Boosted by @trending@homestead.social
So, this "curing cancer" thing will have to wait to feed the word salad generator.
https://www.engadget.com/2225849/google-shuts-down-alphafold/
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Koen Hufkens, PhD
@koen_hufkens@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Addressing #climatechange through data driven methods in #ecology #remotesensing #phenology #foodsecurity
#rstats developer | #academic omnivore | move fast and fix things | personal account | #politics, #science & #foss software | account with amnesia | he / him
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
- Leonard Cohen
2299 Followers
2060 Following
50 Posts
Joined April 14, 2022
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RE: https://mastodon.energy/@Sustainable2050/116982434655513966
Mitigating climate change was expensive they said. People wouldn't want to be burdened by the costs. Above all, industry does not want to contribute their fair share.
Count your pennies, as the bill of (adapting to) climate change effects will be worse than the one mitigating it. (FYI this was all predicted in 2006 - see Stern review)
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Climate bills are coming in: 153 houses destroyed by climate-fueled wildfires in the village of Le Porge, not far from Bordeaux.
Replying to
@berkes@mastodon.nl Seen floating around here, and summarizing this: AI is a way for the wealthy to access skill, while it denies access to wealth for the skilled.
Original was by Christopher Penn.
https://mastodon.social/@tony@hoyle.me.uk/117027603866614261
Seriously, what the fuck do they want from their employees?
Everybody is forced to use AI, but those new graduates that grew up with this stuff aren't welcome. You can have critical thinking or AI, not both
Make up your damn mind or admit this was just a scam to lower wages.
https://futurism.com/future-society/college-critical-thinking-ai
RE: https://mastodon.social/@finestructure/116866735367102216
The people mandating AI are the same who mandated the return to office. They are the same micro-managing narcissists.
You've been lied to. A tale in two graphs.
https://projects.propublica.org/why-carbon-capture-cant-solve-climate-change/
#climatechange #carboncapture #solarenergy
RE: https://mastodon.social/@404mediaco/117009531378116312
If you know these people, this is not about user concerns, this is A/B testing and additional training data to optimize the slop so it blends in better.
Quoting
Following 404 Media's reporting on how LinkedIn is full of AI slop, the platform is giving users a chance to report it when they see it.
https://www.404media.co/linkedin-introduces-a-seems-like-ai-slop-button/
Open quoted postReplying to
@alan@lighthouse.co.im @jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net Many of the people affected don't have the (extra) time, money or expertise.
Replying to
@baldur@toot.cafe The fact that you have to coerce these tools doesn't reflect well on them either. This sort of manipulative language is super uncomfortable and might be one reason women don't like these tools.
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@baldur@toot.cafe A side product of all this is that people who are the most toxic in companies get a leg up. The micro-managing manipulative bastard will be "good at AI". The holistic manager with a long term vision systems thinking approach probably can't be bothered - as the context window for the models still isn't large enough for this.
Replying to
@davep@infosec.exchange This is a story about LinkedIn, isn't it.
RE: https://mstdn.social/@W_Lucht/116798138143359633
As a (climate) scientist there is no solace in being right about these changes.
What this episode should show is that we can't afford declining climate action from the EU.
Climate change is an enemy which is not deterred by (more) bombs or strong national borders. In this context climate change remains a national security issue.
Quoting
Just a reminder: #climate heating is still only at its beginning. It'll get much stronger, quickly, over the next decades - during the lifetime of most people alive today.
Then, everybody will be surprised. But "we told you so!" won't feel very satisfying.
Temperatures will change in the mean. That will shift weather patterns, such as the frequency, duration and location of extremes, alter seasons, produce hugely problematic ecological shifts, Earth feedbacks.
And yes ... we told you so.
Replying to
@baldur@toot.cafe Yeah, everyone wants to be someone's manager it seems (even if it is in silico). There is a strong link to toxic masculinity here (for the boosters), which has been argued is rooted in shame of failing to reach certain expectations (mostly in perceived status - as in how many people you get to boss around).
My prediction, we will massively overbuild AI infrastructure only to realize that most people in the end would like to run things locally on their own (or maybe limited rented) hardware.
https://huggingface.co/blog/security-incident-july-2026
Yet another culture war which isn't.
Yes, you can do it, you can hold two equally true positions in your head at the same time!
