Weekend Edition 24 – From AI to Revivals, It’s been a Helluva Week

Guess Who Sprung SBF
Vint Cerf Slams ChatGPT
East Palestine and Other Rail Disasters
Spy Balloons... lol
Ransomware Gangsters Bagged in UK
Yahoo, Better Late Than Never
Asbury Outpouring Publicized by TikTok videos from Zoomers

#weekendedition #bailmoney #sbf #vintserf #chatgpt #snakeoil #eastpalestine #ohio #texas #newmexico #railattacks #chemicalattacks #surveilancestate #USofCCP #balloons #bs #yahoolayoffs #tiktok #spirituality #revival #outpouring #AsburyKY #genz #TechFreedom #technews #currentevents #FOSSnews #projectbluebeam

WE 24-1: SBF Saga has New Wrinkles
Guess who paid to spring SBF from the clink in New York...
I’ll wait...
Any Guesses?

Ok, his parents teach law at Stanford University in California. Their former dean put up a cool half million, and one of his former professors at Stanford chipped in another $200k, along with the value of his parents’ home as collateral for his $250 million bail. Wow. I guess it pays to have connections, doesn’t it? Well, it sure does. These weren’t the connections that I suspected would collude to get him off the hook, but for the time being, it looks like they weren’t needed, yet.

Maybe you haven’t been paying attention to the FTX/ SBF saga over the last 3-4 months. Let me recap: FTX was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, rocketing to dominance over the last 3-4 years. It went from being worth /managing $100s of billions in “assets” about a year ago, to being accused of being a giant ponzi scheme/ money laundering operation, and becoming completely insolvent by the end of November. SBF, or Sam Bankman-Fried was the alleged wunderkind who started it and was the CEO. He and his team have some very sizable accusations leveled against them, he was arrested in the Bahamas, then extradited to NYC (the same prison where Epstein *didn’t* kill himself, then, when he claimed to be broke, managed to come up with a $250 million bail bond. His trial is set for October 2023. Now You’re more or less caught up.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/15/23601379/court-reveals-the-two-people-who-helped-sam-bankman-fried-post-bail

