Mike Riverso

@mikeriverso

Sci-fi, games, and progressive politics. “De-escalate all conflict that is not with the enemy.” #BlackLivesMatter. #TransLivesMatter. He/him. Toronto.

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Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir mikeriverso.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· 21d

This is exactly how people talk about gambling and drinking.

"I need to come to terms with the fact that the level of dopamine I've been getting from interacting with LLMs-with doing more and more and more and more-is not healthy for me or good for the world," said Green. "It is careless, and has disconnected me from where people are on this. I was talking about this with [my wife] last night, and she did not pull any punches. Frankly, neither did [my brother]. Neither of them think I've been being healthy. I need to readjust."

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jul 16

Sometimes you go to Rome and take a really cool picture in the Pantheon out of sheer luck.

The light of the oculus at the Pantheon in Rome, striking the inside of the building’s dome. A circle of sunlight almost perfectly centered on one of the square indentations on the domed ceiling. The sunlight exposure darkens the rest of the dome in the camera’s view, appearing almost monochrome.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jun 22

I mean, that labeler itself seems to have drawn the ire of someone.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· May 7

Geordi LaForge had this shit figured out.

A complex geometric shape from Star Trek: TNG, a form of malware meant to confuse and disable the Borg.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Apr 23

They would’ve love-hated each other’s skeets.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Apr 12

Ironsworn’s completely free to check out. The sci-fi version Starforged, isn’t, but here’s a few examples of the assets. You get 3 to start, with the first ability checked off on each, and you check off new abilities or add new assets as your character progresses.

PATH
FIREBRAND
• You wield fiery energy. When you rest and meditate to gather this energy, roll +spirit. On a strong hit, take up to +3 fire. On a weak hit, take +2. On a miss, take +2 fire but Endure Harm (-2). Your max fire is +5. When you make moves aided by this energy to attack or overcome obstacles, add +2 and suffer -1 fire.
• When you Endure Harm and score a strong hit with a match, you may instead ignore the harm and take +fire equal to the amount of harm faced (+1, +2, or +3).
When you have at least +3 fire, you may Gain Ground or Strike by unleashing hell.
If you do, take an automatic strong hit and mark progress. Then, set your fire to O.

COMMAND VEHICLE
STARSHIP
LAI
NAME
Your armed, multipurpose starship is suited for interstellar and atmospheric flight. It can comfortably transport several people, has space for cargo, and can carry and launch support vehicles. When you Advance, you may spend experience to equip this vehicle with module assets.
• When you Finish an Expedition (dangerous or greater) in your starship and score a hit, this journey strengthened your ties to your ship and any fellow travelers. You and your allies may mark 1 tick on your bonds legacy track.
• When you Withstand Damage, you may roll theart. If you do, Endure Stress (-1) on a weak hit or miss.
I BATTERED CURSED

PATH
TECH
• When you make a move to configure, optimize, hack, or disrupt an electronic system, add +1. On a weak hit, you can choose to press your luck. If you do, reroll all dice and add +2 (instead of +1).
• When you Withstand Damage and score a miss, you may attempt to reroute power or reboot critical systems. If you do, first Lose Momentum (-2). Then, reroll all dice, add +wits instead of integrity, and count a weak hit as a miss.
• When you Face Danger or Secure an
Advantage by creating a computer program to perform a specific, complex function, add +2 and take +1 momentum on a hit. One time only, when you trigger the program to fulfill its purpose, reroll any dice.

PATH
BLADEMASTER
If you wield a bladed weapon...
• When you Clash or Strike in close quarters, add +1. On a strong hit with a match, you are unstoppable; mark progress.
• When you Gain Ground by moving into close quarters against a foe, choose one.
* Charge: Roll +heart, and mark progress on a hit.
* Evade: Roll +edge, and take +1 momentum on a hit.
• You wield an iconic blade. Give it a name.
When you Swear an Iron Vow by binding your promise to this blade, add +1. On a hit, fill the box below. If you make a move (including a progress move) using your oathbound blade and score a miss, you may clear the box to reroll any dice.
NAME

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Apr 1

Found it.

Rod Hilton
@rodhilton@mastodon.social
He talked about electric cars. I don't know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
Then he talked about rockets. I don't know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.
Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software & Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit l've ever heard anyone say, so when people say he's a genius I figure I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets.
Dec 24, 2022 at 11:32:10 PM

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Mar 24

Nope, you don’t get to delete this one.

A screenshot of Will Stancil claiming that the typical 10 stages of genocide somehow prove that what’s happening in Gaza is not a genocide.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jan 13

From Libby’s statement on AI usage. Note that each of these points is something that can be achieved more effectively without LLMs.

We will use Al to (Permitted Uses) :
• To automate repetitive tasks with human oversight
• To generate marketing or educational content subject to human review
• For predictive analytics for trends
• To improve our platforms, apps, and solutions to benefit all users
• To improve search, recommendations, and metadata

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Dec 16

Incredible sky in Toronto just now.

