Howdy all!

Just thought I'd drop in and let everyone know that the reports of my demise have been somewhat exaggerated. TheRedneck is still alive.

I've got several threads in the old noggin, so look for some input in the coming days. Been a cold winter without ATS, and I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle again. To whoever decided to start this place up, thank you!

TheRedneck

(not sure where to put this, so I did my 'best guess'.  Mods, move it if needed)

Okay... a bit of fun for you guys:  With AI becoming increasingly common, we're also starting to see the real limits of it... so I thought I'd start a threadwo explore "what egregious errors have you seen AI making?"

I'll go first.  I read and answer questions on Quora.com, where they also have something called the "Quora Prompt Generator" creating (or trying to) interesting questions for people to answer.   What it's really done is expose some of the limitations of so called artificial intelligence.

So we get questions like:

• What is the purpose of cows?  Why did God create them?
  
• Has the pandemic made you more aware of germs and influenced your behavior regarding shoes?
  
• How can someone move from Canada to Quebec?
  

I clicked on DTOM's signature link over on ATS and it brought me here. I have not been as active in recent years, mainly due to ill health.My interest lies in the Paranormal, UFOs, Close Encounters, Reincarnation, Near-Death Experiences and Past Life Regression.

Glad to see some familiar faces over here.

Hey Y'all...

Glad to see this is growing!!!

Great job peeps!!!

Don't take any wooden nickels, k?

 

I loved this as a kid, but watching it as an adult it has a bit more depth.

Basic plot is that the UK government wants to close down a whole Caribbean island.

It should give you a good lauvh if not seen it

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090297/

He almost stumbled into the little alcove of the emergency room, trying not to 'shine' his deep concern to his wife.  She had been very unwell for months, and had announced to him two weeks ago, holding his hand, saying "You know that I'm dying right?"  He seemed to have slapped this back into the place in his memories reserved for things said upon which not to dwell.  He had argued, feebly, that she should not take for granted thing doctors can't account for.  Reiterating his love for her.

That memory refused to be denied and she said to him as he approached, "Oh, I'm ready to go.  I just can't do this anymore.  I'm too tired."  He felt a shattering within him.  "I'm so sorry you're feeling so badly," he responded, "but I really need you. I love you." He instantly regretted the adding of a burden to this marvel of a woman; he didn't intend to place in a position to infer that he meant she had to 'suffer through it.'  

"I haven't slept all night, I'm just so tired," She apologized, unwittingly contributing to his guilt and recrimination about the last utterance.  He held her hand and told her that her oldest daughter and youngest son were waiting to see her, but the ER policies discouraged multiple people in the room.  He intended to let her see them, perhaps because of a foreshadowing of what was to come, but he would have denied that possibility vehemently at the time.  He actually thought that seeing her children would 'normalize' the moment, in hopes that it would diminish any anxiety that she might be experiencing.  But she didn't seem frightened at all.  He had seen her frightened... this was not it.

He ran his hands through her tussled hair.  She had been thrashing about, and he did what he could to straighten it for her.  He though how desperately he loved her, aching to have her healed, her life restored... though the doctors thoroughly quashed that notion in her.  He held her face, then kissed her cheek.

"I'll go get one of the kids," he announced, and glanced back at her as he walked out of the little room, "I'll be back after."  Those were the last words he ever got to say to her.

Her son went into see her, and her daughter thereafter.  He waited impatiently, pacing around a tiny 'waiting room' separated from the common waiting area.  When the word came, it was from the daughter, "Mom is having trouble breathing," she said, "they were moving in the crash cart, so I thought you should come."

It couldn't have been more than a minute by the time he reached her room.  He was suddenly enveloped in a scene from a nightmare.  His wife was lying on her emergency room bed which had been flattened to facilitate CPR.  Her eyes were open but evidently unseeing... and her body was flailing impotently against the violence of the CPR thrusts.  Again and again, they continued the effort...  It was not anything at all like the endless theatrical productions... this was terribly ugly, it hurt his heart to see it. 

He heard nearly every word spoken between the medical staff.  They noted the tenuous monitor reports of her implanted pacemaker-defibrillator, vainly trying to get her heart to pump, they chattered about intubation... and then amidst all that chaos, someone reported that they were unable to detect any brain activity...

