The long-awaited rule is expected to require that real estate professionals such as title insurers report the identities of the beneficial owners of companies buying real estate in cash to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
It is completely creepy. Think about who is behind Open AI. That’s a mixture of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel (Palantir), Microsoft and others. A right-wing, anti democratic, anti-human and purely profit oriented group. The name “Tools for Humanity” is complete sarcasm. What they do with Worldcoin smells like a modern attempt of colonization. Collecting biometry, subverting critical infrastructure (financial systems), making fake promises, blinding poor people with shiny metal balls and a little bit of money in some cases.
This can be stopped though! The Kenyan government apparently banned the project - for good.
What is scary is not that Disney (and all the other big companies) are investigating AI as a useful tool, but their first immediate thought is how can we use this to cut even more jobs out rather than how can we use AI as a tool to make our content even better? Everyone seems to believe generative AI is something that will replace human workers, but from what I’ve seen from folks tinkering with it here, it’s just another range of techniques that can be used to do things.
Just like 3D printers are not putting sculptors and set designers out of business, generative AI is not going to put artists out of business, rather will give them another tool with which to make cooler stuff faster.
The problem, I think, is not the existence and development of AI, but the desperation with which large companies are driven to reduce costs and increase profits. It’s not AI everyone is scared of, it’s capitalism. And capitalism has been capitalizing for centuries now, while we’ve known exactly what it is.
Pretty sure it’s already here, just not as flashy and futuristic as we were expecting. Just sort of boring and tiring, trying to get through the day as it burns around us.
That’s why everyone knows what “this is the worst timeline” means.
Its been here for decades. It was already mandatory to provide an iris scan upon arrival in the US back when I visited New York in 2013. At the time, I was already baffled it was a requirement and wasn't happy, but at that moment there is nothing else to do then comply. The US probably has a very big iris scan, fingerprint and passport database of at least the western world.
Is this a NY only thing? I’ve never once had to do an iris scan for anything, and have a passport, DL, and everything (US citizen). I also haven’t heard of anyone traveling here needing to it, though maybe it just never came up in conversation.
Also, as for replacing passports, international travel still requires one but for domestic travel, you can get a regular ID/DL in many states that acts as an ID at airports without the need of a passport.
Biometrics are only required for certain non-citizens. Canadians aren’t required to provide while visiting the US unless opting for an express pre-clearance NEXUS pass.
No worry, the vocal Russia/China sympathizers out here will try to convince you that the whole world not aligning with them is a CIA job, neocolonialism and western media brainwash… :)
Dictators like Putin dare not let their military become powerful. There is too much risk that the military will rise up and depose the dictator. In most NATO countries the military and people believe in the country and rule of law and so they won't do that. However a dictator doesn't have that option.
Russia will make a show of building up, but they will be careful about it. Weapons systems that look good in the demo will be ordered in small numbers, but not enough to make a difference in any war as they would be used against them. Even when they do have good systems, leaders are promoted based on loyalty to the dictator, not how good they are.
It’s also not just about intention, but about possibility. Russia lacks well-trained soldiers and modern equipment as demonstrated in the war. They can’t magically solve either of those problems.
No magic needed. Russia has some modern gear that they make themselves. They have some well trained soldiers. They know how to design modern gear. They know how to build more gear. They know how to train good soldiers.
What they can't do is fix their problems overnight. In just ten years they could fix the problems. Putin is old and statistically unlikely to live ten more years. Their system of government is vulnerable to the military running a coup and taking over so it is unlikely they will fix their problems, but they could.
It won’t, it’s just bluster. With 90% probability they won’t do jack shit to a NATO country because they know that’d be the end of us all. That 10% is the Russian sociopath factor; I could absolutely believe they’d prefer killing a huge chunk of humanity and themselves rather than look weak
They couldn’t even handle Ukraine. How is this going to get bumpy? What troops do they even have to build up in the west.
Remember a few years ago when Russian mercs decided to attack an American special forces team in Syria and they not only failed to kill a single American they got bombed into oblivion?
Same thing will happen if these troops so much as step into NATO territory
From what I heard it was a bit more nuanced than that. The russian government deliberately ordered the army’s air defences disabled which allowed American air power to have free reign in that battlefield. I’ve no doubt the americans would have beaten them back regardless but with casualties.
Aug 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt a setback to Epic Games, maker of the popular video game “Fortnite,” in its legal battle against Apple (AAPL.O), declining to let a federal judge’s injunction take effect that could force the iPhone maker to change payment practices in its lucrative App Store.
Liberal Justice Elena Kagan, acting for the Supreme Court, denied Epic’s request to lift a decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S.
Kagan handles emergency matters for the Supreme Court arising from a group of states including California.
In seeking to pause the injunction from taking effect while it readies an appeal to the Supreme Court, Apple told the 9th Circuit that Rogers had erred in prohibiting it from enforcing its rules against all app developers in the United States, rather than just Epic.
“Apple will be required to change its business model to comply with the injunction before judicial review has been completed,” the company told the 9th Circuit.
“The undisputed evidence establishes that the injunction will limit Apple’s ability to protect users from fraud, scams, malware, spyware, and objectionable content.”
JAKARTA, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia’s capital Jakarta topped the list as the world’s most polluted city on Wednesday, having consistently ranked among the 10 most polluted cities globally since May, according to data by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.
Resident Rizky Putra lamented that the worsening air quality was putting his children’s health at risk.
Jakarta residents have long complained of toxic air from chronic traffic, industrial smoke and coal-fired power plants.
Some of them launched and won a civil lawsuit in 2021 demanding the government take action to control air pollution.
Still, Nathan Roestandy, co-founder of air quality app Nafas Indonesia, said the pollution level has continued to deteriorate.
Indonesia is set to name Nusantara as the new capital next year and at least 16,000 civil servants, military and police are due to move there.
reuters.com
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