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cyberbarf

2024, MEH A LETTER FROM THE PUB

The year 2024 silently crawls to the end of its calendar life span with a whimper. The year was not great. But is it a lightning storm on the horizon or another apathetic Almanac year?

The year was dominated by AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI . . . . .

I am reminded of a generation ago (25 years) when 1999 was dominated to fear levels of a computer apocalypse called Y2K. The story went that basic computer codes were not written to recognize the year 2000. As a result, the programs - - - from banking, national security, communications, etc. - - - would all fail at the stroke of midnight. Old retired programmers were pulled into service to change old code. Millions upon millions were spent to correct the problem. But in some parts of the world, like Africa, there was no money to correct their systems. Then, at the stroke of midnight . . . nothing bad happened. The old systems still worked, without or without an upgrade. A collective sigh of relief overlooked the question of “huh, why were the experts so wrong?”

As 2025 dawns, the same question may be posed in a few years when generative AI collapses in on its high expectations but poor performance. Legal and ethical questions aside, artificial intelligence by its own nature is not intelligence. It is not learning facts and information like humans do to master a subject . . . it is all based on guesses. When you are going into brain surgery, do you want a robotic arm to guess where to remove the clot or have an experienced human hold the knife?

It may be a stark example but the reality is that too many people are zealots for this new technology frontier. And many of these people, including start-ups and investment bankers who are creating a financial profit bubble, are proclaiming a future technology utopia for the most lazy workers and humans. Human nature is to take the easy route, if possible. The public values that idea to the point of billion dollar valuations for AI companies. Human nature is also to follow the pack. Large corporations are spending to incorporate AI into their operations, whether it makes sense or not, because the public expects them to adopt AI.

Just as your teachers told you over and over again, do not trust everything you see on the internet. AI is the latest and potentially the greatest snake oil product in our lifetime. For example, Google search is highlighting its AI search answers on the top of the page. When asking a legal question, the AI came up with the wrong answers. Not even close. But to a non-lawyer asking the same question, he or she will take the result as the truth to their peril because why would Google lie to me? Meta AI now claims to have more than 600 million monthly users of its service.

2024 was also a year for elections and government turmoil in Europe, Canada and the United States. But if you want to see how democracy can go off the rails quickly, head to South Korea. After an election that put President Yoon's opposition party in complete control of its parliament, things got nasty. The conservative Yoon has been under public scrutiny for his policies and for his gadfly wife allegedly accepting expensive gifts and special treatment. (South Koreans are very negative toward official abuse of power.) Because Yoon was not acting on the parliament's bills, the leaders started to ramp up their demands for criminal prosecutions and then started impeachment proceedings against his cabinet members. Cornered, Yoon did the unthinkable (but ironically, had been used in the recent past by another SK president) by declaring marital law. By doing so, he attempted to shut down the national assembly, the news media, and political protests by using the armed forces and police to take over all public operations. Outraged, the representatives rushed back to parliament, through police barricades and voted to rescind the presidential order. Within six hours, Yoon reversed course and nullified his order. But protesters and the press continued their outrage. Opposition leaders called it a coup, treason. The legislature then impeached Yoon which temporarily takes all presidential powers away from him until the impeachment is heard by the Constitutional Court. When the temporary president took over, the parliament was upset that he did not sign off on their demands, so it impeached him, too! The sticking point is that the Constitutional Court is short 3 members, does not have an official quorum of 7 justices, and it takes 6 votes to impeach a president or official.

If this sounds extremely childish and bizarre, you would be correct. Partisan politics have over run any notion of statesmanship and compromise for the good of the people. As a British comedian who went on a Washington DC tour and met members of Congress, his most lasting insight was that American elected officials “are not the smartest people” he has ever met. The mantra of American career politicians has been I'm right! You're Wrong! Deal With It! This will not change anytime soon.

