Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 13m

Underwater city coming up? Then, you would just need a cloud city to get Bioshock.

1

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 16m

www.reuters.com/video/watch/... A little home on the ocean bed.

www.reuters.com

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 18m

geographical.co.uk/science-envi... Underwater homes?

The unusual undersea human habitats around the world

From the watery depths of Florida to Gloucester, discover more about the fascinating proposed – and fully built – undersea habitats for humans

geographical.co.uk

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 29m

store.steampowered.com/app/2643390/... There's a new game based on Voyager.

Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown on Steam

Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown is a story-driven survival strategy game in which the fate of the iconic starship is in your hands. Take the helm, manage the ship and resources, and make diffi...

store.steampowered.com

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

but with content that could ever so remotely and vaguely be argued to be offensive. It's not some chaotic #AI either but the way their company operates.

Frankly, the paperclip maximizer scenario always struck me as silly and unrealistic.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

Once upon a time, there was a thought experiment about an #AI called the paperclip maximizer. This hypothetical AI was instructed to produce paperclips. It then decided to turn the entire planet, solar system, and so on into paperclips.

That's essentially how Anthropic operates

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

While I'm not sure the Australian government directly banned this one, these kinds of bans happen as a consequence of them.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

store.steampowered.com/app/2492650/...
www.refused-classification.com/censorship-t...
A horror game got banned in Australia.

Injection π23 'Ars Regia' on Steam

Classic survival horror focused on puzzle solving, exploration and strategy. Part II of 'Injection π23' trilogy.

store.steampowered.com

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

store.steampowered.com/app/2492650/...
www.refused-classification.com/censorship-t...
A horror game got banned in Australia.

Injection π23 'Ars Regia' on Steam

Classic survival horror focused on puzzle solving, exploration and strategy. Part II of 'Injection π23' trilogy.

store.steampowered.com

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

There was one firm, I think it was Anthropic, which operated beyond parody, creating a ridiculous bot which went around chasing anything which could ever so remotely and vaguely be argued to be offensive. #AI

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

"harmful content" is not a real concept. It's vague. It's meaningless. And it's, frankly, a harmful concept. #AI

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 9h

"harmful content" is not a real concept. It's vague. It's meaningless. And it's, frankly, a harmful concept. #AI

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 1d

In one sci-fi story, there is a big AI which uses the power of the Dyson Swarm to deduce how to do FTL. It takes many thousands of years.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 1d

When I've seen Dyson Spheres in science fiction, it's usually to show that a civ is super advanced.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 1d

self-replicating space mining robots) and it might involve disassembling the planet Mercury to use as materials. #AI

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 1d

Sam Altman wants to build a Dyson Sphere? It's where you surround a star with countless satellites to capture all of it's output energy. #AI

While it would provide enough energy to run any program (or power countless space colonies), there are estimates of it taking hundreds of years (with

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 1d

As an alien, I naturally approve of space exploration.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 3d

bsky.app/profile/virs... Here's a thread on porn science. #bskycensorship #anime

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · Aug 23

Porn science:🧵 #iepol #irishsky #ireland #freespeech #anime

No link between porn and sexism.

Kohut, T., Baer, J. L., & Watts, B. (2015). Is Pornography Really about “Making Hate to Women”? Pornography Users Hold More Gender Egalitarian Attitudes Than Nonusers in a Representative American Sample.

Is Pornography Really about “Making Hate to Women”? Pornography Users Hold More Gender Egalitarian Attitudes Than Nonusers in a Representative American Sample

According to radical feminist theory, pornography serves to further the subordination of women by training its users, males and females alike, to view women as little more than sex objects over who...

doi.org

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 3d

bsky.app/profile/virs... Thread going into porn science. #SaveSpeech

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · Aug 23

Porn science:🧵 #iepol #irishsky #ireland #freespeech #anime

No link between porn and sexism.

Kohut, T., Baer, J. L., & Watts, B. (2015). Is Pornography Really about “Making Hate to Women”? Pornography Users Hold More Gender Egalitarian Attitudes Than Nonusers in a Representative American Sample.

Is Pornography Really about “Making Hate to Women”? Pornography Users Hold More Gender Egalitarian Attitudes Than Nonusers in a Representative American Sample

According to radical feminist theory, pornography serves to further the subordination of women by training its users, males and females alike, to view women as little more than sex objects over who...

doi.org

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 5d

Mastodon is far worse than Bluesky.

bsky.app/profile/virs... I wrote about them a few months ago.

I've seen someone act as if it's less puritanical. Practically speaking, it's far worse. It comes with a hundred headaches and was pitched as a silver bullet.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · Jun 10

One problem w/ #Mastodon is the "I told you so" energy for... using a social network everyone uses.

To list issues with Mastodon, not an exhaustive list.

The discourse's inherently fragmented (a tiny part is visible). This leads to people getting frustrated and arguing.

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 5d

Fair warning that Hachy blocks users / instances on a seemingly whimsical basis (and anyone who criticizes them). Things like that are why Mastodon is not a viable social network.

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 5d

I just looked at posts on Mastodon, and one of the first things I saw was someone bragging about how no one reads any of their posts there.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 5d

There are good reasons why someone would use Bluesky over Mastodon. Mastodon seemed potentially interesting a number of years ago but it's long become evident that it's not a viable social network.

Reposted

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 26d

bsky.app/profile/virs... I went over why Mastodon is bad months ago.

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · Jun 10

One problem w/ #Mastodon is the "I told you so" energy for... using a social network everyone uses.

To list issues with Mastodon, not an exhaustive list.

The discourse's inherently fragmented (a tiny part is visible). This leads to people getting frustrated and arguing.

1 1 3

Reposted

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · Jun 10

One problem w/ #Mastodon is the "I told you so" energy for... using a social network everyone uses.

To list issues with Mastodon, not an exhaustive list.

The discourse's inherently fragmented (a tiny part is visible). This leads to people getting frustrated and arguing.

1 2 8

virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 6d

As I've said before, Mastodon is worse than Bluesky.

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virski.bsky.social @virski.bsky.social · 6d

Google's attack on side-loading is pretty bad.