#arbitration tracker

[stereax]

Ty Emberson (SJS)

JJ Moser (TBL)

Connor Dewar (TOR)

Hearings will be from July 20 to Aug 4.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

When Facebook came for your battery, feudal security failed

When George Hayward was working as a Facebook data-scientist, his bosses ordered him to run a “negative test,” updating Facebook Messenger to deliberately drain users’ batteries, in order to determine how power-hungry various parts of the apps were. Hayward refused, and Facebook fired him, and he sued:

https://nypost.com/2023/01/28/facebook-fires-worker-who-refused-to-do-negative-testing-awsuit/

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/battery-vampire/#drained

Hayward balked because he knew that among the 1.3 billion people who use Messenger, some would be placed in harm’s way if Facebook deliberately drained their batteries — physically stranded, unable to communicate with loved ones experiencing emergencies, or locked out of their identification, payment method, and all the other functions filled by mobile phones.

As Hayward told Kathianne Boniello at the New York Post, “Any data scientist worth his or her salt will know, ‘Don’t hurt people…’ I refused to do this test. It turns out if you tell your boss, ‘No, that’s illegal,’ it doesn’t go over very well.”

Negative testing is standard practice at Facebook, and Hayward was given a document called “How to run thoughtful negative tests” regarding which he said, “I have never seen a more horrible document in my career.”

We don’t know much else, because Hayward’s employment contract included a non-negotiable binding arbitration waiver, which means that he surrendered his right to seek legal redress from his former employer. Instead, his claim will be heard by an arbitrator — that is, a fake corporate judge who is paid by Facebook to decide if Facebook was wrong. Even if he finds in Hayward’s favor — something that arbitrators do far less frequently than real judges do — the judgment, and all the information that led up to it, will be confidential, meaning we won’t get to find out more:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/hot-coffee/#mcgeico

One significant element of this story is that the malicious code was inserted into Facebook’s app. Apps, we’re told, are more secure than real software. Under the “curated computing” model, you forfeit your right to decide what programs run on your devices, and the manufacturer keeps you safe. But in practice, apps are just software, only worse:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/23/peek-a-boo/#attack-helicopter-parenting

Apps are part what Bruce Schneier calls “feudal security.” In this model, we defend ourselves against the bandits who roam the internet by moving into a warlord’s fortress. So long as we do what the warlord tells us to do, his hired mercenaries will keep us safe from the bandits:

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

But in practice, the mercenaries aren’t all that good at their jobs. They let all kinds of badware into the fortress, like the “pig butchering” apps that snuck into the two major mobile app stores:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/02/pig-butchering-scam-apps-sneak-into-apples-app-store-and-google-play/

It’s not merely that the app stores’ masters make mistakes — it’s that when they screw up, we have no recourse. You can’t switch to an app store that pays closer attention, or that lets you install low-level software that monitors and overrides the apps you download.

Indeed, Apple’s Developer Agreement bans apps that violate other services’ terms of service, and they’ve blocked apps like OG App that block Facebook’s surveillance and other enshittification measures, siding with Facebook against Apple device owners who assert the right to control how they interact with the company:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

When a company insists that you must be rendered helpless as a condition of protecting you, it sets itself up for ghastly failures. Apple’s decision to prevent every one of its Chinese users from overriding its decisions led inevitably and foreseeably to the Chinese government ordering Apple to spy on those users:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/#airdropped

Apple isn’t shy about thwarting Facebook’s business plans, but Apple uses that power selectively — they blocked Facebook from spying on Iphone users (yay!) and Apple covertly spied on its customers in exactly the same way as Facebook, for exactly the same purpose, and lied about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

The ultimately, irresolvable problem of Feudal Security is that the warlord’s mercenaries will protect you against anyone — except the warlord who pays them. When Apple or Google or Facebook decides to attack its users, the company’s security experts will bend their efforts to preventing those users from defending themselves, turning the fortress into a prison:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

Feudal security leaves us at the mercy of giant corporations — fallible and just as vulnerable to temptation as any of us. Both binding arbitration and feudal security assume that the benevolent dictator will always be benevolent, and never make a mistake. Time and again, these assumptions are proven to be nonsense.

Image: Anthony Quintano (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Zuckerberg_F8_2018_Keynote_%2841118890174%29.jpg

CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A painting depicting the Roman sacking of Jerusalem. The Roman leader's head has been replaced with Mark Zuckerberg's head. The wall has Apple's 'Think Different' wordmark and an Ios 'low battery' icon.]

Next week (Feb 8-17), I'll be in Australia, touring my book *Chokepoint Capitalism* with my co-author, Rebecca Giblin. We'll be in Brisbane on Feb 8, and then we're doing a remote event for NZ on Feb 9. Next is Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. I hope to see you!

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

[joumanadraws]

A Blind Eye

Short scene from Gallifrey season 1 ep4: A Blind Eye, written by Alan Barnes.

Took a bit of research, this one! I took a deep dive into late 1930's fashion and omg Narvin in a fedora.

And here's my progress tracker:

✅ 0 Erasure

1.1 Weapon of Choice

1.2 Square One

1.3 The Inquiry

✅ 1.4 A Blind Eye

✅ 2.1 Lies

✅ 2.2 Spirit

2.3 Pandora

2.4 Insurgency

✅ 2.5 Imperiatrix

3.1 Fractures

3.2 Warfare

✅ 3.3 Appropriation

✅ 3.4 Mindbomb

3.5 Panacea

4.1 Reborn

4.2 Disassembled

4.3 Annihalation

4.4 Forever

5.1 Emancipation

5.2 Evolution

5.3 Arbitration

✅ 6.1 Extermination

6.2 Renaissance

6.3 Ascension

[sydney-lawyers]

The Future of Compensation Law: Trends and Innovations to Watch

The field of compensation law is constantly changing and involves protecting people's legal entitlements to receive compensation for any damages they have experienced. In recent years, there have been several modifications and advancements in the field of compensation law in Sydney. These transformations are likely to have an impact on the future of compensation law. Here explore some of these patterns and advancements and their potential consequences for the compensation law sector in the future.

 1) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR): One important development in the field of compensation law is the growing adoption of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques like mediation and arbitration. ADR refers to a procedure for resolving conflicts that occur outside of the conventional court system. ADR may be a cheaper and faster alternative to going to court, and it can also be a more cooperative and less hostile process.

 2) Technology and Compensation Law: The field of compensation law is being greatly influenced by technology. One way this is happening is through the use of wearable technology like fitness trackers and health monitoring devices, which can offer valuable evidence in legal cases involving personal injury. Additionally, social media platforms are becoming more relevant in compensation law cases, as lawyers can use them to gather evidence, construct legal arguments, and communicate with clients to keep them updated on their cases.

 3) Litigation Funding: Litigation funding is an emerging development in compensation law that is expected to have a significant impact on its future. It refers to the provision of financial assistance to individuals who are pursuing compensation claims. This can be carried out by private companies or lawyers themselves. The funds are utilized to cover expenses related to legal proceedings, medical bills, and other expenses involved in making a compensation claim.

 4) Changes in Legislation: Modifications in the legal system are expected to considerably affect the development of compensation law in the future. For instance, alterations in legislation related to the utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles might affect claims for compensation linked to harm caused by drones to properties or individuals. Similarly, changes in laws concerning self-driving cars may also impact claims for compensation arising from accidents caused by such vehicles.

[don-lichterman]

MLB Free Agency Tracker: Trey Mancini to Chicago Cubs

MLB Free Agency Tracker: Trey Mancini to Chicago Cubs

Trey Mancini, who helped the Houston Astros win the World Series, has reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, per ESPN.com. Mancini started last season with the Baltimore Orioles but was traded to the Astros before the trade deadline. Mancini batted .239 with 18 home runs and 63 RBI in 2022.  Jan. 13: Juan Soto and the San Diego Padres avoided arbitration when the two sides…

[usasportsworld]

Requested Salary Figures For 33 Players Who Didn't Reach Agreements By Arbitration-Filing Deadline

Requested Salary Figures For 33 Players Who Didn’t Reach Agreements By Arbitration-Filing Deadline

January 13 was the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange salary figures in advance of possible hearings, and as usual, the large majority of players worked out one-year agreements (or extensions) for their 2023 salaries.  MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker detailed these agreements, though there is still quite a bit of unfinished business, as 33 players still don’t have their…

[dancingqueendc]

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[cheaphousespending]

Dinosaw Weekly Innovation Podcast 2022 Week 49 : Innovation

Dinosaw Weekly Innovation Podcast 2022 Week 49 : Innovation

Hopefully this is useful, I do these every week… 7 innovative things / stories / articles from last 7 days… In this week’s episode… Sony Mocopi full body trackers ChatGPT is now available Disney’s FRAN:Race re-aging Rillavoice: Analysing face-to-face pitches Bureau of Multiversal Arbitration Retro Gadgets on Steam Nauti-Loo:The ultimate urinal Source link

[inthememetime]

An AU in which a young adult Danny inherits a branch of FentonWorks located on Gotham, he does some work as a Ghost hunter, as Phantom, and as the illusive Ghost King.

