cabbage

joined 2 years ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Mexico is not one place, it is many places. Yucatán has lower homicide rates than Wyoming.

I wonder where you think the cartels gets their weapons from. Mexico has strict gun laws. Or their money - it doesn't just spawn out of nowhere. Parts of Mexico are dangerous because they are part of an illegal trade route to the US, fuelled by American weapons and American money, and that is that.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Must be easy to get confused when you can only have one thought in your head at a time, and barely even that.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (7 children)

Mexico's murder rate per 100 000 is 24.9, meaning you're on average safer in Mexico than in Newark, Memphis, Cleveland, Kansas City, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Detroit, Baltimore or St. Louis.

Never mind that murders in Mexico are generally committed using American firearms, and for American money over drugs that are to be sold in America. Mexico's problem is America. So while we wait for America to selfdestruct, I guess they might as well get to work on public health issues.

Obviously not saying that cartels are not a huge fucking problem. It's hard to get good politicians when they murder anyone who resists them. But the cartels are in large part a product of America's failures. Europeans are not innocent either - fuck every coke snorting upper class brat who is having their pathetic highs at the expense of a whole fucking continent.

/rant

[–] [email protected] 286 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (38 children)

American government: Builds concentration camps

Mexican government: Develops brand new chocolate bars

I'm happy to see there are still some governments out there who rule in the interest of the people.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Large language models and "generative AI" such as Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DALL-E are all just machine learning models. We do not currently have a real "AI branch" of computer science, we have a branch of machine learning that poses as AI.

No matter how good a machine gets at recognizing and predicting patterns, it will not constitute AI, as intelligence is different from pattern recognition and prediction. Even if LLMs can sometimes appear to be reasoning, they importantly are not.

[–] [email protected] 139 points 1 week ago (2 children)

five minutes later

Grok: "Heil hitler!"

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I guess this depends on things like location, soil type, and environmentally disruptive neighbours.

I grew up in a Scandinavian forest with a well, no filtering needed. Sure, after heavy rainfall the water could end up containing a few more minerals than usual, but it would never require filtering, and the house has been standing for almost 40 years now without sediments building up.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago

If they continue like this, their customers will be so fed up with them that they can lay off the entire customer-facing part of the company within a few years! Imagine how much money they can save once they don't have to deal with customers any more. Finally the AI innovation department will be able to focus fully on their work.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah, I just find it to be a great rule of thumb. Those who understand what they are doing will be aware that they are not dealing with AI, those who jump to label it as such are usually bullshit artists.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What's the biggest thing you ever made? Which work are you the most proud of?

And how are you received as a Canadian in Scotland? Do they treat you alright?

Do you have midges in Canada?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Usually when I see this it's using other machine learning approaches than LLM, and the researchers behind it are usually very careful not to use the term AI, as they are fully aware that this is not what they are doing.

There's huge potential in machine learning, but LLMs are very little more than bullshit generators, and generative AI is theft producing soulless garbage. LLMs are widely employed because they look impressive, but for anything that requires substance machine learning methods that have been around for years tend to perform better.

If you can identify cancer in x-rays using machine learning that's awesome, but that's very seperate from the AI hype machine that is currently running wild.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (7 children)

Gigantic hater of all things LLM or "AI" here.

The only genuine contribution I can think of that LLMs have made to society is their translation capabilities. So even I can see how a fully open source model with "multilingual fluency in over 1,000 languages" could be potentially useful.

And even if it is all a scam, if this prevents people from sending money to China or the US as they are falling for the scam, I guess that's also a good thing.

Could I find something to hate about it? Oh yeah, most certainly! :)

 

A call for help from @[email protected], who among other things is associated with F-droid:

An open call to #Android #developers! The #EuropeanCommission needs help evaluating #GooglePlay's #security claims. I'm going to do what I can. Anyone with knowledge of how app installation, uninstallation, sandboxing, signing, etc. could really help here. If you want to contribute, please reach out!

I figured maybe someone around here could be capable of helping out. Note that his Mastodon instance, librem.one, does not support private messages.

 

Friday July 4 2:00 pm Logan Circle

This July 4th cannot be a celebration of Trump’s Fascist America. It must be a day to join our voices to demand TRUMP MUST GO NOW, in front of the White House and throughout the streets of this country – in a collective shout heard around the world.

We stand on a precipice – the Trump fascist regime has rejected the rule of law and deployed the US military and massive Gestapo-like force against the people. And in bombing Iran, in violation of US and international law, Trump has begun a war that threatens the future. We either build serious mass nonviolent struggle now or face being set back.

We pledge that we will build on the strength of millions who took to the streets on June 14 against Trump’s military parade, and advance toward a day of “Making Good Trouble” on July 17 – and beyond that to forge a fierce, unrelenting, nonviolent struggle that makes it impossible for Trump to govern the country, impose his fascist program, or hold onto power.

