@cragsand@mastodon.social
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

cragsand

@cragsand@mastodon.social

VR, RP and science nerd
I play in #NeonDivide, an episodic #RP #LARP in #VR

New user? :mastodon: :blobcatcoffee:
Remember to turn on "Include public posts in search" in Profile > Privacy for #FullTextSearch! 🔍 https://mastodon.social/settings/privacy

Miss :birdsite: look?
Try https://elk.zone or apps https://mastodon.social/@Tusky https://floss.social/@megalodon and turn on stats.

#VRRP #GoldenGator #VRChat #TheGoldenGator #Twitch #Roleplay #TTRPG #DnD #VirtualReality #Skeptic #Skepticism #Sweden 🇸🇪

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cragsand, to Twitch
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

This is a bit concerning especially for streamers. It may be a good idea to learn a habit of muting your mic when entering passwords in the future.

Science paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.01074
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2166661/ai-recognises-passwords-by-the-sound-of-typing.html

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

From what I know of AI models you'd likely need to train it specifically on the keyboard and microphone brands used. The bad news is that many streamers often openly share this information about which PC gear they use in their profiles.

nazgul, to ML

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot in the current battle over the future of (pseudo) AI is the cotton gin.

I live in a country where industrial progress is always considered a positive. It’s such a fundamental concept to the American exceptionalism claim that we are taught never to question it, let alone realize that it’s propaganda.

One such myth, taught early in grade school, is the story of Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. Here was a classic example of a labor-saving device that made millions of lives better. No more overworked people hand cleaning the cotton (slaves, though that was only mentioned much later, if at all). Better clothes and bedding for the world. Capitalism at its best.

But that’s only half the story of this great industrial time saver. Where did those cotton cleaners go? And what was the impact of speeding up the process?

Now that the cleaning bottleneck was gone, the focus was on picking cotton as fast as possible. Those cotton cleaners likely, and millions of other slaves definitely, were sent to the fields to pick cotton. There was an unprecedented explosion in the slave trade. Industrial time management and optimization methods were applied to human beings using elaborate rule-based systems written up in books. How hard to punish to get optimal productivity. How long their lifespans needed to be to get the lost production per dollar. Those techniques, practiced on the backs and lives of slaves, became the basis of how to run the industrial mills in the North. They are the ancestors of the techniques that your manager uses now to improve productivity.

Millions of people were sold into slavery and worked to death because of the cotton gin. The advance it provided did not, in fact save labor overall. Nor did it make life better overall. It made a very small set of people much much richer; especially the investors around the world who funded the banks who funded the slave purchases. It made a larger set of consumers more comfortable at the cost of the lives of those poorer. Over a hundred years later this model is still the basis for our society.

Modern “AI” is a cotton gin. It makes a lot of painstaking things much easier and available to everyone. Writing, reading, drawing, summarizing, reviewing medical cases, hiring, firing, tracking productivity, driving, identifying people in a lineup…they all can now be done automatically. Put aside whether it’s actually capable of doing any of those things well; the investors don’t care if their products are good, they only care if they can make more money off of them. So long as they work enough to sell, the errors, and the human cost of those errors, are irrelevant. And like the cotton gin, AI has other side effects. When those jobs are gone, are the new jobs better? Or are we all working that much harder, with even more negative consequences to our life if we fall off the treadmill? One more fear to keep us “productive”.

The Luddites learned this lesson the hard way, and history demonizes them for it; because history isn’t written by the losers.

They’ve wrapped “AI” with a shiny ribbon to make it fun and appealing to the masses. How could something so fun to play with be dangerous? But like the story we are told about the cotton gin, the true costs are hidden.

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@nazgul With huge error bars many corporations will just shake that off as acceptable losses and go for the AI solution instead. Never minding the cost on the real people it affects.

I can speak of one concrete example from my perspective regarding YouTube and Twitch. They're already relying on AI to replace people and its damaging their audiences who have to adapt to the reality that anything they write or do, is reviewed by AI who does not understand context.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@cragsand/111473568977885665

mastodonmigration, (edited ) to fediverse
@mastodonmigration@mastodon.online avatar

Mastodon News

In case you missed it, this is huge!

