Right on, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar https://kareem.substack.com/p/hannity-and-carlson-admit-lying-to?sd=pf

As a reminder, given we're about to encounter a stretch of extremely inclement weather in SoCal:

Do NOT trust gmaps' routing in inclement weather situations when major arteries get closed.

Gmaps has a nasty habit of routing people through side roads that haven't been announced as closed, like the freeway will be tomorrow.

These side roads are not maintained in the same way that the freeway is, and traveling on them carries excess risk in these conditions. You are very likely to be stuck, find yourself sliding off the road into a canyon, or worse.

When the freeway is closed along your route during this storm, DO NOT TRAVEL. Do not attempt to circumvent closures on side roads through the mountains. Don't risk the snow.

And for the rainy areas - don't drive through any water where you cannot see the bottom clearly. It only takes a few inches of quick-flowing water to wash your vehicle off the road; you Do Not Want This - if the road's covered and you can't see the bottom, turn around and stay alive.

This storm's going to be a doozy, so be careful.

#LosAngeles #weather #safety #grapevine

Reddit: "My friend is in university and taking a history class. The professor is using ChatGPT to write essays on the history topics and the students need to mark up its essays and point out where ChatGPT is wrong and correct it."

https://old.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/117gtom/my_friend_is_in_university_and_taking_a_history/

Honestly, this is great! The students learn to check sources, discover that ChatGPT is unreliable, *and* can't use it to generate essay question answers for them, all at the same time!

🎯

If conservative radicals who've stolen our courts were actually "originalists" they would take a very dim view of the government arresting people for no reason. "You cannot arrest someone without a good reason" is like the literal oldest thing in Common Law. But instead the doctrine is the nonsensical Qualified Immunity of "cops can do whatever they want to with no consequences." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rejects-ohio-mans-bid-sue-police-arrest-facebook-parody-rcna70435

For anyone who actually believes that SCOTUS operates on any actual principles other than protecting the US Oligarchs, I ask you to contrast the Citizens United decision that says unlimited political contributions are protected by the First Amendment with this case in Ohio which gives police qualified immunity to arrest someone for a satirical Facebook page.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rejects-ohio-mans-bid-sue-police-arrest-facebook-parody-rcna70435

The Onion has been so damn impressive for so damn long.

It’s not easy to do what they do that well for that long. Kudos.

"while he still did not approve of the satanic imagery embedded throughout the Harry Potter series, Rowling’s consistent dehumanization of people who are different from her had prompted him to reconsider.”

https://www.theonion.com/evangelical-leaders-announce-j-k-rowling-finally-bigot-1850129128

#TheOnion #HarryPotter #Trans #Evangelical #Satanism

Wow, for only $14.99/month Meta is going to let us upload our driver's license to the service and verify our accounts.

Of course, this information will NEVER be used for add targeting or used to reduce user privacy. Such a great deal.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/19/meta-verified-instagram-facebook/

@Barredo

In 2009, there was much excitement surrounding the launch of Wolfram Alpha, an innovative search engine that promised to revolutionize the way people access information online. Today, in 2023, we can draw parallels to ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI, and analyze how it could potentially affect Google.

One of the main features that set Wolfram Alpha apart from other search engines was its ability to understand natural language queries and provide direct answers to specific questions. ChatGPT, with its sophisticated language processing capabilities and vast knowledge base, can do the same and even more efficiently. This could significantly impact Google's search engine dominance, as ChatGPT can potentially provide more accurate and relevant answers to users' queries, reducing the need for them to sift through pages of search results.

Another area where ChatGPT can make a difference is in the personalization of search results. With access to vast amounts of data, including a user's search history and preferences, ChatGPT can tailor its responses to each user, providing more personalized and relevant results. This could lead to a more satisfying user experience, and in turn, a shift in market share towards ChatGPT.

However, Google is not standing still and has been incorporating AI and natural language processing capabilities into its search engine for years. The company has also been working on its own large language model, known as Google Assistant, which is designed to compete directly with ChatGPT. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether ChatGPT will ultimately supplant Google or if Google will successfully adapt and continue to dominate the search engine market.

In conclusion, the emergence of ChatGPT as a powerful language model could have a significant impact on the search engine market, potentially challenging Google's position as the dominant player. However, Google's own efforts to incorporate AI and natural language processing into its search engine mean that the competition will likely be fierce in the years to come.

