Week 34

WaPo: "Florida ordered to dismantle Alligator Alcatraz over environmental impact.. The ruling, which gives the state 60 days to act, comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to convert a prison in North Florida into a second immigrant detention site."

Firstpost: "Trump suggests Ukraine should attack Russia. Have peace talks stalled already? He first played peacemaker. Now, he’s suggesting Ukraine should attack Russia. Donald Trump seems to be shifting his stance once again on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. He indicated that it would be ‘impossible’ for Kyiv to win the war without attacking Moscow"

H2 Central: "European refiners are set to require ~0.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030 to comply with EU regulations, replacing about 30% of current CO2-emitting hydrogen production. Refining represents one of the largest hydrogen opportunities globally, which, alongside ammonia and methanol production, accounts for 98% of current demand."

The Lever: "Monopolists Just Got Their Hall Pass Revoked.. Business empires have long used 'refusal to deal' tactics to protect their monopolies — but now, judges are pushing back."

H2 Central: "The NASA hydrogen sphere is the world’s largest liquid hydrogen tank, measuring 90 feet tall and 83 feet in diameter. The hydrogen will be used to fuel NASA’s Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon."

H2 Central: "U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has prototyped a Hydrogen Small Unit Power (H-SUP) system to reduce detectability and improve readiness of Marine Corps in expeditionary warfare operations... NRL’s H-SUP is a portable fuel cell electric generator with greater energy per weight than batteries and lower audible and thermal signatures than combustion generators."

Ed Frenkel: "[To Bubeck] This is an unwise statement that can only make people confused about what LLMs can or cannot do... Math is NOT about solving this kind of ad hoc optimization problems. Yeah, by scraping available data and then clustering it, LLMs can sometimes solve some very minor math problems. It's an achievement, and I applaud you for that. But let's be honest: this is NOT the REAL Math. Not by 10,000 miles.

REAL Math is about concepts and ideas - things like "schemes" introduced by the great Alexander Grothendieck, who revolutionized algebraic geometry; the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem; or the Langlands Program, tying together Number Theory, Analysis, Geometry, and Quantum Physics. That's the REAL Math. Can LLMs do that? Of course not.

So, please, STOP confusing people - especially, given the atrocious state of our math education.

LLMs give us great tools, which I appreciate very much. Useful stuff! Go ahead and use them AS TOOLS (just as we use calculators to crunch numbers or cameras to render portraits and landscapes), an enhancement of human abilities, and STOP pretending that LLMs are somehow capable of replicating everything that human beings can do."

"@sebastienbubeck

Claim: gpt-5-pro can prove new interesting mathematics.

Proof: I took a convex optimization paper with a clean open problem in it and asked gpt-5-pro to work on it. It proved a better bound than what is in the paper, and I checked the proof it's correct."

Mini PCs required too much power, this thing can run of off a solar panel, and still do all the Unix-level heavy lifting. Add a bluetooth external keyboard, the whole package has same weight as a notebook, but not as klunky. Pieces are seperate, repair / replace as needed.

Proot worked well.. I have a fully working Linux running on a stock tablet now. Ultra-mobility problem solved.

Firstpost: "UN-backed group expected to formally declare famine in Gaza"

"@GeofCox@climatejustice.social

An alliance between the new Corbyn/Sultana party and the Green Party would be popular among UK voters, with 31% saying they would consider voting for a united ticket. This rises to a majority (52%) among 16-34s and includes nearly half (46%) of 2024 Labour voters."

BBC: "Hundreds of thousands of user conversations [w] chatbot Grok have been exposed in search engine results - seemingly without users' knowledge.. Unique links are created when Grok users press a button to share a transcript of their conversation - but as well as sharing the chat with the intended recipient, the button also appears to have made the chats searchable online. A Google search on Thursday revealed it had indexed nearly 300,000 Grok conversations. It has led one expert to describe AI chatbots as a 'privacy disaster in progress'"

"An unhealthy alliance.. One in four UK MPs have taken pro-Israel lobby funding, raising urgent questions about foreign influence and trust in British democracy"

That aside, Chim / DDP fight had some transgressions even within the non-street non-realistic UFC rules. KC was stalling (that's why the ref broke the fight a few times, he should've done more of that). KC wanted the title badly, so he fought very, very conservatively. Sadly as a result viewers did not see either men at their best, not much striking to speak of, and not even much offense in grappling. Just constant "control" (read: stalling, running out the clock so KC could win by points).

