captain_to_fire

At that point I'd just cancel the pre-order and buy a different phone. Clearly Google doesn't care nor want your money.
That's the problem with companies that are just too big. You either wait 2 weeks for an unhelpful response from a human or you get a useless auto generated response. And to be honest, the pixel phones really aren't all that. Like Luke said on WAN show, they always have a bunch of issues.
 
I had a similar experience with trying to get my bank card added to Google Pay (now Wallet), it simply didn't work due to an error on Google's side. Had to contact support, took about a month before it was finally "solved" when a human actually looked at it and fixed it.

This sounds so strange for non Americans. Just so you know
 
 

I doubt it. The price is quite off putting to people.
 
The thing people liked about the base model iPad, among other things, was how cheap it was.

Good to know. Yeah pretty much all the OG vaccines still provide good protection against serious illness, fortunately.
 
I had COVID back in August, so I need to wait 3 months before I can get the bivalent booster that's been approved in Canada. I'll be eligible in mid-November.

This is still based on the OG strain because they're currently conducting Phase 3 trials on their BA.4/BA.5 booster which is expected to finish in Q1 2023. Nonetheless, the OG vaccine from Novavax is still protective against severe outcomes of BA.4/BA.5 as per this pre-print study.

I was actually looking forward to the iPad 10 but its really quite a mixed bag. Its an okay iPad hampered by the big price increase. Small things like no Apple Pencil 2 support and a non-laminated display also don't help. An Apple refurbished iPad Air 4 seems like a better deal imo. Almost wish they just kept everything else the same and popped in the A14 they're using now (and keep the change to USB-C).

With the price of a Surface Pro 9 with an SQ3 chip ($1300), you could just get an M1 MacBook Air on discount and it will run more ARM native applications (universal binary) and through Rosetta 2 translation, will probably have better performance and battery life, keyboard is attached, and has more storage starting at 256GB compared to 128GB of the Surface.

Don't forget that the 1300 dollar model doesn't include the keyboard either, which is more or less a requirement if you actually want to use the Surface Pro.
So that's another 100-150 dollars to add to the price. 
 
So the Surface Pro 9 with an Arm processor is somewhere between 40-45% more expensive than a MacBook Air. 

With the price of a Surface Pro 9 with an SQ3 chip ($1300), you could just get an M1 MacBook Air on discount and it will run more ARM native applications (universal binary) and through Rosetta 2 translation, will probably have better performance and battery life, keyboard is attached, and has more storage starting at 256GB compared to 128GB of the Surface.

With the price of a Surface Pro 9 with an SQ3 chip ($1300), you could just get an M1 MacBook Air on discount and it will run more ARM native applications (universal binary) and through Rosetta 2 translation, will probably have better performance and battery life, keyboard is attached, and has more storage starting at 256GB compared to 128GB of the Surface.

Not true. The stats in our hospital which is outside the control of any pharmaceutical or government entity shows that boosters remain protective against hospitalization and severe illness. Despite more people testing positive, our ICU admissions remain low.
 
Comments like these are one of our frustrations as someone working in healthcare but let me break it down for you. 
Vaccines aren’t the only armamentarium that we use against Covid-19. We have monoclonal antibodies especially the likes of Evusheld that can be given as a pre-exposure prophylaxis to immunocompromised people who can’t mount an immune response despite multiple vaccine doses and to people who had severe AEs to vaccines which are rare. We have drugs such as Molnupiravir and Paxlovid. In some countries, updated vaccines targeting the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 is now being rolled out which should provide better protection against symptomatic illness compared to the current vaccines based on the OG strain. You have to remember that back then, Covid vaccines are not on the same status as the flu shot which can be updated based on the circulating strain. The FDA and other regulatory agencies just now gave the greenlight to the likes of Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax to immediately update the vaccines based on the circulating variant of concern. And you have to remember that the advantages of the mRNA platform is not only you can mass produce vaccines fast, you can immediately tweak it based on the current variant. Another advantage of the mRNA vaccines (and to the same extent adenovector vaccines) since the antigen is produced by our own cells, it means it stimulates different types of cells targeting different parts of the spike protein. That is the reason why despite Omicron BA.1’s 30 mutations in the spike protein, current vaccines based on the OG strain remains protective against severe illness especially since Omicron cannot escape T-cell mediated immunity that easily. 
 
