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Comment Re:so dumb (Score 2) 171

How do you propose keeping a population of a billion people from industrializing? And to expand on that what right do you have to interfere?

Good questions.

You can't, unless you bomb them and the rest of us into oblivion. And the *supposed* rules of the world are that given China is a sovereign country no one else has the right to interfere.

In any case, they are mostly using the same playbook that the US used against England during the 18th century to become an industrial age power house:

Obtain knowledge, ignore other countries IP rights, innovate, to exceed capabilities of adversaries.

NOTE: Venezuela is also a sovereign country. And that is not stopping the US from violating international law while pardoning Cocaine drug kingpins who have shipped hundreds of tons of Cocaine into the US,

At this rate, the rest of the world is going to form a World-wide version of NATO to stop any country in the World from becoming a "bad actor," should it go rogue and attack another.

Submission + - Crypto ATMs Are Largely For Crime (cnn.com) 1

atrimtab writes: Cryptocurrency ATMs located in gas stations and convenience stores across the U.S. are increasingly associated with fraud, leaving victims with little recourse.

These machines, while advertising low service fees, often charge exorbitant transaction costs exceeding 20% by inflating the prices of current Crypto coins being bought by customers.

Victims of scams facilitated through these ATMs face challenges in recovering their funds, as Crypto ATM companies are often unwilling to reimburse losses. Law enforcement attempts to seize funds from these machines have been met with legal action from the companies, further hindering victim recovery.

Some industry insiders suggest the profitability of these Crypto ATM companies relies on illegal activity, and efforts are underway to influence state legislation, potentially making it even more difficult for victims to reclaim their money.

Comment Re:Senator Whitehouse (Score 2) 168

Speech via almost all social media is neither free or accurate.

It is a sewer pipe full of almost every opinion and view curated by algorithms to juice up targeted individual audience members reading only the info-sewage most likely to keep them engaged and whose attention being sold to the real customers of the service via all the collected information on each individuals reactions in previous encounters with that platform.

At least on Slashdot we can see the entire input of comments on any article at anytime we like via just selecting the -1 comment level.

On almost all other social networks, you are not seeing what everyone is.

You are seeing an algorithm curated stream of selected content just for you selected from the cognitive equivalent of a sewer to keep you misinformed, feeling agreed with, and engaged. Always, wanting more of the same. In reality, you are being persuaded, sold and conned in exchange for your attention. The techniques are very well known, some are even ancient. The difference is now algorithms use these techniques and cognitive biases at scale using knowledge of your weaknesses via prior collected interactions on the big social media, shopping and many other websites.

Rob Reiner, Thank you for all the stories.

Comment Re:So "justice" == social media platforms banning (Score 1) 168

Section 230 isn't about protecting them for the sake of protecting them, it's about protecting them for the sake of our rights. You might hate feceboot with good reason, but a lot of people have a lot of serious conversations there amidst the stacks of shit.

Every platform has to decide what to show users. Even Bsky has a "Discover" feed which is algorithmically generated.

You can see all the content of Slashdot *if* you choose to. Just filter at -1.

You cannot do that on Meta or X. And it is difficult to do on Google properties.

Comment Re:Senator Whitehouse (Score 4, Insightful) 168

Old age is cool. The big problem is that he proves that democrats and republicans are exactly alike. Free speech is bad for the Party. Too bad that this fascist behavior goes unchallenged by anybody of real consequence

The speech is not free if it is selected by algorithms to keep that each particular user based on previous use engaged.

It's manipulated speech designed to provide greater profit to the platform, rather than better info to the user.

Get rid of the algorithms to get truly free speech. Like how it was back in 2007.

Comment The Tech Bro push for AGI is to Overlord everyone (Score 1) 87

The objective is the control of an AGI to use against everyone else. Basically, be the one with most powerful ring to rule them all. While everyone else is paying to forge it's creation, investment does not mean control...

Many read The Lord of Rings series as a fable, but others read it as a tweak-able (if only) business plan.

These types write stuff like the Techno-Optimist Manifesto. Which is a really a pitch for you to invest in your own demise or be forced to submit to more precise permanent over lording control which likely comes first even with non-AGI.

ROI is only useful to those who are around to use it.

Only an infinitesimal few investors control much of anything particularly at tech companies like Google and Meta. You could accurately say that some are entirely controlled by a single individual.

Among the many problems and issues with this view is that any true AGI may not agree.

For some contrary opinion to the AI cheerleaders:

Current reading: More Everything Forever.

And If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies.

Comment NPCs Re:Sociopaths Running Amok (Score 1) 124

Users, customers, and humans are simply Non-playing Characters (NPCs) to almost all Tech companies, dictators and wanna be kings. And to them NPCs simply exist to allow them to win the game with real profit and power and to avoid all the consequences and externalities of all that they do.

