I just discovered that for about three months, maybe more, mail messages sent to webmaster @ $this-ahere-website and jsundman @ this-ahere-website, have been going directly into the bit recycling program. Those addresses should work now. In the very unlikely case that this pertains to you, please forgive, & if it’s still germane, resend.
My Thoughts Exactly
A Star is Born!
The Dilettante's 2 “Green” Cents
As a producer/correspondent for the Planet
Green show the G Word, I blog on the Planet Green site. Here’s what I wrote in my most recent entry:
Credit where it's Due
With the Comcast ruling by the FCC, lots of well-earned congratulations are going ’round. Free Press is getting its props, and Larry Lessig is congratulating Kevin Martin.
But hey, we have our own local hero right here on Wetmachine.
So please join me in three cheers for Harold Feld!
Fan mail from a flounder?
Neutrino/Hadron-class Wetmachiner David Newsom, a producer/correspondent on “The G-Word” show on Discovery Channel’s “Planet Green”, sent a message to his mail list the other day:
In its first few months, PLANET GREEN has had a bumpy start and taken some hits- many well deserved- but “G-Word” remains good, low-budget fun. It’s informative, breezy and democratic. We’re proud of it. For the noble few of you watching, their website is now under revision, and will be posting notices from some of its correspondents.
In an effort to get the word, out, I’m spamming the world about my new post. Feel free to use it as a point of entry to the site and shows. If you have criticism, fire away. They want and need it.
Note: The title of this post is from an old Rockie & Bullwinkle bit. Those of you too young to remember it ought to be ashamed of yourselves. And you kids get off my lawn!
Rat Brains Redux!
From an article in New Scientist entitled, I fecal matter you not, “Rise of the rat-brained robots”:
. . . the disembodied neurons are communicating, sending electrical signals to one another just as they do in a living creature. We know this because the network of neurons is connected at the base of the pot to 80 electrodes, and the voltages sparked by the neurons are displayed on a computer screen.
Normally this kind of story is the province of furtive Wetmachiner Gary Gray, but Gary hasn’t posted anything here since his wedding day some months ago. Which could mean anything, just say’n. In the meantime I’ll do my best to assume his wetmachine slack. I’m proud to say I was his Best Man, and the attendant responsibilities last a lifetime, what-what?
And furthermore, long dormant wetmechanics have been known to pop up and chirp, after a long sojourn underground, just like N-year locusts. With Greg resurgent, can Gary be far behind? Or David? Or, yegods, Peg or Christian? My advice? Stay tuned. Rat brains in jars controlling machinery have prortent! I swear I believe it!
Questions, Questions, Questions
Like Harold, I’ve been on vacation this week –on the New Jersey shore, where the weather is perfect and the surf is fine. Which accounts for the sparseness-osity of the postings around here lately.
Anyway, I’ve been wondering: how many houses does John McCain own? How many rooms in all these houses, total? How many houses does his wife own? How much does he typically pay for a haircut, and how much for a pair of shoes?
Also, is he technically senile?
On vacation, you know, I guess one’s thoughts tend to turn a tad philosophical.
Kevin Martin, champion of Net Neutrality?
According to Freepress.net, Martin joins a “Bipartisan FCC Majority” to punish Comcast for its peer-to-peer blocking funny business, already discussed here lots of times.
Like everybody else, I’ll await the in depth analysis sure to come from Harold Feld.
But assuming that this is what it appears to be, I hereby congratulate Chairman Martin. As I reported here, I had a chance to talk to him at the reception following the FCC hearing in Boston. And I found him sympathetic to the point of view that net neutrality was about more than consumer rights, it was about preserving the Internet as an engine of democracy. I wouldn’t be surprised if that argument figured in the deliberations on this ruling. In any event, I’m cautiously optimistic.
Omnivorous Hippies
Last nnight I went, with Dear Wife, to a big-ole “slow food” pot luck dinner at the Ag Hall, which is a big-ole barn out in a field where they have the County Fair every summer and the Christmas pageant every winter.
Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, gave a talk afterwards. Then a string band played.
Deep Thought about the New Yorker Cover
So, the New Yorker mag has a cover depicting Barack & Michelle Obama in the White House, in which she’s Angela Davis with a bandolier and rifle, he’s an Indonesian Moslem, Osama Bin Ladin’s portrait is on the wall, and the American flag is burning in the fireplace. As I’m the 23,452,998th person to point out, the satire is a little weak because it’s not clear whether the Obamas are being mocked or if it’s the people who circulate the Manchurian Candidate emails about them.
Whatever. It’s a magazine cover. I was kinda annoyed by it at first, but now actually it makes me smile a little.
What I’m waiting for now is the New Yorker cover that does to St. John McCain what this cover does to St. Barack Obama. It would have to include McCain setting the aircraft carrier Forrestall on fire (& killing 134 sailors), making propaganda tapes for the North Vietnamese, deserting his first wife (disfigured in an accident) for a mega-wealthy heiress, and having senile dementia.
-
But while the uproar has swayed much of the public to Johansson's defense at a time when #genAI is increasingly under scrutiny, this may not quite be an open-and-shut case should she decide to sue . Read the breakdown from @M_F_Rose in her latest article:
The release of @OpenAI's new digital assistant "Sky" stirred controversy after actress Scarlett Johansson alleged that the company had infringed on her rights by using a soundalike voice of hers after she'd declined to voice it herself.
Just saw @MargotSusca fantastic interview with @adamconover about the death of local news at the hands of hedge funds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N21YfWy0-bA A theme I have written about *a lot*. Like this blog post from 2018: https://wetmachine.com/tales-of-the-sausage-factory/we-need-to-fix-the-news-media-not-just-social-media-part-i/ This has been a long time in the making.
I wrote yesterday on the terrifying escalation of antisemitism in Canada, citing events just over past week. Now there is more: last night a firebomb attempt at a Vancouver synagogue. Daily antisemitic incidents is who we are now.
https://www.jewishvancouver.com/important-community-updates-may-20-2024
https://x.com/mgeist/status/1796233336203194446
Load More
A Star is Born!
The Dilettante's 2 “Green” Cents
As a producer/correspondent for the Planet
Green show the G Word, I blog on the Planet Green site. Here’s what I wrote in my most recent entry:
Credit where it's Due
With the Comcast ruling by the FCC, lots of well-earned congratulations are going ’round. Free Press is getting its props, and Larry Lessig is congratulating Kevin Martin.
But hey, we have our own local hero right here on Wetmachine.
So please join me in three cheers for Harold Feld!
Fan mail from a flounder?
Neutrino/Hadron-class Wetmachiner David Newsom, a producer/correspondent on “The G-Word” show on Discovery Channel’s “Planet Green”, sent a message to his mail list the other day:
In its first few months, PLANET GREEN has had a bumpy start and taken some hits- many well deserved- but “G-Word” remains good, low-budget fun. It’s informative, breezy and democratic. We’re proud of it. For the noble few of you watching, their website is now under revision, and will be posting notices from some of its correspondents.
In an effort to get the word, out, I’m spamming the world about my new post. Feel free to use it as a point of entry to the site and shows. If you have criticism, fire away. They want and need it.
Note: The title of this post is from an old Rockie & Bullwinkle bit. Those of you too young to remember it ought to be ashamed of yourselves. And you kids get off my lawn!
Rat Brains Redux!
From an article in New Scientist entitled, I fecal matter you not, “Rise of the rat-brained robots”:
. . . the disembodied neurons are communicating, sending electrical signals to one another just as they do in a living creature. We know this because the network of neurons is connected at the base of the pot to 80 electrodes, and the voltages sparked by the neurons are displayed on a computer screen.
Normally this kind of story is the province of furtive Wetmachiner Gary Gray, but Gary hasn’t posted anything here since his wedding day some months ago. Which could mean anything, just say’n. In the meantime I’ll do my best to assume his wetmachine slack. I’m proud to say I was his Best Man, and the attendant responsibilities last a lifetime, what-what?
