fact or fancy

Paul Murray tests the new Meta AI and finds it sadly lacking.

Unfortunately he also, with no testing, labels Wikipedia as an AI.

Wikipedia is a collection of facts: written, challenged, referenced, tested and ultimately agreed, or at least accepted, by a worldwide gathering of experts.

AI, in contrast, is the ignorant student in an exam: They cannot answer the question, so write down everything that they have ever heard, true or false, and hope that some part of their verbiage will include the answer.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

===

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

facebook fooey

FB would send me "suggestions" about people and groups I had never heard of. Friends of friends of friends...?

When a suggestion was for someone I had actually heard of and I clicked the link -- it would never go to the suggested post.

So I decided to close my FB account -- and failed.

It proved impossible for me to close my FaceBook account.

I did have some fun trying... along the way I set my language to Chinese.

Now I can't find the option to set my language back to English... all my prompts are in Chinese.

At least my FB emails, which I assume are more pointless "suggestions" -- all look interesting. With no relevance but lots of Chinese characters.

So, now -- I have set gMail to send any FB mail directly to spam.

===

Today... it's worse.

News is, that FB has introduced an AI. The AI tells you that it can't be turned off.

So, for example, to pick an *actual* example -- you may be discussing your children in a mothers' discussion group -- and one of the "mothers" -- is the FB AI.

Good grief :-(

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

Bandaid solutions hurt when they are removed.

...Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

noPe

and in Galatians 23:7 it saith, verily shall the noble P be lost from thine advertisement for www.prohecies aboutjesus.com

trust not to the spellchecker when the web name be not a simple word

don't ask me why but that typo just leapt out at me 

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

gender fluid

With apologies to Jimmy Carr:

My friends are expecting a baby. They were planning a gender-reveal party.

I advised them to wait at least eighteen years. Give the kid a chance to trial some genders and decide which ones it prefers.

btw: I don't mind what gender you choose. As long as you don't mind which pronoun I use.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

====

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

fake 7 news

I do hope that the Channel 7 News will provide full names and addresses of the Girrahween (alleged) home invasion thugs.

Just as they provided full identifying details of the Bondi stabber.

Sure, they were completely wrong... but I'm sure that a "scoop" is sufficient reward for setting the lynch mob onto an innocent person.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

Bandaid solutions hurt when they are removed.

...Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

group-think

Walter Horeb (Letters 18 Apr) has not previously seen the animosity and polarisation that he saw in the 2023 Voice referendum.

He must have slept through the 2017 Same-sex debate.

It's the way our "democracy" operates: No-one wants to know what we think, everyone wants to force us to think alike.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

====

19apr24: printed in The West as All must agree

They made some minor changes.

Their title is boring -- and misleading.

My group-think title was far better :-)

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

baggy to prison green

a man follows a woman to her home. it seems that the woman and the man know each other, media reports give no details. They do not live together.

the man hammers on a window. shouts abuse. threatens to kill the woman. He breaks the window. enters the house and physically attacks the woman. Including grabbing her by the throat.

At what point did these actions change from breaking and entering and aggravated assault to, "alleged domestic violence"?

Was it when the man was identified as an ex-famous cricketer?

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

bikies can count

it's a tough life being a bikie.

according to an ex-bikie, it takes two bikies to count the day's takings. You know, the perfectly legitimate cash income from a day of selling small beer at school fetes and charity functions.

two bikies. not because not one of them can count to twenty thousand without cutting off someone else's fingers. it takes two because they can't trust counting done by just one.

then they seal the cash away so that it won't be pinched by another gang member.

i mean, it's so sad. if you can't trust the brothers in your own outlaw motorcycle gang, then who can you trust.

nowadays, crypto currency makes money laundering so much easier. though there are other problems.

when next you see the body of a bikie killed by another bikie, look for the patch of missing skin.

that's where the tattoo of the gang's crypto password has been cut from the body.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

terrorism

a teenage boy takes a knife, leaves home, travels to a church -- with the clear intention of stabbing a self-declared "bishop". the boy's actions appear to have religious motivation.

all of this fits the NSW definition of "terrorism"

members of the congregation restrain the boy until police arrive. 

this is the end of sanity.

a mob of violent thugs leave home, take up weapons, travel to the church --destroying anything and anyone that is not a part of their mob.

their claim is that they want to  to "defend their religion"

Their actual demand is that the boy, already restrained, be sent out to face mob vengence.

by the legal definition -- the mob action is terrorism. 

once we name it, we can deal with it.

why are we afraid to name it?

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
 

prophet for profit

a man in Sydney creates his own church, presumably to avoid paying tax. he did have work experience as a bank manager.

his own church allows him to be a priest. no surprise.

within two years he has called himself a bishop.

he spends the next few years raising millions of tax free dollars by preaching hatred of queers and hatred of members of any church other than his own.

his followers see this man as a "father".

sounds like a dangerous cult to me.

so what next?