But since the actual smart people aren’t resting their laurels, the good people of the University of Oxford (the same team responsible for AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria) is working on creating a multi-valent vaccine that should cover future mutations. 
 
 
They’re not weirded or shocked by it. They simply have more information now than two years ago. If if weren’t for the current vaccines, we could’ve experienced much worst outcomes for humanity. 

I got a Pfizer bivalent booster earlier today. So far it has been a little bit easier-going than the J&J I got for my primary, and the Moderna I got for my booster last year. I did have covid 3 months ago, so may have some lingering antibodies still but it sucked and I don't want to get covid like that again.
 
Hopefully everyone here is staying as safe as possible.

Windows 11 first major update is coming up soon. Rumors suggest Sept 20th.
Microsoft marked its first Release Candidate of this OS update all the way back in June under the Release Preview ring. It seems that Microsoft really wanted the OS to be well tested as much as possible. Numerous updates have been released since, with lots of bug fixes. So, a good sign.
 
It’s been almost a year since Windows 11 was released and it’s time for its grand update. Unlike the early days of Windows 10, Microsoft has focused more on polishing the OS, and brought more Quality-of-Life improvements, rather than on new features. All-in-all, while it is mostly all small changes, all together, it really elevates Windows 11 experience.
 
Let’s start with the elephant of the room:
 
"Forced MS Linked Account on Pro edition"
 
 
What’s New?
A new Home
File Explorer now features a ‘Home’ page when you open which replaces the ‘Quick Access’. It is an evolution of Quick Access. It features the same quick access section of, well, Quick Access,  but includes Your recent files accessed (including those accessed from OneDrive folder), and you can pin them in your Favorite, by simply dragging the file to the Favorites section, or right-click on the file and pick ‘Add to Favorites’.

 
 
 
Taskbar Drag’n Drop
Drag and drop between app via the task bar has been finally added. As before, you can just drag a file over a Task bar program to make it gain focus and drop it there.
 
 
 
Start Menu Customizations
The Start menu can now be customized a bit further by selecting if you want more pinned icons, and a few Recommended items, or the reverse.

 
The option is found under Settings > Personalization > Start

 
 
 
 
Start Menu Folders
You can now create pinned app folders like you could under Windows 10 Start menu with its Live tiles.
Just drag a pinned app on the Start menu over another pinned app on the Start menu, and a folder that can be named can be set. To add more items to the folder, simply drag and drop to the folder more pinned apps. And yes, the folders can be named.
 
 
 
File Explorer – Folder Content Peek
It’s baaaack! Microsoft re-introduces folder preview of files on the folder icons. Keeping with the theme of simplicity, it only shows the latest file in the folder.

 
 
 
Updated Task Manager – With Dark Mode Too
Don’t adjust your monitor image settings, you read that correctly. Windows 11 now has an updated Task manager:

 

 

 
 
File Explorer – Improved OneDrive Integration
Note: This applies to all folders synced with OneDrive, and the main OneDrive folder itself. Nothing shows in other places.
You can now see the update of uploads/downloads from File Explorer without having to dig the OneDrive panel.

 
 
 
 
Mica for All
Mica is the transparency effect that excludes anything behind it. It just considers the background; it is now applied to all Win32 desktop applications and Windows panels. The effect is very subtle, though.
 

 

(Legacy application from 2000)
 
 
 
Improved Touch Gestures
Now when you swipe up to open the Start menu, it follows your finger, and not play a generic animation. Same for all other panels and swiping under the Start menu.
 
 
Also, there is a new gesture to show the quick settings. Simply swipe up on that area of the screen:

Swipe down to dismiss.
 