A sky at sunset, filled with wavy stripes of clouds lit with reds and blues and grays.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Dec 12

Got the Star Trek Christmas tree up again this year.

A Christmas tree covered in Star Trek related ornaments, with a Q action figure as the topper.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Dec 11

The crew of the Enterprise would balk at our corporate media gatekeeping shenanigans.

Jean-Luc Picard, saying “That nonsense is centuries behind us.”

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Nov 28

A Calvin and Hobbes comic edited to have the following dialogue:

PLAYING A RECORD? ILL SHOW YOU SOMETHING INTERESTING.

The two types of games are menus and parkour.

All games fall into these two categories.

Counter Strike? Menus.
Apex? Parkour.

YEAH...

Baulder's Gate? Menus.
Minecraft? Parkour.

Despite jumping around a lot, Destiny 2 is menus.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Nov 28

Making good choices, this Black Friday.

An order confirmation from LEGO for the new Star Trek Enterprise D set.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Oct 25

I asked Lt. Tendi how she feels about the Blue Jays being in the World Series and all she said was “Death to the opposition.”

A cute Russian Blue kitty wearing a plastic Blue Jays cap.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Oct 21

Let’s go!

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Sep 11

Lessons 16-20 out of 20.

17
Listen for dangerous words.
Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

18
Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.

19
Be a patriot.
Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.

20
Be as courageous as you can.
If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Sep 11

Lessons 13-16 out of 20.

13
Practice corporeal politics.
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.

14
Establish a private life.
Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis.
Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble.
Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.

15
Contribute to good causes.
Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others
to do good.

16
Learn from peers in other countries.
Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a
solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Sep 11

Lessons 9-12 out of 20.

Be kind to our language.
Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.

10
Believe in truth.
To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.

11
Investigate.
Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles.
Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media.
Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you.
Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.

12
Make eye contact and small talk.
This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Sep 11

Lessons 5-8 out of 20.

5
Remember professional ethics.
When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.

6
Be wary of paramilitaries.
When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come.

7
Be reflective if you must be armed.
If you carry a weapon in public service, may God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no.

8
Stand out.
Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Sep 11

Lessons 1-4 out of 20.

1
Do not obey in advance.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.

2
Defend institutions.
It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of "our institutions" unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side.

Beware the one-party state.
The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections.
Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.

4
Take responsibility for the face of the world.
The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Sep 11

Apropos of nothing, here’s the chapter summaries from Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny. Thread:

ON TYRANNY
TWENTY LESSONS
FROM THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY
TIMOTHY SNYDER

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Aug 8

And sometimes she sleeps on me.

That same goddamn cat lying on the chest of the author, a white man with glasses.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Aug 8

She is normally significantly more chill:

The same cat, adorably lounging on a grey patio couch, like the huge dork she is.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Aug 8

This is Lt. Tendi. She went to the vet today, and was not pleased about it. Even extremely doped up they had to use gloves and towels to keep her still. She is perfect and we love her.

A grey Russian Blue cat on an examination table, swaddled in a towel and being held by a vet assistant wearing big heavy gloves. The cat does not look pleased.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jul 30

I’m not even kidding. It was January 21, 2022. Dan Olson released Line Goes Up just as NFTs were consuming the discourse, and put a stop to it almost immediately. I can’t think of any other YouTube video that’s had as much success in doing what it set out to do.

A Google search trends chart for “NFT” that peaks in January 2022.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jul 16

I find it amusing that Ani clearly cribs the design of Misa, from Death Note, a character who exists largely to stroke the ego of the show’s protagonist, a megalomaniac sociopath. But I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.

Misa, from the anime Death Note. A blond anime girl dressed in a gothic outfit.

Ani, Grok’s new “AI companion”. A blond anime girl dressed in a gothic outfit.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jul 16

Ani seems to me to be a rip-off or Misa, from Death Note. Ya know, the character who fawns over the megalomaniac sociopath protagonist. But I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.

Misa Amane, from Death Note. A blond anime character dressed in a goth outfit, very similar to Grok’s new Ani companion.

Ani, the new AI “companion” from Grok. A blond anime character dressed in a gothic outfit.

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jul 16

Sarah lays out 9 factors that give people incentive to cheat, and shows how each of these directly affects the chess world (and especially the online chess world). It's not hard to see how most of these factors affect the education world as well.

1. Zero-sum competitive structure
2. Artificial scarcity
3. Extreme extrinsic motivation
4. Gamification
5. Economic pressure
6. Anonymous environment
7. Performance goals > mastery goals
8. Observing others cheat and succeed
9. High difficulty with diminishing returns

Mike Riverso@mikeriverso· Jun 6

What? No. Bad Bluesky. Bad. Notifications about unactionable, useless information are bad design. I do not care if someone likes a post I reposted. I don’t even want a notification when someone likes one of *my* posts.