tewlbox.bsky.social
Writer, former professional actor, tabletop game aficionado, and that guy you go to when your computer isn’t doing the thing right
152 posts
25 followers
71 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
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Agreed, mon ami!
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now with alt text, apologies for the oversight:
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Fair point!
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Huh. Good for him. That is a genuinely principled take. That is, genuinely, good to see.
Now here's hoping he continues to apply that principle consistently... and grows a few dozen more. I might actually listen attentively when I hear he's spoken up about something, then, instead of groaning.
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Hi Allie! *waves* I’m glad you’re here! ^_^
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Sam Altman is actually an artificial intelligence known as an AI maximizer. It's true; I heard it from Google's AI Overview.
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Ooooh - shoot that’s a good point. Yeah, that’s a bad combination.
I’m broadly sympathetic to the idea behind the tool but yeah that should (in addition to opt in) be buried deeply within the settings to reduce the risk, not a simple button push. (Risk isn’t eliminated even then but it helps!)
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It can be obnoxious, certainly, but that doesn’t seem dangerous to me, unless I’m misunderstanding something?
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My understanding - and correct if I’m wrong - is that it’s suggesting to you that you *set up a planned check in with a friend* but doesn’t automatically initiate anything without your consent. It’s like if it gave a pop up that said “hey, maybe you should let your family know you’re okay?”
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Sincere question - how is that incredibly dangerous? If it doesn’t actually send anything unless you take the positive action of opting in - which, given how Big Tech is, IS a big if, I’ll grant - I don’t see the danger?
(Caveat - my experience with it involves it suggesting family and my partner.)
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That’s not exactly accurate. It sends a push notification that says something like “Set up a check in with (Contact) to let them know you’ve arrived safely?”
Much like if you’re going on a first date with a stranger.
You can’t turn off the suggestion. But you don’t have to enable the check in.
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Oh, but either way, here's the kicker — Browning wrote that article the same year he collaborated with Jan L Jacobowitz on the authorship of "Legal Ethics and Social Media: A Practitioner's Handbook, Second Edition."
You can't make this stuff up.
www.americanbar.org/products/inv...
(10/10)
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To be clear, I am not accusing Browning of an ethical violation. I don't have certain knowledge of when he published his piece. Even if he wrote later, it certainly doesn't mean he can't reference Tumblr posts, or quote them entirely! But if he's doing so, they really should be cited as such.
(9/?)
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Now, is this proof that Browning ripped off Tumblr users?
No! Not at all. It's possible that the Texas Bar changed their CMS and had to republish all previously-published posts, which could lead to them being erroneously dated or similar.
But this is, at minimum, not a great look.
(8/?)
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But wait! Who wrote which first? After all, shitposters — including those on Tumblr — are well known for taking other people's material and reposting without attribution.
Well, Browning's blog post is dated — including on the Internet Archive — to 2022. The Tumblr post is from 2018.
(7/?)
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Prokopetz's Tumblr post uses the language, "[Casualties involved] kids deliberately circumventing reasonable safeguards, sometimes aided and abetted by the parents who were supposed to be supervising them."
Browning uses the same phrase, with minor edits. And the poem is exactly identical.
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Seeing the song in particular triggered an old memory; as fellow Tumblrites may recall, there was a viral post written by Tumblr users prokopetz, thecolossalennui, and aka-maayan, which makes the same points Browning does using nearly identical language:
www.tumblr.com/aka-maayan/1...
(5/?)
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He then "imagined a [new] Oompa Loompa refrain," which runs:
"Oompa Loompa doopity dare
The court finds you breached your duty of care.
Oompa Loompa doopity disk
That’s what the courts call “assumption of risk.”
There's just one problem — I don't believe he wrote either of those quotes.
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There's a particular section in Browning's piece where he muses on Wonka's legal peril. The full quote is longer, but includes the phrase:
"[...] The kids who deliberately circumvented reasonable safeguards while being aided and abetted by parents who were supposed to be supervising them."
(3/?)
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Honestly, it's pretty good. It's got what I assume is good legal insight, it's funny, it's well written, it runs through the different types of legal jeopardy Willy Wonka might face. It's not unique — Legal Eagle did a similar video in 2019 (youtu.be/7Z1p7TMPXFM) — but it's good. However...
(2/?)
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The incompetence is staggering.
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From what I’ve seen from pieces like that, the reporters / editors involved in those interviews do always seem to know how to give the other party just enough rope…
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I cannot, during these horrific times, recommend enough the importance of making pockets of time to just do things that are not related to anything but the joy of being alive and playing. You need it. You do. It will keep you whole. Which we need. We need you whole.
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Sharing vetted activism resources, or scripts to call your elected representatives, and more are all useful.
Yelling at people for finding comfort — like by eating a delicious peanut butter cup — is wrong. Even if it's motivated by fear — and lord knows I'm scared too — it's still wrong.
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Anyone who thinks that's good advice hasn't actually thought about what actions are useful to take at the moment.
Spreading (vetted, high-quality) news via social media? Sure, that's useful!
Rage-or-panic-posting about stuff? What does that accomplish besides raising your blood pressure?
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What’s most useful is: “here is what he is really doing, here are thoughts on how to push back.”
And replies of “no, won’t work” with nothing else? Counterproductive doomerism.
Give an alternative. Look for new angles. Somehow, in some way, HELP.
Otherwise? Demotivational posts just help Trump.