So is tRump compromised, and asset, or just an useful idiot? Hugs
Hacks star Hannah Einbinder ended her Emmys speech with choice words for Donald Trump’s secret police force and some solidarity with the people of Palestine.
One of the things that got me down was last Thursday the car died as I was driving home. The car had been acting up and we were planing to have it checked when Ron got paid. The car did not give us that time. I was lucky in that when it died I was able to coast on to a side street that was safer and better than being on the main road. But there is bad news. Remember when the Ford dealership told us we would need a new engine for $10 grand, well they were premature but it may come to that.
What the mechanic told us is that the timing chain broke. There are three sprockets. The bad news is it is not just the timing chain that went. I don’t understand it but because of what the top three sprockets do somehow that made the pistons and values all crash into each other. That means engine seized. It is going to be an expensive fix.
Now for the worse news. The guy that came and who has fixed our car before can’t fix it. Because the way they get to the engine is they unbolt it and then raise the body with a car lift. He doesn’t have one. So he is looking around to find out who can fix it. We have no clue as to what it will cost. So that is one thing getting me down. Best wishes for everyone and hugs to those that want them. Hugs
get why this exists. If you don’t care to read the story, you can also listen, just click on through.
ON EDIT: As I read through, posted, then digested this, I still don’t like it, and am not sure how truly useful this could be. That said, someone somewhere may be able to help it learn to fulfill a need they have, and that would be a reason for this tech to exist, so my apologies for being that strident about it.
The chatbot-enabled Friend necklace eavesdrops on your life and provides a running commentary that’s snarky and unhelpful. Worse, it can also make the people around you uneasy.
The AI-powered Friend pendant is now out in the world. If you live in the US or Canada, you can buy one for $129.
The smooth plastic disc is just under 2 inches in diameter; it looks and feels a little like a beefy Apple AirTag. Inside are some LEDs and a Bluetooth radio that connects you (through your iPhone) to a chatbot in the cloud that’s powered by Google’s Gemini 2.5 model. You can tap on the disc to ask your Friend questions as it dangles around your neck, and it responds to your voice prompts by sending you text messages through the companion app. You can reply to these messages with your voice or via text to keep the conversation going.
It also listens to whatever you’re doing as you move through the world, no tap required, and offers a running commentary on the interactions you have throughout your day. To perform that trick, the device has microphones that are always activated.
If the idea of a microphone-packed wearable that’s always listening to your conversations raises privacy concerns for you, just know that you’re not alone. If your experience is anything like ours, wearing the Friend will likely earn you the ire of everyone around you. Curiously, you might even end up being bullied by the chatbot itself. (snip-see the page for MORE, or to listen.)
I hope all reading here have a very good day, and enjoy at least some of the fruits of your labors.
To me, it seems damned important. We the people have all become owners/stockholders of Intel. What I get for avoiding the Friday evening news dump; it is in today’s newsletter.
Trump turns $11.1B in US government funds into a 10% stake in downtrodden Intel
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and MICHAEL LIEDTKE Updated 5:55 PM CDT, August 22, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday announced the U.S. government has secured a 10% stake in struggling Silicon Valley pioneer Intel in a deal that was completed just a couple weeks after he was depicting the company’s CEO as a conflicted leader unfit for the job.
“The United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future,” Trump wrote in a post.
The U.S. government is getting the stake through the conversion of $11.1 billion in previously issued funds and pledges. All told, the government is getting 433.3 million shares of non-voting stock priced at $20.47 apiece — a discount from Friday’s closing price at $24.80. That spread means the U.S. government already has a gain of $1.9 billion, on paper.
The remarkable turn of events makes the U.S. government one of Intel’s largest shareholders at a time that the Santa Clara, California, company is in the process of jettisoning more than 20,000 workers as part of its latest attempt to bounce back from years of missteps taken under a variety of CEOs.
Intel’s current CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, has only been on the job for slightly more than five months, an d earlier this month, it looked like he might be on shaky ground already after some lawmakers raised national security concerns about his past investments in Chinese companies while he was a venture capitalist. Trump latched on to those concerns in an August 7 post demanding that Tan resign.
Scottie's Playtime 