Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Fabio Chiusi @fabiochiusi.bsky.social · 2h

"we should not assume that technological revolutions are productivity revolutions. The rate of productivity growth has been in sharp decline since 2003, and today sits where it stood before the widespread adoption of the personal computer"

www.techpolicy.press/generative-a...

Generative AI’s Productivity Myth | TechPolicy.Press

People may be using artificial intelligence, but that doesn’t mean it’s useful, writes Eryk Salvaggio.

www.techpolicy.press

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Jack Sapoch @jacksapoch.bsky.social · 5d

NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites

The style is now unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 23h

Scientists in China have developed a tough new bamboo-based plastic that biodegrades in 50 days. The new material matches the strength of engineering plastics used in cars and appliances while retaining 90% of its durability after recycling. buff.ly/zXWVoIS
#ShareGoodNewsToo

Biodegradable plastic made from bamboo is strong and easy to recycle

Bamboo is a highly renewable resource, and its cellulose fibres can be turned into a hard, mouldable plastic for use in cars and appliances

buff.ly

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The Register @theregister.com · 18h

Bose kills SoundTouch: Smart speakers go dumb in Feb

Cloud support to be ditched on older hardware, customers left with pricey paperweights Audio equipment biz Bose is discontinuing cloud support for its SoundTouch product line, effectively reducing the premium devices to basic speakers with limited functionality.…

dlvr.it

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 23h

Except I'm wrong - this view *just* catches the edge of the newly-discovered continent of ZEALANDIA: population 5.4 million, with only New Zealand, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island & Lord Howe Island now above sea level - just 5% of the original 4.9m square km (making it 64% the size of Australia).

Bathymetric map of the sea floor around New Zealand showing the outline of the much-larger submerged landmass and proposed continent of Zealandia, around 64% the size of Australia.

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Richard Littler @richardlittler.bsky.social · 1d

🧵Thread. I collect photos that people took of their TV screens (in the days before video) because they wanted to capture a historical moment, or at least something that meant something to them.

1950s/60s? shot of a TV screen. Female presenter

1950s/60s shot of a TV screen. Unknown guitarists

Blurry pink shot of a TV screen. Women in evening dress

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Nat Cassidy @natcassidy.bsky.social · 2d

This photo of Robert Bloch is the most writer photo to have ever writer photo’d. It is Pure Writer Photo.

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MeatMechSuit @meatmechsuit.bsky.social · 1d

This would be *incredibly* effective.

Good lord that sound.

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

Imagine, if you will, fifty protesters in inflatable animal costumes converging on ICE agents while blowing Aztec Death Whistles

youtu.be/x12hyuonfFI?...

Aztec Death Whistle: The Sound That Terrifies

YouTube video by Aztec Death Whistle

youtu.be

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Cam Walker @walks30.bsky.social · 1d

'Their resilience is a lesson to us all': The maritime lions hunting seals on the beach.

In Namibia, a group of desert lions have left their traditional hunting grounds for the Atlantic coast, to become the world's only maritime lions. One photographer captured this dramatic change in behaviour.

'Their resilience is a lesson to us all': The maritime lions hunting seals on the beach

In Namibia, a group of desert lions have left their traditional hunting grounds for the Atlantic coast and are now thriving as the world's only maritime lions.

www.bbc.com

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Kiabugboy @kiabugboy.bsky.social · 1d

The Crinoid hat video is up on my channel!
youtu.be/ZdPTYamnqQA

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Ian Coldwater 👻🌿 @lookitup.baby · 1d

Boss, we’ve got a problem. Users don’t want this stuff! They keep wanting to turn it off, even when we keep turning it back on!

Boss: I have an idea

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 1d

bitch what

Onedrive settings. A toggle for using AI to detect and identify faces is set to on. The caption says, you can only turn off this setting 3 times per year.

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Mitch Dyer @mitchyd.bsky.social · 1d

Works on my machine

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 4d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

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Vordio @vordio.net · 2d

Lovely. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZB1...

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: "Once There Was A Hush Puppy"

YouTube video by SearchlightPictures

www.youtube.com

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spookillumi @illumi.meme · 2d

frog

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Fryda Wolff @frydawolff.bsky.social · 2d

They're streaming the behind the scenes doc right now.

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Jay Babcock @jaywbabcock.bsky.social · 2d

Here they are.

youtu.be/Z5kmE2lC2_o?...

