All around the world, people are celebrating Blue Screen of Death Day.
This year's festivities, proudly sponsored by Crowdstrike and Microsoft, kicked off in the wee hours of the morning -- people from all corners of the globe simply could not wait to ring in BSOD Day 2024!
Below are pictures -- from airports and offices... to Times Square -- of how people chose to comemorate the day.
Reddit Fined $19 Million USD by UK for "Not Checking the Age of Users"
In related news: The GRANITE Act (which would provide a legal framework for protecting against foreign censorship), has passed the Wyoming House of Representatives.
California Law to Require Linux, Windows Implement Age Verification by Jan 1, 2027
A new California Law (AB-1043), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, requires all Operating Systems (from macOS to FreeBSD) to implement age verification, at the system level, this year.
Democrats Introduce Bill to Require Age Verification on Linux, Windows
"Age Attestation on Computing Devices" (Colorado State Bill 26-051) would require age verification on all Operating Systems (both Open Source and proprietary), with fines for violations.
Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.
It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.
1) If you create something with AI, who holds the rights??
2) If you do hold the rights, how can you enforce them??
3) If you have no rights, then should anything you create be considered Public Domain??
4) If you want to make something private, how do you tell AI to make it so??
5) How can you be sure that using AI can be totally private??
6) Do you or can you trust any big company to be private and respect your rights??
7) With AI having the right to scrape the internet with out reguard to privacy, what do you do now???
I have a guilty pleasure - I listen to AI Slop stories on YouTube. These are clearly AI written stories. Low quality. AI voicing - low quality. I think there may be 3 plots and infinite retelling of those same three plots. My boss fired me, but I own the patents is just one.
Thing is - these are “help me sleep” stories. I don’t care that I fall asleep. I may pick up where I left off the next night or I may never know how it turns out that the poor daughter that the rest of the family looked down on, had secretly started a tech company worth a billion dollars.
I don’t think these stores could be any worse if you tried. Then someone said - an author used AI to create a book. Not for her to publish, but to read for herself. The light bulb went off in my head.
I could have Betsy, my OpenClaw Bot write stories for me that are based on what I like. Competence porn. Think Jack Reacher, Ender Wiggin, Harry Potter. I can create a team of AI’s that ...
🙄 George Carlin said the "Big Club" (which includes Government) wanted school to create "Workers Smart Enough to Operate The Machines - and TOO DUMB to Question Motives of Authority or the Rate of Taxation" (paraphrased).
The "Big Club" seems to have decided that STUPID is good enough for their specifications on a utopian society.
Hypothetical Situation:
[Prompt] Hey A.I. ChatBot - I need you to THINK for at least 10 seconds, because this problem had me totally confused after two minutes.... 💵 After writing a Check for $23.86 to the Grocery Store, What will be my Bank Balance when the Check is Processed? Also: What is a Grocery, and why would I buy one?
If you are already a Lifetime Subscriber and want to be added to the 4th (or the start of the 5th) wall, email me (bryan at lunduke.com). There are only a couple of spots left on Wall 4.
The new Lifetime Wall designs are locked and loaded, and will make their grand debut at the end of all new shows starting either Friday or Monday.
I also wanted to take a moment to thank all of the non-Lifetime Subscribers. The Lifetime Subs may get a little extra attention at the end of the shows… but every subscriber (Monthly & Yearly) helps to make this work possible.
79 Million Views in 6 Months for The Lunduke Journal
Welcome to February, all of you amazing nerds!
January was a fun month for The Lunduke Journal (thanks to all of you). For those interested in a little Inside Baseball, I’ve pulled together some stats and charts below.
The short version: Great month. Crazy news stories. Solid growth. Can’t complain!
Revamped Lifetime Wall
Oh! And the “Lifetime Subscriber Wall” is getting a “retro” facelift.
This is what the four Lifetime Walls currently look like:
Once that 4th Wall is filled (a little over 75% of the way there as of this morning), I’ll be introducing the new designs (for all the walls) along with the starting of Wall Number 5.
Each Wall now has its own, distinct look and theme. Very Retro Computer-y. You’re going to dig it.
To make that “Wall Number 5” get here as fast as possible, I’ve gone ahead an reinstated the “$89 Lifetime Subscriber” deal. But only until Wall Number 4 is full.
Want to be on the Wall? If you don’t have a Lifetime Subscription, grab one. If you already have one, email me (bryan at lunduke.com) to let me know how you want your name to be displayed.
A huge thank you to everyone who has signed up during this crazy deal. We are this close to filling up the 4th Lifetime Subscriber Wall (there’s a possibility it might fill up in the next few hours).
Far beyond anything I was expecting. All of you are absolutely amazing. The Lunduke Journal would not be possible without you.
If you were on contemplating grabbing that Lifetime Sub, I’d jump on it right now. The price goes back up to normal ($300) in about 12 hours or so.
There are some options. For both subscribing and donating. They're all on this page.
Bonus: At the bottom of this page you will find the invite link to the super-secret Lunduke Journal Discord Chat Server. This is only available for full subscribers, which makes it a nice place to hang out. No riff-raff.
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