Alex Vranas @Alex@vran.as
Admin
#Netsec Professional. Whitehat #Hacker. #Demoscene spectator. Nerd.
I'm a fan of #Linux, #FOSS, #Decentralization (not Crypto), Crypto (as in #Cryptography), and #Socialism. Always #Antifascist & #Antiwar.
Seattle, WA
Joined Feb 2021
It's just past midnight on a Wednesday morning, and I just got ChatGPT to say the funniest thing I've ever heard it say.
Alex Vranas
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We very rarely have lightnings in the Seattle area, so last night I was happy to finally capture a good show.
This shot made it to the local news (see comment).
#lightning #Seattle #Washington #PNW #FediGiftShop #AYearForArt
#Prints and various items: https://pixels.com/featured/lightning-strikes-over-seattle-4-ez-lorenz-imagery.html
Customer to IT: "They asked us to set this thing up, but we're stumped. Can we get some advice?"
Alex Vranas
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I think this is going to accidentally sabotage human rights reporting (and efforts).
Alex Vranas
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#Bluesky just added algorithmic content filtering. And here I find the most obvious problem.
They give you the option to show violent hate groups.
Which means they know their platform could be used to spread hate but are offloading moderation to users and algorithms.
What can ever go wrong?
Well, it means that if people deliberately want the option to show violent political groups, Bluesky has given them the welcome mat.
And based on what happened on Twitter, we know what happens.
Alex Vranas
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Since i do some introduction to demoscene content i always get a few newcomers asking me about things, this seminar by lambdacore from this years @revision_party is excellent introduction to #demoscene check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do1e2paezow&ab_channel=RevisionDemoparty
I refuse to believe that anyone has actually typed "How much coffee can a cat drink before it dies?" into a search bar. This is some sort of silly GPT extrapolation.
I just wanted to know if coffee posed a risk to cats (it does). Not how much I needed to give my cat to kill her...
Alex Vranas
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here's my 4k exegfx entry this year, "Pins&Needles"
Alex Vranas
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Shader Showdown rounds announced. The asterisk means the person been forced to join us and will not mind being replaced by someone else at the partyplace willing to have a go at the Shader Showdown madness. #backtotheewerk #revision2023 #shadercoding #livecode @revision_party
So it turns out if you follow an extremely restrictive keto diet for three weeks, and then try to take a break by drinking beer, and eating pasta and candy, it won't work if you also walk 15 miles that day... Still in ketosis.
Alex Vranas
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Hardworking Twitter engineers scrubbing the Elon parameters I have some bad news for you about how git works
Deepfakes are an ethical disaster, their harm ranging from humiliating individuals, to spreading disinformation.
Generative language models are blurring human communication in uncomfortable ways.
AI "art" is threatening the livelihood of human artists.
It's a lot to take in.
Despite rumors, AGI/ASI is not on the horizon, but you aren't putting this cat back in the bag either. There is FOSS code out there and it's never going away.
Focus on ethical advocacy over things like panic or fantasy.
I'm pretty skeptical of the current hype around "AI" and Generative ML Models. I feel that some people are putting too much trust into them, people are misusing them in unethical ways. We need to be proceeding with cautious optimism for this stuff, and staying educated about it to minimize harm.
But a lot of y'all need to calm down. For every Sci-Fi fan convinced that the Singularity is upon us, there's a scared Luddite demanding that technological development be regulated out of existence...
Alex Vranas
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US Congress is like "We're gonna ban a website to prove that we're not like China".
Alex Vranas
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i just want caring, cis, straight people to understand that attacks on transgender people are attacks on LGB(T)Q people. they are picking on the most vulnerable in my super-group of diversity, and the least supported in society comparatively. it's an attack on all women because it further encroaches on the human right called healthcare--the attacks follow the same pattern of oppression from straight white men. help us. help yourselves. please take a stand.
Alex Vranas
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TikTok: Look! I discovered hot water melts frozen food faster!
Twitter: Look at this TikTok video showing how to defrost your food faster!
Yahoo news: Millions of Twitter users view TikTok video showing new life hack for melting frozen food!
Mastodon: Please read my academic white paper describing the impacts of public school system underfunding
Admin
#Netsec Professional. Whitehat #Hacker. #Demoscene spectator. Nerd.
I'm a fan of #Linux, #FOSS, #Decentralization (not Crypto), Crypto (as in #Cryptography), and #Socialism. Always #Antifascist & #Antiwar.
Seattle, WA
Joined Feb 2021
