DramatistDreamer

The U.S. is already doing in this vein with some foreign companies from Taiwan and South Korea having built fabrication plants in some U.S. states, mostly in the South but at least one major fabrication plant in upstate New York.

Wow, @Catwhat happened to your parents with the Eurostar was unacceptable! That makes me incensed just to read it. The use of tech in customer service has now become infused with a deliberate lack of humanity—soulless, devoid of regard. I have often felt as if these systems have become a barrier so that companies can minimize their contact with human beings. IKR? If AI can’t at least save us from these damn robocalls and scams, what the hell use is it?! To get around the protectionist accusations, I think the Biden administration is trying to carve out some collaborative trade agreements with allied countries, particularly European Union nations where the concerns and grumbling has been the strongest (and loudest). I think that neither the United States nor the EU wants to close off any potential pathways to sell their products to the other’s consumers. As long as no nation becomes dependent upon any one nation outside of its own borders, the cross trade agreements could be a sound idea.

Yikes, and a bad one at that.

NBC seems to generally be the type of network where the majority of their hosts tend to leave by being carried out feet first.

Todd must have done a lot of damage to the network to get the heave-ho at this stage.

Not to disparage or discourage posts but I tend to tune out these cable news shows until there is actual news rather than speculation about what could happen. Trump has evaded and elided so many charges already, I just don’t have the patience to read or listen to a breath by breath recounting off the latest thing. When all the evidence is in, the investigations are finally concluded and we move past the indictment stages the court proceedings are underway, I will be more keen on tuning in but for now, it feels like a lot of filler for ratings maintenance. I hope that’s not coming off as rude to anyone. It may just be answering a question on why there might not be much engagement on certain topics.

There will always be the aspect of unintended consequences. In the mid 1990s as a student, I started using the Internet, when it was still referred to as the “World Wide Web”. By the late 1990s, I took a college computer science course in html, where we “practiced” how to build a website from html code. There were no templates back then, you had to create one. Inside humor but if you couldn’t make the little dog fetch, you couldn’t make the links work, essentially rendering your website unusable. Back then, the intention of the internet was as an information tool, to share information, which is probably why it is often referred to as Information Technology (IT), right? Also the reason why educational institutions like colleges and universities were among the first places outside of NASA to open up use of this technology. It was meant to be am educational and information sharing tool. There was never any thought to commerce or porn or harassing people online. But it happened, and it happened very quickly. I remember the first AOL online disks going out into households (I used Netzero myself, as it was still free back then). I didn’t visit chat rooms but at the prodding of someone, ventured into one and noticed the harassment almost immediately. Strangers (most likely men) asking for my measurements, what I looked like…I handled it by giving ridiculous responses. But, after batting away relentless impertinent questions, I exited the chat room, and have never entered one since. I mentioned this because the Internet has consistently evolved this way. The big corporations entered the chat, so to speak and gulped down all the smaller, locally run ISPs started by entrepreneurs and ramped up the price and gradually stalled innovation. In the early ‘00s, I was the first person to complain to my local bank about a phishing email that I had received from a scammer spoofing their website. They had no idea what “phishing” even was back then, but promised they would investigate it. They soon sent emails and letters to their customers warner of scams using websites that are designed to be nearly identical to their website and notified customers that they would never e-mail their customers request account information or personal details via email. At the risk of sounding negative, I bear no illusions of AI being used as a tool for any kind of altruistic purpose. If the “Godfather of AI” is warning of dangers, after he abruptly quit Google, hey I’m more in favor of giving more regard to what he is saying. JMO. In terms of tech sovereignty, I am in favor of it, and I rate it as somewhat in line with food security, every nation should look to have a degree of sustainability for national and economic security. I do think that when a nation like Chile does it, it is regarded as being for reasons of sovereignty and no one questions it, but when a nation like the U.S. does the same, it tends to be regarded with immediate suspicion. I am not saying that, based on the U.S.’ history, suspicion isn’t warranted, I am just saying that people will not regard Chile or Tanzania in the same way, they will regard the U.S. doing the same thing. One final thought about why I am skeptical about AI, I read an article in a tech blog which stated that AI will not help decrease or mitigate the effects of scams (including deep fakes, phishing and spam call, emails etc and identity theft). If nothing else, I had hoped AI would at the very least, help prevent these things from occurring. Well, maybe the law of unintended consequences might work here and someone will program some safeguards?

