Librarian

Librarian

@isbi.bsky.social

Fragments of historical research, people and events, I write about Southeast Europe, World War II on the margins; medieval studies and urban history

276 followers1K following1.7K posts

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

It is hard to imagine a higher level of sabotage of national interests.

James@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social

“The communications backbone for an entire country’s military has gone down and nobody knows who is responsible” Yeah we’re gonna need to send people to prison and start nationalizing things.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Intensification of the battle for Hormuz. #Trump's postponement until the midterms does not appear to bind the other warring parties. #Iran #IranWar #MiddleEast

Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social

A Singapore-flagged container ship sank near the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by a projectile, while a separate bulk carrier damaged in an earlier attack is also sinking.-Reuters

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

According to some reports, the American company Starlink has restricted the operation of its services for the Ukrainian military.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Is there any guarantee that it will not do the same elsewhere in Europe, or that other American commercial companies, such as Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, or OpenAI, will not do so as well?

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Investing in alternative solutions is a core issue of national security, especially when it comes to military use.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

The problem is that the vast majority of products are useless, expensive, and teetering on the brink of serial criminal activity.

LolotovCocktail@lolotovcocktail.bsky.social

AI is the future, guys! Just ignore every failure!

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Companies that sell expensive, large models warn the public about smaller, cheaper models. Even though it is impossible for them to do anything with the computing power available in an oven. The resources required to run this software are very large.

Tiffany C. Li@tiffanycli.bsky.social

“The monster is so hungry it might attack, unless you sacrifice one of your villagers” is a classic fairytale

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Several large companies simply do not have a business model that could withstand competition without political intervention. Microsoft once monopolized the market on its own, and politics did nothing for a long time, all the way until the late 1990s.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

But then, interventions by antitrust bodies prevented it from capturing the Internet. That is how the giants of the Internet era were born, whose monopolies should have been broken up in time.

Librarian reposted

Shipwreck
@shipwreck75.bsky.social

So, today alone: 12 killed and more than 300 wounded by the Houthis; Iran warned ships away from the UAE; a ship was hit by a projectile off the UAE coast; and multiple drones and missiles targeted airports in Saudi Arabia. Sure we will get a Truth Social later about how they are dying to negotiate.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

The security order is collapsing along several axes. Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, Houthi attacks on Saudi targets, and Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have all intensified.

View full thread
Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Across the vast region of the Sahel, south of Algeria all the way to the Atlantic hinterland, Islamist militant groups are gaining ever-greater influence.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

For now, the security order is collapsing slowly, drifting into the fog of post-American disorder. Even a far more competent U.S. administration would struggle to manage all these problems. But at least it would not have directly caused some of them.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

The security order is collapsing along several axes. Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, Houthi attacks on Saudi targets, and Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have all intensified.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Escaping public attention are the increasingly dire conditions in the Horn of Africa, specifically in Ethiopia and Sudan. Dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of miners were killed in an Egyptian airstrike near the Sudanese border.

Librarian reposted

Richy Craven
@richycraven.bsky.social

My online girlfriend was so shocked by the Ukraine drone strike on the Russian data centre that she's been too upset to message me all day.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Russian, Ukrainian, and Middle Eastern attacks indicate that concentrating a large portion of economic activity in data centers is not the wisest strategy. A few ballistic missiles or a few hundred drones can inflict substantial damage. #Security

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

European countries that fail to work on securing sovereign strategic capabilities, including satellite communications, digital infrastructure, and services, are gambling with their own security.

Librarian@isbi.bsky.social

#Trump administration threatens to suspend arms sales to #Ukraine funded by the EU unless Ukraine halts its long-range strike campaign against the Russian oil industry.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

#Trump administration threatens to suspend arms sales to #Ukraine funded by the EU unless Ukraine halts its long-range strike campaign against the Russian oil industry.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

At play is an all-encompassing crisis: a crisis of governance. Or the pervasive belief that the financial interests of narrow circles outweigh the existential interests of society.

shaunt@shaunvids.bsky.social

there's definitely some sort of osmosis from the climate crisis and economic crises going on. attempting to monetize the anxiety being brought about by actual existing problems maybe

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

"But there was nothing we could do." It's simple: punish those whose products harm other companies.

shaunt@shaunvids.bsky.social

they can't act on their own, they cannot go rogue. they are computer programs that do what they are programmed to do. they're as responsible for their actions as a grenade is for exploding after somebody pulls the pin

Librarian reposted

Alexander Clarkson
@aphclarkson.bsky.social

Replying to @aphclarkson.bsky.social

Unless in the next 2 years DSA, Dems and anti-Trump conservatives can work together to pull the US away from the internal chaos Trump and MAGA are steering it towards then the world is heading to a post-American order

Librarian reposted

Alexander Clarkson
@aphclarkson.bsky.social

The heightened likelihood of America paralysed and facing internal chaos means every of America's allies need to develop capacities to secure their interests without Americans

Joris Luyendijk@jorisluyendijk.bsky.social

Is this good or bad for Ukraine?

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

It will take the world about a decade to recover from the nihilism of the Trump era. And that is assuming it comes to an end without major disruptive events.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Keep them isolated in several research centers. Under strict supervision. Put the troublemakers behind bars. An ideal scenario, though unlikely for now.

This post is unavailable.
Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Powerful computing resources are usually restricted to security and research purposes. There is no reason for them to be widely available. And the risks are numerous, and extremely severe.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

The costs of cybersecurity and air-gapped computer systems alone could eat up most of the economic benefits of Gen AI. On top of that, there are security dilemmas and many other issues.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Accurate opinion: cats are more similar to humans than any software, computer system, or complex of computer systems.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Techno-bros often describe something that in more sensible times would be called hell, or at least a dystopia, and then pitch it as a desirable outcome. Frankly, those monopolies ought to be smashed to smithereens.

James@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social

I genuinely mean this. I cannot imagine a more bleak dystopian notion than the idea of all art being turned into slop designed to coddle my exact perceived intentions. The point of literature, film, music, and art is to be exposed to the interior lives of others. Who are these people.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

The war initiated by Donald Trump, the extension of which he temporarily postponed until after the November elections, resulted in the easing of sanctions against Russia and an agreed purchase of Russian diesel. 4D chess live.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Not only are they not, but they cannot even be. These are computer systems that mimic linguistic practices based on summarizing vast amounts of input. There is no difference in fundamental architecture between the 2023 systems and current ones. They are the same thing.

This post is unavailable.
Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Interestingly, no one has suggested so far that chess computer programs are conscious, even though they play chess well, or that the supercomputers simulating atmospheric conditions are. Even though they are often fundamentally more useful than Generative AI.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

A computer that plays chess is no different from a computer that sorts tomatoes or one that interprets X-ray scans. The fact that a vast amount of text was loaded during its training does not change a thing. You have no moral obligation whatsoever to computers.

Regime Accountant, CPA ☠️🎢@regimecpa.bsky.social

What does enslavement mean to an intelligence whose experience of consciousness is atemporal

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Just as you have moral obligations toward people, and even toward animals that have not reached a level of linguistic capability or, in principle, cannot reach it.

Librarian
@isbi.bsky.social

Does anyone know any good analytical articles on the situation in the Japanese economy, AI investments, and semiconductor manufacturing? #Japan