Random blog Of Random Things

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President Mahama has said he must scrutinise it before signing it, which would make it law. But the pressure that's been placed has already caused sentences to be reduced and exemptions to be made comparatively to previous versions. More pressure is important even if this latest update was made because of the way the President, facing much pressure, has assented. The last time a similar bill was passed it did not end up getting signed (by Ghana's last president President Nana Akufo-Addo), so this pressure is definitely not meaningless or without hope.

This Tumblr post is the first time someone has explained to me *why* I couldn’t feed them before those instances.

every single time i have had to say, "i understand that if he had food or water, he could aspirate it into his lungs under anesthesia. i am not lying to you." THEN someone would make a little note and i would stop being repeatedly asked.

not a single time was that risk explained to me. the only reason it came up was because i already knew. i still don't understand why it isn't standard pre-op counseling or pre-op check information, when me as a parent acknowledging the actual risk also put THE MEDICAL STAFF at ease because i conveyed that i had informed understanding as reason to not lie about giving my kid food.

The Amur Leopard and Clouded Leopard (which recently celebrated its 50th cub born at the zoo!)

The Sumatran Tiger

The Red Ruffed Lemur and Ring-Tailed Lemur

The Cotton-Top Tamarin and White-Cheeked Gibbon

The Colobus Monkey and De Brazza’s Monkey

And the Mexican Spider Monkey!

we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem to) view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)

for clarification, AI here is referring to generative AI, rather than closed or custom-made LLMs

please rb for larger sample size!

Question 1/3

On the subject of AI, I have a confession to make: I use it. Not to write for me, but to help me check for inconsistencies, to brainstorm ideas, to write outlines, to give me a couple of lines when I've been stuck for hours, to be my beta reader, if you will. Generative AI is bad? Yes, but it also a useful tool if one isn't lazy. I don't ask: write me a story. I go with my story and ask: help me with continuity. Look, this paragraph is clunky, how do I make it better? The demonization of generative AI is fair, but to be honest, I also understand people who use it. Maybe they're afraid of writing themselves, maybe they're insecure and don't trust their prose. Maybe they have brilliannt ideas but they need help to make them become fics.

To me, this is very much connected to my last ask where I was talking about how we don't have enough mentors in fandom to support the influx of people entering it.

All of the things that you're asking AI to do used to be done by a beta reader (or more than one!). A fandom friend (or even a random stranger who volunteered) would read through your work and help you with those issues.

Betas are amazing. They can help with grammar and spelling. They can regionalize language. They can provide sensitivity reading if they're from a marginalized community that you're writing about and aren't a member of. They can track canon, help with research, even just be a sounding board to discuss ideas with.

And sometimes, they're just a cheer reader - someone reading your story and telling you how awesome it is because they love it just as much as you do.

I understand turning to AI if you 1) don't know beta readers exist or 2) don't know how to obtain one. The need for that kind of support doesn't go away just because you can't access it.

But for anyone out there who needs this kind of help and wants to avoid Gen AI, you can write a post on your blog, add it to an author's note, check out resources like @needabeta or - if the time of year is right and you have the funds - place a bid on beta reading services during @fandomtrumpshate

Beta readers are often involved in fandom events like big bangs and exchanges, and if anyone is looking to host such an event, it's a great way to get people involved who aren't writers or artists but would love to help out.

I definitely recommend searching a beta reader within the fandom you're writing for rather than someone who knows nothing about it.

And when you don't immediately get a response, ask again. This comes from a person (me) who is now two and a half years into dating the girl who replied to my 'I need a beta reader' post that I was debating to reblog that day.

Sometimes I wonder where our lives would be if I hadn't reblogged it or if she had skipped past the post.

Fandom is a community of people with shared interests. It's supposed to make it easier for us to become friends, hang out and talk for hours.

Not a single AI tool in the world is capable of giving (fandom) writers/artists/creators what they actually need.

one of the great joys of fandom is being involved in someone else's creative process. whether it's through betaing, just chatting about ideas, making an insightful comment on their fic, etc., it is so fun for both people involved when a creator has someone else to "yes and" with or to have "omg!!!" reactions or to say "i'm not sure that works, let's workshop that."

one of the main reasons that many people write fanfic even though we're not getting paid and it takes time that could be spent on other things is that the process of writing in community is so rewarding and fun. imo the most obvious way that it can be rewarding and fun is through comments once you've posted something. but having someone hold your hand while you create something is a close second. (and i'm sure for some people it's number one!)

i have made some of the best friends of my life through creating together. i've had some of the most fun i've ever had in fandom getting high on mutual love for a fandom/character/ship/whatever through betaing or being betaed.

don't rob yourself or someone else of that experience by using a soulless, carbon-burning plagiarization machine to do something that a person would love to do.

that said, i know that, especially if you're new to fandom, it can be difficult to know where to start in finding someone who will beta for you.

here are a few ways to go about it:

put out a post in the tag of whatever your fandom/ship/whatever is asking if anyone is willing to beta. ask people to reblog it if you feel comfortable doing it. if it doesn't work the first time, try again a few weeks later--timing may have made people miss it.

after you've made a few friends in fandom, ask them to beta for you.

leave some really good comments on the fic of a writer you admire. build a rapport. once you have, ask if they ever beta for anyone. if they say yes, ask if they will be willing to beta for you.

look at the author's notes on fics you like. see if the writer mentions their beta. if they do, after leaving a good comment on their fic, ask if their beta is ever open to betaing for other people.

as long as you aren't entitled about how you ask, it is okay to ask outright if someone will beta for you. but don't do it out of the blue on someone's fic if you haven't also commented on that fic! that's just rude!

after you've complimented the writer, ask if they ever beta. something like: "i loved this fic so much for these reasons: [reasons]. your writing is so great! do you ever beta?"

if they confirm that they do, follow up with: "do you have the time/energy/interest in betaing something for me?" protip: it helps if you tell them how long it is, what the pairing is or if it's gen, that sort of thing. some people might have the capacity to beta for a 2k word fic of their otp but not for a plotty, multichapter fic.

the worst that can happen is that they say no, and i promise that 98% of people who say no will say it in a kind way. people are not going to be offended that you asked. they're going to be flattered, even if they don't want to or can't say yes right now. and even if they say no, they might have a suggestion of someone else to ask!

Those are Expert Systems, tuned to do exactly one thing. If you (say) ask a medical expert system a question about financial law, it's useless. The autopilot that flies a 787 has no idea how to drive a truck on the freeway. A Coulter Counter is excellent at identifying lymphocytes in a blood sample but can't predict the next card in a blackjack game.

And so on.

The problem with so-called generalized AI (AGI) is that we don't have that yet. It doesn't exist. It MIGHT some day, but AGI has been "10 years away" since the 1980s. The goals keep moving as we learn more about how people and machines process data.

But the current crop of AI techbros have been selling generative Large Language Model AI (LLM) as AGI because generative systems do a good job of faking it. There's no actual thought going on, merely the illusion of thought via predicting the next word in a sentence accurately.

If you let a human toddler listen to 800 hours of YouTube car influencer videos, that toddler might end up sounding like a car influencer. They'd parrot horsepower numbers and 0 to 60 times, mention EV range and MSRP numbers.

But they wouldn't understand any of it.

That's ChatGPT.

And yeah, it's worse than useless because it doesn't even know when it's lying or hallucinating. It just babbles convincingly until you stop it.

But for techbros to make money selling that as "AI"? It's the perfect scam, especially if you don't understand how it works.

Where do they come from. What do

they hope to achieve.

you all say: I love you I

love you I love you.