Two years ago, I bought a base M4 Mac mini for $600 ($500 with educational discount). Today, a new base M6 Mac mini costs $900. Aside from the CPU bump, all other specs are essentially the same.
The RAM shortage meant price increases were inevitable. But I still find it slightly sad, or at least disappointing that the era of really cheap computing is over.
Two years ago I paid $1500 (with educational discounts) for a M4 Mac mini and an M3 MacBook Air, the same as just the M4 MacBook Pro alone. Today, that same deal would be $2,000.
Some may think it was silly to buy a Mini and an Air instead of just the MacBook Pro, but I have really enjoyed it. I have great power and great portability. It works so well because iCloud is flawless. I pick up on one computer seamlessly from where I left off on the other. The Mini has lots of ports and power and the Air is so portable. The Pro would have been a compromise at least of my needs.
The US still has a staggering lead in military technology, but the US manufacturing sector is stagnating. This is not only corroding our consumer manufacturing, but will eventually also erode our military tech as we simply won't have the tools to produce groundbreaking engineering.
"...more than half of the world's industrial robots are now made in China."
-BBC
China is not only building more robots but also robots that are more advanced. It's not just the numbers, it's the capability too.
"...In workshops, including stamping, welding, and painting, we've (China) basically achieved 100% automation."
-BBC
In the US, our best EVs are over $100,000 and our cheapest are $30,000. In China, their best EVs are $30,000, and their cheapest EVs are $5,000. China's EVs are also more advanced and have more features.
"They (Chen's students) are in the Hangzhou Technician Institute, one of several huge, purpose-built vocational schools that want to churn out the next generation of tech-savvy engineers."
-BBC
The US has maybe 3,000 technically oriented high schools, China currently has 11,000 vocation centers dedicated to churning out capable young manufacturing technicians.
These are not the same. Advanced US high school students are building basic robots, in China, vocational students are building and programing actual manufacturing robots.
"If you want to build a robot in Shenzhen - there's an entire ecosystem. It takes you less than one hour to source the components you need to make a robot. In Europe it can take you up to a week."
- Dr Susanne Bieller, BBC
And in the US, we don't even have RadioShack anymore.
"My students ask me what will happen in the future," Chen says. "I say I don't know. Technology is changing so fast. But we can't just stand still and sleep here. We have to move forward to see what we are capable of doing."
- Chen Tianyu, BBC
In the USA, in the year 2026, we are doubling down on BitCoin and "prediction markets" (online gambling).
"China also has an idea. It has a plan. They know where they want to be in five years."
- Dr Susanne Bieller, BBC
Observation
Photo by James Fryer
Today I realized my mother may think the pictures I take on family vacations are supposed to be like a family album. She does not understand that I take photos on vacation because I like to take photos and has nothing to do with family.
YouTube moderation is... not realistic.
Today I was notified by YouTube that they were removing one of my podcast episodes for being in breach of their "Community Guidelines". Their email is below, followed by my response.
Hi James Fryer,
It looks like an external link you included in Episode #54: Interview with Judy Schwiebert and Jeanne Casteen didn't follow Community Guidelines. To help keep our community safe, we removed your content from YouTube.
External link: https://judyschwiebert.com/
-link- REVIEW AND TAKE ACTION -link-
What we found
We think your content didn't follow our harmful and dangerous policy.
External links that go to sites that contain spam, scams, or other deceptive practices aren't allowed on YouTube. Read policy
How this impacts you
This is just a warning. Because this is your first time, you can still upload, post, and live stream. However, we removed your content from YouTube.
What to do next
Review your content and the policy. After your review, you can appeal if you think we got it wrong, and you can take an optional training to remove the warning. Learn about your resolution options.
How we find violations
We use a combination of automated systems and human reviews to detect violations of our Community Guidelines.
Thanks,
The YouTube Team
My response:
Hi, thank you for bringing the spam site to my attention. When I posted the link, the website was under different ownership, but it is now clearly a spam site.
I have removed the link.
As you know, abandoned domains get harvested and reused by bad actors all the time, giving our channel a warning seems like an over-reaction on YouTube's part. A simple notification would have been sufficient.
I do appreciate YouTube bringing this to my attention, but it is unrealistic for YouTube to think creators can monitor the status of every link ever posted.