Do these tournaments still test for COVID? https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/65794974?xtor=AL-72-[partner]-[bbc.news.twitter]-[headline]-[news]-[bizdev]-[isapi]&at_link_origin=BBCWorld&at_medium=social&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_link_type=web_link&at_format=link&at_link_id=085D161A-01FB-11EE-91C3-39FFD772BE90&at_campaign_type=owned&at_bbc_team=editorial

He also looks like he’s been spending most of his time raiding the minibar instead of taking regular showers.

Yeah, I was surprised it got a second season too.

This case seems incredibly sketchy to me, in terms of the defenses being mounted. Let’s take the defendants at their words, that they believed they were collecting a debt or seeking recompense for a “theft”— they are hoping to benefit from a loophole, what I suspect has to do with the incredibly lax laws in the U.S. as it concerns debt collection where collectors seemingly are allowed to harass those deemed to be indebted, in some cases, even harassing people who have no debt. It seems like everyone has been “siloed” where no party knew what the others were doing at the team, so there can be a plausible deniability by the people orchestrating this activity. Also, it seems as if the Chinese aren’t the only ones who believe that it’s okay to extend their idea of justice into sovereign nations. Apparently, people in the U.S. now think this is normal. Just last year, I read a news item about a Chinese police outpost operating in NYC undiscovered by the authorities for some time https://www.npr.org/2023/04/17/1170571626/fbi-arrests-2-on-charges-tied-to-chinese-outpost-in-new-york-city local people, mostly Chinese mistakenly believed that it was some sort of cooperation with local police and had no idea it was a breach of sovereignty. As far as this case is concerned, why wouldn’t someone who had been in law enforcement check to see if their investigation was being conducted in accordance with the state and federal laws? Just sketchy and suspect afaic but I am no legal expert, what’s unethical is not always illegal. It will be interesting to see how the law is interpreted. If there are indeed loopholes that have been exploited, hopefully they are tightened up by now because it is dangerous to allow uninvited officials claiming to represent law enforcement in to just collar people like this, especially by subterfuge.

Wait a minute, is it true that this is the series finale? It make sense, given the backlash towards the direction of the series but whoa, how did I overlook this development? lmao. BBC has an article that references both a series and a season finale. Shrug.

Looks like the trial against Martha Byrne’s husband and two other defendants has begun. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/nyregion/nypd-china-agents-stalking-trial.html?smid=tw-share

At this point it seems as though JG has given up on sustaining a big suspenseful storyline with showing Phyllis on the run and writing to have us try to figure out where she is and when her kids will find out she’s alive, etc. It now seems like JG has chosen to focus on how long Summer can keep her knowledge of her mother’s faking her death a secret from husband Kyle. There was a time that Y&R would’ve kept Phyllis on the run at least until the summer solstice and then had the information of her being alive revealed in the autumn. JG likely knows he can’t keep it going until then. For the same reasons that I cited with Summer/Phyllis story, I think JG decided to skip the suspense where the viewers are concerned. It would not surprise me if it ends up being a garden variety stalking storyline. Oh well, it gives Sharon something to do (and Nick by extension gets a storyline that doesn’t involve Daddy daycare story)and I am entertained by the flashbacks.

