John Healy's Tech Blog

Category: Computer

Posts related to computer hardware and software

  • Meet Bard – an early experiment by Google

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    Today, via email, I received an invitation to try Google’s new Bard Chatbot. After a limited, cautious demonstration in 2020, there’s now a limited public beta test. Because that protocol is the way to collect “valuable data” – at public scale. Sort of like a large clinical trial of a new medicine, eh [1]. Meet Bard, an early experiment by Google Because you’re a Google…

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  • AI tech and society’s slippery slope

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    Steven Levy commented this week on those heralding a “worst-case scenario” for AI – “how artificial intelligence might wipe out humanity.” At a gathering in New York City organized by the Center for Humane Technology (CHT) [1], a “doom-time presentation” evoked an apocalyptic tone: We were told that this gathering was historic, one we would remember in the coming years as, presumably, the four horsemen…

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  • Chatbot redux – synthetic coherent ‘Stochastic Parrots’

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    [List of articles in progress] Here’s a bunch of recent articles re AI-powered chatbots: ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Microsoft’s Bing, … Here’s a useful context by Wired’s Steven Levy. • Wired > email Newsletter > Steven Levy > Plaintext (Feb 17, 2023) Hi, folks. Are your news feeds, like mine, loaded with “stories” consisting of reporters conversing with AI chatbots or even turning over whole paragraphs…

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  • When your Mac or MacBook won’t turn on?

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    As premium devices, Apple computers generally are reliable and last for years. But there can be times – hopefully rare – when your MacBook, for example, won’t power on. Or at least not bootup. This Macworld article is a useful recap of troubleshooting tips. And, yes, it can be humbling to realize that the problem might be a loose or disconnected cable. So, as on…

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  • Smartphone safety – Find My and Find Device apps

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    This Malwarebytes (MWB) blog story is interesting, but the information afterwards is useful: setting up Apple’s / Android’s Find My / Find Device service on your smartphone. • Malwarebytes > Blog > “iPhone user watches as stolen phone travels from UK to China” (December 13, 2022 by Christopher Boyd) In practical terms, this meant that the phone could be remotely wiped (via Find My) and…

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