GPTurfing?

That annoys me as well. They call it “astroturfing” because it’s fake grassroots. I wonder if we should call this “cyberturfing.”

I don’t think the ownership of telecom was the important bit. It was the fact that, before 1996 or so, most PCs were not connected to the internet 100% of the time.

The security implications of pervasive, persistent internet connections meant software vendors had genuine security reasons to push frequent updates. That situation, with vendors pushing constant changes in the name of security, wound up offering vendors a lot of influence they didn’t have before.

This is exactly how, to choose just one familiar example, Microsoft is pushing users to have internet-validated Microsoft accounts, even to log in to their personal computers at home. “Want the security updates that come with Windows 11? You’ll have to let us watch you.” Which is just the way phones have been for longer.

I’ve only skimmed but:

provide an accessible interface at account setup

They don’t even define “account.” They have a definition of “account holder” that makes no sense.

Are all devices required to have user accounts? There was a time when home computers did not have such things.

Before the internet became de rigueur, more or less. So much of this kind of top-down-control culture has oozed into the PC world by showing up on phones – those always-on, internet-connected devices – first.

I’m safe because in my 95+ years on the internet, I’ve mostly typed lies that I made up on the spot

Columbia crushed their student protests to appease the federal government

Columbia caved to administration demands, changed their academic programs, to appease the federal government

As a reward, Columbia’s students will now be directly terrorized by the federal government

🎵 And Iran, Iran so far away-ay-ay 🎵

Isn’t this one just cropped?

Were they wasting her time deliberately, or are they just impulsive and disorganized, I wonder?

“ChatGPT, please rewrite this inflammatory post full of libelous accusations using the rhetorical style of my worst enemy.”

In a sane world, the computer’s calculation would be used to guide a real investigation, which would find real evidence. The statistics wouldn’t be used as proof of anything.

I disguise my internet writings by doing them left handed.

She’s 100% right.

Unfortunately, in the USA today, being right and $5 will get you a cup of coffee.

Then, agentic commerce, coupled with stablecoins, gets rid of transaction fees and upends the business models of payment processors like Mastercard and card-focused banks like American Express.

Oh, sure. Transaction fees. Going away. That happens in every economic upheaval. Of course it does. I don’t know why you’re laughing.

The steady exodus from Elon Musk’s X has benefited smaller, independent alternatives such as … German-developed Mastodon

How come we’re using AI mostly to kill people? If AI is of such strategic value, why can’t we let AI loose on the Epstein files?

Why is AI always a way for the government to crush little people, never a tool for double-checking and illuminating the government?

So somebody took a look at the modern web and thought “Hey, this is pretty good, but you know what would make it even better? Even more shit you didn’t ask for popping up in your face with every click!”

It’s the closest thing the US has to a national ID card, there’s a blanket assumption that every functioning adult has one (or the non-driving-license equivalent, administered by the same authorities).

Some people might say that, technically, the US is a failed state that’s become breeding ground for violent extremists, an incubator for global terror.

What a time to be alive, eh?