Dear Microsoft: Keeping My Subscription is NOT Canceling My Plan. Shame on You.

Microsoft is trying to justify their incredible investment in data centers (and the billions of dollars needed to subsidize the failing OpenAI’s flailing business model) by adding CoPilot features to Microsoft Office apps. I’ve spent the last week toying with CoPilot in Word and Excel.

No specific hot take here. They provide almost no value to me or my workflow. Your mileage may vary.

Of course, getting these AMAZING New features “included” means Microsoft will be increasing the cost of a 365 Family plan from $99.99 a year to $129.99 a year. As I need Office document support for the work I do, and I have a couple family members on this plan for cloud storage, I still feel the Family plan (without AI) is a decent value.

However, for “AI” features that I’m not interested in using or keeping, a cost increase of 30% isn’t something I want to pay for.

Thankfully, on Microsoft’s on blog, they detail there will be a “Classic” plan that users can switch to and keep their older perks and pricing. A handy little link is included that takes you to a Microsoft support page.

I want that. Let’s do that.

It’s when we scroll down to the instructions that things get ugly. Continue reading “Dear Microsoft: Keeping My Subscription is NOT Canceling My Plan. Shame on You.”

Halliday AI Glasses! A Proactive AI Agent in Your Frames!

Your next AI assistant should live in your glasses!

Halliday is sponsoring this video to talk about heads up displays and Agentic AI. I’ve been using the prototype glasses Halliday showed off at CES (they got a LOT of attention on the show floor this year), and I have a LOT of thoughts about the future of face displays! Continue reading “Halliday AI Glasses! A Proactive AI Agent in Your Frames!”

Frame by Brilliant Labs: Smart Glasses are the Best Way to Use AI!

I LOVE smart glasses, but they’re often heavy. The folks at Brilliant Labs have a fresh take on a simple Heads Up Display, and it’s the lightest headset I’ve ever worn. A tool for developers, FRAME is the most interesting hardware I’ve seen for AI. Machine learning is a lot more fun when you go hands free… Continue reading “Frame by Brilliant Labs: Smart Glasses are the Best Way to Use AI!”

There is no profitable business model for Cloud AI – (SGGQA Podcast Clip)

AI is a drag on earnings, and there is no consumer facing business that can generate a profit, when data centers are eating a TON of money and electricity and water. The nerds watching my podcast have been commenting on this for a while now.

Why is the tech media only just NOW starting to get critical of the ridiculous claims being made by AI companies? Continue reading “There is no profitable business model for Cloud AI – (SGGQA Podcast Clip)”

When Apple Fans Defend Google: AI Edition!

Apple fans on Threads are CORRECT!

Apple not bringing LLM features to current iPhones and iPads is NOT an indication that Apple is failing to support their products!

So why did we think this was a problem when Google did something similar with Gemini? Continue reading “When Apple Fans Defend Google: AI Edition!”

Windows Recall will be a Security Problem for Mac and Linux Users too!

Windows Recall wont just be a privacy issue for Windows users! Even if you’re on Linux or a Mac, every interaction you have with a Windows user will be saved by that person’s Recall. Recall will become a desirable target for malware, as attackers will get access to everything on that system, and EVERYTHING that user has ever seen.

I’m strongly suggesting folks consider contacting elected officials and regulators. We need to encourage companies to do a better job of protecting our data.

Apple Partnering with OpenAI: The End of iPhone Privacy?

Apple and OpenAI are partnering to improve AI on future Apple products, but who is paying who?

We don’t know what the deal looks like, and we don’t know how this will impact privacy and security on the iPhone.

We know Apple is generally fine with selling off your user data to Google. Will this be any different?

Geekom A8 Mini PC Review: A Ryzen 9 8945HS in a TINY Shell!

Though she be but little, she is FIERCE!

Geekom updated their newest mini PC frame with an AMD 8945HS! This thing is a BEAST. CPU and GPU performance are very similar to the last gen 7940HS laptop chip, but now with a bit more NPU “AI” performance.

Funnily enough, it seems Microsoft is throwing AMD and Intel under the bus. NONE of the current “AI” PCs sold are powerful enough to earn the new “CoPilot+” branding. Still, with a more powerful NPU, we can see some great improvements to content creation and video editing plugins.

Who knows, maybe you don’t want that new Microsoft Recall feature on your system anyway? Continue reading “Geekom A8 Mini PC Review: A Ryzen 9 8945HS in a TINY Shell!”

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