Bits

The departure of Summer means the start of my evening #videogames season is close at hand .. will definitely start my season with the new #cyberpunk2077 DLC https://kotaku.com/cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty-update-review-idris-elba-1850852291

Machinations: #ai ,Ethics of Care, and the Future(s) of #edtech – great 2023 Digital Pedagogy Institute keynote from @brennacgray https://play.library.utoronto.ca/watch/c77ec5ca3a00d655c7b336a44c7e6d6d

if #AI image generators can produce anything with their giant dataset and their powerful #algorithms why should they produce photorealistic images by default? https://medium.com/@louischarron/the-case-for-ai-hallucination-a79688338a14

This specific blend of awe, disbelief, and dread all sound like the words of a victim of a mentalist scam artist – psychics. #ai #llm https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llmentalist/

Music & Sound

“a pop-surrealistic parable of creeping corporate power and infinite war, rampant industrialisation and environmental collapse, UFOs and time travel” https://vimeo.com/865537604

Politics & Economics

The challenge is how do you communicate radical ideas—meaning ideas that get to the root of our current crises—in a way that invites other people into a different world view or a different set of solutions? #strikedebt #studentdebt #economics https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/astra-taylors-age-of-insecurity

Bits

River is a visual connection engine … surf laterally through imagespace #web #art https://river.maxbittker.com

Last week, the #ransomware gang ALPHV #hacked #hack Caesars and MGM, taking down multiple systems across the #casino giants’ networks. https://www.404media.co/inside-mgms-hacked-casinos/

A new, more inclusive vision of #technology can emerge only if the basis of social power changes. #ai https://newrepublic.com/article/175357/big-tech-ruining-dream-ai

#LLM are not search engines looking up facts; they are pattern-spotting engines that guess the next best option in a sequence. #generative #ai https://ig.ft.com/generative-ai/

Music & Sound

Create custom-length #generative #music with text prompts – powered by #audio #ai diffusion models. https://www.stableaudio.com

“to be able to accept and move in both the world you were born into and the world you found on your own.” https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2023/lucinda-williams-and-the-idea-of-louisiana

the album feels like a five-alarm blaze, prophesying an era of corporate-driven consensus and the outsourcing of America’s manufacturing sector. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/listening-booth/the-replacements-are-still-a-puzzle

Comics

A #book that arouses children’s interest in #tinkering and encourages shaping #technology https://fsfe.org/activities/ada-zangemann/

Politics & Economics

The claim that the region remains relatively undisturbed, given the 70,000-person party that rolls in every year, rang particularly hollow. https://grist.org/culture/burning-man-protest-mud-geothermal/

It occurred to shockingly few people that the guys at the top made all that money not because they were smart, not because they were good, but because they were thieves. #crypto https://newrepublic.com/article/175335/crypto-ceo-appeal-sam-bankman-fried

“sola-stalgia” .. a term gaining traction in #climatechange circles that loosely translates to the loss of a place that once brought you solace. https://thewalrus.ca/prince-edward-island-storm/

“In New York or Paris, if you do a horizontal, leaderless, and post-ideological uprising, and it doesn’t work out, you just get a media or academic career afterward. Out here in the real world, if a revolution fails, all your friends go to jail or end up dead.” https://newrepublic.com/article/175314/decade-mass-protest-mass-disappointment