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The Editor doesn’t moderate this blog, 3 volunteers do, they are very lenient to provide you a free speech space but if it’s just deranged abuse or putting words in bloggers mouths to have a pointless argument, we don’t bother publishing.
EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, Qanon lunacy, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics, 5G conspiracy theories, the virus is a bioweapon, some weird bullshit about the UN taking over the world and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.
This was an excellent interview by Kim Hill about climate change and world epochs and where we fit in. For those who thirst for information, and worry about thirsting for water!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018884239/peter-frankopan-how-climate-shapes-history
Understanding how shifts in the natural world have shaped history might help us navigate the anxious new era of climate change, according to Oxford University historian Peter Frankopan.
And a bit on AI unbridled – the trainers can’t rein this horse in, afraid that the galloping will be exponential I think. Too late the horse has bolted my pessimistic mind says.
But don’t stop trying to catch it my hopeful mind replies. We have magic in our fingers – Michelangelo showed this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam#/media/File:Michelangelo_-_Creation_of_Adam_(cropped).jpg
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018884227/brian-christian-ai-s-ethical-alignment-problem
This week Elon Musk and Apple’s co founder Steve Wosniak were among signatories to an open letter calling for a six-month pause in the training of systems more powerful than GPT-4. They’re part of a growing chorus worried that the unchecked speed of AI development could result in unintended harm.
Computer scientist and author Brian Christian writes about one of the fundamental problems of AI development in his book The Alignment Problem: how do we ensure machine learning systems represent the best human values rather than magnify the worst?
Christian is also the bestselling author of Algorithms to Live By (with Tom Griffiths), and The Most Human Human. He holds degrees in philosophy, computer science, and poetry and is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.
The AI potential is mindblowing. I watched “iHuman” documentary.
Seems as if human’s biggest threat is AI and challenges the idea that AI is developed for the good of people. Huge money for the players selling these warfare technologies for, “killing, spying and brainwashing” including the potential risks in mass surveillance policing.
The latest info on Covid 19 – go through this old link.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/450874/covid-19-data-visualisations-nz-in-numbers
Go down to Variants in New Zealand – there have now been 10 of them differently coloured. RNZ has an art work in this chart that looks the sort of thing that AI could turn out, Get a copy on your wall as a memoir of this world-changing virus outbreak. It would have a suitable look for a go-go business office as it has a lot of rising lines in it and is quite striking.
Lol, you’re right, it is! Might even make a nice rug. As wall art, 30 years from now it would make for an interesting conversation piece of when the world went bonkers.
Great new possibilities for NZ souveniers here. Somebody hand loom Covid-winners rugs with genuine NZ message of hope sales pitch. This was a great moment for us, and we led the world for our 15 minutes of fame in getting solid on fighting the nasty Covid 19 and saved a number of our uselessly pointless lives. Get your ultimate decorator item here made with love from NZ.
I have been using Chat GTP for a laugh. But! At least the AI knows what a female woman is and what a male man is. But fuck! A small noisy percentage of the world’s population doesn’t know that simple fact!
One step closer to a police state? Courts to move completely paperless and civil matters to be determined by AI !!!
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/486974/new-strategy-to-guide-use-of-technology-in-courts-launched
How we doing on the old recycling trail? Are we still lagging?
https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/how-does-new-zealand-packaging-recycling-compare-to-the-rest-of-the-world
In 2021, consumer organisations in 9 countries assessed packaging recyclability and labelling on 11 popular products. Consumer NZ took part with organisations in Australia, Brazil, France, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Portugal and the United Kingdom, coordinated by Consumers International. Combined, these consumer organisations represent 1.8 billion people.
We were the second-worst country for packaging recyclability. Here in clean, green Aotearoa, 57% of the packaging we assessed wasn’t recyclable in practice. That’s not too bad when compared to Brazil (92%), but we have a lot of room for improvement. Especially when our Aussie cousins beat us by a mile with just 14% of packaging not being recyclable…
https://www.plastics.org.nz/environment/recycling-disposal/polypropylene-recycling-5
Polypropylene (“PP”) is a highly recyclable and sought after material in Aotearoa NZ with strong value and a corresponding end market. Many manufacturers are wanting to secure more NZ recycled polypropylene (“rPP”) rather than having to import it. Today, we still have PP being sold offshore in mixed bales as well as PP being sent to landfill.
National Working Group
Plastics NZ facilitated a national working group to help create circular pathways for PP in NZ to help low emissions circular economy.
There are 8 councils around NZ that aren’t yet collecting PP….
EPS Recycling #6
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is a valuable resource that can be recycled to make new insulation products for housing, resulting in better health and living standards.
Conference Registration 2023
Plastics New Zealand’s 77th Annual Conference “Rise Up” is occurring on the 4th – 5th May 2023 in Christchurch, New Zealand. All Members and Non-Members are welcome to attend.
Some sort of workshop mid April referred to on this site; then Christchurch 4-5 May conference.
https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/plastic-problem/what-is-plastic/recycling-codes/
Call to the World
Unfortunately, plastics that are difficult to recycle are hardly ever banned. In 2013, scientists of the journal ‘Nature’ called on the world to classify the most problematic plastics as dangerous and undesirable in their article Classify plastic waste as hazardous.The article focuses on plastics with potentially toxic chemicals and plastics that cannot be reused or recycled. These should be replaced immediately with safer and reusable alternatives. PVC (code 3), polystyrene (code 6), polyurethane and polycarbonate (both falling under code 7) are mentioned as the most problematic.
In the United States, a number of states have moved to the prohibition of polystyrene (commonly known as styrofoam). This insulating plastic is mainly used in fast food. The Swiss food company Nestlé recognized in 2019 that certain types of plastic, including expanded polystyrene, simply cannot be recycled. The company has drawn up The Negative List. The plastics on this list will be replaced and no longer used in new packaging.
Quite a bit to understand.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/487214/closer-ties-for-new-zealand-with-nato-a-logical-fit
University of Otago politics professor Robert Patman said New Zealand’s relationship with NATO had gotten closer.
“It’s a logical fit. We believe in a multilateral approach to security and we have done for decades.
“NATO is the biggest multilateral security organisation in the world largely consisting of democracies…
WTF NATO stands for :
Nato – the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – was formed in 1949 by 12 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and France. It currently has 30 members, who agree to help one another if they come under attack. The organisation’s original goal was to challenge Russian expansion in Europe after World War Two.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18023383
(I think they have the best uniforms. But I still don’t think we should be involved in Europe-USA wars. We had enough blood-letting in WW2… but then Vietnam and?)