mral

@mral@mastodon.sdf.org

#ebike rider, #sailor, recovering SW Engr, live off-grid, new to sdf.org not new to unix:-) working on my #skoolie ; wishing I had time to do more #photography #fedi22 #buslife #vanlife

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GottaLaff, to legal
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

#TrumpTrial 🧵starts HERE. #Trump #legal

Remember: I cannot reply while live-posting, so plz use NFL (Not For Laffy.. no hashtag) so I can skip your replies. THANK YOU.

1/…More color from Pagliery:

Eric Trump just swapped seats with Rep. Donalds just in time for the congressman to appear in photos behind Trump's defense table.

That's what this trial is now for Trump, a political photo opp.

More...

mral,

@GottaLaff
That seems kinda of rude. shouldnt that spot be for the loving wife, standing by her man.

65dBnoise, to ai
@65dBnoise@mastodon.social avatar

Is plagiarism inherent in AI's (lack of) ethics?

The case of Jürgen Schmidhuber's pioneering work on neural networks plagiarized by Bengio, Hinton, and LeCun, by Jürgen Schmidhuber:

https://people.idsia.ch/~juergen/ai-priority-disputes.html

Image credit: Jürgen Schmidhuber, with color touches by me, outlining clues contained in this highly informative (but probably intentionally left flat) sketch by the author.

mral,

@65dBnoise
Its all Big corps are cutting, copying and pasting other people's work and they are doing it without compensating the folks that are actually doing or did the work.
The are creating a new set of laws just for themselves. The theory is that when you steal enough stuff from enough people it becomes normal, expected and OK.
See playbook chapter tRump, rule 1; anything done while concentrating wealth is OK.

is more than how we vote!

CelloMomOnCars, to california
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

A major US state just achieved a critical milestone for nearly two weeks: 'It's wild that this isn't getting more news coverage'

" has set a benchmark for , with wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal supplying 100% of the state's electricity demand for 25 out of the last 32 days (and counting)."

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/california-renewable-energy-100-percent-grid/

mral,

@samthurston
yea, they used a little statistical voodoo with the numbers but at least its trending in the right direction.

thanks to @CelloMomOnCars on https://mastodon.social/@CelloMomOnCars/112286494016619425 for being this to our attention.

joy, to random
@joy@mastodon.social avatar

In depth article about the SF Bay salt ponds and what’s happening with them now.

https://reasonstobecheerful.world/south-bay-salt-pond-restoration-project-progress/

mral,

@joy
part of this can be seen in Alviso, an easy ride from San Jose along the Gaudalupe river trail.
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/2985/2058

It starts, more or less, in downtown SJC and end in "downtown" alviso.

ParadeGrotesque, to random
@ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

I am old enough that I can remember Eliza running on a friend Apple ][e.

And how, once you got past the novelty of having a computer "talk" back to you, it quickly became boring and repetitive, to the point it was funnier to trick Eliza into saying ridiculous things than it was talking to it.

All of this to say: I am not impressed by the latest LLM. They are superficially smarter than Eliza, but not by much.

mral,

@ParadeGrotesque
with all the added glitz people forget that computers still have the IQ of a toaster.

thelinuxEXP, to random
@thelinuxEXP@mastodon.social avatar

All it would take for AI to completely collapse is a ruling in the US saying these companies have to licence the content they used to train these tools.

They simply would never reach a sustainable business model if they had to fairly compensate all the people who wrote, drew, edited, sang or just created the content they use.

Simply being forced to respect attribution and licenses would kill them. Will that ruling ever happen? Maybe not. Should it? I think so.

mral,

@thelinuxEXP
I think is an example of the or rule of Steal big, steal a lot, steal everything, steal from everyone, steal all the time and it will become normalized.

or more simply

anything done while concentrating wealth is ok.

is more than how we vote!

didgebaba, to random
@didgebaba@c.im avatar

“Last year, I had a life-changing experience at 90 years old. I went to space, after decades of playing an iconic science-fiction character who was exploring the universe. I thought I would experience a deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration.
"I was absolutely wrong. The strongest feeling, that dominated everything else by far, was the deepest grief that I had ever experienced.
"I understood, in the clearest possible way, that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didn’t see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, adventures to have, or living creatures to connect with. I saw the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting so starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet.
"This was an immensely powerful awakening for me. It filled me with sadness. I realized that we had spent decades, if not centuries, being obsessed with looking away, with looking outside. I did my share in popularizing the idea that space was the final frontier. But I had to get to space to understand that Earth is and will stay our only home. And that we have been ravaging it, relentlessly, making it uninhabitable."
-- William Shatner, actor

mral,

@trechnex @didgebaba
I saw that too and that said so much about the problem.
They treated him as a prop.

mral, to medical

They buried the lead;

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/medical-bills-are-getting-so-big-medicare-had-to-add-two-extra-digits-on-forms/

Medicare forced to expand forms to fit 10-digit bills—a penny shy of $100M

the real story is the last sentence.
"...found that Americans pay nearly three times more for prescription drugs than people in 33 other wealthy countries.
"

is more than how we vote!

CaroltheCrone, to fediverse
@CaroltheCrone@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

For anyone who's had questions about this whole "Threads" and fediverse business, this is a very helpful blog post. (below)

My only question after reading it is this:

If my public posts end up on Threads for whatever reason...hashtags, followers, boosts, etc...can Meta use my words for their own profit, like AI?

I imagine yes if my post is global. But I don't know a thing.

