I think it would be more correct to say that quality control in Chinese science is very poor. I have seen top quality research, and I have also seen crap that should not have been published at all. But the sheer quantity of output means that the next big discovery in <insert field> will be from China.

OSTP is focused on removing regulations to science and tech bc they argue they are slowing us down in the AI race against China.

I don’t work on AI, but in my field I have seen the insane speed and scale of Chinese research. Now I’m from a developing country; the US can probably give better funding than we can, but I am inclined to agree that Chinese science does benefit from easier and better funding and a faster administrative process.

AI data in China is very poor likely bc of the lack of regulations

The big problem for AI research in China seems to be a shortage of high-end GPUs due to the trade wars. China is very strong in maths and comp sci, and they are finding workarounds, but it is still a pretty hard barrier.

Amazon/Bezos is probably getting some sweet federal kick backs

I think it’s more a threat against employees. The robots can be used as scabs.

which, until Jan. 2025, was one area that the U.S. had unquestionably dominated China

China had more scientists and papers well before this year. And China dominates particularly in fields like maths, computer science and manufacturing.

they are indeed going to try to replace scientists with robots

I can actually think of a lot of uses for robots in research. And, of course, there are a lot of robots in labs already; they just don’t look like humans.

but 6nm without EUV?

I read elsewhere that 5nm was already done (in the lab, not on industrial levels), and they’re planning on 3nm by 2026.

The workaround seems to be to use particle accelerators instead of EUV machines. More expensive and with lower yield, but it’ll do the job.

Just saw this on the news community. The linked article goes into some detail. I don’t know if these policies will achieve ‘full communism’ (or even if that would be a good thing), but education and health are good things for governments to focus on whichever way you look at it.

Communists that focus on voting are delusional (in my opinion) but like all reformists they view the existing government as the mechanism to make widespread change.

The only state in my country that has a communist party in power has been consistently leading national rankings in education and health, so I guess they’re doing something right.

I only use my phone for phone calls and messaging and the occasional web browsing.

Why not use a feature phone, then? Cheaper, more repairable, and the Nokia ones will also last longer.

It depends on your definition of ‘deGoogle’. You can disable the Google apps on most Android phones. They’ll take up storage space, but won’t run.

If you’re getting a second-hand phone and want to completely deGoogle it, you can check if (1) the bootloader is unlockable and (2) custom ROMs are available online (e.g. Lineage OS compatible devices). In general, Xiaomi, Motorola and Pixel devices have unlockable bootloaders, but not all their models have custom ROMs.

Nagato Yuki moment

Definitely ask your principal for a recommendation.

Dust can also block connections. I remember a 64 GB RAM system becoming 128 GB when it was cleaned (two sticks; one was clogged).

Mint also gets rid of Snaps.

Teh kidz r al rite.

Schools in India already use Ubuntu. To be fair we benefit from having some local manufacturing assembling. There’s usually no security beyond whatever linux offers by default.

Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?

Depends on the game. In general no, unless it has kernel anticheat, which Linux will not allow because that’s a glaring security risk.

Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?

Yes.

If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?

Most Windows software can be run on Linux using Wine. But there are advantages to using Linux-specific alternatives - they are often lighter and faster.

How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?

Yes, each distribution has its own update tool. They also install and update software (like in Android, where Google Play installs and updates all apps and not just the OS). No need to download exe files from random websites.

How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?

Linux is generally much more secure than Windows, because it is open-source. Most internet servers and supercomputers use Linux partly because of its security.

Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?

Nvidia is notoriously bad but getting better. AMD is good.

Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?

No.

And also, what distro might be best for me?

Linux Mint. It is stable, reasonably up to date and does not make confusing changes every update. It also tends to work on most systems.

Short answer: off

Long answer: If you won’t use your system for gaming (or anything requiring third-party drivers) and trust Microsoft to not fuck up and will also encrypt your disc, then Secure Boot makes you safer. Otherwise it just causes trouble.

But plz do tell me an example of a “dual faith” that can exist without violating one belief from the other.

Two very common ones are Confucianism + Taoism + Mahayana Buddhism (optional) in China and Shinto + Mahayana Buddhism + Christianity (optional) in Japan. The first is rather entertaining, because Confucianism and Taoism often have opposite teachings (falling respectively on the ‘ascend to technocrat’ and ‘retvrn to monke’ ends of the political compass meme). And yet, for the majority of Chinese history, most people - or at least most people who left behind written records - were both Confucian and Taoist.

There are also various blends of religions in South Asia, including Sufism, Sikhism (both Islam + Hinduism), various schools of Hinduism + Buddhism, and Navayana Buddhism (Buddhism + Marxism). Mentioning these to fundamentalists of any of the pure religions is not recommended.

Their laptops were running Windows / Linux, and this article is saying that while they initially planned to shift to HarmonyOS Next, they are now likely to stay with Linux.

Also, while HarmonyOS Next is proprietary, the kernel (Hongmeng, a microkernel optimised for arm64 and with a Linux compatibility layer) and large parts of the underlying code (OpenHarmony) are open-source. Sort of like Android and AOSP. The ‘optimised for arm64’ thing might be why they are sticking with Linux - the laptops mostly use Intel x86 chips.

It really depends on who your friend is, and who they are trying to defenf against.

If the US ( or Russian / Chinese) government really wants to access an internet-connected device, they can do it; what app you are using doesn’t even matter. For example, most people use the default Google keyboard, which could be compromised.

If the concern is about local goons / employers / coworkers, then both Telegram and Signal are more than enough to stop them prying.

As for whether to use Signal or Telegram, Signal has end to end encryption enabled by default, while in Telegram you have to switch it on for each chat. On the other hand, Telegram has the best UI among messaging apps hands down.

Debian already has an ARM version. Do you mean some Qualcomm drivers are missing? There are already Ubuntu ROMs for Android phones, so this shouldn’t be an issue, right?

It messes up object arrangement. This is technically Microsoft’s fault, but that doesn’t help when you want to communicate clearly with a MS Office user.