Then one day he get an odd request; He, Daniel Fenton, is hired to protect the hero Phantom, himself, from the evil ghost king, also himself, at the request of the Justice League.

🤣 I fucking love you, anon. I would credit you if I could. I'm calling this: Fenton, King of the Scams

Due to length, I'm splitting this bad boi in two.

Danny got into the 'family business' mostly due to a lack of other options. Anywhere that would do blood or physical tests would spot he wasn't completely human pretty quick. But, despite working in FentonWorks, he gained a reputation both from ghosts and humans as an extremely fair arbitrator.

He won't destroy your property- unless absolutely necessary- but he WILL sit down with you and the ghost bothering you and figure it out. 90% of the time, the ghost just can't get to the GZ, or needs to talk to a friend/family member one last time. Sure, you're out $25/hour, but the problems are almost always solved without bloodshed.

He's even worked with Constantine a few times! Nobody knows why, but ghosts really seem to respect him. And the JL respects him as well.

News, however, moves slowly in some parts and quickly in others from one side of the veil to the other. The JL knows, now, the Ghost King is up and around permanently. (True)

They know that, historically, the GK is evil. (True- with Pariah. Most of the others were good. There's a reason the former kings kept their names, and Pariah's was changed to...well...Pariah)

And they know Pariah Dark hates mediums and living humans. (True!)

They do not, however, know that the Ghost King has changed; The King of the Damned, Lord of Screams is an unknown, although he does admit- having his Title reflect his ghostly wail means it's a little bit ominous.

Phantom, meanwhile, is known as a superhero- albeit a dead one. He works with the Bats, the JL, and YJL willingly.

No one has, as of yet, connected patient (albeit snarky), careful Danny Fenton with aggressive, often asshole-ish Phantom. Fewer still- outside of Amity Park- have connected Phantom to the Ghost King of the Damned. Or, more commonly in Amity Park- King Phantom.

Danny found this out on a normal Tuesday evening.

"Phantom!" Batman called, and the ghost stopped to hover nearby.

"Hey tall, dark, and furry! What's shakin'?"

Batman scowled. (Victory!) "Phantom, the Justice League has a long-term contract for you."

"Ooh! What is it?"

Batman handed him a folder. "Let me know tomorrow night- same time and place- if you can take it."

"You got it, bats! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the dead bugs bite!" He cackled as he flew away. "Dead bugs. Ooh that was a good one."

When he returned- not home, he knew there was a tracker (it had become somewhat of a game between him and the batfam. Loser bought BatBurgers)- he looked through it. And promptly laughed until he nearly cried.

-

The next day, he- as Fenton- went to the JL's Gotham station. "Hi, Leslie, I'd like to speak with- Batman probably isn't in yet. Constantine? Or someone involved on order 7 GH-1800B?"

The receptionist looked through- she couldn't see any details past level 2, but she could see who to direct him to for questions. "You're in luck, Danny! Batman, Constantine, Superman, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow are all on it. Superman's up top, just take the blue elevator and push the top floor button."

"Thanks!" It said something that he was here often enough to be friends with the staff. He'd never get over the beauty of space. Every time, as Fenton or Phantom, it took his breath away. The way the stars wheeled, the way he could hear them thanks to his obsession.

"Still beautiful, isn't it?" A voice asked. He jolted, then grinned apologetically at Superman.

"Sorry. I was supposed to be finding you, but- every time, it gets more beautiful."

He nodded. "I can understand that. How can I help you, Mr. Fenton?"

"Danny, please. I actually had some questions on this order protecting me from the Ghost King?"

"Sure. I know Phantom's not the most discrete hero," fair, but ouch, "but his power set is best able to combat ghosts."

"Oh, I know that- we worked together a lot, back in Illinois. I guess the question is- why from the Ghost King? The current one isn't bad. I'd say he's pretty good, myself."

Superman smiled a little pityingly. "I know you think the best of ghosts- and usually, you're right! But this guy- we've been looking at historical records, and he's a real piece of work."

"Oh, you mean Pariah Dark," he said, now understanding. Easy mistake.

-

"Exactly. So until we get a few ways to combat him, we'd like to keep our Ghost Expert safe and sound." An alarm blared before he could correct the Man of Steel. "I've got to go- just stay safe, ok, Danny?"

"But Pariah Dark is- aaand you're gone. Ok then."

Maybe it was time to come clean to the JL. Memories of being on a dissection table at a GIW base, turned in by someone he'd trusted, flooded him and he winced. Or he could make easy money protecting himself.

Yeah. That sounded good.

"Did you really have to drop the trackers in a pile of bat droppings at the zoo?"

"You found them! Hey, at least we know it works even if you're-"

"Phantom," he warned.

"In deep-"

"Don't."

"In deep shit."

Batman sighed heavily.

"I'll take it, by the way. I talked to Fenton, we worked together a lot, he's cool with it."

Batman rubbed his temples. "Thank you."

"Sure! Hey, can you even feel yourself through that material? Whoa, that came out wrong. I meant can you feel your head- oh, that's not better."

"Have a good night, Phantom."

"You too! Sorry for the innuendo! It'll probably happen again."

"At least you recognize that." Was that a smile? Double score!

---

"So how's this look?"

"Good, but do we really want to summon the Ghost King?"

"That's the only way we'll find out if this works- it's been months. We need to know if the weapons we've altered with hurt him."

The summoning began. It was a long, tedious affair; generally, if one knew a spirit's title, they could do a summoning in just a few minutes. But something like this? Constantine and Zantana agreed, it was some of their best work. The King wouldn't be able to escape this, and more importantly, would be unable to attack them.

After nearly half an hour, the two magic users plopped on the ground, sweating and exhausted. "Is...something supposed to be happening?" Asked the Flash.

"It didn't work. HOW didn't it work?!"

Superman cleared his throat. "Would it still work if you had the wrong name?"

Slowly, both magic users turned to him. "Explain," the magician hissed, and Constantine pulled out a cigarette.

Superman cleared his throat. "Well. What if Pariah Dark isn't a title, but a name?"

Constantine closed his eyes. "Fuck this. Alright, Supes, what happened?"

"Well- Mr. Fen- ah, Danny came by to ask about the order of protection. He said the Ghost King was an okay guy, and then asked if I 'meant Pariah Dark'. So would that affect it?"

Constantine rose, left the room, and screamed. After a moment, he returned. "Somebody call Fenton, please. We need a nap."

"And a beer!"

"Two beers. Each."

-

"Oh, hey, Wonder Woman. How are you doing? Did your curator friend find another haunted artifact?"

"Well, thank you. And yourself?"

"Pretty good, thanks!"

She smiled. "Good. She does have a few leads, but nothing solid yet. I was wondering if you could tell me about a few ghosts?"

He nodded. "Sure, sure. Want something to drink?"

"Whatever you're having is fine," she replied easily, and sat on his creaky old couch.

He sat across from her and passed over a mug of hot cocoa. "So, who can I tell you about?"

"Let's start with Pariah Dark."

He made a curious noise. "You know, Supes asked me about him a few days ago, but ran off before I could say anything. Are you looking for his powers, history, or?"

"Is Pariah Dark a name or a title?" She asked.

"Bit of both. He became king a few thousand years ago, but was just the worst. When he was stopped the first time, ghosts stopped using his real name, and replaced anything with his name on it with Pariah. Dark was his real last name, though."

She frowned. "The first time? He is no longer the King?"

"About...eh, a thousand years ago, give or take a few centuries, the Ancients got together and sealed him to stop him from destroying the world. Nobody could win head-on, though, so he was king in name. Then, a few years back, he was released, and decided to do the whole destroy the world thing again," he said.

"But the current King didn't want the world to be destroyed, so he, Phantom, and other ghosts held him at bay long enough for him to challenge and win in single combat, then become king. Like I told Superman, though, he's a good guy."

"And do you know this new King's name?"

Oh. Shit. "We're allies, and it's incredibly unwise to share information like that about him," although technically, they already knew it, "but I can tell you that he's known as the King of the Damned, and he's very human friendly, minus a few crazies."

There. They'd be able to summon him with an incomplete title, but bindings wouldn't work without at least part of his name and his full title. It was why beings like Clockwork went by 'Master of Time', or Clockwork instead of their true name.

Wonder Woman's gaze sharpened- she'd caught onto the half truth. Luckily for him, her emergency communicator beeped before she could get out her lasso. Hooo boy. Maybe he needed to lay low in the GZ for a bit.

