You might be more paranoid than I am, but I check every unexpected link from messages claiming to be businesses if I open them at all. Usually I’ll go to their website and check for what the message claims if it seems plausible.

Sound like the vehicles are not safe enough for use on public roads.

The Steam Deck has an absolutely fantastic set of inputs. If the new controller comes with the all the same bells and whistles then it will be well worth the price.

No one in the western world who has a smart phone is not aware of phone scams. Everyone has been told not to trust random links in text messages, usually by the banks and businesses that are being used in these scams, but 'just this time, it looks safe, they’ve always been safe before."

This kind of online-safety thinking needs to be drilled into people like wearing seatbelts and brushing your teeth.

Only a problem if you follow random links you get in your messages. So old people and the technologically illiterate.

China is different from the western world.

Western corps have money in mind when they collect data, whether legally or illegally, and use it to increase sales or fuck over competitors. They don’t work together in a coordinated way to help a particular government work an agenda.

All Chinese corps that work internationally are compelled to work for the party. If that means allowing access to customer data or actively collecting certain types of data then they do it. This means it’s possible to correlate massive amounts of data from many sources in a way that is not feasible for western governments.

Consider, what if China wanted to know where the PM was at any point in time, anywhere in the world? They have access to data collected by every Chinese phone app and every Chinese EV. They could start by identifying the devices owned by the PM’s staff or friends via TikTok, WeChat, Aliexpress, Temu, or a car’s user profile. A lot of users just click “allow all” which gives the app access to contacts, browsing data, etc.

From there they could identify the PM’s devices, even if they have no Chinese software on them, by correlating the mac addresses of devices and their location. If he makes a public appearance and several identified people are seen with him then it gets even easier. Once the PM’s devices’ mac addresses are identified they can be tracked anytime they, or his staff, get within 100 feet of a BYD car or phone running a Chinese app (where the user enabled all privileges).

Chinese businesses don’t get the loans they need to grow if they are not 100% inline with the party. BYD may not be a genocidal slave owner but they will support China’s decisions every step of the way.

They really did a min-maxed speedrun of capitalism. The rich get to be rich, the government gets to imprison, enslave, and execute anyone who doesn’t support them, and that let them undercut all the existing big names in manufacturing. I would bet that there is a Chinese manufactured part in every home in the world that also has electricity and plumbing.

Open Source! When you can audit the software you know what’s going on!

Any other government would have to work with manufactures operating in other countries, it would be a big project to get all the different parties involved on the same page quietly.

The Chinese government can dictate what Chinese manufactures do, there is no negotiating or wrangling, just you do it or you are replaced by someone who can. Non compliant business don’t get to be international businesses.

What data though? With thousands of cars that can connect to cell networks, wifi networks, bluetooth devices, and gps you get a fleet of war drivers.

By corrilating times, locations and mac addresses it would be trivial to find and track individuals using their personal devices.

Yes any government COULD do this but there would be loads of red tape and negotiating with manufactures. Chinese manufactures have no choice, they ship surveillance software when they are told to or they don’t get to sell internationally.

Because a bunch of ‘Canadians’ in high places are about to make some money.

Because stellantis makes shitty vehicles in general.

China uses slavery and genocide to get ahead economically. Maybe we should be avoiding both.

(2) In bulk Canadians are only a hair ahead of americans in decision making skills. And a quiet minority makes a lot of money with Ford at the wheel.

(1) That quiet minority makes sure it will never be investigated.

Normally when you start a war there is months of planning and prep to make sure all your troops stay armed, fueled, and fed. You don’t ‘yolo, war tomorrow’ and ship eveyone out.

Why use a 6" screen when there is a fullsized monitor available? Phones are overgrown toys designed to funnel crap into the eyes of the technologically illiterate.

I feel like they are going to learn the wrong one.

Get ready for pocket-less uniforms, paid for by the employee, and mandatory pat-downs before entering the workplace.

Tax by weight and footprint on the road.

Honestly, I have no fucking clue what Roblox even looks like. I have been hearing about it for years but not a single forum post or article has ever had a screenshot.

Amateur hour. I’m gonna start a tools of revolution as a service company! Stabr! For only 4.99/mo you will have access to a p-Fork series device that tracks not only total stabs, but also stabs per minute and the net worth of stabbed oligarchs! For only 2.99/mo more you can get the charging+sharpening base station!