#weekendedition #SBF #bigtech #fintech #ftx #TechFreedom #freethinking

WE 24-2: Creator of TCP/IP, Vint Cerf, Slams ChatGPT

Wow, we hadn’t heard much from Mr. Cerf for years, and now he weighs in on ChatGPT. Why is that? Well, he is and has been a huge surrogate for Google, and Google now has a competitor for ChatGPT, in the form of Bard, which we talked about a bit last week. This shill-ing makes sense, though his concerns are valid, even for Bard, at this point. So what did the father of the modern internet and networking have to say about ChatGPT? He called it “snake oil” because of the issues it has with weeding out real information and truth from the nonsense that gets posted on the internet every day. It has no discernment, so it can’t tell what is true or not, just that some piece of information is out there. It can “write”, but because of its deficiencies, one can’t depend on it. To highlight these issues with current-gen AI, Mr. Cerf prompted ChatGPT to write a biography of himself. It failed. It got a bunch of stuff wrong about his life. This needs to be remedied, but how? I thought that these large language models were thoroughly trained on large, but curated datasets that are supposed to be true and factual. What happened? How did it go wrong? Ok, yes, I’m be facetious here. Sarcastic as the day is long. You guys know that I am not a fan of the concept of “thinking” machines. That’s why I talked about the Butlerian Jihad from Dune, last week. There are other Sci-Fi storylines which caution us against using, much less depending on AI for critical decisions. So I echo my conclusions from last week: work on yourself, develop yourself, from your mind, emotions, spirit, and body. Make yourself better than you were before.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/computing-guru-criticizes-chatgpt-ai-tech-for-making-things-up/
#weekendediton #vintcerf #shill #Google #ChatGPT #AI #TechFreedom #FOSSnews
WE 24.3: Rail Disasters in the US...
I’m sure all of us have heard about this growing situation in our country, but just in case you haven’t and perhaps haven’t looked into it, or perhaps you have been directly affected by these disasters and you’re at a loss as to where to go from here. For those who have not been directly affected, we will begin to feel aftershocks from these events soon. As much as there have been egg shortages of late, it is going to get worse, as particularly in the Ohio situation, that has poisoned much of the richest farmland in the Eastern US. I don’t want to be an unfounded davey downer here, so I’m going to share a tiktok video that my wife sent me on Telegram. Let’s take a few steps back and look at this mess as a whole, rather than drilling down on one specific incident, no matter how horrifying that is. Let’s take a look at the US rail system.
This gentleman who lives in the Immediate area around the Ohio disaster found a clip of an interview with a retired rail worker who knew all about Precision Scheduled Railroading, or PSR. What is that, you are probably asking? It is a policy that the hedge funds like BlackRock, who have purchased large volumes of stock in the various rail lines, so they have pressured those lines into changing their safety standards, such that the cars and tracks only get cursory glances, come inspection time. This set of policies has directly contributed to the skyrocketing number of derailments and crashes we have seen in the last several years.
This Wired article feels like gatekeeping, insisting that all is under control, there is nothing to worry about with dying pets and animals in the region. The EPA has said that it is not toxic to humans, but how much do we trust the EPA right now, anyway? They have a track record, like the FDA, of dropping the ball in big ways on huge things in the past, so why should we take them at face value any more than we should take random people on TikTok as inerrant gospel about the situation there, or anywhere else (Van Buren Township, MI; Dallas, TX; Pheonix, AZ; Enoree, SC). Even with that said, outrage in either direction is misplaced at this time. We need more, good information about the whole issue before we grab our torches and pitchforks. There is much that we simply do not and cannot accurately know so soon. However, the video I shared from TikTok seems more credible than most of the ones I’ve noticed flying around for the last couple of weeks. I appreciate that he makes no direct claims about the toxicity or effects of the spill in Ohio and instead focuses on the likely ultimate cause. The finger, if one is to be pointed, needs to be pointed at the rail lines and their investors. nnnnnn

https://t.me/tiktoknews45/14933
https://www.wired.com/story/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-tiktok/

#weekendedition #railroads #disasters #hazmat #poison #toxic #ohio #southcarolina #texas #michigan #arizona #psr #badpolicy #blackrock #TechFreedom #bigtech

WE 24.4: Shiny Objects in the Sky!!! ALIENS!!!
First, there was the spy balloon, now we have a spate of UFOs and more spy balloons (allegedly). Why all of this, all of the sudden? I do not have a problem with some form of extra terrestrial life being out there, and perhaps even visiting us from time to time. What I struggle with is when that narrative is being used as a distraction. That pisses me off.
Whether the balloons are genuine article spy balloons, which begs another question: why? Why would the CCP run century-old technology when we know that they have satellites, zoom, and TikTok to keep tabs on us already? What is the point in that? Why did it take a week to shoot the first one down, unless someone ordered the military to NOT shoot it down, right? This is just silly. Then after the new cycle finished on those, [they] trotted out UFOs.
What else is and was happening that [they] wanted to slip past us? Train wrecks? Toxic spills? Bills being passed? Other congressional news? Growing food shortages? What else could it be? Let’s think through this. Tell me what you think in the comments below.

https://rumble.com/v29oahu-that-big-balloon.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4r4CYXvCRg
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/13/spy-balloons-spotted-shot-down/11247285002/
#weekendedition #spyballoons #balloons #aliens #projectbluebeam #distraction #whatelseishappening #bigtech #TechFreedom #FOSSnews

