I know people in state gov who couldn’t even use CoPilot (blocked by firewall) until an explicit contract was put in place with Microsoft about data handling. (On top of their existing Microsoft contracts.) All other LLM’s, ML, or “AI” are blocked unless approved, as well.
Seems like the federal government does not have its shit together.
Me, with an empty takeout soup bowl: “I’m a job creator!”
The little nub on the top is a LIDAR module.
I wonder if an upside down cup will fit over it.
I wouldn’t say I ‘run’ it, but I mess around with it
I have a base level Mac Mini I got before the price increase a few years ago, also from when models were smaller and my ambitions were less. I’ve contemplated upgrading it, but I have other things to spend my money on.
M4 processor, 16 gb ram, 256 gb storage, and a 4tb external HDD drive (an old NAS drive).
It’s fine. It’s mostly a docker machine, but I do throw AI tasks at it a few times a week. Mostly stuff that I just let it chew on for 5-10 minutes and come back to.
I run openwebui, and have several models I bounce between. I mostly run Gemma4 (Google) and Granite4.2:8B (IBM).
Editing to add: the self hosted version of all these models, via llama, just in case that was unclear.
I know one single person who uses a Mac as a personal device that isn’t involved in some sort of deep internet technology field. He works in biotechnology and got tired of wasting time and effort on Windows problems.
As for the rest? They use windows systems every day for work, where they’re often either fixing the internet or fixing people’s windows computers. They just prefer Mac for personal use.
I’ve begun to feel like people who trash talk Mac users are the ones who aren’t technically capable - or at least not adaptable. I can fix almost any Mac or Windows issue, and can muddle through most *nix problems. I just don’t want that to be my identity. I got more important things to do.
I’ve had the same MacBook Pro for 5 years now. I code on it, do graphic design, 3d model, play Steam games, and obviously use it as an internet device. It’s never given me a problem, and I imagine it’ll keep going for at least another 3-5 years. It’s fucking awesome, and “just works.”
Joke’s on you: my opinions are just as bad.
I’m annoyed when a bloodbath on Wall Street is reported and 1.) the blood in question is metaphorical; 2.) it’s the retirement funds of average people that suffer because those who make a living gambling on these stocks have a lot more flexibility to dance around changing market conditions (and take tax write offs if they do manage to lose money).