@akrennmair@mastodon.beer
@akrennmair@mastodon.beer avatar

akrennmair

@akrennmair@mastodon.beer

🇦🇹 living in 🇩🇪. Software developer. I like, brew and write about beer.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

tagesschau, to random German
@tagesschau@ard.social avatar

Bier nicht mehr im Trend

Brauereien sprechen von einem rabenschwarzen Jahr 2023: In den zurückliegenden 30 Jahren ist der Bierabsatz in Deutschland um mehr als ein Viertel zurückgegangen. Auch die Exporte sind rückläufig.

➡️ https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/verbraucher/bier-bierkonsum-100.html?at_medium=mastodon&at_campaign=tagesschau.de

Franziska_Naja, to random German

Eine meiner allerliebsten Lieblings-Brauerein braucht Support, weil sie den Standort wechseln müssen. Falls ihr unterstützen wollt/könnt...
"Liebe Freunde der Schneeeule, vor nunmehr knapp einem Jahrzehnt hatte Ulrike Genz den innigen Wunsch, den damals fast vergessenen Bierstil…"
https://www.instagram.com/p/C2xiw8ZIpo6/

Rettet ein Stück beiner Bierkultur. Mit niedlicher Eule als Bild

rodhilton, to random
@rodhilton@mastodon.social avatar

I really think all these tech companies are going to be in rough shape when the other shoe drops.

Yes, right now, it's making a lot of sense to their bottom line. Record-breaking profits can surely be even more record-breaking if you slice headcount. Yes, a correction after pandemic hiring is likely in order.

But fostering an industry culture where everyone is afraid of being laid off all the time is not going to work out well long term.

rodhilton,
@rodhilton@mastodon.social avatar

All of the collective community support engineers offered to each other was a low-layoff-phenomenon.

I've worked in environments where employees are stack-ranked and the bottom x% is removed each cycle. One thing you will notice in those environments is there's no such thing as going into Slack and asking for help. Nobody will help you. The more you struggle, the less likely they are to get canned.

elizabethtasker, to random
@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

Here's today's press release for JAXA's SLIM lunar landing!

TL;DR:

Pinpoint site identification was crazily successful.

We were lowering into position, detecting boulders like a champ.

THEN ONE OF THE ENGINES DROPPED OFF.

(I kid you not)

(we don't know why yet)

(maybe space pirates)

But we still soft-landed on 1 engine.

(TAKE THAT SPACE PIRATES!)

but on our head.

Strangely, might not be a big deal once the Sun moves round to the other side of the spacecraft.

https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2024/01/20240125-1_e.html

goncourt, to random German
@goncourt@mastodon.social avatar

[Ich habe zugegeben auch ein bisschen Ehrfurcht, wenn ich an der ehemaligen Stollwerck-Fabrik vorbeikomme, in deren Nähe ich wohne. Es waren unter anderem auch Musiker von Can wie Liebezeit und Suzuki an der Besetzung beteiligt.] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stollwerckbesetzung

kid37,

@goncourt Auch ein Stück Kommunikationsgeschichte: Damals betrieben einige Funkamateure eine Station im Stollwerck und vernetzten sich 1980 mit der ebenfalls besetzten Adler-Brauerei in Wuppertal, wo ebenfalls ein Sendebetrieb auf dem 80-Meter-Band aufgenommen wurde. (War ein schmaler Grat entlang der Lizenzbestimmungen, die politische Betätigung untersagen.)

https://www.bergischeblaetter.de/wuppertal-adler-brauerei-gustav-dierichs/

thomasfuchs, to random
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io avatar

38 years ago

(full text at https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1986-11_OCR/page/n93/mode/2up?view=theater)

sjvn, to random
@sjvn@mastodon.social avatar

I love Elle Cordova and her clever, funny videos. This one is for all my writer and editor friends.

video/mp4

18+ scy, (edited ) to berlin German
@scy@chaos.social avatar

Okay, kann mir jemand erklären, warum Pankow im "Amtlichen Liegenschaftskatasterinformationssystem" (ALKIS, haha) ein Loch bei 52.642049, 13.433791 hat?

https://fbinter.stadt-berlin.de/fb/index.jsp?loginkey=zoomStart&mapId=k_alkis_bezirke@senstadt&bbox=393724,5833413,394309,5833706

Ich seh da weder in OSM noch auf nem Luftbild irgendne Struktur, die diese Form hat, aber auf der ALKIS-Karte ist da irgendwas gestricheltes, und dieses Loch ist dann auch z.B. in Open-Data-Exporten von Pankow.

Edit: Gelöst, siehe Reply.

vaurora, to random
@vaurora@wandering.shop avatar

From Atlassian’s remote work study: Team gatherings increase sense of belonging for 4-5 months, but sporadic office attendance does not

https://atlassianblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/lessonslearned.pdf

wikipedia, (edited ) to random
@wikipedia@wikis.world avatar

We are obsessed with "Wikiflix," a streaming site full of freely-licensed films from Wikimedia Commons! It was created by legendary Wikimedian @magnusmanske

https://wikidata-todo.toolforge.org/wikiflix/#/

blog, to ai
@blog@shkspr.mobi avatar

The (theoretical) risks of open sourcing (imaginary) Government LLMs
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/the-theoretical-risks-of-open-sourcing-imaginary-government-llms/

Last week I attended an unofficial discussion group about the future of AI in Government. As well as the crypto-bores who have suddenly pivoted their "expertise" into AI, there were lots of thoughtful suggestions about what AI could do well at a state level.