Folks, perhaps the biggest Fediverse news of the week (the month? year?) is that the W3C @w3c, essentially the main standards organization for the internet, has shut down its social media presence on Twitter and moved to Mastodon, and is encouraging others to do the same.

"W3C has posted that we are no longer active on X/Twitter and have directed all our followers here to Mastodon." >>> https://w3c.social/@w3c/111534700276754588

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@mastodonmigration @w3c Great news! Hope to see many more do the same.

ct_bergstrom, to random
@ct_bergstrom@fediscience.org avatar

No matter whether they are lying or telling the truth this is darkly funny to the extreme.

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@ct_bergstrom If it suddenly stops working the next time the OpenAI API has an outage that's a pretty good tell they're just plugging into that.

It's always hilarious whenever another shoddy AI startup has very convenient outage perfectly timed with theirs...

cragsand, (edited ) to fediverse
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

BlueSkys official account just highlighted a community developer project to bridge it with

early on decided not to go with the open standard in favor of implementating features like account migration. Planning to start federating next year, they've made some decisions I'm skeptical about.

Many servers will likely decide against bridging, having different values regarding privacy and data collection. What do you think?
https://atproto.com/blog/feature-bridgyfed

cragsand, to random
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

Found another gray hair in my beard today

rolle, to mastodon
@rolle@mementomori.social avatar

It seems my ideas about Mastodon layout have been receiving some love: Re-think the overall layout design to more natural direction https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/27102

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@rolle excellent suggestion! It would improve the default user experience substantially :BlobhajHeart:

skywind, to PCGaming
@skywind@mastodon.online avatar

Isn’t it past your bedtime, House Cousin? Presenting the Hlaalu Canton Bunkhouse by Dominik Włodarczyk, Level Design

With NPCs having daily routines in Skywind, they all need places to sleep, thus the need arises for new interiors, such as inn rooms, private quarters, and bunkhouses. Located in the docks, the bunkhouse grants its inhabitants easy access to all of Hlaalu Canton!

A candle-lit rest area with a bench flanked on either side by potted plants. On the wall above are three posters.
A dining area with a table, benches, wood shelves, and a mead barrel. The shelves are stocked with a variety of food and drink. Atop the table are cups, bowls, plates, utensils, food, and drinks.
A corner shot showing a map of Vivec City hanging precariously above several lit candles. Two ceramic storage containers sit on the floor beside it and to the right is a wooden door.

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@skywind So pretty :blobaww:

rolle, to internet
@rolle@mementomori.social avatar

Something that is still missing from Bluesky, Threads or Nostr:

  • Unlimited edit feature
  • Automatically delete old posts
  • Follow hashtags

Something that is probably ever appear as a feature in places other than Mastodon:

  • Custom emojis
  • More than 500 chars

https://www.wired.com/story/mastodon-features-that-twitter-should-steal-but-wont/

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@rolle I've gotten so used to editing posts that its a real frustration when you can't do it elsewhere. Also you gotta love custom emojis :catjam::AAAAAA:

cragsand, to TwitterMigration
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

"Why post elsewhere when I get no engagement there?"

This is circular reasoning. The reason you stay on Twitter is because everyone else does. When you DO post elsewhere you slowly encourage others to consider being active there instead.

Let's make that happen!

megalodon, to random
@megalodon@floss.social avatar

!!! press alt+f4 for 1,000,000 €

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@megalodon :AngeryCat:

CheRosach, to random

Sums it up nicely

cragsand, (edited )
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@CheRosach
Love these Titanic analogs
(lost the original author)

cragsand, to vr
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

Great video review from Thrillseeker testing the official Slime VR full-body trackers

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QaJhDCtGlBY

cragsand, to Twitch
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

Outsourcing moderation entirely to AI, while it may save some money, is not a good idea... full article below.

1500 votes! Thank you all for your support! 💜
The more of you who lend your voices, the more you show that this is a real issue that is worth correcting!

Looks like my article regarding this got some traction and votes!
Thanks to streamer @PaymoneyWubby for bringing attention to it.
#Twitch #Livestreaming #Streaming #AI #AIModeration #AIBasedModeration
https://twitch.uservoice.com/forums/951706-moderation/suggestions/47475527-global-ai-automod-does-not-understand-context

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

Here it is: "Spirit AI" using "proactive" technology.

