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Federal court permanently blocks Florida's law against trans health care
  • I feel like this has always been a win-win situation for him. If the law sticks, he can claim victory with his base. If it doesn’t, he can rile them up with his anti-woke propaganda.

    At least with this decision, the sane people unintentionally caught in his crosshair won’t have to suffer for his political antics.

  • Yeah, about that…
  • Late 90s to 2000s was the decade of internet glory. Then social media and big tech took over. Now with personalized feeds and searches, along with conflict promoting engagement metrics, many people spend their time within echo chambers and those chambers keep getting more partisan. On top of that, rampant misinformation has made it all the more difficult to separate fact from fiction.

  • Outcry from big AI firms over California AI “kill switch” bill
  • The criticism from large AI companies to this bill sounds a lot like the pushbacks from auto manufacturers from adding safety features like seatbelts, airbags, and crumple zones. Just because someone else used a model for nefarious purposes doesn’t absolve the model creator from their responsibility to minimize that potential. We already do this for a lot of other industries like cars, guns, and tobacco - minimize the potential of harm despite individual actions causing the harm and not the company directly.

    I have been following Andrew Ng for a long time and I admire his technical expertise. But his political philosophy around ML and AI has always focused on self regulation, which we have seen fail in countless industries.

    The bill specifically mentions that creators of open source models that have been altered and fine tuned will not be held liable for damages from the altered models. It also only applies to models that cost more than $100M to train. So if you have that much money for training models, it’s very reasonable to expect that you spend some portion of it to ensure that the models do not cause very large damages to society.

    So companies hosting their own models, like openAI and Anthropic, should definitely be responsible for adding safety guardrails around the use of their models for nefarious purposes - at least those causing loss of life. The bill mentions that it would only apply to very large damages (such as, exceeding $500M), so one person finding out a loophole isn’t going to trigger the bill. But if the companies fail to close these loopholes despite millions of people (or a few people millions of times) exploiting them, then that’s definitely on the company.

    As a developer of AI models and applications, I support the bill and I’m glad to see lawmakers willing to get ahead of technology instead of waiting for something bad to happen and then trying to catch up like for social media.

  • Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts
  • If I understand correctly from the article, you have to enter ‘OOBE\BYPASSNRO’ in command prompt during installation to prevent it from asking to connect to internet. If that’s the only way to set up a local account, that’s hardly an accessible option.

  • Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts
  • Wouldn’t it be possible to buy a new PC, open the box, and return it right after because you cannot set it up without internet?

    If enough people do it, may be PC manufacturers will force Microsoft to add offline setups.

  • India elections: exit polls show Narendra Modi expected to win historic third term
  • Not sure what statistics you are referring to. According to this, India’s GDP per capita has grown from $1400 to $2400 in the last 10 years. Unemployment is lowest in 3 decades. All other economic indicators on the website show non-insignificant improvements.

    He has in fact said that. I was by no means promoting Modi but answering the commenter’s question to why so many people are voting for him.

  • India elections: exit polls show Narendra Modi expected to win historic third term
    1. The most common response I get from Indians to why Modi is that “there’s no one else to vote for”. The other major political party, Congress, has focused primarily on maintaining power within the Gandhi dynasty, with Rahul Gandhi being its current public face. Rahul Gandhi by his own admission, is not even interested in a leadership role in Congress so he’s seen as a very weak candidate. So it’s not like Trump vs Clinton/Biden but Trump vs a bunch of low profile non-viable candidates.
    2. The majority middle class in India is primarily Hindu and has benefited from Modi government policies in the last decade with improved economy, digitization, and ease of setting up and doing business. Modi has also gotten large foreign companies to set up their factories in India, providing employment and contributing to local economy. So despite the minority classes and religions losing their rights in India, it’s fairly easy for Modi to win the popular vote.
    3. Modi and the BJP have a phenomenal PR machinery the likes of which I haven’t seen before. Every billboard seems to be promoting Modi and his policies. Every ad break has a Modi ad. There are multiple full page ads in national newspapers for the Modi government. There is almost a complete absence of any other political party in the ad media. You have to go really out of your way, mainly to American and British media, to get a more balanced version of events (like the murder of a Canadian separatist by the Indian government, imprisonment of journalists, preventing Amnesty International from operating in India, etc.). This combined with Modi’s active suppression of dissenting journalists means that all people hear about in India is how great Modi is and the amazing policies he’s implemented. If people are not even aware of why not to vote for Modi, there’s little reason not to.
    4. I would also add that Modi’s comparison with Trump stops at his Hindu nationalist policies and suppression of minorities. Modi is disciplined and smart. There’s not a hint of philandering. He’s by no means a buffoon. His base isn’t limited to hardcore fanatics voting on single issues. He’s not an elitist sitting in an ivroy tower unfamiliar with the struggles and lives of the commons. In fact, it’s only the minorities, academics, and people on the extreme left that are most likely to not vote for him.
  • Apple, SpaceX, Microsoft return-to-office mandates drove senior talent away
  • One of the funniest things about most of these companies enforcing RTO is that their “on-site interviews” are still virtual. So you believe being in-person is more effective except when it comes to paying for travel expenses for interviewees.

    Just shows the massive hypocrisy behind these RTO mandates.

  • Roku TV bricked until agreeing to new terms of service
  • I reached out to Roku support regarding this. The rep told me “why are you complaining. You are the only one.” He then disconnected the chat. I’ve reached out to my state’s AG to report this. No action so far but waiting. If there are enough complaints, that might help move the needle.

    What Roku is doing should be completely illegal - bricking the product after purchasing it for full price if you don’t agree to waiving your rights.

  • What Kind of Natural Disasters Occur Where You Live? And How Have You Prepared for Them?
  • The 2001 Nisqually earthquake was also a different mechanism event than the one that can cause a really large earthquake (intraslab vs subduction). The last major subduction earthquake in the region was centuries ago and these earthquakes can exceed Mw9.0. Luckily they are not very frequent but there are indications that Seattle’s due for one.

  • Deadly quake strikes Nepal killing at least 129 people
  • From the USGS shakemap and DYFI, it looks like there are some reports of strong shaking but mostly moderate to slight shaking. The depth is reported at 17 km which would have also contributed to relatively lower shaking.

    So hopefully the damage will be contained especially compared to the 2015 event.

  • Biden would veto any Israel-only aid bill, White House says
  • If the Democrats had voted to keep McCarthy as the speaker despite McCarthy’s previous record of uncooperation and reneging, it would have signaled to him and the republicans that the democrats can be pushed back further. It would have been a disastrous move politically for the democrats. Remember, McCarthy voted against certifying the election results so he did not have a great record of upholding democratic values and could not be trusted to negotiate in good faith.

  • IRS consultant pleads guilty in massive leak of wealthy Americans’ tax returns
  • He took the plea deal probably because he can’t afford a lengthy legal battle, decline to pay his lawyers, getting court dates shifted, appointing his own judge,… There is an entirely separate US justice system for the rich and powerful.

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