@annaleen
@simon

"...#AI could rapidly eat the whole of human #culture — everything we have produced over thousands of years — digest it and begin to gush out a flood of new cultural artifacts. Not just school essays but also political speeches, ideological manifestos, holy books for new cults. By 2028, the U.S. presidential race might no longer be run by humans...
That cultural cocoon has hitherto been woven by other humans. What will it be like to..."

@annaleen
@simon

"...In the beginning was the word. #Language is the operating system of human #culture. From language emerges myth and law, gods and money, art and science, friendships and nations and computer code. #AI’s new mastery of language means it can now hack and manipulate the operating system of civilization. By gaining mastery of language, A.I. is seizing the master key to civilization, from bank vaults to holy sepulchers."

@annaleen
@simon

"...#Drug companies cannot sell people new medicines without first subjecting their products to rigorous safety checks. #Biotech labs cannot release new #viruses into the public sphere in order to impress shareholders with their wizardry. Likewise, A.I. systems with the power of GPT-4 and beyond should not be entangled with the lives of billions of people at a pace faster than cultures can safely absorb them."

#ChatGPT
#AI

@annaleen

@simon

So at least 10% of #AI engineers DO know!

"...over 700 top academics and researchers behind the leading #AI companies were asked in a survey about future A.I. risk. Half of those surveyed stated that there was a 10% or greater chance of human extinction (or similarly permanent and severe disempowerment) from future A.I. systems."

*Every* major #AI convention should start with Philip K. #Dick's #SecondVariety and Isaac #Asimov's #IRobot.
Seriously.

https://nyti.ms/3lJ1NNJ

@GottaLaff @nazokiyoubinbou

#USpol #History #NS

Remember #Hitler's final step to power: #Notstandsverordnungen (#EmergencyDeclarations,) one in particular: just 1 after the #Reichstagsbrand1933 he presented a bill to prohibit all opposition parties.*

Widespread *riots* would present #PresidentFellon with *the* pretext, possibly even for #MartialLaw.

*
https://www.zeitklicks.de/zeitstrahl/1933/notverordnung-zum-schutz-von-volk-und-staat

As expected, Racist Felon is dictatoring immediately.

Via Katie Phang:

Per the WSJ: “The incoming #Trump administration is planning a large-scale immigration raid in Chicago next week..

The raid is expected to begin on Tuesday morning, a day after Trump is inaugurated, and will last all week, the people said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will send between 100 and 200 officers to carry out the operation.” https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-to-begin-large-scale-deportations-tuesday-e1bd89bd

@pojntfx @stavpup

😂
#TikTokBan
#BreakingNews

There's a new, ingenious development.

https://mstdn.social/@Free_Press/113846961166988715

To be blunt, I’m thrilled that Pixelfed is what’s growing the Fediverse right now. That app finally pushed accounts over the 11M mark after hovering around 10M for more than a year.

The reality is, Mastodon is no longer going to cut it.

Most people who are looking for a Twitter alternative are migrating to Threads or Bluesky. And while Threads has some Fediverse integration, I have little confidence that they’ll integrate with the Fediverse entirely – because Meta will be Meta.

Now for Mastodon to actually grow, there needs to be other ActivityPub-enabled apps that are not Twitter-like. And that means other uses cases for the Fediverse not only need to be developed but have thriving communities that coalesce around them.

But how does this actually help Mastodon? You see, those other apps build Mastodon’s network effect. And a network effect is what makes any social media app more useful. If you want to talk to a more diverse array of people, you need a wider and wider network effect.

Which then extends Mastodon’s reach even further. In fact, beyond Mastodon. Which makes Mastodon more useful.

So if you want Mastodon to not just survive, but also thrive – perhaps even grow and leap frog Bluesky and (perhaps) Threads, then apps like Pixelfed are critical.

RE: https://atomicpoet.org/objects/2dcad543-239e-4664-9e38-4ba4a86cc09b

Bienvenue sur le fediverse, que ce soit via Mastodon, via Pixelfed ou un autre.

