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mattinoz said:

Total votes 152,319,830
population  346,388,480 people 

So more than half didn’t vote for anyone.
they each got more than a 1/5 but less than a 1/4.

Sure a 1/3 are generally underage or otherwise in capable.
still at 80mill non voters are still the next biggest group after the young. 

I think it's best to flesh out the numbers a bit more when engaging in these numerical discussions..

As of January 1, 2025, the population of the United States was 341,145,670, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So it's clear the number depends on your source.  But both your number and mine aren't too terrible different.

Total number of votes cast as of today seems to be 155,211,283 as per this source. But counting is still ongoing.

Voting Age population has been estimated by one source to be 78%, which is roughly: 266,092,623 people.
So based on that number, if accurate, the turnout rate for the Nov. '24 election would be 58.3%.

Other estimates of the number of 18 and older people in the US peg it at 260,046,087 people.

Galfan said:

My god…..I was thinking when I purchased my M1 Max 16 inch I would be fine for 4-5 years but this might consider me upgrading this year….also because I noticed the GPU is hitting the limit sometimes but also that with my new function I need more headroom for bigger projects with the CPU.

I too have an M1 Max 16" MBP and I edit 10-bit 4K videos in FCPX, but I've not run up against performance issues that necessitate an upgrade.  Sure, the extra speed of the M4 Max would be fun, but it's not an absolute necessity.  Perhaps when they release the M5, they'll finally have WIFI 7 support, and then it may be time to pull the trigger on a purchase.  Maybe by then they will finally add FaceID and make the notch much more useful.

As I've mentioned under other articles in the past, my experience with ChatGPT4o isn't that great.  I want like to use it to check multiple online sources quickly, in the hope it can Google faster than I can on my own.  And it is fast.  But the problem is, it lies a lot.  So I always ask it for sources.  Then it gives me stupid links that when clicked on, open nothing.  So I have to then as it for plain text URLs.  It complies, but none of them ever work.  EVER!  They lead to the expected domain, but they always result a 404 file not found.  ALWAYS!  I then complain to ChatGPT saying it needs to read the articles it links for me to ensure the article truly exists and exists at the plain text URL it will give to me.  It apologizes and seemingly complies, but it continues to give me more bogus URLs.  I have repeated that cycle multiple times in a row, until my free sessions with GPT4o expires.  It never learns from its mistakes.  It never gets it right.  I've been using it for months, and it hasn't improved at all in that regard.  So I mostly find it useless.  And this experience remains valid even if some GPT lover comes along a raves about how well it summarizes text.  Fine and well, but it still lies and gives bogus URLs to its source info.  

This is why I won't shed many tears when and if OpenAI finally goes under.  There was so much promise with their creation.  But they've not done anything I can see to show it's worthy of sticking around when the funds run dry.  Let a better company come along and do an actual good job on AI for once.  Whether that can be Apple or not is yet to be seen.  Apple did come out with Apple Maps despite the global love for Google Maps, so you never know.  They may release their own ChatGPT style AI chatbot one day, with true intelligence that doesn't lie and gives working URLs.

Wesley Hilliard said:

All information is biased and underneath is some basis in truth unless the source is outright lying. Hiding from sources you disagree with because you don't like the truth doesn't make you clever. It makes you ignorant and if anything, more biased. The only news sources you have left are conspiracy theorists and people willing to say anything to line their pockets.

Whatever you believe, I wouldn't side with the ones actively trying to remove rights from its own citizens in the so-called "land of the free." White cis men with middle class or better incomes might have fared better under Trump, but no one else did. Women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and people of color's rights all suffered, and things would only get worse as Trump plans to attack child care, health care, social security, and retirement because he and his see government assistance as "socialism."

The only ones that benefit from Trump are rich stock holders and business owners, which thanks to systemic racism, is majority white.

I used to respect the Republican Party until it died and was replaced by the racist, hate filled MAGA extremists. There's nothing left of the old party. Just brainless sycophants that can't say anything bad about Trump on TV or else get razed on the failed Truth Social by the man on his gold toilet watching Fox News.

If me wanting to see a better America where all of its citizens can prosper no matter their race, religion, or gender is "leftist propaganda," I'd hate to see what people think the country should be like. It's time for us to love our neighbor and mind our own damn business.

BTW: The people talking about the pet thing, it's a proven hoax. The person initially spreading the lie said they never had firsthand knowledge of anyone doing it. The so-called secret bodycam footage is old and from an incident that didn't occur in Springfield nor did it involve an immigrant of any kind. Talk about propaganda, the pet eating stuff is classic racist nonsense meant to drive people to hate a specific group of people. It dehumanizes the group so you don't feel so bad when you drive them from their homes. But I suppose it's hard to know the facts if you ignore all the sources that report the news.

This is my rebuttal to Wesley and to the 12 people who clicked Like on his post in support of what he wrote.

That defensive argument, written by a journalist, saying that "all info is biased" is poppycock in that not all info is EQUALLY BIASED!  That is key.  Anyone who read and properly understood my earlier post about the bulk of American "journalism" (which is often more "entertainment" than true journalism), is so biased it falls into the category of "propaganda."  Yes, the same term we use for the government-controlled news media of North Korea.

Next, the statement that says "hiding from sources you disagree with because you don't like the truth" is also poppycock for the same reason.  Such a ridiculous statement can basically be used to chastise anyone who refuses to listen to North Korea state media because those folks are somehow "hiding from the truth."

Marvin said:

Keeping support for it on computers is what keeps manufacturers making the products with USB-A. 

You and I and everybody else in this thread are mainly talking about Apple here, not the PC world.  And even when we talk about PCs, we're talking to eachother — Apple users.  Since the world is dominated by Windoze (proper spelling) PCs, what goes on in that dark and silly world impacts us in the Mac world.  For that reason (and despite the silly remarks of Chasm), USB-A really is here to stay, whether we like it or not.  And even though you did say "All computer manufacturers should start dropping USB-A," what we say in this forum doesn't dictate what the Pee See (correct spelling) world will do, nor will a decision by Apple to drop all USB-A ports on the Mac Mini dictate what the Windoze PC world will do.  And so, if only Apple is dropping USB-A, and if we still are blasted with USB-A devices for years to come, the need for a USB-A port to avoid another STUPID DONGLE is key.

By the way, I just bought the single best 1TB Thumbdrive SSD today on Amazon only 1 hour ago, and guess what?  The connector only comes in USB-A.  Check it out too, because it beats any other thumb drive out there.  Pretty incredible.  And yeah, I'll need to use a STUPID DONGLE with it on my 16" M1 Max MBP, although my 2015 5K iMac at the office can accept USB-A without dongles.  I may buy a Mac Mini in the near future, so all this talk has meaning for me.  I would buy an M4 Mini with or without a USB-A port, but I would be FAR HAPPIER with it.  And honestly, it doesn't matter to me of the rest of you feel differently.  I buy things for my own satisfaction, not any of yours.

And there you have it.