Science/Techno Babble Random, Random

[ponchi101]

This is a screencapture FROM THIS FORUM, of a post by Ti in the NBA topic.

TWT exceeded.jpg

How can I have exceeded the TWT count, when I am not even in TWT?

I know that some people consider Musk some sort of techno genius but, lately, that premise can be challenged.

[ti-amie]

PCMag
@PCMag@mastodon.social
To delete a Threads account, you’ll also need to delete your Instagram account. The restriction will prevent Threads from losing users as Mark Zuckerberg reports the app topped 10 million new sign-ups in its first few hours. https://www.pcmag.com/news/to-delete-a- ... ccount-too

[ti-amie]

This is why a science/tech education with no Liberal Arts requirements is the road to disaster.




Sam Greene @samagreene

The idea that protocols that can’t be managed, curated and protected — or adapted rapidly as situations demand — could replace the human element of gov’t is frankly dystopian.

Even the most democratic of governments requires the delegation of authority to function. Imagining you could create a process to which everyone could have access and to which everyone would adhere is naive at the very least. It would be a recipe for even greater social conflict.

I want government — from legislators to bureaucrats to police to courts to the army — to be accountable. But replacing their autonomy with algorithms and protocols and flooding the zone with data does not yield accountability. If anything, it makes gov’t even more opaque.

But that’s not the real problem here. The real problem here is that too many of today’s titans of industry imagine there’s an engineering solution to the dysfunction of modern society — and too many of the kind of people who once worshipped at the altar of Ayn Rand believe them.

You cannot correct for the errors of humanity by trying to remove human nature from the process.

I mean, didn’t these people watch Jurassic Park?

[ponchi101]

I'll have to think about your statement, Ti. But, overall, the idea proposed by the person (about open protocols and such) is truly naive. It has been the same utopian siren call stated by anarchists and communists since 1917.
"Imagine if we were all free and equal".

I don't have to imagine it. I can read history and see what has happened whenever somebody has tried that road. Pretty soon, everybody is less free and less equal, and by a lot.

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

A bit of good news:
Scientists discover plastic-gobbling enzyme that can break down trash in 24 hours: The possibilities ‘are endless’

Summary. An enzyme that breaks down PET, in less than 24 hours. 8% of all waste worldwide are PET based.

[Suliso]

I was helping with the International Chemistry Olympiad for high school students yesterday in ETH (Zürich). Students from almost all European countries as well as majority of South America (missing only Colombia and Bolivia) and Asia (minus Iraq and few small ones) were there. Talked with some kids from Israel and El Salvador. Was fun.

[ponchi101]

Didn't know there was a Chemistry Olympiad.
It is an amazing subject.

[Suliso]

There are Olympiads in all major subjects (Physics, Mathematics, Biology and now also Computer Science). Mathematics is the most famous, but others have been around for decades as well.

[ponchi101]

I only knew of the Math ones. I participated in them in my youth.
I can see the format for computer science; simply state a problem. But how does it work for chemistry? Is it done in a lab, or is it simply theoretical?

[Suliso]

I can see the format for computer science; simply state a problem. But how does it work for chemistry? Is it done in a lab, or is it simply theoretical?

Chemistry consists of 5 h theoretical exam and 5 h in the lab. The latter usually a combination of organic synthesis and analytical chemistry. The whole event is 8 days.

Problem set for events few years ago: https://www.icho2021.org/problems/previous/

[ti-amie]

I had just started to find my way around Reddit when the shenanigans started. Oh well.

Dan Gillmor
@dangillmor@mastodon.social
Reddit to its volunteer moderators: "You work for us. We don't pay you, of course, but we own everything you do. If you challenge our autocratic, greedy policies, we'll kick you out and find other suckers to do all this work for free. And by the way, up yours."

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/20/2380237

[ti-amie]

Elon Musk’s X rebrand reignites his goal to turn Twitter into an app like China’s WeChat
PUBLISHED TUE, JUL 25 20239:16 PM EDT
Arjun Kharpal
@ARJUNKHARPAL

On Monday, Musk officially changed Twitter’s famous bird logo to an “X,” marking his push to change the platform into something more than just a social media service.

“In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world,” Musk said late Monday, re-iterating that the acquisition took place to accelerate the move toward the “everything app.”

Newly-appointed CEO of the company Linda Yaccarino said “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”

These goals laid out by Musk and Yaccarino sound very much like the idea of a “super app” which was pioneered in China and has taken off in other parts of Asia.