-

"Phantom, where is Fenton? The person you were asked to guard?" Batman asked.

The other side of the communicator was silent. "Phantom, respond." Silence. Batman turned to Constantine. "Any luck?"

He shook his head. "Turns out he didn't give us a true name. I keep getting images of his female counterpart in Illinois or a weird thermos, most of the time," he said. He sighed deeply. "The rest of the time, there's a ghost way scarier than Phantom in a crown."

"It's my fault," the Amazonian princess said quietly. "I kept pressing about Pariah Dark and the new King. Fenton warned me sharing information about the current Ghost King was unwise- I should've known even speaking about him could get Fenton in trouble. And if Phantom swore to you to protect Fenton, well."

"Hey, you didn't know the guy had a werewolf with portal powers that would just kidnap him," the Flash offered. "Who could? It's nuts."

"I think we only have one choice," Superman said warily, "and I don't like it." Superman had an understandable nervousness of ghosts- they were one of the only things that could reliably harm him without kryptonite.

"Neither do I. But l'll see if Zatanna is free."

In the secretary's desk, who'd had to leave early a week ago and was still in the hospital, was a note from one Daniel J. Fenton. It said, in general, that he was sorry he had to leave abruptly, but he would be perfectly safe with Phantom as an honored guest at the Ghost King's court for the next month.

The interim receptionist incorrectly noted this as junk mail, or perhaps a bit of fanfiction, and let it alone.

-

There was a painful tug in Danny's gut, and he groaned. "My liege?" Fright Knight asked.

"My apologies, I'm being summoned to the mortal realm," he said, then cocked his head to the side. "As King, not Phantom. Hmm. I'll see you all as soon as I can."

"We understand," said Queen Dora, and Danny took his true form.

Phantom looked like a young man, albeit with white hair, big eyes- basically, as friendly as he could while still being taken seriously. His true form was a little more...eldritch. He didn't actually have feet like this, just a long, black tail. His entire body, really, was that of a massive black serpent made out of static- if serpents had four arms with sharp claws, if their coils randomply dissipated into green and black smoke before remaking, and-

Ok. He looked...nothing like a serpent. Danny did, however, have to admit, the black crown, burning in ectoplasmic fire that matched the curling green horns and solid green eyes did make a pretty cool accessory for summonings.

Danny liked summonings- sometimes. More accurately, he liked fucking with people. And this would be a perfect- wait, was that Constantine?

-

At first, John thought it another dud. Nothing appeared in the circle. "Is it just me, or is the temp dropping in here?" The Flash asked.

Batman grunted- as good a yes as they'd get.

"King of the Damned, you have been summoned to this place. Show yourself!"

Constantine, a moment later, wished he hadn't spoken. It was impossible to keep track of the monster before them- its' body kept shifting and changing. One moment, static. The next, a clear view of the milky way. The next, stars he'd never seen before and that no mortal was meant to.

"Y̷o̵u̶'̸l̸l̴ ̴f̴i̴n̸d̶ ̵i̶t̴ ̸e̴a̵s̴i̸e̷r̷ ̵t̸o̶ ̷f̷o̶c̴u̷s̷ ̶o̵n̴ ̸m̶y̵ ̸f̴a̸c̶e̶,̵" said the King, kindly enough. Superman covered his ears and winced.

He- it? Danny'd always referred to it as a he. He was right. Somehow, the massive, green glowing maw filled with giant teeth and solid, unblinking eyes below fiery white hair and massive horns was easier to focus on. He hurriedly looked away from the horns, which were changing shape and size as quick as the rest of him.

"Right. We're looking for a missing persons- two, actually," he said. "Do you know where Danny Fenton and the spirit known as Phantom are?"

Did he know- Danny couldn't help the laugh. "O̷f̴ ̴c̷o̶u̴r̷s̶e̵!̷ ̷T̴h̴e̸y̷ ̴l̵e̵f̸t̴ ̴a̶ ̴n̷o̷t̷e̶ ̸f̷o̵r̴ ̸y̵o̸u̸,̸ ̶r̶e̴m̷e̶m̵b̵e̸r̴?̶"

Batman spoke. "We received no notes."

The King frowned. "L̵e̶s̵l̷i̴e̸ ̷d̵i̸d̸n̶'̶t̶ ̷g̵e̶t̶ ̵i̸t̷ ̶t̷o̴ ̷y̴o̵u̴?̷ ̶F̶e̶n̶t̴o̴n̶ ̸s̵a̷i̶d̵ ̶h̸e̸ ̸l̴e̶f̷t̷ ̷i̸t̴ ̵w̴i̴t̵h̵ ̵a̶ ̸m̵o̷r̸t̴a̴l̵ ̷b̸y̵ ̶t̴h̸a̶t̷ ̵n̶a̵m̷e̴.̶" He tacked on the 'mortal' at the last moment. Man, it was hard to be yourself while playing like you weren't yourself, while acting like you knew yourself a little.

Flash jumped up, and less than a second later, cleared his throat sheepishly. "So, uh. Honored guests at your court?"

He nodded.

"Can we talk to them? One or both?"

[lepusrufus]

I love your writing and love the interaction beetwen Cass and Momma Esteria in your latest chapter. Do you have some wholesome headcannons on the fly gremlins and Esteria our Feral Milf?

Has she officially gained the milf status omg xD. Always here to offer some wholesome:

At 6'5, she's taller than each of the daughters and has to bend down to smooch their foreheads, which is very adorable of them if I say so myself

In that same vein she can and will pick them up (although sadly not all at the same time like Alcina can) and kidnap them for dinner, game night, etc

They all LOVE hunting together and Esteria is a formidable tracker, being able to follow smt by heat signature alone even in pitch black darkness. They love the occasional night time hunt

Having like 6 ft of hair means you get good at styling it sooner or later, so she's the designated family hair stylist and the girls love to get their hair done (Cassandra always comes to her to get some braids that will keep her hair out of her face before a hunt or some practice)

Esteria and Dani play the "sports commentators" while Bela and Cass have a practice sword fight. Alcina is the arbitrator

She has a beautiful singing voice and everyone loves hearing her absent mindedly sing while doing a task. Tho she will join in on the chorus when a song they all love comes on the radio

Doesn't know the first thing about plants but one time she wanted to get Bela something since she loves plants so much, so she got her an adorable little succulent. It was plastic but to this day Bela doesn't have the heart to tell her.

Spoiling them is kind of her way to "make up" for not being with them from the beginning, only joining the family in the late 80's

During winter, she always goes around the whole castle making sure the temperature is high enough to not harm her daughters in every room

I said this before and I'll say it again, finds every vampire movie/show she can get her hands on for the family movie night.

Had a mini ship war with Daniela of team Jacob vs team Edward until everyone else shushed them like "team Alice you dumbasses". They had to nod solemnly and come to a truce

Secretly helps the girls in their games of "steal Mother's hat" but she'll never admit it to Alcina

Also fiercely protective of the girls (and their maidens eventually) and the way she actually gained Alcina's trust back in the day was protecting Dani from a hunter that made his way into the castle.

In a similar vein, if Miranda wants to send the girls to do something, Esteria will try to turn the situation around to where she can do said thing herself. It's to the point where Miranda just automatically assigns that stuff to Esteria unless it's something very specific only the girls can do.

Esteria grew up in a (different) cult and knows better than to fully trust Miranda, especially with the girls.

[daily-klingon]

Verb Suffix Drill: Type 9 -wI’

-wI' person or thing which does

This suffix turns a verb into a noun. It is one of two suffixes which are called nominalisers. The other nominaliser is the topic of tomorrow’s post.

The verb being nominalised does not have a suffix.