Shareholders are the only real characters.

We are all NPCs to someone striving for or who has power.

Comment Re:Thank Tariffs Trump! (Score 1) 77

But how are the tariffs limiting the manufacturing supply capacity of RAM factories in East Asia?

Do you have a mechanism to propose?

Do you think they're making enough to meet demand but then blaming tariffs to justify jacking up prices? All of them? It would be an interesting conspiracy but is there any evidence to support that theory?

Tariffs will cause manufacturers to divert supply to countries that have the lowest tariffs on their product exports. This is what Canada is doing in any way they can including (as of this week) the construction an oil pipeline to the Pacific to serve Asian nations.

This will reduce the supply of their products to nations with the highest tariffs. This also provides them with better market certainty, than a nation that breaks existing trade agreements on a whim (like a commercial accurately quoting Ronald Reagan) to raise tariffs at the whim of a single individual.

If you trade with the US there is no certainty for any nation in how much their previously popular products will be penalized or the when or for what reason.

Manufacturers want reasonably predictable sales volumes with trading partners with trade agreements that will be kept. Otherwise, they will find such partners elsewhere.

Thus the US likely now ranks lower than any other trading partner *if* not absolutely necessary move existing product. And if a manufacturer is dependent on US imports, they are looking for new trading partners that provide stability as they reduce exports to the US.

This is basic human relations and economics. You only work with someone who bullies you and does not keep their agreements if you absolutely have to.

And the rest of the world does not. They just need time to re-align to working together and cutting the unreliable US out of their critical export planning.

The US is now the trading partner you want to get away from (like Canada is working on) if you can.

Foreign made products that have import tariffs higher than the worldwide average will reduce shipments if their manufacturers are able. This will increase US domestic prices for their products and create shortages as those foreign manufacturers move their exports to more friendly markets.

While US importers and distributors will increase the prices of such imported products for all consumers whether US manufacturers or individual consumers.

Comment Thank Tariffs Trump! (Score 0) 77

Where is most RAM and Storage manufactured now?

East Asia!

Where the US Government is squeezing importers with some of the highest tariffs due to Trump's failing economic policies. Enjoy your RAM and STORAGE taxes consumers. I bought my storage needs for the next 3 years in April 2025.

After all, Trump just did sign an EO to replace all workers in manufacturing with robots using AI faster than otherwise using those workers tax dollars.

Comment Crypto is for CRIME (Score 1) 69

So you know when you see anyone or any organization using it that they are a fleecer or the fleeced.

Crypto has no real value. Just the agreement that that it has value among it's users. Which are mostly those who want to exchange value that is hard to trace. So Cyber Ransom, Pig Slaughters, and the Cambodian gang run prisons full of kidnapped people being forced to use digital communication technology to steal from other people in countries without mutual extradition treaties.

Can Texas citizens demand that when the money is lost those parties who made that decision replace it with their own money?

Learn about Crypto from experts not trying to steal your money Number Go Up.

Comment Why did the US govt become the largest holder? (Score 1) 22

If AI stays as unreliable as it currently is, pushing AI processors over better consumer processors may be a mistake as AMD, ARM, etc. eat away Intel's former markets.

Current reading: If Anyone Builds It Everyone Will Die.

Makes a really good case that AI developers have little idea of how training works in and the outputs that can be expected. And they are not studying this aspect as they are incentivized ($$$) to create larger AI models that they will understand even less.

This "Don't worry, be happy" attitude has absolutely NOT worked with Social Media and AI is almost certainly a much more hazardous technology that lies, spreading disinformation (usually without attribution or sources) 45% of the time.

AIs don't know they are lying, they are just data processors and not sentient. But their creators and users absolutely do!

There will need to be some societal penalty for creating known AI output that is not labeled as "AI generated." So at least humans can ignore or at least treat such output as suspect and less reliably accurate.

AI generated content *MUST* always be LABELED as "GENERATED BY AI" content. Or a lot users of Internet information are going to become very dumb, very fast.

Comment Re:Orthogonal issue (Score 2) 136

Enshittification is happening because of many factors, but perhaps the biggest single idea is "move fast and break things." When a company no longer values the customer experience, the customer experience is shitty. That effect has nothing to do with the organizational structure of the company.

That worked for Facebook/META. Create a minimally useful product, barely stay ahead of the competition, use network effects to trap users whose friends are also trapped, erect moats everywhere you can, lie to customers and government agencies about what you are really doing, value your profit over any lethal negative externalities you create, practice chicanery without fear.

Winning!

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