And furthermore, long dormant wetmechanics have been known to pop up and chirp, after a long sojourn underground, just like N-year locusts. With Greg resurgent, can Gary be far behind? Or David? Or, yegods, Peg or Christian? My advice? Stay tuned. Rat brains in jars controlling machinery have prortent! I swear I believe it!
Questions, Questions, Questions
Like Harold, I’ve been on vacation this week –on the New Jersey shore, where the weather is perfect and the surf is fine. Which accounts for the sparseness-osity of the postings around here lately.
Anyway, I’ve been wondering: how many houses does John McCain own? How many rooms in all these houses, total? How many houses does his wife own? How much does he typically pay for a haircut, and how much for a pair of shoes?
Also, is he technically senile?
On vacation, you know, I guess one’s thoughts tend to turn a tad philosophical.
Kevin Martin, champion of Net Neutrality?
According to Freepress.net, Martin joins a “Bipartisan FCC Majority” to punish Comcast for its peer-to-peer blocking funny business, already discussed here lots of times.
Like everybody else, I’ll await the in depth analysis sure to come from Harold Feld.
But assuming that this is what it appears to be, I hereby congratulate Chairman Martin. As I reported here, I had a chance to talk to him at the reception following the FCC hearing in Boston. And I found him sympathetic to the point of view that net neutrality was about more than consumer rights, it was about preserving the Internet as an engine of democracy. I wouldn’t be surprised if that argument figured in the deliberations on this ruling. In any event, I’m cautiously optimistic.
Omnivorous Hippies
Last nnight I went, with Dear Wife, to a big-ole “slow food” pot luck dinner at the Ag Hall, which is a big-ole barn out in a field where they have the County Fair every summer and the Christmas pageant every winter.
Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, gave a talk afterwards. Then a string band played.
Deep Thought about the New Yorker Cover
So, the New Yorker mag has a cover depicting Barack & Michelle Obama in the White House, in which she’s Angela Davis with a bandolier and rifle, he’s an Indonesian Moslem, Osama Bin Ladin’s portrait is on the wall, and the American flag is burning in the fireplace. As I’m the 23,452,998th person to point out, the satire is a little weak because it’s not clear whether the Obamas are being mocked or if it’s the people who circulate the Manchurian Candidate emails about them.
Whatever. It’s a magazine cover. I was kinda annoyed by it at first, but now actually it makes me smile a little.
What I’m waiting for now is the New Yorker cover that does to St. John McCain what this cover does to St. Barack Obama. It would have to include McCain setting the aircraft carrier Forrestall on fire (& killing 134 sailors), making propaganda tapes for the North Vietnamese, deserting his first wife (disfigured in an accident) for a mega-wealthy heiress, and having senile dementia.
-
- Load More
But while the uproar has swayed much of the public to Johansson's defense at a time when #genAI is increasingly under scrutiny, this may not quite be an open-and-shut case should she decide to sue . Read the breakdown from @M_F_Rose in her latest article:
The release of @OpenAI's new digital assistant "Sky" stirred controversy after actress Scarlett Johansson alleged that the company had infringed on her rights by using a soundalike voice of hers after she'd declined to voice it herself.
Just saw @MargotSusca fantastic interview with @adamconover about the death of local news at the hands of hedge funds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N21YfWy0-bA A theme I have written about *a lot*. Like this blog post from 2018: https://wetmachine.com/tales-of-the-sausage-factory/we-need-to-fix-the-news-media-not-just-social-media-part-i/ This has been a long time in the making.
I wrote yesterday on the terrifying escalation of antisemitism in Canada, citing events just over past week. Now there is more: last night a firebomb attempt at a Vancouver synagogue. Daily antisemitic incidents is who we are now.
https://www.jewishvancouver.com/important-community-updates-may-20-2024
https://x.com/mgeist/status/1796233336203194446