WE 24.5 – To Follow up on Today’s Special, guess who got bagged in the UK
In today’s special (you all should go watch it https://rumble.com/v291960-free-your-pc-friday-malware-on-linux-what-i-thought....html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y) I talked about malware on Linux. Not to scare you, but just to raise awareness and to tell you to be careful about how you use your computer. Even when using Tor, a VPN, and incognito mode in your browser, you can still get nasty nonsense if you go to the wrong kinds of sites, in the wrong corners of the internet, as most of the time, regular browsing, with good digital hygiene will keep you safe from *most* nasties, but not necessarily all. I talked a fair bit about ransomware, which is malware meant to extort money from corporations and governments, primarily. Here is what it does in a nutshell: through various attack vectors, it invades a target computer, hunts for choice files and data, transmits those files to the attacker, then encrypts them on the host machine for a set amount of time, leaves a note for the targeted individual, corporation, or government and does nothing much else.
Onto the story, now that we have a setup: a gaggle of Russian nationals who have been affiliated with various cyber gangs have been collared in the UK. The UK even released the individuals’ names. They cannot be officially arrested until they try to leave the UK, but they have been identified and charged, I believe. So, a small bit of good news there, right? This article talks about how various attacks which have been successful have been devastating and costly, aside from the ransom demands. It could take years to clean up and patch the exploited holes, not to mention recovering in the public’s eye. That really hurts. These jokers need to go away for a long time for the damage they have caused. The targeted organizations need teams of White Hats to help them seal up their security holes, so that these sorts of attacks will not happen so easily in the future.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64586361

#weekendedition #russiarussiarussia #russianransomware #uk #caughtem #security #TechFreedom #FOSSnews

WE 24.6 – Yahoo Joins the Austerity Party in Big Tech
Yahoo has announced cuts to about 20% of their 8,600 personnel. They are now majority owned by a private equity firm.The firm, called Apollo Management Group, bought it in 2021, so aside from the broader economic picture (which they are using as cover for overall cost-cutting at Yahoo). I’m surprised it took them so long to make those cuts, after Google, Meta, Twitter, and Microsoft all made sizable cuts in the last 2-3 months now. They say that they are reorganizing and refocusing on their core business, which, like Google, is ads. There have been major changes to the advertising landscape in the last year or so, after the meteoric rise we saw during the CONvid lockdowns, when no one could do anything but sit at home, have zoom meetings, watch streaming content, and order nonsense online (consuming ads all the while).
Let me use this moment to remind you to ditch Big Tech. Degoogling, which we talked about in yesterday’s special, doesn’t end with your phone, it also stretches to your online accounts, whether iCloud, Microsoft, Google, or Yahoo. They all mine data from us. They all seek to control us. Take away their power by rescuing your data, deleting it from their servers, setting up new accounts, then killing the old accounts.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64596061
#weeekendedition #yahoo #layoffs #bigtech #austerity #TechFreedom #FOSSnews

WE 24.7 – Asbury Revival Happening Now!
I don’t know where you are in relation to the God of the Bible, but I am excited (guardedly, mind you) to see what God started doing there beginning to spread into other college campuses. It started about a week ago, on February 8, with a chapel service that just has not ended. The name of the place should be familiar if you know your history, as Francis Asbury was one of the Wesleys’ right hand men in the late 18th century. He was one of the first circuit riders in America. The Wesleys were instrumental in starting the first Great Awakening, which spawned the entire Methodist movement. I don’t know where this little school lands on the theological spectrum now, but I am encouraged by the fact that the administration has neither tried to squash it nor make it some sort of commercial thing. We will take a look at a video from Rumble about it, then pray that God would bring the fire wherever we are. This is the kind of thing that has the very real potential to turn our nation around, if it reaches critical mass. The Church is dying. Christendom is dead. Long live the followers of Jesus. Long live the ekklesia of Jesus. Long live Jesus Christ. Come, Holy Spirit. Bring repentance. Bring wisdom. Bring your cleansing fire to this nation. Do not allow this move to be watered down or caged in. Forgive our impulse that is so in the vein of Peter on the mount of transfiguration, where he wanted to build shelters and shrines for You, Moses, and Elijah. Help us to partner with you. Prepare our hearts.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/asbury-university-revival-college-kentucky-going-viral-tiktok-rcna70686
https://rumble.com/v29oghe-asbury-revival-compiliation.html
#weekendedition #asbury #kentucky #moveofgod #revival #outpouring #ekklesia #repent #holyfire #Jesus #HolySpirit #amen #TechFreedom