UPATE: Sometime later YouTube/YT Music made the episode available again, BUT WITHOUT MY EDIT! They reinserted the offending link. I have no idea what is going on over there in Google Land, I wonder if they have any idea?
Nationalism vs Patriotism
Nationalism is a bat used to beat to death anyone not in your tribe. Patriotism is a set of ideas used to protect anyone who is on your tribe or wants to join your tribe.
I dislike his style but recognize him as a genuine master. He has an exceptional grasp of his medium and the ability to subtly weave emotion into what otherwise appear to be banal scenes.
My dislike is purely subjective and doesn't take anything away from his brilliance. His painting style is reminiscent of JPEG artifacting. An effect that occurs in digital images that have been over compressed. He uses it to craft an amazing impressionistic like style, but I've been too sensitized to its negative connotations.
The TikTok ban is based on a legal concept that foreign countries should not be allowed to collect the data of American citizens.
What data are they talking about? How much of that data can they collect? Is there any data they can collect?
What data is TikTok collecting? It seems to be collecting data on what short form videos Americans like. That represents, the court argues, a national security concern. How? Has TikTok demonstrated that they have used this data to harm America's security? The government did not put forth any examples.
Can Chinese companies collect any 'data' of Americans? And what makes it 'sensitive'? When I place an order an AliExpress, does that constitute sensitive data that they should be blocked from collecting? What about my shipping address, is that too sensitive for a Chinese company to have?
The USA should protect its citizens and itself from foreign adversaries, but is TikTok an adversary, or just another ad platform masquerading as 'Social Media'?
What I have seen, having used the app for about an hour everyday for a few years now, is that TikTok's most desperate and fervent goal is to... sell me stuff. I have seen, and creators regularly comment on, how TikTok really leans into trying to sell me stuff from the TikTok Shop. If there is one heavy handed program that TikTok is engaged in, it's trying to sell me stuff on the TikTok Shop. Yes, I am being repetitive. I do that to try and convey just how much TikTok wants me to... buy stuff from the TikTok shop. It's like the only reason for TikTok to exist at all is to make money or something. How un-American.
One of the most common complaints from creators is that posts that link to a product on the TikTok shop are heavily boosted by the algorithm. If there is no link to a product, the creators say, your post will wither on the vine.
Doesn't the USA regularly mock China for being too thin skinned to allow ANY American internet platforms? And yet, here we are banning the only one that seems to be out-innovating our homegrown platforms.
Who really benefits from this ban? Do Americans who found a place to voice their opinions on TikTok benefit? No. Do large, entrenched American internet platforms benefit? Well, yes. In going through my list of followed accounts on TikTok, I find the number one other platform where these creators can be found is YouTube. An American platform that has wained in relevance as TikTok ascended. There is no conspiratorial claims here, just the awareness of the deafening silence from another video platform that maybe should be a little wary of a government that is gleefully blocking a similar platform.
For posterity, here is a partial list of accounts I follow(ed) on TikTok:
Tressie McMillan Cottom – award-winning writer and NY Times columnist
Walter Masterson – liberal provocator
Zeke Darwin – biology educator
B. Dylan Hollis – cooking and baking anarchist
Jeff Jackson – (former) USA Congressman
Kala – feral engineer
Clayton Becker – urban planning nerd, first order
Andy Miller – honest, no bull shit dietitian
Preston Stewart – war analyst
Professor Robert Hayes – Nuclear evangelist
Aslan Pahari – knower of all things
Gerard LeConte III – liberal commentator (but in a smart way)
Poets Square Cats – defender of feral cats
Mr Global – oil and gas expert
Mike Baird – funny
Dan McClellan – biblical scholar
Misfit Printing – 3D printing goblin
Huey Li – math guy and China critic
Jess Zafarris – author and word master
Eric – doctor and corrector of stupid shit
Geo Rutherford – illustrator and spooky lakes genius
Astrid Lundberg – sharer of knowledge and ancient secrets (well they aren't secrets now, but they were last week)
Philip DeFranco – Philip DeFranco
Jamelle Bouie – NY Times columnist, photographer, and best dressed man
Photo by James Fryer
Painting by Sebas Velasco
Painting by Marc Padeu
Photo by Heather Rios
Sculpture by Shiyoan Xu Photo by Guy Nichol