On a lighter but just as dumb note, 2024 saw an uptick in snackfishing. Snackfishing is a scam of posting fake food which, at worst, can leave victims feeling confused, embarrassed, and hungry, according to the website Mental Floss. On November 4, 2023, the Instagram account UK Snack Attack shared a reel of what appeared to be a bottle of clear Heinz ketchup. The video has since earned 1.2 million likes, with commentators expressing their disgust and disbelief. The caption confirms what many viewers suspected that the product is fake.

Snackfish is defined as a misleading description of the fictional food stuff created online for Internet clout and attention; most commonly fabricated in Adobe Photoshop. When the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns made it difficult to film content in supermarkets, the man behind the first fake foods, Snack Attack, was forced to get creative. He made his own concoctions - - starting with homemade Nutella - - -and even printed fake labels for his food on Photoshop. His creations eventually became so popular that one of the brands he was imitating contacted him and asked him to add a disclaimer. Since then, all of his fake food posts have included the snackfishing tag but many viewers never read the captions. At best, this is a prank. At worst, it is an idea for someone to re-create the fake food product with dire results.

This is not to be confused with Good Mythical Kitchen's gateway into food experimentation; creating odd, bizarre and disgusting food combinations for the sake of being crazy entertainment. Hell, they sometimes even hit on winners (as set forth in its current cookbook.)

But this gets us properly to what 2024 turned out to be. Brain Rot is the Word of 2024, according to the Oxford Dictionary, as commentators saying that the consumption low-quality Internet content is so pervasive it now has its own name. The New York Times stated signs of brain rot can include the increased insertion of Internet slang or meme references into everyday conversation. Those who take pride in their knowledge of online culture may interpret it as a compliment. Still, it is mostly meant to indicate someone is losing touch with reality. In some cases, it is labeled as a genuine mental health struggle. Connecticut'Õs Newport Institute, which offers inpatient counseling, regards brain rot as synonymous with digital or screen dependency.

AI, fake news, fake products, childish politics could be considered all a part of the Brain Rot sphere of influence.

Meh.

cyberbarf

BLINDED BY THE BOX CYBERCULTURE

YouTube has been flooded with creator content videos of opening Blind Boxes.

The thrill of opening a box not knowing what is inside is like a kid getting his first Christmas present. And that is what is happening: adults are getting themselves to a daily dose of Christmas presents.

Blind Boxes are not new. It started in Japan in the 1980s. Toy companies would create figurine sets and sell them blindly one at a time. In order to collect an entire set of 10, you may have to spend money on 20 boxes. Then, they started marketing secret or rare figurines t boost sales. This created more demand for $10 to $20 toy doll boxes. But other companies used this marketing technique to sell jewelry and other trinkets, mostly to young women. As a collectable, there is no real secondary market because there is so many items available.

But men are not immune to this trend. There has been an explosion of fantasy trading cards including Pokemon universe where vloggers buy packs to boxes of cards to open them on stream to see if they can find a rare one. The card blind box trend has more momentum now because there is a secondary collector card market (just like baseball cards). The odds may be extreme, but pack openers nervously hope of revealing a $300 card after spending $100 on a box. But most card values are under $1.

This is another pandemic juiced social media activity. During the pandemic, there was a need for some people to heal themselves so they went back to their inner child's nostalgia for dolls and trading cards. The price points were not very high, and the social aspect of reveals to your friends in person or on-line became very trendy.

But at the core of trying to find the rare doll or card is the Gambler's Fallacy: the chances of what you want to get releases dopamine from the brain to give you a high. Add in the fact that people watch people open packs for the same reason, you feed the need for attention and added social capital.

Experts have cautioned that this behavior is no different than going to a casino to gamble. People go to casinos not necessary to win money but to have fun with friends. In the Blind Box reveal realm, it is that the person is not buying the toy or doll, or card, but they are purchasing the surprise element of the reveal. It is a form of retail therapy, where someone buys something they want but do not need in order to make themselves feel better. What the person is doing is getting a hit of immediate satisfaction. But hit after hit is no different than have a drug addiction . . . he same brain outputs are at play.

