If you like reading about the history of the Web, I think you’ll enjoy this article Pipe Dreams: The life and times of Yahoo Pipes.

I also enjoyed how the design captures the era (and has some fun Easter eggs).

More things in my life need a chaos slider.

What was that social network for when you only have 1% of battery left? 🪫

Who Is @BasedBeffJezos, The Leader Of The Tech Elite’s ‘E/Acc’ Movement?

This article on Forbes describes the memetic leader behind a major group of AI proponents, a movement called “effective accelerationism” or “e/acc”. And it pits them against another movement known as effective altruism or “EA”.

The e/acc movement believes in unfettered technological progress, while the EA movement tends to espouse caution and, often, regulation.

The whole OpenAI brouhaha seems like it might boil down to a conflict between these two movements.

Reading this article, I get the feeling that my own beliefs are not well aligned with either movement. There’s so many unknowns about the future of AI and its impact on humanity. But, if we assume that it is going to be another large technological leap forward, and a fundamental advancement in computation and human computer interaction, then it feels important to consider where the dominant movements driving AI forward will bring us. I fear, with either movement, if played out to their logical conclusions, might result in similar dystopian outcomes.

The question I would want to consider in either movement is: “Who owns the machine?”

With e/acc’s hyper-capitalist ideas, I think a limited set of corporations would own the means of operating advanced AI. Capitalism tends to concentrate wealth and power in a limited set of hands.

With EA, it might be the government (and whatever limited companies they grant a license to). Regulation and strict control tend to also concentrate power in a few places.

Either outcome seems bad.

Compare this to earlier computer advancements that tended to decentralize innovation and control.

I’m thinking of the early days of the Web. Or even earlier to the dawn of the personal computer, where Laine Nooney’s book on the software ecosystem of the Apple II shows a history where innovation via many independent developers, creating software that empowered entirely new industries. Personal computers, solving problems in the lives of everyday people.

If AI is going to be as impactful as the Web and even the personal computer, I think we ought to consider how we can decentralize this advancement. What models allow for this technology to be owned and operated by everyone? What models tend to consolidate power into a few hands? What keeps the computer a tool that empowers the user, and what makes it a machine that enriches and empowers a select few?

I ran out of time to find a better solution to Advent of Code Day 5 part 2. So I let the brute force algorithm run over night and to my surprise after 4h 14m of execution time it spit out the right answer 😎

Another capture for the Chronolog at Mason Mill Park.

Finished reading: Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey 📚

Hiked around Hocking Hills and Conkle’s Hollow, Ohio over 🦃 week.

I find this area so beautiful. It’s filled with Hemlock trees, gorges, and waterfalls.

Danger

Vogel State Park and one happy/maybe bored dog.

It’s becoming spider season, but here’s a spider of a different sort.

Troll Bridge

Went down a rabbit hole and look what I found:

GifyPet

Computer nerd level up: I successfully terminated Cat 6 ethernet into RJ45 jacks. Turns out, it’s not that difficult after watching some youtube videos and buying the right tools.

Also, electricians did the hard part and ran the ethernet line.

I recently discovered The Serial Port on YouTube and have been loving their series’s on old internet and web hosting hardware.

Check out this series on How to Start an ISP (like it’s 1993):

And this one on the the Cobalt RaQ, a Linux web server appliance:

Finished reading: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 📚

Book 1 of an epic series. I’m hooked!

Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye, Scotland

You can really get an incredible perspective of the smoke hanging over the US from the GOES satellite.

The animation loops are fascinating too.

Headset hot take: people will buy it for entertainment, but it’ll be a small market at that price. I don’t think the productivity use cases are compelling enough.