Geek Stuff category archive
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Input for the intolerant? Follow the paper trail.
Grokking the Disinformation Superhighway 0
At the Psychology Today website, Richard Restak warns that, “(t)hanks to the technology of the Internet and AI, misinformation is vastly increasing.” He points out that, not only can AI distort the present, it can distort the past:
Read the whole thing and remind yourself that, even if you see it on a computer screen (perhaps especially if you see it on a computer screen from “social” media), it ain’t necessarily so.
Afterthought:
I wonder how long it will be before the Trump maladministration starts to deploy AI in our national par–oh, never mind.
How Stuff Works: The Crypto Con 0
Non Sequitur pictures the process.
Afterthought:
If Carlo Ponzi were alive today, he’d be selling crypto and NFTs.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Secure? Security maven Bruce Schneier notes that
Click to read the whole article.
Facebook Frolics 0
The EFF looks at the Zuckerborg’s latest assimilation strategy–enabling facial recogntion in its “smart” glasses–and explains why its a very bad no good stinking idea. Here’s a bit from their article:
Follow the link for the rest.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Corrosive? At the Psychology Today website, Cornelia C. Walther reports that “(r)esearch found that AI improved efficiency while eroding underlying expertise and agency.”
To put it another way, relying on AI to do our thinking for us may make us dumber.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Promoting passivity? At Psychology Today Blogs, John Nosta posits that the risk of AI “isn’t machine thought, but emergent passivity in us.”
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Good for doing homework? Not if you actually, like, you know, want to learn stuff.
Down Time at the Farm? (Sticky)
0
My most excellent hosting provider has informed me that maintenance is scheduled for my server “between February 09, 2026, 6:30 AM GMT. and February 10, 2026, 1:30 PM GMT,” and that some hopefully minimal down time may result. Sporadic bloggery is a possibility.
Post Mortem 0
Steve M. offers some thoughts on why Jeff Bezos has turned the once great Washington Post into the Washington Postcard. A snippet:
Tech guys become impatient when everything they touch doesn’t instantly turn to gold. They expect that they can move fast, break things, and watch the value of their new toy go up because they’ve made it buzzy. But that’s not how mature businesses work.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A conveyance for the con? At Psychology Today Blogs, Joe Pierre warns us that
Follow the link and be forewarned.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Programmed to prevaricate? At Psychology Today Blogs, John Nosta explains why your AI bot will come up with an answer even when there isn’t one.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Mitchell B. Liester reminds us that “social” media isn’t. He notes that (emphasis added)
Family estrangement has reached epidemic proportions. . . .
What’s causing this destruction? Causes include substance abuse, violence, and personality conflicts, but a newer and increasingly powerful force is social media algorithms designed to increase engagement by promoting divisive content.
In these algorithmic times, methinks the entire article is worthy of your attention.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Assimilating you just like the Zuckerborg? Security maven Bruce Schneier notes
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Omniscient? Just ask it.
Stray Thought 0
In the early days of “social” media, algorithms were supposed to “attract eyeballs” and “promote engagement.”
Now they are designed to attract screwballs and promote enragement.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
The Unwelcome Visitor 0
My current wallpaper on the Plasma Desktop on Mageia v. 9. The image is from my collection.
