»xAI’s Grok suddenly can’t stop bringing up “white genocide” in South Africa […] Searching the Grok account's replies […] currently returns dozens if not hundreds of posts where the LLM responds to completely unrelated queries with quixotic discussions about alleged killings of white farmers in South Africa«
The same was happening on X itself, even before Grok, pushing certain kinds of topics even when they had nothing to do with what I was looking for or I was reading (e.g. people complaining about how being trans 'ruined their life' or other types of misinformation)
Apartheid Elon's maternal grandfather was jailed by Canada during WWII for publishing pro-Nazi propaganda. After the war he moved the family to South Africa when Apartheid began. Elon was raised on white privilege and believing in white supremacy. Now he's trying to portray himself as some sort of victim. He's made Twitter/X a Nazi-friendly platform which he uses to propagate his far right views. #ElonMusk #Apartheid #racism #SouthAfrica #Disinformation #TheFarRight #Broligarchs
Scientists need hobbies. The grueling work of navigating complex theory and the politics of academia can get to a person, even one as laid back as Brown University professor and astrophysicist Stephon Alexander.
The Montreux Jazz Festival -- the second largest jazz festival in the world -- has seen many acts come and go since it kicked off in 1967. Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Nina Simone, Bill Evans and Ella Fitzgerald have all played there.
Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen was one of seven people arrested after protesting during a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Fun new supply chain attack approach detected. It doesn’t appear to do anything yet but could easily be exploited. Unicode steganography and Google Calendar as a dead drop resolution service.
Version-locking, static analysis, etc are all great. It’s time to move to sandboxed runtimes.
So I 3D printed a design that I thought would make for a fun pin to put on a backpack or laptop case....but so far no one I've shown it to has recognized this logo instantly...feeling old today. #3DPrinting #DOS #RetroComputing
The Book of Negroes is more than a ledger—it is a story pressed into parchment, a testament to the brutal arithmetic of freedom. It begins in the final days of the American Revolution, a conflict that promised liberty but delivered it unevenly. 1/17 #History #BlackMastodon #Education #Histodons #Politics
Image: Rose Fortune came to Nova Scotia after the Revolutionary War, about June 1784. She earned a living as a "trucker," carrying baggage with a wheelbarrow.
To understand the ledger, you must understand the world in which it was written—a world where liberty was a word spoken loudly by men who owned slaves. The American Revolution was a rebellion wrapped in rhetoric, a fight for freedom built on the backs of the unfree. 2/17
Image: Dunmore's Proclamation signed November 7, 1775.
Into this world stepped Lord Dunmore—driven from Williamsburg, his power shrinking by the day. Desperate, he made his gamble: a promise of freedom to any enslaved person who would fight for the Crown. 3/17
Image: John Murray, the 4th Earl of Dunmore, image from a portrait painting by Joshua Reynolds, circa 1765.
They came—men who had known nothing but labor and the lash, women clutching children in their arms, fleeing a life of forced servitude. Clad in red coats, they wore the promise of freedom stitched across their chests: “Liberty to Slaves.” 4/17
Image: Reproduction of the smock worn by the Royal Ethiopian Regiment formed by Virginia governor Lord Dunmore.
When the war ended, their promise of freedom did not dissolve—it hardened into a question. How to be free? In the docks of New York, thousands of Black Loyalists gathered, men, women, and children who had wagered everything on the British.
5/17
Image: A record of some of the orders issued by Sir Guy Carleton during the American War of Independence.
And so came the Book of Negroes—not a casual record, but a ledger. A collection of names, dates, and descriptions. Beneath the ink-stained parchment is a record of lives caught in the violent churn of a revolution that promised liberty but denied it to many. 6/17
Image: The Inspection Roll of Negroes, the National Archives, Washington DC.
“Harry Washington, 43, fine fellow. Formerly the property of General Washington; left him 7 years ago.” His name is written—no other details, just a mark of a man who had once served the most celebrated figure in America. 7/17
Image: Entry of Harry Washington in the Book of Negroes. Source:National archives of Nova Scotia.
