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lauren

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org

< Tech Systems & Policy Analysis: Internet, Privacy, plus his other sundry topics >
Los Angeles - lauren.vortex.com

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lauren, to random
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I think it is notable that to this point at least, Iran does not appear to be blaming the helicopter crash on foul play. We'll see if this stance continues.

jwildeboer, (edited ) to random
@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net avatar

The ICC prosecutor showed diplomatic strategy by announcing his request for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders and Israeli politicians at the same time. The reactions are predictable. But by combining it this way, the message is clear. One injustice, no matter how evil, does not justify to commit another.

lauren,
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@jwildeboer However, doing this at this juncture clearly makes Bibi, et al. even more defensive, and is likely to make any cease fire even more difficult to attain. The ICC could have done this at any time later. No way to see how they couldn't think doing it now wouldn't make things worse.

lauren,
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

@jwildeboer It's binary. Either doing it now makes it worse or better. Neutral is unlikely. Because Bibi's political position is far less stable than Putin's, it can be reasonably argued that Putin's actions would not be intensified by the ICC since he knows his position is stable. That is NOT the case with Bibi.

lauren, to random
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Republicans introduce bill to restrict gag orders, which would make witness intimidation much easier!

https://www.theblaze.com/news/let-trump-speak-act-republicans-introduce-bill-to-block-weaponized-gag-orders

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Both personal and business proprietary information could easily be leaked to human AI trainers and the AI systems themselves by accidental or other inappropriate use of Google's "Help me write" function. This feature should be OPT-IN ONLY!

lauren, to random
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Iran's president, foreign minister, and others confirmed dead in helicopter crash in mountainous terrain and terrible weather.

lauren, to random
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[AT&T Slimeballs] At Trump trial today, we were reminded that AT&T paid Michael Cohen
$600,000 to push the merger with Time Warner with Trump.

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Still no word on the fate of Iran's president, foreign minister, and other officials in a helicopter that crashed many hours ago earlier today in East Azerbaijan Province. While the position of the helicopter is reportedly known from telemetry, searchers have not yet reached the craft due to the remote, mountainous terrain, rain, cold, and fog.

lauren,
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I'm trying to watch their English language news feed, but it appears to be overloaded. Unsurprising under the circumstances.

lauren, to Youtube
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You're standing and looking out over the water at the city skyline. Suddenly, a small spaceship lands near you. Then a slightly larger one. Then an even larger one. And then ...

One of the most fun videos I've seen on in quite a while! This channel does great work!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw6qppma02s

lauren,
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

@f800gecko Yep.

lauren, to Youtube
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Drives me nuts when people (e.g., in #YouTube videos on film study, etc.) refer to the classic "Parallax Montage" in "The Parallax View" (1974), as a "brainwashing sequence" and draw out discussion from there. It is NOT a brainwashing sequence, it is a TEST that the main character is undergoing, being shown to him to judge his body reactions -- that's why he's told to keep his hands on the armrests so that vitals can be measured. It has NOTHING to do with brainwashing!

I will note that it is an amazing sequence and absolutely draining to watch, though many of the images will not be familiar and so not necessarily impactful to younger viewers today.

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Many hours after it crashes, searchers continue struggle to reach helicopter that was carrying Iran's president and foreign minister in mountain terrain, rain, and heavy fog. Their conditions are unknown.

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Tomorrow on my usual Monday evening national network radio tech segment, I'll be briefly discussing concerns about declining search quality of Google Search and problematic issues related to Google's new "AI Overviews" on search results.

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Google Search AI Overview told searchers to drink urine to pass kidney stones -
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-sge-drink-urine-to-pass-kidney-stones-37339.html

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Trump tells NRA crowd that Biden should be executed - https://www.rawstory.com/trump-threat-biden/

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

BREAKING: Helicopter carrying Iran's president crashes, details unclear.

lauren,
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@PJ_Evans Yeah, apparently forested area, heavy rain and fog.

lauren, to random
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The way things are going, @jeffjarvis may need to write another book as a followup to his classic, "What Would Google Do?" to be entitled "What Did Google Do?"

lauren,
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@harmonygritz @jeffjarvis Jeff and I should write a book on the downfall of the Net. But nobody would care.

lauren,
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@jeffjarvis @harmonygritz Having spent most of my career dealing with the technical side of the equation, my own inclination is to blame Big Tech executives for a range of reasons.

No doubt both viewpoints are actually valid and the reality is somewhere in between I suspect.

lauren,
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@jeffjarvis @harmonygritz I think that is a laudable goal indeed. Personally, I am not sanguine on its chances of success in our toxic business, regulatory, and political environments. But I won't belabor the point here.

lauren, (edited )
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@jeffjarvis @harmonygritz I will add that (at least in my own experience) the problem with the ideas that come from many academics in this area is similar to that of many politicians (though the former's stated motives are usually far more honest). They tend not to understand the technical ramifications and realities of their proposals (or demands) and how their seemingly simple ideas have all manner of often likely negative side-effects.

We're seeing this now in an array of areas, including "save the children" demands for government-linked IDs to use the Net, calls for censorship and blocking of anything deemed "bad for children", calls from the right to permit mass dangerous misinformation without moderation, and so on.

lauren,
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@jeffjarvis @harmonygritz Just corrected "information" to "misinformation" in that reply!

lauren,
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@jeffjarvis @harmonygritz Such an effort is always worthwhile, irrespective of the immediate outcome.

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

In this morning's email someone sent me a screenshot of a Google result that he wanted me to see as an example of Google's screwed up Search AI Overviews. But actually, he was wrong. It was an example of Google's conventional screwed up results as Search continues to degrade, not AI Overviews. Just setting the record straight.

lauren,
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

@macknowles Yeah, those aren't AI Overviews, of course.

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