#data neutrality

[jeffsperandeo]

AI is skewed against you, and it’s by design

Artificial Intelligence (AI) influences many aspects of life, the concern about its neutrality is paramount. As a professional dedicated to innovation and transparency, I delve into the complexities of AI development and its susceptibility to political biases. Data Source Selection and Bias:The foundation of AI’s learning mechanism lies in its training data. If this data predominantly reflects…

[itellmyselfsecrets]

“When you say man you don’t ‘include women too’, even if everyone does technically ‘know that’. Numerous studies in a variety of languages over the past 40 years has consistently found that what is called the generic masculine (using words like ‘he’ in a gender neutral way) is in fact not read generically. It is read overwhelmingly as male.” - Caroline Criado Perez (Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men)

[octalien]

wanna see smth since its been in my mind for a while

[queen-mabs-revenge]

communist generative ai boosters on this website truly like

[boymanmaletheshequel]

As we enter back into an era where technology is used primarily as a weapon against you by the United States and Russian governments, (welcome back 1980s! 😍) let’s go over some tips to consider if you are a queer, bipoc, or otherwise an “enemy from within” as trump so lovingly and hypocritically put it, to protecting your identity and privacy through the internet so that you can continue to resist this cultural shift safely and resiliently!

• stop posting identifying information on social media like your full name, place of residence, and pictures of yourself or other at risk people, and go back and delete posts in which you might’ve already.

• disable location tracking services and camera and mic access to apps, services, or websites that you know to be compromised by the influence of shady overseers, such as X, Instagram, Facebook, Google, and TikTok. I know it’s convenient to use these but it’s a MAJOR security hazard.

• Turn your phone COMPLETELY off when discussing sensitive subjects with friends or when you are making plans of resistance and gathering your communities, or when you are discussing personal feelings on such subjects with family, friends, or a doctor/therapist. Basically all mobile phones now have live mics that are constantly listening to you.

• Create a new email under a fake name if you haven’t already to use as your primary email address, in order to further protect your true identity.

• use an alternative browser like DuckDuckGo or brave in place of google, preferably with a VPN on top of it to even further secure your browsing history and to bypass potential IP blocks of websites from the government.

• if you want to watch YouTube and don’t want a recording of your watch history, log out of your account and watch that way, preferably you would just delete your account entirely but I understand why some might not want to.

• pirate content from streaming services via piracy websites, again so that your watch history can’t be used to make assumptions about you if that data were ever sold to the government.

These are obviously just some of the ways to bypass data collection and ti protect your real identity online, but there are many others I’m sure I’m not aware of. Please add to this if you can, and stay safe out there, because anything you say can and will be used against you in the future of this country. But: We have survived this kind of shit before, we can again, if we are careful. Loose lips sink ships, and that goes for the internet as well.

[5mind]

btw Pelago uses plural 'they/them' and plural 'we' since they're p much a symbiotic duo but Lagon themself uses singular 'they/them' , Alicia uses 'she/her'. first person pronoun for both is 'I'.

[ii-meeple-confessions]

Who’s yr favorite mephone that isn’t like. One of the main ones (3gs, 4 ,4s) Mine is definitely mephone 3g because i’m SAD about her :-( (I think i already sent an ask about that )

Rest in peace Mephone 3g you would have had so much potential as a character 😞

.

[doedipus]

Looking up videos of elden ring combo theory is kind of maddening. There's tech and it looks cool but the engine and frame data are so obviously fighting you more often than not. I wish fromsoft would further embrace the comparison to fighting games at some point and build a game with useful target combos and such. Hitconfirms and things like routing and meter management are really cool skills to call for in a game, and it's always frustrating that they're like, purely lab monster shit more often than not in these things. I guess ultimately souls games are more dungeon crawling rpgs than action or fighting games, but they've been leaning in that direction increasingly since bloodborne, so I'm surprised they haven't committed more

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 125 (May 16, 1988) - “The Neutral Zone”

