the price.
If they don't want people
to take advantage
of the price,
then raise the price.
But, you know,
they cannot force you
to get on a plane
you don't want to get on.
If you decide
you're done,
you're getting off here,
that's your right
and they've already
sold the ticket
so they can't complain
that they're losing money
because they already
sold the ticket.
Absolutely.
And airline prices
have always been
completely opaque
in terms of
making any sense.
You know,
our friend
T. Profit
who has written
so much about
travel hacks
and things
and how to take
advantage of
loopholes
in this sort of thing
would probably
have a lot to say
about this.
But,
at the same time,
like,
we accept it
from airlines.
you know,
there have been
stories over the past
couple of months
about stores
trying to,
like,
see if they could
get away with
charging different
customers different
amounts for the
same product,
even groceries
and things like that.
And that idea
freaks people out
and,
you know,
the protests
happen and
the companies
back off.
But no one
expects any better
of the airline industry.
Yes,
but we can be better
and find better deals.
We just went,
Kyle and I just went
through this
getting back to the States.
We couldn't get
a direct ticket back.
We had to hop
around Europe
to get a better fare.
And it was just
ridiculous that
we had to do that.
But,
you know,
you have to do
your research.
But oftentimes
you'll find yourself
on the same plane
paying less
because you traveled
longer.
And I don't see
how anyone
benefits from that.
But that's just
the reality right now.
Okay,
final story.
This is
the House of Lords.
The House of Lords,
you know,
can someone explain
them to me?
They're not elected.
They get
lifetime appointments.
It's like a
huge Supreme Court
in the UK
that can just
basically,
they can't prevent
laws from becoming,
they can't prevent
bills from becoming laws,
but they can't
introduce laws.
And I don't know.
Alex,
you probably know
something about this.
But basically,
they backed a move
to ban under-16s
in the UK
from social media
platforms.
261 votes
to 150.
Yeah,
there's a lot of them.
Opposition peers
voted to support
a ban
through an amendment
to the government's
schools bill.
Yeah,
the government
has indicated
it will try
to overturn
the amendment
in the Commons
while it holds
its own consultation
on a potential ban.
Okay,
I got confused.
Who's standing up
for what?
But basically,
the whole thing
concerns a ban
of social media
for people
under the age
of 16.
Former
Tory schools
minister
Lord Nash,
one of those
sponsoring
the proposed
change,
said children's
use of social
media was
a societal
catastrophe
and a ban
would give
teenagers
a few more
years to mature
before using
the platforms.
He said
there's overwhelming
evidence about
the damage caused
by teenage social
media use,
arguing it was
linked to mental
health problems,
online radicalization,
and disruptive
behavior in
classrooms.
He dismissed
the government's
consultation as a
last-minute attempt
to kick the can
down the road,
adding,
what are we waiting
for?
We know our
children are being
harmed.
Okay,
so,
you know,
this is an
interesting issue.
We only have a
couple of minutes
to discuss it.
It's taken effect
in Australia.
I know that much.
The question is,
is this effective?
Is just simply
a ban effective?
To me,
I believe that
it's pretty easy
to get around
these bans
and that kids
are smart enough
to be able to
do that fairly
easily.
But there's also
no question that
too much social
media is bad,
not just for kids,
but for,
you know,
grown adults as
well.
Any thoughts?
Yeah,
the real question
here is what
qualifies as social
media?
You know,
is it just using
things like
Facebook or Twitter
or would it be
social media if a
kid self-hosted
and put up
their own blog
or even
just posted
to a web
forum somewhere
in which you
interact with
others?
The drilling
down exactly
what qualifies
as something
dangerous versus
just using the
web,
it's,
I think,
an important
part of this.
Well,
you know,
one thing I did
hear is that
WhatsApp is
exempt because
parents like to
use WhatsApp to
keep in touch
with their kids.
So,
you know,
I don't understand
how that solves
anything then if
you're going to
have exemptions.
Go ahead,
Alex.
Yeah,
and to go back
to your original
question here for
the edification of
our listeners here,
the House of Lords
is this unelected
upper chamber of
the UK Parliament.
They actually sit
supposedly like
alongside the House
of Commons,
but their function
is really about
revision,
so they're considered
to be a revising
chamber.
They go through
the bills that are
set to become law.
They go through
them line by line
and they revise
them.
They say,
oh,
this might be good,
this might be bad,
and sometimes they
send things back to
the House of Commons,
the elected body
of Parliament,
and say,
hey,
think again on this,
or this might have
problems,
or this would have
free speech implications.
Well,
I guess my question
is how does one
become a member
of the House of Lords?
You have to be
appointed to the Lords.
And who appoints you?
I think it's the Monarch.
I'm not sure.
Yeah,
you know,
I have some issues
with that.
And what do they
call female members?
Do they call them
Lords as well?
Yes.
They're all called
peers.
They're peers of each
other.
Of each other?
Certainly not of
regular people.
Yeah.
All right,
that's just very alien,
very strange.
Yeah.
But anyway,
I mean,
like we talked
about this a few
weeks ago with
respect to the law
in New York
that was proposed
by our governor
here that had to
deal with
whether social media
was harmful
and whether social
media was documented
in such a way
as to be harmful
for children.
Like what does
harmful mean?
And then there were
these alternative
arguments to say,
well, you know,
it's not that children
are harmed by social
media.
It's actually that
they go and rush
towards social media
to try to find
some kind of
sense of community.
I think that's
utter nonsense
to be honest with you.
I think that,
you know,
it's very clear
that there are
deleterious effects
on childhood
development
when it comes
to social media,
anxiety,
depression,
jealousy,
having,
you know,
sort of,
I think just
We're going to
have to table
this because
we are out of time.
We're out of time.
Yeah,
O-T-H
at 2600.com
is our email address.
Join us
on Overtime.
Conscious Pilot
came to our town
Up to the dog yards
to see the picket line
We asked him to help
But he just turned around
He's the leader
leader of the union
Now
Leader of the union
All of our questions
He ignored
He washed his hands
And he dreamt
Of his reward
A seat
In the house
Of Lord
And join us
on Overtime
YouTube.com
slash channel 2600
8 o'clock
We'll see you next week
on WBAI
One by one
The ship
comes laying in
One by one
The ship
comes laying in
One by one
We live for words
And die for words
Principles
We can afford
When all our brothers
Turn to God
Decide all you want
You tell the world
Your hands are tied
History three times
Denied
The sea of changes
Three miles wide
Good side
Are you on
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
This conspiracy
Of shame
Led her by
Some other name
Lay up and play
The game
Whose side
Are you on
If any ask us
Why we died
We tell them
That our leaders lied
Song us out
Down the river
Side
Whose side
Are you on
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
The ship
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
one
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
Song on
Scheun
The ship
comes sailing in
One by one
The ship
comes sailing in
The ship
Foster
Me
Tears
Have you