Buying stuff to get a little joy in your life away from the hardships of daily life is not a sin. But when it becomes an obsession, it becomes a problem. Social media or through friendships makes blind boxes more of an acceptable way to make or continue connections with the people around you. Talking about, trading items in your social circle can be fun and rewarding since you are actually in-person interacting with other human beings. But the streamers feeding the parasocial viewers may not be the case.

cyberbarf

QUICK BYTES CYBERCULTURE

RIOT AGAINST. Riot Games added some new clauses to its Terms of Service that could put some players in hot water for unbecoming behavior that occurs across the various places that touch their gaming experience. “Players can face penalties, suspensions and even Riot-wide bans if they are caught violating these new rules. The new clauses appears on Riot's Privacy Notice and TOS. Creators have until January 3, 2025 to adjust their conduct to adhere to these rules, according to Riot Games. The new “Off-Platform conduct” rule gives Riot Games the right to issue game penalties when hateful content is brought to their attention. The new clause says Riot Games will not proactively search for social media for violations. Instead, players can report cases about an offending player's conduct on a livestream in which one of its games serves as “the background of the content produced.” If Riot determines that the player violated its TOS, Riot could issue a penalty as if that behavior occurred in-game, according to the TOS. One guesses that Riot is trying to protect its brand by becoming an Internet cop, but does not this seem extreme?

DOWN UNDER. A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Parliament as the world's first social media age prohibition law. The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts. The Senate passed the bill on Thursday 34 votes to 19. The House of Representatives then overwhelmingly approved the legislation by 102 votes to 13. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the law supported parents concerned by online harms to their children. “Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure the safety of our kids is a priority for them,” Albanese told reporters. Again, the government is intruding on the role of parents who should be monitoring their children's activities, whether it be on-line or in real life. A cynic would say that the bill's real purpose is a easy government revenue source because once a prohibition is established, citizens find ways to try to get around it.

INSTATOONS NEW? Chosun.com reports that Instatoons is a new variation of Korean webtoons that is gaining popularity. Instead of a scrolling webtoon comic strip, these new cartoons are single panel gag cartoons that have been used by artists in the west for centuries. Apparently, the quick hit nature of the joke is very appealing to the Korean consumer. We say, welcome to the 19th century when political cartoon panels ruled the newspapers and magazines of the era.

PARDON ME . Politico lamented the hypocrisy and humiliating insult of President Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter: Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter almost looks like a fiendish prank on Washington --- a Sunday night ambush designed to embarrass and shock. That was presumably not Biden's aim. But however unintentionally, the pardon is a kind of sabotage. It is a rich gift to those who want to blow up the justice system as we know it, and who claim the government is a self-dealing club for hypocritical elites. It is a promise-breaking act that subjects Biden's allies to yet another humiliation in a year packed with Biden-inflicted injuries. Why was this a shock to political writers and insiders? Biden is a career political-hack. And career politicians only look after one thing: themselves.

iToons

cyberbarf

FOUND BUT NOT LOST ON THE INTERNET

In golf, a birdie is a good thing. But in this video capture, a golfer is attacked by a Canadian goose. The golfer is tackled by the mean bird. Geese can be very aggressive and protective of their territory and off-spring.

Source: facebook

Clever signage and humorous observations have been the norm in America for a long, long time. It is almost like road side folk art; the last wisp of a Mark Twain quip. Here, in the post-election malaise, this sign sums up the feeling of many Americans.

Source: facebook

There are many female bloggers who stream “What is in My Bag” content. Above is the spread of what Otzi Man was carrying when he perished more than 5,000 years ago. Look how primitive yet modern his gear was from a camping to survival point of view. Our ancestors had the knowledge and skill to survive in nature's fury more so than we could do today.

Source: facebook

cyberbarf

THE WHETHER REPORT

cyberbarf

STATUS

Question: Whether social media platforms' collective approval of vigilante justice a bad sign for law and order in society?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

Question: Whether global government actions against Big Tech companies continue in 2025?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

Question: Whether college football's new playoff system will further turn college athletics into a professional league?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

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