1/ Over the weekend there was a block party a short distance from my place for a lady who turned 90. That's notable enough, but in her case it's special because she's a Holocaust survivor. I chatted with her today and looked up some things. Remarkable story! Buckle in: ↵
“Chat GPT is ruining my love of teaching I don't know how to handle it. I am TT at a large state R1. With every single assignment that involves writing, it now seems to me that I am wasting my time reading corporate-smooth crap that I absolutely know by sense of smell is generated by a large language model, but of course I can't prove it. I have done a lot to try to work with, not against, LLMs. For example, l've done entire exercises comparing chat gpt writing with in-class spontaneous writing, not to vilify chat but to see it as basically a corporate-sounding genre, a tool for certain kinds of tasks, but limited in terms of how writing can help us think and explore our own ideas. I give creative, even non-writing based assignments when I can. My critical assignments ask students to stay close to texts and ask them to make connections; other assignments really ask them to think personally and creatively.. But every time I ask for any writing, even short little essays, I can tell - I can just feel it - that a portion of the class uses this tool and basically is lying about it. If I have to read one more sophomore write something like "The writer likely used this trope, a common narrative device in the literature of the time, to express both the struggles and the joy of her people" I'm going to throw my laptop in the ocean. This is a humanities dept and it is a total waste of time for me to even read this stuff, let alone grade it. The students are no longer interpreting a text, they re just giving me this automated verbiage. Grading it as if they wrote it makes me feel complicit. I'm honestly despairing. If I wanted to feel cynical and alienated about my life's career I could have chosen something a little more lucrative. Humanities professors of Reddit, what are you doing with this?” Via @DrPen – from Reddit
“Chat GPT is ruining my love of teaching I don't know how to handle it. I am TT at a large state R1. With every single assignment that involves writing, it now seems to me that I am wasting my time reading corporate-smooth crap that I absolutely know by sense of smell is generated by a large language model, but of course I can't prove it. I have done a lot to try to work with, not against, LLMs. For example, l've done entire exercises comparing chat gpt writing with in-class spontaneous writing, not...
I love the story of how Dummy was made: apparently the guys would listen to old records for inspirations but then hire real-life pro session musicians to record legally distinct pastiches and then they would press polyvinylchloride LPs out of those new recordings then they'd absolutely bang to pieces those records so that they sounded pld & vintage and then they'd work their DJ magic and then they'd send those pristine magic tracks to Gibbons, who was working remotely.
And then what she sent back would be completely remixed, reordered, resampled, reshuffled, repitched, re-messed up by her. (Or so I've bee told. It sounds so wild.) And the end result as we all know is magic, and it trailblazed the cherished Bristol trip hop sound. Love it ♥︎
I love the story of how Dummy was made: apparently the guys would listen to old records for inspirations but then hire real-life pro session musicians to record legally distinct pastiches and then they would press polyvinylchloride LPs out of those new recordings then they'd absolutely bang to pieces those records so that they sounded pld & vintage and then they'd work their DJ magic and then...
My wife also wants you to know that her photo is the one where Isodontia is shoving a cricket into the reed tube so that her larva will have something to eat. 😵💫 My wife also tells me that I obviously don't know how to use social media to her advantage…
I love the story of how Dummy was made: apparently the guys would listen to old records for inspirations but then hire real-life pro session musicians to record legally distinct pastiches and then they would press polyvinylchloride LPs out of those new recordings then they'd absolutely bang to pieces those records so that they sounded pld & vintage and then they'd work their DJ magic and then they'd send those pristine magic tracks to Gibbons, who was working remotely.
And then what she sent back would be completely remixed, reordered, resampled, reshuffled, repitched, re-messed up by her. (Or so I've bee told. It sounds so wild.) And the end result as we all know is magic, and it trailblazed the cherished Bristol trip hop sound. Love it ♥︎
I love the story of how Dummy was made: apparently the guys would listen to old records for inspirations but then hire real-life pro session musicians to record legally distinct pastiches and then they would press polyvinylchloride LPs out of those new recordings then they'd absolutely bang to pieces those records so that they sounded pld & vintage and then they'd work their DJ magic and then...
I decided to send Bandcamp a question. Did we both fall for an impostor? I guess the larger question is: how do artists authenticate themselves? Can I claim to be somebody else and set up a shop selling digital copies of their music? For a few days at least? Or was this more of a timing issue: they hadn’t planned for the account to be public right now, trying to sell physical copies, first. Or it’s a licensing deal: can’t sell on Bandcamp when you’re trying to sell somewhere else? And what would have happened if I hadn’t downloaded those files immediately? 🏴☠️
I decided to send Bandcamp a question. Did we both fall for an impostor? I guess the larger question is: how do artists authenticate themselves? Can I claim to be somebody else and set up a shop selling digital copies of their music? For a few days at least? Or was this more of a timing issue: they hadn’t planned for the account to be public right now, trying to sell physical copies, first. Or it’s a licensing deal: can’t sell on Bandcamp when you’re trying to sell somewhere else? And what would...
