Overzeetop

Terrorists and Religious zealots (a Venn diagram which is nearly a perfect, single circle) will never recognize basic humanity, because power and control are more important than any human life. To expect peace in a land claimed as sacred by multiple groups is simply guaranteeing unending violence.

Weekly? I wish. :-(

You think [average] Americans know where they drop bombs? LOL - we can't even identify where most of our own states are!

I don't know how deep that area is, but damage to a pipe and the comm cable cut makes me wonder if it was some numbnut dragging an anchor - plain incompetence rather than an act of sabotage. Not that it wasn't sabotage, just that it seems sloppy for someone looking to disrupt gas supplies.

SMS and (at least for craigslist) voice 2FA doesn't work with VoIP (Google Voice numbers, including numbers ported from mobile operators). IRS 2FA via SMS definitely doesn't work, nor does Dunkin Donuts (which invalidates use of their entire app on all mobile platforms). Some services offer voice 2FA which will go through, and some offer email, but many don't. Of course the vast majority of 2FA over SMS work with the major VoIP providers, but if you hit one where it doesn't...there's either no way around it or you have to wait for a snailmail 2FA token (IRS).

I currently have (almost) only VoIP numbers. My cell phone technically has a carrier number, but only my immediate family and two friends (8 people in total) actually have that number for my contact, and I keep it that way for safety/security purposes. As a result, I already can't do things like try ChatGPT, use the some vendor apps, or get quasi-2 factor codes from several businesses - including the IRS. Their systems simply can't interact across a VoIP gateway. There really should be a certificate authority for these things, but the POTS system is just so fucking old.

LOL

This it the reality of right-wing neuropathy. Republicans will go on for days about how checks and balances (regulations) are bad and being successful and safe is about personal responsibility. But when something bad happens to them, suddenly the entire system is bad and should have been keeping them safe. Musk's complete lack of empathy shows in his hubris and his political associations.

Storage and transport of H2 is a big deal because of the unique properties (very low transition temp/very high pressure for liquid). That generally means for a non-pressurized, non-cryogenic storage it has to be combined into another molecule and then catalyzed back out, real time, for use. And, of course, the ignition ratio range (4%-75% in air) means that it's very easy to accidentally ignite a H2 leak; substantially easier than most other fuels, though this is mitigated by it's density and ability to disperse in an unenclosed area.

Production is theoretically energy efficient as you can create it with hydrolysis, but the cheapest way of producing it, by far, is cracking of methane, which requires a high temperature process to create. It may not produce a high volume of CO2, but it perpetuates the cycle of exploration and extraction of gaseous hydrocarbons and the related environmental dangers and downsides.

Sorry, in advance, for the long, descriptive post, but the value of a dedicate, slide mute switch is somewhat nuanced.

The mute switch on an iPhone is a physical slide switch. Without looking, you can feel if it's muted (back) or active (front) position. Alternately, you can see the condition as, when it's in the "mute" position, it has an exposed orange (painted) indicator. Neither of these verifications require that the phone be awake or to light up the screen. It can also be activated with the device off, so that if you turn the phone on in a quiet place you don't have to wait for the UI to become responsive (usually after start notifications have actuated, which occur before software buttons can be pressed to mute the phone). It is a single action to mute, compared to a 5 gesture sequence to silence the phones primary sounds (which can be ringtone OR playback volume, but not both) and an 6-8 gesture sequence (depending on the wake-status of the last used app) to silence the secondary phone sound. Note: I'm assuming that face unlock is active and you are staring at your phone obtrusively; entry of the unlock code would add 7-9 additional touch gestures.

While I agree that a button is nice, it still takes at least two actions - press the button and visually confirm its actuation puts it into the desired mode. There are times when you are unsure what mode the phone is in. On an iPhone, that is not visible from any screen until you either a) wake the phone and actuate a volume button (neither visual nor haptic feedback occurs when a volume button is pressed) or are logged into the phone (two minimum gestures plus face authorization) and use the action center (swipe function) to visually verify th volume position.

Now, you could easily argue that this is fucking terrible UI design, and I would 100% agree with you. I would, likewise agree, that most technical features on an iPhone are certifiably obtuse - ex: you cannot turn on your hotspot without entering the settings app; it's not even an action center icon option as it is on Android. I would add that it's also monumental dumbfuckery that your hotspot is the name of your phone and cannot be changed. Or that there is no function to alter the Prompt volume in the phone (ie. for GPS directions) unless the prompt audio is actively playing - difficult if the prompt volume is accidentally (or temporarily) set to zero. In 3rd party apps the prompt volume is several menus deep; for the OEM map application, it doesn't exist - there is literally no setting.

But, it remains - if you want to mute the alerts on your phone, the switch requires fewer actions and zero view of the device to actuate, and zero activation of the screen or login to verify it's condition. You may never need to discretely silence your phone or check that it is in silent mode without taking the phone out and unlocking it, but many of us find it quite useful.

The author is under the impression that the button will be infinitely remappable. Given Apple's history, I expect it to be rather limited. I will sorely miss the mute switch which has both a tactile and visible position indicator which does not require waking the phone, or even having the phone on, to actuate (should you want to turn on your phone without getting bombarded with notification sounds).

It will be the think I probably miss the most when I eventually upgrade. The brilliance of the switch is that it is a switch - which means can be verified by feel or by sight to be in the silent position without needing to wake or even take you phone out of your pocket.