Deceptio 🐀

Watergate is an overused benchmark, but it's the one most Americans are familiar with.

That scandal involved a president trying to cover up a crime that was basically breaking and entering by his subordinates, a misdemeanor in most places.

This one, meanwhile ...

What the Defense Production Act Can and Can’t Do to Anthropic The legal answer depends on what the government is actually demanding—and the statute's ambiguities cut both ways.

Yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to provide its technology on the Pentagon's terms. @alanrozenshtein.com analyzes what the DPA can actually do here and what exactly the government is demanding.

Something that an AI agent can't do is tell you what thoughts and questions you actually have when you read something. Here are some of mine about the passage below, and why I value teaching students to think critically: so they can ask their own questions.

Reminder that I have a starter pack of cat accounts run by real people who post original content with meaningful ALT text! go.bsky.app/J8yqxnN

ICE using the same ruse that Ted Bundy used to kidnap people should tell you something.

This pretty much nails what underlies all the hype about sentient AIs.

Even elected Republicans are starting to wake up to the reality that they cannot outrun the will of the people.

Your voice matters, well before Election Day, in more ways than you may realize.

It's also a demonstration of failing to grasp the very basics of behavior science.

Make ICE unemployable.

Another day, another clown vibe coding an app and thinking they're the shit. 🤦🏻

Reminds me of the missing stair metaphor.

Andrej Karpathy on X: "I've never felt this much behind as a programmer. The profession is being dramatically refactored as the bits contributed by the programmer are increasingly sparse and between. I have a sense that I could be 10X more powerful if I just properly string together what has become" / X I've never felt this much behind as a programmer. The profession is being dramatically refactored as the bits contributed by the programmer are increasingly sparse and between. I have a sense that I could be 10X more powerful if I just properly string together what has become

The entire history of software engineering is one of rising levels of abstraction.

This is as it was, is now, and always shall be.

x.com/karpathy/sta...

Not only does this cost in terms of economics, but it also dilutes the effect of the phrase "national security" (even further than it currently is.)

This...

I'll go a step further:
While we should absolutely jail members of the administration who committed human rights violations, they shouldn't be sent to torture camps either (even the ones who sent others to torture camps).

Tools from EFF's Tech Team EFF’s team of technologists and computer scientists engineers solutions to the problems of sneaky tracking, inconsistent encryption, and more. Where users face threats to their privacy and security

EFF's team of technologists engineer solutions to the problems of sneaky tracking, government surveillance, and more. Check out some of those tools! www.eff.org/pages/tools

Interesting idea, but science isn't based the result of reasoning alone. Empirical findings are important.

@dingemansemark.bsky.social has an email template if people want to politely send a piece of invaluable feedback to the ACM!

Looks like someone fell for the internet marketing hype about "lead magnets'. Definitely not the most effective way to get newsletter signups.

Well, you can make it up. But, the made up version likely won't be nearly as asinine.

Friend Of Techdirt Get an Insider Badge on your profile

Hey folks: this morning we're launching a monthlong fundraiser for @techdirt.com. Over the last year, we've been steadfast in not self-censoring, not capitulating, not sanewashing bullshit. But that's come at a cost. And we need help: rtb.techdirt.com/products/fri...

One of the problems with claims of this sort is that they assume a model of biology and behavior that simply isn't true. The assumption that something like our biology can be the primary agency of specific behavior patterns, especially abstract ones, is just plain wrong.

"A very, very, very high strike threshold."

I suppose it's relative, since Trump's felony count was double that.

Q: What is the US actually ready to offer?

A: Trump's name for a Nobel peace prize.

nostalgia is a scam invented by big new to sell more old

$1.6 million is a lot to pay for rehashed ChatGPT hallucinations. Not gonna lie, kinda impressed Deloitte has the cajones to pull that off.

AI-Powered Stuffed Animal Pulled From Market After Disturbing Interactions With Children FoloToy says it's suspended sales of its AI-powered teddy bear after researchers found it gave wildly inappropriate and dangerous answers.

In this case AI means "artificial insemination". The bear's name is "Kumma"...

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Not sure which is more concerning, the fact a president can be openly bribed, or how cheap the price is.

Black-and-white photo of Dorothy Vaughan in front of an IBM machine (computer maybe?). She is smiling, her hair is up, and she is wearing a sleeveless dress with a multistrand of pearls.

Headshot of Dorothy Vaughan in later life.

Dorothy Vaughan | NASA mathematician, programmer & manager died #OTD in 2008

First Black female supervisor at NACA (precursor to NASA), expert programmer, Scout Launch Vehicle Program contributor & more. #WomenInSTEM

Learn more about this "Hidden Figure:" nasa.gov/people/dorot...