AfTea - Airgapped Violence, Custom Ads, and Monaka the Koala

It’s Wednesday, the Tea is tech related and comparably tepid. So sit back and graze like Monaka the white-butted baby Koala just born in Japan. Enjoy low key news and interesting ideas, with only 1 Trump related story. Get to the end for the Gooner/Aura spectrum, a concept I wish I could do a masters thesis on. Also some incredible modern jazz from the lead singer of System of a Down, Serj Tankian.

Suspect in shooting of 2 Detroit cops was an active DPD officer, police say (WXYZ ABC Detroit) Eventually, it will be just bots talking to other bots on Twitter. In Detroit similarly, it will eventually just be cops spying on, doing violence to, and arresting other cops. Saves time I suppose.

Two never-before-seen tools, from same group, infect air-gapped devices (Ars Technica) “Air-gapping” is a fancy word for “unplug from the internet.” If a system was never connected to the internet, it was impossible to hack. Was being the operative word there.

How Meta Brings in Millions Off of Political Violence (Gizmodo) Meta has so much to answer for. It never will, and I assume what comes to light decades from now will be even more damning.

TV ads to target households on individual streets (MSN) Eventually, everyone, everywhere, will have their own personal advertorial & advertainment ecosystem, granularly calibrated and dynamically updated. This will ensure only the most relevant, exciting experiences reach the end customer’s sensory fields. (Editor’s Note: Tarik promises to not weaponize language like that again.) 

Here’s how Donald Trump would lower grocery prices (Washington Post) Instead of sanewashing a wild crazy answer Donny gave to a prescreened question on inflation, Philip Bump just printed his answer, with annotated context when needed. Mr. Bump should be immediately promoted to Editor-In-Chief at WaPo. That this is not the standard way to cover DJT, and hasn’t been since 2015, is an unforgivable sin our grandchildren will never understand.

Expert witness used Copilot to make up fake damages, irking judge (Ars Technica) & This AI Tool Helped Convict People of Murder. Then Someone Took a Closer Look (Wired) AI-not-reliable, done two ways. Don’t use ChatGPT for something a judge might ask you about. For serious. Research, it’s your friend. Do some.

Forums Are Still Alive, Active, And A Treasure Trove Of Information (Aftermath) Forums were always the best place for specialized information, with social media platforms never able to capture their function. If I want a quick answer or bulleted list, I’ll go to FB or Insta. If I want a 13 page argument between experts and/or dorks, I’m going straight for the oldest forum on the topic still functioning online.

Paramount Will Allow Its 3 Co-CEOs to Resign and Receive Severance If They Are Demoted (Variety) & Paramount Initiates Next Round Of Layoffs In Ongoing Effort To Cut 15% Of U.S. Workforce (Deadline) Are the numbers aligned? Yes. Is this terrible? Absolutely. Could we more easily replace CEOs than artists, accountants, or literally any other job with ChatGPT? Probably!

Trees can’t live forever without sex, study shows (BBC) Incredible headline work notwithstanding, there was a theory that trees could asexually clone themselves forever. This has been disproven, so all that incel tree will actually need to talk to the cute weeping willow that keeps asking about their day.

The Gooner/Aura Spectrum (Cuckfucius) Gen-Z first language & commentary is amazing to me. It’s so rich with prior context, memery, and weird praxis/required reading. The giant dude in Reacher? A good example of “Aura.” Goons? Think soccer lads, Proud Boys, or prank video guys. Gooning can be fun, but leads nowhere. Aura is powerful, but leads to soullessness. Come for the weird metaphors, stay for the writer calling one of my favorite montages in all of anime “absolute cinematic autism.”

 Supreme Court Rules 6-3 To Open Evil Tomb Of Batibat (The Onion) FTHA (From the hilarious article):

Quote of the week

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, "What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now."

Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”~Vincent Van Gogh (withering, given his ultimate end)

Poem of the week

By Langston Hughes

Vibe of the week

Since Serj Tankian was dunked on earlier, gotta drop my favorite non-System of a Down track by him. A remix of the Charlie Parker jazz classic “Birds of Paradise,” one that both immediately communicates how weird Jazz can be, and soars when Serj & the track spread their wings.

Keep it flying,tn