PaulWay

PaulWay, 11 months ago to random

I love how so much of the AI debate is on things like:

• Will AI take people's jobs?
• Will AI destroy creativity?
• Will AI take over the world?
• Will AI be used to make people poorer?

And not:

• Will corporations that use AI get rid of people's jobs?
• Will corporations that use AI destroy creativity?
• Will corporations that use AI try to take over the world?
• Will corporations that use AI make people poorer?

Because these LLMs and machine learning systems and so forth aren't just wandering around randomly out there - they're owned by corporations. The corporations are the ones putting them to use. The executives that run those corporations are the ones making the decisions to pay people less, to increase their profits, to make creative people act as subeditors for LLMs.

It's the corporations, and the ethics-free systems that govern them, that cause these things. They're the ones pushing to have more AI.

The rest of us would be happy just having a bit more humanity in the world.

PaulWay, 2 months ago to random

I've now taken to answering phone calls from unknown numbers with "Ni Hao ma?". It fools the Chinese 'telstra' scammers language detection so instead of hanging up, they proceed with the call. Then select 2 for Chinese and, when they answer, say "Ni Hao ma?" and "Lao shuh?" Until they hang up.

To weaponise it, say "Tiananmen square massacre".

PaulWay, 15 days ago to random

As a man, I cannot understand misogynistic men.

Obviously I can rationalise their internal beliefs as to why they do what they do - but it's like explaining the behaviour of an animal. "He's been brought up this way, so he just keeps doing what he's been taught".

OK, except these are also clever people who expect other people to change for them. Why does it never occur that the same might apply to them - that they might have to change and accommodate other people? That's what I can't understand.

Sadly I think a lot of men think of things purely in terms of power. They're constantly worried that they're not top dog, so they have to prove they are all the time by doing stupid aggressive things.

Dude. Let's just put it in simple terms. You're not top dog. You're not even a very high dog. There'll always be people who own more, who have more power, who look more successful. That's not important. It's completely useless to compare yourself to anyone else. All you have to do is to be good enough. You have to be good, and you have to be enough, for those around you.

And what you're going to have to learn, my dude, is that everything is about bargaining. You're always going to have to give up something in order to get something. If you love someone, you have to demonstrate that love by giving them some level of control - over your life together.

I went through some of my early life - up to about my early thirties - convinced I was always missing out. I kept thinking that I had done it tough, I'd struggled, I never got what I wanted. I kept on saying to myself, "on this one point I'm not going to give in, because I've given in on everything else." And I'd still lose.

Then I realised I'd been telling myself a bit of a lie. I'd actually had a pretty good life; we hadn't had a lot but we did have some pretty good advantages that set me up for a good career and a sensible life. And I realised that actually everyone else also saw themselves as hard done by, and if we all fought tooth and nail for the things we considered important then we'd just lose our teeth and nails.

Men are so much nicer when they're kind, when they don't have to show off. We can be courageous and selfless and brave and heroic, we can have chiselled jaws and strong chests - and this doesn't have to come at any cost to anyone else.

I love in "The Incredibles" where Mr Incredible admits that he isn't strong enough to watch his family be endangered. This is a guy who lifts train engines and he's not strong enough. And then Elastigirl says "you don't have to be", because they're all in this together, and they know they can do it. In that moment Mr Incredible is strong.

This won't get read much, I know. But I hope it helps some guys out there feel better about being good, and kind, and gentle, and caring.

All the best, my friends.

PaulWay, 5 months ago to random

Have now told two people about Pico-8:

https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php

If you've got kids who are interested in computer games but aren't really interested in programming, this might interest them. Heck, it might interest you too 🙂

You can download games other people have created. Then you can tinker with those games. The game code is in Lua, and the sprit and map editors are built into the console. You can run it on Windows, Mac, Linux or Raspberry Pi. So it's got a low barrier to entry ... and you can still just use it to play games.

PaulWay, 8 months ago to random

Vote Yes! #VoteYESAustralia

PaulWay, 4 months ago to random

I listen to both types of music, drum and bass...

PaulWay, 4 months ago to random

Had a conversation on Etsy with a lady looking for short hairpins that can sit under a hat. I've made probably ten now and have finally made three that have fit what she's been looking for. This reflects more on how difficult it is (for me) to make something exactly to order 🙂

But on the other hand I now have seven new hairpins to sell 🙂 And I had a good session with my brother-in-law photographing my new work, which is now all catalogued and ready to put onto Etsy 🙂

PaulWay, 4 months ago to random

When you open your laptop after a trip, there's a crunching sound, and you can't open the screen all the way. And then you discover the left hinge isn't sitting in the right spot...

That's not great.

PaulWay, 3 months ago to random

There's a saying in computer programming that debugging is twice as hard as programming, and therefore if you write the smartest code you can you are by definition not intelligent enough to debug it.

