From Pine View Farm

A Tune for the Times 0

Share

Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0

Impartial and objective? Per Cornelia C. Walther, “, , , a new study has exposed an unsettling paradox at the core of our assumptions. Involving analysis of nine different LLMs and nearly a half-million prompts, the research shows that these supposedly impartial systems change their fundamental ethical decisions based on a single demographic detail.”

Details at the link.

Share

If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0

Frame One:  One heavily armed National Guard soldier says to another,

Click to view the original image.

Share

Emoluments 0

Farron runs the numbers.

Share

A Question of Identity 0

Honest to Betsy, you can’t make this stuff up.

Share

The Art of the Deal 0

Donald Trump, getting taken to the cleaners in poker by Putin, thinks,

Via Michael in Norfolk, who has commentary.

Share

Lies and Lying Liars 0

Apparently, the Trump maladministration believes that, if they don’t talk about it, it didn’t happen.

Share

QOTD 0

Francis Quarles:

Let the greatest part of the news thou hearest be the least part of what thou believest, lest the greater part of what thou believest be the least part of what is true. Where lies are easily admitted the father of lies will not easily be excluded.

Share

A Tune for the Times 0

Share

Precedented 0

Donald Trump opens his mouth and Adolf Hitler emerges, saying,

Via Job’s Anger.

Share

The Privatization Scam 0

Emma talks with Whitney Wimbish about how private prisons are profiteering from Donald Trump’s campaign against brown people immigrants.

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

A quite pedestrian pedestrian case of politeness.

Musical NotesGuns and stupid, guns and stupid.
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you brother,
You can’t have one without the other.

Share

Devolution, Reprise 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Matthew Facciani writes about an AI TikTok account that fooled millions into thinking it was real life human being and suggests some steps we can take–not as individuals, but as polity–to protect against such fakery.

He makes three main points:

  1. The viral “MAGA Megan” TikTok showed clear AI traits yet still fooled large audiences.
  2. AI fakes spread by aligning with identity, leveraging networks, and gaming algorithms.
  3. Combating AI misinformation requires media literacy, awareness or our biases, and platform action.

Methinks this a valuable and timely read, especially as Big Tech seems determined to stuff AI down our throats, as illustrated by yesterday’s post about the Zuckerborg.

Share

Devolution 0

Nurse:  Darrn Stevens is helping us with social media buzz about our mobile blood drive.  Dana:  Darrn Stevens?  Really.  That juvenile delinquent that Joe is mentoring?  Nurse:  He's a teenage influence, Dana.  That kid has thousands of followers!  Dana (thinking to herself): Finally, the rapid decline of our society, explained.

Click for the original image.

Share

Courted Jester 0

Florida Man.

Share

QOTD 0

George Carlin:

When fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jack-boots. It will be Nike sneakers and Smiley shirts . . . .

Share

A Tune for the Times 0

Celebrate the new Mythsonian Museum.

Share

Facebook Frolics 0

At SFGate, Stephen Council reports on the Zuckerborg’s turn to AI in its quest for assimilation. Council is not sanguine.

Here’s a tiny bit from his piece.

But it’s important first to understand Zuckerberg’s approach. He mused on a podcast in April that most people have far fewer friends than they want, so we’ll probably move past the “stigma” around having AI friends and find them “valuable,” especially as they become more humanlike. “You’ll be able to basically have like an always-on video chat” with an AI, he said.

His point that people need more friends gels with recent research into the ill-health effects of isolation. But Zuckerberg’s idea of patching over loneliness with algorithmic avatars is an ugly vision of the world: a purposeful unraveling of the social fabric that gives us community, culture, accountability and love. We need to refuse this vision. The solution to not having enough friends is — needs to be — making more friends. More care and responsibility for our neighbors, not bubbles of solitude.

Share

“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

Another “responsible gun owner” chooses to show politeness on the pavement.

Police say it all started in Atlanta on Sylvan Road and ended at a gas station in East Point at the intersection of Main Street and Knotts Avenue.

A preliminary investigation suggests a female driver was involved in an accident and when attempting to flag down the other driver involved, that driver shot towards her vehicle, striking the children who were seated inside.

We are a broken society.

Share

The Art of the Steal 0

Frame One:  Donald Trump holds up a map of Texas and says,

Click for the original image.

Share
From Pine View Farm
Privacy Policy

This website does not track you.

It contains no private information. It does not drop persistent cookies, does not collect data other than incoming ip addresses and page views (the internet is a public place), and certainly does not collect and sell your information to others.

Some sites that I link to may try to track you, but that's between you and them, not you and me.

I do collect statistics, but I use a simple stand-alone Wordpress plugin, not third-party services such as Google Analitics over which I have no control.

Finally, this is website is a hobby. It's a hobby in which I am deeply invested, about which I care deeply, and which has enabled me to learn a lot about computers and computing, but it is still ultimately an avocation, not a vocation; it is certainly not a money-making enterprise (unless you click the "Donate" button--go ahead, you can be the first!).

I appreciate your visiting this site, and I desire not to violate your trust.