So, there are music programming languages like #csound or #SuperCollider where sounds are generated from code, and then you also have your #midi sequencers, #DAW s and trackers where you've got a, well, sequential view of notes or waveforms.
Now my question: Is there anything that combined those two in an interesting way? Treating the sequential view as a what's commonly called a "time travel debugger", where I can just pick any moment, modify variables/formulas and continue from there? Might be necessary to simplify the underlying code model to make this useful, but it would be an interesting environment.
Sure someone already did this, but the algorithmic music scene is a bit foreign to me.
So, there are music programming languages like #csound or #SuperCollider where sounds are generated from code, and then you also have your #midi sequencers, #DAW s and trackers where you've got a, well, sequential view of notes or waveforms.
Now my question: Is there anything that combined those two in an interesting way? Treating the sequential view as a what's commonly called a "time travel debugger", where I can just pick any moment, modify variables/formulas and continue from there? Might be...
The only thing I wondered was that John criticized Fastmail for being in Australia where the state has far reaching powers and Migadu is in Switzerland, where the state also has far-reaching powers, as far as I know.
The lawyer that keeps popping up in these situations is Steiger, and he wrote about Proton Mail and Threema (in German). The short summary is that Swiss companies must cooperate with the state and the state cooperates with foreign powers. Furthermore, Switzerland forces providers to keep logs for long times and to hand them out when required. It’s not trivial and not automatic, but my assumption is that it slow and thorough. There’s nobody fighting for your rights before a trial, after all. https://steigerlegal.ch/2021/10/23/urteil-protonmail-buepf-aakd-fda/
I guess what I want to say is that I use them, I like them, but I very much dislike the Swiss privacy fairy dust that Proton Mail, Threema, Migadu and others imply which doesn’t actually exist. In Germany, at least, politicians vote to force providers to keep logs and the constitutional court kicks it out again. Not so in Switzerland. Network analysis is just a legal request away.
I’m not a lawyer and I barely know a thing, of course, and I’m confused and mix the half-remembered things up; so don’t believe me – but also don’t believe them without investigating and understand the implications. Like, maybe the state doesn’t keep logs but it forces every email provider with more than five customers to keep logs? It’s only marginally better. Put every word on a scale.
The only thing I wondered was that John criticized Fastmail for being in Australia where the state has far reaching powers and Migadu is in Switzerland, where the state also has far-reaching powers, as far as I know.
@jgoerzen reviewed mail providers and the one I use came up on top, Migadu. The only thing I wondered was that John criticized Fastmail for being in Australia where the state has far reaching powers and Migadu is in Switzerland, where the state also has far-reaching powers, as far as I know.
The lawyer that keeps popping up in these situations is Steiger, and he wrote about Proton Mail and Threema (in German). The short summary is that Swiss companies must cooperate with the state and the state cooperates with foreign powers. Furthermore, Switzerland forces providers to keep logs for long times and to hand them out when required. It’s not trivial and not automatic, but my assumption is that it slow and thorough. There’s nobody fighting for your rights before a trial, after all.
I guess what I want to say is that I use them, I like them, but I very much dislike the Swiss privacy fairy dust that Proton Mail, Threema, Migadu and others imply which doesn’t actually exist. In Germany, at least, politicians vote to force providers to keep logs and the constitutional court kicks it out again. Not so in Switzerland. Network analysis is just a legal request away.
I’m not a lawyer and I barely know a thing, of course, so don’t believe me – but also don’t believe them without investigating and understand the implications. Like, maybe the state doesn’t keep logs but it forces every email provider with more than five customers to keep logs? It’s only marginally better.
@jgoerzen reviewed mail providers and the one I use came up on top, Migadu. The only thing I wondered was that John criticized Fastmail for being in Australia where the state has far reaching powers and Migadu is in Switzerland, where the state also has far-reaching powers, as far as I know.
The lawyer that keeps popping up in these situations is Steiger, and he wrote about Proton Mail and Threema (in German). The short summary is that Swiss companies must cooperate with the state and the state cooperates...
Ok, so I need to say something about the orcas, or rather the response to them, because this is pissing me off.
There is a popular portrayal that they are somehow proxies for a class war hunting down and destroying the playthings of the rich, invading their habitat, and this is absolutely not what is happening.
There are two types of vessel that can broadly be described as "yachts". The first type are the ones you're probably thinking of: things owned by multi millionaires who cruise about living a life of unattainable luxury. These vessels have price tags that start at 7 digits for a modest one, and go up from there. They are owned by multimillionaires, centi-millionaires, and billionaires, and they are completely and utterly immune from orca attack.
This is because they are motor vessels. They steer by vectored thrust, or by directing propeller wash over a relatively small hydrofoil. As a result, there is nothing for the orcas to attack, and even if there was, these people don't like to be kept waiting on their way to Monaco or wherever. They have power plants the size of road haulage vehicles and can outrun the orcas.