 
 
 
Quick Bluetooth Management
Talking about Quick Settings, you can now easily connect/disconnect and remove Bluetooth devices from there. Similar to how Wi-Fi section works, just click on the arrow:
 

 

 
 
 
Color Profile Change on Quick Settings
Introduced in Windows 10, but was lost when Win11 was released, is that you can have a button to switch between your device color profiles. As you tap/click on it, it will cycle through the different supported color profiles that have been registered. Please note that this applies only to embedded display devices, not desktop displays (unless the manufacture offers drivers that will add support for this)
 

 
 
 
Cast Notification Icons
A new Cast icon will appear at the lower-left corner of the taskbar to show you are casting (WIN + K) 

 
 
 
Windowing Improvements
Snap group thumbnail preview visuals now include the desktop wallpaper to better differentiate a window and a layout set.
 

 
Also: Improved animations transitioning between snap states:
More fluid, less janky.

 
 
Additional things:
Rotating a device between portrait and landscape orientation is now snappier and more responsive.
  Reduced the number of notifications sounds that play when you connect and disconnect docks and monitors.
  It is now easier to move your cursor and windows between monitors, by letting your cursor jump over areas where it would previously get stuck.
his behavior is controlled in settings with System > Display > Multiple displays > Ease cursor movement between displays.
  Small changes to the snapping options under System > Multitasking to help simplify them and make them easier to understand.  
 
Graphics Related Improvements
Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR) has been improved. Currently (before this build), DRR was limited to scrolling in Office and when inking (to reduce latency) (this feature obviously applies to laptops/tablets running Windows 11 with a 120Hz or more). Now, it applies to the cursor. As you move it, it will boost to 120Hz, and drop down when you stop. This will make the system feel more responsive on those devices, Microsoft says. Edge now supports DRR feature as well.
  Windows HDR Calibration app. This will allow you to improve color accuracy and consistency on your HDR display. The app can be found under the settings panel: System > Display > HDR. Download app manually: https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/windows-hdr-calibration/9N7F2SM5D1LR (HDR display required with a supported graphics card, this release of Windows 11, and HDR needs to be enabled)
  Windowed Gaming Optimizations: windowed games get some love! Under System > Display > Graphics > Change default graphics settings (under the Settings panel), you'll have the option to enable this new optimization mode. This mode adds Auto HDR and Variable Refresh Rate support to games running in windowed mode and reduces latency. You can also exclude some games if you have some games having issues with this feature. This of course, only affects DirectX games.
Full details here:
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/updates-in-graphics-and-gaming/  
 
 
Spot the Light
Spotlight arrives to your desktop. Spotlight daily background images can now be enjoyed on your desktop environment. When enabled via Settings > Personalization > Background:

 
You will get a desktop icon that will show, which will allow you to double-click on it, to learn more about the image, or you can right-click on it, to say if you like it or not, or change the image:

 
 
 
Volume / Brightness indicator – Updated Look
Yes, finally, no more metro there as well! Windows 11 now has its Volume and Brightness slider indicator have been updated. And yes, there is dark and light theme for both.
The indicator will appear at the center of the screen, above the task bar. (Now you’ll need to retrain yourself 😊)

 
 
Alt-Tab – Updated Look
Alt-Tab look got updated, and now has the glass effect background limited to the window/app selection, and no longer full screen

 
 
 
 
Input Switch – Updated Look
The language input switch panel has been updated to Windows 11 style.

 
This also applies to the lock screen.
 
 
Accessibility Flyout Improvement – Lock Screen – Updated Look
Talking about Lock screen, the accessibility flyout panel also got updated to Windows 11 style.

 
 
 
Lock Screen Media Control Player – Updated Look
The lock screen media player no longer has the Windows 10 Metro style. It has been updated to Windows 11 look.
 
 
 
 
Snap Layout (Aero Snap) – Window resizing updated
When resizing windows that have been snapped, the unfocused windows will now fade to an icon of the application like so:
 
 
Improved Snap Layouts
To improve the discoverability of the previously improved snap layouts, when you drag a window to the top middle of the screen, you'll have the option you normally have when you roll over the "maximize/restore" button. This also makes it easier to do on a touch focused device.

 
Notice also the improved animation of the Snap Assist feature.
 
Global Mic Mute – Keyboard shortcut and on-screen notification
When using the global microphone mute button (apps needs to support it), you can mute/unmute via the keyboard shortcut WIN + ALT + K, and a pop-up status will show:

 
 
 
 
Focus Mode / Do not Disturb - Reworked
Microsoft ‘re-imagined’ Focus and Do not Disturb mode.
 
