I know that the synth sounds have a distinctly 80’s feel to them, and I often cringe when I hear songs from that era, but I make one exception: Dave Stewart was a genius, and Annie Lennox’s voice transports me every time. Covers with other instruments and voices might be good, but they’re not great

Since I’ve posted about AI today, I’ll add to it… The vast majority of research is focused on the transformer architecture, which in turn is built on matrix operations that we calculate with GPUs/TPUs. It feels like there should be a way to get to AGI that doesn’t require 100s of GWh per model

I enjoyed Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Stan Lee called Parker an "everyman", and this showed up in the comics in all the little things, like Peter struggling to make rent. Something that stood out for me in this adaptation was that I kept wondering what he was doing for money

The USA will do anything to protect people, except controlling guns

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last wk.

Some schools in Florida, Georgia and Colorado will be equipped with drones this year that can go through halls, smash windows and pepper-spray active shooters if teachers report a threat. The program follows a wave of high-tech campus security spending. https://wapo.st/4gVNMXn

FYI there is no "real" reason why Rome "fell." Its power waned for the usual, mundane reasons: widening gap between rich and poor, inability to maintain infrastructure, incompetent leadership, pointless wars, endless persecution of marginalized groups who performed vital labor, etc.

A common thing I see when people say that AI “cheated” or “didn’t do what [someone] wanted” is that they didn’t tell the LLM what they were doing with it. Experimenters give a goal without any context of why. LLMs then figure out a way to get to the goal that don’t match an experiment’s intent.

We have a tradition of recognizing and rewarding young people for great achievements. I think it’s important that we do. But older people are often overlooked, particularly if they started on something later in life. They may not have a long career ahead, but their work can still be inspiring

Greg Egan@gregegansf.bsky.social · last wk.

While the Fields Medal celebrates the under-40s, the mathematician Joan Birman has, at the age of 99, solved a major open problem in representations of the Braid groups, a topic she has worked on for more than 60 years.

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains.

John Scalzi@scalzi.com · last wk.

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains.

Why do @kevinroose.com and @caseynewton.bsky.social always refer to Bostrom’s paperclip maximizer, and never Dneprov’s 1958 story “Crabs on the Island”? It predated Bostrom by 45 years, and seems far more prescient in many ways. It’s also more fun 😁

I used the Flowrider at a waterpark the other day. I was quite embarrassed when everyone in line cheered and gave me a round of applause. 😳 A minute later, a little girl (maybe 6 yo?) told me how great she thought I was. Moments like that remind me to always try to do more: It may matter to someone

What tariffs will the USA put on itself then??? “Nations that do not prohibit such goods would face tariffs of 12.5 percent, while those that have such laws but fail to enforce them would be hit with 10 percent levies”

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 2w ago

The Trump administration is expected to introduce permanent tariffs as soon as this week to replace the temporary import penalties it imposed after the Supreme Court abruptly upended President Trump’s trade strategy earlier this year.

For those thinking that children are not being exposed to the classics, I refer you to Bluey, S1:E2 “Hospital”, in which Bandit presents at the girls’ hospital and says his name is “Telemachus”

A fast-tracked base-load power station takes close to a decade build. Even if they broke ground on day 1 of this administration, they would still be many years away from adding new GW to the grid. Unfortunately, being wrong in headlines like this make all the legitimate criticisms suspect.

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 3w ago

President Trump vowed to unleash abundant energy that would meet surging demand for electricity. Analysts say his administration has yet to deliver results by one of the metrics that matters the most: new gigawatts added to the electricity grid.

Weirdly, the first movie that came to mind when I heard about Sam Neill’s death was Death in Brunswick. I’ll miss him. I loved his every appearance

I received a message while shopping for groceries, asking me to get some berries. So I bought tomatoes and bananas.

I wasn’t going to read this book, but now I think I need to

MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 4w ago

Wow: Trump says he just finished yet another physical at Walter Reed and has requested another cognitive exam as rumors and evidence continue to pile up about his declining health and mental state.

It seems that Count Binface may be on to something

More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 4w ago

Meta is currently testing "super sensing" AI glasses that will continuously record surrounding audio while snapping pictures every few seconds. The new hardware also gets rid of the LED light that notifies bystanders when the glasses are recording. www.ft.com/content/ac28...

I think it highly likely that Platner believes the described encounter was consensual. At the same time, the description gave me waking nightmares.

Some people are upset at the response to Platner because they thought he provided the best possible path for the Dems to beat Collins. A GOP candidate wouldn’t lose any momentum over this. Even if the Dems lose, I’m still proud to vote for a party that doesn’t accept that behavior

After reading this I knew I would see a lot of Americans coming in to explain why things are not as great for Norway as they clearly are, and why the difficulties in the USA are somehow “better”. I was not disappointed

Frankly, it p*sses me off that money changes how people are going to vote. I’d be happy to see the campaigns waste huge sums of cash only to have the outcome utterly unchanged

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last mo.

The Supreme Court’s decision to loosen campaign finance laws by allowing party committees to coordinate with candidates is a major boost for Republicans, essentially supercharging their nearly $150 million fundraising advantage over Democrats.

“…if Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story,” Vance said… “The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.” No, the idea that today’s scandals don’t also take down a presidency is crazy

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last mo.

Vice President JD Vance expressed sympathy for former president Richard Nixon, suggesting that Nixon was wrongly forced out as president in 1974 and comparing his political travails decades ago to those facing President Trump now.

While numerous proprietary languages exist, property graphs now have 3 standards: - SQL/PGQ - GQL - SPARQL "The nice thing about standards is that you have so many to choose from" – A. Tanenbaum

The author of this clearly never grew up on a wheat farm, whose family grew “seed wheat”.

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last mo.

Analysis: If you were asked to picture a weed, there’s a good chance a dandelion would come to mind. The truth is that although dandelions have been vilified in lawn care commercials and popular imagination, they’re useful in myriad ways.

How about waiting until a movie is released before declaring its demise? www.forbes.com/sites/timlam...

‘Supergirl’ Opening Weekend Tracking Number Drops Ahead Of Friday Release

The projected opening for Milly Alcock’s "Supergirl" is not flying up, up and away ahead of the film’s June 26 release in theaters.

forbes.com

I’ve started encountering trucks with large *external* sound systems. I’ll be driving along, looking at a large speaker array, unable to hear anyone or anything in my own car, despite all the windows being sealed. I bet it’s awesome when these things park outside someone’s residence

trash panda extraordinaire@gnomecasserole.bsky.social · last mo.

I understand your loud music might sound awesome to you inside your car, but while you’re (illegally) parked outside my apartment, it sounds like shit from here

The US pulls out of WHO, and there was no CDC expertise to respond to an Ebola outbreak. The US dissolved USAID, and there are no resources to help fight Ebola. The US cut funding to the FAO and fired 1300 at USDA, and crippled screwworm containment. The US says troops don’t need flu shots, and…

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 2mo ago

More than 150 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas have been infected with influenza over the past three weeks — less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated against the flu.

HOLY SMOKES! Moscow right now 🔥🔥🔥