Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for October 31, 2024

Okay Drumstick, the Borg are cool, but that doesn’t mean I want a close-up experience with them. They are better observed from a distance, NOT in my living room (or my star system, for that matter)!

Well, tell them there’s a ton of “A.I.” all over my house. LOL

Oh, oh, Destry, you better watch out. It appears that the Roombas are gunning for you.

So again, we are left with the question: “What do they mean by, ‘cleaning up?’” I can think of several meanings that would be beneficial to the residents of the BPH, cats/humans/other creatures living in the area, or the entire planet. But, I can also think of several other meanings that . . . would not.

Is it because of this?

“But when it comes to the environment, there is a negative side to the explosion of AI and its associated infrastructure, according to a growing body of research. The proliferating data centres that house AI servers produce electronic waste. They are large consumers of water, which is becoming scarce in many places. They rely on critical minerals and rare elements, which are often mined unsustainably. And they use massive amounts of electricity, spurring the emission of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

“There is still much we don’t know about the environmental impact of AI but some of the data we do have is concerning,” said Golestan (Sally) Radwan, the Chief Digital Officer of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “We need to make sure the net effect of AI on the planet is positive before we deploy the technology at scale.”

UN Environment Program

Drumstick figured out how to do the chyrons. Careful, Burt, he’s gunning for your job.

Maybe we’ll see the RCO crew on Sunday (hopefully).

But, why does “cleaning up A.I.” involved ensorceling the adults or causing those that are asleep to remain that way. Still don’t have a good explanation for that part, IMO.

Aw, I was hoping for new info to go with the new symbols Iggy unveiled!

But this is fine. And Tortimer still speaks in emoji!

AI is a tool, and (like any tool), it can be used for good or evil.

It looks like Iggy’s calm and steady temperament can tame alien roombas, as well as, erm, smol torties.

Mine today kept missing the dust bunnies, then she got waaay back in my closet and required a thorough cleaning herself.

Some pros and cons of AI (long, and partly plagiarized)

Things AI Can Do in 2024

1. Get Trained and “Learn”There are different subsets of AI: one that is programmed and one that learns through experience. Programmed AI is fed a certain amount of data and is able to make decisions and realize all the possible outcomes of those decisions before it makes a move. The machine learning algorithm starts at knowing nothing and collect data as it learns from experiences, much like we do. The more exposure it gets, the better it gets at that particular function.

2. Assisting Doctors with Diagnosing DiseasesAI is proving to be a valuable tool in the fight against disease. By analyzing vast amounts of medical scans, patient data, and even genetic information, AI can identify subtle patterns and anomalies that might escape the human eye. This allows doctors to make more accurate diagnoses, often at earlier stages, leading to more effective treatment plans and improved patient outcomes. Imagine AI acting as a highly trained assistant, sifting through mountains of data and highlighting potential issues for the doctor’s review, ultimately leading to a faster and more precise path to recovery.

3. Translating Languages in Real-TimeAI-powered translation tools are breaking down communication walls with real-time translation capabilities. Imagine having a conversation with someone who speaks a different language — AI can listen in real-time, translate your words into their language, and simultaneously translate their response back to you. This allows for smooth and natural conversations during business meetings, travel adventures, or even connecting with friends and family across the globe

The Borg are cool!! :D

The Borg being cool really depends on the writers my friend. Star Trek: Enterprise’ Borg? Cool and scary. ‘Prodigy’ Neither. ‘Best of Both worlds’? Yee-HAH! ‘Descent’? Nope.

Cleaning up AI? But thems robots is AI themself. Obveeously they is lies. Why them cunning steenky aliens. It a trap!

Why would AI robots wants to cleans up AI? DONT YOU BELIEFS THEMS!

_Boys and girls of every age

Wouldn’t you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see

This our town of Halloween!_

Happy Halloween, y’all. :D

It’s too late to stop the technology NOW, Georgia. Shoulda ran this one years ago.

Am I reading too much into it, or is it a deliberate gag that the alien symbols for “A.I.” look like “zero cents” (zero sense)?

The Borg and the BCN newsroom staffers have something in common, alien roombas aside: Resistance is futile!

Now that we know what they want we can be friends.

I also agree that these alien Roombas should of picked a better way of making first contact.

I already see the harm in my profession. We do technical ground testing for government permitting purposes. Our job requires physical tests in the project area, and then writing reports the relay the results, to help folks get their permits.

The reports are accessible in on-line government data bases (the feds are now requiring every document to be digitized). These reports have all the required background, context, and technical details. So it is now possible to dummy up a report with AI, without doing the actual testing. It would look and read just like a real report, and if you were precise enough in your inputs, would even spit out reasonable looking soil types and test depths.

The only way you would know the actual testing was never done was if the reviewer when out and looked for evidence of the holes in the project area.

Yes, there were already cheaters out there, but it took effort and knowledge of field to pull off. There was a company years ago that seriously low balled a job we were on. It made no sense. By pulling data from the report we did earlier in the process, they just scammed it. It was only discovered when we saw their report. But that was only because 1. We knew about the project. And 2. We were close enough to go check if they had followed our work plan and found no evidence they ever put a shovel in the ground.

AI puts this on a whole new plane of opportunity for abuse of the permitting system. You could hire a high school kid to sit at the computer, punch in the parameters of the job, the location, the research questions and have it spit out a reasonable facsimile of a negative report that just clears the way for the permit. No testing done but no reason to doubt the report.

Do we really want to risk a failing bridge, or a kid’s playground is built on top of a toxic waste dump, because some unscrupulous contractor cut the expensive corners with AI?

With 1,000s of projects, how to police for fakes?

are they going to take Destry away?