This is how hated tyrants have been driven out all over the world and it is what we must do here – not allowing our power to be diverted into elections in 2026 or 2028 that will be too late to stop the consolidation of fascist rule. Trump has shown, with threats and action, that he will not accept any restraints on his power to lock in a terrible future – with the largest military and nuclear arsenal at his fingertips.

No! The time to act is now. Now is the time for Trump to go.

This July 4, in D.C. and everywhere, in the name of humanity:
We Declare Our Independence from Trump’s Fascist America!
The Trump Fascist Regime Must Go Now!

RefuseFascism.org, @[email protected]

Via @[email protected] on Bluesky

 

As deportations continue, this is a question of some relevance to the Americans out there. Music by @[email protected].

55
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

I've had this plant for a while in other countries, and it was always very easy going. But after the last time I moved the sapling I took with me has started struggling.

The picture is not a perfect illustration, but you can see new leaves coming out turning black in the ends, and eventually drying out and dying. This already happened with a lot of leaves that I cut off, but now it's repeating itself with the new ones.

The plant has been in a relatively bright spot and I think it has received enough water that it shouldn't be the problem. The black parts are completely dead. Does anyone have any idea what can be done? :)

I'm sorry the picture is not more illustrative.

 

I recently cancelled my Dropbox subscription, and will now be running local backups instead. For that purpose I need an external hard drive.

It seems most companies (Western Digital, Kingston, Seagate) are American, with Japanese Toshiba occasionally showing up in my search results.

Does anyone know of/have any experience with European storage manufacturers? If not I guess Toshiba will have to do. :)

 

The thing I hate the most about AI and it's ease of access; the slow, painful death of the hacker soul—brought not by war or scarcity, but by convenience. By buttons. By bots. [...]

There was once magic here. There was once madness.

Kids would stay up all night on IRC with bloodshot eyes, trying to render a cube in OpenGL without segfaulting their future. They cared. They would install Gentoo on a toaster just to see if it’d boot. They knew the smell of burnt voltage regulators and the exact line of assembly where Doom hit 10 FPS on their calculator. These were artists. They wrote code like jazz musicians—full of rage, precision, and divine chaos.

Now? We’re building a world where that curiosity gets lobotomized at the door. Some poor bastard—born to be great—is going to get told to "review this AI-generated patchset" for eight hours a day, until all that wonder calcifies into apathy. The terminal will become a spreadsheet. The debugger a coffin.

Unusually well-written piece on the threat AI poses to programming as an art form.

 

A Cypriot cargo ship ran ashore immediately next to a Norwegian household today, and they are currently doing there best to get the ship unstuck. It's a surprisingly sootehning live stream.

View from the living room of the affected house.

Via @[email protected] on Mastodon.

42
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

Posted to Facebook yesterday, but I only saw it now. Seems to be worth sharing, as the Senator also requested.


Last night in the Senate, something really important happened. Republicans forced us to debate their billionaire bailout budget framework. We started voting at 6 PM because they knew doing it in the dark of night would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire class is.

So I want to explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back. The apex of Republicans’ plan to turn over our government to their wealthy cronies is a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations. And they plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on. Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are all being targeted. In order to pass the tax cut, Republicans have to go through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that.

Now, we knew that Republicans would largely unanimously oppose them, but we had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their opinion on record — many for the first time — on the most corrupt parts of Trump and Musk’s agenda. Two, as I’ve been saying, I am going to make every process and procedure as slow and painful as possible for as long as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening before our eyes.

So what did we propose? We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion dollars a year. We made them vote on whether or not Elon Musk and DOGE should have limitless access to Americans’ personal data. We made them vote on whether to protect IVF and require insurers to cover it. Every single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down. On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for billionaires. The corruption and theft is happening in the open here.

The whole game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the wealthiest corporations and billionaires — even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children. They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than what they are offering working people. Oh and by the way, any tax cuts for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic necessities, like health care and food. It’s a fundamental injustice.

Thanks to your pressure and support, many of my Democratic colleagues have joined my effort to do everything we can to make sure they cannot destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are being loud about what is happening. I’m going to continue to grind the gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it that much harder and slower to get away with this corruption. That’s why the votes lasted until nearly 5 AM.

This is a five-alarm fire. I don’t think we have two years to plan and fight back. I think we have months. It’s still in our power to stop the destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective opposition from elected officials. So we can’t miss any opportunity to take advantage of opportunities to put Republicans on the record and shine a light on what is happening.

And you have a role to play in this as well. I need you to amplify what’s happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump’s billionaire cronies, and show up at rallies and town halls. Use every tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment.

Every best wish,

US Senator Chris Murphy

45
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

This seems like a good opportunity for anyone interested in contributing to the organization of 50501 as well as the decentralized web.