Some of it is trivial - spell check is AI. Some of it is a dystopian hellscape of racist algorithms being confidently incorrect. The reality is likely to be somewhat prosaic.

Although I'm no longer a civil servant, I still enjoy going to these events and saying "But what about open source, eh?" - then I stroke my beard in a wise-looking fashion and help facilitate the conversation.

For many years, my role in Cabinet Office and DHSC was to shout the words "OPEN SOURCE" at anyone who would listen. Then patiently demolish their arguments when they refused to release something on GitHub. But I find myself somewhat troubled when it comes to AI models.

Let's take a theoretical example. Suppose the Government trains an AI to assess appeals to, say, benefits sanctions. An AI is fed the text of all the written appeals and told which ones are successful and which ones aren't. It can now read a new appeal and decide whether it is successful of not. Now let's open source it.

For the hard of thinking - this is not something that exists. It is not official policy. It was not proposed as a solution. I am using it as a made-up example.

What does it mean to open source an AI? Generally speaking, it means releasing some or all of the following.

  1. The training data.
  2. The weights assigned to the training data.
  3. The final model.

I think it is fairly obvious that releasing the training data of this hypothetical example is a bad idea. Appellants have not consented to having their correspondence published. It may contain deeply personal and private information. Releasing this data is not ethical.

Releasing how the data is trained is probably fine. It would allow observers to see what biases the model has encoded in it. Other departments could use the model to train their own AI. So I (cautiously) support the opening of that code.

But training weights without the associated data is kind of useless. Without the data, you're unable to understand what's going on behind the scenes.

Lastly, the complete model. Again, I find this problematic. There are two main risks. The first is that someone can repeatedly test the model to find weaknesses. I don't believe in "security through obscurity" - but allowing someone to play "Groundhog Day" with a model is risky. It could allow someone to hone their answers to guarantee that their appeal would be successful. Or, more worryingly, it could find a lexical exploit which can hypnotise the AI into producing unwanted results.

Even if that weren't a concern, it appears some AI models can be coerced into regurgitating their training data - as discovered by the New York Times:

The complaint cited examples of OpenAI’s GPT-4 spitting out large portions of news articles from the Times ... It also cited outputs from Bing Chat that it said included verbatim excerpts from Times articles.
NY Times copyright suit wants OpenAI to delete all GPT instances

Even if a Government department didn't release its training data - those data are still embedded in the model and it may be able to reconstruct them. So any sensitive or personal training data might be able to be reconstructed.

Once again, to be crystal clear, the system I am describing doesn't exist. No one has commissioned it. This is a thought experiment by people who do not work in Government.

So where does that leave us?

I am 100% a staunch advocate for open source. Public Money means Public Code. Make Things Open It Makes Things Better.

But...

It seems clear to me that releasing training data is probably not possible - unless the AI is trained on data which is entirely safe / legal to make public.

Without the training data, the way it is trained is of limited use. It should probably be opened, but would be hard to assess.

The final model can only be safely released if the training data is safe to release.

What next?

I'll admit, this troubles me.

I want to live in a world where the data and algorithms which rule the world are transparent to us. There will be plenty of AI systems which can and should be completely open - nose-to-tail. But there will be algorithms trained on sensitive data - and I can't see any safe, legal, or moral way of opening them.

Again, I want to stress that this particular example is a figment of my imagination. But at some point this will have to be reckoned with.

I'm glad this isn't my problem any more!

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/01/the-theoretical-risks-of-open-sourcing-imaginary-government-llms/

petergleick, to random

Nine confirmed measles cases in unvaccinated children in Pennsylvania reminds me of the Emily Flake cartoon.

https://www.phila.gov/2024-01-04-health-department-cautions-philadelphians-about-recent-measles-cases/

patto1ro, to beer

Brewing Yorkshire Stingo the traditional way.
https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2024/01/brewing-yorkshire-stingo.html

resingm, to ipv6

CZ.NIC set an end to on June 06, 2032 in the Czech Republic. This leaves operators about 300 days to go . As a German, I hope that this puts pressure on all European ISPs.

More to read: https://konecipv4.cz/en/

nblr, to random

German place-names rendered into English (morphologically reconstructed with attention to ultimate etymology and sound evolution processes).
…and vice-versa.

