Just a regular Joe.

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  • 111 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 7th, 2023

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  • So you want to create a human exploitation / profit maximising system?

    Pretty sure those are proprietary algorithms, with some common knowledge foundations that LLMs will happily tell you about.

    It’s all simple enough at a small scale, but the challenge is optimizing it for your use-cases, and building for scale & reliability in a cost efficient manner.

    Such companies will likely also have top notch software engineers & statisticians, marketing teams, psychologists and lawyers on the payroll, all contributing their part to the perpetuation of human misery in the name of corporate profit.


  • If I understand it right, the last time the democrats had a majority in both the house and senate was in Obama’s first two years. The ACA was the result of that, and it was still watered down due to pressure.

    Without control of both houses, the dems are forced to heavily compromise to avoid government shutdowns and just to keep the USA plodding along, food on the table, and kids in school. Fighting just to end up with more or less the status quo was still better than the lurch to the right and insanity that is seen now.

    I fear it’s too late for the US now though… at least without some military intervention come voting time. I’m sure they’ll be too busy though. It’s perversely still in china and russia’s interests to keep trump in power, and flare ups will almost certainly be well timed… as they say, never interrupt your enemy while they are busy making mistake after mistake after mistake.


  • They have more work to do to be a role model, yes, and the great firewall is a PITA and is used for (fake news) propaganda as well as for protecting its national interest and identity. They do seem to have lost significant focus under Xi, and I doubt it will change for the better under his leadership.

    Even if China were to become a leader in soft power and a role model in the future, systems don’t tend to be transplanted wholesale.


  • If only they’d stop supporting russia’s war of aggression… imagine if China would lead the world in peaceful growth and respect for international law, rather than supporting despots and antagonising neighbours’ fishing boats. The choice of siding with US or China could be relatively simple, rather than a reluctant necessity.

    End wars, Xi, and you might even get a nobel peace prize to share with your countrymen and the people of the world.

    The US has well and truly abused their position over the years, and is currently unhinged under trump. Give the world a viable alternative, both economically and politically.







  • Censorship / free speech is hard to get right, especially in the online world.

    I’m for an individual standing on a pulpit and expressing their views, so long as they can be held to account. If they put the lives of others at risk, spread dangerous lies or harrass others unjustly, and there is legal recourse through an independent legal system(s) … no problem, because there are checks and balances. Many countries have a healthy foundation to support free speech.

    OTOH, I am for restricting mis/dis-information campaigns by governments (also my own), corporations, special interest groups, and billionaires. We know it’s possible to effectively manipulate people and it’s really just another form of psychological warfare. The challenge is how to police such things (and when/what/how to educate/censor/fine/ban), with so much money and influence working against it … all without infringing on citizen’s rights.