They are looking for someone who is:

  • Experienced with Lemmy or willing to learn
  • Available for weekly meetings
  • Willing to dedicate time to moderate
  • Willing to limit communications to secure channels, predominantly Matrix

From the original post:

We are looking for admin/mod especifically from Lemmy community itself. We are in serious need of moderators or admin with Lemmy knowledge. Please let us know if you would like to be a part of the movement and this Lemmy instance. If you would like to be a part please understand there would be significant time commitment needed as we are a growing community here at Lemmy.

Application

About the movement

Thank you!

Considering how the movement is under attack on other platforms it is likely to be a more challenging task than moderating some other forums out there, but it's an opportunity to make a real contribution. :)

 

Trump has cut budgets, laid off employees, and pressured universities. Now Norway wants to attract researchers who have poor conditions abroad.

Picture from US protest. A protester is holding a sign saying "Congress makes laws, not the president".

The Research Council prioritizes and allocates funds on behalf of the state.

Now they are allocating 100 million kroner to attract foreign researchers to Norway.

The Managing Director of the Research Council, Mari Sundli Tveit, is clear about the backdrop.

– It is particularly related to the situation in the USA. Academic freedom is under pressure and funding is being cut, says Tveit.

The new scheme allows Norwegian institutions to apply for support to bring in international researchers.

The work around the new scheme was both expanded and expedited when the Trump administration introduced significant cuts to American research in March.

Tveit emphasizes that the arrangement will not be reserved for researchers from the USA.

According to Tveit, many of those who have been laid off in the USA are researching areas such as climate, health, and the Arctic.

– These are areas where it is extremely important for us to ensure that the activity continues. And connecting the researchers to us is a very, very good idea, says Tveit.

Lists with "illegal words"

She is concerned about what she sees as an attack on research in the USA. Among other things, in the form of restrictions on specific research topics.

– There are lists of forbidden words, that is, prohibited words that cannot be included in research applications, says Tveit.

She points to words like "woman," "black," and "climate change."

In addition, the Research Council is concerned about a lot of important research data that is stored in the USA. This includes important research data and results on climate change and health.

– If there is a breach in that data, it will cause irreparable damage. And we are very concerned about that. Right now, we are looking for ways to move data to store it safely elsewhere, says Tveit.

Great need for expertise

Research and Education Minister Sigrun Aasland (Ap) has been a driving force behind the new scheme.

– In Norway, we have a great need for expertise in the coming years, including in research, Aasland explains.

She makes it clear, like Tveit, that the scheme should not be limited to researchers from the USA.

As the situation stands now, Aasland believes there is an increased need for such schemes.

– But is it wise to launch this scheme in the same week that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg are set to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House?

– This is not an American scheme, but a global one. Also, an important reason why we are so focused on collaboration with the USA in research is that they are an outstanding research nation. They account for a significant amount of the world's knowledge about health, climate, and energy, Aasland responds and adds:

– We have extensive collaboration with American researchers, and we want to continue that.

Positive for Norwegian research

The Research Council estimates that the funds can cover 30 to 50 research positions. The researchers will be recruited to both colleges and universities in Norway.

The rector of UiO, Svein Stølen, is positive about the new arrangement.

– This is very interesting. It can bring us truly top researchers from other countries, says Stølen.

The rector believes this could have a significant impact on Norwegian and European research.

– We see that there are challenges in the USA, where China is advancing. The fact that Europe is stepping up is important, continues Stølen.

The rector of the University of Bergen, Margareth Hagen, is also positive about the new arrangement.

– The consequences for us are significant. It concerns the fact that about 22 percent of the research at UiB is conducted in collaboration with American researchers. So it is clear that what is happening in the USA affects us quite immediately, says Hagen.

She points out that the collaboration with American research environments spans the entire breadth of UiB's academic fields.

– UiB is particularly known for strong climate research and also for a lot of research on global health, where Americans are at the forefront.

(Translated by Kagi)

 

European Union watchdogs fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros Wednesday as they stepped up enforcement of the 27-nation bloc’s digital competition rules.

The European Commission imposed a 500 million euro ($571 million) fine on Apple for preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.

The commission, which is the EU’s executive arm, also fined Meta Platforms 200 million euros because it forced Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.

 

It seems the 50501 movement is facing some predictable problems on commercial platforms.

On Reddit, the 50501 subreddit has temporarily shut down over abuse. This comes after reports from users that the community is "obviously being astroturfed". No word as to when it will be back online.

It seems things are not much better over at Facebook, where there is apparently frequent calls to stop protesting this and that, with a Reddit user commenting that the group "feels like it's imploding".

This is hardly surprising given how commercial social media has repeatedly shown itself to be easily manipulated, but it's still fascinating that it's bad enough to shut down the whole Reddit community. Although we are certainly in a better place over here we are not immune: Make sure to be vigilant and to report suspicious activity.

If anyone is on Facebook, maybe now is a good time to give people there a few pointers towards Lemmy/PieFed.

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