Khamzat Chimaev / DDP fight looked like a dry hump. Anyone who is interested in self-defense should stay from this shit, away from any type of UFC-inspired training in general. There are people out there who will feed you your balls if you move into positions like these people do. Any legit martial art has stances to protect the groin from get-go, but these muckers roll around carefree like gay lovers feeling each other's asses all the time. You like that stuff, fine, but no one should think that preps for real life bouts. If head butts, pulling skin, small joint manipulation and other moves are disallowed, that encourages a certain type of fighting that isn't realistic.

Defector: "It's not AI winter just yet, though there is a distinct chill in the air. Meta is shaking up and downsizing its artificial intelligence division. A new report out of MIT finds that 95 percent of companies' generative AI programs have failed to earn any profit whatsoever. Tech stocks tanked Tuesday, regarding broader fears that this bubble may have swelled about as large as it can go. Surely, there will be no wider repercussions for normal people if and when Nvidia, currently propping up the market like a load-bearing matchstick, finally runs out of fake companies to sell chips to. But getting in under the wire, before we're all bartering gas in the desert and people who can read become the priestly caste, is Microsoft, with the single most 'Who asked for this?' application of AI I've seen yet: They're jamming it into Excel...

According to The Verge, 'Microsoft Excel is testing a new AI-powered function that can automatically fill cells in your spreadsheets.' Using natural language, the idea goes, you tell it what you want and then the AI will 'classify information, generate summaries, create tables, and more.'

If you squint a little, or just look at this through the eyes of a person or company with a vested financial interest in shoving AI products into every cranny of your life, you can sort of see the vision. Excel requires some skill to use (to the point where high-level Excel is a competitive sport), and AI is mostly an exercise in deskilling its users and humanity at large. If everything works right, you'll be able to tell the program, in words, broadly what you want it to do, rather than have to learn the formulas that already exist and have for decades, which tell the program exactly what you want it to do.

Ah, but there's a rub. Microsoft explicitly warns users that its AI function should not be used for things like 'doing math' or 'anything actually important':

When NOT to use the COPILOT function

COPILOT uses AI and can give incorrect responses.

To ensure reliability and to use it responsibly, avoid using COPILOT for:

Numerical calculations: Use native Excel formulas (e.g., SUM, AVERAGE, IF) for any task requiring accuracy or reproducibility.

Tasks with legal, regulatory or compliance implications: Avoid using AI-generated outputs for financial reporting, legal documents, or other high-stakes scenarios"

The Guardian: "Microsoft launches inquiry into claims Israel used its tech for mass surveillance of Palestinians.. Company says use of its cloud technology to store millions of intercepted calls would breach terms of service"

"@earthshine@masto.hackers.town

I'm looking for basic lodging options around Seattle for a week next month... prices range from $400 to 2200... PER DAY. What the actual fuck? Is this endgame AirBnB yet? Fucking parasites buying up houses with 4000/month mortgages and then charging people 15,000 a week to stay there."

WRGB: "Governor Hochul awards $11M to boost clean hydrogen projects in New York"

"@k3ym0@infosec.exchange

It is so hilarious to me that we have FOSS maintainers begging for money to try to keep the development of NTP ongoing. NTP - you know, that protocol that the entirety of humanity relies on for access to the internet (or anything on a network for that matter).

Meanwhile the oligarchy broligarchy makes billions of the backs of these people.

Anyways, they're currently at $495 of 1000 for their 2025 goal. Go throw them some [money] if you feel so inclined."

"Irish Rail introduces 100 Eur fine for playing music without earphones."

China Daily: "China has emerged as a global leader in renewable energy-based hydrogen production, boasting over 50 percent of the world's installed capacity, driven by ambitious government policies and technological advancements..

China's recently enacted energy law includes hydrogen within its energy framework, which, according to Bian, signals the government's support for hydrogen development and its potential in the energy mix.

