ABrockwell @aebrockwell@social.cleverlibre.org

Before you close a web page make sure you scroll up to the top, so it’s in the right position for the next person

Militant decency.

#Gnu #TerryPratchett

"I used to think the top environmental problems facing the world were global warming, environmental degradation, and ecosystem collapse, and that we scientists could fix those problems with enough science. But I was wrong. The real problem is not those three items, but greed, selfishness, and apathy. And for that, we need a spiritual and cultural transformation. And we scientists don't know how to do that.”
- Gus Speth, U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council

LEARN MORE HERE -- https://medium.com/@thelandoft/good-science-isnt-enough-be307e594729

#Science #ClimateChange #BiodiversityLoss #Ecology #Environment

Reading this, and all the other hype pieces like is watching a really crappy magic show at the local community theater—except somehow magician is getting paid billions instead of fifteen dollars and dinner at Elias Brother Big Boy.

Everyone WANTS to believe.

Pointing out that even the examples they choose to share all suck, I feel like the kid saying “Dad, you can see him putting the rabbit up in the hole under the table” and everyone going “Sssh, you’re ruining the show for the rest of us”.

NYT tech reporting is unbearable.

Many folks, including me, had a lot of questions after the news of Silicon Valley Bank’s implosion landed. In my piece today, I explain as best I can, given that I’m not an economist or banker, what happened, what it means, and what’s next. Hope it’s helpful! https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/what-many-including-me-didnt-at-first?sd=pf

My friend the brilliant author Rachel Pollack is coming to the end of her life. She won the Nebula, World Fantasy and Arthur C Clarke awards. She is a world renowned expert on Tarot, and her books on Tarot are still regarded as the good standard. She created the first trans superhero, in Doom Patrol in '93. I will miss her very much when she goes. I am writing this at the request of her wife Zoe, to let her friends know that the end is soon, and to let the obituarists know too.

Sorry, James. Silicon Valley Bank went broke, not woke. The term now means anything Republicans don’t like or want to criticize. Like their party, it is without true meaning or value.

#ChatGPT #LLM #AI

As far as I can see, ChatGPT is basically ELIZA on steroids.
The reaction of people seems to be very similar to people's reaction to ELIZA in the 1960s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA

"While ELIZA was capable of engaging in discourse, it could not converse with true understanding. However, many early users were convinced of ELIZA's intelligence and understanding, despite Weizenbaum's insistence to the contrary."

#Arizona #GOP created a phone number, 602-771-3500, to report inapproriate school lessons. How about a few thousand folks give them a call on Monday and and teach them about appropriate education? Nice that they provided a phone number to reach them directly. The Internet knows how to handle this.

#USpol #USPolitics #antifa #Education #Facism #TransRights #Racism #Gaslighting

@pieist Yea sadly we are one of very few with federation we leave up to our users.

The bullying of instances that block seems to be a growing problem.

I hope ?I can get UFoI soon and bring some sanity to all this.

OK, so the Alt-Right regime at the BBC has cancelled a 96 year old national treasure. THE national treasure. Lifelong naturalist and broadcaster, who introduced most of the country to a love for the natural world in their childhoods. For the capital crime of a nature program covering damage to ecosystems. In the final series of his lifetime of service

Remind me, which side of the political spectrum does cancel culture? 🤬

#IStandWithDavidAttenborough

I never thought I could develop such rage for an overused word but damn 😅

#phdlife #phdchat #xp #AcademicChatter #phdvoice #AcademicTwitter

One conflict between me and some people who follow me on social media: I think it's difficult to describe what Fox is, they think it's easy.

Propaganda. Entertainment. Angertainment. Pro Wrestling.

My current description of Fox:

The commercial arm of a right wing political movement, specializing in strategic resentment and aggregated grievance in the attention economy, while behind the scenes it tries to be a kingmaker and party boss, riding the tiger of manipulated rage.

#uspol #journalism

A superb column that eviscerates Big Journalism (political division) for its endless normalization of Trump and his dangerous cult, by @JenRubin of the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/06/trump-cpac-media-gop-failure/

(Unfortunately she stopped posting in the fediverse after a brief dalliance here last year. I hope she'll realize that feeding Musk's Trumpish site is a bad idea.)

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

― Bishop Desmond Tutu

The way the tech industry gets worse faster and faster as we approach the singularity is the spaghettification of enshittification.