Nah, I’m pretty sure it just requires giving the background AI agent admin privileges.
The agent can already accidentally spend millions of dollars on tokens, apparently, so admin powers don’t actually make it all that much more dangerous
At my work, the IT decided that employees should not be allowed to modify this setting for some reason, and it is set to go to sleep if inactive, it is so frustrating. I don’t use agents but still had situation that I wanted to have something running when being on lunch for example.
We have to do that because the entire HR department can’t figure out how to lock their computers and they keep leaving PII up on their screen while they are out at lunch.
You can, but the C suite doesn’t want the trouble of finding out who is fucking it up, and they don’t want to look like they are singling out any particular person or group, so they just tell us to set it as company standard policy. For everyone except them of course.
This is also a joke about AI users. There was an article about them leaving their laptop screens open so their vibe coding would continue. Most of them use windows but don’t know how to change the power settings for closed lid/screen.
On the CLI or with 3rd party software yes, in the system settings no.
Edit: Or when an external display is attached it does it automatically, which is also not tunable. If I wasn’t forced to at work I’d never use this OS.
Agreed, you have my sympathies. For work I only need to use Windows in a VM at least, because of shitty tooling from the manufacturer of some of our equipment.
Their support agents also need to use Windows, what they need to do just to get sensible SSH and serial line handling looks annoying.
Windows is a privacy nightmare, but on the other hand it has the by far biggest catalogue of software, including FOSS. The biggest problem is the privacy (less in the EU 1) and the huge amount of crap, AI’s, services which nobody needs, telemetries, bloatware and trials which include by default slowing down a lot the performance.
But all these a advanced user can gut and fix, even if it isn’t easy to find all the needed settings in a jungle of indocumented submenus.
In any case Windows permits by far more interactions and settings by the user than a Mac.
Best is Linux (not all distros!), but Windows isn’t worse than Mac (it’s only in it’s default settings which everybody and companies use), but the other way arround and way less greedy and commercial centric than Apple, apart with way better compatibilities, Apple is only compatible with Apple.
It doesn’t depend on the software. This is a decision my company made for all of the ten thousands of employees, not because we use software from Adobe, but because they want the same conditions for everyone so that they can manage them “easily”.
Big companies are not very flexible in those regards
Tell me you’ve never worked at a large company without telling me you’ve never worked at a large company.
This is pretty standard policy and has been true everywhere I’ve ever worked. In order to maintain any amount of security or stability, you’ll need everyone not only in the same OS, but will prescribe the specific updates/patches that need to be applied. Depending on the industry, you may also need to approve things anywhere from the level of individual applications to device drivers.
Actually they patched wine back in January to fix install and authentication issues with the creative cloud app. Some people have gotten the current version of Photoshop installed and it is usable. The rest of the stuff… Not so much.
Or do what we’ve already been doing for ages? Let the agent run on a remote server and just use your laptop to ssh into that server when your input is needed.
The entire chassis metal, and thermals sort of suck. I believe a lot of heat will come through the area around the keyboard. I wouldn’t want to trap all of that.
One of the nice things about a metal chassis is that it conducts heat very well. Now obviously, the screen isn’t metal so closing the lid probably does trap some heat but the metal chassis itself does not trap heat, it absorbs it and then radiates it to the outside world.
This can indeed give the impression that heat generation is excessive in a metal chassis laptop, or that the thermals suck as you say, because the case can get warm or even hot very quickly. But that is actually because the chassis allows the heat to escape.
On the other hand, a plastic chassis will stay much cooler on the outside because it is very effectively trapping the heat and only forcing airflow with a fan allows the computer to stay at an appropriate internal temperature.
In other words; if all other parameters are the same, a laptop inside a metal chassis will have a lower internal temperature and a higher external temp, while one in a plastic case will have a higher internal temperature but the outside of the case will be cooler.
Send my ASUS sends a lot of its own waste heat through the frame around the keyboard as well. I would not want to trap any of that s*** with GPU intensive activities.
All the Macs use M-series chips now… the heat is not a concern. Mine is closed constantly with external monitors and keyboard and never throttles or gets monstrously hot like the old Intel Macs.
I’m still confused here… Can you explain what Linux, an extra switch, and power management have to do with “prompt engineers” not knowing how to disable sleep on their MacBooks?
I know this is a joke post, but can’t you not just tell macos to only turn off the screen but keep the machine running?
Of course you can.
But that would… You know… Require someone thinking for themselves.
We can’t have that now can we?
People might get ideas.
Nah, I’m pretty sure it just requires giving the background AI agent admin privileges. The agent can already accidentally spend millions of dollars on tokens, apparently, so admin powers don’t actually make it all that much more dangerous
/s
At my work, the IT decided that employees should not be allowed to modify this setting for some reason, and it is set to go to sleep if inactive, it is so frustrating. I don’t use agents but still had situation that I wanted to have something running when being on lunch for example.
We have to do that because the entire HR department can’t figure out how to lock their computers and they keep leaving PII up on their screen while they are out at lunch.
But you can specify different policies for different groups, no?
Also the setting I was looking for is to have screen locked but still have computer running.
You can, but the C suite doesn’t want the trouble of finding out who is fucking it up, and they don’t want to look like they are singling out any particular person or group, so they just tell us to set it as company standard policy. For everyone except them of course.
My mcp server won’t change it for me so therefore it’s impossible.