Musk called WeChat ‘great’
Super apps refer to a type of app that allow users to carry out multiple functions without having to leave the app. For example, an app might include social media functions, payments, hotel and flight bookings and taxi hailing.

The biggest super app in the world is called WeChat which is run by Chinese technology giant Tencent
and has over 1.3 billion users.

WeChat is primarily an instant messaging app like WhatsApp. But it is also has payments and users can access other apps within it such as e-commerce and banking.

While China pioneered the super app, the idea has taken off in other parts of Asia. Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing firm Grab
has expanded into other areas like food delivery and payments. South Korea’s Kakao is another example.

Musk has likely taken inspiration from WeChat, an app he called “great” last year. Musk said there is no WeChat equivalent outside of China.

“I think that there’s a real opportunity to create that,” Musk told employees. “You basically live on WeChat in China because it’s so useful and so helpful to your daily life. And I think if we could achieve that, or even close to that with Twitter, it would be an immense success.”

Will an ‘everything app’ work outside of Asia?

WeChat took off in China because of the unique internet landscape there, one where many American online services such as Twitter and Google are blocked. This has given a chance for homegrown technology firms to establish dominance in the internet space.

Tencent is one of these. With WeChat it operates the biggest messaging service in the country. WeChat Pay is one of the two biggest mobile payments services in China, the other being Alipay which is run by Ant Group, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba
.

Alipay itself is also another super app.

Tencent has managed to create an app this size because it runs its own payments and social media service. But the company has also invested in other major companies like e-commerce firm JD.com and and food delivery company Meituan. This has allowed Tencent to integrate their services into WeChat. Tencent is also one of the world’s biggest online gaming companies and that has given it further content to put within WeChat.

Developers can also create so-called “mini programs” within WeChat. These are stripped down versions of full apps but it means a user doesn’t have to download dozens of other apps and can just use WeChat for nearly everything.

In parts of southeast Asia, ride-hailing firm Grab has expanded into financial services and food delivery, in the absence of a plethora of rivals.

Creating a super app in the U.S. or Europe may be much more of a challenge. Online payments, an area Musk wants to push into, are fragmented with no single company dominating the space. U.S. and Europe still rely heavily on debit and credit card systems of payment. Payments in China are done with a quick response or QR code, which is different to the U.S. and Europe.

In ride-hailing and food delivery, there is big competition. Naturally, Musk’s X will be a challenger to other social media companies like those under Meta’s umbrella. That could make collaboration with other firms tough.

These are just some of the challenges and that’s without going into areas such as competition in advertising and who owns the data in the event X collaborates with other firms.

But also there is an opportunity for X in that Musk sees it more as a broader communication app rather than just short posts. He has dramatically increased the character limits for posts for people who subscribe to Twitter Blue, for example. That could be a starting point, to turn Twitter into more of a communication tool that keeps users hooked. Then Musk could think about adding other tools like payments that he has already hinted at.

Ultimately though, trying to turn X into anything like WeChat is going to be a mammoth task, not least because the factors that has helped the Chinese app’s success — whether its a mobile-first market in China or a more concentrated number of players in the internet space — are not present in the U.S. or Europe.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/26/elon-mu ... echat.html

[ti-amie]

Isaac Ostlund
@IsaacOstlund@mastodon.world
NPR's operating budget is $300 M, and 1%, or $3 M is funded by federal subsidies

The LA Times calculates the federal subsidies Musk's companies have received at $4.9 B.

Let's be generous and say Musk received those subsidies over a 10 year period, while NPR would have received ~$30 M in subsidies.

4.9 B / 30 M = Musk received 163x what NPR has from "the state."

Who is state funded then?

#elonmusk #npr #twitter

[ponchi101]

Elon Musk’s X rebrand reignites his goal to turn Twitter into an app like China’s WeChat
PUBLISHED TUE, JUL 25 20239:16 PM EDT
Arjun Kharpal
@ARJUNKHARPAL

On Monday, Musk officially changed Twitter’s famous bird logo to an “X,” marking his push to change the platform into something more than just a social media service.

“In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world,” Musk said late Monday, re-iterating that the acquisition took place to accelerate the move toward the “everything app.”

...

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/26/elon-mu ... echat.html

Say 'YEEEEAAAHHHH!' if you want a company run by Elon Musk to run your ENTIRE financial world:


And then people wonder how come they were hacked.
And, of course. The Government of China has NO interest in controlling all of its citizens' moves.