Jump to content

bolverk

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    15024
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    8

Everything posted by bolverk

  1. They might as well at this point. Between Russia and Israel, it's become fashionable again to take your neighbor's land based on historic territorial claims. Edit: We, too, could be getting into that game between talk of taking back the Panama Canal, buying Greenland, calling Canada our 51st state, and discussing an invasion of Mexico. It's a might-makes-right world now.
  2. Wordle 1,291 3/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨 🟩⬛⬛🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #569 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1072 7️⃣6️⃣ 4️⃣5️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟨🟩🟨🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  3. Degenerative AI: AI trawling the web and ingesting an increasing amount of AI content is gonna make things fucky. Free link for full article and interactives: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/08/26/upshot/ai-synthetic-data.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lk4.GNDY.mSTW0rwgin6t&smid=url-share The internet is becoming awash in words and images generated by artificial intelligence. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, wrote in February that the company generated about 100 billion words per day — a million novels’ worth of text, every day, an unknown share of which finds its way onto the internet. A.I.-generated text may show up as a restaurant review, a dating profile or a social media post. And it may show up as a news article, too: NewsGuard, a group that tracks online misinformation, recently identified over a thousand websites that churn out error-prone A.I.-generated news articles. In reality, with no foolproof methods to detect this kind of content, much will simply remain undetected. All this A.I.-generated information can make it harder for us to know what’s real. And it also poses a problem for A.I. companies. As they trawl the web for new data to train their next models on — an increasingly challenging task — they’re likely to ingest some of their own A.I.-generated content, creating an unintentional feedback loop in which what was once the output from one A.I. becomes the input for another. In the long run, this cycle may pose a threat to A.I. itself. Research has shown that when generative A.I. is trained on a lot of its own output, it can get a lot worse. Here’s a simple illustration of what happens when an A.I. system is trained on its own output, over and over again:
  4. Elon Musk Assumes New X Identity Linked to White Supremacists The world’s richest man changed his name and profile picture on X to a Pepe the Frog in a gladiator costume. The days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve can be a disorienting time for many. Including, apparently, the world’s richest man. In between sharing photos of furry animals, bragging about the size of his rocket and dunking on the very concept of taxation, Elon Musk took a moment to change his username and profile picture on the social media platform X to an alt-right meme beloved by white-supremacist trolls. Musk’s new moniker, Kekius Maximus, is a meme that combines Pepe the Frog with the Maximus character from the movie Gladiator. The alt-right has embraced Pepe as the “protector god” of a satirical religion dedicated to chaos and anti-political correctness, according to research by the Southern Poverty Law Center (a group despised by Musk and others.) By using something as farcical as a frog deity meme, right-wing trolls can spread their ideas without having to address the “vicious core of white male nationalism they embrace,” according to the SPLC. As with all things Musk, it’s not clear whether his new alter ego is just a way to troll anyone who disagrees with him or whether there’s the potential for self-enrichment. On Monday, MAGA’s civil war over H-1B visas reignited a debate about whether Musk has a burner account on X that he uses to post fawning interactions with his official account–a practice know as “sock-puppeting.” For the past year, the Adrian Dittmann account has offered such a passionate defense of Musk—and used such a similar rhetorical style—that users have wondered if they are one and the same. That speculation came to a head during the H-1B visa debate, as internet sleuths dug back into Dittmann’s old posts for clues. Musk’s new Kekius Maximus identity could just be a way to troll users who are convinced Musk has a burner account, with the added benefit of offending anyone who knows that Pepe is associated with SPLC-designated hate groups. On the other hand, Kekius Maximus is also the name of a “meme coin,” or a type of cryptocurrency named for internet memes. Meme coins typically aren’t worth as much as their less satirical counterparts, but president-elect Donald Trump’s “First Buddy” is such a fan of meme coins that he named his Department of Government Efficiency—which is really just an advisory panel—after one. The acronym DOGE is a nod to dogecoin, a cryptocurrency originally created in 2013 as a joke about the wildly speculative nature of crypto. Named for “doge,” a meme featuring a Japanese shiba inu dog, dogecoin has spawned a whole category of “dog coins.” Within hours of the new name, the value of the Kekius Maximus meme coin had surged by more than 500 percent. Last year, investors accused Musk and his company Tesla of insider trading for allegedly using his social media platform to manipulate the value of dogecoin, The Guardian reported. Before he rebranded the platform as X, he replaced Twitter’s blue bird logo with dogecoin’s shiba inu logo, leading the coin’s price to jump by 30 percent, The Guardian reported. Musk then allegedly sold about $124 million of the currency, according to an insider trading suit filed by investors. he case was dismissed in August because investors can’t make an insider trading case based on tweets that are “aspirational and puffery,” the judge ruled. So maybe Musk changed his name to a frog in a gladiator costume because—in the great American tradition—he’s had a little too much sugar, butter and spiked eggnog and can’t remember what day it is. Maybe he’s trying to troll X users and the media. Or maybe he has some Kekius Maximus currency he’s looking to sell at a good price, in a totally non-insider trading kind of way, of course.