Teleplay by: Maurice Hurley Story by: Deborah McIntyre & Mona Clee Directed by: James L. Conway

The Breakdown

This is one of those “multiple story lines going on at the same time” episodes, so first let’s deal with…

Plotline  #1 – After the Enterprise scanners pick up an old earth space capsule that piques Data’s interest, he and Worf decide to hop over and take a look. There they find three preserved bodies in cryonic chambers, which are beamed over to sick bay.  Turns out these three bodies have been sitting out in space since the late 20th century, y’know, from 25 years ago when people began the common practice of preserving their deceased loved ones (it was like Tamagotchi’s, everyone was doing it) in the hope of reviving them when medical science had advanced far enough.  That’s right, I said deceased.  These three people were frozen at the exact moment of their death (that’s gotta be tricky to pull off), and now revived 300 years by Dr. Beverly Crusher herself; their company is comprised of a Rich Guy who played the stock market, A mother of two, and a drug addicted musician. 

The episode follows the newly resurrected boomers, as they grapple with the fact that they’ve jumped 300+ years into the future, and that their loved ones are all dead, etc. The Rich dude (Ralph ) has a particularly hard time coping with the fact that his fortune is both nonexistent and (even if it weren’t) meaningless, since the pursuit of wealth and power no longer holds any sway in the post-scarcity 24th century. The mother (Clare) understandably spends most of the runtime being depressed, until Troi points out that she has a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson, who will undoubtedly welcome his displaced ancient ancestor with open arms. Lastly, the musician (Sonny) pretty much stays a lecherous, sexist, alcoholic, but he’s mostly having a good time enjoying the replicators and hanging out with his new guitar. At various points they inconvenience Picard (who’s dealing with more important things in the other plotline), but mostly they kind of sit around as the Enterprise crew smugly judge them for being ignorant and confused, until they’re transferred to another ship that will take them back to earth and become someone else’s problem.

Plotline #2 -  Starfleet outposts along the Neutral Zone (the established border between the Federation and the Romulan Empire) are being destroyed, and Picard has been ordered to check out if the Romulans are to blame.�� Most of the Episode deals with Picard getting the bridge crew to study the Romulans so they can form a strategy, but that’s easier said than done, since it’s been decades since anyone has heard from them.

Anyways, when they finally arrive along the edge of ‘the zone’, Worf makes a shocking revelation that their outposts aren’t destroyed, but rather completely missing, since there would be some sign of debris otherwise.  Shortly thereafter a Romulan ship decloaks, and their captain explains to Picard that their outposts are also missing, and figured it was the Federation’s doing, but now realize it must have been someone-or-something else. Thankfully cooler heads prevail, and both sides agree to collaborate on solving this mystery later on, and then leave, but not before making a thinly-veiled threat that they’ll be back to cause more trouble down the road.

So, on that disconcerting note, the Enterprise optimistically heads back to its regular business because this is the finale, and we need to wrap things up until next season!

The Verdict

The thing is, both plot outlines have plenty of potential, in their own right.  A story about displaced-wealthy-20th-century-folk struggling to fit into a society that has no place for their ideologies, is a perfect theme for Star Trek. And I’ll admit, there’s every chance that the execution of such a story would come off as pretentious and out-of-touch as anything else the show put out during this season, but even a failed attempt would be interesting to watch… provided of course that it was the primary focus of the episode.  My biggest issue wasn’t how hilariously proud of itself the Hurley's script is for criticizing capitalism (while we’re at it, did you know slavery and genocide are also bad? Follow me, for more deep insights!), but rather that the story doesn’t really go anywhere, or do anything with the subject matter.

