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news.umich.edu

Managing screen time by making phones slightly more annoying to use

The best way to help smartphone users manage their screen time may be to make phones progressively more annoying to use, according to new University of Michigan research.
news.umich.edu

The best way to help smartphone users manage their screen time may be to make phones progressively more annoying to use, according to new University of Michigan research.

It's an app, InteractOut, that I assume you can choose to install (or not) when/if it becomes available. Actually makes sense if you find you spend more time with this gadget from hell than you actually planned/wanted. Been there done that.

pibbuR who might get this to encourage him to spend less time on sites outside the watch.
 
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Well, I wasn't sure how to take it, but it made me laugh at first. I think the idea of making something annoying to use in order to avoid excess is bound to fail, but why not. It shows how desperate we've become.

I don't see why people wouldn't simply uninstall the app; aren't they keeping timer apps only because there's a snooze feature? Honestly, I never felt the need for that and I'm not using my phone very often, so I couldn't tell.

The idea that you feel you have stopped on your own accord is positive, but making a device less responsive or borderline erratic seems counter-productive. You don't solve alcoholism by making alcohol taste awful, and it's a good thing because many other people than alcoholics are drinking, too. I'd rather use a timer-like app, which makes me realize I've been too far (a little like the alcohol tests French had to carry onboard their vehicle).

PS: Why am I comparing that to alcohol? I swear I don't drink very often either. :D
 
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One thing sometimes used as part of treatment for alcoholism is the drug disulfiram, which makes you really sick if you drink. It of course requires that you actually use the drug.

I think the app can be useful in some cases. It of course requires that you install it and keep it.

pibbuR who is not particularly desperate but tends to get lost in wikipedia quite often, so might actually use it.
 
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www.neowin.net

Microsoft claims Windows 11 is better than 10 for celebrity gossip, weather, and stocks

Microsoft recently published a web page with all the features you get after upgrading from Windows 10 to 11. One of the reasons you should switch is, no joke, celebrity gossip on the taskbar.
www.neowin.net www.neowin.net

Widgets are new for Windows 11. They’ll help you stay up to date with all the things you need to keep tabs on, like schedules, weather, stocks, sports—even celebrity gossip.

There are other things I choose not to mention.

pibbuR who now realizes there are Win11 functionality he has for some reason missed.
 
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Sooo true:
www.infoworld.com

The decline of the user interface

Software has never looked cooler, but user interface design and user experience have taken a sharp turn for the worse.
www.infoworld.com www.infoworld.com

pibbuR who especially would like to murder the *#@** who decided to drop the title bar.
 
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In Boeing we trust.

phys.org

Boeing won't fix leaky Starliner before flying first crew to ISS

Boeing is set to launch its first crewed space mission in June without fixing a small helium gas leak on its troubled Starliner spaceship, officials said Friday.
phys.org phys.org

pibbuR who nudges (whatever that is, hopefully not something naughty) and will say no more
 
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pibbuR said:
In Boeing we trust.

phys.org

Boeing won't fix leaky Starliner before flying first crew to ISS

Boeing is set to launch its first crewed space mission in June without fixing a small helium gas leak on its troubled Starliner spaceship, officials said Friday.
phys.org phys.org

pibbuR who nudges (whatever that is, hopefully not something naughty) and will say no more
Click to expand...
Since they merged with McDonell Douglas, they've never been the same. I'm waiting to see if the hatch will pop open shortly after lift-off or if it will simply plunge into the ocean. ;)
 
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One word : SecureBootloaderDrama (or just "BootloaderDrama")
There should be more than enough articles on that matter.
 
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pibbuR said:
Sooo true:
www.infoworld.com

The decline of the user interface

Software has never looked cooler, but user interface design and user experience have taken a sharp turn for the worse.
www.infoworld.com www.infoworld.com

pibbuR who especially would like to murder the *#@** who decided to drop the title bar.
Click to expand...
No small wonder, since there has been a big push during the past 20 years or so to either minimize or completely eliminate GUIs from games (even in cases where a good GUI would make the game better!)
 
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notdart said:
Another reason to not depend on the cloud to preserve your pictures:

arstechnica.com

Google Cloud explains how it accidentally deleted a customer account

UniSuper's 647,000 users faced two weeks of downtime because of a Google Cloud bug.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
Click to expand...
I have a file on Google Drive that has been automatically flagged as possibly having a virus, so I can't share that file with anyone until the flag is lifted.

But the file does NOT have a virus, it's a false positive. I even created a new archive for the files and re-uploaded it, but it still gets flagged. It's probably one of the EXE files in the archive, as certain types of code commonly generate false positives with most virus software.

Google supposedly has a process for requesting a review of flagged files, but I have contacted them 3 or 4 times requesting a review and have never received a single response.
 
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