- air conditioning saves lives
- air conditioning is not the solution to the problem which demands air conditioning, i.e. climate change
Congratulations, you did it.
Now address 2 so you don't have to rely on 1 that much. Move along people.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/05/europe-air-conditioning-culture-wars-heat-up
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@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net So, they are selling cameras again.
Hear, me out... what about renewables and meat every 14 days? Seems reasonable right.
*gestures wildly*
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/06/five-outlandish-plans-to-remodel-earth-climate
Replying to
@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net I think this should be illegal in the EU if found out. Not entirely sure.
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@tante@tldr.nettime.org Good news. The sad news is that with only slop free contributions it will be a prime target for AI scraper bots (desperate for human "low-background" content).
RE: https://social.circl.lu/@quinn/116826829606584467
Good point, boring stuff doesn't attract (too many) narcissist people craving power. There is not much pomp or "respect" to be derived from boring functional infrastructure. That's if it isn't sold to private equity which then extort the public.
Quoting
@IngridHbn@mastodon.online @jonesmurphy@mastodon.social that isn't even the problem. The rich keep people hooked on fossil fuels because it's not only wildly profitable, it's exciting and distracting. The personality of the oil industry is There Will Be Blood.
Solar/wind is boring infrastructure that just works. It's no fun. No great geopolitical drama, no blood. Just nerd shit and reliability. There are no titans of industry; just reliable and cheap power.
Open quoted postRE: https://tldr.nettime.org/@tante/116850644015854691
This will be every AI company, soon. Kiss your pension goodbye and tag on some austerity measures, too.
Quoting
OpenAI wanting the US government to take 5% is not "democratization" or something, it's a bailout. OpenAI can't get the money from private investors or the stock market and needs the hole in their budget filled so they are trying to take US tax dollars.
Open quoted post"Ce n'est pas un cas isolé, Julien Vignasse a croisé depuis le début de l'été une trentaine de personnes perdues à cause de cartes générées par IA ou trouvées sur internet mais avec les mauvaises informations."
Multiple people got lost in the Pyrenees using AI generated maps. Wild, just wild.
https://www.ici.fr/emissions/l-info-d-ici-ici-bearn-bigorre/deux-randonneuses-demandent-un-itineraire-a-chatgpt-et-se-perdent-sur-les-hauteurs-de-cauterets-9812613
Replying to
@ErikJonker@mastodon.social @tante@tldr.nettime.org There is a difference between AI autocomplete and "letting things rip" I think. I would put the line at commits/PRs by an AI client - as this implies limited or not oversight (and a "developer" just pushing yes on most things). But I'm not sure what the final rules will look like.
If an investigation surfaces that the workers regularly poop in the fields because they weren't allowed frequent enough breaks we would be full circle.
https://futurism.com/science-energy/diarrhea-lettuce-taylor-farms-prison-labor
Replying to
@jaztrophysicist@social.sciences.re @davep@infosec.exchange The correct interpretation is that this is a management failure which the employees have to salvage by cosplaying (publicly).
Woorden doen er toe, in dit geval was het geen "ongeval" of "accident", het was een aanrijding.
Dit was geen kosmische fout zonder aanwijsbare schuld.
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/07/21/dodelijk-ongeval-scootmobiel-jabbeke/
This is a surreal read. And the reason why these people panic is that they are detached from reality, and in that hubris forgot to unionize. They are now for the first time reckoning with the fact that they might be unwanted.
"Still, the couple, who earn a combined income of $550,000, say they feel woefully behind their friends"
Also, if you can't get by on half a million a year ask your mailman, or the service worker you get your lunch from for advice.
Tiny 🎻
https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2026/07/19/the-biggest-winners-of-the-american-economy-fear-theyre-sinking-fast/
Replying to
@gedeonm@mastodon.social Not only can you swim under them, even better, these things actually provide cover during a crossing!
RE: https://sunny.garden/@librarysquirrel/116782558523740667
Instead of pivoting to computer efficiency we pivoted to conspicuous consumption. Gains are marginal, the (environmental) costs infinite.
Replying to
@loucyx@mastodon.social Can we smash it with a baseball bat to see if it is bullet-tough?
Cognitive offloading. De trap af.