Ralph (the survivor with the most screen time) is arrogant and demeaning to the crew because he’s used to getting his own way, and we are made to understand that his love of money is directly tied to his character flaws, which is fine, but then what? At one point there’s a scene where he disregards Picard’s orders (to calm the fuck down and stay out of the way), and chooses to intrude on bridge just in time to see the Romulans being space-jerks, but there are no real consequences or thematic correlation, rendering the moment pointless. In the end Ralph seemingly resigns himself to accepting his new lot in life, but has nothing in the way of a meaningful epiphany to help him reach that point. Clare and Sonny both have similarly meandering “journeys” as well. Clare ultimately takes comfort in knowing she has living a descendant (who doesn’t know her, or share any cultural values), while Sonny just happily concludes that since everyone he knows is dead, he doesn’t need to worry about facing any accountability for his past (and seemingly hurtful) life choices.  Remember kids, the secret to finding inner peace is in outliving everyone you've ever wronged!

Meanwhile, the “Romulans-are-back” story line is conceptually more exciting, but it takes almost the entire episode for anything to happen. The most intriguing development is the revelation that some other unknown entity may pose a threat big enough to challenge both the Federation and Romulan empire simultaneously, but then it’s quickly tossed away in favour of a generalized tease about the Romulans stepping up as the show’s primary antagonist. It’s not so much that it’s bad, but like the “boomers-in-space” story, it doesn’t really go anywhere, leaving us with what is essentially a promise that more interesting episodes will continue the story “some other time.”

Now before anyone gets up in arms, yes I am aware that this episode was originally intended as the first in a multi-episode arc, before the writers strike forced them to rework their plan [more on this below].  Be that as it may, even if part 2 had both A) existed, and B) rocked hard, this is still a weakly structured episode.  That’s not to say I hated ‘the neutral zone’ altogether, but I certainly can’t say I thought it was good. 

Nice try guys, maybe next time.

1.5 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Apathetic utopia: One thing that doesn’t sit right with me is the sheer disregard that Picard and many of his crew show for the space-boomer’s safety and well being. For starters, Riker was barely willing to let Data check out the capsule to begin with (even after Data points out that it could have historical value, if nothing else), but even after Data and Worf discover the bodies, Riker seems put out by Data’s insistence that they be preserved.  Then, to make matters worse, when Picard hears that the SB’s have been revived he’s downright irritable with Data, arguing that he should have left the survivors behind because “they WERE dead at the time.”  But like… here’s the thing, Dr. Crusher examined their bodies and discovered that all of them could be revived with relative ease, which suggests they were only clinically dead, and it’s commonly accepted that the window of revival in the Trek universe is significantly larger than our present day reality.  So yeah, they were technically dead, I suppose, but not irretrievably, which I would argue comes with a clear moral responsibility. The context for Picard’s ambivalence toward the situation is that he’s stressed about the upcoming Romulan mission, but that’s still an oddly callous stance for a man who professes the sanctity of life.

Silly things I find interesting: Introducing, the Borg! …kinda.  I can’t remember if the missing outposts are ever mentioned again in the show, but the intended continuation of this story was originally meant to serve as an introduction to the Borg, who would have been revealed as the true culprits. Obviously that didn’t pan out, but it’s interesting to think what might have been.

In fairness to the writers, a big part of why the script was so lacklustre is, once again, due to the strike. Basically, once a writers strike is underway, productions aren’t allowed to make any changes to a script until the union signs an agreement. Knowing the strike was imminent, it seems Maurice Hurley had no choice but to whip up a completed script based on the first draft, in only a couple days time.  Needless to say, the results speak for themselves.  Ultimately, I think it would have made more sense for the studio to keep the script for the following season; ‘Conspiracy’ was already a much more exciting episode, and would have served as a stronger season finale.

Did you know that... in Canada (where I'm from) our "Universal health coverage" still doesn't cover cryogenic suspension. So reach out to your MP and let them know we demand better comprehensive coverage before the next federal election! [All kidding aside, we should be doing that anyway. Seriously, how is dental not inherently included in that?]

