Tag: Constants and Variables
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Nice clear distinction
Addams vs Ulrich, candidates for county judge, two lawyers representing opposite poles in the AI mess. For many jobs the distinction between new and old digital tools isn’t a central part of the job itself. A commercial artist isn’t enforcing laws, she’s making pictures for magazines or websites. When she uses AI she indirectly steals…
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One variable amid the constants.
Still thinking after rereading Max Shulman. His description of college in 1940 exactly matches college today and college in 1500. Perfect constant for 500 years. There’s one important variable in the perception of college. Shulman was a bestselling author, which means he was resonating with what people already knew. When an old book or show…
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Permanent characters
Evan Barker’s book is packed with inside info about the current characters in charge of “progressive” politics. Some of the activities are new to me. Politicians now spend most of their time and energy begging rich people for money, which doesn’t seem to accomplish anything. It’s not quid pro quo, it’s just endless quid. If…
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New? Depends on reference point
A well-written warning: = = = = = START QUOTE: Informational obesity will kill you. But first, it will dumb you down. Actually, it already is. You know it yourself. You wake up, pick up the phone and begin eating information before your brain has even brushed its teeth. By breakfast, you have consumed a…
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Why it’s old-fashioned
Via Nieman, here’s a refreshingly old-fashioned response to Kalshi and Polymarket. Sports writers are protesting a NYTimes deal with Kalshi because it will force them to favor certain teams. Even if they stay honest, the CONNECTION will destroy trust in their honesty. Why old-fashioned? Large-scale betting on sports is extremely old. Honest sportsmen and writers…
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Also
I’ve pulled these 1948 election news clips into my bedtime playlist again. The big entertainment shows were carefully preserved. Networks and sponsors archived full seasons on transcription disks so they could rerun if needed. News wasn’t officially preserved. Why would you want to rerun last year’s events? We have only a handful of scattered clips…
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Out of the box
Following on the self-pecking Skinner box. Real humans, especially da yoots, are seriously trying to escape from the Skinner box. Deepstate has provided handy fake “outside” routes like Bitcoin, Qchan and Bluesky, specifically designed to cultivate “freedom fighters” without leaving the web. The outsiders can only succeed if they work entirely outside all electronic channels.…
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From Ayer to AI
Many people are noticing a huge shift in web traffic this year. I’ve noticed it in my blog stats. Nearly all of the web’s bandwidth, sending and receiving, is occupied by AI criminals now. Bot READS are as old as publishing, but this is the first time that bots have been the ONLY readers and…
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Why do they join?
Latest stupid news: The usual D team is suing the Ellison monsters for trying to merge Warner and Paramount. The Ellisons were fine when they wore the D team shirt. Now they’ve joined the R team so they’re not fine. This is a constant rule. Why did the Ellisons put themselves into this position? They…
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What happened to Flash?
Somebody on Substack showed a 2005 online issue of The Onion, done entirely in FLV and SWF. The issue was a prophecy of 2025. They missed the basic point that Flash itself would be “outlawed” by the tech lords. I’ve never understood why Flash needed to be “outlawed.” Allegedly it was “vulnerable”, but we know…
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Rapture Party Day
I notice today is Rapture Party Day, “honoring” the 2011 rapture predicted by Harold Camping. Are there any NON-rapture dates, never picked by a cult leader as the guaranteed end of the world? I suspect the rapture calendar is pretty crowded by now. I paid some attention to the Camping rapture in this blog. On…
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Big difference
An article by Ronald Bailey in Reason describes a study done in Europe. = = = = = START QUOTE: Scenario: Maria and Peter are eating dinner. Peter asks Maria whether Tom is at the party that they intend to go to after dinner. Maria answers that Tom is at the party. After all, Tom…
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Other way around
Chatbots are honeytraps. They give respect and affection to starved people in return for cult loyalty. Some activists are calling this loyalty “AI psychosis”. Nope, got it backwards. We don’t need to cure the trapped man, we need to cure the environment that enables the trap. Our culture and economy have been intentionally depriving men…
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Constant and variable
The US mint issued a ‘commemorative coin’ with Trump’s face. An old lawyer realized there was a law forbidding the use of living people, so he sued. Constant: Now the two “sides” are screeching at each other in the standard ways, missing the main points as always. 1. Commemorative coins aren’t currency. They’re just a…
