Mitch Wagner

Vernor Vinge, father of the tech singularity, has died at age 79 [arstechnica.com]

I had an opportunity to talk with him several times, and always enjoyed our conversations. He was down-to-earth and liked hearing contradictory ideas, which I, as a singularity/AGI skeptic, was able to easily provide. He liked a good laugh.

Vinge invented the idea of the Singularity, though Ray Kurzweil gets credit, and the idea has long antecedents in occult beliefs. He wrote many good novels and stories, and at least one brilliant novel, “A Deepness in the Sky.” His 1981 novella “True Names” pioneered the concepts of cyberspace and virtual reality, and anticipated the 2020s practice of “doxxing.”

He was local to San Diego, and although I only ever saw him at cons, I sometimes thought about just ringing him up and seeing if he might like to get a cup of coffee.

Is Apple a monopoly? Does it engage in illegal anticompetitive behavior? Perhaps. But I’d rather see the Justice Department go after the healthcare monopolies that are literally killing people.

Tim Cook gave the wrong answer when he said that guy’s Mom should buy an iPhone. Cook should have pointed out that the guy and his Mom could use Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, Signal, Telegram or a bunch of other options to share videos between the iPhone and iPad.

Only idiots or children think “green bubbles” make somebody else inferior. Apple is not responsible for the existence of idiots and children.

We’re an Apple-only household. Between us, Julie and I have three Macs (soon to be four—I have a MacBook Air on order), four iPhones (only two in use) and three iPads, as well as various accessories. We are loyal Mac customers. And do you know what I say to Android, Windows and Linux users? I might say, “Good morning,” or “nice weather” or “Have you seen Dune 2?” Or I might ask them whether they like their devices, because I’m interested in that kind of thing. I don’t work for Apple marketing, I don’t think people who use other platforms are inferior. I assume they are making the right choices for them.

If you have people on your service who like to argue and use insulting language, give them a place where that’s OK. Many of these arguers and insulters will prove perfectly civil outside that little playground.

I recently stumbled across a subreddit called /r/stupidpol which describes itself as a “Subreddit focused on critiquing capitalism and identity politics from a Marxist perspective.” A better desription would be “liberals are stupid.” I was called “Blue MAGA” and an “idiot.” I was not angry; I understood the rules of that place and modified my behavior accordingly.

That said, Redditors can be a rough crowd, and if you’re going to post or comment there, you need to be ready to be insulted.

Kevin Roose/nytimes.com:

The site’s journey from toxic cesspool to trusted news source illustrates the business value of keeping bad actors at bay.

Elon Musk and other MAGA wingnuts decry moderation as censorship, but:

• Only Nazis and trolls want to be on a platform with Nazis and trolls. Fortunately there still aren’t a lot of Nazis out there—not enough to sustain a big business. I don’t like being on platforms with political scolds; that’s true even when the scolds agree with my politics.
• Even Nazis and trolls don’t want to be on a platform that’s only Nazis and trolls.
• Moderation is arguably the business that social media platforms sell. They’re selling access to a pleasant place for people to visit. (This observation is not original to me, or, I think to Roose—at least it’s not a point he’s making in this article.)

That said, Reddit is not a business success. It’s 15 years old and still hasn’t made a profit.

And since the summer crackdown, Reddit’s volunteer-led forums are seeming exploitative. Reddit no longer seems to be operating in good faith—if it ever was.