Considering the fact that SJP is an executive producer of AJLT, you know she had to sign off on this. In fact, if you look at the production credits, you will see that both she and Cynthia Nixon are both executive producers, so yes, they definitely had a say and had to have agreed with the terms. Anyone who believes otherwise just doesn’t know the business of show business. From what I have read many fans were continually asking why Samantha’s side was not included and were irritated by it. Whether the show gets it right or not, is anyone’s guess but judging by all the criticism Season One got, the show’s producers had to do something more than just relying on the return of twice dumped Aidan to save the show’s fortunes. Wow, I admit that I made that statement before reading the article. From what I read some time ago when KC was honored by Variety Women, Pat Fields spoke as though she had seemingly cut ties with the SATC/AJLT franchise so she had to have returned because of Catrall.

No doubt, she was paid a ton of money, didn’t have to interact with any of her four former co-stars nor the current show runner. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got Patricia Fields to do her personal wardrobe for the scenes lol. Kim Catrall is a true G. The show was obviously willing to accept her terms so what does that say?

One wonders what the Scientologists will get up to now? Or will they pretend that he’s not one of them?

I agree that it’s not pedestrian, I just wish it would get the serious and in depth analysis and discussion that it deserves. It’s so sad that two or three corporations have been allowed to set prices and inventory to grocery stores and supermarkets nationwide. Companies like Walmart and Amazon are allowed to determine distribution networks and prices even in areas where there is neither a Wal, Walmart nor an Amazon distribution center for fifty miles. Someone in the Biden administration could raise the issue and continue to raise the issue, as well as how it got to this state. This problem is going all the way back to the 1980s Reagan era. Raise the issue and enlist the help of the American people to change this, may be a way to put the focus where it rightly belongs. Getting ahead of the issue before some entity on the opposite side of the political spectrum has a chance to spin lies.

OMG, yes lol. I was over it. With Twitter circling the drain and the much overhyped BlueSky already showing signs of descending into a nazi wasteland, maybe the need to pander to social media will stop. One could only hope.

The overuse of music in series dramas are a particular pet peeve of mine. It was popular on Grey’s Anatomy and it got on my nerves then too. It is often used as a cheat code to gin up emotions when the writing is lacking, imo. As I read this, I completely heard Perrineau’s voice saying it lol.

That’s what I was wondering. How is he paying for his suite at the GCAC? What happened to his money in the years that he spent on prison? Was it sitting in investments? And if he was released again after committing yet another crime, he must have had incredible legal help and that would have cost him a lot of money, wouldn’t it have? I have questions. Y&R has continually gotten it wrong with Asian characters, despite getting some truly talented and charismatic actors. Eric Steinberg should have been a leading man, at least for awhile, he had every characteristic to be one. Y&R flopped it. Keemo could’ve recasted and even slightly de-aged and could’ve been mixing things up with the likes of Nick Newman and Adam Newman. Laur Allen was way too good for the role that they wrote for her. First, it was a bore and only picked up once they shifted her a vixen, right before the character got the heave-ho. Ravi also had potential. A few years ago, I and others batted around ideas on what could’ve been done with his character once the affair with Ashley fizzled out. Personally, I would have loved seeing Shenaz Treasurywala back on a U.S. daytime soap as Ravi’s sister. I had even proposed that Jack tries to recruit her as a chemist after learning of her work and hearing that Ashley was an inspiration to her, which turns sour once she discovered the clandestine affair between her brother and Ashley. So many wasted storyline opportunities.

Cool. Thank you!😀 Looks like the CHIPS funding will fall short, which means China will likely remain the leader in producing microchips for the foreseeable future. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/us/politics/chips-act-science-funding.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter A.I. is getting scarier with each news report. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/artificial-intelligence-raises-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn

Hey @Soapsuds, do you think we can change the title to “The Tech Thread”? With all this talk of A.I. and it’s ominous future, it seems like this would be a good space to post if the title could be tweaked.

It looks like Christine is in full-on Barbiecore mode.

Wow, I was so locked in to my program that I missed all the media frenzy and I am not at all sorry about it. Also , seeing that my spellcheck has decided to spell Cuse as Cause. I am waving the white flag in regards to my constant skirmishes with spellcheck. I’ll just let it ride.