Ian

@[email protected]
80 Followers
76 Following
161 Posts
Show threadIanOct 24, 2023
@a2_4am I knew the first person to win Wizardry 4.
IanOct 24, 2023
Show threadCarl T. BergstromOct 23, 2023

I had GPT regenerate the answer 20 times. A few things to note:

1. Factual error rate: the system correctlu answered 1 time in 20.

2. Run-to-run inconsistency. I get different answers each time.

3. Logical errors and internally contradictory text in which one paragraph says a team did play and another says it didn't.

4. One attempt to self-correct that still doesn't quite work.

How could we think this sort of thing is useful for writing or even reviewing our work?

IanOct 17, 2023
Andrew PlotkinOct 13, 2023

The Activision thing finally landed. Which means MS owns Infocom, via an impressive 40-year chain of buyouts, takeovers, and shakeups.

Now I formally put forth the plea:

Microsoft should put all of Infocom’s IP under a Creative Commons license. Or donate the rights to a nonprofit which can do the same. Let’s bring all these legally-shaky fan sites and collections into the light.

https://blog.zarfhome.com/2023/10/microsoft-consumes-activision

(Yes, I’m part of a nonprofit that could do that.)

Pass it along.

#InteractiveFiction

Microsoft consumes Activision; and a plea

The gavel has fallen; the cup has been stomped; pick your metaphor. Microsoft has succeeded in its almost-two-year quest to gobble up Activision. The peculiar side effect in my corner of the world is that Microsoft now owns the dusty remains ...

Zarf Updates
Show threadIanOct 16, 2023
@evacide if you see it as a drinking game you can turn it into a social event
Show threadIanOct 15, 2023
@jik I’m rooting for you.
IanOct 9, 2023
evacideOct 8, 2023
The enshittification of X and Google search results turns out to be a gift to misinfo. Exhibit A: fake news release about an aid package to Israel spread by verified accounts and to the top search results on Google: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/verified-accounts-spread-fake-news-release-biden-8-billion-aid-package-rcna119372
Verified accounts spread fake news release about a Biden $8 billion aid package to Israel

A doctored White House news release posted online falsely claimed that the Biden administration had authorized $8 billion in emergency aid to Israel on Saturday.

NBC News
IanOct 5, 2023
WikiResearchOct 4, 2023

RT by @wikiresearch: At the Wikimania 2023, Singapore, I did a talk titled "State of Machine Learning at Wikipedia"

The video recording is now available: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania_2023_-_Plenary_-_17_August_-_State_of_Machine_Learning_on_the_Wikimedia_projects.webm

Presentation slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NldP01-AOAHjMnBRDACnZRex4zBrv0Utsigx6IlqpYU/edit https://twitter.com/santhoshtr/status/1709523368704377151

File:Wikimania 2023 - Plenary - 17 August - State of Machine Learning on the Wikimedia projects.webm - Wikimedia Commons

IanOct 3, 2023
The sales kids at this Apple Store were not even born the last time “titanium” was an Apple product selling point.
IanSep 26, 2023
Meredith WhittakerSep 25, 2023

SO good -- the best follow the money reporting on who's behind the global attack on digital privacy yet.

TLDR: it's law enforcement x AI companies posing as NGOs w a commercial interest in selling scammy mass scanning tech. Deeply cynical, deeply shady.

https://balkaninsight.com/2023/09/25/who-benefits-inside-the-eus-fight-over-scanning-for-child-sex-content/

‘Who Benefits?’ Inside the EU’s Fight over Scanning for Child Sex Content

An investigation uncovers a web of influence in the powerful coalition aligned behind the European Commission’s proposal to scan for child sexual abuse material online, a proposal leading experts say puts rights at risk and will introduce new vulnerabilities by undermining encryption.

Balkan Insight
IanSep 24, 2023
Kate StarbirdSep 23, 2023
If anyone is at all curious as to why researchers like myself and my colleagues are under attack, perhaps some of our papers might be of interest. Here's a recent one on participatory disinformation and the 2020 election: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051231177943