Do Not Disturb
From the Notification Center, you can now easily enable "Do not disturb", which will mute notifications from popping up, and will directly show up in the Notification Center list.

 
Under Settings > System > Notifications, you can setup rules to turn it on automatically, similarly to "Focus assist" feature that we have now (well... prior now)
 
 
Focus Mode
When you open the Notification Center, you'll have the option to start a focus session for a period of time that you can define.

 
 
When enabled: 
Taskbar badging will turn off Flashing of applications in the taskbar will turn off A timer will appear on screen 'Do not disturb' feature will turn on  
You can also set a Focus Session with Music (more on that later).
 
 
 
Voice Access – Accessibility
Control your system via your voice. Settings > Accessibility > Speech
Once enabled, you can use the keyboard shortcut Alt + Shift + C and Alt + Shift + B to enable voice listening or not, and control the system, or you can say “Voice access wake up” or “Unmute”, and the reverse “Voice access sleep”, “Mute”. The list of commands is long, and worth reading the full documentation if you are in the need of such feature. But some basic commands are: “Open <app name>”, “Switch to…”, “Minimize ….”, “Right-click ….”, “Scroll down”, “Press <key combination or key name>”.

You can also split an app into quadrants to help focus better on an area or show the numbers for all elements on the screen that can be interacted.

 

 
 
Voice Typing Improvements
Voice typing has been improved with anew navigational commands.
It can now handle "Enter", "Backspace", "Space", "Tab" actions by saying them when needed based on the program you are using.
 
 
 
 
System Wide Close Caption – Accessibility
Windows 11 introduces a system wide close caption that works on everything coming out from your audio source. You’ll get a top bar on the screen where you’ll see text being live captioned.
To turn on this feature: Settings > Accessibility > Caption, and turn on Live captions
 
 
Narrator
New male natural voice called Guy.
 
 
 
Windows Update
Windows Update can adapt to your energy grid to reduce carbon footprint.
Basically, it will attempt to schedule update installations at specific times of day when doing so results in lower carbon emissions.
Of course, this doesn't apply if you manually check for updates.
 
To do this, Microsoft will use the data it partnered up with: electricityMap and WattTime.

In my case, it is 100% renewable (Hydro), so I guess it will update whenever it feels like, as before.
 
 
Power Saving 
Windows will now have more aggressive power saving settings by default compared to before to save power when the system is idle.
 
 
Networking
TKIP and WEP are deprecated security standards and Windows 11 will no longer allow connections to those types starting with this build. Windows 11 Home will no longer enable SMB1 by default. If you have it enabled right now, it will remain so. (If I am not mistaken, this was the last remaining edition of Windows with it that was enabled).  
 
Input
Touch screen keyboard, in it's small layout, now has an IME On/Off key (Japanese, Korean, and Chinese Traditional IMEs) Some Emoji have been updated to better fit Windows 11 style further Additional kaomoji were added Hungarian for handwriting support has been added
   
Settings
Size of the icons in the Settings navigation pane have been increased to be easier to see. Storage Sense will now be enabled by default for new accounts (and new installs). You can turn it off under:  Settings > System > Storage Settings Time & Language category and Date & time page to now include a live digital clock and information about currently selected option. Updated the design of Network & Internet > Dial-up when you have a connection set up to align with the overall design of Settings in Windows 11. Adjustments were done to Settings > Personalization > Fonts to improve the design of the page, including the drag-and-drop area for installing fonts is now larger.  
Windows Sandbox
Aligning with Hyper-V behavior, even if you’re not in full screen mode, modifier keys and shortcuts will now be intercepted by Windows Sandbox if the window has focus. It also now supports basic environment variable usage like %USERPROFILE% inside in mapped folder paths. It now support mapped folders now support relative paths  
 
Security
Smart App Control (SAC) is a new security feature part of Windows Security/Defender where when enabled it can block untrusted or potentially dangerous applications.
Microsoft notes that this feature can only be enabled on Windows devices that have performed a clean install with the latest Insider Preview build.
 
Microsoft says:
 
 
 
Print Queue Panel
The print queue panel is a new panel which shows what is being sent to your printer and its status.