The last of the regular verb suffixes will be covered tomorrow.

bejwI' watcher bepwI' complainer botwI' obstruction charghwI' conqueror  che'wI' ruler DevwI' leader ghochwI' tracker HarwI' believer Hay'wI' duellist HejwI' robber HevwI' receiver HIjwI' deliverer HIvwI' attacker HoHwI' killer Ho'wI' admirer HubwI' defender jabwI' server (food) lo'wI' user mupwI' striker (hammer) muSwI' hater najwI' dreamer pe'wI' cutter pojwI' analyst ponwI' persuader qengwI' carrier qeSwI' advisor qetwI' runner SeHwI' controller SIghwI' influencer SImwI' calculator SuvwI' warrior toDwI' rescuer ve'wI' traveller with purpose 'avwI' guard 'oDwI' arbitrator 'oghwI' inventor 'oSwI' representative, emissary 'ovwI' competitor

[wthtorke]

Yautja Game Wardens

Been working on a yautja class (and character) that I think would be cannon and would like your opinion on it. I believe Yautja have to learn to respect life before they can take it. Which is why they don’t harm the ill or pregnant. They also have game reserves, which are typically monitored in earth culture. So I started thinking about Yautja pups taking a trip to a place in the game reserve that was designated for teaching and research. The pups would join a group of game wardens and learn what it takes to catch, tag and maintain a balanced ecosystem. Because I can’t believe that Yautja would wipe out a planets native species, just to bring foreign ones in. So why not keep part of the planet the same? This then led to me coming up with more information on game wardens. Now it varies from clan to clan and the planets they have claimed for themselves, but here’s the over all idea for the career. 1. Game wardens are elites (or close to it) with extensive knowledge of the animals they watch over. 2. No prey can be dropped on the planet without first being cleared of decease and tagged. 2a. Tags send a mild shock to their host to prevent them from entering another area of the reserve. As many Yautja could be hunting at the same time, this prevents accidental kills of another’s prey. 2b. It also aids in keeping track of the population of these species. 3. Each species has a different mating season. The wardens, along with volunteers and scientists will go out into the field to catch and tag any new offspring. Remove or rehabilitate weak or dying ones. 3a. There is an area of the planet used for educating pups. It houses creatures that are meant to keep populations high and healthy, as well as to rehabilitate creatures with injuries. Once healed or of age, these creatures are released back in the reserve. 4. Game Wardens don’t give a frack if you’re having a beef with another Yautja group while on safari. They’re there for the creatures and to make sure they live long enough for you to kill it. 5. If they find out someone smuggled unauthorized creatures onto their planet, or you’re hunting without permission. You’re going to have hell to pay. 5a. Game wardens earned their positions, not just from knowledge, but also because they’re some of the best trackers. They will have already followed you for hours by the time you notice them. 6. In conclusion they might be some of the few Yautja that don’t mind showing a softer side. I mean, you need to have some softness to be able to help rear abandoned kits/pups/etc. . . Whelp. That’s the gist. As usual I typed all this up on my phone, so I may have ranted a bit. But I hope this draft makes sense and gives an over all idea of what I’m working on. No idea what my game warden(s) look like yet. Wanted to get the job right first before getting too deep into the character.

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(My response:

I really love the idea! As you know,I'm more than excited about Yautjas showing emotions so that's really really great!

About the game reserve:

It honestly depends on what you're searching for, if you're looking to keep things more canon or not, cause we have very, very little canon to be based on,so your view could be totally right or totally wrong (same as partially right and partially wrong) and we might never know for sure! So I'd say go with your heart honestly, have fun and permit yourself to enjoy it,there is no really right or wrong in yautja (because again,we have little stuff to guide us),there are only headcanons that go up and down in the accuracy chart.

Badbloods in Predators 2010 had a game reserve planet because (in my opinion) they can't be around the galaxy hunting when there are yautja arbitrators after them,so they take the game to a safe place for them to hunt!

I think any yautja would prefer the real thing over a reserve any day but then again, elites and clan leaders might not have the time (or energy)to go all the way to some planet to hunt freely (thats why i like the game reserve idea, its like a drive through but for yautjas lmao its great)

About the species preserving:

In the predator 2018 (if you even consider that movie to be canon), when asked about why predators visits were getting more frequent to our planet,the answer was "they want to move in to our planet",to which doctor Casey said "but we're an endangered species?!" And we are, to which he replied something like "well they dont care about that,our planet is getting hotter snd hotter and they like that, so yeah,theyre gonna wipe us out and come in".

So some yautjas might be interested in not letting a whole species die but yautjas (in that movie) were thinking about themselves first, not really caring about our fate (but then again we had Fugitive, who somehow decided what they were doing was disgraceful and tried to put an end to it (by giving us that awful armor predator killer stuff))

But honestly,that movie is questionable in its sources at best lmao so its really up to you if you consider that bit canon or not

So again, the idea is great,I really like it and I'm happy you're world building a nice setting! I'm sorry if i missed any lines or didn't stress something enough,its 3 am and boy am i tired lmao feel free to send me more stuff to read tho! And thank you for trusting my opinion,it really means a lot to me ;;

[sporttlive-blog]

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is an American men's expert nba basketball alliance. It is made out of 30 groups (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the four significant pro athletics alliances in the United States and Canada. It is the head men's expert basketball alliance on the planet.

The alliance was established in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).It changed its name to the National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, in the wake of converging with the contending National Basketball League (NBL). The NBA's normal season runs from October to April, with each group playing 82 games. The group's season finisher competition reaches out into June. Starting at 2020, NBA players are the world's best paid competitors by normal yearly compensation per player.

The NBA is a functioning individual from USA Basketball (USAB),which is perceived by the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) as the public overseeing body for basketball in the United States. The alliance's few global just as individual group workplaces are coordinated off of its mind workplaces in Midtown Manhattan, while its NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are coordinated out of workplaces situated in Secaucus, New Jersey.

The NBA is the third wealthiest pro game group after the NFL and the MLB by income.

Creation and BAA–NBL merger (1946–1956)

The Basketball Association of America was established in 1946 by proprietors of the significant ice hockey fields in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1, 1946, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Toronto Huskies facilitated the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, in a game the NBA currently alludes to as the main game played in NBA history. The principal bushel was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. Despite the fact that there had been before endeavors at proficient basketball classes, including the American Basketball League and the NBL, the BAA was the principal association to endeavor to play essentially in enormous fields in significant urban areas. During its initial years, the nature of play in the BAA was not essentially better than in contending associations or among driving free clubs, for example, the Harlem Globetrotters. For example, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that group's 1948 title, and the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title. Before the 1948–49 season, nonetheless, NBL groups from Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Rochester hopped to the BAA, which set up the BAA as the association of decision for collegians hoping to turn proficient.

 On August 3, 1949, the remaining NBL groups Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo–converged into the BAA. In concession to the merger and to maintain a strategic distance from conceivable lawful entanglements, the alliance name was changed to the current National Basketball Association, despite the fact that the combined class held the BAA's overseeing body, including Maurice Podoloff as president. Right up 'til today, the NBA claims the BAA's history as its own. It presently figures the appearance of the NBL groups as an extension, not a merger, and doesn't perceive NBL records and measurements.

The new alliance had seventeen establishments situated in a blend of huge and little urban areas, just as huge fields and littler exercise rooms and arsenals. In 1950, the NBA solidified to eleven establishments, a cycle that proceeded until 1953–54, when the alliance arrived at its littlest size of eight establishments: the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and Syracuse Nationals, all of which stay in the group today. The cycle of compression saw the association's littler city establishments move to bigger urban communities. The Hawks moved from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and afterward to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957 and the Pistons moved from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Detroit in 1957.

 Japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA shading obstruction in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the main non-white part allied history before the primary African-American, Harold Hunter, marking with the Washington Capitols in 1950. Tracker was cut from the group during instructional course, yet a few African-American players played in the association soon thereafter, incorporating Chuck Cooper with the Celtics, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton with the Knicks, and Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, driven by focus George Mikan, won five NBA Championships and built up themselves as the class' first tradition. To energize shooting and dishearten slowing down, the group presented the 24-second shot check in 1954. On the off chance that a group doesn't endeavor to score a field objective (or the ball neglects to reach the edge) inside 24 seconds of acquiring the ball, play is halted and the ball given to its adversary.

 Celtics' predominance, group development and rivalry (1956–1979)

In 1957, new kid on the block place Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, which previously highlighted watch Bob Cousy and mentor Red Auerbach, and proceeded to lead the establishment to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Focus Wilt Chamberlain entered the alliance with the Warriors in 1959 and turned into a predominant individual star of the 1960s, setting new single game records in scoring (100) and bouncing back (55). Russell's competition with Chamberlain got perhaps the best contention throughout the entire existence of American group activities.

Bill Russell shielding against Wilt Chamberlain in 1966.

The 1960s were ruled by the Celtics. Driven by Russell, Cousy, and Auerbach, Boston won eight straight titles in the NBA from 1959 to 1966. This title streak is the longest in NBA history. They didn't win the title in 1966–67, yet recovered it in the 1967–68 season and rehashed in 1969. The control added up to nine of the ten title standards of the 1960s.

 Through this period, the NBA kept on advancing with the move of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia to turn into the Philadelphia 76ers, and the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta, just as the expansion of its first development establishments. The Chicago Packers (presently Washington Wizards) turned into the ninth NBA group in 1961. From 1966 to 1968, the association extended from 9 to 14 groups, presenting the Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics (presently Oklahoma City Thunder), San Diego Rockets (who moved to Houston four years after the fact), Milwaukee Bucks, and Phoenix Suns.

In 1967, the alliance confronted another outside danger with the arrangement of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The classes occupied with an offering war. The NBA handled the most significant school star of the period, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (at that point known as Lew Alcindor). Nonetheless, the NBA's driving scorer, Rick Barry, bounced to the ABA, as did four veteran arbitrators—Norm Drucker, Earl Strom, John Vanak, and Joe Gushue.