The ledger was more than a list—it was a weapon. The Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the war but left Black Loyalists in limbo. The Americans demanded the return of all “property”—including those who had seized their freedom. But British Commander of North America Guy Carleton refused. 8/17
Image: Treaty of Paris; 9/3/1783; National Archives Building, Washington, DC.
Sir Guy Carleton by Baron H. de Dirckinck Holmfeldt (1835-1912), located in the Château Ramezay, Montreal, Canada.
The names grew—thousands etched in ink. Those whose names were entered crowded aboard ships bound for Nova Scotia, seeking sanctuary. But Nova Scotia was not a promised land—it was a place of struggle. Rocky soil, brutal winters, land grants delayed or denied. 9/17
Image: Map of Black Loyalist settlements in Nova Scotia. Canadian Museum of History.
Prejudice crossed the waters with them. In 1784, in Shelburne, white Loyalists rioted, attacking their Black neighbors. The promise of freedom turned to fear, but the Black Loyalists endured. 10/17
IImage: The earliest known image of a Black Nova Scotian, in British Canada, in 1788. "A Black Wood Cutter at Shelburne, Nova Scotia."
“Deborah, 20, pock-marked, formerly the property of George Washington; left him 4 years ago.” Deborah Squash—reduced in the ledger to a blemish, but her name tells another story. She fled Mount Vernon, seized the chaos of revolution, and gambled everything for a chance at freedom. 11/17
Image: Entry of Deborah Squash in the Book of Negroes. Credit: Library and Archives Canada. Original Author: Guy Carleton.
The Book of Negroes is more than names—it is a silent archive of human dignity. A ledger that refused to let the lives it recorded disappear. A testament to courage, to desperation, and to the unceasing demand to be remembered. 12/17
Image: William Homes in the "Book of Negroes" - July 31, 1783, Independence National Historical Park
My friend Momodou has been trying to rebuild his families house in The Gambia now for a few years now. This is probably the first ever house funded thru the #fediverse! If you have any money to spare let's help the Barry family have a home again! Every donation helps @Sbarry8520 so much, he really appreciates it!
Rendez-vous sur PayPal.Me/brandugla et saisissez le montant. C'est signé PayPal, donc c'est simple et sécurisé. Vous n'avez pas de compte PayPal ? Pas de problème.
Every year we work on the land to rebuild our family house which we lose through the storm.
This year we really encountered a lot of situations and difficulties especially for the last pass two months this why I didn’t get any chance to done any progress on the house.
Yesterday I started clearing the grass but I end up injured myself on the finger with the cutlass. Hopefully this week I might be done with the clearing the grass.
📰 La dura carta de Nivia Palma, directora de TVN, que responde a críticas de expresidenta del canal: “No se trata de un mero tema de gestión y Anita lo sabe” 🏷️ #TheClinic #Noticias
@The Clinic Eso de "anita lo sabe..." ya me suena muy extraño, lo que demuestra que el secretismo de las élites de cara a las familias sigue manteniendo cierto carácter oligárquico
Rinasce nel bosco la Panda di Giugiaro: 17 anni dopo, il motore riparte @motori 🚗 🚗 🚗 Una Fiat Panda prima generazione ritrovata nel bosco dopo 17 anni. Restaurata da uno YouTuber, dimostra la robustezza della meccanica Fiat. motori.it/rinasce-nel-bosco-la… #motori #auto
L'Europa ce azzoppa come senpre. Je avemo fatto tipo 14 proposte diverse pe regalarce sordi ma nun je ne piace manco una
Mo anzi ce scassano le palle che semo gli unici che nun avemo approvato er MES e bloccamo tutti...