The law, which took effect on Jan 1,2025, aims to promote renewable energy, enhance energy security and facilitate China's energy transition. Specifically, it supports the development and utilization of new fuels and industrial raw materials that can replace oil and natural gas, which provides a foundation for hydrogen energy's growth."

Axios: "Concerns over Americans turning to AI chatbots to solve mental health problems are prompting new guardrails so people don't become too dependent on unvetted technology. Why it matters: AI's booming popularity, the bots' reputation for delivering emotionally validating responses and a shortage of therapists are making more people turn to chatbot companions to talk through their problems.

The big picture: The bots aren't designed for those conversations, and can sometimes exacerbate mental health crises. A Florida teen died by suicide after developing relationships with chatbot characters on Character.AI, including one acting as a licensed therapist. His mother is suing the company."

"With coal accounting for 54% of Asia’s power mix last year, the region faces a significant challenge in meeting its net-zero ambitions. In a bid to cut emissions, several Asian countries are turning to ammonia for power generation, particularly through co-firing, blending low-carbon ammonia with coal or natural gas."

Post by @PicardTips@mas.to

View on Mastodon

CNBC: "Tourists are booking cooler, quieter and less crowded vacations this year, pivoting away from Europe’s traditional summer hotspots amid growing concerns over blistering heat and raging wildfires. The trend reaffirms the phenomenon of so-called “coolcations” — a portmanteau of “cool” and “vacation,” which refers to tourists seeking cooler climes instead of a hot, peak-summer destination...

'This double blow has accelerated a behavioural shift already in motion: travellers are avoiding the most intense heat periods, favouring cooler coastal or alpine locations, moving trips to spring and autumn, and experimenting with higher-latitude destinations from the Baltics to the Scottish Highlands,' [expert] said."

And extradition is a difficult process hence these people escape scot-free.

The Guardian: "How Jewish American pedophiles hide from justice in Israel.. [Perps] have been able to exploit a right known as the Law of Return, whereby any Jewish person can move to Israel and automatically gain citizenship... "

BTW Israel became a sex offender haven

"Israeli government official charged with soliciting 15-year-old girl in Las Vegas.. Alexanderovich was able to return to Israel once he had bonded out of jail in connection with the felony charge."

That's an IDF shirt right there.. Zionist, pedo... It all goes together.

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Cotrin: "I was Epstein's butler for 18 years. There is no way he killed himself."

KWST: "Semi-truck carrying Tesla vehicles catches fire, shuts down 5 Freeway in California"

#Turbine #Russia

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That is fast changing

"From cars to construction, if something in Russia works, it is probably European."

Khanna, The Second World: "[2008] In a nation of privatized privilege, services that work well—fancy apartment buildings, hotels, restaurants, health clubs, private taxis—all cater to the elite and their private economy. For everyone else, things fall apart: Public transportation systems—roads, tunnels, trains, and buses—are in various states of disrepair; broadband Internet penetration has fallen behind Europe’s; mobile telephone networks are substandard; and archaic taxi cabs don’t accept electronic payment. Even worse, America may prove to be afflicted by the same oil curse as many second-world states. Much of its infrastructure was built during the post–World War II boom when America was the world’s largest oil producer and exporter — but today its water pipes and power stations are run-down, causing lead and mercury poisoning and sporadic but massive blackouts. During New York’s transit strikes in the frigid winter of 2005, commuters trudging long distances through the snow declared that they felt like they lived in the third world. Laissez-faire is a somewhat inaccurate way to describe America’s social and economic principles when skewed societal structures actually favor the perpetuation of inequality"

Chimps are bothered by inequality

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"100x larger hydrogen-rich hydrothermal system found using submersible.. Scientists have discovered a massive hydrogen-rich hydrothermal system beneath the western Pacific seafloor. The system was explored using the crewed submersible Fendouzhe. The system offers a new glimpse into deep-sea serpentinization—a process in which iron- and magnesium-rich rocks chemically react with water to form serpentine minerals and release hydrogen.

Scientists from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) revealed that the system is critical to understanding Earth’s internal processes and the conditions that may have fostered life’s origins."

"The Boycott List: A simple boycott list that features Israeli companies and global entities with significant activities in Israel. It aims to guide those who seek to make purchasing decisions that aims to put pressure one the Israeli government and comply with international law."

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