 
 
 
New GPO's:
Disable Quick Settings flyout Disable Notification Center and calendar flyouts Disable all taskbar settings Disable search (across Start & taskbar) Hide Task View from taskbar Block customization of ‘Pinned’ in Start Hide ‘Recommended’ in Start Disable Start context menus Hide ‘All apps’ in Start (They may be others, please consult a more IT focused document)
 
 
 
Nearby Share - Improved
The feature has now been improved with UDP support, and not longer Bluetooth exclusive.
Also, when you use the Share feature (right-click on a file > Share), you’ll have shareable system nearby listed:

 
 
 
In Box App Updates
In-box apps of Windows got updated, 2 got removed, and a new 1 was also introduced:
(Please note that because they are delivered separately, you may already have access to them or have them available)
 
 
Media Player
This app replaces both: Groove Music and Movies & TV. This means that they are no longer included in Windows 11 when you do a clean install. It also aims to replace the classic Windows Media Player 12 introduced all the back in Windows 7.
 

 
Like Groove Music it allows you to view your albums and music in similar fashion, this was not lost.
CD Audio support is present, INCLUDING CD Audio Ripping. Supported formats: AAC, WMA, FLAC, and ALAC.
Video playback, with the same codec supported is still present
 

 
And yes, EQ control is there:

 
 
As well as Speed control

 
And Video color adjustment controls:

 
 
Sound Recorder
Replaces Voice Recorder.

 
The recorder brings wave form presentation, and the ability to add mark points for you to help refer back to. No, it’s not Audacity, just a basic, but more useful, voice recorder
 
 
Clock
Remember Focus Assist I mentioned before, with Music playback support, well it goes hand-in-hand with the new Clock app with Spotify integration, as well as Microsoft To Do integration.

 
You can sign-in to your Spotify account to have quick access to shortcuts and focus playlists from Spotify, and music will play when you start your focus session. Break can also be defined from there. Your To Do list appears as daily Tasks, which can be added from the same Clock app, and can be checked.
 
 
 
Clipchamp - New App
A new video editor app that is more involved and feature rich then Photo editor video editor, with video templates which you can generate (type in text and it will generate a clip that you can insert), it includes sample clips both video and audio which you can use in your work for personal and commercial purposes, define your own template via “Brand kit” to help ensure that all your videos matches the same style. You have slideshow, text overlay, quote animations, social handles animations and lots more. It is of course, not a professional video editor. Simplicity of use is the main focus.
 
The app has 2 plans: Free and paying one.

 
 

 
 
 
Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA)
Note: Not all features listed here might be delivered on day 1 of this release. WSA has a different release schedule, and its own Insider program.
Lots of improvements are being presented for this feature. Including but not limited to:
·       Android OS updated to: Android 12.1 / 12L with Chromium WebView 100
·       Performance improvements
·       Networking improvements
·       VPN support
·       Scrolling and navigation
·       Redesigned UX WSA settings panel and diagnostics data viewer added
·       Simpleperf CPU profiler recording support
·       Windows taskbar now shows which Android apps are using microphone and location
·       Windows taskbar now shows which Android apps are using microphone and location
·       Hardware video decoding support (VP8, VP9 and H.264)
·       Mail integration with Windows email clients and Android app.
·       Compatibility for games with joysticks (mapped to WASD)
·       Compatibility for gamepad in games
·       Compatibility for aiming in games with arrow keys
·       Compatibility for sliding in games with arrow keys
 
Now available to more regions:
Andorra Austria Belgium France Germany Gibraltar Guernsey Ireland Isle of Man Italy Japan Jersey Liechtenstein Luxembourg Monaco San Marino Spain Switzerland United Kingdom United States Vatican City / Holy See  
 
Download
Official ISO (English US x64): 
https://software.download.prss.microsoft.com/dbazure/Win11_22H2_English_x64.iso?t=a4e5c695-01df-4294-9ebc-683ed65ebb75&e=1663775373&h=0d52cc56f1c271a4bde785b34ba593abd229b071d97923b0d7d0d9bc1fd52244
 
Update Assistance and Media Creation Tool:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
 
 

I would not expect apple supporting Matter to mean all of apples devices support matter I think it is more that you can bring matter devices to an apple Home. Just like you will be able to bring matter devices to a google home but it does not mean all of google devices will support matter. 

