Trying to paint environments more often

Carolina Milanesi, an independent technology analyst, said Google is trying to make its cash cow business — search — richer and more personalized, and it will make shopping easier. But there is a risk that users may have fewer choices about what to click. "Right now it's: I ask a question, I get a bunch of answers and I feel that I'm in control as to which answer I take, or if I'm looking for something, which product I'm going to end up buying. That is going to be less so going forward," she said. Milanesi envisions AI-enabled search and agents proposing products to consumers — perhaps even those they have requested — but with less clarity or choice around where it's coming from. "If you're going to say: 'I want a pair of Jordans, go find them,' you're not necessarily sure what steps have been taken and whether the AI has used a source or a store that was paid for and therefore came up in the search results," she said, "or if AI actually went and did their due diligence and picked the best for me as a customer."

And here's one from Time magazine (May 20, 2026):

While Google already has “AI Mode,” the company will now power the whole search bar through its new Gemini 3.5 Flash model.  Instead of the classic list of blue links, Google Search will now also generate a custom page with an AI-generated summary of what you’re searching about, which will then trigger a conversation with AI Mode on the main page, allowing users to ask follow-up questions—similar to the kind of layout you would see when opening ChatGPT.

And a little more from Time's article on how this may affect the websites that we are trying to search for:

also: homophobic harassment is considered sexual harassment in Australian courts, which apparently is not really the case in the US I guess?

The European Union already forced Apple to abandon its proprietary charging port and adopt USB-C across its entire iPhone lineup. It just did something bigger. A new EU mandate requires every smartphone sold in Europe including Apple devices to feature a battery that can be replaced by the user without specialist tools, without voiding a warranty, and without sending the device to a manufacturer approved service center. Batteries must maintain a minimum capacity threshold after a set number of charge cycles and replacement parts must remain available for up to ten years after a model goes on sale.

The consumer electronics industry built its current business model around batteries that degrade, cannot be replaced at home, and create a natural upgrade cycle every two to three years. The EU just legislated that model out of existence in the world's largest regulatory market.

Apple, Samsung, and every other manufacturer now faces a choice between redesigning their devices for the European market or accepting that their current hardware architecture is no longer legally sellable there.

Intellectual property laws used to mean something when it targeted the consumer.

✨ Troll Tribe Ancestors✨

Big ol' project I've been playing with for a while.

This was a lot of fun.

Also very fun deciding on their names.

I'm particularly proud of the following things.

*clears throat*

Juilliard's hair looking like a stone column

Pompeii's fireman moustache

Aqua's tail being like a gown

Eastwood having the sheriff badge on his hat so it looks like a crown.

hey, here's a link to look up your local MP's email to let them know that 1. we want to see the environmental assessment 2. no more data centres until regulatory law catches up.

Dear [your MP], [your MLA],

My name is [something] and I have been a resident of [city] for the past [x] years. I have seen the recent government announcements regarding AI data centres in British Columbia and I have serious concerns about the viability of these projects.

I am writing you both, as my MP and MLA respectively, to express these concerns in the hopes that you will push back against these plans as an obvious disaster in the making for BC and Canada.

AI data centres consume massive amounts of power and water, in addition to producing significant noise, heat, and air pollution. We are already living in a world where Vancouver has enacted its Stage 2 water restrictions - in May! Within the last year, BC Hydro has stated that the province will need an enormous increase in our power supply in the upcoming decade to account for rising demand - where on earth is that going to come from if these centres are getting 85% of their enormous power needs from BC Hydro? 

Are we really so short-sighted that we intend to commit ourselves to projects that will consume disproportionate amounts of our precious natural resources, over and above the needs of the actual citizens who live, work, and importantly, pay taxes here? Where are the environmental and viability assessments for these centres? What is the regulatory scheme that will provide oversight and enforcement for these centres? Who is responsible for ensuring that they don't create a negative effect on the lives of your constituents? 

As a [city] resident, I hope you will be pushing back against these plans and raising these concerns in your upcoming legislative sessions. Canada and BC should be investing our limited natural resources in sustainable, renewable projects that will benefit residents in the long term, not line the pockets of Telus executives in the short term.

With respect,

But somewhere along the line they just… Disappeared. My mom says they’re not being paid and they’re not in collections. It’s almost as if someone out there did…exactly what Parker did.

He didn't do it.

The cops very clearly planted evidence on him because they had to make an arrest because all eyes were on them and whoever actually did the deed was making them look stupid.

Why would the real killer hero have kept the weapon on his person and traveled two states over while carrying it and a manifesto in his bag, conveniently turning the crime into a federal matter? The same guy whose bag they found in a park, filled with monopoly money? Why did the police turn off their bodycams, take Luigi's stuff, drive a block away, turn their bodycams back on, go back into the restaurant, and then arrest him?

(screenshot from the linked RNZ article)