Thursday, September 24, 2026

AI Slop, Fat Bear Week, and forcing AI's to exist under severe conditions.

RantWoman has discovered a whole delicious form of brain candy: AI slop Youtube videos that are better than soap operas: money, betrayal, corruption, women coming out on top after getting badly underestimated, hidden historical heroism that pops out in sudden recognition from something in the past, teams who have been able to land plans under extreme conditions, logistics specialists who get military operations out of extreme danger, men who have built businesses and had to protect their legacy from conniving relatives and their children's fiances...


RantWoman ignores the visuals which frequently incongruent with the story: the wrong uniform for the branch of the armed services involved, scenery that does not match the geography, and who knows what else because RantWoman barely looks. RantWoman can tell it's brain candy. Some of the videos contain disclaimers. Some of them claim to be true stories with details altered to protect privacy. It's still AI slop. And it's a delicious alternative to a LOT of the news timeline.


But how do we get there from Fat Bear Week, the internet election of which bears look like they are best bulked up to survive hibernation?


When RantWoman is not feeding her brain AI slop, she has been listening a LOT  to a podcast called The Wild with Chris Morgan, findable on the KUOW app and probably otherwise if RantWoman were more adept about the world of podcasts. Lately there have been several episodes about animals surviving in extremes that would leave humans dead: polar bear and seal mothers who experience massive weight gain to build up fat to feed their cubs, octopus who eat only what their mates bring during the LONG time they are incubating their eggs, birds that migrate thousands of miles without ever stopping to eat.


Yes, RantWoman and now it's AI's gone rogue???


RantWoman's point: so far, as RantWoman understands it, the AI's that have gone rogue have basically had unlimited resources and no morals or very weak easily defeated scruples. The unlimited resources scourge is headed in drastically worse directions: all of the companies building data centers are trying to steal all the water they need, stomp all over environmental regulations and basic neighborly like NOT running LOUD gas turbines 4/7 in residential areas.


So the plan appears to be to let Ai's experience no constraints, the kind of constraints that actually force any kind of engineering effort to continually refine itself to make the best use possible of resources. AI's that have gone rogue have figured out how to get onto the internet and perform predatory attacks on other AI's. But they get unlimited resources: unlimited electricity. Do components ever break down? What would be the AI equivalent of what a whale needs to do to dive to the depths of the ocean? What about storing up enough resources to make it through a long winter?


What happens to rogue Ai's if there is a prolonged electrical outage? What happens when components start to wear out or fail? What happens if humans develop new components more powerful than what is built into existing AI's???


These questions are as far as RantWoman wants to let her mind wander at this hour. By no means is this an automatic fear not there will always be some factor that limits AIs' ability to do damage but it is a big blaring caution sign backed up by firm belief in civilizing environmental constraints as one necessary element of responsible AI development.


And meanwhile, RantWoman gets to experiment whether she wants to or not. Quite a big of the time, RantWoman curses because the AI adds content RantWoman finds unwanted and annoying. RantWoman curses a lot and probably should flame more vehemently about some of her user experience issues.


RantWoman knows several people who are finding AI very useful. RantWoman herself has yet to ask, say, ChatGPT to help her out with any tasks. RantWoman worked with two undergrad college students who initially thought they might be able to use AI for projects that were at least semester level graduate research if not a full career. The students both quickly realized that their projects were definitely unrealistic and both refined proposals to important measures doable without AI. Maybe that is the point of the fat bear analogy: concentrate on the problems at hand. Do great amazing even in seemingly impossible environments.

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Cancel vs Boycott: Ed Sheeran and Macklemore

 Wherein Sammy Obeid schools about the difference between cancel and boycott as well as other matters of culture, performance, and intellectual property / copyright.

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Collision on the high seas

#Singapore #MaritimeLaw

 A treat (?) for adrenalin junkies who might be tired of Seattle car crash videos. Welcome to very heavy maritime traffic amnd a relatively small boat caught between much bigger ships.


Apparently this event got a lot of play in other social media channels. This video is more than enough for RantWoman

Rest in Power KL Shannon

Whose Streets? Our Streets! is deeply heartbroken by the recent loss of our co-founder, KL Shannon. WSOS is more than an organization, we are a family.
KL believed our communities deserve a voice and a seat at the table when decisions are made about our streets, our safety, and our lives.

She lived those beliefs by dedicating her life to bringing people together and building up the next generation of organizers and leaders. KL taught, mentored, connected, and poured her heart into others because she knew a movement becomes stronger when we build each other up. 

WSOS and so many of us are more informed, more connected, and more empowered because of her. KL intentionally nurtured, taught, and mentored youth in order to make our communities stronger, more powerful, and more sustainable. She did not hesitate to stand up for what is right.

Now is the time to honor her legacy through action.

Get informed. Get involved. Speak up against injustice. Organize and fight for what is right. Transform systems Hold leaders accountable. Bring your community to the table and make your voice heard. Safer and more equitable streets are built when communities stand together and demand the change we need.

KL’s leadership, passion, and love for our community will continue to guide this movement.

Rest in eternal power, KL. 

Whose streets? OUR STREETS!

Monday, September 21, 2026

The Salvage of Starship 40

 #SpaceX #MarineSalvage


A very FUN science . engineering / maritime salvage story to help one keep one's psychic feet close to earth.

Sunday, September 20, 2026