Geek Stuff category archive
Down at the Farm 0
I woke up this morning to the dreaded “Error making database connection” error. (Oddly, the front end of the site seemed to be working okay, but the back end was inaccessible, so maybe my two or three regular readers did not encounter any difficulties.)
Quick like a bunny, I logged into my most excellent hosting provider, opened phpMyAdmin, and did a check, repair, and optimize on the database–procedures that I perform regularly as database maintenance ever since I suffered a database crash in 2008. Ironically, I usually do them on a Sunday.
The site seems to have worked okay all day, so I’m crossing my fingers and holding my breath.
The Crypto Con 0
It seems like everyone wants in on the scam.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
El Reg points out that, for every effect, there is a cause (emphasis added). Here’s the lede:
A scientific paper published in the journal Nature this week confirms that was the case, with justification. The groups more likely to be subjected to moderation were also more likely to share misinformation from low-quality news sites.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
The Crypto Con 0
The FBI followed the money. From El Reg (emphasis in the original):
The FBI investigation tracked payments to at least three deputies and their associates from Zort funds, and also probed how Iza was making his money. This led to the criminal charges.
Follow the link to see where it led them.
Facebook Frolics 0
How dare you attempt to get out the vote in a non-partisan manner frolics.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
Indeed, it seems increasingly anti-social, if not actually sociopathic.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. Inimical? Most Definitely. 0
Security maven Bruce Schneier takes a deep look at the hazard posed to elections by AI and those who would manipulate it.
No excerpt or summary would do his article justice. Just go read it.
The Crypto Con 0
Paul Krugman is less than sanguine about crypto con artists’ growing interest in and influence on politics. A snippet:
(snip)
So crypto’s political spending clearly seems motivated by financial self-interest, while the right-wing lurch of other tech bros may — as a Facebook founder, Chris Hughes, put it the other day in The New York Times — reflect a sense of common cause with Trump, who like them believes that he shouldn’t have to play by the rules.
Follow the link for the full article.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Eric Pohlmann, in the voice of Goron:
Why do you conduct your card experiment here, at the roulette wheel?
Closed caption, almost certainly computer generated:
Why do you conduct your card experiment here, at the old left wing?
Geeking Out 0
Mageia v. 9 with the Fluxbox window manager. The wallpaper is from my collection.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
I commend to your attention Harry Shearer’s interview with Gary Marcus on this week’s episode of Le Show about AI and Silicon Valley’s reckless over-hyping of its capabilities.
The interview starts at about the 28 minute mark and lasts a little less than half an hour.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Sabrina B. Little makes a strong case that students’ use of ChatGPT and similar “tools” to complete assignments is ipso facto counterproductive. Here’s a tiny excerpt from her article (emphasis added):
Facebook Frolics 0
Farron dissects the doubletalk.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Ian MacRae suggests that observing how AI Chatbots and LLM’s deal with humor can tell us a lot about just how “intelligent” they are. He notes that “(a)Apparently, large language models have a Rickrolling problem,” and goes on to make four main points (emphasis added):
- LLMs struggle to fully grasp the deeply embedded trends and language patterns of internet culture.
- Rickrolling, a classic internet prank, reveals the limitations of machine intelligence in understanding.
- Machine intelligence mimics human communication but lacks true understanding, especially in humor.
- We don’t yet fully understand the impact of training machine intelligence on vast datasets of online language.
Follow the link for his exploration of these issues.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
An accessory before the fact? Most definitely!
This New Gilded Age 0
At Above the Law, Olga V. Mack talks with Richard Finkelman of the Berkley Research Group about the recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta finding Google guilty of monopolistic practices.
Given the extent to which we rely search engines and Big Tech in our daily lives, I think it a worthwhile read.
Meta: Down at the Farm 0
I woke this morning to a broken blog. The error message told me that one of the database tables needed repair.
Quick like a bunny, before even having a cup of coffee, I logged into my hosting provider, started phpMyAdmin, and ran a check, repair, and optimize on on the primary database. (As a matter of routine, I do a check, repair, and optimize, as well as a database backup, at least once a week, ever since I had major database crash back when this blog was still a toddler.) The process took less than two minutes.
The Crypto Con 0
Now, it’s coming after your pension fund (assuming, of course, that you even have a pension fund in this New Gilded Age).
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Marc Wittmann argues that, as far as AI is concerned, the “Singularity” remains a fever dream He makes three main points, the most important being that hardware cannot evolve. Follow the link, where he explores each one.
Some scientists and philosophers have the opinion that artificial intelligence could one day become conscious.
A computer remains the same physical structure from one moment to the next.
A living organism, in contrast, is never the same entity from one moment to the next.
Afterthought:
Mechanical processing speed is indeed impressive, but it’s not the same thing as intelligence.
