OP is making the argument that AI is just latest incarnation of plagiarism and I’m glad I don’t have to mark coursework any more because it is essentially worthless at this point. Under our current paradigm the only alternative is exams. I’ve taught good engineers who score highly in tests and some that don’t, that ability doesn’t translate linearly to real situations. What we learn in a university is rapidly superceded by our work experience and getting wrapped up in exam performance is futile. I would argue that knowing how to learn, curiousity, collaboration and tenacity will serve us better in the long run. High scores are about ego, competition and domination. The reality is that teamwork and slow accrual of knowledge are far more potent in the long run than the lone star that burns brightly but briefly.

We are producing graduates who are good at solving trivial technical problems at breakneck speed. Meanwhile, back in reality, nothing of value is created quickly. Who would board a plane that had been designed like this? It would be disconcerting to hear from a doctor ‘I did your surgery as fast as possible’ when waking from a medical procedure.

Engineering and science is done slowly and meticulously because it is very difficult and takes years to become competent and decades to truly master.

Those are some good examples, more of that please. Most of the lithium powered devices I’m using currently are power tools and they are exclusively repackaged 18650 and 21700 cells. It’s really not much of a technical challenge to make these things standardised but if there is no regulatory pressure it’s easy money for the OEMs and more toxic waste for us.

We don’t know where else we should put them

I was amazed by the transformation in Amsterdam when I visited last summer. I’ve been visiting Netherlands for 40 years and always admired their cycling culture but lately they seemed to have almost eliminated cars from the city. As a result it is incredibly quiet, serene and there is no vehicle soot on the buildings, as is the case in London. I could often choose among many different modes of alternative transport in any given location.

The English solution to this problem is ever more stringent penalties on the driver (e.g. ULEZ) which may be profitable but they have been ineffective at reducing the volume of vehicular traffic, pollution, accidents, ad nauseum. We pay a huge price for car culture.

It’s already difficult to imagine a more delusional electorate.

It’s a similar problem to lead acid batteries. 2V cells are arranged in a way that will deliver 12V at sufficient current for a particular application. However the solution we have landed on is completely different to li-ion because you can take any suitably sized car battery from one brand of vehicle and put it in another. The reason for that is the interface is common to virtually all cars. This technology pre-dates enshitification. There is no good reason to tie any battery to any device other than it helps the shareholders. They are busy inserting barriers to re-use and modularity everywhere in technology, particularly software.

AI dildos

Battery interfaces. We have a huge variety of batteries for a huge variety of devices. However, when you open the proprietary shell of these batteries what you often find inside is standardized 18650 cells. They have been playing us for absolute fools.

Where shifting politically rightward is an anticlockwise movement. We could also extend the analogy to the torque force rotating the ratchet anticlockwise is the billionaire class. The politicians, lobbyists, media, think tanks, etc, are the ratchet pawl. In order to rotate clockwise we must summon the immense but disparate force of the common people that could easily smash the pawl into a million pieces. Pass me the cheater bar and a sammich, we have work to do.

mmmmmm, TACO

Most of my life is hack. People call them ‘optimisers’ these days. I can’t do anything without thinking about how I could do it faster, cheaper, better. I suppose one of my biggest blunders was using heroin in place of ADHD medication. It works great for ADHD but the side effects are a total nightmare.

I know. It’s difficult for Americans to hear they’re losing their grip, nay, stranglehold on the world economy. They elected a pedo fraudster because he seemed like a cool guy. They don’t have education or a free press so these stories seem plausible to them and pluck at their heartstrings. Don’t believe their lies.

The theocratic regime in Iran is hardly beyond reproach but the Americans and Israelis have committed war crimes with this attack. Netanyahu was already on the run from the ICC and Trump is attempting to distract the electorate from his other crimes by committing more crimes. Iran played these chumps like a tune, they have them by the balls strategically. As bad as the Iranian regime is on human rights, they hold the moral high ground on this issue and nobody is coming to the hapless allies rescue. The last thing Iran needs is some CIA-backed dissident breaking their unity of purpose. Do you believe this guy is acting on his own initiative? It’s got their fingerprints all over it. The US has systematically undermined, subverted, bombed, assassinated and wrought destruction in Libya, Iraq, Syria and many others. Whoever they can’t bribe becomes a target for eventual destruction. They corrupt everything they touch in a relentless power grab by their billionaire class of mendacious war mongers. Great Satan is the perfect moniker for these scumbags.

Switch to tagging transactions as ‘real estate fraud’, ‘financial instrument fraud’, ‘fake university’, ‘epstein party fund’

We don’t prosecute these things.

No consequences yet. I’m hopeful some kind of Iranian batman will show up and settle the score.

Iran doing solid work on climate change, thanks guys.

Assuming he actually believes this, he just needs to extend that logic one tiny step forward. A more plausible explanation is he knows that it isn’t true but still needs some sort of argument that explains the regime’s repugnant behaviour. Those are your dismal options. Reminds me of that South African leader who claimed he was raping girls as a cure for AIDS because raping girls has bad optics.

Who knows if this is even true and that’s a huge caveat but assuming it is, horrible time to be doing a protest. Everybody needs to pull together to defeat the Great Satan. The domestic problems can wait.

Remember when the Yugoslavian army shot down a couple of F117 stealth bombers using some crappy old russian gear and the Americans had to stop jerking each other off about their invisible killing machine and take their toys home? It’s like that.