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SCRIPTING NEWS It’s even worse than it appears.. Tuesday, May 14, 2024 Someday I’ll make a list of people who I wish would read this blog. # Yesterday’s OpenAI big press event was a nothing burger. I thought they already had all of that stuff, they certainly had been at least telegraphing it. Also there never will be another Steve Jobs, it’s too bad everyone is using his template for product announcements. It only works if you’re Steve Jobs. # It’s a crazy world, so crazy that RFK, Jr could be elected president via a third-party. He’s a better speaker than either of the other candidates. If he didn’t a speech impediment I’d say he was basically a sure thing. I don’t know how crazy he actually is, but he cleans up nicely, having seen him interviewed on MSNBC a few days ago. He had good PR training somewhere, it’s probably not just from the genes, he is a freaking Kennedy, his mother was a wife of a Kennedy, and clearly raised him well. I’m voting for Biden of course. I’m not that crazy. But people are tired of Biden, I understand whyand they want a president they can look up to, not one that reminds them of their 80-something grandfather. And people are also understandably fed up with Trump. Before it’s over we will come to think of him not as a spoiler but as a possible future president, where "future" is less than a year away. # If a baker may not be forced to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding on the basis of religious freedom, surely a woman can’t be forced to give birth to an unwanted child. # Brunson as bad man or decoy # Jalen Brunson , Knicks star, after having his ass kicked in Sunday’s game. # In this picture he either looks dangerous or defeated, or both. I wouldn’t want to have to play against him tonight. # Here’s my two cents. If Brunson has heavy legs tonight, as he clearly did in the last two games, he should be used as a decoy, to draw a double team, to free up one of the Knicks’ assassins. Or maybe he’ll be more effective with just one Pacer guarding him, instead of two or three. # And for crying out loud, start McBride or Sims or Burks, or all of them, and make sure the other heroes of games 1 and 2 get plenty of rest. # The Knicks do have good bench players, but they weren’t playing them. It’s time to spread out. Rested 3-point shooters and defenders are more effective than exhausted ones. # Monday, May 13, 2024 I’ve been trying the new 4o version of ChatGPT. It’s much faster. It certainly is a search engine. And it covers news. I asked it about Michael Cohen’s testimony today in the Trump trial, and it gave me a summary. I asked for the weather forecast in Kingston NY. It wouldn’t give me the lyrics to Martha My Dear by the Beatles. I asked it to draw a weather map of the mid-Atlantic states, but it drew the usual garbage for technical images. # I can’t wait for the UIs of settings on systems like Mac or Android to go through the AIs. No more hunting through menus to not find the setting where you’re sure it should be. # Here’s where we’re headed now that we have AI programming partners. Creating software will be possible the way popular music is created. Watch Get Back to get an idea. George Martin was the Beatles sherpa, the same way my AI partner is my guide through unknown programming lands. It now doesn’t matter if I have less experience building MySQL apps than others. I have the collective experience of all of them here to help. My George Martin. What got me thinking about this is John Naughton’s piece about AI and programming. # The way MSNBC has contributors, I want contributors for my blog. One of the first people I’d invite is John Naughton. See next item. # BTW, that’s what my blogroll is turning into. My contributors. The people I keep an eye on through my work day. Where I get new ways of looking at the same world we’re all looking at. We used to call this "watching them watch us watch them watching us etc." # The canonical Knicks fan , a video. # I feel like crap today, the Knicks were blown out by the Indiana team, the series is tied 2-2 but it feels much worse. The headline in the Daily News reads "Pacers blow depleted, dead-legged Knicks out of the water in Game 4, tie series 2-2." Yeah. I don’t know how we recover from this loss. In a way I imagine the Knicks issuing a resignation. "It’s been a great season, but we’re tired. We’re headed to the beach, we’ll see you in October Knicks fans. Thanks for your support." I would nod my head and say "Yeah that makes sense." Whatever. I may spend today sleeping it off. Next game is tomorrow night. Yes, they will play, for sure, and yes, I will watch. # I absolutely abhor news sites that make you turn off your ad blocker only to reveal their paywall. # Imagine a social web without, by default, the right to drop turds where ever you like. # FSD gets confused and does some incredibly stupid things. With ChatGPT it’s amusing but with FSD it’s your ass on the line. # Weather map # I asked ChatGPT to draw a weather map of the mid-Atlantic states, but it drew the usual garbage for technical images. # Weather map. # Sunday, May 12, 2024 Today’s one sentence provocation: Imagine a social web without the default right to drop turds where ever you like. # Every social web should offer the two same author-level moderation controls that Facebook does. 1. The author can delete comments. 2. The author can say who can respond. Here are screen shots of the menu and dialog . We assume each site already has the ability to block users. No more spammer trolls. # ChatGPT is like a worldwide encyclopedia that comes with a free librarian, 24 hours a day, who never gets tired and thinks all your questions are super insightful. I suppose everyone projects their ideal best friend on this thing. You just learned something about me. Heh. But the cool thing is it’s not a yes-person, if they think you’re wrong they say so. Which I really like. One more thing I’m really glad I got to be alive when this stuff came online. I feel much smarter and better organized and it’s harder for me to get lost in the weeds, as I do sometimes. I guess what want next is a librarian who also is a great executive assistant. Takes notes on what I’m doing and figures out what I need to be reminded of and roughly when. # Sometimes I just put one idea on my blog for a day and leave it at that because I think the idea is important enough on its own, and that any explanation would dilute it. Yesterday’s one sentence comment was based on decades of reading the NYT, and the story told by their executive editor in a recent interview , who has imho completely lost his way. Using polls, which have proven not reliable, and are subject to manipulation by the NYT and other opinion leaders, to determine what they cover, that’s marketing, not journalism. Journalism would tell us what to expect if we elect one candidate over another, if the differences are obvious, as they are in 2024. The NYT is not doing that, by its own admission, and based on observation. I ask my readers, some of whom are influential people themselves, do we accept this, and keep trying to get the NYT to understand and deliver on their responsibility, or take the problem on ourselves. I believe we have the tools and resources to do so, all we need is determination. # Saturday, May 11, 2024 The NYT is no more about news than the Repubs are about governing. # Friday, May 10, 2024 Pretty sure I understand why Jack Dorsey is disappointed with Bluesky. The mistake they made at Twitter was taking responsibility for enforcing decorum, which is completely diseconomic. A fully decentralized system is very different. That was why he funded Bluesky, to make a social web that wouldn’t have at its center a company responsible for content. # This year’s Knicks are as memorable as the 1970 team . Brunson, DiVincenzo, Hart, Anunoby and Hartenstein. They have totally distinct superpowers. Tonight’s game will be played without Brunson and Anunoby, both injured. That means McBride...