My Top 10 Tools List for 2024
This is my submission for this year to Jane Hart's annual list.1. Firefox - this is my web browser of choice, the only one properly effective against tracking and advertising,…
Stephen Downes
A 100-page Textbook on Logic.
I was wondering whether ChatGPT could so it, so I asked it, "Please write me a 100-page textbook on logic." I'll reproduce what it produced below, but I want to…
Why I Attribute
Alan Levine gave me the old h/t (hat tip) for referencing a post recently on AI and copyright law. In a follow-up he recognized my own version of the h/t,…
Some Notes on Intelligence
Responding to Benjamin Riley, Modeling Minds (Human and Artificial): What are we talking about when we talk about intelligence? See also the discussion here.In the paper on Modelling Minds Riley…
Perplexity on Connectivism
This is a response from Perplexity, an AI engine that promises accuracy and cites real sources in its answer. The question was: “What is Connectivism”. It’s worth noting that while…
Response to Questions for Member States
This is in response to a contribution to an OAS meeting distributed in my office this morning. It is of course my set of opinions only, and not reflective of…
Text Editing in Ubuntu Cloud Environment Within a Powershell Environment
Sorry about the headline; it’s mostly a bunch of keywords to help it be found when I need it again. The Problem I have an Ubuntu container in a cloud…
Accessing Reclaim Cloud Containers by SSH and SFTP using Public and Private Keys
Goodness, I hate working with public and private keys. But that’s the only way to access Reclaim containers by SSH (for SSH file transfer and SSH terminal access). I’m using…
On the Sentiment of Rationality
I’ve wrestled with the question of whether there can be an ‘artificial intelligence’ over the last few days. The question of course comes down to what we think ‘intelligence’ is,…
21 Answers
Ben Williamson argues that the 21 arguments he summarizes “demonstrate how AI cannot be considered inevitable, beneficial or transformative in any straightforward way.” Of course, nobody is actually proposing this.…
A Quick Guide to Pyramid-Style Writing
The secret of my success (assuming that I’ve had both secrets and success) is that I learned to write like a journalist at a relatively early age. This approach is…
How Can Neural Nets Recreate Exact Quotes If They Don’t Store Text?
I often see arguments that show an original bit of text and a close duplicate output by a large language model (LLM) offered as evidence that the neural networks that…
Understanding the Copyright Issue
Saying that AI simply ‘copies’ what it sees is wrong and misleading. It does not help us understand the issue of copyright and AI. AI generates text and images based…
AI Drift
I’ve set up a Cloudron installation – it’s currently costing me about $25 per month ($15 for the Cloudron pro license and another $10 for the web server space). I…
Emergent Leaders in the Classroom
“The kindest person in the room is often the smartest” The Emergent Leader I have a trait I’m not always proud of but seems to be inescapable: I am a…
Big Fedi, Small Fedi – Where I Stand
On reading Evan Prodromou’s post Big Fedi, Small Fedi my response was a glib “I’m happy with small fedi but I’m fine with big fedi too.” But my feelings are…
Creating a Cloud Server and Acessing with SSH Keys Using Windows Powershell on Hetzner
Make sure you have Powershell version 5.1 or better Open Powershell, type: $PSVersionTable.PSVersion Install update if you don’t have it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell-on-windows Make sure you have the SSH service installed Type:…
What would you do if you were Prime Minister?
Responding to a Reddit thread. I’d obviously what to add a lot more detail if I ever were running for office (though I know people won’t let me ever get…
Different from Blogging
“In what substantive ways,” asked Anil Dash, “would this be different than, say, starting a WordPress blog?” He’s responding to this post from Tim Carmody, who in turn is responding…
From a Philosophical Point of View
I was asked today whether I ever considered approaching the topic of online learning from a philosophical perspective. After all, I am by both education and inclination first and foremost…