I think that also applies to LLMs. If you don't understand the subject well enough to be able to write the content, you are by definition unable to tell if the LLM is telling the truth.

PaulWay, 2 months ago to random

I was listening to an excellent "This Working Life" podcast on the art of negotiating and resolving conflict:

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/this-working-life/william-ury-conflict/103458092

Lots of good advice in there.

But I kept on thinking... what if you're 'negotiating' with the Republican party. What if you're 'negotiating' with Nazis, or Netanyahu, or Hamas, or any one of the many "extremist" groups out there.

What if you're dealing with a 'side' in the disagreement that is absolutely opposed to agreeing to anything you offer, and will only accept your unconditional surrender? Even when they're in a situation of strategic weakness?

Look at what the Tea Party did to Obama - basically forced him further and further back on things like the Affordable Care Act, and were quite prepared to shut all government services down as hostages to their demands. The only points at which they gave in were basically when they'd already got what they initially wanted and then more.

It feels to me like the classic 'change' scam. Ask a shopkeeper for change for a twenty, but the first thing you do is basically take the twenty back. Then everything they give you is what you've scammed off them. You just keep on talking and swapping and moving more money around, and you know you've already got what you want.

It's moving the Overton Window.

How do you negotiate with someone or a group of people that absolutely refuse to give you anything?

How do you negotiate with people who will change their mind and go back on deals as soon as they've got what they want?

Listening to them and getting into their mindset won't work. Offering them things will give them what they want but will not give you anything in return. Yes, maybe there is a third party that can help negotiate with them but in the cases I've mentioned I think it's quite obvious that these third parties are either compromised or useless.

What do we do with those people? With those groups.

Because they hold the whole world to ransom, eventually.

PaulWay, 2 months ago to random

A friend at work tells me that Rio de Janeiro, where he lives, hit a new peak of 60.1 Celsius from Sunday to Monday.

At what point do I ask him whether he drives a petrol car, or cooks using fossil fuels?

Never? Because that's not polite or helpful?

PaulWay, 4 months ago to random

Individualists unite!

PaulWay, 1 month ago to random

I always kind of like the guy who is helping me plug my EV in to charge at his motel and says, "I reckon they'll be dead in ten years, those EVs"

"Why's that?", I ask, because conversation is always nicer than rebuttal.

"Oh, they'll never be able to make an electric combine harvester."

"I guess we'll find out sooner or later" I say.

PaulWay, 1 month ago to random

Why is it so difficult to find out how much long service leave you have? And why does it require a special form to apply for it rather than the standard leave application web app most companies use these days?

PaulWay, 1 day ago to random

Interesting to know that "Dreadnought" is derived (obviously) from the words 'dread' and 'nought' - fear nothing - but "Juggernaut" is a completely different derivation. It relates to a festival in India celebrating Jagganatha (IIRC) where a huge heavy cart is pulled through the streets, and when it gains momentum it is unstoppable. The 'naut' ending is just the English recognising a good opportunity to add a Greek ending to a borrowed word.

Different derivations for a very similar concept - something unstoppable.

PaulWay, 5 months ago to random

NSW police allowed one of their force, Andrew Hurst, to do a year long study on the most effective ways to prevent domestic violence:

https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/news_item/if-not-us-then-who-police-officer-and-churchill-fellow-presents-new-ways-to-combat-domestic-and-family-violence-in-australia/

NSW police have then forbidden Andrew from speaking about our presenting any of the report.

Why?

PaulWay, 4 months ago to random

Once again the curse of Summernats has descended upon Canberra. Revving engines, badly burned fuel fumes, and questionable driving.

PaulWay, 1 month ago to random

Working with my Galactic Cycles mix in my ears is always a pleasure, and it peaks when I hit "Dreamrunner" by Chymera:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jykdBdSo0no

The melody and harmony work together, it's just a beautiful bit of composition, and I love the kind of sparseness in it.

PaulWay, 3 months ago to random

If you're going to #EverythingElectric this weekend in Sydney, I hope to see you there. On Saturday I'll be wearing my Energica T-shirt - come and say hi!

dcbuchan, 2 months ago to random

Since Mastodon doesn’t give you a full thread I often see odd snippets from the middle of a conversation. @melissabeartrix keeps my constantly amused.

So I thought I might play with that. Posting some random comments to see if people find d their way back to this post.

Like if you do n

melissabeartrix, 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago) to random

What a bunch of wankers ... Just saying

"My coffee is more important than the climate" is my take of this story

Hugz & xXx

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/drink/coffee-drinkers-revolt-over-huge-cafe-change-amid-was-cup-ban/news-story/6e507a0d041ecd2e1cccf0a386458d4e

melissabeartrix, 4 months ago to random

That was so nice ... Well it made me feel good ... The waitress came out and asked if I wanted milk ... And she shouted back "she doesn't want milk, thanks" ... Hugz

Hugz & xXx

melissabeartrix, 3 months ago to random

... Of what !

Hugz & xXx