Teams

The NBA started in 1946 with 11 groups, and through an arrangement of group extensions, decreases, and movements, at present comprises of 30 groups. The United States is home to 29 groups; another is in Canada.

The current alliance association isolates 30 groups into two gatherings of three divisions with five groups each. The momentum divisional arrangement was presented in the 2004–05 season. Mirroring the populace dispersion of the United States and Canada in general, most groups are in the eastern portion of the nation: 13 groups are in the Eastern Time Zone, nine in the Central, three in the Mountain, and five in the Pacific.

[emptymanuscript]

You ever get into something real complicated, ask yourself why the hell you’re doing this, and then realize the simpler version is right there >_<

For some reason I got it into my head to make a hardness scale for magic. And I was piling in all this stuff for a spread sheet, with Gandalf in Lord of the Rings as a control and... why the hell am I doing all that. When if I look along the bottom, there’s a much more usable scale.

So... my noodling for a Hardness of Magic - a scale of 1 to 10; 1 being least hard to 10 being most hard. ...I believe that softness should actually be a different scale instead of 1 being the ultimate softness. I feel like hardness measures a likeness to science while softness measures something like the explorations of psyche or society. But I dunno. I’ll deal with that later. Hopefully much much later or never.

1) INFERABLE - The Magic happens in a way that is inferrable but not observable The phrase “Peice of Cake” in the movie The Labyrinth.

2) OBSERVABLE - The Reader can observe the magic that is cast The Force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together - and somehow it lets you hear ghosts, predict your enemies, and use telekinesis. You can see it. There is a spell X. How it works or how it relates to other magics may still be unclear.

3) RELATIONAL - The Reader can infer how multiple magics relate Gandalf keeps casting light spells all the time - it’s almost as if light is a theme of his magic. Perhaps his ability to make fire and fireworks is related. But we are never told for sure. X and Y relate, so Z that shares some features may also relate.

4) RUBRICAL - The Reader can observe the rule by which multiple magics fit together Vancian Magic in D&D with its classes and levels of magic or how Voodoo Dolls work in fiction to control a person’s motion or give them pain but can’t hypnotize them - it’s about the explicit rule of spell X fits into magical school Z but spell Y doesn’t because only Z-ish spells fit. The school of Necromancy is the school of magic relating to death. A light spell wouldn’t fit.

5) CLASSIFIABLE - The Reader can observe the reasoning of the operation of the rule by which multiple magics fit together A Voodoo doll works by the laws of contagion and sympathy, what has been a part of someone is always connected to them and what you do to an image of someone is done to the real person. So because a person’s hair is separated from them but on the doll, the doll is now connected to the person by contagion. And because the doll is now a image of that person what happens to the doll happens sympathetically to the person. So the reasoninng of the rules - this connects to that, and manipulating this manipulates that - is explicit. Spell X fits into school Z and Spell Y doesn’t because of principle A. Only spells that directly affect the currently dead fit into the school of necromancy - so a spell that would kill a living person wouldn’t be considered necromancy in that paradigm. While a spell that made a body look alive would still be necromancy.

6) PREDICTABLE - The Reader can use the reasoning to predict another peice of magic that would fit the rule(s) by which the magic fits together Because a doll works in part by the law of contagion, the hair of the victim allowing a connection between doll and person, we can assume that you can use hair as a method for a different spell that connects, like a tracker because the laws of magic tell us that part of a person is always connected to them, and we can guess that before we are explicitly told that ultra-conservative jewish women burned their hair to prevent magic being used against them before they had any contact with the stories of Voodoo because an idea like contagion is in both cultures. The rule is predictive. Because of principle X we can expect magic Y to cause Z effect. If saying someone’s true name gives you power to control them, and you learn the true name of a river, the reader can expect that you can exert control over the river.

7) ASSESSABLE - The Reader can use the essential reasoning of the magic to evaluate different uses in relation to each other - allowing you to judge whether one iteration is better at a goal than another. In Fullmetal Alchemist, the same transmutations cast at the opposite ends of the story have radically different results and the story displays why they are different. Edward has a different understanding of the tools at hand. In such a way that the audience can observe and infer things that make certain transmutations better than others. This is even in the beginning though with Edward able to make a circle with his arms as opposed to drawing a transmutation array on the ground. It’s recognizable as the same basic art, he’s just showing an expertise that others, even skilled others, don’t share. Because of that information, the audience can recognize the power of varying alchemists by the complexity of their arrays and that more complex spells require more complex arrays. A more complex array for a simple spell would show us before we were ever told that the user was an inferior alchemist. X is true, therefore Y is superior to Z for purpose A.

8) VALIDATABLE - You can determine relevant or true information from irrelevant or false information. Let’s take FMA again.  The power level, sophistication of magical array, and knowledge of the subject are all important to the ability to transmute. But the fundamental driving force of magic is the law of equivalent exchange, you cannot create something that requires more than what is put into the exchange. This is the real reason why resurrection spells fail, because no one puts enough in to the exchange to equal what they want out of the exchange. Life is more than matter. And because of that principle we can spot improper spell use without being told it is improper spell use. If someone does something that otherwise looks completely correct but violates that most relevant piece of information, we know that something else besides just transmutation is going on. Which is also why some of the later big twists in the series make perfect logical sense, the fundamental relavence of information has been shown, so we have been prepared to logic out truth from appearances. If X is absolutely true and Y contradicts X, we can expect Y to be false even if Y feels generally right.

9) MODIFIABLE - The principles are understandably transposable for use in different expressions. This is a little like #6 in that it is predictive. But more than being predictive it is showing an underlying core principle of multiple effects. In the same way that light is different colors for the same reason that sound comes in different pitches and also that if you drop a rock in water you will get ripples. While they might appear on the surface to be very different, the fundamental way things work is the same - disturbing a fluid causes a wave, bigger disturbances cause bigger waves, more waves in a given period produce higher frequency phenomenen, less waves produce lower frequency phenomenen. And yeah, that’s science but I can’t think of a book that does this. Avatar the Last Airbender brushes against this with the idea that the principles of flow mechanics of water bending carry over into the principles of direction mechanics of pure fire / lightning. Energy redirection was essentially the same no matter what element was being bent or what type of bender was doing the redirection. But where this sort of thing is most common is in Role Playing Games where it is possible for the player to design their own powers / magic. Pretty much the entire GURPS Powers book is about using this level of hardness in a single system to produce radically different expressions in a game space that will interact predictably for the purposes of arbitration.

10) PARALLEL - An Alternative Science. At this point there’s not much hardness to be gained anymore. The fiction presents a set of fundamental laws and extrapolates from them to get the effects the audience percieves in the fiction. The laws are identified in such a way that the audience can determine for themselves how magic works in such a way that they can, if they choose, extrapolate and predict powers before those powers appear and are demonstrated because all the tools to do so have been given to them. Character errors in how magic works can be caught because the established rules provide an error-check framework. If a reader knows fire can only be created or controlled with a magic word that starts with an I because human magic was stolen from a latin speaking demon, we know the guy who promises a village an ever burning bonfire by speaking the word Aeternum into the bonfire pit is either a charlatan or an idiot. But he may possibly be an immortal charlatan or idiot since he knows the latin word for eternity. 

Or, in nice chart form for my Mohs sci-fi scale rip off:

A Proposed Hardness Scale for Fantasy

I think this would  make most fantasy hang out around hardness 3 to 7 with a few outliers which seems like the way things should be.

And... what a waste of time, oy.

[reseau-actu]

Tribune libre : Gaspard Koenig fait de la propriété privée des données personnelles le moyen décisif de résistance face à l’IA tandis que Laurent Alexandre prédit une capitulation numérique de l’Europe face aux États-Unis et à la Chine. Ils se fourvoient.

Par Thomas Jestin.

Excusez le titre un tantinet provocateur, mais il me faut réagir à la conversation entre Gaspard Koenig et Laurent Alexandre organisée par Le Figaro Magazine autour de l’IA. Je voudrais notamment rebondir sur ces trois points :

  1) Face aux services riches en IA, pour protéger sa vie privée et exercer son libre arbitre, Gaspard Koenig plaide pour l’instauration d’une propriété privée des données personnelles. Cela permettrait leur portabilité, et donnerait lieu de fait à un marché de la data, laissant les individus arbitrer par eux-mêmes entre confort et liberté : si l’idée est belle et séduit, le diable se cache dans les détails comme toujours ; ce serait en fait très compliqué à mettre en place, et nous allons voir pourquoi.

2) Laurent Alexandre semble faire des volumes de data maniés le premier facteur de l’efficacité de l’IA et conclut que l’Europe en l’état n’a aucune chance face aux États-Unis et la Chine, et est partie pour être colonisée numériquement : je vais expliquer en quoi l’importance de la data est très largement exagérée, et pourquoi le jeu reste très ouvert en IA en Europe pour se faire une place à côté des GAFA.

