Notices by Tim Bray (timbray@hachyderm.io)

@Jonathanglick @evan

On another dimension, crypto & LLMs are similar in that they are both really expensive, requiring large investments in infrastructure, and with a high carbon cost.

(Not what you’re talking about, I know.)

OK, that ⬆️ settles it. Granted, this is *gasp* not conformant with various ISO standards, we’ll just have to live with that.
🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁
Of course, to be screen-reader friendly, we should always camel-case it: #CdnPoli. I tested with the (rather basic) built-in MacOS screen-reader and it said, quite properly, “see-dee-en-polly”.

Hey #Hachyderm folks, I’m outta here. Nothing against this instance, which IMHO has the best instance-local feed anywhere, but because I’m about to migrate to #CoSocial, which is a Canadian instance operated by a member-owned co-op. I think co-operatives are a super-attractive building block for the kind of Fediverse we want to inhabit. I blogged the details here: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2023/04/06/CoSocial

(For those I follow, pardon the re-follow notifications you’re about to get.)

There are many #introduction posts out there, but this one is mine.

I’m a hyperoverprivileged straight cis white greybearded neurotypical male, living in Vancouver, Canada with loved ones.

I’m old.

I can’t not write, as evidenced by the 2+ million blogwords at https://www.tbray.org/ongoing - also I was “timbray” on Twitter starting in 2007 but stepped away 2022/11/27.

Tl;dr: Geek and environmentalist. For details, type my name into your favorite Web search, I’m overly public.

Oh dear, SMBC: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/human-arts

It seems to me that when legislative majorities start to expel minority members for being too noisy, you’re looking at 50-foot letters of fire saying “FASCISM ALERT!” No?

I think this manifesto from Bender, Gebru, McMillan-Major, and Mitchell is absolutely essential reading: https://www.dair-institute.org/blog/letter-statement-March2023

( BTW, they use the phrase “synthetic media” which I think we should all adopt when discussing AI output).

A quote: ”This not only lures people into uncritically trusting the outputs of systems like ChatGPT, but also misattributes agency. Accountability properly lies not with the artifacts but with their builders.” YES!

@timnitGebru @emilymbender @meg

From: Cyclists
To: Motorists

If we’re at a corner where there’s any complexity at all and it’s your right-of-way, PLEASE TAKE YOUR DAMN RIGHT-OF-WAY.

Otherwise we end up stuck looking poignantly at each other and I have to guess what you’re going to do, and if I guess wrong I might get killed.

We all did Drivers’ Ed. You know if you have the right-of-way, and this knowledge simplifies the process and means you don’t have to think. So sure, glance at me to be sure I saw you; but then go.

So, this one got lots of good feedback. A few people stood out, saying "cyclists are assholes, breaking laws all the time and stealing right of way and generally a threat." Hmm. I both drive and cycle, generally around the same areas, and I can testify that the asshole density is *way* higher behind the wheel than on the handlebars. So if you’re one of those people,

1) Maybe you have a highly localized bike-culture problem.

2) Maybe recalibrate your perceptions a bit.

3) Maybe YATA.

@evan Hmm, I think there should be an "Avoid it on principle" option?

Here’s how Bing changed between yesterday and today. Larger picture is a snapshot taken yesterday evening, smaller is just now.

It’s I pity, I liked yesterday’s Bing better.

@jesse Ooh, weird. What's going on, I wonder. Possibly they're dealing back the response "depth" based on the system load? I notice that it takes a while to compute the answers.

@palmin

All these years later, I just can’t get comfortable with a computer platform where you can write code for it, but the vendor gets to say whether or not people can run your code.

I thought that was wrong the day it was announced and still do.

The money says I’m in a minority. I’m comfortable with that.

The Web remains the only platform without a proprietor. Treasure it.

Highland Cattle
#photography

@mekkaokereke How about “I believe that modern VC-driven business models are irredeemably flawed, to the extent that that lifeboat comes with an unpluggable leak”.

Personally working on trying to prove that an instance based on co-op principles can be sustainable.

@mekkaokereke Can't disagree with any of that. I have this optimistic vision of a future where the Fediverse is a large collection of small lifestyle businesses and member-owned co-operatives.

I think I'm less worried about tech & scaling than you are. There'll be painful spots but there are enough people around with the development and ops mojo to get us through.

I expect GCP & AWS to offer instance-as-a-service and there's nothing wrong with that.

Hey folks, how bout a round of applause for this spring's Vancouver crocuses, that had to fight their way through the leaf cover then got 15cm of snow dumped on them and it hit -6°C.

Did they care? They did not, these are tough little guys.

I spent the best part of an hour this morning with: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/06/how-the-biggest-fraud-in-german-history-unravelled

Probably paywalled, sorry. But a fantastic, beggars-belief story.

[Hmmm, doesn't seem to be getting a preview: It's about the Wirecard financial scandal.]

I have a challenge: For the first time on the Fediverse, I was upstream in a thread that just got too big and complicated for me to follow.

Start here: https://mastodon.adida.net/@ben/109932030146999100

Challenge: Who's got a Fediverse client that makes this twisted pyramid of mostly pretty high-value contributions actually comprehensible?

@lauren @jimcarroll

FYI for some reason I can't see what you're responding to? Fediverse weirdness? Looked at the @jimcarroll feed and drew a blank there too. Hmm…