Ben Taylor @VoxDei@social.cleverlibre.org

Do you prefer to perform overt, immediate evil, or slow, indirect evil? 🤔

Norway took on Meta’s surveillance ads and won.

Meta has long fought Europe's demands that it get people's consent before using their data for targeted ads. Then a Norwegian regulator threatened to ban Meta’s behavioral ads in Norway and pledged to fine the tech giant $100,000 per day unless the company changed its ways.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/meta-behavioral-ads-eu-norway

#Norway #Europe #EU #Meta #Facebook #Instagram #Privacy #DataProtection #SurveillanceCapitalism #Ads #Advertising

After the red sky (posted earlier), sunrise was worth waiting for. Glastonbury Tor this morning. It was worth the early start I think.
#glastonbury #glastonburytor #somerset #archway #sunrise #sunrisephotography

Some time before sunrise today on Glastonbury Tor. Amazing colour in the sky. Sunrise one to follow.
#glastonbury #glastonburytor #somerset #sunrise #sunrisephotography #redsky

I thought you might need to see this right now.

All the “funny” memes about “the extraterrestrials show up to take charge of Earth and we fall at their feet in gratitude” seem a lot less funny if you substitute “fascists” for “extraterrestrials” and recognize the parallel dynamics.

Your reminder that I've written a book on the business risks of generative AI. "The Intelligence Illusion"

https://illusion.baldurbjarnason.com/

Stuff I cover (not exhaustive):

- AGI is not happening any time soon.
- AGI and anthropomorphism will cripple your ability to think clearly about AI
- The AI industry has a long history of snake oil and fraud
- These models copy more than you think
- Hallucinations are still a thing and aren't going away.
- AI "reasoning" is quite broken
- Security is a shit show

Surveillance marketers are changing how they track you online, so we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports to investigate.

If you have a Facebook account (even if it’s inactive), help us uncover what info companies are gathering and sharing about you. https://themarkup.org/pixel-hunt/2023/08/02/help-us-investigate-surveillance-marketing-using-facebook-data

Astley Paradox

This is the most wildly irresponsible government decision I can remember.

The Tories serve only the interests of those who profit from the destruction of our world.

https://news.stv.tv/scotland/hundreds-of-new-north-sea-oil-and-gas-licences-announced-rishi-sunak-confirms

Time for this week's geothread, a dose of #geoeducation rather than #geoweirdness

Today we thought we'd cover a common geocoding use case: extracting the coordinates from images 📸 and geocoding the location the image was taken.

1/n

#StarTrek #Barbie #spock #Kirk #humour @allstartrek @humour

So we woke late last night to the sound of Madame Harriet, one of our #cat overlords here at our current #UK housesit, making kind of noise that any cat person will immediately recognise as "I am walking through the house with a present for you. Get ready for entrails. Yay entrails!"

We promptly turned on the light to see her sitting on the end of our bed with one of my socks in her mouth and was proudly declaring she'd killed it for us. The sock looked decidedly dead. If it could have entrails, they would have been on show. She obviously understood how to murder a sock with both skill and panache.

We thanked her for her services to the Society for Making Sure There Is Only Ever One Sock In Any Pair Left After A Week and went back to sleep.

Some time later, I woke to the feeling of something running up my leg. It was small, scratchy and definitely not my imagination.

On reflex, I whipped off the duvet and froze when I saw a very alive mouse hunched down against my knee.

Swearing, meowing, bellowing and roaring ensued but I can safely report that mouse, humans and cat are all still living, with mouse relocated to garden. No sign of entrails at all.

Meanwhile Madame Harriet kept my sock in her mouth the entire time, obviously not wanting anything to do with a ghastly mouse when she had her trophy sock to hand.

I now need a nap. A long, mouse free nap.

The saga continues...

#cats #Caturday

This week, I went over to Bluesky and asked people who'd left Mastodon why they left, and lots of people told me. I grabbed the replies and crunched them and wrote up a summary. I think it's really interesting and often kind of wrenching.

https://erinkissane.com/mastodon-is-easy-and-fun-except-when-it-isnt

#meta

For those of you who wanted the full history of how Musk lost control of X during the X/Confinity merger, @every were kind enough to commission me to write it.

Come for the Microsoft vs Linux internal war. Stay for the boardroom coup launched during the Sydney Olympics... #technology #history https://every.to/p/twitter-s-future-is-a-return-to-elon-musk-s-past

I regret to inform you all that the Wombles have been moved on from Wimbledon Common by the Metropolitan Police exercising their powers under §60E of the Police, Justice and Public Order Act 1994, as amended by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Great Uncle Bulgaria refused to leave when requested to do so by a duly appointed constable, and is currently serving a 10 week sentence in HMP Wandsworth.

When those of us who work on CO₂ removal (CDR) meet, it’s apparent that no one wants to do this and no one thinks it’s easy.

It’s far easier and cheaper to stop emitting CO₂.

The fact that some of the smartest people I know decide to work on CDR signals our desperation.