3) Gaspard Koenig affirme que l’acceptation de l’IA par les Chinois s’explique par leurs valeurs confucéennes : nous verrons que ces valeurs sont très largement exagérées et que c’est bien justement parce qu’en Chine il existe un déficit de confiance entre les individus entre eux et avec l’État que le Parti communiste chinois a besoin d’instaurer un crédit social dopé à l’IA.

  Face à la perte de libre arbitre qu’induit l’IA, l’instauration d’une propriété privée des données personnelles est-elle la solution ?

Cette proposition s’articule autour de ces deux ambitions :

choisir qui peut accéder à mes informations bouleverse fondamentalement mon usages des services riches en IA (Facebook, Youtube, etc.).

choisir qui peut accéder à mes informations me permet d’être mieux compensé par ces services pour le commerce qu’ils en font.

– Le premier point

Rien n’est moins certain, et une bonne façon de s’en rendre compte est d’observer l’attitude de l’internaute moyen suite aux changements induits par le Règlement général sur la protection des données, le fameux RGPD.

Ce règlement est censé encadrer la façon dont les acteurs du web accèdent à nos informations ; ils doivent maintenant nous dire clairement ce qu’ils entendent en faire et demander notre consentement.

Dans la pratique, le résultat est que la plupart des internautes cliquent sur accepter sans réfléchir, frénétiquement, juste pour pouvoir accéder au contenu ou service désiré, comme c’est aussi le cas pour l’acceptation des cookies, ces petits trackers embarqués sur la plupart des sites webs. Tout le monde n’agit pas ainsi, bien sûr, sans doute pas par exemple Margrethe Vestager, la commissaire européenne à la concurrence qui considère que nous sommes la chair à canon de la machine, comme le rapporte Gaspard Koenig dans son livre. Elle essaie de ne pas utiliser les GAFA. Mais autour de nous, force est de constater qu’au-delà des mots, une fois venu le moment de choisir quoi faire en ligne, nous ne sommes pas beaucoup plus inquiets que les Chinois du sort de nos data.

Certains ont bien tenté de lancer des réseaux sociaux ne cherchant pas à exploiter nos données autant que Facebook, par exemple sans chercher à vendre de publicités. Mais qui les connaît ? Quel succès ? Ainsi, Ello a été lancé en fanfare comme un Facebook killer en 2014, justement en cherchant à capitaliser sur cette aspiration supposée des Occidentaux à un meilleur respect de leurs données. Ce fut un échec total, ne dépassant pas le million d’utilisateurs. Qui se souvient de Diaspora, lancé en 2010, « a nonprofit, user-owned, distributed social network » ? Les derniers chiffres, vieux de 2014, font état de 180 000 utilisateurs, une blague. Ainsi en Europe et aux États-Unis, si certains aiment à se plaindre de l’exploitation de leurs données, la majorité est bien contente d’utiliser les GAFA, heureuse du confort et des bas prix offerts, et en cela ne semble pas si différente des internautes chinois.

Gaspard Koenig insiste sur la portabilité des données comme une clef importante de tout ce dispositif d’affranchissement des GAFA. Mais tous ceux qui ont lancé des startups, surtout la majorité qui échoue, savent que si exporter de Facebook ses photos d’un clic, et inviter ses amis du même coup, est techniquement possible ; par contre, que tous ses amis viennent et jouent le jeu et adoptent le nouveau service au quotidien en lieu et place de Facebook ou Whatsapp ou autre GAFA, cela relève du délire !

Et l’ironie de l’histoire, l’arroseur arrosé en quelque sorte, c’est que cette portabilité des données est justement ce qui a rendu possible le scandale Cambridge Analytica. Un scandale que Gaspard Koenig dénonce dans son livre, il écrit :

« l’IA a déjà fait la démonstration de sa face sombre […] en servant à des manipulations politiques, comme le scandale de Cambridge Analytica ».

Il faut déjà noter que si l’IA pourra provoquer des scandales de bien plus grande ampleur à l’avenir en exploitant nos données, elle n’a rien à voir avec ce scandale-ci.

Dans le cas de Cambridge Analytica, des utilisateurs Facebook ont permis aux éditeurs d’une application tierce de quiz d’accéder à leurs informations et d’enregistrer les résultats des quiz. Ces utilisateurs ont explicitement cliqué J’accepte en somme, sans nécessairement avoir cherché à en connaître les implications, par empressement ou désintérêt. Ils ont succombé en cela à la même facilité que détaillée plus haut autour du RGPD. Les éditeurs de cette application ont ensuite fourni ces infos à Cambridge Analytica. Depuis, Facebook a bien sûr fermé les tuyaux, et les développeurs d’applications tierces ne peuvent plus accéder aux informations des utilisateurs autant qu’avant, seulement au strict minimum, et c’est très encadré. On voit donc ce que cela a donné avec des développeurs tiers qui étaient des partenaires de Facebook. Que pensez-vous qu’il pourra se passer si d’un clic on veut pouvoir rendre possible l’export de toutes mes données d’un GAFA vers un autre service naissant, indépendant, et potentiellement concurrent ? Le risque que les internautes se fassent duper et transfèrent leurs informations à des tiers malintentionnés me paraît sérieux, et Gaspard Koenig n’en dit mot.

– Le second point

Il rejoint cette idée que nos données ont une valeur de marché, comme le pétrole, qu’on peut les acheter, les vendre. Ce qui leur suppose une certaine fluidité et fongibilité, à l’image du pétrole, du blé, du sable, etc. Mais justement, elles ne sont pas fongibles, il n’existe pas une unité claire pour les quantifier, un jeu de données n’est pas équivalent à un autre, les jeux de données ne sont pas interchangeables. Chaque jeu de données est différent. Et cela complique drastiquement la comparaison data is the new oil tout comme la monétisation de nos données personnelles.

Ainsi, le trésor de données qu’accumule Amazon sur nos transactions a beaucoup de valeurs… pour Amazon. Mais si une entreprise mettait la main sur tous ses serveurs de données, elle serait bien en peine de les faire fructifier autant qu’Amazon. Un énorme travail de restructuration serait nécessaire au préalable pour les faire parler et les intégrer à un nouveau système. On sent bien qu’une plateforme de marché où les jeux de données s’achèteraient et se vendraient ne pourrait fonctionner comme le marché du pétrole ou comme la bourse. Apprécier la valeur d’un jeu de données n’est pas chose aisée ; encore moins instantanée.

Mais creusons un peu plus l’idée de Gaspard Koenig.

Essayons d’estimer grossièrement ce qu’un internaute américain par exemple peut espérer gagner en échange de la collecte et l’exploitation de ses données. Facebook se rémunère en vendant de la publicité, le revenu moyen que perçoit Facebook par utilisateur américain est d’environ 27 dollars par trimestre, soit environ 100 euros par an, soit 8,3 euros mensuel et par utilisateur, disons 10 euros histoire d’être généreux et pour faire simple. En tant qu’utilisateur producteur de données sur le site, si grâce à un syndicaliste habile, le plus habile de l’histoire du syndicalisme, je pouvais extorquer à Facebook 100 % des revenus que la plateforme fait sur mon dos, sans rien lui laisser pour ses serveurs, ses employés et ses profits, j’obtiendrais au maximum en moyenne 10 dollars par mois ! Et encore, c’est ce que gagne Facebook sur mon dos en tenant compte de son expérience et des optimisations apportées à sa plateforme depuis 15 ans qu’elle existe, grâce à ses forces commerciales rodées, sa plateforme d’achat de publicités en ligne optimisée au mieux grâce à ses moyens titanesques et ses meilleurs ingénieurs. Autant dire qu’un autre acteur à qui je pourrais confier la monétisation de mes données générées sur Facebook serait sans doute bien en peine de faire mieux. On parle donc de 10 euros en moyenne par mois !

Pour s’amuser on peut mettre cela aussi en rapport avec le temps passé sur ces plateformes. Aux États-Unis, une dernière étude évoquait environ 40 minutes par jour et par adulte, soit 20 heures par mois. Cela revient en quelque sorte à se faire rémunérer 0,5 euro par heure passée à générer de la donnée, en considérant encore une fois qu’on extorque à Facebook tous les revenus générés grâce à nous.

Allons encore un cran plus loin et supposons que Facebook soit représentatif de la capacité des GAFA à monétiser notre temps passé avec elles et ce faisant, les données générées. Si nous passions les 24 heures entières d’une journée à générer de la donnée sur les plateformes GAFA, et si 40 minutes par jour rapportent 10 euros par mois comme estimé plus haut, alors 24 heures nous feraient gagner 360 euros, pour ce scénario cauchemardesque nous prenant tout notre temps, sans rien laisser au sommeil. La belle affaire… Voilà en sorte ce que nous pouvons espérer au mieux en monétisant nos données à ce jour.