What It might mean is that you can controle your home kit (Apple home) devices from a non apple devices (maybe...) but most likly in a very limiter way such as not having access to trigger shortcuts. 

Maybe they can whip up some deepfake ads starring Abbott and Costello.
 
"My new laptop has an Intel Processor!"
"What processor?"
"An Intel Processor!"
"No I mean which Intel processor?"
"Yeah, that's the one!"
"WHICH Intel processor?!"
"That one!"

DW Documentary channel on YouTube is a good place to start. But as everyone pointed out take everything with a grain of salt and do your own research and by research meaning you eliminate your own biases and be open to the fact that your might be wrong.
 
 
 

There are 2 issues in your post. 1 is parenting, 2 is this law.
 
You're not a parent.
 
Did you ever go anywhere your parents told you not to go when you were young?
 
You also realize that pornhub doesn't have age verification, right?
 
Basically, real life issues are not relevant online.  Ie.  a 12 year old can't walk into a strip club, but can access porn easily online, even the most depraved and fucked up shit out there.  Can parents stop that?  They could if they were knowledgeable, but technology changes and evolves so fast that even good parents can't keep up with all the new ways kids can do shit.
 
There are literally dozens of new apps daily that are purpose built for kids to bypass shit.
 
Raise a child, then come back and talk.
 
Edit:  3.  Who the fuck is Rebecca Watson?  4.  You can't destroy the internet, stop being a drama queen.

USB and now TB both suffering from "just because you can doesn't mean you should". Very few of these supplemental, optional and even non-optional, updates were needed or at least not in those short time frames.
 
Progress is good, badly planned snowballing progress is bad. We have standards to address consistency requirements and desires, we do not have standards for the sake of standards, oft forgotten purpose of their existence. People might say they want bigger, better, faster and as soon as possible but in reality they want stability and ease of use and understanding foremost.
 
I still prefer the old laptop docks with the proprietary port that you place the laptop down on it and slid the latching mechanism over a TB cable dock, one because cables are awful in comparison and two because you knew exactly what the capabilities of the dock were and it would work perfectly always for every feature and function supported by the laptop.
 
I think it's completely pathetic that Dell/HP/Lenovo sell different models of TB docks for their laptops that have different capabilities and feature support and people in general simply will not realize nor understand until it's too late and something does not work.
 
"Oh you wanted two 4k monitors, well too bad you got the $100 TB dock not the $150 dock"
"Oh you wanted 4k and 10Gbps Ethernet, should have got that $150 one", "Well yea the $100 does support 4k and 10Gbps but not at the same time, we did not make that clear enough?"
 
All or nothing development might stifle progress a bit but it damn well keeps our sanity.

Can they just rename it as Thunderbolt 5 or USB5? You know, simplify shopping for peripherals and not make consumers sound like a crazy person when buying.

Can they just rename it as Thunderbolt 5 or USB5? You know, simplify shopping for peripherals and not make consumers sound like a crazy person when buying.

Can they just rename it as Thunderbolt 5 or USB5? You know, simplify shopping for peripherals and not make consumers sound like a crazy person when buying.

Now that the A16 Bionic chip is based on 4nm lithography, I'm looking forward to the M2 Pro/Max/Ultra being based on the same node.
 
I wish that the 14 Plus or the 14 Pro Max was a bit taller and narrower so that it can fit comfortably on my hands.

I had the exact same thought. 
 
I'm surprised more people aren't talking about 4nm being used in a mass production device. 
 
I don't remember hearing any rumors of 4nm-- just debate if the M2 Pro/Max/Ultra would stay 5nm or go to 3nm. 

Pretty sure comm satellite companies that actually maintain and operate communication satellites aren't doing it for charity.
 
Once satellite SOS becomes a standard feature on all phones, a legislation can likely pass that makes the service free for everybody. I see that as the only way to get it for free.
 
As for now, I'm pretty sure you'd know if you are the kind of person to get stuck in the wilderness with no cell connectivity, to plan in advance