Perhaps his next online sermons will demand tax-free donations so that he can buy himself a stab-proof Rolls and a fortress-style mansion.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

coward

julian assange releases confidential information that could put lives at risk. why?

Then he spends years hiding from the consequences of his actions.

It seems that he is happy to let other people be exposed, captured or killed. yet his own skin is too previous to risk.

what a coward.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

rant is wrong

Ben Harvey had an entertaining rant in Sunday's paper. Unfortunately he missed an important point.

Harvey documents one of the fees that a Council must charge builders. Yes, we've all seen the damage caused to street trees and verges by careless tradies. The Council is proactive in charging a bond to restore this damage. Every competent builder will know about these fees.

The Harvey rant tells of a builder who presents an invoice for these standard fees -- only after the client is locked in by contact and half-done work.

Harvey is happy to name the Council.

He also needs to name the builder. Because other home-owners will want to avoid that incompetent, or dishonest, builder.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

===

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

anger management

write down what makes you angry, then dispose of it. this may be a way to help our violent criminals.

first, of course, we will need to teach them to write.

Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

====

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

the rest is silence

it's easy to see how Teslas can kill people.

i was walking across the grass at my local park.

a Tesla drove off the road, over the kerb, across the grass.

all in deathly silence.

i guess the driver could not be bothered driving the extra 100m to the hard surface carpark

... nick lethbridge, churchlands

====

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

no-one listens

The millions spent on referendums makes it very clear: They have nothing to do with measuring public opinion. They are all about changing how we think.

The next referendum may well be about changing our choice of breakfast cereals.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

====

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

Bandaid solutions hurt when they are removed.

...Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

ender's fix

illegal immigrants arriving by sea? easy fix: 

lots of armed drones patrolling the coast. spot illegal activity: blow it up.

Who could do such terrible things? Children with a video game of course.

Read Ender's Game.

 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game?wprov=sfla1)

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

pull the other one

the headline reads, Rich urged to give up handouts

In words from an old tv show: I didn't get where i am today by not taking money that i don't need

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

pointless point-scoring

the nullabor freight line is closed due to floods

the government promised that there would be little impact on stock delivered to supermarkets. what did they think they could do? mop up the floodwaters?

what did they do? probably nothing.

now the opposition attacks the government for failing to deliver. what do they suggest could have been done? they have no suggestions.

Both promise and attack are pure political posturing.

makes you wonder why we pay these idiots

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

rubbish report

a new report claims that 57 companies are responsible for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. and that emissions are still increasing. These companies are oil, gas and coal producers.

well durrr.

do the report writers think that emissions are produced just by digging out the coal?

perhaps we should also blame forests for the pollution due to wood smoke?

the blame for greenhouse emissions is directly due to the industries which burn the various fuels.

to truly reduce emissions we need to reduce industry. this will reduce emissions as well as demand for fuel. this provides an extra benefit -- reduction in the environmental destruction caused by fuel production (and by industry).

of course it will also reduce the earnings of megarich industries and individuals. so it will never happen.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

trial and error

The current Higgins trial sagas teach us something: the more lawyers that you employ to "restore" your reputation -- the more your reputation will suffer.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

====

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

Bandaid solutions hurt when they are removed.

...Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

it's still a crime

Kate Emery writes, 3 Apr that it is important to protect people's rights not to be abused, attacked or killed because of who they are.

She is half right.

If Emery were to raise her skirt and display male genitalia then -- in Scotland -- my use ofshe and her could make me a transphobe criminal.

There would be less argument if Emery and others wrote only, that it is important to protect people's rights not to be abused, attacked or killed.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

====

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

stay silent

The amazing VoiceEngine AI needs just fifteen seconds of voice to allow it to clone that voice.

So you will hang up after saying, No I am not interested in your obvious scam. That response will be illegally recorded.

A minute later, your voice will be phoning ten thousand people round the world, to convince them to send their life savings to an anonymous bank account.

Oh the joys of technology.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

save power

Various articles have pointed out the enormous amounts of power required to generate bitcoins.

AI is a similar energy guzzling technology.

If we immediately ban all AI and bitcoin processing -- we will already be half-way to net zero.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

bye local

K Crooks (Letters 1 Apr) wants big firms to buy local.

For a few years there seemed to be a small coffee bean roasting industry in Balcatta. That stopped and all Coles coffee was roasted in Victoria. Last week they stocked beans roasted in Fremantle, WA. That is one benefit of the closure of the Nullabor train line.

Though Coles could still get only Victorian yoghurt, not Brownes.

Buy local is strangely selective.

... Nick Lethbridge, Churchlands

====

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

name and fame

AFL players taking illicit drugs is nothing new. Now a Letter of 1 Apr) wants the latest druggies to be named and shamed.

In the past, druggie players have been named -- but never shamed -- because they  are star players.

Then there are huge efforts to rehabilitate them. Despite episodes of violence.

Later, these "star" acts are allegedly clean -- and paid big money to become sports commentators.

There is no shame for a "good" footballer. Only forgiveness , money and more fame.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood