@stshank@mstdn.social
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stshank

@stshank@mstdn.social

Head of Content at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup developing zero-carbon power plants to help fight climate change. Former science and technology journalist at CNET.

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stshank, to random
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

Old: Native American tribes use sovereignty to bypass state laws prohibiting casinos.

New: Tribes use sovereignty to host Tesla stores in New Mexico, bypassing the state laws requiring dealers and banning direct sales.

https://rrobserver.com/its-here-tesla-opens-second-new-mexico-location/

stshank, to ai
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

Today in AI training and alignment adventures, a very paperclip-maximizing anecdote from a US Air Force AI simulation. "We trained the system – ‘don’t kill the operator.' So what does it start doing? It starts destroying the communication tower."

https://www.aerosociety.com/news/highlights-from-the-raes-future-combat-air-space-capabilities-summit/

stshank, to random
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Repeat after me: large language model AIs like ChatGPT today produce material that is plausible, not necessarily true. Read this bonkers thread. https://mstdn.social/@kendraserra@dair-community.social/110441210468852034

stshank, to bluesky
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

Musk talks up the Twitter innovation rate, but unlike those changes, this Bluesky feature is one I'm really interested in. And it's an advantage over Mastodon. Chronological sorting is OK in some situations, but more sophisticated algorithms are important at least for my usage.

Bluesky custom feed description: "Now you can choose what algorithm powers your social media experience."

stshank,
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

@henrik @rolle I thought I read somewhere that Bluesky's feeds are open source, but not sure about that. (One's ability to understand source code is still a limiting factor, of course.) Developers can write your own custom feeds, too. Starter kit: https://github.com/bluesky-social/feed-generator

stshank, to random
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Mastodon just surpassed 12 million accounts. Steady growth. https://mastodon.social/@mastodonusercount/110432276273394696

stshank, to random
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TIL Adobe has a web-based podcast recording tool. https://podcast.adobe.com/

stshank, to ai
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It took me 20 seconds to plop a hippopotamus next to the Golden Gate Bridge. Adobe has built its Firefly generative AI tool straight into Photoshop, and it's a big deal. The beta is out today.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/i-just-tried-photoshops-new-ai-tool-it-makes-photos-creative-funny-or-unreal/

stshank, to photography
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Chestnut-backed chickadee over the weekend. One of the young ones incessantly begging parents for food these days, judging by the yellow still on its bill.

stshank, to random
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Now you can edit WhatsApp messages up to 15 minutes after they're sent, Zuckerberg says. Makes it more competitive with Apple iMessage and one-ups Signal. But desktop WhatsApp is SO SLOW. https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/pfbid0x4MEtT8GjVLvQ5eHyaF3wMgrYPEbkHzAwmCCvKheWiFNWgxeZMVtsKKYQ6SZyMCml

stshank, to photography
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Testing out the new camera — Canon R5. Pleased, generally. Gotta figure out the new autofocus, because it's very different. And customize the buttons to do what I need.

stshank, to random
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In the house for testing: @UgreenOfficial PowerRoam 1200: 1200W & 1024Wh battery. (I'm trying with portable solar panels, too). My interest is high with 3 no-power days in March. $200 discount right now, plus $50 more with coupon 05UG1200 through May 21. https://www.ugreen.com/collections/power-station/products/ugreen-powerroam1200-power-station?variant=40077775274046

kevinmgill, to random

Saw this guy walking the dog this afternoon. I was surprised he let me get this close for a picture before running off

stshank,
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

@kevinmgill that's a pretty small lizard to be walking a dog

(Joke)

stshank, to science
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Science, especially neuroscience, seems to be flooded with fake research papers. https://www.science.org/content/article/fake-scientific-papers-are-alarmingly-common

stshank, to random
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

Got a news release for an "AI Gifting Assistant" and I misread it as "AI Grifting Assistant." Honestly, that sounds like a pretty big market right now.

stshank, to random
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BOW (bunch of wires) is the best tech acronym since POTS (plain old telephone service).

stshank,
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@timbray I knew there was another one! I was trying to remember it and gave up.

stshank, to random
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If passkeys are easy enough to use, will people be less inclined to stay logged in via cookies? (Password managers have shifted me this direction.) Will websites cut down on the "stay logged in" option? Because there's a market for cookie credentials to break into accounts.

stshank, to photography
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

I spent hours taking photos and pixel peeping to compare the cameras on Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro. Both can take good shots. There's no clear winner, but there are many points where one or the other does better.

Two takeaways: iPhone 3x telephoto limit is weaksauce & Samsung overprocessing makes me wince.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/camera-comparison-samsung-galaxy-s23-ultra-vs-apple-iphone-14-pro/

jamesthomson, (edited ) to random
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Important physics work going on in my dice engine today. Though I genuinely forgot it was May the 4th today!

stshank,
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@jamesthomson How long before you're starting to see if you can computationally crack the three-body problem?

timbray, to photography
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At the Turangawaewae Regatta, 2015/03

stshank,
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

@timbray I'm not getting any matches on iNaturalist

MikeElgan, to random
@MikeElgan@mastodon.social avatar

Anyone got a Bluesky invite burning a hole in their pocket?

stshank,
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

@bagder @MikeElgan No doubt in a little while we'll shift from scarcity to abundance. I am experiencing 20% curiosity, 10% FOMO, and 70% fatigue for signing up for another social network.

stshank, to random
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Not too surprising, I guess, but my Mastodon and Twitter polls somewhat agreed on the top option for iPhone 15 Pro's future blah color. Same top two picks for boring washed-out beige and boring rusty orange. Disagreed on boring red and boring brown.

Snarky Mastodon poll about possible future iPhone colors

stshank,
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

@paul Yeah, who knows which algorithmic vagaries are involved. Hashtags? Engagement? Time of day? Legions of adoring fans following my every Mastodon post?

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

My decision about whether to try Bluesky depends on what everyone else does. I just want to be where everyone else is, and not be around too many Nazis. My needs are simple.

stshank,
@stshank@mstdn.social avatar

@mattblaze Yes, I'm exhausted trying to reproduce my contact circles elsewhere. Activation energy is high for social media. LinkedIn is much more useful to me nowadays, too, so that's a whole nother lift.

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