Hey, it actually stopped without plowing on very far at all. That's better than what I expected to happen.
For the specs of what it is and what else is out there, it's actually a really good price.
People like to compare it to the cheapest headsets out there, but it has specs that beat the highest end headsets out there and it's cheaper than those.
When the Apple Vision pro came out, the closest device sporting similar specs would be the Varjo XR-3 which was only available to Enterprise users. It cost $7k plus a $1500 yearly subscription, plus you needed a powerful computer to run it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REo1ugX5GSI
Basically, hardware wise, it's good, but for it's actual uses it's not worth the $3500.
Pretty cool use of MRIs and AI (machine learning to unroll them and read the letters).
Similar (or the same?) tech has been used to read the Dead Sea Scrolls.
To quote one of my favorite authors:
“I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time
Disney lost their old camera tech used to make a "yellow screen" with sodium vapor lights.
It's actually better than a green screen because the yellow light is so specific that even if you remove that particular frequency of light, everything else still looks fine. You can do all sorts of things that would normally be very difficult to pull off with any of our green screen tech (like drinking water in a clear bottle or wearing a rainbow dress).
Jail makes the most sense considering he returned with the same ticket in his pocket, but then again, since his family reported him missing you would have thought that they would have found out that he was in jail...
The list of apps that were found to have this malware:
Better/additional info here: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-community-manager-seemingly-fired-after-encouraging-negative-reviews-over-now-canceled-psn-mandate-i-knew-i-was-taking-a-risk-with-what-i-said/
Spitz:
"Generally it's not a good idea to tell people to refund and leave negative reviews when you're a community manager. TIL," Spitz said. "I appreciate all the support and I appreciate even more that everyone can play the game again without restrictions. I knew I was taking a risk with what I said about refunding and changing reviews. I stand by it. It was my job to represent the community, that's what I did."
They added: "I wanted to work for Arrowhead because they're my all-time favorite studio. I got that chance. I'm thankful for that opportunity. I'd happily continue working for them if I had the choice, but that isn't up to me or anyone else in here. I can walk away happy and I don't want anyone causing trouble on my behalf, especially not to people I still have a lot of care and respect for."
This definitely sounds like Sony wanted them out and Arrowhead wanted them to stay.
It's worth pointing out that once Pokémon Go players found out about OSM, we saw a massive increase in new users as well as those contributing to OSM so that the maps would better reflect the areas they played in.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334378297_How_an_augmented_reality_game_Pokemon_GO_affected_volunteer_contributions_to_OpenStreetMap
Unfortunately there are always a few that will try to game any system. In this case they're essentially vandalizing OSM for their own selfish reasons.
They do have a free tier, and while it doesn't auto request your data removal they can at least notify you which data brokers have your info so you can make the requests manually yourself. https://monitor.mozilla.org/
Edit: The data removal features are currently available only in the US according to their FAQ:
Why is data removal only available in the US? When will it be available in my country?
Data removal is only available in the US because of legislation that allows data brokers to operate there. In many other countries and in regions like the EU, laws like GDPR prevent these websites from collecting and selling people’s personal information without their consent. We’re exploring ways to expand protection and personal data removal outside of the US where needed.
For those curious, the apps that sold your specific geolocation data were "Drunk Mode" and "Walk Against Humanity".
Edit: Although Wikipedia notes that X-Mode's SDK is in use in more than 400 apps. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Mode_social#cite_note-13
This is a big win for privacy advocates as well:
"By securing a first-ever ban on the use and sale of sensitive location data, the FTC is continuing its critical work to protect Americans from intrusive data brokers and unchecked corporate surveillance,” said Khan.
The underwater one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvn7ldLo5LQ