Posts by cstross@wandering.shop
(DIR) Post #B2BQVXwvnOXMQe11W4 by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-11T18:15:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aral @GeofCox "It's a dessert topping AND a floor wax!"
(DIR) Post #B2BkhPzPDOaMIc6xAu by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-11T22:02:07Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @GossiTheDog Limiting Grok to paid users (here in the UK) probably won't save Grok in the UK, though. Possession of CSAM is a strict liability offense, as is distributing it. Doesn't matter whether it's a paid account or free, it's child pornography (usually a max 3 year prison sentence, but if aggravated can pull 10 years). Generating it is ALSO a criminal offense.
(DIR) Post #B2D4H86pGP55YZHfHM by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-12T13:16:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @syllopsium @Seruko @GossiTheDog Fictional CSAM is already illegal in the UK. There have been multiple prosecutions. (There's no US first amendment style right to free speech here.)
(DIR) Post #B2DHIa3a8gRzvcmxZQ by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-12T15:42:13Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird @lemgandi Yep. We're ALSO being asked to believe amazing bullshit like "pregnant women are not people" (they lose rights to bodily autonomy because magic sky daddy said ectopic foetus is more important than life) at the same time as "corporations are people".Both these propositions are, I repeat, bullshit on stilts.
(DIR) Post #B2DKH0oNzflwBscmxc by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-12T16:15:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @lemgandi Kyriarchy is a hell of a drug.
(DIR) Post #B2H5V9ajQTh2nKMYbI by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-14T11:14:17Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
RE: https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/115891393375690963Grifters know their own kind. When they start backing away? It's about to break bad.
(DIR) Post #B2Hkja6tisA3DSPGm8 by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-14T19:20:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
This is just insane:https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jan/14/iran-protests-live-updates-trump-us-action-death-toll-protester-executions-erfan-soltaniTrump wants to start a war with Iran *AND* a war with the rest of NATO simultaneously?!?
(DIR) Post #B2I3iHAyX50VKePAK8 by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-14T22:39:28Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
US defense logistics agency is only able to resupply Thule in Greenland in the months of June/July using a convoy led by a CANADIAN icebreaker.The USA is militarily unable to occupy the nearest coast of Greenland without Canadian help.https://www.dla.mil/About-DLA/News/News-Article-View/Article/2746037/thule-receives-annual-resupply/
(DIR) Post #B2M13QAMmPgm48Loiu by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-16T19:17:08Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
LLMs are spam generators. That is all.They're designed to generate plausibly human-like text well enough to pass a generic Turing Test. That's why people believe they're "intelligent".But really, all they are is spam generators.We have hit the spamularity.
(DIR) Post #B2NO1KogBvskzx8oOO by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-16T16:26:26Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
RE: https://mastodon.social/@glynmoody/115905674377002655"Is that really the hill the State Department wants to die on? That deepfake NCII is conservative speech?"Yes, it really *is*. Because conservative patriarchal values are all about ownership of less-than-fully-human chattels (loosely, women and children: also, weaker males) by the patriarchs, who get to fuck them however they want (because they're property, not people).Deepfake NCII *is* "conservative free speech". When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
(DIR) Post #B2NalQxyrBwiqKEvqq by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-17T15:07:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird My wife is currently unable to get out of bed and start the day because @Menhit has decided to lie across the back of both her knees, pinning her down.It is 3:05pm.Am thinking about springing her from jail by bribing the screw: should be sufficient if I open a tube of Churu in the kitchen …
(DIR) Post #B2RLOcqlVbMW5wvAdk by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-19T09:45:51Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Found elsenet:
(DIR) Post #B2UO9yEWbgLjPHcMfw by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-20T19:54:31Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
RE: https://telescoper.blog/2026/01/19/barry-wards-letter-about-grok-ai/Translation for Americans: a member of the Irish parliament (the Dail) who happens to be a barrister (an attorney specialising in advocacy in front of a judge, including criminal prosecution/defense) has formally written to the head of the Irish cybercrime unit setting out applicable charges against X/Grok and sternly requesting formal prosecution of that company on child pornography/trafficking charges.
(DIR) Post #B2ed664EhETykuYrb6 by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-25T19:27:01Z
0 likes, 2 repeats
Tempted to post about politics, so have some cat pics instead:
(DIR) Post #B2ekdcGWhjHtqtEy1I by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-25T21:48:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Depends: is Pica evil? Evil enough to see you reading in the chair, jump on the arm, and then stab or nip you until you move out so she can occupy it for 10 minutes until she gets bored with their victory and wanders off?
(DIR) Post #B2ewv1dooIUavUCdnc by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-23T10:35:07Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 23. There's satisfaction in crafting a good sentence. What satisfies your writer's ear?A sequence of well-formed sentences that gradually build up a sense of alienation from the mundane so striking that by the end of the paragraph up is down and dragons are deflagrating.Viz, from yesterday's work session:
(DIR) Post #B2jhQ0h9kccbUbJgPI by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-27T12:19:30Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@LonM/115966748145817371UK PEOPLE: this is REALLY IMPORTANT. If the government bans under-16s from using VPNs, then logically they must intend to REQUIRE AGE VERIFICATION FOR ALL VPN USE. Which will affect adults too!*Your* privacy and right to anonymous web browsing is at risk!
(DIR) Post #B2kJY1KF5U1m1SqT4K by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-28T10:16:28Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
RE: https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren/115963873612884664Reminder that in the UK in 1900, before mass vaccination for childhood diseases began, 20% of all babies died before their fifth birthday (from diseases we currently vaccinate them against).RFK jr's appointee wants to kill roughly 20% of all newborn Americans "to improve the breed" or something.(Not including those paralysed for life by polio.)
(DIR) Post #B2mN9R7gp9FyvRQW5A by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-29T13:38:37Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
RE: https://mastodon.world/@RailwayGazette/115977927931976376Shinkansen freight trains for high value/perishable produce!(Meanwhile in the USA passenger rail runs on freight tracks and has to give way to freight trains.)
(DIR) Post #B2matj7lWj6pTpriVc by cstross@wandering.shop
2026-01-29T16:36:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@davidrevoy It occurs to me that if you bought your RAM in 2020 it's unlikely to be affected by demand for AI kit spiking the price of DDR5—it'll be an older type of module. So should still be available second-hand for not too much more money.