Lou Katz @lou@entropyservice.com

Since people seem to be pissed off at me today about private messages for some reason, now is as good a time as any to repost my blog on how to test Faraday containers, which also, inexplicably, seems to infuriate a small set of people.

https://www.mattblaze.org/blog/faraday/

First Sundar Pichai, now Tim Cook, both admitting that generative "AI," by dint of its very foundations (cf. "Bias Optimizers"), will not and cannot stop bullshitting (cf. "On Bullshit Engines").

Look at me. Listen to me: If someone is selling you a "search" and "knowledge" product they claim is smarter and better and faster than you, but it literally cannot be guaranteed to give you simple true facts about consensus reality when asked, then that product DOES NOT WORK and SHOULD NOT BE USED.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/tim-cook-admits-apple-ai-stop-lying

GOP Attorneys General Seeking to Block Climate Lawsuits Are Funded by Big Oil https://truthout.org/articles/gop-attorneys-general-seeking-to-block-climate-lawsuits-are-funded-by-big-oil/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

@seb @mattblaze Because I have so many followers, I see it happen. Once every month or two I get what are clearly intended to be “private” messages that unfortunately mention another user, which exposes the thread to them. It’s not a hypothetical problem. It happens. So by definition the feature has a serious problem.

Apple continues w on-device processing - which is good - but only to a certain extend. It also mimicks OpenAI/Microsoft, Google etc in scraping ‘publicly available content’ and thus disregarding copyright - while really being tough on its own rigts on patents, logos etc. So double standard! #apple #genai #ai #copyright

https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/13/24175985/apple-intelligence-ai-model-local-cloud-privacy-how-it-works

Here’s @mmasnick saying something I also keep repeating:

Big companies often •love• regulatory burden, because it keeps small entrants out of the market.
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/06/13/meta-wont-fight-online-kid-safety-regulations-because-it-sees-them-as-a-competitive-moat/

A mask ban will ban me completely from indoor public life.

I’ve already been pushed most of the way out of society. I cannot believe people are legislating pushing people like me all the way out. Oh, wait, yes I can. This is what the last 2.8 years have been like. Watching everyone around me deciding one by one they would rather banish me from society than be even the slightest bit inconvenienced. Letting me know their feelings are far more important than my life.

https://med-mastodon.com/@luckytran/112611073769629423

***** Why Microsoft, Google, and others screw up *****

Part of the reason -- and a big part -- of why you see public relations disasters like #Microsoft Recall and #Google AI Overviews is that these firms typically refuse to have employees on these teams who bring skill sets that include real world experiences that go beyond the technical.

It should have been obvious to execs at Microsoft and Google (and other firms) that trying to ram projects like these (and others, like poorly designed passkey implementations) down consumers' throats would trigger major blowback and embarrassment. But either they just couldn't see the forest for the trees, or simply ignored the warning signs, treating the user community like a giant fungible planet of guinea pigs.

Either way, it's bad for them, and it's very, very bad for us.

Companies shipping AI treat “the open Web” the same way white settlers treated “the open range” — theirs by self-assigned divine right, to freely exploit as they see fit, the people already there either annoyances to disregard or obstacles to eliminate.

In just the last few days, Senate Republicans have KILLED:

- protection for IVF
- protection for contraceptives
- an ethics code for the Supreme Court

Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Deception justified to expose Justice Alito's unfiltered opinions: ethicist https://www.rawstory.com/supreme-court-justice-samuel-alito-2668522400/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" And I said, "Being the President's son." And they all moved away from me on the bench there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I said, "And lying on form 4473." And they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench, talkin' about crime, mother stabbing, father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the bench.

San Francisco's David Sacks -- champion of the Drug War, opponent of Harm Reduction, supporter of Trump and ... an investor in a massive online pill mill that just got busted for $100 million fraud and is responsible for multiple overdose deaths. https://sfstandard.com/2024/06/13/telemedicine-adderall-vyvanse-ritalin-done-global-brody-he/

Adam Schiff is spot on.

It's bring your felon to work day.

EFF and Jacques the Encryptid believe companies shouldn't control how you can connect, fix, or play with the tech that you own. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/05/m-jackalope

I’m no longer using the term “Republican Party” as it suggests that organization is a legitimate participant in U.S. constitutional democracy. I shall be referring to it as the Republican crime syndicate, as it is an organization wedded to giving a convicted felon dictatorial power.

New Audio: #Alito Bashes #ProPublica for Reporting on #SupremeCourt #Ethics
In a new, secret recording, the Supreme Court justice suggests partisan funding is to blame for coverage of justices’ undisclosed luxury gifts [Yeh @propublica - thank you for consistently bringing corruption to light] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/samuel-alito-supreme-court-recording-propublica-windsor-1235037796/

Announcement is out. Good on Microsoft for finally reaching a sane conclusion.

- Recall won’t ship as a feature at launch on Copilot+ PCs any more.

- Won’t be available in Insider preview channel at launch, as it was pulled.

When it does appear in preview channels, privacy and security researchers need to keep a close eye on what Microsoft are doing with the feature.

Microsoft tried developing this feature in secret in a way which tried to avoid scrutiny. Thank you to everyone who stood up.

What's the difference between #Google Search AI Overview answers and obnoxious banner ads?

Occasionally obnoxious banner ads are actually useful.