West Virginia Snake Church

YouTube video by Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan

youtu.be

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Vordio @vordio.net · 2d

Bring it on. The farce keeps going until a critical mass of finance types realise.

The Pleasure Vice Principle (he/him/his) @hannibaltabu.bsky.social · 3d

I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.

The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

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cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 3d

guy in a legal advice reddit wants to know how to get out of paying google the money he owes them after vibe coding one of his apps into running 40 times a second for several days straight, but says it's not his fault bc they should have stopped him by making it harder to use

r/LegalAdviceUK u/ShavedAp3 • 3d
Join
Google want to charge me 7 k for API access what can I do as they are denying appeals
Debt & Money
Hi there and thanks for reading.
I tried to keep this brief and just ended up rambling on trying to get as much in as possible so here is my edited hopefully a lot smaller problem.
Google are charging me 7k for a mistake that I told them about within a day, the bill went from about £45 to 16k in a day! when I asked for help I was told "dont worry well reset it as a one off, you'll need to put measures in place and ill guide you through those after you agree" So i did he then said "I will monitor it for a further 24 - 48 hours and then tell you how to put the measures in place. " Less than 24 hours later the bill was now 23k and I found out how to stop it myself. Then came the long back and forth to get it reset.
Fast forward 5 months they have finally given me a 20k credit but with VAT the total bill at the time of the credit was 27k
The 20k would have cleared the costs at the time of making them aware they claim its both our responsibilities to monitor costs I feel I did that by contacting them as soon as I saw the irregularity.
I asked them to reconsider they said no the appeal has said that is their final offer so 1 now owe 7k.
Is there anything I can do here from a legal standpoint. I don't have 7k I barely have £45.
Thanks for reading I am in England if it helps.

Intentional or not, OP used either 36k (16 + 20) or 43k (16 + 27) of API credit. Obviously what API it is matters, but with google maps, 16k would equate to ten million pulls. Or two hundred thousand Gemini 2.5 calls with 1000 token input and 5k token output.
Those aren't numbers that something running correctly should run up for any average person or company. So either google screwed up something (which is unlikely that it would only happen to one person in the entire network) or OP has some app or something which isn't running properly and is sending too much to the API.
Edit: It was OP's app, polling google maps nearly 40 times a second for days.

tom_watts • 3d
According to other posts he ended up polling Google maps direction API 2300 times per minute for a few days. Looks like a combination of OP not knowing coding and asking ChatGPT to do it for him, and potentially Google's backend doing something weird in interpreting the janky code.
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146

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Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 5d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Jesus Lizard Superstar 🖤 🐀🐀🐀 @acekatana.bsky.social · 3d

The internet loves democracy duck, the duck fighting for democracy in Venezuela

John Collins @logicallyjc.bsky.social · 4d

I like how they gave the Nobel Prize to someone fighting for democracy in Venezuela, instead of someone sinking fishing boats off their coast.

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Vordio @vordio.net · 3d

I guess photography will be same as for film. They need to create a release form for you to sign which is an agreement on how your likeness can be used. www.studiobinder.com/blog/complet...

The Complete Guide to Actor Release Forms (FREE Template)

A step-by-step guide on how to fill out an actor release form (and what it means). Includes free actor release form template.

www.studiobinder.com

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 4d

One hour until the debut of Bad Pedophile.

The Onion Investigates: Jeffrey Epstein

YouTube video by The Onion

www.youtube.com

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WeatherMatrix @weathermatrix.bsky.social · 4d

Swamp Gas Update

Sparks between microscopic bubbles could explain the ghostly, glowing will-o’-the-wisps, study finds

Hovering blue flames that flicker over bogs and marshes, known as ‘will-o’-the-wisp,’ have inspired ghostly folktales for centuries. But their origins could now have a scientific explanation.

www.accuweather.com

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Elle @elleisanisland.bsky.social · Jun 5

morale in hospitals is currently very low and this is one of the reasons

A vending machine with a sign taped on the front. It reads: Warning: endoscopy equipment is not to be used for stealing food from the vending machine. Management. Then there's a picture of a long, tubular endoscope

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 4d

Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile debuts tonight on The Onion's YouTube channel at 7 p.m. ET.

Finally somebody will release some dang Epstein Files if you know what I'm sayin'!!!

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