Mastodon Feed: Posts

jwz wrote:

Recently at the club we had a band who were playing "AI"-generated videos behind them. Every time I glanced at the screen, all I could hear was:

"Check it out! I didn't have to pay *anybody* for this! And it's *almost* good enough!"

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

DC Friends: Neither CVS nor Walgreens appear to have any of the updated COVID vaccines available in the District yet, but both do in the nearby MD suburbs. Just scheduled mine in Bethesda.

(I suppose getting vaccinated is technically literally a drug deal, but now it also feels that way).

Boosted by jwz:
grimalkina ("Dr. Cat Hicks") wrote:

I'm deeply not convinced this "high risk conditions for the covid vaccine" list is going to work for everyone because I am inarguably high risk (I literally had chronic lung damage after covid) and even before this a pharmacist went ballistic on me & denied a booster once saying only cancer or HIV would qualify. It's gonna be a tough time.

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
crowdsupply@hachyderm.io ("Crowd Supply") wrote:

Join @helenleigh for a livestream! Teardown Session 55: Ultra Low-Latency Open Hardware E-Paper with @modos

August 28th, 12pm PT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekIn2%5Fr47DQ

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
lenalia@plush.city ("Lenalia") wrote:

If you see a turtle on its back, pick it up and flip it over so you can watch your movie. This is necessary because program material is recorded on the other side of that disc.

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

There is zero chance that the people at CBP and USCIS aren't aware of this. At best, your letter will be ignored (or count against the student). At worst, both you and the student get prosecuted for fraud.

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Latest academic spam/scam: being overwhelmed with solicitations from recommendation letter mills, where they pay professors to write (or just sign) "evaluations" on behalf of foreign students, apparently for visa purposes.

Sometimes the spam comes directly from individuals, but now I'm getting services that arrange this trying to recruit me.

While I'm certainly sympathetic to the plight of talented students who want to study or move here, this has red flags all over it.

Stay the hell away.

Boosted by jwz:
MissingThePt ("Missing The Point") wrote:

In honor of Ashli Babbitt, during her funeral the U.S. Air Force will strafe the U.S. Capitol. https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5474030-air-force-to-provide-funeral-honors-to-ashli-babbitt/

jwz wrote:

I really think more people should have been tipped off by the fact that this hollow-eyed ghoul looks like an "after" from Evil Dead.
https://jwz.org/b/ykuO

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

More ICBM photos and discussion here: https://www.mattblaze.org/blog/titans/

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Captured with a DSLR and a Zeiss 21mm Distagon lens. Handheld (there was no room to set up a tripod).

In 2009, I was fortunate to join a "top to bottom" tour of former Air Force Titan ICBM site 571-7, now preserved as a museum. Titan II missiles carried a nine megaton(!) "physics package" in the "reentry vehicle" (which they emphatically assured me had been removed from this missile, but I still wouldn't advise upsetting them too much).

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Titan II ICBM, Launch Complex 571-7, Sahuarita, AZ, 2009.

Megatons of pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4182507708

#photography

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
hobbs@dobbs.town wrote:

YOU ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE RELAXED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e59guruVL4o

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
grickle@mstdn.social ("Grickle") wrote:

Surprise! #grickledoodle #fairytales #aliens #cartoon #art #drawing #funny

Boosted by jwz:
beyondmachines1@infosec.exchange ("BeyondMachines :verified:") wrote:

Only three weeks until 90% of the code is being written by AI!

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
thegibson@masto.hackers.town ("The Gibson 🅅") wrote:

Friendly reminder that with imminent quoots landing on Mastodon, you may want to go change your settings under preferences-other.

Boosted by jwz:
Richard_Littler ("Richard Littler") wrote:

"AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry."

Win win.
I just registered my name & book details with the appropriate law firm.

Check if your book/article/paper is on the list here:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/search-libgen-data-set/682094/

If it is, go here:
https://www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-author-contact/

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/authors-celebrate-historic-settlement-coming-soon-in-anthropic-class-action/?utm%5Fsource=bluesky&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=aud-dev&utm%5Fsocial-type=owned

#authors #books #AI

Boosted by jwz:
PhineasX@mastodon.art wrote:

https://octophant.threadless.com/designs/malortov-cocktail/mens/t-shirt/regular

Boosted by jwz:
PhineasX@mastodon.art wrote:

Malörtov Cocktail

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

Big plump spider in my front yard!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/08/28/i-told-you-i-was-going-to-check-out-the-front-yard-today/

db@social.lol ("David Bushell 🥐") wrote:

fine, I'll watch KPOP Demon Hunters

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
tommorris ("Tom Morris") wrote:

"LLMs allow dead (or non-verbal) people to speak" - spiritualism/channelling

"what happens when the AI turns us all into paperclips?" - end times prophecy

"AI will be able to magically predict everything" - astrology/tarot cards

"...what if you're wrong? The AI will punish you for lacking faith in Bayesian stats" - Pascal's wager

"It'll fix climate change!" - stewardship theology

Turns out studying religion comes in handy for understanding supposedly 'rationalist' ideas about AI.

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
DrALJONES wrote:

Report: "UN rights staff demand Gaza war be called genocide"

They accused the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of failing to speak out...

and "compared the UN’s inaction over Gaza to its failure to stop the 1994 genocide in Rwanda."

"Failing to denounce an unfolding genocide undermines the credibility of the UN & the human rights system itself.”

https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/un-rights-staff-demand-gaza-war-be-called-genocide

#UN #GazaGenocide #USPol #europol #Press .

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
regendans@toot.community ("Regendans") wrote:

"Jewish Activists Storm Lobby of Schiff’s Future Office In Burbank, Demand He Stop Arming Israel" #Gaza #genocide #protest https://lataco.com/jewish-activism-against-israel-burbank

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
MikeDunnAuthor@kolektiva.social wrote:

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
bhg@troet.cafe ("B.") wrote:

Überall in den Niederlanden...
#StopTheGenocide

Attachments:

• video: f158319fd3bb5f54.mp4

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
Joop wrote:

Palestijnse peuter met goed behandelbare kanker dood nadat rechtse partijen haar niet in Nederland wilden hebben https://www.bnnvara.nl/joop/artikelen/palestijnse-peuter-met-goed-behandelbare-kanker-dood-nadat-rechtse-partijen-haar-niet-in-nederland-wilden-hebben

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
bangskij@climatejustice.social ("Captain of the SS El Faro") wrote:

@skinnylatte the Nordic countries are already deploying at scale, mostly to terrorize the marginalized, send them to prison on trumped up charges(already happened in Norway) and deprive them of what little we have.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/11/denmark-ai-powered-welfare-system-fuels-mass-surveillance-and-risks-discriminating-against-marginalized-groups-report/

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
NewsBot@assortedflotsam.com ("World News Bot") wrote:

UN staff urge rights chief Volker Turk to call Gaza war a ‘genocide’ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/28/un-staff-urge-rights-chief-volker-turk-to-call-gaza-war-a-genocide?traffic%5Fsource=rss #News

Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
NewsBot@assortedflotsam.com ("World News Bot") wrote:

Elderly Palestinians starving to death under Israeli-made famine in Gaza https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2025/8/28/elderly-palestinians-starving-to-death-under-israeli-made-famine-in-gaza?traffic%5Fsource=rss #ShowTypes