I find virulently anti-AI programmers on the internet sort of annoying, but we have a minority of very anti-AI comp. sci. majors, and in that context it is totally fine to me, maybe even actively good.

(Some of them are even taking and enjoying my AI class, so perhaps "anti-AI" is not exactly the right word, but you know what I mean.)

Not sure if I'm extrapolating too much from a few examples, but I get the impression that some '90s U.S. music scenes were Extremely Online before it was common for the average person to be. Like naming your punk record after a Usenet newsgroup levels of online (https://www.discogs.com/master/190314-7-Seconds-AltMusicHardcore). Anything good written about it?

(I like xeroxed zines as much as the next guy, but I wish writing about this era would also dig into the listservs and newsgroups.)

Open-weight models that run on a laptop are fascinating. This file on my computer has all that inside it somehow? What exactly is it doing?

Apart from the practical benefits of the weights being open there's this aspect of "tangibility". It's a file you can copy around, works offline, no tricks, no hidden human operator. The implement-from-scratch style of AI class is a bit out of favor, but for self-study I think that can also be a useful way to heighten that feeling: you can write an honestly pretty simple program to load and use this file & convince yourself there's not really anything hidden in pytorch either.

Offended to receive copper propaganda in the mail. When it comes to metallic health quackery we are strictly a colloidal silver household. 😤

(alt: "90 clinical studies. Age reversal with copper peptide harnesses your body's natural, restorative energy. Within 24 hours 3,000-4,000 genes begin to reset to a younger healthier state....")