1) Complétez votre profil. Une image, une description. Postez un pouet de présentation.

2) Suivez beaucoup de gens. Dans le doute, suivez. Vous pourrez toujours "désuivre" plus tard.

3) Suivez des hashtags (en cliquant dessus puis sur le gros bouton bleu "suivre le hashtag)

4) Lorsqu’un pouet vous plait, repartagez-le. N’hésitez pas ! L’utilité du "favori" est quasi nulle, tout est dans le partage. Partagez !

FYI, via Lawrence Tribe:

"It is not necessary for the Nat Archivist to publish #ERA in order for it to be adopted according to the provisions of Constitution. The President avoided triggering a clash w Archivist, who recently announced her intention to defy her statutory, & purely ministerial, duty to publish the ERA. The only reason Congress gave the Archivist such a duty nearly a century ago was to ensure that the Nation got word that an amendment was in force..."

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/the-equal-rights-amendment-at-long

🤦🏻♀️ via David Enrich:

Holy cow. Executives at CBS’s parent company have discussed settling #Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News/60 Minutes, because they need the Trump administration to sign off on a planned corporate merger. https://www.wsj.com/business/media/cbs-owner-discusses-settling-trump-suit-with-merger-review-on-tap-a5916925?st=J6cdvU&reflink=article_copyURL_share

#USpol #Fascism
@pojntfx
#TikTok"s CEO will be at the inauguration of the first convicted-fellon president-elect, jointly with the fascist #TESCREAL #TechOligarch, #Elmo.

As you know from your history classes, what is the most important strategy in the rise of fascism?--The streamlining of society (#Gleichschaltung.)

With #SuckerBerg having joined the #MAGA fray this week, the unholy alliance of them and the #fascist #Longtermist #Musk #TechBros, #TikTok is priceless for them.

@stavpup

@atomicpoet

A really beautiful and inspiring review of #Pixelfed, Chris. 💚

The world really is in need of a real alternative to authoritarian- controlled platforms, such as #Instagram and #TikTok.

It sounds like Pixelfed could become an OSS alternative to #Insta.

https://atomicpoet.org/objects/a3e91db5-f7ea-4342-9837-9939173d38e1

@ukraine_live_tagesschau

#Ukrainekrieg #Wahlen2025 #DEpol

Mich schmerzt diese rückgratlose Position des #BackbencherKanzlers #OlafScholz auch sehr.

Die #Ukraine kämpft diesen Krieg auch für ein demokratisches Europa, gegen die im Aufwind befindlichen Autokraten und Diktatoren wie #Putin. Jeder Tag, an dem Ausrüstung fehlt, stärkt das #KremlRegime und schwächt #Europa.

Es wird Zeit, dass #Scholz endlich wieder einen seinem Format entsprechende Position einnimmt: auf den hinteren Rängen!

T

Falling fertility rates globally pose a long-term economic threat

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/16/fertility-rates-economy-pensions

Gaza has shown all Palestinians - and the world - that it can withstand total war, and not budge from the ground upon which it stands. It tells the world, with justifiable pride, that the occupiers threw everything they had at us, and there was not another Nakba.

Gaza tells Israel that Palestinians exist, and that they will not be pacified until and unless Israelis talk to them on equal terms about equal rights.

In a war of liberation, the weak and vastly outgunned can succeed against overwhelming military odds. These wars are battles of will. It is not the battle that matters, but the ability to keep on fighting.

2/2

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/040115/reasons-why-china-buys-us-treasury-bonds.asp

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggar_thy_neighbour

Failing to tax billionaires is a recipe for disaster. The world wars triggered by the Gilded Age provide ample proof.

Income taxes (progressive) vs consumption taxes (regressive)

Taxation has international implications as much as a failure to tax appropriately.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wars_for_Asia,_1911%E2%80%931949

Overall, it's an opportunity for me to regain some work-life balance, and for Mastodon as an organization to unlock its full potential and avoid some ego- and trademark-related pitfalls that other large open-source projects have recently experienced.