google is discontinuing support for first-generation nest thermostats.

it is time for lawmakers to implement a »support-or-open-source« regulation. it is ok to not want to support »obsolete« technologies forever, but it should be mandatory to make it open source when and if you stop the support.

END OF 10

"Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025.

Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer.

But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?

If you bought your computer after 2010, there's most likely no reason to throw it out. By just installing an up-to-date GNU/Linux operating system you can keep using it for years to come.

Installing an OS may sound difficult, but you don't have to go it alone! With any luck, there are people in your area ready to help!"

https://endof10.org/

#Microsoft #Windows #Windows10 #Windows11 #Linux #FOSS

Oh FFS.

Today I received a mail from Mountain Maps, yet another hiking map platform, heavily sponsored here in Italy, to inform me that they, cue for drum rolls here, decided to create an AI assistant in-app.

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Here's the text of the mail:

Headline: MIA is born: the first AI assistant dedicated to the mountains

Body Text: After months of intense work, I am proud to present MIA, an artificial intelligence assistant that will answer all your questions about the mountain universe.

Call to Action: Use it in preview: MIA is available for Premium users. MIA is available with the new app update only for Premium users like you. This is a Beta version, therefore not definitive: we need your help in this phase to improve it, fix bugs and errors.

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Let me be clear.
The app is far from being complete, it's missing most of the QoL functionalities and still doesn't have a web UI to help plan a route with precision.

BUT it has now an AI assistant. Which, I won't use, even though I bought a Premium lifetime license back when they started developing it, because hiking and planning a route is far too complex and dangerous to let AI do that for me.

I'm also sad that AI was nowhere to be found in their initial roadmap and now they swayed picking up a function that might be even dangerous for people, maybe to get more funds or whatever.

#MountainMaps #Italy #App #Hiking #Trekking #AI

Truly my greatest professional joy is that, not only did we get to build a tool to help people stop AI bots from scraping up their work without consent, I was able to have our in-house artist create a SLOP sign to mark the spot where the bots expire.

If you are a non-profit or open source project that does good internet stuff, we’ll protect you for free. If not, then you can pay us money and we will hook you up. Either way, good tools to put you in control over the bots. https://www.fastly.com/blog/take-back-control-make-ai-bots-play-by-your-rules