It’s interesting you bring up pascal’s wager, because the first time was introduced to me it was basically a clear-cut example of a logical fallacy.

Probably because it is a clear cut example of a logical fallacy. The whole thing was an exercise in question begging via it’s unstated assumptions.

fTPM is firmware TPM, it is not physical.

Sounds like your cat is either defective or doesn’t like you. A well adjusted cat will demand cuddles in this situation and only make an attempt on your life if you refuse.

If they can get it on iPhone, it’s game over.

While this is true, I struggle to understand how Apple would stand to gain from implementing this unless it had already become a widespread standard. It’s also an opportunity for more privacy focused marketing if they oppose it, just like they do with government attempts to force them to implement backdoors into iOS.

THEN, after calling them up and explaining the situation, they apologized and said they’d dismiss the charge–which they failed to do

That sounds about right. When I was in college I got a speeding ticket halfway in between the college town and the city my parents lived in. Couldn’t afford the fine due to being a poor college student, and called the court and asked if an extension was possible. They told me absolutely, how long do you need, and then I started saving up. Shortly before I had enough, I got a call from my Mom that she had received a letter saying there was a bench warrant for my arrest over the fine

For fully remote anywhere in the midwest is good as long as you don’t need the big city nightlife. You can buy a starter house in the rich parts of KC for 500k, or a nice house in the middle-class areas.