kegill

kegill, 7 months ago to random

@mmasnick

Are you OK? Spending time on the bird site instead?

kegill, 1 month ago to random

WTH, @pluralistic !

Didn’t you write Beezle early(ish) in the pandemic? You saw the enshittification that is the SPAC even then?

Oh. Right. Trump’s SPAC adventures started publicly in October 2021. Damn. (I’ll read what he’s reading.)

The Bezzle: A Martin Hench Novel (The Martin Hench Novels) by Cory Doctorow
https://a.co/9tUNC8J

kegill, 9 months ago to random

You already know this inequity exists if you live and work in the US.

My guess is that you probably don’t realize just how much the US Congress is beholden to international corporations and the US Chamber of Commerce. 🤬

FOR EXAMPLE, British workers have a minimum of 28 fully paid annual leave days and 28 weeks of sick leave @ $141/week. By law. Every year. Regardless of seniority.

US workers: ZERO.

#inequity
#EmployeeExploitation

https://flamingoapp.com/workplace-benefits-uk-vs-us/

kegill, 4 months ago to random

In 2023, Cargill jacked up the price of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt

Their goal: increase annual revenue more than 10-fold, from $3 million to $50 million.

How? REDESIGN THE BOX + Jack prices

Early 2020
~$3.49 for 3# box.

Today, Diamond Crystal store price on Amazon:

• $108.95, case of nine 3# boxes, delivered ($12.11 per box)
• $13.29, 3# box delivered
• $8.99, 1# box delivered

I am #CrowdSourcing price info:
https://forms.gle/ncvBB34tXwFBTmY1A
Form does not track!

TIA for help/boost!

kegill, 3 months ago to random

Greg Abbott is advocating open rebellion by claiming state sovereignty over national borders AND ignoring a SCOTUS ruling telling him “nope.”

And 25 GOP governors have pledged their support, including deploying their national guard.

Neither the NYT nor the Washington Post are reporting it. (Wapo columnists have skirted it.)

https://open.substack.com/pub/carriekaufman/p/democracy-dies-in-texas?r=5wdm&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

kegill, 4 months ago to ai

I do not care if this corporate behavior is “legal.”

It is unethical.

It SHOULD be illegal.

Lost in #AI copyright arguments: basic ownership of our faces, our bodies. Models need a global Actors Guild.

https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/61741/1/who-owns-my-face-ai-generated-models-copyright-ip-infringement

Via David Pell NextDraft: I Have a Face for AI by Nassia Matsa
https://wp.me/pbRvtl-7QI

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Did no one in HR learn about automated algorithms and BIAS with the Amazon blow up that happened BEFORE COVID?

🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

@bloomberg investigation shows “the best-known generative AI tool systematically produces biases that disadvantage groups based on their names.”

NAMES ALONE. WTF?

https://archive.is/eZxUZ

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-openai-gpt-hiring-racial-discrimination/

October 11, 2018 Amazon Scraps Secret AI Recruiting Engine that Showed Biases Against Women AI Research scientists at Amazon uncovered biases against women on their recruiting machine learning engine https://www.ml.cmu.edu/news/news-archive/2016-2020/2018/october/amazon-scraps-secret-artificial-intelligence-recruiting-engine-that-showed-biases-against-women.html

kegill, 8 months ago to ukteachers

The question isn't "should we" integrate generative AI into the classroom ... the question is "how".

#EdTech
#education
#GenerativeAI
#ChatGPT
#MidJourney
#LLM

Using algorithmic tools (“AI”) like ChatGPT and MidJourney in the classroom: a guide for teachers

https://wiredpen.com/2023/09/20/using-algorithmic-tools-ai-like-chatgpt-and-midjourney-in-the-classroom-a-guide-for-teachers/

kegill, 4 months ago to random

I rolled my eyes when I saw the headlines about Fani T. Willis.

But I didn’t expect THIS.

A defendant lawyer made the accusation without offering any proof, which is missing from the headline. And the lede.

“Without offering any proof” is buried mid-graph-four.

FFS @nytimes

kegill, 4 months ago to random

𝐀 𝐁𝐨𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟕𝟑𝟕 𝐌𝐀𝐗 𝟗 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬.

Reflections from a former #Boeing employee, still a Washingtonian.

I was surprised at how much this latest finance-over-safety incident would both upset me and piss me off.

WE HAVE TO make "shareholder primacy" unprofitable. We can do that only through taxes and true blue Democrats.

#AlaskaAir #MAX9 #safety #greed

https://themoderatevoice.com/a-boeing-737-max-9-blew-an-escape-hatch-on-friday-heres-how-a-once-great-engineering-company-created-deadly-planes/

kegill, 7 months ago to random

The reporter’s flat tone in describing this latest ‘police officer shoots Black man during traffic stop’ video makes the play-by-play all the more chilling.

Missing context.

How would a White man of the same age been treated? What is protocol?

GA law office contradicts the shooter;
“Technically, speeding is a misdemeanor in Georgia. A conviction could mean a year in jail. Usually, however, a speeding ticket means a fine.”

#BLM

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/georgia-bodycam-video-released-fatal-police-shooting-leonard-cure/story?id=104100606

kegill, 2 months ago to random

I understand that @pluralistic coined ‘enshittification’ to describe how a digital platform devolves from being useful to people so it grows to, well, an abusive partner that treats its base and advertisers like 💩.

https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/enshittification-the-2023-word-of-the-year

Unfortunately, there are too many examples of how people/businesses co-opt internet protocols and then act like that abuser’s identical twin.