This is also a joke about AI users. There was an article about them leaving their laptop screens open so their vibe coding would continue. Most of them use windows but don’t know how to change the power settings for closed lid/screen.
On the CLI or with 3rd party software yes, in the system settings no.
Edit: Or when an external display is attached it does it automatically, which is also not tunable. If I wasn’t forced to at work I’d never use this OS.
It’s better than Windows. I’m forced to use Windows at work and I want to go back to macOS.
Agreed, you have my sympathies. For work I only need to use Windows in a VM at least, because of shitty tooling from the manufacturer of some of our equipment.
Their support agents also need to use Windows, what they need to do just to get sensible SSH and serial line handling looks annoying.
Here’s the kicker. I don’t need windows for anything, but the device management software is a few euro cheaper in the windows version.
Windows is a privacy nightmare, but on the other hand it has the by far biggest catalogue of software, including FOSS. The biggest problem is the privacy (less in the EU 1) and the huge amount of crap, AI’s, services which nobody needs, telemetries, bloatware and trials which include by default slowing down a lot the performance. But all these a advanced user can gut and fix, even if it isn’t easy to find all the needed settings in a jungle of indocumented submenus.
In any case Windows permits by far more interactions and settings by the user than a Mac. Best is Linux (not all distros!), but Windows isn’t worse than Mac (it’s only in it’s default settings which everybody and companies use), but the other way arround and way less greedy and commercial centric than Apple, apart with way better compatibilities, Apple is only compatible with Apple.
1
Oof! That’s even worse.
Just use Linux bro
I’ll just tell that to IT boss, with your credentials as ‘some person on the internet’ I should get one in a few hours.
It all depends what software you use. If you run blender, it actually might be a solution. If you use Adobe products, then probably not.
It doesn’t depend on the software. This is a decision my company made for all of the ten thousands of employees, not because we use software from Adobe, but because they want the same conditions for everyone so that they can manage them “easily”.
Big companies are not very flexible in those regards
Shit company, shit policy. If it’s not software dependent then you should be free to pick the environment that’s you’re most productive with
Tell me you’ve never worked at a large company without telling me you’ve never worked at a large company.
This is pretty standard policy and has been true everywhere I’ve ever worked. In order to maintain any amount of security or stability, you’ll need everyone not only in the same OS, but will prescribe the specific updates/patches that need to be applied. Depending on the industry, you may also need to approve things anywhere from the level of individual applications to device drivers.
You know what is great about using Adobe products on Linux?
You can’t!
Actually they patched wine back in January to fix install and authentication issues with the creative cloud app. Some people have gotten the current version of Photoshop installed and it is usable. The rest of the stuff… Not so much.
https://www.caffeine-app.net/en/
Or do what we’ve already been doing for ages? Let the agent run on a remote server and just use your laptop to ssh into that server when your input is needed.
Ofcourse you can hold it wrong or pay Apple even more and do it right.
I would be happy if I could disable the built in screen when a secondary one is connected.
The amount of shit Linux would get from windows users if that wasn’t possible.
What OS can you not do this?
MacOS
Yes but the air intake is through the keyboard so if you are leaving it on a long running computer heavy task it is better to leave it open.
Or at least that’s how it used to be. The design has changed several times since I last did that.
The entire chassis metal, and thermals sort of suck. I believe a lot of heat will come through the area around the keyboard. I wouldn’t want to trap all of that.
I develop on a MacBook Pro and use it closed 99% of the time.
Thermals have never been an issue, it does have venting.
It would be sad if a $2000 laptop had problems with cooling
The macbook pro I’m forced to use at work is constantly sounding like a jet engine taking off and the keyboard is still hot as fuck.
Maybe your work loads are light.
I program as well. And when I’m programming I’m not doing anything GPU intensive.
One of the nice things about a metal chassis is that it conducts heat very well. Now obviously, the screen isn’t metal so closing the lid probably does trap some heat but the metal chassis itself does not trap heat, it absorbs it and then radiates it to the outside world.
This can indeed give the impression that heat generation is excessive in a metal chassis laptop, or that the thermals suck as you say, because the case can get warm or even hot very quickly. But that is actually because the chassis allows the heat to escape.
On the other hand, a plastic chassis will stay much cooler on the outside because it is very effectively trapping the heat and only forcing airflow with a fan allows the computer to stay at an appropriate internal temperature.
In other words; if all other parameters are the same, a laptop inside a metal chassis will have a lower internal temperature and a higher external temp, while one in a plastic case will have a higher internal temperature but the outside of the case will be cooler.
My ACER leaves the cooling crevices free with the lid closed, no heat accumulation.
Thermals do suck on Apple laptops.
Send my ASUS sends a lot of its own waste heat through the frame around the keyboard as well. I would not want to trap any of that s*** with GPU intensive activities.
I’d worry about the heat damaging the screen tbh
All the Macs use M-series chips now… the heat is not a concern. Mine is closed constantly with external monitors and keyboard and never throttles or gets monstrously hot like the old Intel Macs.
depending on your build, putting an extra switch disconnecting lid switch could be a better idea because power management is hell on linux
MacOS is not linux? Maybe BSD if you go back far enough.
macos users have budget for these objects
I’m still confused here… Can you explain what Linux, an extra switch, and power management have to do with “prompt engineers” not knowing how to disable sleep on their MacBooks?
Probably not, because Apple need to sell this clamp