ChatGPT Plus for all ... in the UAE: https://www.thearabianstories.com/2025/05/25/free-ai-for-all-uae-becomes-first-to-offer-chatgpt-plus-to-every-resident-and-citizen/ "ChatGPT Plus" is something that costs $20/month if we want it. The UAE has struck a deal with OpenAI to make ChatGPT Plus available to all the citizens and residents of the UAE at no cost to them.

@Steve-Miller Spot on wtg, Thanks for posting .

Looks like a great way to spend a holiday. Big Al

@Bernard It was fortunate in one way. The storm occurred near the end of May so the weather otherwise was fairly mild. It's hard to access the panes on a glass building that large. It took them most of the summer before they completed the repairs and all the portions of the buildings could be reopened to the public. Big Al

@Piano-Dad Yes, I know how to reach you. We do have some folks who signed up and who have either never posted or haven't posted in a long time. I don't want to pester them with updates unless they want to be pestered. You can choose the option to hide your email address from casual observers, but people with superpowers can see that info. Mostly I just wanted to know who wants to be notified if we have a major outage. Additionally, a few folks who signed up early might not have had to provide an email address to create a user ID because registration was open and didn't require authorization by an admin or mod. Eventually we locked the door and deleted all the spammers who had signed up while this was the backup site. I just wanted people to check their profile and see if they have an email addy where they can be reached.

@RealPlayer Boring can be good. A happy belated birthday. Big Al

Who was there, and a photo of The President in his "personal time" speaking in front of American flags and the presidential seal. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/23/trump-meme-coin-dinner.htmlOk

I'm kinda looking forward to a decision by an incoming Democratic president, say on Jan. 21, 2029, to kill the entire program no matter how much Musk has been promised and has "invested" in gearing up to produce the system. This is presuming (as is likely, I think) that the system will be a substantial grift that offers little meaningful protection.

Lawsuits and marches are as effective as thoughts and prayers against this regime.

I follow HCR via her substack to my email, and also in my FB feed. And on Bluesky, too. I’ll always see her somewhere!

Oopsie!