207 Epiphany 2: Medium Envy
“You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it...“ ~ Psalm 139
Medium Envy
No one is going back. No one is getting off screens. No one is turning off the cars. No one is installing gas lamps. The future is a dream. We are here now, and language modeling is the inevitable result of a pursuit of communicable code as understood through the lens of traditional linguistics. Improvement of capacity to betterment of outflow is the most understandable desire of every good man. Is it a net good? Is it a net negative? Yes. Do we feed the machine because the machine feeds us? Yes. The first lesson in Christian media ecology is that the singular of media is medium, and mediums are a crafty business. A screen is always duplicitous. On a TV, all that you see is all that you see: the rest of the universe is not there, at least for a moment. That doesn’t mean the tool itself is evil, only that not all its potential human uses are good and we must expect wicked men to do the most evil they can. To me, that means, learn to build better tools and fight back with virtue where they choose vice. Ever since I learned firsthand how copyright serves the industry and not the artist, I’ve had a hard time crying for millionaires. That said, theft is taking without asking, and in the ongoing struggle for control of the narrative, they let you see is what the real underground warfare is all about. Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle is the digital age, where the cost of copyright became unsustainable. If the next thirty years are anything like the last, old copy is going to fight a relentless, losing battle against the inevitable power of digital communications. In either case, I stand this principle: information is created to be shared. And, since I know who the Creator is, that gives me great hope. 'Til angel cry and trumpet sound, The Mad Christian
The Blitz
Presidency
The first Republican Party caucus kicks off in Iowa tonight. The event is the first stop in the presidential primary and can “provide an initial signal of which direction a presidential election is headed.” Current polling shows Donald Trump still leading with Nikki Haley second and Ron DeSantis in third. Votes must be cast in person, which should sort out the true believers, with record chills forecast. (CNBC, Axios)
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has bowed out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination but not before his hot mic caught him disparaging his rivals. Christie has been outspoken in his disdain for Donald Trump and blames him for recent Republican losses. (CNN)
Politics
Days of our lives? While overseeing the racketeering case against Former President Donald Trump and his associates, Fani Willis, Georgia’s District Attorney, has been accused of unethical behavior that would disqualify her from continuing the case. A filing on behalf of Michael Roman, a defendant, claims that Willis hired a private attorney, Nathan Wade, as a special prosecutor, though he is unqualified for the role. In addition, the motion claims that Willis and Wade are romantically involved and took lavish vacations together “using the Fulton County funds his law firm received” upon her approval. (Atlanta Journal Constituition)
John Kerry, currently President Biden’s Climate Envoy, has announced that he is leaving the administration to help out on the President’s re-election campaign. (Just the News)
Coming to America
Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, says he has seized control of Eagle Pass and thrown Border Patrol agents out of the well-used transit point for illegal immigrants. However, critics say the move will not staunch the flow of illegals into the US until Abbott starts deporting interlopers out of the country. (The Federalist)
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The Digital Age
OpenAI says it can’t advance if it is not able to use copyrighted content. The company which created ChatGPT is facing multiple lawsuits from publishers and the New York Times after using their content to train their bot. “Because copyright today covers virtually every sort of human expression – including blog posts, photographs, forum posts, scraps of software code, and government documents – it would be impossible to train today’s leading AI models without using copyrighted materials.” Using only public domain and older drawings “might yield an interesting experiment” but won’t serve today’s citizens, they argued. (The Blaze)
Midjourney, the image-generating platform, has released v6. (ArsTechnica)
Meanwhile, a list of more than 16,000 artists whose work was used to train Midjourney’s AI has been included in a class action suit against the company. (The Art Newspaper)
Nikon, Sony and Canon are developing camera technology to embed info into images, proving a photo is not artificially generated. (Nikkei)
“A mouse for your mouth”: a new device could help those with disabilities scroll using their tongue. (NBC)
Practice your typing by tackling entire classic novels. Phew! (TypeLit)
Media
President Biden’s re-election campaign invited top journalists to Delaware to brief them on their strategy but also to “tell them what they’re getting wrong” in their coverage of Donald Trump. (Semafor)
What a difference some facts can make… The shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont last month was not the “hate crime” corporate media made it to be. (FrontPage)
Crime, Law and the Courts
A Pew study on what police think vs. what the public think has been released. Interestingly, 83% of people assume officers discharge their firearm at least once in their careers. The reality: 70% of officers never fire their guns on duty. (Pew)
The maker of the panel which blew out mid-flight on an Alaskan Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 is being sued for "sustained quality failures" in its products. The class-action suit against Spirit AeroSystems, who made the door “plug” (a panel to fit unused doors on an aircraft) claims that the company’s products were riddled with problems such as “missing fasteners, peeling paint, and poor skin quality.” In related news, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced it is investigating Boeing for failing to ensure their airplanes are safe. (CBS, CNBC) Not sure exactly what a door “plug” is? Here is an explainer.
