Mastodawn

There’s a real heat emergency unfolding across the US like a slow motion car wreck

https://apnews.com/article/heat-records-climate-change-graphics-bfea2c9562495152d081f55cc70f0cbe#

Extreme heat across the US in 4 graphics

Unusual March heat has pushed temperatures into record territory in parts of the West. More extremes are expected in the days ahead. While heat is most acutely felt by people exposed to it, graphics and charts convey the scale of this extreme event. Graphics show where temperature records may have been broken, where to expect extreme temperatures next week and what kind of heat to expect in April, May and June. An Associated Press analysis found that roughly a quarter of March heat records at 400 weather stations across the United States may be tied or broken this month.

AP News

Alan Braggins 1d ago

mhoye 1d ago

This has a genuinely sinister elegance to it. You want to know if models can “reason” instead of merely repeat? Point them an esoteric language and see what happens.

https://types.pl/@edwinb/116263613083616062

Alan Braggins 2d ago

Dave Alvarado 2d ago

How (racist/sexist/whatever) harassment on Mastodon works:

1. Harasser replies to their target's post, with the reply set to "followers only", saying the most vile stuff you can imagine.

2. All the harasser's followers join in on the harassment, posting more vile stuff.

3. Nobody but the target and the harassment crew can see the vile stuff that was said.

4. Target is traumatized. Nobody else can see why.

5. Everybody says "I don't see it so it's not happening."

https://community.hachyderm.io/blog/2024/08/12/hachyderms-introduction-to-mastodon-moderation-part-1/

Hachyderm's Introduction to Mastodon Moderation: Part 1

The first post in a series about Mastodon moderation tooling. This post focuses on context for the upcoming posts.

Hachyderm Community

Alan Braggins 2d ago

The Whore of Blahbylon 2d ago

No lies detected.

#TheEconomy #WallStreet #BlueCollarWorkers #MiddleClass #USPolitics #LaborRights #IncomeInequality

Alan Braggins 2d ago

George Takei

🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽2d ago

The grift keeps getting bigger. Tariffs were a way for Trump to extort our trading partners to line his cronies’ pockets.

Alan Braggins 2d ago

Athena Mar 12

Sam Altman: “We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.”

Meaning: We stole all your knowledge , writing, and art, and now we’re gonna put a meter on it and sell it back to you. You’re welcome.”

Alan Braggins 2d ago

Tony “Abolish ICE” Arcieri🌹🦀2d ago

Trump wants the EPA to stop regulating climate pollution. Blue states have launched a high-stakes legal case against him

(Meanwhile, large swaths of the US are experiencing 90F-110F, or 32C-43C, temps in March)

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/19/climate/trump-endangerment-finding-lawsuit-climate-blue-states

#uspol

Trump wants the EPA to stop regulating climate pollution. Blue states have launched a high-stakes legal case against him

A coalition of 40 Democratic states, cities and counties sued the Trump administration on Thursday, challenging the recent termination of a longstanding policy allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate climate pollution.

CNN

Alan Braggins 3d ago

Robin Monks

3d ago

A lot of companies love this idea, because it also tied their users 1:1 to real people's identities for the sake of serving ads. Ad space on a site where everyone is ID checked is a lot more valuable. @index https://this.weekinsecurity.com/papers-please-age-verification-laws-threaten-everyones-online-security-and-privacy/

Papers, please: Age verification laws threaten everyone's online security and privacy

Laws that require adults to upload their driver's licenses or passports to access apps, websites, and VPNs will make the entire web less safe.

~this week in security~

Alan Braggins 3d ago

🗡3d ago

If you're not in the know: Ray Blanchard is the originator of "autogynephilia," and Lisa Littman is known for using highly biased methods to try and validate "rapid onset gender dysphoria."

Don't respond to them. Tell your friends not to respond to them. Tell them to tell their friends.

https://masto.ai/@transworld/116251795958925187

Transgender World (@[email protected])

Transphobic scientists are recruiting trans people for study. Do not respond to requests from Lisa Littman, Ken Zucker, J Michael Bailey, James Morandini, Kevin Hsu, Paul Vasey, Ray Blanchard, Scott Semenyna or Alex Byrne. https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/scientists-behind-the-social-contagion #transgender #trans #LGBTQ

Mastodon

Alan Braggins 4d ago

Greg Egan 4d ago

I have no problem at all — in principle — with automating customer help inquiries. But what this *ought* to consist of, mostly, is exposing more information to the customer in a more accessible, searchable and understandable form.

Carefully written software could supercharge / personalise “help pages” and FAQs on a company’s web site, rendering a significant proportion of help desk phone calls unnecessary. Most of the time when I need to call a company, it’s because their web UI simply isn’t offering me some information that is in their system (and which the help desk staff can see), but that they’ve decided I don’t need to know.

Anyway ... that’s how I think these things *should* work. The link is to reporting on multiple cases where, instead, companies decided to pretend than their “AI” could just mimic human customer service staff and take their place, which of course it couldn’t, and it all went horribly wrong.

[H/T @lana ]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20260316/what-ai-overtaking-jobs-looks-like

What AI overtaking jobs looks like

“Are you actually a human?” The voice of a middle-aged man, thick with anger, roars through the phone. For Lee Eun-young — a pseudonym for a woman...

The Korea Times