He turned to his daughter, looking at her panicked expression, and noticed the face of his son, standing just behind them... and witnessed the expression on his face... devastation.

He calmly and firmly announced to her, "Let her go."

She echoed him without hesitation... "Let her go."

"Really?" one of the staff asked loudly.  "Yes, let her go," she repeated.  

The staff expertly ushered us from the room.  A fact which he appreciated, knowing that the final twitches and gasps of life can be emotionally damaging to almost anyone untrained or unexperienced, let alone loved ones.

He walked away in a desperate internal struggle to deny that he was feeling the child within him letting out a long moan of grief-stricken sorrow.

...as in "a real robot."

Specifically this one (called Mindar)


What's fascinating about this is the division between the West and the East on this matter -- fear and hysteria on the one side, viewed as a tool (like Wikipedia or a book) on the other side.  Accused of being an object of worship (which it isn't) and viewed as a more sophisticated device to guide a standard set of actions on the other side.

This particular robot has been set up in a temple as a priest who gives a set of sermons and acts as a guide to Buddhist teachings.   It does have people who visit it regularly ("her", technically, since it is a "living statue" of the Boddhisatva Kwan Yin (spirit of mercy)

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14861909

(a very good and reasonably balanced article about Mindar and the limits of a robot priest and about how robots can be useful but lack the ability to be credible) https://www.scientificamerican.com/artic...t-workers/

The Japanese do not view it as a god... in fact, they don't view it as having life (any more than a book has life.)  It's a tool; like a video (on request) of their religious practices.

In the West (sigh) however, the Fear Is Strong (note... this is a REALLY bad op ed article) : https://www.zdnet.com/article/robot-prie...professor/

I'm a fan of robots, actually, and can see things like this (and robot coaches for exercise, etc) as very useful.  However, I'm not in the majority here in the West.  

small anecdote:  I was walking through the San Francisco airport and came across an area where people were demonstrating a child robot that could be used to interact with autistic children (who sometimes have trouble interacting with humans).  I trotted over and asked questions and talked to the robot... while all around me, most of my fellow passengers were actually changing the path of their walk to avoid this little robot...by as much distance as I could manage.  I asked the "minders" about the response and they said that generally Americans reacted with disgust or fear but foreign visitors seemed charmed and intrigued and some felt that it would help someone they knew.

I was sad that Americans would fear a child-sized interactive toy like this.  I suspect that if someone set up a robot priest somewhere in America, there'd be violence done (and some whacky politician would put up a video of them flame-throwering all sorts of robots.)

Anyway... robot priests.  An idea that much of the rest of the world might embrace someday.

This is a posting of Sheriff Jones of Butler County, Ohio.  He attended the National Sheriff Conference in DC with Director Wray (FBI).
The content is about info re: expected attacks in our nation.  It seems training of civilians is recommended by Jones to make up for lack of federal support and security.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvNukzNQawo

From: Fox News

Quote:Hawaii's highest court ruled Wednesday that Second Amendment rights as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court do not extend to Hawaii citizens, citing the "spirit of Aloha."

In the ruling, which was penned by Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Todd Eddins, the court determined that states "retain the authority to require" individuals to hold proper permits before carrying firearms in public. The decision also concluded that the Hawaii Constitution broadly "does not afford a right to carry firearms in public places for self defense," further pointing to the "spirit of Aloha" and even quoting HBO's TV drama "The Wire."

"Article I, section 17 of the Hawaii Constitution mirrors the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution," the Hawaii Supreme Court decision states. "We read those words differently than the current United States Supreme Court. We hold that in Hawaii there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public."

Quote:"The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities," it adds. "The history of the Hawaiian Islands does not include a society where armed people move about the community to possibly combat the deadly aims of others."

Quote:In addition, the Hawaii Supreme Court notes a quote from HBO's "The Wire," that "the thing about the old days, they the old days." The court's opinion states that it "makes no sense" for contemporary society to pledge allegiance to "the founding era’s culture, realities, laws, and understanding of the Constitution."

The case dates to December 2017, when Hawaii citizen Christopher Wilson was arrested and charged with improperly holding a firearm and ammunition in West Maui. The firearm Wilson was arrested carrying was unregistered in Hawaii, and he never obtained or applied for a permit to own the gun. He told police officers that the firearm was purchased in 2013 in Florida.

