ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

@Flipboard just announced it is ceasing support for X and focusing on Mastodon and other platforms. They just sent this to their 452,000+ X followers: https://twitter.com/Flipboard/status/1726999607866208604

cc: @fediversenews

SCOOP: An obscure White House program surveilling over a *trillion* US call records each year is under fire. Sen. Wyden is challenging its legality, urging DOJ to stop prohibiting him from disclosing info he says will "outrage" Congress.

https://www.wired.com/story/hemisphere-das-white-house-surveillance-trillions-us-call-records/

Big discussion here! https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/11/a-city-on-mars-reality-kills-space-settlement-dreams/

Pleased that most of it is quite thoughtful, and hopeful that our book will nudge things more in that direction.

YES!
This is precisely what every university (and scholarly society!!) should be doing: have their own instance and drop X like a hot potato:

"an instance has been created [... ] on university servers, which is open to the university's organizational units. The active use of X will be significantly reduced."

https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/newsroom/2023/university-of-innsbruck-focuses-on-mastodon/

We detail all the arguments about precisely why that must happen here:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230207

"Safety teams within the company pushed to slow things down. These teams worked to refine ChatGPT to refuse certain types of abusive requests and to respond to other queries with more appropriate answers. But they struggled to build features such as an automated function that would ban users who repeatedly abused ChatGPT. In contrast, the company’s product side wanted to build on the momentum and double down on commercialization."

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/11/sam-altman-open-ai-chatgpt-chaos/676050/

As Google/YouTube seems to be up to new shenanigans (https://mastodon.bentasker.co.uk/@ben/111442472204337543), a reminder that the Fediverse has an alternative called PeerTube:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/peertube-video-hosting-on-the-fediverse/

You can follow and interact with PeerTube accounts/videos entirely within Mastodon, you only need to join PeerTube if you want to publish videos or playlists.

If you do want to publish videos, there's a guide here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-publish-videos-and-audio-on-peertube/

If you want to see an example of PeerTube in action:

➡️ https://fedi.video

Want to hear a wild stat?

Nearly a thousand $1 million+ earners didn't file tax returns for at least one year from 2017 to 2020. Just didn’t bother.

And the GOP is trying to help them by slashing IRS funding. When the IRS is defunded, rich tax cheats make out like bandits.

The media is finally starting to report Trump’s statements for what they are: Fascist. He’s using Hitler’s own words about “vermin” and immigrants “poisoning the blood” of Americans. He’s calling for mass detention of migrants and threatening to come after his political enemies and seek retribution if re-elected. He must never be. America’s future is on the line. We all must do our part and vote.

If one more person critiques A City on Mars for not accounting for something that is in fact accounted for one the book, I am going to... feel moderately annoyed but take no action.

A City on Mars: Reality kills space settlement dreams

Let’s not send a few thousand people to Mars as a big experiment in survival.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/11/a-city-on-mars-reality-kills-space-settlement-dreams/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

"As of writing, 1/2 of the accounts MMFA screenshotted posting Nazi content still remain active.

Amidst all this, Twitter / X CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed that the platform did show big advertisers' posts next to white supremacist content, but attempted to play it down by stating that nearly nobody saw it....Even so, the objections are likely less about how many people saw it, and more about it being a possibility in the first place."

https://sea.mashable.com/tech/29019/twitter-x-confirms-nazi-content-was-shown-alongside-apple-ads-so-why-is-it-suing

Here I explain a discovery I'm a bit proud of - probably known already, but still cool:

https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2023/11/17/just-intonation-part-5/

(1/n)

Ep29: "The Only Podcast on OpenAI You'll Ever Need*" with @jacobschumer @Jason and @andrew is arriving in your #podcast client of choice this morning.

We pretty much just talk about #OpenAI. Some of it is informed, some of it is misinformed. Obviously we also do talk about #Musk and #Twitter, as is contractually obligated.

E29🔗 : https://zencastr.com/z/4JpGblt1

#lawfedi @law

#Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/esquiring-minds/id1661317618

#overcast https://overcast.fm/itunes1661317618/

#WritersCoffeeClub Nov. 21st

What things make a good book cover design?

It should represent the mood and what-about's of the story, thus raising interest in the reader to pick the book from the shelf. I hope I did this so far...

Romea = A lesbian R&J-inspired story with tragic ending
The Seven Sins = A road trip
I'm Not A Shadow = American native girl showing they're still there
Sam = Lesbian story that takes place in a very remote area
WXE - The Search For Keria = A journey into the unknown

I just love the comic timing of this paragraph from the X Corp. v Media Matters Complaint.

All of our big advertisers fled when they saw their ads next to Nazi content! Well, except for Oracle, that is.

amazing graph from JP Morgan of bank account balances through the pandemic, broken out by income quartile
https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2023/11/20/how-has-wealth-changed-under-biden/

PATREONS! Brand new guest #AudioPorn for you today, an absolutely sublime #facesitting story by @SpenPErotica, read by brand new reader Stephen Carling. PLUS a sneak preview of the gorgeous new art that goes with it (it's mad hot, @stuart_cb has outdone himself once again)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-guest-audio-93272311?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Non-patreons, you'll have to wait a little longer, but check out some of Spencer's past audio here to whet your appetite: https://www.girlonthenet.com/blog/author/spencerpritchard/ #NSFW #porn #erotica

@rwaddilove

It doesn't really matter if the internet is around in 100 years, the idea is that the words and ideas should continue to exist in some form. We can still read what people wrote 100 years ago. Same idea.

And Automattic can help by teaming up with some long-lived institutions like universities or insurance companies, to help strengthen the promise that the content will still be available in 100 years.

There is no other organization as far as I know who's trying to solve this problem.

Also I already am working with them on another project so I have some idea about the sincerity and values of the company. I don't think they'd do it as a publicity stunt. I think they mean to do it.

current balloon levels are 72%

(72%) ■■■■■■■□□□

Hey #lawfedi - here is the X lawsuit against media matters - curious what you see:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.383454/gov.uscourts.txnd.383454.1.0_1.pdf

cc: @Teri_Kanefield and others?