"Police Urge Calm In Light Of Unspeakable Evil They Committed" (theonion.com)
I'm not saying The Onion is one of the most important commentaries on modern America, but I'm not not saying that.
A fantastic analysis of OpenAI's coup with the new Microsoft announcement (/r/singularity)
Automated Archives for January, 27th 2023
This post was automatically generated
Wallabag Additions
These are articles that which I saved today so that I may read them later. Substance and quality will vary drastically.
- How circular economics can make us happier and less stressed
(bigthink.com)
Chess For the Day
Record: 3-0-2
Net Elo Change: +7
Games Played
"Inhumanity in Memphis" (theatlantic.com 🗝️)
I haven't brought myself to watch the video yet. I don't have to. Writers like this can tell me what I need to know.
Even before the city of Memphis released video Friday evening of the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, it seemed the footage would be horrifying. Defense attorneys compared it to the Rodney King beating in 1991, a comparison that now rings true, but the Memphis police chief and head of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation similarly said they were appalled by what they saw. Cops often remind critics that their job necessarily entails violence, so when seasoned law-enforcement officers react this way, it’s telling.
They were right to be appalled. Though the public might have started to become accustomed to the stream of de facto snuff films of people dying at the hands of police, this video is shocking, showing officers wantonly beating a 29-year-old Black man. If they did not intend to kill him, they showed little hesitation in beating him near to death and little remorse after they’d finished. Five officers have been fired, and all five have been charged with second-degree murder. All of them were part of a vaunted hot-spot policing unit called SCORPION, only established in 2021.
"TikTok's enshittification" (pluralistic.net)
Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.
I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a "two sided market," where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, hold each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.
January 26th, 2023
Automated Archives for January, 26th 2023
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Chess For the Day
Record: 6-0-5
Net Elo Change: +11
Games Played
- The_God_Eagle - WIN
- Yudhis11 - LOSS
- FelipeSalcedo - WIN
- cavalencaval - WIN
- Vietnamvet69 - LOSS
- osmar110656 - LOSS
- gcguilherme - WIN
- roua - LOSS
- nikasiff - WIN
- Viktor1971 - LOSS
- moloko73 - WIN
8 decades of research on the secrets to a happy life (youtube.com)
Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger discusses the lessons in the long running research into what makes people happy. He starts the video by noting his original TEDx talk highlighted that the recurring biggest aspect of happiness is people who have good warm connections with others. This video is an expansion on that talk. I am watching it now, as I post it, and really enjoying it. I can tell I am going to implement parts of it in my life and how I think about my friends and relationships.
FBI seizes Hive ransomware, saves victims millions (techcrunch.com)
"This hidden site has been seized. The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized this site as part of a coordinated law enforcement action taken against Hive Ransomware," a seizure notice displayed on Hive's dark web leak site reads. "This action has been taken in coordination with the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Department of Justice with substantial assistance from Europol."
The FBI confirmed Thursday that it had access to Hive's computer network since July 2022, allowing federal agents to capture and offer Hive's decryption keys to victims worldwide. Since its takeover, the FBI has helped more than 300 victims of the Hive ransomware, preventing more than $130 million in ransom payments, said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland during a press conference on Thursday,
According to the government, the FBI also successfully disrupted a Hive ransomware attack on a Louisiana Hospital, saving the victim from a $3 million ransom payment, and another attack targeting a school based in Texas.
January 25th, 2023
Automated Archives for January, 25th 2023
This post was automatically generated
Wallabag Additions
These are articles that which I saved today so that I may read them later. Substance and quality will vary drastically.
- Boot Hill and the Fear of Dice -
(chocolatehammer.org) - Bears were mysteriously missing toes. These scientists cracked the case.
(washingtonpost.com)
Chess For the Day
Record: 4-0-7
Net Elo Change: -12
Games Played
- Timawa - WIN
- Timawa - WIN
- Vjacheslav1992 - WIN
- Israel1961 - LOSS
- schovjan - LOSS
- marcus0666 - LOSS
- Borgogelli - LOSS
- james2916 - LOSS
- deepfishharry - LOSS
- ritina82 - LOSS
- Emmacool - WIN
Wayne Brady covers Thriller with Postmodern Jukebox (youtube.com)
Wife came across this tonight. We love Wayne; he got his start at the same improv comedy club we met at (before our times.)
A breakdown of the "Rings of Power" in Lord of the Rings
Found on Reddit and it is a beautifully made. Props to Madison Apple on the graphic.
Germany's final decision to send tanks to Ukraine opens the door (npr.org)
This morning, after Germany's announcement yesterday, President Biden announced the US would also be sending tanks to Ukraine.
Content purpose (linkedin.com)
Originally posted this to LinkedIn this morning. I am trying to get better about utilizing that social platform:
Found myself thinking about content and metrics this morning on the way into work. I think too often the simple "one set of metrics for all content" is adopted, to the detriment of the content and the professionals creating the content. Instead it is important to recognize the purpose and goals of each piece of content, both in the creation of the content, but also in the measuring and evaluating of the content.
I break them down into four possible "purposes":
- Business purpose: Information which needs to get out but is not expected to drive any serious engagement or actions
- Awareness / Engagement: Content which is meant to drive shares, comments, likes, etc.
- Invisible CTA: When the content is driving to do things which aren't directly trackable but may be seen in other areas (sales at stores, etc.)
- Direct Call-to-Action: Click a link, watch a video, essentially do something which we can track and measure that goes above like/comment/share.
There is obviously overlap between each of these, but I contend that the main thrust of content can and should be in one of these four, and from that the metrics which the content which is measured and evaluated derive, while also taking into consideration the platforms and mediums.
What do folks think? Is this a good split for purpose of content?
Jon Stewart discusses our Classified System (youtube.com)
The media is chasing the classified documents fiasco like it's spy vs. spy, Trump vs. Biden. But on this week's episode, we're breaking down the absurdity of a national security system that makes it so darn easy to hoard classified documents. We're joined by Matthew Connelly, professor of history at Columbia and author of "The Declassification Engine: What History Reveals about America's Top Secrets," who gives us the inside scoop on how unwieldy our system for keeping state secrets has become, who it's really designed to protect, and how we might revamp it so that it actually, you know, can keep a secret.