NotableLinks
Bing Is Generating Images of SpongeBob Doing 9/11
To be fair, you could draw a picture of this in Photoshop, too. But I suspect a few brands might have a few things to say about Microsoft hosting this tool. #AI [Link]
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An open rubric for technology assessment
I’ve written and open sourced a rubric for assessing new technologies as part of your organization. It’s written for use in non-technical organizations in particular, but it might be useful everywhere. The idea is to pose questions that are worth asking when you’re selecting a vendor, or
NotableLinks
Mastodon Annual Report 2022
Amazing work. Consider how much this team has been able to achieve with a tiny fraction of the budget of a VC-funded tech startup - and the impact of their work is phenomenal. #Technology [Link]
NotableLinks
How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet
It turns out that Google quietly alters your search queries into ones it can more easily monetize, without you knowing. It's the kind of anti-user nonsense only a monopolist could pull off. #Technology [Link]
NotableLinks
Weird A.I. Yankovic, a cursed deep dive into the world of voice cloning
I think I'm a clone now. #AI [Link]
NotableLinks
Predictive Policing Software Terrible At Predicting Crimes
"Crime predictions generated for the police department in Plainfield, New Jersey, rarely lined up with reported crimes, an analysis by The Markup has found." In fact, much less than 1% of the time. #AI [Link]
NotableLinks
A New Social Web Working Group at the W3C
A look at the inner workings of getting standards built within the framework of the W3C. It honestly sounds like technical writers should be a part of the mix alongside other practitioners. #Technology [Link]
NotableLinks
The Philadelphia Inquirer launches 7-figure ad campaign to lure millennials
Notable to see a newspaper run an ad campaign that genuinely competes with another one. Kind of a bold move in a world where the whole market is declining. #Media [Link]
Why I hate flags
In her latest (excellent) book Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, the author Naomi Klein makes an offhand comment that, as a leftist, flags make her itchy. I feel the same way, in a way that goes beyond the Stars and Stripes or the Union Jack. At its worst,
NotableLinks
Critics Furious Microsoft Is Training AI by Sucking Up Water During Drought
"Microsoft's data centers in West Des Moines, Iowa guzzled massive amounts of water last year to keep cool while training OpenAI's ChatGPT-4. [...] This happened in the midst of a more than three-year drought, further taxing a stressed water system that's been so dry
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The notable list: October 2023
This is my monthly roundup of the links and media I found interesting. Do you have suggestions? Let me know! Apps + Websites DALL·E 3. Once again, this looks completely like magic. Very high-fidelity images across a bunch of different styles. The implications are enormous. Photoshop for Web. Insanely good.