Hundreds of unmarked graves have been found behind a Mississippi jail. The Jackson Police Department says the bodies are unclaimed, but families say they were never notified. (PBS)
War
Houthi pirates have launched their largest drone attack yet, targeting ships in the Red Sea. US and UK navies knocked out the projectiles and launched strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. However, reports noted the disparity in expense with relatively cheap drones against interceptor missiles worth around $1.2 million each. While the US is committed to protecting shipping in the region, they are aware of the damage “swarm attacks” can do to wear down even sophisticated warships. (WNG, AP, BBC)
Economy, Markets and Jobs
Speaker Mike Johnson is in danger of being given the McCarthy treatment after offering little resistance to the Democrats’ spending plans. The Speaker has cut a spending deal with Democrats that would fund the government until September. Some GOP lawmakers criticised the Speaker for not using his power over funding to leverage action on the border and to lock in spending cuts. It would be nice if they could get back to making budgets again but apparently there’s nothing more important than avoiding a government shut down! (The Federalist, The Hill)
Twitch, Google and Pixar have all announced they are cutting their workforces. (Tech Crunch)
The World Bank has warned that disruptions to global trade caused by Houti attacks in the Red Sea may “shatter hopes of global economic recovery.” (The Guardian)
Will artificial intelligence replace humans? “Everybody thinks everyone else’s job is easy…Even in the wildest of innovations, people still matter, and human relationships still matter, and you can’t shortcut it.” (Jim Nielsen’s blog)
Science
NASA and Lockheed Martin have unveiled their latest collaboration: the X-59 quiet supersonic jet. The aircraft is yet to take its first flight, but it is hoped that it will reach speeds of up to 925MPH. The cockpit has no forward-facing window but uses “a series of high-resolution cameras feeding a 4K monitor.” (The Blaze)
NASA has finally opened a sample of material taken from asteroid Bennu, after struggling with stuck fasteners. (Space)
NASA’s Juno probe has made an “ultra-close” flyby of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. The probe has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016. (ArsTechnica)
LG has debuted a see-through TV. VP Harris, your thoughts? (Robb Report)
Health, Medicine and Food
A Congressional subcommittee has heard testimony from Anthony Fauci. The good doctor conceded that social distancing was never based in any science and admitted that vaccine mandates have made people less trusting of public health institutions. He was not convinced that lockdowns contributed to learning loss in children. (The Federalist)
Donated blood supplies are at a 20 year low, according to the Red Cross, with hospitals warning they may have to delay emergency medical procedures. (CBS)
Climate warriors have piled on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after he posted about his new project: raising beef on macadamias and beer at his Hawaiian ranch. (New York Post)
Arts, History (and Sport)
LiDar technology has revealed a large settlement under the Amazon rainforest. (Daily Mail)
Forget tea leaves, ancient folks would fortune-tell using cheese.. (Saveur)
“Art and violence”: behind the scenes at Atari HQ, circa 1982. (YouTube)
“Nick Saban rejects the gerontocracy.” (House of Strauss)
This week in history:
1776: Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet is published. ( Britannica)
1908: President Theodore Roosevelt declares the Grand Canyon a national monument. (History)
1935: Amelia Earhart flies solo from Hawaii to California. (Britannica)
Hearts and Minds
Studies show that reading fiction promotes curiosity and empathy. “Reading is one of the most important things we can do to build our brains…we don't have time to not do it." (ABC)
Stories from Far Away
🇹🇼 Taiwanese voters have ignored China’s warnings, returning the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to power. Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s current VP, said the victory displayed “the commitment of the Taiwanese people to democracy, which I hope China can understand.” (CNN)
🇩🇪 Germany has agreed to sell Typhoon fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. Germany has been under pressure from the United Kingdom to end the deal. But a spokesman for Chancellor Scholz’ government said while they are aware that Saudi’s human rights record “does not meet our standards” reasoned that the country had played a “stabilizing role” in the Middle East. (Politico)
🇩🇪 Also in Germany, farmers are protesting after the government said it planned to abolish tax breaks for agricultural equipment. (Spiked)
🇪🇨 Ecuador’s government says it’s at war with drug cartels after an attack at a TV studio during a live broadcast. (AP)
🇷🇺 Putin critic, Alexey Navalny has made his first court appearance after being moved to a Siberian prison. Navalny says he has filed a lawsuit against the prison authorities over his detention. (CNN)
🇰🇷 South Korea’s parliament has voted without dissent to ban the production and sale of dogs for eating. (Time)
🇩🇰 Prince of Denmark no more; Frederik X declared king after his mother, Queen Margrethe stepped down. (AP)
Quick Hits for the Eyebuds
🌭 The Oscar Meyer Weinermobile and other crazy vehicles made to sell stuff
🏴The Welsh mouse who tidies up
🐋 Humpback whale makes a Fibonacci spiral in Antarctic waters
🏜️Why there is a giant barcode in the middle of the Mojave Desert
📱 iPhone survives 16k ft drop from Alaskan Airlines accident
🇳🇵Sherpas have superpowers: this guy carried an unconscious climber several hours out of Everest’s “death zone” to safety
🇦🇺 Commercial for lamb industry takes a fun shot at the generation gap
🕶️ Ways to remove your child’s image from the internet
🥣 Mix ‘em up: emoji kitchen
A Good Word: Links from the Show Notes
Jonathan and Meridith are settling in to their new Friday night spot (YouTube, Rumble) and the discussion covered prayer, modelling marriage and a man’s place in his home. We caught just one recommendation apart from the book of Proverbs:
What's Wrong with the World by G. K. Chesterton
Our disclaimer: These are some resources the Fisks have found edifying, but when dealing with human-authored texts, apply discernment liberally!
Sweetness You May Have Missed
This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, who governs all things in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the prayers of Your people and grant us Your peace through all our days; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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