Sven Slootweg (soft-deprecated) @joepie91@pixie.town

Look if you _don't_ want your generative AI theft machine poisoned you can just gain consent from the artists.

Tell your artist friends and spread the word. "AI" is _not_ inevitable.

https://nightshade.cs.uchicago.edu/

#Glaze #Nightshade #AIArt #TTRPG #EthicsInAI #AIJobs #BenZhao

@aral

(This is the English version of https://social.pixie.town/@joepie91/111227961313694045)

After 10+ years of constant complaining about activists, I'm very much done with this, and my patience for it is running lower by the day.

As an activist, whatever you do, it'll always be wrong - you're too violent, you're not violent enough. Everybody has an opinion about it, and they won't hesitate to voice it.

There is absolutely zero recognition that activism is a skill like any other, and that perhaps the people who have been doing it for years, might actually know what they're doing.

Instead, people who wouldn't recognize a protest if it hit them in the ass and certainly have never been involved in one, will lecture you about how "you won't accomplish anything this way".

You walk a protest march? "Nobody will give a shit anyway, you're just disrupting people's lives"

You go to court? "Hopeless, you're just wasting the time of the legal system"

You block a road? "You're just bothering innocent drivers, and creating dangerous situations"

You wreck shit? "You're violent, and you should go through the correct channels instead, go into politics"

You decide to go into politics? You'll be laughed out of the room, and constantly ridiculed about how "you can't possibly be expected to be taken seriously".

Well, what the fuck do you want then? How, exactly, do you think that problems are going to be solved? By yelling some shit from the sidelines, and hoping that the situation will magically change?

By relying on the "steady march of progress"? Which, by the way, is driven by activism?

If you're not willing to make a concrete contribution to activist campaigns, fine, but then *shut up*, do not meddle with them, and leave the job to the people who actually understand how activism works beyond gut feelings. Acknowledge that it is a skill, and it is not yours.

Take a step back, withhold comments and opinions, and instead amplify what activists are saying. Provide them with support in the manner that they request.

Or if you *do* want to get involved with activism, then that's also fine - but then you need to take the time and effort to understand why campaigns work how they do, why *activists* do what they do, and what the long-term effects of this might be that aren't immediately obvious to you.

I thought hard about this... but I think I found a way to get more funding again to De Lijn!

TIL in some matrix clients there is a command like /converttodm to fix this issue where some direct chat is actually a group...

McGill: Microsoft says server farms are destroying the planet, so we're limiting the institutional cloud disk space we're giving you to 20 GB only

CIHR: You're still required to keep all your original data sets for all your research until 5 years after the end of the grant though

Me: If you and Microsoft want to actually do something about the planet, maybe pull the plug on OpenAI instead

McGill: If you have questions about the new policy read the email again good luck bye!

I often have trouble expressing appreciation after someone shares their favorite thing with me, be it an interest, music, yiff, video that I might not have that much of an interested in, but I never want those people to stop sharing those stuff.

I love when people share their stuff with me, when they trust me with sharing what they like, when they express themselves this way. Our favorite things make us who we are, and I want to know my friends.

Y'all are very unique and I like you just the way you are. Obsession over trains or not.

From somewhere on the internet

what is the point of a software archival website that doesnt let you download from their archive. what

The regex engine in Firefox and Chrome was originally optimized specifically for matching against DNA strings

Edit (check my profile for more up-to-date info)

If you are still a CuriosityStream subscriber, be aware that they are currently mass-emailing subscribers with what I think is a VERY deceptive "offer". They push users to renew 2yr subs, promising continued Nebula access for bundle subscribers. In reality, Nebula access for CS subscribers expires on Dec 31st. This means you'll have <2 months of Nebula out of your "locked in" 2 year contract. All their communication seems to imply the opposite.