There is a lot of criticism of Artificial Intelligence on grounds that it uses a lot of electricity or that it will take all of the jobs or that it will lead to the singularity and lead to machines taking over the world. But those aren’t the criticisms I find most persuasive – it’s that AI is highly centralized, controlled by a handful of corporations and easily regulated by the government. It’s expensive and it’s true power can be held in the few, artificial intelligence by definition as it is currently implemented is highly elitist and anti-democratic.
Personal computers are continuing to get much more powerful. Some smaller limited capacity artificial intelligence models can operate on them. Indeed, I have very little fear of AI that is locally run and is open source that anybody can download and use for free. Anybody can study the code, make modifications and use as they please with open source, locally run artificial intelligence. Governments and corporations can’t control that form of AI.
However much of what is AI currently isn’t that form – much AI used locally uses a network to connect to that distant government and corporation controlled data centers. And that’s dangerous as government and corporations can limit access at any time or raise prices dramatically. The reliance on external AI services also feeds the corporate and government surveillance networks. Most of the free AI services just feed your data into advertising networks, if not to police surveillance networks.
Web services and APIs sure are convenient. But also incredibly dangerous. They can disappear at any moment, data altered or censored invisibly. Things you do locally using downloaded data and open source software are not only usually faster, they are far more secure and reliable. Nobody can take away something you have locally, and if the open source software uses common libraries and follows the standards it’s likely very future proof. And it’s not leaking your private information right into the hands of corporate and government surveillance networks.
Out hiking on Prospect Mountain Ski Slopes in Vermont on this beautiful early autumn day. Listening to Pure Prairie League’s Amie, just soaking in all of the color a fraction that my camera can absorb on this Vermont morning!
That’s what the protest sign said over the Bennington Bypass Interchange as I drove up to camp before the steep hill and hair pins. I certainly would not want to drive that road when it was really icy out.
Good morning, Happy Saturday from up here in Vermont. Okay, maybe more like barely Vermont, I’m less then 10 miles from New York State border and less then 40 miles from home. 🏕️ Nearly as close to home as Rensselearville State Forest, where I might head up to next weekend depending on the weather. Didn’t want to do a big trip as it’s only two nights in my creaking old truck.
Wasn’t a bad drive out to Vermont, Waze is very good at getting you around Friday night rush hour traffic. 🚙 This campsite is close enough to the valley where the Molly Stark Byway runs so it’s not exactly quiet from road noise and the occasional grunt of ATVs from the ATV trail system down the way, but it is close to home and very centrally located to the trails I want to hike plus excellent cell service.🏍️No remote work this weekend but I wanted to be able to stream tunes, podcasts and books from up at camp.
I haven’t decided fully where I will hike or ride today 🤷. I am thinking potentially a quick mountain hike up Prospect Mountain here in Vermont and then maybe later I’ll ride then hike back from Congdon Camp to Harmon Hill. Got to be careful though as the sun sets earlier and earlier. 🌇 Plus I want some down time at camp to just read 📖 and relax. Been listening to Bill Gates Autobiography since last night 🔊.
Not as much color as I though there would be in Vermont but it’s good things are still fairly green noting how dry it’s been. 🍂No burn ban but the Forest Service is actively discouraging people from having fires outside of developed campgrounds. 🌲 I had a fire last night for a while but I kept it out, smothered the coals before bed and peed over the fire. I also brought extra water – six gallons for two nights – to ensure I could really drown the fire, plus I have a shovel for burying the coals. 🔥 But I mostly burned just burnables plus smaller sticks so it wasn’t quite as much of a worry. Been enjoying some incense and other things maybe to cover up the smell of the other things burnt, lol. 👃
Well I want to get hiking as days are short this time of year. 🚶 Got tidy up camp and lock things up and then I’ll be on my way. Not the nicest day ever – kind of cloudy but more sun ☀️ is expected later. Tomorrow I will probably head home relatively early. Mom and Dad are going to be out tomorrow so no Sunday dinner – but I have some things to do before the coming work week when I get home, 🧼not the least to do some cleaning and potentially run to the laundromat and grocery store for food for the coming week.
Have a good one!! Giggle a bit and note it won’t be long before ICE is in Vermont and the roads are only passable by snow machine. 🤭
Increasingly I find myself thinking about dark the evenings are soon to be. And how cold it will be. Not more then other winters, but I’ve enjoyed the past five or so months of light in the evening after work, going down to the park, reading and exploring. But that’s soon to be gone. Moreover with the time change coming in six weeks, I won’t be able to ride home from work – I guess I could ride downtown after dark like last year – and take the local home. But it sucks.
This winter isn’t going to be any colder or darker then most winters. I don’t have to stay in my drafty, old rundown apartment nor do I have to keep the heat at 50 degrees. I don’t have to snuggle down in bed quickly after dinner, under the warmth of the electric blanket, in darkness. But I probably will choose to do that. I really should have more hope, beyond knowing winter will come to an end eventually, still in many ways it seems like we are descending into some kind of icy hell.
After all this, it seems like Sunday won’t be particularly wet but we need the rain. I am packing the propane heater and extra water in case I want a fire, but still I’ll keep it small and skip the pallets and used motor oil, lol.
Dark, dark morning as I get packed and mid-September rolls around. 🌄 Sunrise these days is literally after 6:30 AM, a fact that seems hard to remember when not all that long ago you could get up as early as 4:30 AM and there be the first light of dawn. Tomorrow will be a real dark morning when I awake but I’m hoping a good night in the woods will help restore my sleep. 🛏️ I don’t know why I’ve been so troubled in my mind lately, maybe it’s the Tiny House 🏠 book I’ve been reading 📖.
Not a lot ot packing for a weekend camping, but I wanted to get an early start regardless and try to get back on the five-o’clock rise and shine to cook before the sun rises, 🧑🍳 as usually I have best mental clarity first thing in the morning and it’s going to be dark by the time I get home and have dinner by as soon as next week or the week after. Two weeks from now is the big snip, 👀 the LASIK surgery and not dealing with irrated eyes and contacts will be so nice. Obviously that weekend I’ll have to stay in town, but maybe I’ll go apple 🍎 picking with dad on that Sunday if I’m feeling up to it. I plan to drive in that Monday as my follow up appointment is after work.
So yes, I’m driving in today. 🛻 Go to Walmart to get some beer 🍻 and a few other supplies – maybe some blueberries, maple syrup, and lighters – then to work and Vermont. Quiet day tomorrow and then head home. Double checked the oil filter and plug and oil and other fluid levels, should be good for the weekend no issues noted but I’m always so paranoid and seems like there is still a lot of oil I splashed around changing it last weekend with the wind blowing around. I just wanted to make sure the oil filter and plug where tight with no leaks. I can be so paranoid at times. 🛠️ But I’d rather avoid blowing the engine on my old truck and getting it through the winter for a few more adventures. Just as a sanity measure, I confirmed there are twice a day busses between Albany and Bennington for under $20. 🚍
Yesterday went to Five Rivers and finished up John Graves Hard Scrabble, and a few more chapters of Edward Abbey’s Dessert Solitaire which I plan to finish up tomorrow along with the book I have about Building Tiny Houses. 📚 I also finished listening to Michael McGarity’s Back Lands audio book on ride out there about the travails of ranch living at the turn of the 20th century through World War II. Been doing a lot of reading about ranch life, probably it’s because those days spent in he Finger Lakes 🐄 with all the cows. Plus I have dreams of out west. Took some flower pictures. 🌸 With the dry weather and mid-September underway, the leaves are really starting to turn a bit, at least a dry, brown and yellow kind of way 🍂 even at Five Rivers.
