Tootfinder

Friend announces an AI pendant with a speaker for spoken replies for $249, up from its original necklace's $129 price, with an optional $10 monthly subscription (Boone Ashworth/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/the-friend-2-necklace-can-talk-back-to-you-now/

The New Friend AI Pendant Can Now Talk Back to You
Avi Schiffmann has a new version of his controversial AI companion. It’s more expensive, and you can’t change its personality.

California’s new attempt to help struggling newsrooms faces key test
Assembly Bill 2222 would create refundable tax credits for California local news organizations
based on the number of journalists they employ,
which in practice would provide direct cash infusions to participating newsrooms.
The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward (D-San Diego) earlier this year,
is the latest effort to provide a lifeline for the news industry.
There…

California's new attempt to help struggling newsrooms faces key test
The bill will require approval from two-thirds of the Legislature in the coming days in order to make it to Gov. Newsom's desk.

Q&A with AG Sulzberger on the NYT's OpenAI lawsuit, the NYT's success, Trump's attacks on the press, how reporters at other outlets are self-censoring, and more (Katie Drummond/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/the-big-interview-podcast-a…

Can the New York Times Save Journalism From Our AI Overlords?
In 2023, the Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. They’ve since spent more than $20 million on the case, and publisher A.G. Sulzberger has no plans to stop fighting it.

from my link log —
Lisp: the many faces of an undying programming language.
http://jakob.space/blog/thoughts-on-lisps.html
saved 2020-07-21 https://

I'm told that you can get some very weird behaviour from the latest #ai model from #anthropic. Say "See the below". Then leave a blank or line of dashes, then something maybe hinting at what it shouldn't do. It responds with strange fragments of text.

Brexit is costing the UK £11.7bn a year in lost exports, stark new figures show,
piling further pressure on Andy Burnham to rejoin the EU’s single market and customs union.
The damning findings by Logistics UK, which represents freight companies and is one of the largest trade associations in the UK,
show that the loss in revenue compared with 2019 is worth £400 per household in the UK per year.
The organisation has called on the prime minister to push for greater alig…

True cost of Brexit on UK trade revealed as calls to rejoin single market grow
Exclusive: The damning findings comes as a major new survey shows that 98.2 per cent of businesses want access to the EU single market restored

Q&A with Timnit Gebru, who says the "existential risk" narrative is a harmful marketing strategy and the "stochastic parrots" metaphor is not outdated (Lauren Goode/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/the-big-interview-podcast-timnit-gebru/…

Timnit Gebru Believes There Is No ‘Existential Threat’ From AI
One of AI’s fiercest critics believes the doom talk is about founders making money, not saving humanity.

Hear from #SanLuisObispo County Clerk-Recorder, Elaina Cano,
about how checks and balances protect your vote.
Take this opportunity to ask questions.
Following the presentation,
stay to write Get Out the Vote Postcards to Swing States
h…

Behind the Ballot - how election integrity really works · Indivisible
Indivisible San Luis Obispo County is hosting a speaker event. Hear from the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder, Elaina Cano, who will tell us about how the checks and balances work to protect your vote. Take this opportunity to ask questions. Following the presentation, stay to write Get Out the Vote Postcards to Swing States. *A core principle behind all Indivisible events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontatio…

Across the country, federal judges are calling out Department of Justice lawyers, questioning in unprecedented ways whether they can be trusted to tell the truth or uphold centuries-old legal norms.
From Washington, D.C., to Rhode Island to Oregon, federal judges nominated by presidents from both parties, including Donald Trump, have zeroed in on what’s called
“the presumption of regularity.”
It essentially means that judges must presume that the government
— whether…

Federal Judges Chastise Trump’s Justice Department for “Unlawful,” “Unethical” and “Unseemly” Conduct
ProPublica reviewed hundreds of cases in which judges criticized the actions of federal prosecutors. In many, judges expressed frustration that they can no longer take the government at its word.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving
to place its private detention network beyond the reach of state inspectors,
publishing draft contract terms that declare state and local laws
“shall not apply” to the facilities, according to federal documents reviewed by WIRED.
The new terms were published earlier this month,
a day after a federal judge ruled that a contract cannot override state law and ordered ICE’s largest Pacific Northwest detention center o…

ICE’s New Detention Center Contracts Declare State Laws ‘Shall Not Apply’
One day after a federal judge ordered an ICE detention center opened to state health inspectors, the agency posted new contract terms that would void state oversight at four facilities.