Wilson argued in court that the charges brought against him violated the Second Amendment. But, according to The Reload, the Hawaii high court explicitly rejected the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the Second Amendment in 2008’s District of Columbia v. Heller and 2022’s New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which both held that there is a constitutionally protected right to carry firearms.

So, if you are in the UK and ever go up round the Crewe area, you may see signs for the secret nuclear bunker.
It's an old, cold war command and control thing that is now a museum, and a bloody good one it is too.


There is tons to see and do there, though it might get a bit scary for the young ones. If you are an old cold war era specimen though you will love it!
There are even displays of de-activated W177 nukes you can stare at and try and figure out how you get nearly half a megaton of explosive power in such a small package.
pricing and how to get there


There is also an audio tour you can download free off the website foir a taste of whats to come.

Much has been written about Luciano and hic organizations, but other than portrayed in gangsta movies, and its especially muddied with so-called mafia romanticizing. His wiki page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Luciano

While we know so much about Lansky taking the money and funding the Zionists in the 1948 "show", we ddont acknowledge the work Luciano did to get the Italian people to unite against fascism.

Its like two polar opposite. Luciano fought fascism, Lansky embraced it. Ok, not exactly, but they let Castro win, Batista was too expensive.

Thats currently my fave "flavour" of Sci Fi.
here's a series of 3 youtube vids that can explain it all to the unitiated and expand on what you already know if you are familiar with the subject.

youtube

Kind of strange to be offering free adverts for a games company, but I LOVE this game, I have played it through dozens of times, got the updates and even downloaded the audio book...The stories just grab me, possibly something to do with my thread in the comics section. 
If you like RPG, FPS and open world stuff, grab it, you wont be disappointed, you can get it on steam and a few other places. I have put hundreds of hours into this now, honestly, you wont be disappointed if you get it, you just wont want to stop playing it.

So my fave comics arent superhero things, I have always been into dystopia. I guess that all started when I was a kid and started reading 2000AD full of stories about Judge Dredd MegaCity1 and the cursed earth, Flesh...about futuristic cowboys who went back to wrangle dinosaurs for food production. Invasion about a race called the Volgons, who wore russian helmets and sounded russian, invading the UK and Nuking the big cities. Rogue trooper about a genetically modified super soldier fighting through a planetary wasteland in some never ending apocalyptic war  and tons of others.

Recently trhough I stumbled across something newer that reminded me so much of the best of the old Dredd stories. Transmetropolitan its about a sort of gonzo journalist trying to fight back against the corrupt elites keeping the people down in this futuristic, cyberpunky sort of city. Its free now if you have kindle unlimited, give it a go.

Source: https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/world/wi...04-153623/

Quote:CAIRO — A joint team of Japanese and Egyptian researchers have started an excavation in an area known as the Western Cemetery, located close to the Great Pyramid of Giza in the suburbs of the Egyptian capital Cairo. The pyramid is said to belong to the Ancient Egyptian King Khufu.
Preliminary research using a ground-penetrating radar captured images that appeared to be remains of an ancient structure, giving researchers hope that the excavation will lead to a new discovery.
The team is led by Sakuji Yoshimura, 80, Japan’s prominent Egyptian archaeologist and the president of Higashi Nippon International University in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.

Hello, Let's Deny Ignorance.

It appears that 6 more countries have been invited to join the BRICS; BRICS is an acronym which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.  Now we have more countries which have been invited to join this grouping of nations which seek to challenge Western dominance on the World Stage.  The new nations slated to join are:  Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Quote:PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
BARTLETT: These six countries can now join the emerging block of nations, BRICS - the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - on January 1, next year. Together, the five current members already comprise about 40% of the global population and a quarter of global gross domestic product. But it's hardly a homogenous grouping, and these additions will make it less so.

 

I think this belongs in the Propaganda Mill due to the nature of how these public HOAXes are used to both create an atmosphere that propaganda is being done, or is just blatant propaganda in the first place. This story might be a HOAX to push propaganda or it might be laying the ground works for later. I'll let you decide for yourselves. 