Et encore, dans un tel cas, l’utilisateur aurait sans doute à confier à un tiers la collecte, la restructuration, le stockage et la sécurisation de ses données. Un tiers qu’il faudra bien payer d’une manière ou d’une autre, ce qui viendrait encore réduire le modeste revenu potentiel en tant que petite abeille productrice de données sur ces réseaux.

Enfin, si on s’intéresse légitimement à la valeur que Facebook tire de nos données, ne serait-il pas tout aussi justifié d’essayer d’évaluer du même coup la valeur que nous retirons de Facebook et des autres GAFA en tant qu’utilisateurs ?

Des chercheurs du prestigieux MIT ont ainsi demandé à un échantillon solide d’internautes combien il faudrait les payer pour qu’ils acceptent de ne plus utiliser certains services gratuits. Selon l’étude, les internautes américains demanderaient entre 35 euros et 45 euros si on leur retire Facebook. Le montant s’élève même à plus de 500 euros pour Whatsapp, également gratuit à l’usage ! Une autre étude des même chercheurs a aussi montré qu’il faudrait payer les gens 16 000 euros pour être privés d’un moteur de recherche gratuit ! Et pour ceux que ces études font sourire, sachez qu’elles sont suffisamment sérieuses pour avoir été citées par Jerome Powell, le chairman de la Banque centrale américaine, comme une piste à suivre pour comprendre la valeur qui échappe au PIB, et qui pourrait contribuer à expliquer la très faible inflation que nous connaissons ces dernières années.

En poussant à l’extrême la logique mercantile de réappropriation de nos données comme y aspire Gaspard Koenig, Facebook pourrait finir par nous proposer le deal suivant : « vous me payez chaque mois ce que vous me valorisez, soit 35 euros, et je vous rembourse TOUT ce que j’arrive à obtenir en monétisant vos données auprès des annonceurs grâce à mon immense expertise technique, soit 10 euros ». Un bon deal ? Est-ce que le deal actuel est si mauvais au fond ?

Évidemment, ce n’est qu’une simulation rapide, mais cela aide à mettre en perspective la difficulté d’implémentation et les gains à attendre de cette mesure.

  L’Europe est-elle condamnée à devenir une colonie numérique chinoise ? Les volumes de data comptent-t-ils plus que tout dans la course à l’IA ?

La course à l’IA se joue en quatre actes, et les datas n’en sont qu’un aspect parmi d’autres.

  Acte I : capacité à produire de la recherche sur l’IA

L’Europe dispose d’une très bonne recherche, essaie de l’intégrer toujours davantage au niveau européen. Mais sur ce point, il faut bien voir que la recherche de pointe sur l’IA est très largement rendue publique, y compris celle développée par DeepMind (un point clef qui a conditionné sa vente à Alphabet) et Facebook (un point clef qui a conditionné l’arrivée de Yann Le Cun). Donc d’un point de vue économique, l’Europe peut profiter aussi largement des efforts de recherche menés ailleurs.

Acte II : capacité à produire des géants génériques de l’IA

C’est ici effectivement le plus dur pour l’Europe, du fait de sa fragmentation et de son écosystème VC encore relativement sous-développé par rapport aux USA et à la Chine. Ce qui me gêne est qu’on insiste sur la nationalité des entreprises, mais au fond, en laissant le cas chinois de côté un instant, peu importe, sachant que ces géants recrutent en Europe, y ouvrent, achètent, développent des centres de recherches ; et enfin produisent des biens et services meilleurs qui font gagner du temps et de l’argent aux consommateurs européens qui profitent très largement de ces progrès. Qui plus est, ces géants mettent à disposition des briques de l’IA (comme TensorFlow de Google, voir plus loin), qui permettent à toutes les autres entreprises de profiter des promesse de l’IA. cette dernière est à ce titre en train de devenir doucement une commodity, comme l’électricité, ou l’hébergement et le processing dans le cloud ! J’ai écrit un essai très bien documenté sur ce sujet : Les 8 raisons pour lesquelles on exagère la menace GAFA

Acte III : capacité à produire des champions de l’IA sur des niches

Ici je pense aux entreprises qui veulent internaliser l’IA pour conquérir une niche : comme Tesla pour les voitures autopilotées, Netflix pour la recommandation (et demain génération par IA) de séries, etc. Il est tout à fait possible et probable que des entreprises européennes de l’IA percent sur des niches. Et à ce titre, les GAFA servent déjà de courte-échelle aux startups européennes de l’IA : par exemple les publicités Facebook servent à toucher de façon ciblée comme jamais auparavant leurs clients potentiels ; les publicités Google les rendent aussi plus visibles. En l’occurrence, avec TensorFLow de Google on peut littéralement parler de révolution. Cet article de Fast Company rapporte :

« ‘People couldn’t wait to get their hands on it’ rapporte Ian Bratt, directeur du machine learning chez Arm, un des leaders du design de microprocesseurs ; Twitter l’utilise pour suivre les conversations, trier les tweets, pousser les gens à passer plus de temps sur la plateforme. Airbus utilise TensorFLow pour entraîner ses satellites à examiner n’importe quel endroit à la surface du globe ; des étudiants à New Delhi s’en servent avec des téléphones reconfigurés pour mesurer la qualité de l’air. Et Google vient de rendre disponible au printemps dernier une version 2.0 qui rend l’IA encore plus accessible aux développeurs inexpérimentés. L’objectif final est de rendre l’utilisation de l’IA aussi simple que de faire un site web. TensorFLow a été téléchargé près de 41 millions de fois par des développeurs indépendants. Des millions d’objets – voitures, drones, satellites, ordis, téléphones – en font usage. »

On peut citer aussi ici Benedict Evans, partenaire influent du très célèbre fonds d’investissement Andreessen Horowitz (dont le nom de code est a16z), qui donne son analyse des récents déploiements de l’IA dans l’économie :

« La startup Descript utilise la reconnaissance vocale pour vous laisser éditer un fichier audio en utilisant un éditeur de texte. On ne peut plus vraiment parler de startup de l’IA ici. […]

Descript ne vas pas voir le patron de la BBC pour lui dire « nous allons vous montrer comment l’IA peut changer votre business ! ». Plutôt, la startup va voir les producteurs radios et leur dit « cet outil peut vous faire gagner du temps chaque jour ». Il y a plein de startups tout aussi cool, cherchant à résoudre un problème bien spécifique dont vous ne soupçonniez même pas l’existence, et qui de prime abord ne ressemblent pas à un problème où l’IA serait la solution. […]

Ce qui est aussi important, c’est que ces startups n’ont pas à tout construire elles-mêmes. Le fait que la reconnaissance vocale ait été complètement intégrée à Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud et Microsoft Azure signifie que Descript peut s’appuyer dessus pour bâtir son produit, de la même façon que l’hébergement dans le cloud via un tiers comme AWS a permis aux startups d’économiser des millions de dollars d’investissement dans des fermes de serveurs. Une des conséquences de la croissance de ces plateformes géantes du web (les GAFA !) est… qu’elles sont des plateformes, et qu’elles permettent des vagues de création de startups, et cela concerne maintenant le champ de l’IA comme bien d’autres jusque-là. Nous nous tenons debout sur les épaules de géants. Si ce n’est sans doute pas une très bonne idée de créer une plateforme de reconnaissance vocale générique de bas niveau pour concurrencer AWS, AWS ne cherchera jamais à copier Descript. »

Acte IV : capacité pour toutes les autres entreprises à profiter de l’IA

Cela rejoint ce que je disais : toutes les entreprises, de la même façon qu’elles doivent se digitaliser, devront, doivent, se réinventer avec l’IA. Elles disposent d’atouts de choix : de la donnée client. Pensez aux banques, assurances, groupes pharmaceutiques. Elles peuvent utiliser l’IA as a commodity de Google et autres pour faire parler leurs données et améliorer et diversifier leur offre.

  Je me permets de citer à nouveau Benedict Evans :

  « Ces technologies se diffusent maintenant au-delà du secteur de la tech. Dans notre fonds, nous passons pas mal de temps à rencontrer les grandes entreprises industrielles, et beaucoup d’entre elles ont maintenant des projets reposant sur l’IA. Mon exemple préféré est celui d’une entreprise qui voulait contrôler les défauts de qualité le long de sa chaîne de montage. Aujourd’hui elle utilise un réseau de neurones artificiels couplé à l’appareil photo d’un smartphone accroché à une perche surplombant la chaîne de montage. Le dispositif analyse chaque objet et peut détecter les défauts. Google n’a pas ces données, ni la Chine. Cela leur a été développé par des consultants extérieurs. Ce n’est pas de la « rocket science » que seul Google maîtrise, c’est juste du code. »

Il paraît probable que l’IA se devienne plus commode, si bien que parler du secteur de l’IA en opposition à tous les autres devrait ne pas être si pertinent. L’IA au contraire devrait infuser toute l’économie pour la rendre plus productive, c’est-à-dire, dans des marchés concurrentiels, aboutir à des biens et services moins chers et meilleurs pour le grand gagnant, le consommateur. De la même façon que le digital ne peut pas être un département de l’entreprise distinct des autres, mais doit infuser toute l’entreprise. Au fond, est-ce que la localisation du siège des acteurs de cet écosystème sera aussi importante qu’on le pense ? Pas nécessairement.

