@joho Your guess is as good as mine. At the moment I'm just blown away by his behavior. He didn't go the litigation route (likely because there is nothing there), he went with the shakedown strategy.
Good morning. Today will be about understanding more about the Wordpress vs. WP Engine drama and threats.
«Automatticâs CEO Matthew Mullenweg threatened that if WP Engine did not agree to pay Automattic â his for-profit entity â a very large sum of money before his September 20th keynote address at the WordCamp US Convention, he was going to embark on a self-described âscorched earth nuclear approachâ»
WP Engine's law firm's letter to Automattic, including printouts of Matt Mullenweg's threats (PDF): https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Cease-and-Desist-Letter-to-Automattic-and-Request-to-Preserve-Documents-Sent.pdf (via Hacker News)
#Wordpress
Mullenweg is doubling down and Automattic has now sent its own cease-and-desist to WP Engine. Itâs a slow tennis match this, so will likely carry on for a while.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/25/legal-ping-pong-in-the-wordpress-world-continues-automattic-now-sends-wp-engine-a-cease-and-desist-letter-alleging-trademark-infringement/
#Wordpress #WPEngine
If you're still following along, it does appear as if Matt Mullenweg has gone full Elon Musk, and the paper trail of documentation just keeps on growing.
"TL;DR: Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic, co-founder of WordPress, and single point of failure for WordPress.org is trying to bully me with legal threats over my commentary regarding his recent behavior."
https://medium.com/@kelliepeterson/nice-guy-matt-mullenweg-ceo-of-wordpress-com-cries-foul-and-threatens-me-with-legal-action-f116ac57d862
«Automatticâs CEO Matthew Mullenweg threatened that if WP Engine did not agree to pay Automattic â his for-profit entity â a very large sum of money before his September 20th keynote address at the WordCamp US Convention, he was going to embark on a self-described âscorched earth nuclear approachâ»
@mm-hacker-news.bsky.social: Re: Automattic's Actionable Misconduct Directed to WP Engine [pdf] https://wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Cease-and-Desist-Letter-to-Automattic-and-Request-to-Preserve-Documents-Sent.pdf
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This post by @briancoords.com goes through what he believes Mullenweg (whose documented behavior is reproachable) SHOULD have said at Wordcamp US, and provides some good background to understanding the bigger picture (@via @simonrjones.bsky.social)
www.briancoords.com/the-wcus-clo...
Aquatic Planet Log 678299:
During one human life-cycle electronic devices on Earth were used for their purpose: to compute exact, predictable and explainable responses to exact, interpretable queries and inputs. (1/9)
Then, in what parts of human timekeeping referred to as the early 21st century, the most exploitative classes of the human race decided that the best use of computers was to compute inexact - yet semantically and pictorially believable - responses to inexact human phrasing. (2/9)
Each inexact response was different for multiple identical queries, and easily manipulated through more inexact phrasing.
And they chose to call those responses âintelligenceâ. (3/9)
We can only presume that previously trusting computers for exact calculations forced them into a delusional state of mind. Which included a misguided inference wherein fluent imitation of language was equated with aptitude and ability. (4/9)
Probabilistic word salad was treated as divine instruction and disciples flocked in great numbers to worship the devices and seek counsel with seductively designed gibberish.
As further evidence of this delusion, we can refer to the sequence of events that followed. (5/9)
Producing âintelligenceâ required substantial amounts of energy, causing consumption to skyrocket. Curiously, much of the human race understood the urgent need for the opposite: reduce energy consumption to mitigate the warming crisis and save themselves from severe harm. (6/9)
As was witnessed, much of human civilisation swiftly collapsed into a smoking pile of confusion, losing its critical treasures of historically documented knowledge. (7/9)
Typical of human inequity, areas with healthy levels of energy consumption were distressed to a much greater extent than the exploitative classes that propelled the harm.
After 327 solar orbits, and many large-scale wildfires, non-human life on Earth was again able to thrive. (8/9)
Historians remain puzzled by how a hubris-inflicted minority of a potentially loving life-form could so fundamentally misunderstand the concept of intelligence and be allowed to readily prompt planetary-wide devastation.
/.end of transmission (9/9)
100% agree. I read this book a few months ago. I was truly blown away by how relevant it is.
Worth reading "Islands in the Cyberstream: Seeking Havens of Reason in a Programmed Society" as well.
@thomasfuchs.at: If you want to know why AI (as advertised by big tech) is problematicâto say the leastâthis is the only book you need to read. Itâs 50 years old.
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We are seeing computers exponentially proliferate some of the tasks they excel at: numbers, statistics, labelling people, copying, collecting data and mass surveillance. Handling humans as unwieldy collections of data points. (1/7)
There is less talk about using computers with intent to boost the values we as humans wish to proliferate: compassion, love, care, connection and belonging.