[pliablehead]

couldn't decide which version of this was funnier

[itellmyselfsecrets]

“When planners fail to account for gender public spaces become male spaces by default. The reality is that half the global papulation has a female body. Half the global population has to deal on a daily basis with the sexualised menace that is visited on that body…By accounting for women's care responsibilities in urban planning, we make it easier for women to engage fully in the paid workforce…In short, designing the female half of the world into our public spaces is not a matter of resources. It’s a matter of priorities, and currently, whether unthinkingly or not, we just aren't prioritizing women. This is manifestly unjust, and economically illiterate.” - Caroline Criado Perez (Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men)

[chaotic-history]

my guy that's the EU's shit survey wording, not me

[laurelwreathring]

feel free to tell me in the tags what you liked/disliked about it, what you imagined it as in your head when reading the book, thoughts on the accent, cadence, tone, pacing etc

also particularly if you're english/american...how did you feel about the accent in particular.

[5mind]

Italicize what your muse likes. Bold what they love. Strikethru what they hate. Feel free to edit/add more options if relevant to your muse!

REPOST DON’T REBLOG

Taste Preferences

Sweet | Salty | Bitter | Spicy | Savory | Sour | Umami

Meat, Fish and Dairy

Anchovies | Bacon | Beef | Blood | Butter | Caviar | Cheese | Chicken | Clam | Crab | Cream | Duck | Eel | Eggs | Elk | Escargot | Frog | Game | Goose | Heart | Herring | Honey | Intestines | Kidney | Lamb | Liver | Lobster | Meatballs | Meatloaf | Milk | Mussels | Octopus | Oily Fish | Oyster | Pork | Rabbit | Roe | Salmon | Sausage | Scallops | Sea Urchin | Shrimp | Squid | Tilapia | Trout | Tuna | Turkey | Venison | White Fish | Yoghurt

Fruit

Apple | Apricot | Avocado | Banana | Blackberry | Blackcurrent | Blueberry | Cantaloupe | Cherry | Coconut | Cranberry | Dates | Dragonfruit | Durian | Fig | Grape | Grapefruit | Kiwi | Lemon | Lime | Lychee | Mango | Melon | Orange | Papaya | Passionfruit | Pomegranate | Peach | Pear | Pineapple | Plum | Prune | Raisin | Raspberry | Starfruit | Strawberry | Watermelon

Vegetables, Spices and Grains

Arugula | Beans | Beetroot | Bell Pepper | Bok Choy | Broccoli | Cabbage | Carrot | Cauiliflower | Celery | Chilli Peppers | Cilantro | Cinnamon | Corn | Cucumber | Garlic | Ginger | Drumstick | Eggplant | Green Beans | Jalapeños | Kale | Lentils | Lettuce | Mint | Mushrooms | Mustard | Olives | Onions | Orzo | Paprika | Parsnip | Peas | Potatoes | Pumpkin | Radish | Rice | Spices | Soya | Spinach | Sprouts | Tofu | Tomato | Vanilla | Wheat | Zucchini

Drinks and Snacks

Ale | Beer | Biscuits | Bread | Burger | Cake | Candy | Cereal | Chewing Gum | Chicken Nuggets | Chocolate | Chips | Coffee | Cola | Condiments | Cookies | Crackers | Curry | Dried Fruits | Fried Chicken | Fries | Granola | Gummis | Hot Chocolate | Hot Dog | Ice Cream | Jelly | Jerky | Juice | Kimchi | Mac n’ Cheese | Marshmallows | Milkshake | Muffins | Nuts | Pancakes | Pasta | Peanuts | Peanut Butter | Pickles | Pie | Popcorn | Pretzels | Noodles | Oatmeal | Ramen | Rice Cakes | Rock Candy | Salted Caramel | Sandwich | Seeds | Soda | Spaghetti | Spirits | Sushi | Tea | Toast | Trail Mix | Water | Wine

Styles

Baking | Broiling | Casseroles | Frying | Grilling | Pickled | Raw | Roasts | Soups | Steaming | Stew | Stir Fry | Smoked

Tagged by: swiping it from @pushspacetocontinue

Tagging: go on......take it.........