ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

Friends or maybe just frenemies in a wetland marsh. The Tricolored Heron hung out with this alligator comfortably while I was there, in fact, an Egret took the hint to fly in shortly thereafter. I guess the gator looked sleepy. Fontainebleau State Park, Louisiana.

#birds #birding #wetlands #World WetlandsDay #tbt #ThrowbackThursday

Hey everyone:

I just want to say thank you. I've been going through some pretty serious & difficult shit for a while now, but since joining mastodon, I feel like I have something positive, kind, friendly, & exciting to see every time I click this app.🥹

Thank you for being you and for welcoming me into the #Asstadon community!

Here are 2 of my #donkeys looking beautiful as always. They're actually quite over the chilly weather, but cute nonetheless 💙

#asstodon #donkey #community

Oh lord, they’ve added GPT-3.5.

“We’ve taken the worst product you’ve ever used, and integrated a supspect AI that will record what you say and tell you what you should do next.”

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/02/01/microsoft-teams-premium-cut-costs-and-add-ai-powered-productivity/

#aiart #digitalart #ArtificialIntelligience

Reminder: Considering Hogwarts Legacy is coming out in two weeks (10. February), I recommend checking who of all the super friendly nice gamers and streamers with rainbow flags and all in their bio might not be worth your Youtube sub after all.

JKR said she does not seperate art (her franchise) from the artist (herself) but sees it as approval of her actions instead. So I'd be careful giving let's players a free pass if they go down the "seperate art from the artist" route.

Apart from this: If you seperate the art from the artist, it is still a horrible anti-semitic game in a problematic franchise (see below). If you are a streamer / let's player yourself and you are wondering if you should boycott this because of a possible backlash on social media, maybe ask yourself why liking and playing "Genocide: The Game" is so important for you.

Some reading material and one video:

Dailydot.com: "Hogwarts Legacy accused of using an antisemitic trope with goblin plot"
https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/hogwarts-legacy-goblins-antisemitism/

Kotaku: "Hogwarts Legacy Lead Designer Used To Run Anti-Social Justice YouTube Channel"
https://kotaku.com/hogwarts-legacy-lead-designer-used-to-run-anti-social-j-1846316222

Shaun: In-depth analysis of the books, movies etc. from Harry Potter as a Franchise and its problems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1iaJWSwUZs

(German) Thread of ex HP fan @VeganUndStabil : Reality check of common arguments for playing the game
https://mastodon.social/@VeganUndStabil/109740294091817187

#HogwartsLegacy #HarryPotter #TransRightsAreHumanRights

2/n) Second, it's important to look not just at what this tech can do but also how it was built. See https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-020-00405-8 (providing an exploration of AI practices through a decolonial lens)

That being said, we have to understand something before we can intelligently talk about it. So, for the moment goal is explaining #LLMs to #LawProfs

So, here we go...

Focal an lae: Imbolc, one of the four ancient Celtic seasonal festivals, observed at the beginning of February, later made St. Brigid's Day (and Groundhog Day!). The origin of the word Imbolc is uncertain. It may come from i mbolg, 'in the belly,' referring to the pregnant ewes at this time of year, or from imb-fholc, 'cleanse oneself,' which would make it parallel to the Roman rituals of Februum. Either way, Happy Imbolc!

Please sign.

This is a petition to allow trans ppl the right to asylum when fleeing unsafe countries, including those previously deemed "safe", like UK(actively engaged in genocidal acts against the trans community) and potentially the entirely of the US (both declared GOP candidates for president have said they want to legislate trans people to death).

Let's not turn these people away.

Takes less than a min to sign. Goes straight to Parl, not a shady party run site.

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4268&s=04

I’d be remiss if I didn’t post something for #GroundHogDay "Well maybe the real God uses tricks, you know? Maybe he's not omnipotent. He's just been around so long he knows everything.” #ThrowBackThursday #TBT #BillMurray

i wonder how much of the choice to cut off free API access was motivated by the desire to shut down mastodon/etc crossposters

#capitalism #billionaires #inequality #socialinequality

me folding laundry: ugh another sock is missing

puppet on my hand: how does that keep happening

*Creating* generational wealth is not hard for Black people. It's happened many times in US history. There have been thriving communities.

*Keeping* generational wealth has proved to be nearly impossible. Between racist pogroms, and eminent domain used to create parks, freeways, reservoirs, and shopping malls, Black folk in the US have consistently had their wealth stolen by white folks.

I still run into New Yorkers that go to Central Park every week, but have never heard of Seneca Village.

@panamared27401 I'm a boomer, and I know how incredibly fortunate I am. And I'm furious that those coming after me don't have the same opportunities re: affordable college education, affordable housing, etc.

Today the House GOP will "celebrate" #Blackhistorymonth by removing Rep Ilhan Omar from House Foreign Affairs committee. She is the only Black woman on the committee--plus she's Muslim + an immigrant. This is what white supremacy looks like. My article https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kevin-mccarthys-rationale-removing-ilhan-omar-makes-no-sense-rcna66366

The Internet Jukebox is pleased to present a touch of Bach for your listening pleasure. Here's "In Dist ist Freude" on @internetarchive : https://archive.org/details/historicalorganr00unse_omr ht @MLucas @adrian

Hear me out: Degenerative AI

adding fake photorealism to a police sketch based on a verbal description is definitely one of the less ethical uses of AI https://mobile.twitter.com/SashaMTL/status/1620616127138381827

Folks who make/used to make Twitter bots, are they still running?

#bots #CreativeBots #botmakers #TwitterBots #botAlly