Je avemo pure proposto de cancellà er MES e regalarceli a noi quei sordi così famo du piccioni assieme, ma manco questa je piace. E allora vedi che sò stronzi forte!? Nun capiscono la creatività nostra! 😬
🎧 Ci sono 25GB gratis con M1 per archiviare la tua musica! Prossimamente sarà possibile avere più spazio, chiedi un account ora: cloud.mastodon.uno/apps/forms/…
nextcloud è sostenuto solo dagli utenti, se ti è utile sostienici anche con un caffè: ko-fi.com/devol
@miscoccio_today @Neffscape abbiamo mandato un messaggio e una email a tutti gli iscritti a Nextcloud con le istruzioni per usare ma musica in streaming con app, client e in auto.
🎙️ New Primary Tech Show is out! Jason was at Airbnb’s big event, Galaxy S25 Edge starts the thin phone wars, and I review the M4 Max Mac Studio. Listen on:
Happy Game è un viaggio nel subconscio di un bambino tra incubi illustrati, enigmi simbologie disturbanti che rivelano una visione unica del trauma infantile.
Non ero minimamente al corrente che le graduatorie per l'assegnamento delle cattedre di docenza di #Religione NON sono pubbliche, ma gestite dalla #Curia e non dal #MIM.
Voi @uaar @scuola @scuola@poliverso.org immagino lo sapevate? Che voi sappiate contiamo qualche iniziativa significante ad oggi a riguardo?
l'incarico di insegnante di religione dipende dal nulla osta del vescovo, che può revocarlo se il docente non è in linea con la morale o la dottrina cattolica (come avvenuto in diversi casi). È molto difficile cambiare questo stato di cose se non c'è interesse della politica, dato che l'IRC è prevista dal Concordato tra Stato e Chiesa cattolica.
The whole genre of parody reviews is a fun one to stumble. And some of them have some pretty biting political commentaries on asinine things people say: amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews…
Baerbock will als Vorsitzende der UN-Versammlung Brücken bauen
Baerbock strebt ein neues Kapitel bei den Vereinten Nationen an: Die frühere Außenministerin präsentierte ihre Vision als designierte Präsidentin der UN-Vollversammlung. Sie wolle allen Mitgliedsstaaten dienen und Reformen vorantreiben.
Threads is finally (kind of) embracing links. You can now add more links to your bio **and** the service will finally start recommending more links in its recommendations.
I have a Sol-Ark inverter, and Deye bricking (non-Sol-Ark) inverters remotely has made me strongly consider physically removing the dongle that was supplied with the unit, now that I have tested that Solar Assistant can manage it effectively. The telemetry from the supplied dongle is opaque, so it's really hard to tell what it's doing, and I am not super happy with arbitrary remote control over all the inverter parameters. (Additionally, their mobile app frequently fails to work properly, and their web app has never worked properly for me.)
But inverters that have cell modems or any other forms of external communications built in and not declared? That's far worse.
PetterOfCats
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •Oliver Schafeld
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •»xAI’s Grok suddenly can’t stop bringing up “white genocide” in South Africa […] Searching the Grok account's replies […] currently returns dozens if not hundreds of posts where the LLM responds to completely unrelated queries with quixotic discussions about alleged killings of white farmers in South Africa«
arstechnica.com/ai/2025/05/xai…
»Grok is unpromptedly telling X users about South African ‘white genocide’«
techcrunch.com/2025/05/14/grok…
Grok is unpromptedly telling X users about South African 'white genocide' | TechCrunch
Maxwell Zeff (TechCrunch)Rycochet
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •Matthew Hill
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •Jonathan
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •flamingored
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •🄯CarlOS
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •Richard R Lee
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •@georgetakei
Tim Zee
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •Elon was raised on white privilege and believing in white supremacy. Now he's trying to portray himself as some sort of victim. He's made Twitter/X a Nazi-friendly platform which he uses to propagate his far right views.
#ElonMusk #Apartheid #racism #SouthAfrica #Disinformation #TheFarRight #Broligarchs
Sam Livingston-Gray
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •シナモロール
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •HauntedGram1872_13
in reply to George Takei 🏳️🌈🖖🏽 • • •