I fear this has backfired to instead mean presumed guilt until proven innocent. Makes me think of Minority Report. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that I guess.

From a 2022 Twitch blog post:
https://safety.twitch.tv/s/article/An-Update-on-Our-Work-to-Stamp-out-Targeted-Hate?language=en_US

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

Could it be the same AI being talked about in this old article?
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/smarter-than-i-spirit-ally

cragsand, to random
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

Happy turkey day Americans!
I'm thankful for you! My online friendos

Animated gif of a turkey suspiciously looking at an oven containing a roasted... turkey.

nixCraft, to random
@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar

🫨

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@nixCraft Oh man this hits.

Tusky, to random
@Tusky@mastodon.social avatar

The long wait is over!
The 24 beta is here!

Check out the release notes: https://github.com/tuskyapp/Tusky/releases/tag/v24.0-beta.1

And how to opt into the beta (or nightly!): https://github.com/tuskyapp/faq/blob/main/README.md#where-can-i-get-tusky

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@Tusky MOAR TABS REJOICE :blobaww:

gwagner, to climate
@gwagner@fediscience.org avatar

Exhibit 1: "Tunnels solve traffic"

Exhibit 2: Lincoln tunnel

@TheWarOnCars

Lincoln Tunnel traffic jam, as shown by Google Map

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@gwagner @TheWarOnCars
Dedicated bus and bike lanes... tumbleweed
If the only tool you know how to use is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Truth is you probably have to rebuild the whole infrastructure. Next scheduled costly maintenance gives that opportunity but it means planners have to build spares for future longterm. Leaving some bike and walking lanes unconnected until it's the neighboring streets turn for maintenance. Short-sighted planners mistake this as foolish.

Sarahp, to random
@Sarahp@mastodon.social avatar

Mastodon tackles the problem of ‘reply guys’ with its latest feature: https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/22/mastodon-tackles-the-problem-of-reply-guys-with-its-latest-feature/

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@Sarahp Great start! :BlobhajHeart:
Hopefully we get to see more small improvement towards something akin to a which I'm sure content creators with large followings will benefit from.

NewScience101, to science
@NewScience101@mastodon.social avatar

For Researchers.

global maps show the likely distribution of water ice buried within the upper 3 feet of the planet's surface
and represent the latest data from the Subsurface Water Ice Mapping project.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26046-distribution-of-buried-ice-on-mars

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@NewScience101
So would love to see a spacecraft similar to the twin GRACE-FO spacecraft that are mapping groundwater on Earth.

A similar mission for mapping potential subsurface water on Mars in detail, who knows maybe there are still aquifiers deep down with secrets from a long distant wet past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRACE_and_GRACE-FO

cragsand.wordpress.com, to random Swedish

This place is empty right now but might write some long post here in the future.

https://cragsand.wordpress.com/2023/10/11/empty-space/

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@cragsand.wordpress.com@cragsand.wordpress.com Test comment from Mastodon!

spaceflight, to internet
@spaceflight@techhub.social avatar

The #Interplanetary #Internet 📶 should have been tested by a #laser #communications experiment (#DSOC) during the #Psyche mission planned for 📆 August 2022 which is currently delayed. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2022/10/29/nasa-will-launch-psyche-mission-to-explore-asteroid-worth-more-than-the-global-economy

📱 #4G on the #moon : #Nokia's first beyond-#Earth cell site will launch next summer on a #SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of its IM-2 mission https://www.fastcompany.com/90795731/why-nokia-wants-to-put-an-lte-network-on-the-moon

#SpaceCommunication

Pictures : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Astronomers_inside_the_CSIRO_Parkes_radio_telescope.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Night_sky_over_New_Norcia_(24807822968).jpg

cragsand,
@cragsand@mastodon.social avatar

@spaceflight
This is a similar concept as the solar gravitational lens for making the biggest aperture space telescope possible.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_gravitational_lens

Calling it "communication" may be a bit farfetched for anything that far away and because the alignment with stars is only temporary. It does makes it possible to transfer our history in an efficient way though.

It's more akin to dropping "letters in a bottle" into the ocean, rather than the internet.
#gravitationallensing #space #sgl

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