So, we have this issue that seems to have started in India.
Poonam Pandey death: Controversial Bollywood actor dies after cervical cancer diagnosis aged 32 | The Independent

Quote: Bollywood actor and model Poonam Pandey has died from cervical cancer at the age of 32, according to a statement shared on social media that has shocked her fans.
Her team shared a post on Pandey’s Instagram account, which has over 1.3 million followers, on Friday (2 February), which read: “This morning is a tough one for us.
 
“Deeply saddened to inform you that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer. Every living form that ever came in contact with her was met with pure love and kindness.”
The news was later confirmed by Pandey’s manager Nikita Sharma, in a statement to NDTV.

Quote: A day after Poonam Pandey’s official social media handle and her manager said that she had passed away, the actor shared a video on Instagram announcing that she is alive. She said, “I feel compelled to share something significant with you all – I am here, alive. Cervical Cancer didn’t claim me, but tragically, it has claimed the lives of thousands of women who stemmed from a lack of knowledge on how to tackle this.”

 
Poonam Pandey, whose manager has said that the actor died on Thursday, has been trending on social media since Friday.
 Meanwhile, a video of a purported recent interview has now surfaced online featuring Pandey teasing her fans about an upcoming surprise news, but without further details. In the clip, shared by Instant Bollywood, she can be seen telling the reporter, “Aapke saamne ek itna bada news aane wala hai. Mujhe bahut accha lagta hai logo ko surprise karna. Jab voh samajhte hai yeh sudhar rahe hai, tab mujhe surprise karna aur bhi accha lagta hai. Toh ek bahut hi bada news aapke saamne aane wala hai (A big news is set to arrive before you soon. I like to surprise people. When people think that I have changed, I like to surprise them even more. So, a really big news is coming your way).”

Evening all!
I want a bit of advice regarding a change in my eating habits I've made for the new year. Basically, I'm trying to avoid all ultra processed foods, and mainly eating fruit, veg, meats, eggs and a bit of fish. I've cut out white bread, which I loved, and now make my own wholemeal bread in my breadmaker, and I eat 2 sandwiches a week, so four slices a week (I only make a small loaf). I've also swapped white rice for brown, and normal pasta for wholewheat pasta. Still have milk (Skimmed)

Now, so far it's been going okay. I've lost 11 pounds since January 1st, although I can't see it in the mirror yet. But...I downloaded an app called 'Weight Loss' by the NHS. This recommends I eat 1700 calories a day, and I am finding this impossible!! I am lucky to be touching 1000 a day, and 250 of that is drinks! I really do log everything down in the app, even to a sneaky strawberry Quality Street. So does anyone know if by NOT reaching this calorie target I'm stressing my body out?

I know I'm deficient in Vitamin D and Folic Acid as shown in recent blood work done in December 2023, and my Dr has put me on supplements for them, but apart from that I'm hoping this new diet will boost those again through a correct diet.

My usual day is a banana for breakfast (At my desk at work), grapes for mid break, a sandwich or jacket potato for lunch, and then meat/fish and veg for my evening meal. I just can't see how to eat more calories!

Anyone got any tips for me??

Clickbait.  Ya gotta have clickbait these days.  So how's this for a title: "Humans will soon be worshipping AI chatbots as gods, experts warn!"

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-...source=nba

There's a lot less there than the headline implies.  But don't forget to tremble in fear, because the article continues "Experts believe people might ditch traditional religion for tech-based beliefs. They warned the responses by bots, such as ChatGPT, were luring people to seek higher meaning from them."

I can see people with certain medical conditions buying into this (the guys who stand on the street corners, shouting garbled Bible verses, for instance.)  I've seen people argue with chatbots (not knowing that they were arguing with a chatbot) -- but I'm having a hard time seeing how an AI could present itself as a deity in any credible way.  "Worship me or I'll turn off your lights?"  (oh sweetie, let me introduce you to my candles.)  

And as a former programmer, I can't see putting that much reliance on something like an algorithm trained on who knows what database.

I would use it to explore medical conditions, I would use it for a lot of things... but I don't think there's that many who would worship it and I think the "expert" is simply doing a lot of personal speculating and the reporter is running with something that will grab eyeballs.



I'll get into the robot Zen priest(s) in another post.

True confession:  I really like cats and reptiles.  Love snakes (they're such escape artists, though) and lizards of all kinds.  I did have a lovely bearded dragon, but he died a few weeks ago, and the gap in my life was just disturbing (kept looking for Tad when I walked by the spot where his tank was, kept thinking that it's great weather to take him outside, etc.)

