t was summarised neatly by Ruben Schade this week. Slop is uneconomic, we’ve seen scams like these before, and it is moreover a legal minefield, as recent court disclosures show.

The companies that do this know they’ll never earn any money, just lose a lot, and since it’s copyright infringement there are also major legal bills (or settlements) to consider.

n some sense, today was a special day.

It’s about science, not football.

I did not watch this London match, I only followed the score, hoping both teams would lose points (more so Arsenal).

While keeping an eye on the score I noticed having been cited in a major publication. As it turns out, an old article of mine has just been cited in ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) and it’s about Gemini Protocol where my writings became more prominent in recent years:

Many decades ago a “household” (with kids, car/s etc.) could – but no longer can – be managed by a single provider or breadwinner as they called it. That sort of ended after the 1990s with stagnation of wages. Then two parents were expected to work full-time – with dashes added as it became a proper word – to attain the same income level (comparatively).

Now the couple is expected to not only work full time (for the same lifestyle) but to also work overtime.

Sometimes overtime is voluntary, but there is a hidden cost. People fall behind on critical chores like food-buying, laundry etc.

As a result of that, even with a weekend off, there is no true rest, just “catchup” ahead of Mondays.

This won’t be sustainable as it leads to mental fatigue.

Did the “architects of the system” take this into consideration?

Lack of sleep worsens the quality of work. Lack of rest makes moody people, which interferes with health of relationships (couples, parents, peers).

erman cars are notoriously expensive to repair, but they are seen as reliable and cars in general are perceived to be time savers that simplify life and increase mobility.

But that assumes everything works smoothly all the time and that “third parties” don’t damage you, your day, your car, or even your life (fatality)

I’ve only just returned home from a run and a car near us got ‘knocked’ quite badly. It’ll probably cost a grand to fully repair/undo the damage. When I left there was no incident in sight, so it must have happened in the past 15 minutes or so. I saw another such incident near the same place only months ago. They put speed bumps, but they’re too low and don’t seem to be effective.

Optics at best.

I suppose the owner of the car will be one of two owners impacted by this collision, whose fault is probably one of them, not both of them. Now come a series of long tasks for both of them and probably no car for a week.

How does that translate into peace of mind and time savings?

Stallman on LLMs: “The reason LLMs so often generate text whose meaning refers to false supposed facts is that they never really understand the text; they don’t work with meanings or facts in the domain of discussion. The terms they merit are “pretend intelligence” and “bullshit generators.”

“To avoid being lured into supporting the marketing hype based on “AI,” please join me in reserving the word “intelligence” for systems that qualify for it.

“I surely didn’t say anything about whether LLMs are “open,” because, as I’ve explained, I do not advocate making software “open” or “open source.” Those terms are depoliticized substitutes for “free” and “libre,” and were coined to win the support of businesses by avoiding the issues of freedom and justice (for the users of software) that might lead to criticizing businesses on moral grounds. Since those are the crucial issues in my view, the question I always ask about a program is whether it is free or libre.

“The LLMs that people mostly hear about are not released as free software. In fact, mostly they are not released at all: copies are not available. They can be used only as “online services” — meaning that the program a user directs a question to is running on some company’s computer, and under the developer’s total control. Even to modify it by patching the binary is impossible.

“Entrusting your own computing activity to software running on someone else’s server inherently subjugates you, because you can’t possibly modify that copy — even if it is a copy of a free program. We call that scenario SaaSS, for “Service as a Software Substitute” and we reject it.

“Since January I’ve heard of one LLM which seems to be released with freedom, including the training inputs. If that checks out, we would describe it as “free.”

“Alas, that doesn’t make it “intelligence.””

OME months ago major overhaul began in the area shown in the above article – an historically significant structure that underwent very significant changes since around January (I’m way too young to have any fond memories of it or to have taken train journeys from it). I wrote about it in relation to the Banksy exhibition and today there was a grilling event, with pleasant-smelling smoke coming out of the building.

More importantly, the coffee shop has opened to everyone.

“A new coffee shop is set to open in the former Mayfield station ticket office,” says the above.

There are still more trees left to be planted near the pavement, but it is overall work well executed. They took one of the ugliest corners of Manchester and turned it into a gem. We saw it gradually, in slow motion so to speak, turning from dust to gold.

HE words we heard are turning out to be true.

IBM is basically collapsing. Some broadcasters learn early about the impending mass layoffs.

he other day we visited MediaCityUK, where some building projects appear to be a failure (probably not enough apartment units sold).

It was a bright, sunny day and we stayed there to feed birds, eat snacks, and soak in some sunlight. Not much has changed in the place since 10 years ago.

Sometimes I still get spammed by estate companies trying to sell “properties” in MediaCityUK. The place has not developed much (further) in recent years and the Therme Manchester water resort is built near the Trafford Centre, not Old Trafford. Many shops in the Lowry are ‘boarded up’ and shut. It looks like a failed mall.

12 years ago we looked around at homes (advertised around MediaCityUK). We’re glad we chose not to go ahead with that.

Some place in Manchester develop and thrive, whereas others lose momentum.

I tried hard to find contact details, I then opened a ticket about it, confirmed to be opened (by receipt).

Now, after a week, not a single person has acted on it.

They have just sent another automated nag to my wife on her birthday.

Yes, their bots bother her on her birthday and nobody there even deals with the ticket!

This is an insensitive and dysfunctional company with no person to speak to.

Avoid.