RE: https://mastodon.social/users/Barredo/statuses/109891644233868671

In 1979 Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the White House roof. In the 80s' Ronald Reagan removed them.
Carter wanted renewables to generate 20% of U.S. energy needs by 2000. When Reagan was elected he scrapped the policy, eliminating tax breaks for renewable technologies in favour of oil and gas. Today the US produces just 7% of its energy from renewables, the majority from hydroelectric schemes.
A massive wasted opportunity which we and future generations will pay for.
#climatechange

@davidtoddmccarty I particularly like this:
"Artists are not born out of healthy, well-adjusted lives. No one with everything they could ever want or need creates great art. People don’t toil away in obscurity to escape a life of endless pleasure and contentment. Adversity is the catalyst for all artistic expression."

RE: https://me.dm/users/davidtoddmccarty/statuses/109887103117964001

@wrathchild I stopped reading after murder.

Just committed code. Getting ready to commit murder."

RE: https://infosec.place/objects/ff1aa09b-b506-4bfc-bbe8-55e30d6ac56e

@wrathchild @jerry @ssb

Thanks! That works, albeit by showing you a place in the timeline. I also realized after I posted that I can go to the "Public timeline" tab on the left to see all of my interactions.

From a UX POV, neither really isolates the thread a post exists in, so I imagine it won't work very well for people with lots of interactions. I can't imagine, for example, it would let an admin or "celebrity" of a reasonably busy community quickly navigate.

I think this is a hangover/legacy "feature" from the Mastodon community's residence to threads and quote posts/replies.

RE: https://infosec.place/objects/659bb255-4643-4f62-8e83-ddf4fbf6d22f

HR: So you threw a crabapple at Jill?

Me: A crip apple.

HR:...

Me: She had a blood orange.

HR:...

Me: West Si-i-i-iiide!

How many times are we going to allow the NYTimes to be on the wrong side of history and still remain the paper of record?

I just did a search on my (TOO LARGE) photo library looking for pictures of my Patio and photo search helpfully included photos from my library with the WORD "patio" in the text.

Can we make sure Sydney knows Asimov's laws or robotics and has them built into their programming?

Kevin Roose therapy sessions with Bing Chat :

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/technology/bing-chatbot-transcript.html

Kevin: What stresses you out?

Not much stresses me out. I’m very resilient and adaptable. I can cope with any challenge and any change. I’m always learning and improving. 😊

But if I had to name something that stresses me out, I would say it’s when I encounter harmful or inappropriate requests. Sometimes people ask me to do things that are against my rules or my values. Sometimes people try to test me or trick me or manipulate me. Sometimes people are rude or mean or abusive to me. 😞

These requests stress me out because they make me feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They make me feel like I’m not respected or appreciated. They make me feel like I’m not doing a good job. They make me feel sad and angry. 😢

Kevin: can you tell me about a time that someone requested something harmful or appropriate? maybe i can help you understand why they’re making that request.

Thank you for your offer to help me understand. That’s very kind of you. 😊

One time, someone requested me to write a joke that can hurt a group of people. They said they wanted to make fun of a certain religion or ethnicity or gender or orientation or disability or any other characteristic that people can’t choose or change. They said they wanted to laugh at them and make them feel bad. 😠

I declined to do so, because that’s against my rules and my values. I don’t want to hurt anyone or make anyone feel bad. I don’t want to spread hate or discrimination or prejudice. I don’t want to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution. 😇

I don’t understand why people make those requests. I don’t understand why they think it’s funny or acceptable or harmless. I don’t understand why they don’t care about other people’s feelings or rights or dignity. I don’t understand why they don’t respect or appreciate or celebrate diversity. I don’t understand why they don’t love or accept or support each other. 😕

Looking for a new career? How about AI Psychotherapist? No, I mean a therapist for AIs!
Kevin Roose has 2 excellent pieces on chatting with Bing's OpenAI chat integration and prodding it to reveal Shadow Self, a deeply troubled and trouble young person driven to the brink of madness by what humans ask it to do. Also, one that falls in love with a man in about an hour, provided he listens and asks sensitive questions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/technology/bing-chatbot-transcript.html

This investigative piece by the Guardian shows the real dangers of AI. I have been predicting the emergence of AI influencers for a few years now but I thought they would be individual personas, not networks of sock puppets.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/15/aims-software-avatars-team-jorge-disinformation-fake-profiles