  5. Wordle 1,288 4/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #566 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1069 5️⃣6️⃣ 4️⃣7️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  6. Wordle 1,287 5/6 ⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #565 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🙂 Daily Quordle 1068 5️⃣8️⃣ 7️⃣4️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩🟨🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨🟩🟩🟨🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  7. Wordle 1,286 4/6 ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬛⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #564 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🙂 Daily Quordle 1067 8️⃣6️⃣ 4️⃣5️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  8. MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄🎁 🎄🎁 🎄🎁 🎄🎁 🎄🎁 🎄🎁 Wordle 1,285 2/6 🟩⬛🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #563 🟩🟪🟨🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🙂 Daily Quordle 1066 7️⃣6️⃣ 4️⃣5️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  9. Wordle 1,284 4/6 ⬛🟨🟨⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟨⬛🟩 🟨🟩⬛🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #562 🟩🟪🟪🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1065 6️⃣4️⃣ 5️⃣8️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  10. Cool! Let's get it on then.
  11. The Houthi rebels have one fighter jet, a single F-5. Remember that time they showed it off in a Twitter post last year, flying to the soundtrack of Top Gun?
  12. Not sure anyone wants a piece of Haiti. Ask the French... and, well, other Haitians for that matter.
  13. Things got a little wild at the Lions Club that day. I bet all the Rotarians, Kiwanis, Masons, Shriners, and the boys down at the Elks Lodge were jealous.
  14. One big detail you're glossing over is what the people of Greenland (however few there are) want. After years of expressing their intent to become independent, is there now a sudden groundswell of internal support for becoming an American colony? Because, in my mind, self-determination is pretty much what we (Americans) are supposed to be all about. Look, I understand the island's strategic importance. I also fully recognize that it's difficult for such a tiny population to provide for their own security over such a vast and empty country. I think the security compromise right now between them, the Danes, and the US can be improved but should be maintained. We (the US) wouldn't simply be buying a bunch of mineral-rich rocks under a sheet of ice or an expansion of territorial waters; we'd also essentially be buying 80-90,000 people without their consent...unless we've decided we're just going to abandon all the democratic principles we pretend we have and start up a game of neo-colonial Risk to better position ourselves for the coming climate catastrophe. If that's the case, we need to go big and take Antarctica and maybe even half of Siberia, too, while we're at it. Of course, our Canadian cousins need to get used to the idea that we'll need land corridors to connect our pending Arctic empire. They, too, have a lot of unused land, and if they don't like it, tough. It's Manifest Destiny time in America again.
  15. Cuba had better watch their six. As I'm sure you're aware, we've got a history of invading them, and the Confederates wanted to annex that island. So, that seems like a logical next threat.
  16. Not so csb: I spent the summer of 1993 doing a summer abroad program in a small farming village about an hour north of Magdeburg. Neo-Nazi sentiments in Sachsen-Anhalt were already taking root in the region even back then. We were a group of about 25-30 college students from Texas, staying in the homes of the locals. They held a big party for us once at the community center, and a group of kids roughly our age had wandered over from a neighboring village. When they arrived, one of the local kids told us not to get into shit with the new arrivals precisely because they were known to be Neo-Nazis. The dudes ended up not giving us any trouble and sat down with us to drink beer at a long banquet table. They didn't exactly look intimidating, but they got pretty rowdy. As I recall, one older guy (late 20s) appeared to be their leader. Near the end of the evening, he stood up at attention and, without any prompting that I recall, did the Sieg Heil salute and shouted, "Heil Hitler!" At that, a few of us promptly walked ourselves the fuck out of there and walked over to the town's bar to drink there instead. Like I said, these guys weren't physically intimidating or anything, but I can tell you that when you hear a German yell that shit out and actually mean it without jest, hearing it will turn your blood cold.
  17. Full report: https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Committee-Report.pdf
  18. At the risk of my sarcasm meter being broken, what claim of ownership over Greenland does the United States have?
  19. Did you use your blinkers in Houston? If so, there's your answer.
  20. Partial sleeve on upper arm. Annoying nasal voice (click for short interview): https://www.abc15.com/news/uplifting-arizona/watch-becky-skattebo-talks-with-abc15-about-raising-her-son-asu-football-star-cam-skattebo
  21. Wordle 1,283 2/6 🟩⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #561 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1064 4️⃣8️⃣ 5️⃣6️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  22. Wordle 1,282 3/6 ⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #560 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1063 5️⃣4️⃣ 6️⃣7️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  23. I can't say I've ever seen a Waffle House in West Texas.
  24. That run could not have come at a better time.
×
×
  • Create New...