So... yesterday I got little Cinnamon.

Cinnamon's a hatchling (he'll grow to about 18 inches in length and weigh about half a pound or a bit more).  I estimate that he's no more than two weeks old... so he and his clutch-mates are still very new at living in the world.  I'd have preferred one that was a month old, but the fancy colored ones tend to be the first ones bought and I worry about such a tiny thing falling into the hands of a well meaning but inexperienced owner.   

This is a chill little creature.  He didn't freak out when he was put in the container at PetSmart and he didn't panic when I put him in his new home.  Today he had a nice meal of a bug (just one) and is now sitting in his food dish, contemplating life. 

Because he's so young and hadn't been in the sales cage for long, he apparently hasn't learned to fear human hands.  I'll be getting him used to a leash so I can give him a chance to roam more freely in the sunshine.

Anyway, this is my lil' dragon!  

I'm glad to be here and hoping we can have meaningful discussions and crack open some truths and realities of existence.

Let's see where deny ignorance takes us.

So... this is old news, but it was new to me:  a gorilla suit was smuggled onto the International Space Station.

(quoted from NASA)
To surprise astronaut Scott J. Kelly for his Feb. 21, 2016, birthday during his one-year mission aboard ISS, his twin brother astronaut Mark E. Kelly arranged for the delivery of a life-size gorilla costume to the station. In addition to some mild-mannered shenanigans while wearing the gorilla costume that he posted to social media, such as chasing fellow Expedition 46 crewmember Timothy N. Peake through the Destiny module, Kelly also recorded some educational videos dressed in the non-standard garb.

Fact Check: Did an Astronaut Smuggle a Gorilla Suit Onto the International Space Station? (newsweek.com)

The astronauts do some fun things for birthdays (including dressing as pirates! https://www.nasa.gov/history/space-stati...ys-on-iss/) 

The video of the gorilla chase (one minute in length) is hilarious: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=585409658282626

the Why Files

Has anyone heard of the Why Files?  I've been checking this show out as of late andf I'm excited to see this show as it covers a lot of the conspiracy type subjects that ATS( Now Deny Ignorance) is known for.  It covers topics like: Remote Viewing, Crop Circles, Neanderthals and early humans, Aliens, Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, UFO's in the Grand Canyon, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/thewhyfiles

Check it out!

Full article title: "Men may gamble more money after a positive fortunetelling -- even when they don't believe it."

Heck of a title, right?  (Here's the article: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-sc...-rcna46549  -- and here's the paper in question: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl...ne.0273233)  

So what they're claiming is that if you put a fortuneteller in a casino and offered free fortunes, men would be more likely to gamble more money after you give them a positive reading.  If they actually believed in fortunetelling they would gamble even more money (probably no surprise there.)

Women, on the other hand, seem to be unaffected (as far as gambling goes) by fortunetelling.  The sample size was 266 people; so a relatively small sample, though adequate for an initial investigation.  At this point it's hard to tell how culturally bound this is.  In China, there's certainly a bias for some numbers (eight is very lucky, four is very unlucky).

However, as the original paper says, there may actually be some benefits from superstition, particularly when things are tough.   

An interesting quote: He also noted that fortunetelling is somewhat different than some other types of superstition because it occurs before the event it supposedly foretells — the gambling, in this case — whereas other superstitions are often applied at the same time as the events they supposedly influence, like throwing spilled salt over your shoulder.

I tend to analyze (over-analyze, sometimes, as I'm sure nobody here would be surprised to find out) situations and get uncomfortable when I have to do a "best guess" type of response, particularly if the results involve loads of money (which is why I dithered for years about getting solar for the house.)  But when I get into one of "those" moods or get stuck with something, I do admit to pulling out a few charms to see if I can boost my brain into being more productive.

Do you ever make use of superstitions?

I like me a good hardcore zombie mod -- I do the ultra-hardcore bit of "one lifetime and that's it" type of gameplay.  Sometimes it takes me over 100 tries to be able to survive three days in a modded world.  I'm currently playing 'From the Fog' -- hooooboy.  

I like them really hard but not impossibly hard.

So... anyone do modded Minecraft?  Got a recommendation?