Unfortunately, for the scenario I was replying to, a lot of the times when you’re doing support, you can’t see the user’s screen and are limited to verbal communication, so verifying what they typed or the output can lead to just as many problems. Any support scenario where you’re talking the other person through a series of tasks will be very dependent on how familiar each person is with the task you’re supporting. And no one Rs TFM these days, if you even get one.

Just try to verbally describe the difference between a bracket, brace, or parenthesis, or forward slash vs backslash. I’m sure it will be fine. But absolutely, a text-based interface is easier to describe in text.

Oh, I have. Now imagine giving those people a command line.

As someone who read at least 2/3 of the DOS 6 manual when it came out, and have used a variety of Linux flavors as well, a command prompt is the least helpful interface devised. What do you type there? How do you let the computer know when you’re done typing? If the answers seem obvious to you, think about why, and what on the screen would point you that way if you hadn’t had training. People are very visual, in general, and a simple interface such as a mouse that directs focus and has a minimal amount of interaction options is far easier to get started with, especially if the GUI has culturally intuitive icons (save needs updating).

I don’t think the power of the command line, or text interfaces in general, can be overstated, but even the most helpful text interfaces, such as those found in some IDEs, require prior knowledge to be useful. This isn’t going to work for the majority of people.

Well, you’re both right. IQ means something, but it’s only a predictor for outcomes. Many high-IQ people have led very mediocre lives and many low-IQ people have had very successful lives. Certainly, a high IQ can make life easier for you, as can being born in a prosperous country, having a wealthy family, knowing the right people, or getting lucky. The other half of that equation is hard work.

From what you’ve said, you don’t have good family connections, high IQ or know the right people. You haven’t said where you live. There may be resources there to help you, or not. Either way, accessing those resources or getting ahead without them will be hard work. If you decide to go down that path, there will be pretty menial jobs, long hours, and not much money. There will be a lot of hard work in your down time to see what you can do to improve your abilities so you can improve your prospects in the future. Likely you will find none of this fun. There’s no guarantee it will succeed. But, like with many people, those are typically the only options before you to get someplace better.

Anything along the lines of “birds num nums”?

“I can fix her” vibes.

I just love how outlook is supposedly their best effort in the email segment, yet I have literally had it show me that a new email has arrived, then hiding it, and the only way for it to become visible again is to restart the app. This happens at least once a week.

You’re missing out on a lot of ads telling you how much you need to ask your doctor for certain drugs. That’s about it.

Why would you convert to decimal naming conventions when using a binary numbering system? Or do you think numeric values like 42(dec) have inherent names? That’s as silly as thinking that the freezing point of water is 0 degrees or, even worse, 32 degrees.

This is programmer humor.

10…

1…

0. Why are you still here?

I believe we can make a self-driving car with only optical sensors that performs as well as a human someday. I don’t think today is that day, or that we shouldn’t aim for self-driving to be far better than human drivers.

The whole premise of ABS brakes, which all cars made in North America since 2012 will have, is specifically to allow you to maintain control when you fully apply the brakes. Unless you are a professional driver or have a car without ABS, you should just fully apply the brakes in an emergency stop. Please stop telling people that fully applying the brakes will reduce manueverability when it won’t for the majority of drivers in the developed world.

And if someone’s vehicle doesn’t have ABS, they should know how to properly brake without locking their tires, and when it won’t be appropriate to use them.

Sure, 10% would be a pretty big deal, but 1% in the right places is enough for a different outcome. As this article shows

Given the fact that Stein’s share of voters in 2016 exceeded Trump’s margin of victory over Hillary Clinton, Clinton would have won Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and thus the presidency, if Stein had not been in the race.

Now, I won’t assume that all those voters would have voted for Hillary had Stein not run, but it’s clear that third-party voting can have an impact on who wins, even if they have no chance to win themselves. But the GOP seems to think this could help them, and is willing to spend money on that chance.

I don’t think it even makes a point, but it will salve their conscience, allowing them to firmly believe they stood against genocide while actually doing nothing more than this token gesture that at best has no impact on anything.

Land of the free and all that. Free from paid healthcare, a decent public education, a strong voice in government, an impartial justice system, employee rights… With all this freedom, it’s hard to imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

It has been know for at least a decade, I think, that the GSM chip could still contact cell towers while the phone was powered off. I’m sure its successor hasn’t lost that capability.

I don’t even like sweet potatoes but like that there’s enough salty/sharp stuff

I like sweet potatoes, but I get you. I don’t understand this thing where people add marshmallows. It’s already sweet! Now, bake a sweet potato, mash it, and add a little bit of salt and some hot sauce to preference, that definitely works for me.

Who would be the bad faith actor here? Wiwynn? If they don’t have an order, that’s going to fall flat pretty fast. Seems like a pretty risky bet at $60 million. Twitter? Then it isn’t Wiwynn’s problem, Twitter can take care of their bill, and deal with their internal issues.

I wouldn’t describe taking over a company and then not fulfilling obligations incurred prior to the purchase as good behavior. Would you?