Ensuite, le rôle des données est en général très exagéré, Laurent Alexandre suit en cela le travers de Kai-Fu Lee, comme l’explique cet article dans Foreign Affairs :

« Mais quelle est l’importance des data ? Quelle est l’importance de ces montagnes de data accumulées par les entreprises chinoises par exemple ? Andrew Ng, un des leaders mondiaux de l’IA (qui a travaillé chez Google et Baidu et est maintenant à son compte pour aider les entreprises à adopter l’IA) explique qu’on surestime le big data car beaucoup de problèmes ne génèrent pas assez de data pour entraîner efficacement des IA. Des gens de Tencent en Chine disent en privé que l’entreprise a beaucoup de mal à intégrer les flux de data provenant de ses différents départements du fait d’obstacles aussi bien bureaucratiques que techniques. […] Et plus généralement, un gros problème dans cette comparaison lancinante entre data et pétrole (quand Kai-Fu Lee dit que la Chine est l’Arabie Saoudite de la donnée) est que l’utilité même d’un jeu de données se limitent aux questions liées au jeu de données. En effet, les entreprises non-chinoises auront par exemple du mal à rivaliser pour détecter quelles histoires pourraient captiver les Chinois. […] Mais on voit mal comment ces atouts en Chine pourraient donner à la Chine un avantage sur la scène mondiale plus largement, et notamment sur l’équilibre militaire entre grandes puissances. »

La valeur ajoutée du toujours plus de data est douteuse en particulier dans l’univers des startups répondant aux besoins des entreprises, voyez les conclusions de cette étude « The Empty Promise of Data Moats » du fonds Andreessen Horowitz :

« – Les données ne constituent pas une barrière à l’entrée solide. Contrairement aux traditionnelles économies d’échelle qui permettent d’amortir toujours plus les investissements fixes, l’inverse se produit avec la data : le coût d’acquisition de la data supplémentaire stage ou grimpe alors que sa valeur va diminuer. – Et même si le coût d’acquisition reste le même dans le temps, les nouvelles data récoltées ont moins de valeur car une bonne partie ne fera que répéter celles déjà en possession de l’entreprise. Un effet qui ne fait qu’empirer avec le temps : les bénéfices à attendre des nouvelles data ne font que baisser. – Dans la plupart des startups que nous avons analysées, si les premières données récoltées concernent l’entièreté de la clientèle, au-delà d’un certain seuil, les nouvelles données ne concerneront que certains segments réduits logés dans la longue traîne. Donc toujours plus de données ne renforcement pas vraiment en soi les barrières à l’entrée sur le marché concerné. Parvenir au « corpus de données suffisant pour être viable » (minimum viable corpus) demande un investissement relativement faible et ne peut servir de barrière durable. – De plus, dans bien des cas d’usages dans le monde réel, la data perd toute son utilité au bout d’un certain temps. Les rues changent, la température change, les comportements et goûts changent, etc. – Nous avons connaissance d’une startup qui a généré des données synthétiquement pour entraîner ses systèmes sur le marché de l’automatisation des entreprises. Avec une équipe composée de quelques ingénieurs, elle est parvenue à atteindre son « corpus de données suffisant pour être viable ». La startup a ainsi battu deux énormes concurrents déjà en place et qui se reposaient sur leurs vastes jeux de données collectées sur des décennies dans le monde entier. »

Enfin, Laurent Alexandre considère que sans prendre en compte la menace chinoise, l’équilibre de marché justifierait à lui seul de démanteler les GAFA. Sur ce point je citerai simplement Paul Graham, le fondateur de Y Combinator, l’incubateur d’entreprises le plus connu au monde qui a fait germer Airbnb entre autres :

« Si Elizabeth Warren avait raison quand elle annonce que Facebook étouffe l’innovation et devrait donc être démantelé, ceux qui investissent dans les startups devraient tomber d’accord avec elle. Ils comprennent les startups, et sont ceux qui ont le plus à perdre si les géants en place tuaient systématiquement les nouveaux venus. Mais ils sont très largement en désaccord avec elle.»

L’acceptation de l’IA par les Chinois s’explique-t-elle par leurs valeurs confucéennes ?

On explique souvent, et Gaspard Koenig ne semble pas déroger à la règle, que les Chinois seraient plus enclins à accepter l’IA du fait de leur culture confucéenne.

Cette culture, pour faire simple, stipule que l’harmonie et l’ordre dans la société priment sur tout le reste, que le petit frère doit obéir sans broncher à son grand frère, les enfants à leurs parents, et tous les sujets à leur empereur ; ou le dirigeant du moment.

Si cela a bien été l’objectif affiché des empereurs chinois pendant des millénaires, et que cela redevient bien utile à un Xi Jinping autoritaire, cela ne signifie pas pour autant que les Chinois y adhèrent. C’est davantage une aspiration qu’une réalité sociologique.

Déjà Mao Zedong expliquait qu’il avait du mal à contrôler ce qu’il se passait au-delà de Pékin, et c’était encore plus vrai du temps des dynasties impériales. Le pays a justement longtemps connu le chaos et le morcellement, les guerres entre seigneurs, comme partout dans le monde d’ailleurs.

La figure du Chinois discipliné est un mythe. Les Chinois sont râleurs, pas moins que nous Français. The Economist titrait en octobre 2018 « Why protests are so common in China« . On comptait par exemple 86 000 mass incidents en 2005 !

D’ailleurs quiconque a vécu en Chine plus d’un mois le sait bien, il est très courant de voir les gens tricher et doubler sans scrupules dans les files d’attente, je l’ai vécu à plusieurs reprises.

Les Chinois n’ont en fait que très peu confiance les uns envers les autres, et collectivement envers leur pouvoir, surtout régional. La peur de se faire arnaquer est omniprésente. C’est justement la raison pour laquelle le Parti communiste veut instaurer un système de crédit social, pour remédier à ce manque de confiance chronique dans la société qui grippe l’économie. Dans un pays où l’État de droit se cherche, les magouilles sont légion, comme par exemple en septembre dernier ces membres d’une même famille qui se sont mariés 23 fois en deux semaines pour détourner des aides d’État.

Le confucianisme veut que le petit frère obéisse à son grand frère, mais Emmanuel Todd explique très bien dans Où en sommes-nous que sociologiquement la famille chinoise, à l’image de la famille russe, est égalitaire, et non de type souche comme en Allemagne, au Japon ou en Corée. Au-delà des discours, dans la réalité des relations intra-familiales en Chine, les frères notamment ont très largement été considérés comme égaux entre eux, là où dans les familles de souche allemandes, japonaises ou coréennes, l’aîné va primer, le petit frère doit effectivement s’incliner devant son grand frère. C’est ce qui selon Emmanuel Todd explique la réceptivité des sociétés russe et chinoise à une idéologie autoritaire et égalitaire comme le communisme.

Non, ce qui explique cet essor de l’IA en Chine, c’est du côté des utilisateurs une soif de confort que l’on retrouve en fait très largement chez nous dans nos usages, passées les objections de façade sur la vie privée, et surtout, au-delà des utilisateurs, une absence de régulation et une ferme volonté de l’État chinois de rattraper son retard économique et scientifique quoi qu’il en coûte.

En 2007 avec des amis nous avions voulu lancer un réseau social destiné aux étudiants pour adapter en France le concept de Facebook. Bien sûr, bien-pensants que nous étions, nous nous disions que jamais, ô grand jamais en France les gens voudraient s’inscrire avec leurs vrais nom et prénom sur un réseau social, nous en étions donc restés à l’usage du pseudonyme. L’explosion de Facebook en France cette année-là est venue nous prouver le contraire ; et mettre un terme à cette première tentative entrepreneuriale.

[usasportsworld]

2023 MLB Arbitration Tracker - MLB Trade Rumors

2023 MLB Arbitration Tracker – MLB Trade Rumors

You’re correct, but $30MM is not full value for Ohtani, as we will discover next year. He’s going to be MLB’s first $50MM-a-year player. $30MM? He’s still significantly underpaid. The arbitration panel takes into account many different items, and yes, previous salary is one of them, but what we have here with Ohtani is the first true, two-way player in the arbitration era. He was expected to blow…