Could not get through the article because it looks like LLM generated text squared.
But I assume people will have protections against this? One can just let their credit card company know to block out the next payment, or dispute the charges; I am assuming the user will have adequate proof that they aren't able to get to their subscription account.
While what Google is doing here is scummy, I'm assuming that multiple consumer reversals will make at least a minor dent to their financial reputation with the banks? Did this even need so much AI text?
In Mumbai, a fiber plan with 300 Mbps symmetrical is around USD 20 with tax. A 1 Gbps is about 50 USD with tax. Also includes a landline number, Netflix (plan depends on which fiber plan you use, the 1 Gb ones have Premium) and a bunch of other local subscriptions (some of which include HBO shows). Have never had a single hitch, and I can switch providers if I want as long as they have infra in the city.
Despite presence of some very big names (Jio, Airtel), there still is healthy local competition, and the former haven't been able to play any monopoly-related games yet, since it's quite easy to switch. The past few years have been a significant upgrade compared to what I've observed happening in the US. Providers might even start offering 10+ Gbit for consumers in the future, but I doubt there's a market for it right now.
Yeah, I got the email that they removed them from the student plan:
"As part of this transition, however, some premium models, including GPT-5.4, and Claude Opus and Sonnet models, will no longer be available for self-selection under the GitHub Copilot Student Plan."
They specifically said this was primarily for student plans. I'm surprised they did this for the normal pro plans too; it's likely a mistake since the plans page[1] still says that the models will be available.
However, TBH, I've never liked Microsoft's flavor of these; they always seem lobotomized compared to using the models directly in Claude Code / Codex. I rarely use AI in VS Code because it's just bad.
Corporate India is facing way too many weird problems, not just 90-day notice periods:
1. Refusal to provide leaving documents if you leave on less than excellent terms, but you absolutely need pristine docs and sometimes multiple references when joining
2. Salary expectations as compulsory form fields during job applications, but no salary ranges provided in job descriptions
3. An unhealthy approach to leaves - need doctor certificates, way too early notices for leaves more than a few days, too few leaves, etc.
4. A sudden leap in "immediate joining" requirements - you need to come at once, but you can only leave after at least 90 days
5. Playing games with insurance, salary deductions and compulsory contribution requirements to management's favorite CSR pots
In the past few years I've become so frustrated that I just don't bother with large company job applications, or messages from Indian recruiters, because there's a 99% chance there's a really crappy process involved. Smaller firms with good founders / non-Indian consulting roles are a lot more relaxing, and most of the times pay is higher as well.
Really interesting! Somewhat reminds me of the ending of H. P. Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls", where the main character, a scion of a very old family which has done some really bad things, goes mad and progressively starts speaking in older and older versions of English after every sentence.
Thanks, that's such a great detail. I was reading Lovecraft during highschool in locally translated print editions. Where such details didn't come through.
Do you know if there any other such language related eastereggs in other of Lovecraft's writing? should I chose to revisit them, in English this time around.
The Call of Cthulhu seemed to have a bit of language construction and world-building, if you are into that. But my knowledge of Lovecraft lore is limited, so I wouldn't know all details; I just read his short stories from Standard eBooks a few months ago, which was my first exposure to his work.
I'm sure S. T. Joshi might have a bit to say about the topic. Personally speaking from very limited exposure and knowledge of language games, and me not being from an environment which has European language roots, I might have missed quite a bit of such easter eggs in the atmosphere and writing. Like, for example, your comment prompted me to find out what "rue d'auseil" (from The Music of Erich Zann) meant, I didn't bother to find out until today.
I do recommend rereading Lovecraft in English either way, since you never know what gets lost in translation!
The problem comes when rote learning actually is the be-all-end-all. Too many Asian students experience rote learning without any focus on actual learning. Our job used to be regurgitating paragraphs from textbooks, exactly as they were, into our exam papers. In classrooms, we were told that war happened in year X, but there was no discussion and analysis as to actual reasons, the milieu at the time, and the understanding and takeaway from that piece of history.
Facts and memorization are important, but they need to be in service to actual learning and understanding.
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Drive. The car needs to be at the car wash.
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Gemini Thinking gives me 3-4 options. Do X if you're going to wash yourself. Do Y if you're paying someone. Do Z if some other random thing it cooked up. And then asks me whether I want to check whether the weather in my city is nice today so that a wash doesn't get dirtied up by rain.
Funnily enough, both have the exact same personal preferences/instructions. Claude follows them almost all the time. Gemini has its own way of doing things, and doesn't respect my instructions.
I saw this pattern a few years ago, with Trump and cryptocurrency.
Oh, Trump is a joke, on the cusp of crashing out. Then Trump is a danger to society. Cycle as convenient.
Oh crypto is a joke with no uses. Then crypto is a danger to society. Cycle as convenient.
None of this stopped Trump being president twice. Nor did it stop Bitcoin shooting up to tens of thousands of dollars. A few years in, I realized that the Atlantic and its ilk are just in the business of publishing articles people will read, or maybe in the business of hyping things up (negative articles seem to just increase the hype, not taint the subject). They don't really seem to change people's opinions, and they certainly don't believe in being consistent.
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