Mastodawn

Ian Aug 22, 2023

@emilymbender Also, sorry for the Instagram link. I'll describe the post for people who can't see it: The poster wanted to check the source of a famous illustration of the Sphinx without its nose which was claimed by many sources to be from Fredrick Ludwig Norden in a book published in 1755. The poster checked the book but the image wasn't in it, then suspected fowl play, or possibly AI. But actually it turned out that the illustration was from a different book by the same author from 1780.

Ian Aug 22, 2023

@emilymbender
Here's an example of how the AI non-information spill is affecting the discourse. This ISN'T an example of such a spill. But the poster mentions AI as their first suspect when they got suspicious about the image they were looking for. This one is particularly notable because it concerns trust in historical facts. Although this particular case is a positive story because she ends up actually discovering the real source. Interesting anyway.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwGp2ZOBlgm/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Unruly Figures on Instagram: "Part 1: Was doing some research on the Sphinx and caught a bunch of people not double checking their sources 👀"

1,340 likes, 15 comments - unrulyfigures on August 18, 2023: "Part 1: Was doing some research on the Sphinx and caught a bunch of people not double checking th..."

Instagram

Ian Aug 6, 2023

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)Aug 6, 2023

That cute baby peacock photo? It's fake. Here's a reflection:

https://medium.com/@emilymenonbender/cleaning-up-a-baby-peacock-sullied-by-a-non-information-spill-d2e2aa642134

Ian Jul 22, 2023

Hoshino Lina (星乃リナ) 🩵 3D Yuri Wedding 2026!!!Jul 22, 2023

This is scary. It's (strong) SafetyNet for websites.

Every now and then I run into another Android app I can no longer run because someone decided my phone, running an official build of my choice of OS, that isn't even rooted, is "not trustable".

Now they want to start doing that for websites.

This kills open Linux on the desktop (including Asahi Linux). It kills alternative browsers. It is a backdoor to kill ad blockers.

No. Just no. Please.

https://github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity/blob/main/explainer.md

Web-Environment-Integrity/explainer.md at main · RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity

Contribute to RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub

Ian Jul 5, 2023

Amy Dentata Jul 3, 2023

Saying that ChatGPT "can't yet provide reliably correct answers to questions" is like saying your cat can't yet provide reliable services as a paralegal. You can't solve that task mismatch with a better cat

Ian Jun 27, 2023

Liam @ GamingOnLinux 🐧🎮Jun 26, 2023

Re: RHEL CentOS git changes. They now make it clear their recent changes were to stop others repackaging into other distributions.

I do *get* what they’re trying to say. Simply allowing others super easy access to repack doesn’t make business sense for them.

However those two paragraph’s don’t help how they look and directly contradict each other….

Literally goes from ”Don’t build from us you freeloaders” To “Building from others is what open source is all about”.

https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hats-commitment-open-source-response-gitcentosorg-changes

Red Hat’s commitment to open source: A response to the git.centos.org changes

More about Red Hat's decision to make CentOS Stream the primary repository for RHEL sources.

Ian Jun 18, 2023

nixCraft 🐧Jun 18, 2023

Question: Do you think search engines such as @duckduckgo, @google, @Bing, @brave and others should filter out spam generated by LLM that pollutes search results? Please boost for reach. TIA.

yes

57%

no

1.7%

give filter option to user

36.2%

why would they care?

5.1%

Poll ended at Jun 25, 2023 at 11:34am.

Ian Jun 18, 2023

Ars Technica Jun 17, 2023

Neanderthals seem to be the first humans to make synthetic materials

Birch bark was heated in underground chambers to create a tougher adhesive.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/neanderthals-seem-to-be-the-first-humans-to-make-synthetic-materials/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Neanderthal adhesives were made through a complex synthesis process

Birch bark was heated in underground chambers to create a tougher adhesive.

Ars Technica

Ian Jun 17, 2023

nixCraft 🐧Jun 16, 2023

It is possible to reboot the Linux system into the firmware (BIOS) setup interface on modern servers, laptops, and desktops by using the following command when your init is systemd:
sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

For more info see https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/howto-reboot-linux/ my page. #Linux #Sysadmin #Debian #RHEL #Ubuntu

Ian Jun 17, 2023

Technology Connections Jun 16, 2023

I never tooted about this but Consumer Reports picked up on my video and made a more professional stink about my car's brake lights!
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/brake-lights-can-fail-to-provide-fair-warning-on-some-evs-a9533519285/

And now! Hyundai just announced they will do a "field service campaign" to fix the issue starting in July. Yay!

Brake Lights Can Fail to Provide Fair Warning on Some Electric Vehicles

In Consumer Reports' tests, the brake light on some Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia EVs don’t always illuminate as the vehicle decelerates during regenerative braking.

Consumer Reports