The second type, which are the boats that the orcas are attacking, are sailboats. These travel at about 5 knots, which is the cruising speed of an orca, and have huge rudders because they need to balance turning forces from the sails that power the boats. The smallest boats that are capable of sailing in the waters where these animals are have rudders comparable in size to an adult human. The orcas seem to regard these as prizes and love detaching them.
While the very rich sometimes do buy these kind of boats, they are not the typical person who does so. Most of them are bought second hand, and they have very long lives (a lot from the 1970s are still in perfectly good condition). They are generally bought for the price of a used car, or less A lot of people live on them and pay for mooring and maintenance fees by doing casual labour. This is still cheaper than renting a one bedroom flat in a lot of Europe.
I live in the area where these animals operate. Friends of friends have been attacked. They aren't "yachties", they're just people with day jobs who have enough disposable income to invest in a hobby they enjoy.
So either, best case, you are gloating at people of modest means facing a salvage and repair bill that they can't afford and is more than the value of the boat, or potentially you are laughing at terrified people watching their home and everything they own get sent to the bottom of the ocean by one of the most sadistic predators on earth, and who will then have to get in the sea with these predators which, if they're lucky, will decide to leave them to drown.
This doesn't make you an online class warrior, or the left-wing equivalent of an edge-lord. It just makes you an arsehole.
Ok, so I need to say something about the orcas, or rather the response to them, because this is pissing me off.
There is a popular portrayal that they are somehow proxies for a class war hunting down and destroying the playthings of the rich, invading their habitat, and this is absolutely not what is happening.
You wont believe the number of stormtroopers theyre deploying against unarmed students unless you see it. This is just one side: at least 7 police departments with at least two layers at every point of egress, with several layers in back for rear control and rotation. They've got the army out against your kids for having the audacity to do whatever they can to stop a genocide
Retro tech in anime supercut: a compilation of camcorders, VCRs, floppies, cassettes, arcade games, and more from '80s and '90s anime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6_DonKX4J4
Much as I dislike the theft of human labor that feeds many of the #generativeAI products we see today, I have to agree with @pluralistic that #copyright law is the wrong way to address the problem.
To frame the issue concretely: think of whom copyright law has benefited in the past, and then explain how it would benefit the individual creator when it is applied to #AI. (Hint: it won’t.)
Copyright law is already abused and extended to an absurd degree today. It already overreaches. It impoverishes society by putting up barriers to creation and allowing toll-collectors to exist between citizen artists and their audience.
*Labor* law is likely what we need to lean on. #unions and #guilds protect creators in a way that copyright cannot. Inequality and unequal bargaining power that lead to exploitation of artists and workers is what we need to address head-on.
Much as I dislike the theft of human labor that feeds many of the #generativeAI products we see today, I have to agree with @pluralistic that #copyright law is the wrong way to address the problem.
To frame the issue concretely: think of whom copyright law has benefited in the past, and then explain how it would benefit the individual creator when it is applied to #AI. (Hint: it won’t.)
@drahardja@pluralistic I've been actually thinking Freedom of Speech, freedom from compulsion to speech, and freedom from speech that might incriminate you, all apply to being pushed or regulated to use an AI. 🤔. I can see this having applications in labor law, for sure.
“If Nixon wins again, we’re in real trouble.” He picked up his drink, then saw it was empty and put it down again. “That’s the real issue this time,” he said. “Beating Nixon. It’s hard to even guess how much damage those bastards will do if they get in for another four years.”
I nodded. The argument was familiar. I had even made it myself, here and there, but I was beginning to sense something very depressing about it. How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame but “regrettably necessary” holding actions? And how many more of these stinking, double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?
– Hunter Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
“If Nixon wins again, we’re in real trouble.” He picked up his drink, then saw it was empty and put it down again. “That’s the real issue this time,” he said. “Beating Nixon. It’s hard to even guess how much damage those bastards will do if they get in for another four years.”
I nodded. The argument was familiar. I had even made it myself, here and there, but I was beginning to sense something very depressing about it. How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as...
If you have been fully gainfully employed, a commuter, usual 9-5, and want to give yourself a culture shock about the prevalence of disease in your society, try this.
When you do get a day off. Go to town. Or city. Not the shiny expensive bits. In your usual working office hours. The old high streets. Now look around you, at people. Really look. The illness and disability and advanced decrepitude rate is staggering.
Society can separate you from seeing them by the social divide of a commute.
Then remember most vulnerable people, given a choice won't go out in a pandemic. Many are housebound. You're only seeing the walking disabled, the functional afflicted. There are many more.
Always remember when you work and commute, you only see half the people in the world. At best.
Gregory's Server
@shriramk thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
@shriramk Great story - thank you for sharing!
@shriramk thank you for sharing!
My father and his parents escaped the Nazis from Vienna in 1938. He would have been 89 this year.