Source and discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/Toponymy/comments/hv1mrv/england_wales_placenames_rendered_into_high/

map of england (find a list of place names for both maps in the link)

boakandbailey, to beer
@boakandbailey@mastodon.online avatar

MORNING! Our regular round-up of news and links is up on the blog, with notes on North Brewing, cosy pubs, cold pubs, lagering times, bootleg Corona and UK brewery taker-overs Breal Capital.

https://boakandbailey.com/2024/01/news-nuggets-and-longreads-20-january-2024-wintermute/

leonido, to random German
@leonido@chaos.social avatar

Seit ich mich 2020 zum ersten Mal näher mit René Benkos -Gruppe beschäftigt habe, bemühe ich mich, deren fragwürdiges Geschäftsmodell auch für Nicht-BWLer:innen verständlich zu erklären.

Aber erst jetzt habe ich endlich die Zeit gefunden, das als Video für das @moment_magazin zu tun. Und ich prahle nicht damit, aber ich durfte dafür ausnahmsweise statt @blahabarbara ihre Kolumne "Moment Mal!" bespielen. Check it out!

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrzaEuMDwLY

Skript: https://www.moment.at/story/rene-benko-tricks-signa

bontchev, to random

"Do Users Write More Insecure Code with AI Assistants?" (PDF):

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2211.03622.pdf

Spoiler: Yep.

johncarlosbaez, (edited ) to random
@johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Camembert is an endangered species! It relies on a mold that had lost the ability to reproduce sexually... and now, thanks to inbreeding, this mold has also lost the ability to reproduce using spores. Roquefort is also in trouble, but for Camembert it's worse:

"The world over, this other symbol of French gastronomy is inoculated exclusively with one single strain of Penicillium camemberti, a white mutant that was selected for Brie cheeses in 1898 and Camemberts in 1902.

The problem is that ever since then the strain has been replicated by vegetative propagation only. Until the 1950s, Camemberts still had grey, green or in some cases orange-tinged moulds on their surface. But the industry was not fond of these colours, considering them unappealing, and staked everything on the albino strain of P. camemberti, which is completely white and moreover has a silky texture. This is how Camembert acquired its now-characteristic pure white rind.

Year after year, generation after generation, the albino strain of P. camemberti, which was already incapable of sexual reproduction, lost its ability to produce asexual spores. As a result it is now very difficult for the entire industry to obtain enough P. camemberti spores to inoculate their production of the famous Norman cheese.

Worse still, while the Roquefort PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) standard retains a degree of microbial biodiversity, the PDO specifications for Camembert require farmers and other producers to use P. camemberti exclusively."

What to do about it? Switch to eating American cheese, or Velveeta? Read on....

(1/2)

johncarlosbaez, (edited )
@johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz avatar

"To compensate for the shortcomings caused by its degeneration, some cheese makers resort to supplementing P. camemberti with a second species of fungus: Geotrichum candidum, also selected for its white, cottony texture.

So what can be done to save Camembert? Should producers return to a “wild” population, similar to P. camemberti, and restart the long process of domestication? Could they resort to genome editing technologies in order to counter the accumulation of mutations or the loss of specific genes with a given desirable function? “People in the industry sometimes ask us whether it’s possible to modify a gene and allow a strain to sporulate in greater quantities,” Giraud reveals, quickly adding that this would not solve the problem: “Genome editing is another form of selection. What we need today is the diversity provided by sexual reproduction between individuals with different genomes.”

A species that is genetically similar to P. camemberti, called Penicillium biforme, also found in cheese because it is naturally present in raw milk, possesses an incredible genetic and phenotypic diversity. This opens up the possibility of inoculating Camemberts and Bries with P. biforme. If cheese lovers want to keep enjoying these products, they will have to learn to appreciate greater diversity in flavour, colour and texture, perhaps even among cheeses from a single source. And, who knows, thereby contribute to enriching our gastronomic heritage."

Below you can see P. camemberti, which is white, and P. biforme, which is green. Look yummy?

I got all this from here, where you can also read about the Roquefort crisis:

https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/french-cheese-under-threat

(2/2)

patto1ro, to beer

Visions of future past - 50 year-old predictions.
https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2024/01/past-predictions-of-futiure.html

globalmuseum, to beer
@globalmuseum@mastodon.online avatar

What are archaeologists brewing beer?

Multiple breweries are now making beer inspired by ancient beverages, often in cooperation with archaeologists who want to learn more about how people used various ingredients centuries ago.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/first-beer-in-history

@atlasobscura

filid, to random German
@filid@muenchen.social avatar

Es gibt noch Hoffnung in der IPv6 Welt. AWS will Geld für IPv4 Adressen.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/01/17/116235/brace-yourself-ipv6-is-coming

toddalstrom, to beer
@toddalstrom@mastodon.social avatar

Some interesting news:

"Carlsberg will acquire 20 percent of Mikkeller, while Founder and CEO Mikkel Bjergsø will maintain the controlling interest and continue in his role of CEO."

https://www.mikkeller.com/news/mikkeller-signs-agreement-with-carlsberg-new-partnership-to-strengthen-mikkellers-sales-and-distribution

HxxxKxxx, to ai
@HxxxKxxx@det.social avatar

Interesting: The National Library of the Netherlands restricts access to its collections for commercial companies crawling without permission. They remain committed to open access for research and will adapt the AI policy as needed.

https://www.kb.nl/en/ai-statement

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