Here's the helpful article:

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/07/what-to-know-about-threads/

mral,
BigAngBlack, to blackmastodon
@BigAngBlack@fosstodon.org avatar

Trump supporters target black voters with faked "AI" images

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-supporters-target-black-voters-054735585.html

> Faked images of black voters with are a growing disinformation trend in the US election, the BBC finds.


@blackmastodon
@BlackMastodon

Generated image of Trump with black men, captioned "fake"

mral,

@BigAngBlack @blackmastodon @BlackMastodon
oh, come on, you can tell the one of him sitting on the front steps is fake; can you see him ever sitting on the ground?
Never mind that he is so out of shape that he would not be able to get up:-)

joy, to random
@joy@mastodon.social avatar

Wind is really going here in the South Bay just after 5:30am. Still have power (so far).

mral,

@joy our power is cutting out randomly for a few seconds and them coming back on, so far.
I wonder how many alternate circuits there are?

mral,

@joy
yep, I did take a nap but it seems to have stayed on.

mral,

@joy
no sooner than I sent you that, we lost power. just got it back a few hours ago. I heard it was a tree that took out a line .

vik, to linux
@vik@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

3D Design tool for needy kids, the search continues.

We have old laptops to loan out to kids from poor backgrounds. They don't have internet. 2D design we have covered with , and the laptops run well (but not Windows). What I need is a 3D design program. Suggestions welcome.

mral,

@vik
you could try , or for 2d technical drafting, old school.
depends on how old is "old laptops"

mral,

@linux_mclinuxface @vik
It might depend on how old the kids are. I think kids learn faster than adults and what a great way to challenge them.

mral,

@ianp5a @fastness @linux_mclinuxface @vik
The importance of a good well-trained teacher can not be over-emphasized. They should be able to, and have time to, spot which students need what kind of tools.

Lets us hope they are not in a where only is the main goal and that is why they are using software and not because it offers a wide selection of tools and techniques at an affordable price.

LeftistLawyer, to random
@LeftistLawyer@kolektiva.social avatar

We witness cities having massive freak-outs over homeless encampments expanding, but no consideration as to the conditions in society that have created this problem. How do you not see this explosion in need and suffering and not think perhaps we are backing an incorrect and untenable economic system?

“it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

https://www.laprogressive.com/homelessness/late-stage-capitalism

mral,

@LeftistLawyer
so true

I ask the question; why do we need to run off a cliff before we see the problem running off the cliff will cause?
Why cant we see the cliff coming and turn early?
Homeless encampments should be taken as a view of the future if we dont change.

georgetakei, to random

It does feel that way sometimes.

mral,

@georgetakei
Our government already has every piece of information I enter on the tax forms; Its an IQ test to see if you can put the information in the right box and you are punished if you get it wrong.

georgetakei, to random
mral,

@georgetakei but suppose you do these things but confess to the crimes on the front lawn of court house in public before going in. I've seen plenty of examples where people are allowed to get away with a lot worse than any of these.

jd, to random
@jd@mstdn.ca avatar

Whoo boy. Yet another friend has gone down the right wing nut job rabbit hole and has begun bludgeoning me with messianic fervour and links from the likes of RFK jr, Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson. Impervious to reason. Have no idea how to respond other than truncating a 30-year friendship.
Any advice appreciated.

mral,

@jd yea, that is a tough one and sad to see. try remembering that they need a friend now more than ever.

Just stick to facts, try to point out inconsistencies and don't engage in ad hominem arguments.
When someone like that presents some crap, "data not based in reality", I ask for their references because "that doesn't sound right to me".
Best of luck

mral,

@JustinDerrick @jd
here is a link to a post with a link to an article that may be useful.

https://mastodon.energy/@jgkoomey/111755020688001214

The 9 Simple Principles in Physicist Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit.
My plan is to teach these to folks so they can better spot the problems themselves and prevent the conservative falsehood from gaining traction.

cs, to random
@cs@mastodon.sdf.org avatar
mral,

@cs I remember one time at IBM, corp management started making up their own neologism that you had to use if you want to show you were with them. The would say things like; " we need to solution this quickly". Every time I heard that I would think, "we have a perfectly good verb, solve, lets use it."
I was not considered management material 😏

kees, to random
@kees@fosstodon.org avatar

Sequentially in my feed: a toot about the Mars helicopter Ingenuity and its continued flying around, followed by a toot about Linux 4.14 reaching EOL.

Which reminds me, Ingenuity is running a 3.6 kernel. And it has the only excuse I can tolerate for having not been upgraded: it's on a different planet. ;)

mral,

@kees I'm reminded of the fact that linux is the most used OS on two planets.

dancinyogi, to random
@dancinyogi@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

I couldn't resist posting this snap of M15 and his new hatchling, E23. The little one is just over a day old. There is so much to discover. Eventually, s/he will venture from the nest bole, then peek at the world outside the nest, then the territory beyond its own, then finally, the world beyond its natal area.

mral,

@dancinyogi aaww what a great image for the new year. thanks

CelloMomOnCars, to random
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

PetroStates of Decline: oil and gas producers face growing fiscal risks as the unfolds

demand is facing irreversible decline.
– Oil and gas exporting nations are particularly vulnerable to the transition as hydrocarbon revenues weaken.
– Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has accelerated the transition.
– 17 of 40 derive over 40% of total government income from the sale of oil and gas.
– Indebtedness among petrostates is increasing

https://carbontracker.org/reports/petrostates-of-decline/

mral,

@CelloMomOnCars
"[i]t’s that they’ve been given no vision for a future without oil."

I think that is the crux of the problem and something we can and should do something about.
We, the general we, have been good at describing the problem, we need to get better at describing the solution.

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