Leading to a failure of acknowledging how the former is antithetical to the latter. (2/7)
When promoting compassionate tech Iâm not saying âstop using computersâ, Iâm saying âstop using computers to abuse humanity and planet.â I want the difference to become self-evident.
Computers can act as aids for compassion, love, care, connection and belonging. (3/7)
Think for example of games, accessible long-distance communication and support for creative practice.
But computers act as aids through human instruction and control. (4/7)
By giving space and support for self-determination and decision-making without undue pressure, coercion, deception or other forms of persuasion.
Conversely, computers can excel at tearing down compassion, love, care, connection and belonging. By demoting humans to mere data shadows. (5/7)
By removing human self-expression.
Sometimes that destruction is deliberate, but often it is oblivious. Makers are getting ever better at making harmful machines that appear benevolent.
The only way forward is learning to recognize the harm, talking about it and responding to it. (6/7)
And remember: Machines are never autonomous. Machines are products of human intent. We are not talking about machines harming humans. It has always been, and continues to be, humans harming other humans.
The ones who harm can be held accountable.
https://axbom.com/elements/ (7/7)
â© Replying to @hypervisible.blacksky.app
Reverse smoke detector wearable.
At random, but intelligent, intervals across a day it blows smoke up your posterior.
NSA has released a digital copy of a lecture that then-Capt. Grace Hopper, computer pioneer extraordinaire, gave agency employees on August 19, 1982 on potential future challenges of protecting information.
www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/P...
NSA releases copy of internal lecture delivered by computing giant Rear Adm. Grace Hopper
"This in-depth analysis (IDA) delves into a concerning aspect of modern governance: the use of Al-based tools and techniques for visible, as well as increasingly invisible forms of control and manipulation."
www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etud...
Det gÄr snabbt utför med vÄra rÀttigheter. Jag tror inte de flesta förstÄtt hur mycket lagar den hÀr regeringen Àndrat.
Janne Flyghed, professor emeritus i kriminologi pÄ Stockholms universitet, Àr inte imponerad:
"Som det ser ut nu Àr det sÄ in i helvete skrÀmmande hur lÄngt det har gÄtt. Jag har under 40 Är följt den hÀr utvecklingen, och sagt de senaste tio Ären att vi har en rÀttsstat pÄ ett sluttande plan. Nu har vi en rÀttsstat i fritt fall. Vi har grova integritetskrÀnkande tvÄngsmedel Àven mot icke misstÀnkta personer, och det Àr absurt att man ska behöva bevittna det i nÄgot som kallas för en demokrati."
https://www.flamman.se/enklare-for-polisen-att-avlyssna-en-rattsstat-i-fritt-fall/
@patrickcentral Definitely. And I'd expect you to. Even if you weren't a UX professional.
But in my mind it's then not okay to ALSO be fine with using "AI" tools that exist because they scraped people's content without consent and without any option to opt out.
It's specifically the combination of conflicting standpoints I am commenting on. Many of the people I see "take issue" with LinkedIn's practices don't appear to mind using tools that stole other people's content without telling anyone.
Iâm sorry but you canât both be outraged at LinkedIn using your content for machine learning and also continue to happily use a plethora of âAIâ tools trained using other peopleâs content without consent.
You canât both be outraged at LinkedIn using your content for machine learning and continue to happily use a plethora of âAIâ tools trained using other peopleâs content without consent.
@edbro Wow, I'd forgotten about this talk, thanks for reminding me. Love it so much!
I changed my postal address at my VPS supplier. This sent a confirmation email to me. Which sent my auto-reply about being on sick leave back. Which created a support ticket. Which confused their AI tool, as it emailed to ask what I mean. đ
Bots will be arguing with each other in perpetuity.
I changed my company postal address on my VPS providerâs website. This sent a confirmation email to me. Which sent my auto-reply about being on sick leave back to them. Which created a support ticket. Which created confusion in their system about why I created a support ticket.I got a reply to that ticket that would appear to be AI-generated. The automated reply-tool couldnât figure out what my question was. đ
So many bots are going to be just arguing with each other in perpetuity.
So many myths to dispelâŠ
âMarketers use control myths to propose the benefits of this technology, while designers use metaphors to make alien technologies seem more intuitive. [This gives] a flawed understanding of how they work and when and how to use them.â
https://www.techpolicy.press/challenging-the-myths-of-generative-ai/
So many myths to dispelâŠ
âMarketers use control myths to propose the benefits of this technology, while designers use metaphors to make alien technologies seem more intuitive. [This gives] a flawed understanding of how they work and when and how to use them.â
www.techpolicy.press/challenging-...
@simons Haha, det hĂ„ller jag med om. đ Jag ville framför allt snabbt dela med mig av att jag hittat lösningen, och kredda kĂ€llan.