We had some crazy weather in Boston today (ominous pic of the crows is from last week), but at least I had some talks for my #AcademicPlaylist to keep me company while helping my neighbor clear a downed tree from their driveway! (1/9)
Next was an incredible talk by William Merrill on the limitations of transformer models at the SAIL workshop. Using complexity theory Merrill proves that transformers are fundamentally incapable of a number of critical reasoning tasks, such as inherently sequential reasoning, and workarounds impair scalability. This talk should be required listening for folks using/developing these models. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLHuwjeSf1Y (5/9) #AI#transformers
@bwaber by far the most interesting/informative thing I saw with respect to #LLMs all year is this talk by William Merrill which came from Ben Waber’s great regular digest of online talks - watch this, follow Ben…(money back guarantee)
(passing familiarity with the Chomsky hierarchy and complexity theory will help, but you only need to understand what kind of thing they are for the talk to be interesting)
Yes, you are correct. These things you can't read offline. And most of the time, going the visual route (like imaging each screen and then OCR) to get a clear-text copy is ruinously time consuming and difficult.
Only if you can put the file on a device, and then read off-line, in airplane mode for example, with a FOSS reader, are you reasonably safe from tracking.
Even if you get a book DRM-free from Gutenberg or a shadow library, if you read it using a corporate reader like the Amazon app on a smartphone...I'd bet that Big Brother is watching.
@demerara@yo_bj@scissortail I keep coming back to this quote from the #book "100 Things We've Lost to the Internet" by Pamela Paul: "The United States remains the sole developed country without some kind of federal consumer #data protection law or agency."
Here we are, trying to make do on a rainy Monday morning. I had a pretty good weekend. Nothing super special, but got plenty done, including finally buying a Christmas tree. It's a little short but very well-shaped. We'll decorate tonight. I did not, however, get my big project even started - cleaning out the garage. I really need to do it before the snow flies, but there's no sign of it in the 10 day, so I'm safe.
@stevewfolds@bookstodon at least when you read it back then, you probably thought "at least it couldn't happen here". Today, it is terrifyingly easy to imagine
Still trying to figure out who in my family is neurodivergent and how.
Seems like there is a pattern emerging: If both parents are neurodivergent, chances for the kids to be is at almost 100%. If only one parent is, chances seem to be about 50/50.
Anyone know if there are actual studies on that or is there just not enough data from past generations?
@HaelusNovak@btaroli@looneybyron@pathfinder@actuallyautistic I get that you guys are talking about Autism I know mine's not the same neurodivergency but there are some parallels forgive me if I'm cutting in with a different topic.
no, and it's actually the other way round: if it's not recessive, in other words, dominant, it can be selected against very easily.
If a gene is recessive, it's very hard to get rid of unless you have genetic tests for it. (example: hens laying eggs with a fishy smell. That's a recessive gene defect affecting an enzyme, it's a simple Mendelian trait, and pretty much impossible to get rid of in a flock. I think they may have blood tests now).
Dr Craig Lamont looks at how Robert Louis Stevenson & his literary creations have been – & continue to be – remembered & memorialised, in Scotland & around the world
Amazon US are doing a Black Friday deal on The Sandman book 1. 560 pages down from $29.99 to $13.40. Obviously I'd prefer that you bought it from an independent book or comic shop. And obviously I know some of you are on a budget where this could make a difference.
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@davidboatymcboa@neilhimself
Neil Gaiman ... Neil Gaiman ... I've heard that name before. would that be the Neil Gaiman of 'Good Omens' fame? If so ... someone fucked up the end of 'Good Omens II' and I'm still pissed about that.
@samus12345@startrek I didn't see it either until the Memory Alpha entry for the episode listed her as there.
I wonder if it was a case where they didn't have the original actress and/or didn't really have any lines for her. So why put her up front and center to say nothing and then fans complain that everyone else in Nova Squadron was back and talking and she wasn't.
A post from February:
Charles Henry Turner was a pioneer in entomology - and he couldn't get a job in higher ed, so he taught high school biology.
"Across his distinguished 33-year career, Turner authored 71 papers and was the first African American to have his research published in the prestigious journal Science."
His simple but elegant experiments in public parks revolutionized understanding of bees.
one of my big problems in life is that i'm not good at motivating myself to do things. left to my own devices, doing things—even things i enjoy—is sporadic at best.
music, drawing, learning programming—all these things i'm interested in, but struggle to follow through on, & it's very frustrating. i need externally-imposed structure to get anything done.
i always struggled with homework, but my grades were great otherwise (honors, AP, etc). eventually i started doing my homework in school, cause i just wouldn't get it done at home.
& i don't really know what to do about this, which is doubly frustrating.
Hey @neilhimself any advice for an aspiring comic book writer who has familial tremors so he can't draw worth a damn and has entire worlds he could partner with some artists on? I can't afford to commission entire comics with my current job, and I've been searching for an artist or artists to partner with for years. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Loved the second season of good omens btw! Can't wait for season 3!
@neilhimself I just moved out here to Austin, I'm not sure how prevalent the art department is at UT. I have yet to avail myself of the local library, been meaning to do that. Those are some good options, thank you good sir for your Sage advice. :)