Thus the meaning of “enshittification” evolves. An example from Bluesky. (I read it a little.)

kegill, 9 months ago to random

In The Gutenberg Parenthesis, @jeffjarvis writes about the demise of “open books” and “the complete story.”

In other words, Jarvis suggests that the “Metaphors We Live By” will change as the ‘age of print’ transitions to the next form.

My mind jumped to a different metaphor, the fixed/rigid nature of the printed word. And then to those who adhere to two ritualistic and literal readings: the Bible and the US Constitution. This transition is already a rocky one.

https://a.co/9N1iNIF

Definition of metaphor
Quote from Metaphors We Live By.

kegill, 3 months ago to random

Screw Ted Cruz.
MAGA corporate toadie.

Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN.) want the SENATE to block a draft SEC rule on AI use in finance.

“The draft rule unveiled last July would require financial firms to identify and eliminate conflicts of interest that emerge from their use of artificial intelligence tools, and to ensure they are prioritizing their clients’ interests over their own bottom lines.”

FTS.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/06/new-senate-bill-aims-to-kill-proposed-sec-rule-on-ai-conflicts-of-interest-.html

kegill, 5 months ago to random

Jack Smith goes straight to #SCOTUS, blocking #Trump’s ability to string out his DC trial on charges he attempted to overturn the election?

Is a former president immune from prosecution “for crimes committed while in office”? Does a hung impeachment provide immunity from prosecution?

“It took the high court just a few days to effectively decide the 2000 presidential election for Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore.”

https://apnews.com/article/f3e7206bdf169c9faa15a19084541824

#January6th

kegill, 3 months ago to random

Sometimes, it’s that simple.

— The Lost Cause
Cory Doctorow
@pluralistic

https://a.co/dOPjYZp

kegill, 7 months ago to random

“There is no solution to the gun problem, and little more to write, because Americans are addicted to firearms.”

Not all of us, but definitely the party of a minority that governs by just saying no.

https://nyti.ms/475IY9F
#GiftLink #GiftArticle

kegill, 7 months ago to ethelcain

Today’s #JournalisticMalpractice comes to us from #Alabama.

The #AppleNews headline is disingenuous #clickbait:
‘Federal court selects new Alabama congressional map that could flip a seat to De…’

NOPE! The map “remedies” #GOP “vote dilution” of Black Alabamians.

“Flip” is GOP spin: “fear mongering/they are cheating”

Facebook “sharing preview” for the Alabama Reflector story is ONLY the title:
‘Federal court selects new Alabama congressional map’

https://alabamareflector.com/2023/10/05/federal-court-selects-new-alabama-congressional-map/

Apple News headline add GOP spin

kegill, 5 months ago to random

<< I want to tell you a story about body cameras and #DerekChauvin

What Chauvin did to #GeorgeFloyd, kneeling on his neck, was his move.

He had done to others.

It was all recorded by body cams.

But the footage was kept secret.

And Chauvin was left unpunished >>
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1736062142510481420.html

He’s not an aberration.
🙁🤬🤯

How Police Have Undermined the Promise of Body Cameras
@ProPublica
by Eric Umansky
#BLM

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-police-undermined-promise-body-cameras

Also NYT Magazine this weekend
https://archive.ph/iHEfp

/1🧵

kegill, 4 months ago to random

Congratulations to @pluralistic
🎉🎉🎉

Cory coined the 2023 word of the year, enshittification, on 21 Jan 2023.

“Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.

“I call this #enshittification.”

#PopCulture
#CoryDoctorow

https://americandialect.org/2023-word-of-the-year-is-enshittification/

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

kegill, 4 months ago to Texas

How US news media fail democracy: Texas v US Border Patrol

#ShelbyPark is owned and maintained by Eagle Pass, TX. US Border Patrol has used the park to process asylum seekers.

On 11 Jan 2024, the Texas Tribune reported that the Department of Public Safety had assumed control of the park over city objections. DPS then blocked Border Patrol access.

DPS gave CBS News #Texas “access to their Shelby Park Eagle Pass operations.” Did CBS tell us ANYTHING above in that story? NO.

/1

kegill, 6 months ago to Alberta

It’s not just the United States.

This is #Alberta #Canada.

#Democracy is threatened globally. Is this an every-century problem?

#FringePolitics
#RadicalRight
#USPolitics
#Politics

https://xtramagazine.com/power/politics/alberta-ucp-fringe-259345

kegill, 3 months ago to random

“AI researchers found that widely used safety training techniques failed to remove malicious behavior from large language models — and one technique even backfired, teaching the AI to recognize its triggers and better hide its bad behavior from the researchers.”

Poisoned AI went rogue during training and couldn't be taught to behave again in 'legitimately scary' study
https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/legitimately-scary-anthropic-ai-poisoned-rogue-evil-couldnt-be-taught-how-to-behave-again

Research pre-print:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05566

kegill, 1 month ago to random

Corporations should not be structured like nested Russian dolls. They should not be able to buy other corporations and vertically or horizontally “integrate.” That’s an airbrushed description of outsized market power. And reduced taxes.

@pluralistic again, The Beezle

kegill, 6 days ago to random

Keep your seatbelts fastened. Snugly.

Another Boeing airplane (777 this time) exhibited a sudden altitude drop during turbulence over SE Asia. One passenger with a heart condition died; seven are in critical condition.

In March, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner lost elevation on a flight from Oz to NZ. Reportedly an uncovered cockpit switch was involved. Boeing “recommended that airlines inspect the cockpit seats the next time they perform maintenance on their 787s”.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/21/severe-turbulence-london-to-singapore-flight?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other