I hate it when that happens… It’s so embarrassing! 😳 Also, if I dare to care about the thing I was about to say my brain seems to flush the cache even more aggressively.

I’m so glad I can still spot AI generated faces (No, not Riker lol). It’s getting harder though.

I still have a scar on my left hand from when I tried this when i was 10. The handbrake handle basically dug into my hand as I trebuchet’d myself across a carpark next to my house 🤣

Also, when a bunch of people left reddit 3 years ago, it seemed like they flooded it with bots to pad the numbers. In any case welcome! 😁 I’ve also been here (in some form or another) since the API drama.

I would recommend that you create a couple of accounts on different instances (Piefed/Fedia etc.) because, although it’s a lot better these days, sometimes they can suddenly go offline. Not all together usually, but it’s nice to still have some way in when that happens.

I was one of seemingly few uses who actually left permanently after they killed the API

You and me both! I left and never went back and it’s been one of the best decisions I ever made.

No doubt some schools minister will come out and say that “school is so important and missing even one day can damage a child’s future irreparably”. They did it with Covid and they’ll do it again and it has nothing to do with the children. They just don’t want parents to have to miss work because they’re looking after their kids. They depend on the worker bees never stopping for any reason.

Why is it so hard for you to believe there could be another take to the comfortable one you hold? You should question everything all the time. How much personal research have you done yourself into, for example, what other industries in the US use massive amounts of water. The answer may surprise you. Anyway, this discussion is so over that cleaning services are vacuuming and tidying away the folding chairs. I’m off before they cut the power and lock the doors lol

Well it isn’t to “Shill for data centers” but I suspect you knew that already. Honestly, nobody is reading this anymore unless it’s their job, so this is just a conversation between us. I get fed up with these echo chambers. They’re so pointless since everyone already agrees with each other and sensible people just stay away anyway, but it’s still annoying that so few people challenge these talking points. “Data center bad”, “Won’t someone think of the water?!”, “AI is secretly a plan to enslave us all” etc.

My intent was to challenge these things and see who would respond genuinely and who would just stick to the script. It’s been quite interesting. Also, honestly it felt good not to be intimidated or spun out in a thread full of sarcasm, ridicule, ad hominem attacks etc.

As for the downvotes, oh well… Most of the rest of my time here is generally positive. Sometimes though it feels good to stand up and say what I think, even if it costs some fake internet points lol

It’s Boaty McBoatface time! 😁

Classic mischaracterization of my intent there. Keep going lol

Google “are foreign powers trying to turn people against data centers?” I’ll wait…

Nice cherry picking… Allow me:

BPI operates as a 501©(3) nonprofit with research and editorial independence. The core team consists of around 25 fellows, advisors, and full-time professionals, including:

Grant McCarty: Executive Director
Matthew Pines: Director of Special Programs / Senior Fellow
Sam Lyman: Head of Research (formerly of the U.S. Treasury Department)
David Zell: President

The institute acts as an educational and advisory resource for lawmakers, regulators, and the media.

Direct Engagement: BPI regularly briefs Congressional members and agency staff, provides expert testimonies, and shapes federal and state legislation.

Congressional Fellowship: BPI operates a fellowship program to train policymakers and their staff on the fundamentals of Bitcoin technology and policy.

Bitcoin Policy Summit: BPI hosts an annual flagship conference in Washington, D.C., that brings together regulators, researchers, and industry leaders to discuss digital asset policy.

To anyone with an interest in critical thinking just Google who the Bitcoin Policy Institute is and make your own mind up. Or you know… go with the glib soundbite. Up to you lol

So, this looks like “Something awful, that I don’t need, is increasing my energy prices”. A more accurate version would probably look like “Something really useful that I use all the time is increasing my energy prices”.

Whenever you see social media posts that demonise data centers just bear in mind all the foreign powers who are working hard to make you hate data centers (also look at my comments and downvotes which have now entered legendary status and are all pointless anyway, because no one’s reading this now lol. Next time if you’re going to organise a pile-on you’ve got to be quicker off the mark chaps).

Foreign Influence in the Campaign against American AI

Yeah, but he probably means it like “Ah dangit, Ukraine may get Patriot missile production license”.

Open your miiiiiind…

So basically, I think what they are saying (in an incredibly dense way that makes it feel like nonsense) is that while early AI hardware tried to copy the workers in the brain, this research is asking whether we should also copy the managers, cleaners, electricians and logistics team (astrocytes) that quietly keep everything running. Also, TIL that “Chitosan” is a natural material made from the shells of shrimp, crabs and other crustaceans. Chemically modifying it (quaternizing it) makes it conduct ions better apparently.

TL;DR: This is (I think) about trying to develop neuromorphic computing. It’s based on the idea that if we can make AI chips behave more like brains they will use a lot less power because our brains run on about 20 Watts.

“Reddit”… Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time. A long time.

Any of you read the article that OpenAI wrote? Here’s a quote: “The operation sought to exploit and amplify existing public concerns about energy prices and local impacts of data center development, but we found no evidence of meaningful breakout beyond its own activity .” So it’s less “China is making you hate data centers” and more “they tried but it didn’t work”.

TL;DR: “Brexit has therefore not produced an economic crisis in the conventional sense. The UK economy has continued to grow, unemployment remains relatively low, and many firms have adapted. But adaptation is not the same as absence of cost. The more relevant counterfactual is not whether the economy is still functioning, but how much better it might have performed; on that question, the evidence is increasingly settled.”

It’s kind of a strange article… UIACE are widely regarded as being impartial and that does seem to be reflected in the text, but this conclusion is still kind of vague. Seems to boil down to “It hasn’t been too bad but still might be”. Feels like kind of a pointless take. Brexiteers will probably latch onto the first half " Brexit has therefore not produced an economic crisis in the conventional sense. The UK economy has continued to grow, unemployment remains relatively low, and many firms have adapted " while remainers will point to the second half " adaptation is not the same as absence of cost. The more relevant counterfactual is not whether the economy is still functioning, but how much better it might have performed; on that question, the evidence is increasingly settled ". What it doesn’t offer is any insight as to what the middle ground might be in terms of reconciliation and what a more nuanced future might look like.