derek

joined 1 year ago
[–] derek@infosec.pub 22 points 2 days ago

It isn't just one thing. The big money wants to present this unified front to the public like LLMs are a single commodity anyone can use. In reality they're a collection of complex tools that few can use " correctly" and whose utility is highly specialized for niches those few find valuable.

So you're correct in a way. I'm sure model decoherence isn't helping much either and isn't as visible in those niche applications as it is for the general public.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 36 points 2 days ago

Your comment makes no sense and helps no one.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 7 points 2 days ago

The Tea Party was an astroturf'd campaign cooked up by the Koch brothers to realign conservative ideology with oligarchy under the guise of "originalist" patriotism. A very successful farce.

Much like the "right to life", "Moral Majority" (which is a useful misnomer for Christian Conservative minority), and the rest of American Conservatism. Effective smoke and mirrors. All of it.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 64 points 2 days ago (7 children)

I keep seeing this sentiment and I don't understand it. Are you speaking purely out of anger and ignorance? The recent No Kings protest was either the third or first largest protest in the history of the U.S.A. and some communities have literally been running ICE gestapo out of their towns.

The Christian Conservative minority have gridlocked the American government, silently stacked the judicial system in their favor, and partnered with the American oligarchy to bankroll fascists and create the most pervasive, effective, and enduring propaganda machines ever seen (that's already worked its way into Australia and had been finding footholds in Europe).

The idea than Americans aren't doing anything about this or that there could ever possibly be a single unified movement that magically fixes "the issue" is incoherently reductive and impractical. If I see a comrade struggling for air I don't yell at them to just breathe. I help them remove the pig standing on their neck. What are YOU doing to lend a hand or show lost comrades that there's still hope?

[–] derek@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Illegally! Amendment 13, Section 3:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

No such vote was held. The disability was not removed. Allowing the tried and ~~convicted~~ impeached and indicted insurrectionist Donald Trump to appear on any ballot for any public position, State or Federal, after he was ~~convicted~~ impeached and indicted ~~of~~ for insurrection against the United States was the beginning of the Constitutional crisis we are now mired in and all of Congress is complicit.

Edited: a word. I don't give a flying fuck what the corrupted kangaroo circus in DC voted reality was. Anyone able to tie their own shoes who lived through that event knows what the truth is.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 5 points 1 week ago

The Charlotte Urbanists in North Carolina have a Benches 4 Bus Stops program that's doing similar work. I can also share info resources for those on the East Coast.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What's your point and why do you think it matters in this context?

[–] derek@infosec.pub 3 points 2 weeks ago

Call 1-877-447-4487

https://girightshotline.org/

They can help.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

All people are born ignorant to their material circumstances and the conditions necessary for them. Disadvantaged folk often have a more difficult path out of that ignorance. Maslow's hierarchy of needs provides some insight into why: one rarely has capacity for deep introspection when they've been deprived of basic needs.

The US Military (among others) purposefully recruit more heavily in economically depressed areas. This has been true for decades. These two facts are correlated. Couple this with American Exceptionalist propaganda which created the myth and social elevation of the American Soldier as the ultimate freedom fighter / patriot and maybe you can sympathize with those who enlist.

My point is not that individuals should be excused from being taken to task for their actions. Nor is it that all those who enlist are duped into it. It's this: people are rarely lost causes, are often unguided, and live unexamined lives. So when confronting anyone: their personal context matters. When I'm struggling to find empathy I look to Daryl Davis. When we encounter ignorance, hate, and bigotry, we are right to oppose it. Always. How we do so should be conditioned, and possibly tempered, by the fact that we ourselves are ignorant to the context of the neighbors assigned to oppress us.

Do not dismiss out of hand the power of speaking to reason and empathy in the face of violence and hate. Take them to task with the intention of educating a lost comrade. We must defend ourselves when the need arises but, prior to that Rubicon, we ought to acknowledge that were it not for circumstances outside our control so too could we have remained ignorant and been persuaded toward hate.

There is no more stalwart an ally than one who has been given the tools to free themselves from chains they were sold as armor.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 13 points 3 months ago

They aren't daily updates. They are weekly. The program is called "AMA Update: Public Health Insights". I don't know why the OP is an imagine or why the info isn't accurate but the sentiment rings true.

Here's a link to the playlist containing all the videos published so far: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ZHBCvG4qsdahOWgVvBlJdK1qe-j3LZw

[–] derek@infosec.pub 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Fiat currency is just as silly. As is all money, really.

"I trade numbers for food. The numbers are accessible via a magnetic strip on some plastic in my pocket." or "I trade paper for clothing but the number of papers isn't as important as the number printed ON the papers." Both of these realities are absurd. :)

As a store of value representing labor rendered: neither of those are terrible systems and most people don't understand either of them anyway. Fiat seems "normal" because we grew up with it. That said: I'm no apologist. Popular crypto currencies offer little novelty for the layperson, no true improvement on the concept of currency generally, and cost orders of magnitude more to maintain their required infrastructure. I fail to see the appeal.

There are some projects which focus on the practical utility of decentralized currency (I remember thinking Nano (wikipedia.com) was cool back in the day) but they don't get the same kind of attention as meme coins because they can't be abused as easily. I've heard stories of these kinds of tools facilitating commerce in places where the local currency collapsed. Neat as that may be it isn't revolutionary... Still more convenient than bartering via cigarette though.

[–] derek@infosec.pub 3 points 4 months ago

I'd like to tack on that this point can be used to highlight why this is so. It's a deep concept that can be explained simply and produces a lasting positive impact.

Everyone has fantasies. Sometimes we want them to be realized. Most often: we don't. Many people carry internal shame because of their fantasies and some of those people have difficulty with intimacy because of it.

Good sex with other people requires our investment in their comfort and pleasure. This can be emotionally complex and fulfilling to navigate. Masturbation is free of those complications but we often make up the difference via fantasy. This is normal and there's no need to confuse one space for the other. Masturbation and sex may fulfill similar basic needs on the surface but, in practice, they are very different exercises. It's normal for one's preferences to be different for each and for those preferences to shift over time.

Don't worry about "normal". Focus on having a healthy, honest, and emotionally aware sex life instead.

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