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/08/02/auto-kerkstraattrap-blankenberge-ongeval/
Seems like I can easily program the DJI Lito X1 for mapping purposes via waypoint flights. It is a bit hackish, but works well enough as a backup RGB mapping purposes. Pleasant surprise as I considered it only a toy to keep my piloting fresh.
Replying to
@kevpeirce@aus.social Tea, Earl Grey, Hot.
It will all be vibes in years from now. Reality? Who needs reality if you can punish people based on the flavour of the month.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/28/home-office-used-ai-hallucinated-information-to-refuse-asylum-claim-judge-suggests
Replying to
@djnavarro@hachyderm.io Thank you for this write up. Now I don't need to venture there.
I had gleaned much of this from short AI use, but having a "case study" from a trusted source puts me at ease - nothing much is lost and I can still use it in very very narrow cases.
Replying to
@TallSimon@mstdn.ca In a lot of cases LLMs are appealing to people because of the novelty of "I asked the computer" as in "natural language asked". And above all it appeals to management, as in the past they did not know how to "ask" a computer anything. Now they have this idea of I can do this too, this is "easy".
Replying to
@TallSimon@mstdn.ca Caveat here is that you have to know what you are doing.
That's the difference between e.g. using a multi-modal LLM for object detection at 2 images per second, or doing the same using YOLO in the ms range (offline on some old hardware).
I'm a realist when I read these kind of messages. FireSat only exists because of the climate breakdown, and them counting on the fact that the chaos will be bad enough so insurance companies and others will pay for a commercial licenses.
Academics, NGOs and governments might get a non-commercial license, but the data is certainly not open or free. This despite playing the non-profit angle - hard.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/09/google-backs-privately-funded-satellite-constellation-for-wildfire-detection/
RE: https://mas.to/@Aubreader/116883676100177394
This is the regression in the translation quality I noticed. Never use this for anything with legal repercussions as it will make things up, i.e. doesn't translate.
Replying to
@jaztrophysicist@social.sciences.re @davep@infosec.exchange LinkedIn is nothing but people trying to pass on a management failure as their personal growth moment.
Replying to
@nxadm@infosec.exchange Shareholder driven companies I would say. Most mom and pop companies are actually the backbone of many countries. But increasingly they are squeezed out by predators.
Take only what you need, leave it better than you found it.
Tech bros: No way, I'll just take it all. Over and over and over and over again.
https://stephenfollows.com/p/what-just-happened-to-thenumberscom-should-worry-us-all
Rising to the occasion the #14juillet celebration in Paris will feature firefighter plane overflights.
#climatechange
RE: https://mastodon.social/@verge/116895921772645162
Remember the scheme where you would heat your home / hot water with the residual heat from a cryptomining / radiator rig?
Yeah, we're in that phase ...
RE: https://fediscience.org/@rahmstorf/116985506477662408
I've lived and worked in Bordeaux and know the area well. It is one thing to see these images and realize the severity of it, it is another to really know what was lost - places I care about.
Quoting
Die #Feuer in Frankreich gehen weiter: es mussten schon über 250.000 Menschen evakuiert werden.
Hier eine Karte der Lage am Sonntagmorgen und mein Foto von der Fahrt nach Bordeaux am Freitagabend.
Warum die #Erderhitzung die Brandgefahr eskalieren lässt: https://scilogs.spektrum.de/klimalounge/hitze-braende-kachelmann/
Replying to
@mike@fosstodon.org He will make sure of that by forcing an AI bailout that the public can't afford.
RE: https://fediscience.org/@petergleick/117044468735251446
He has shown all his cards now. Being worth more than the Earth itself is his goal. Don't count on any well meaning actions from such a person. If he does any good it is collateral which will be destroyed in the end.
Quoting
This kind of Muskian grotesque, ignorant, aggressive, hubris is why corporations are willing to literally destroy the Earth, ecosystems, and #climate in return for a short-term, fleeting, profit.
RE: https://floss.social/@doctormo/116825974597784492
AI companies are royal fuckers. They burn common resources for private profit.
Exhibit 958582385
Quoting
I'm going to sleep. If anyone is wondering why the #inkscape website is down, it's because it's being crushed by AI bots again, so I've taken it offline.
I tried to put in more ip-blocks, and then tried to install Anubis. But I'm not a sysadmin and so this is just taking time to do. Can't do much of it tonight (this morning) so I'm afraid it's staying offline.
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