The big question is whether AI stands for Artificial Intelligence or Anthropic Idiocy.

Okay, and AI use in medicine: Recently both of us caught RSV. My spouse got it worse, and ended up with severe chest pain when breathing and coughing, which I knew were signs of costichondritis, pleurisy, or possible viral pericarditis. Spouse googled to be sure, and followed the direction to go to the dr.

We headed to the clinic, where the RPN we saw DID THE EXACT SAME GOOGLE, and showed us what the results were! She then proceeded to prescribe the medicine that the AI bot said was effective for suppressing a painful cough.

But she never took a history or asked about the nature of the cough. This drug was contra-indicated for a bronchitis/productive cough, which the nurse would have found if she looked past the first page or checked the drug against the symptoms.

After three days, the congestion and general chest pain was getting worse, because there was no coughing to clear out the lungs. We finally figured out what was wrong after looking up the drug ourselves, and stopped it right away. But it prolonged recovery that much longer.

So yeah, AI may help with analyzing big massive data medical data, but it is no substitute for experience-based, knowledgable, on the ground medical acumen.

Nice chyron, Drumstick! You’re unstoppable now! Chyrons on everything!

I kind of need more details on how AI destroyed a planet and how they clean it up. Luckily, it appears this arc won’t end with October. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Roomba Heros!!!

What’s a borg?

Well they can get started on cell phones and social media then.

These are excellent Roombas.

But one has to wonder…if they aren’t artificially intelligent themselves, who is controlling them? And if they are…?

Did the Roombas clean up Iggy’s toe beans in panel two?

But…don’t they themselves constitute as AI?

I still don’t know what cleaning up AI has to do with Roombas and “It’s time to clean the carpets”.

Didn’t expect the AI plot twist but I’m on board.

Happy Hallowe’en, everyone! Georgia posted on Facebook that there are going to be a couple of weeks of reruns coming up while she deals with her father’s death.

Georgia’s Post from Facebook: "It’s been a hard week, I’m inching forward. My father’s obituary has been posted, I did my best writing it… There will be classic BCN strips in the next few weeks, and two classic BCN Christmas Sunday strips this year. I took two weeks off to fly home to Rhode Island to make funeral preparations and preserve my father’s body of work; his thousands and thousands (…and thousands) of negatives. It has been intense, I miss him already very much. Still, when I go, I pray my family will preserve the thousands (and thousands) of comic strips I’ve created, and so in a way… I feel close to him in trying to do this for him, and I know he’d be urging me to keep it all safe and find a way to share it for years to come. And so, it’s the easiest hardest task I’ve ever jumped into, and I’m incredibly blessed to be surrounded by supportive friends and family who are helping in so many ways, big, small, and strong (emotionally—love, comforting words, and much needed jokes to cope—and physically—hauling heavy boxes.)I love you, Dad. I even made sure to put in your “Dan’s Dunn” joke.

Ω is futile!

Well to repeat myself from a couple of weeks ago or so……

“We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.”

Humans are great at creating new technology without having the maturity or wisdom to handle the newfound innovation; the internet and social media are just one example. Millions of people are effectively brainwashed by content that any rational person would laugh at. The content elicits an emotional response that validates some part of the psyche of the recipient. If it ended there, that wouldn’t necessarily be a problem. However, it is when these hapless social media zombies are encouraged to act on this misinformation by bad actors seeking power and control that the rest of us can suffer.

We can’t put the Genie back in the bottle. All we can do is try to teach CRITICAL THINKING in our public schools. However, I fear that entire segments of our population are already beyond the ability to employ viable deprogramming.

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams

Our work is what we see

You are free to disagree

We’re out to save the worlds, you see

Protecting everyone from the danger of A.I.

…….

Some of them want to pitch right in

Some of them merely shrug

Some of them want to sweep clean

Some of them sweep it all under the rug!

…….

Our work is what we see

You are free to disagree

We’re out to save the worlds, you see

Protecting everyone from the danger of A.I.

…….

Clean the carpets

Movin’ on

Clean the carpets

Movin’ on

Clean the carpets

Movin’ on

…….

Our work is what we see

You are free to disagree

We’re out to save the worlds, you see

Protecting everyone from the danger of A.I.

AI , without something equivalent to Isaac Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics, is a very scary thought.

Does this mean we don’t get any flying Puck decorations this year?

I still don’t understand what the Roombas have against Arturs Irbe! Sure he was a mediocre goalie, but by all accounts a nice guy. LOL

It was 54 years ago tonight that my dad died. (Just minutes before midnight.) This is one of my favorite photos of him and Big Bad John. I tried to make it big enough to view when checking my profile, but it’s still postage stamp size. I can’t believe it’s been 54 years since I heard his voice.

Think of the children!

Without AI, they’ll have to actually do their school assignments the old fashioned way.

To heck with AI. It’s legacy comics we should fear. The comic “Fort Knox” ended very abruptly a few weeks ago, and the local newspaper in their infinite wisdom brought in ancient “Snuffy Smith” comics.

Based on what Georgia said on Facebook and I’m sure Instagram (see @mepowell’s post above) I’m assuming it is likely we won’t be getting a calendar this year. It is certainly understandable, but I will miss that.

This explains nothing about their invasion of the BPH. It’s not exactly a data center.

Most logically, AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, but what if it means something else? What are your AI best guesses?

Destry, it was good to know you.

So sad to hear about Georgia’s dad. I am so sorry for your loss, Georgia. There is nothing quite like losing a parent, especially one who was as dear to you as Dan. Do what you must to care for yourself and your family. We will all be here when you are ready to come back. In the meantime, a galaxy of Kitties and their servants are sending you lots of head bumps and purrs!

Good luck with that. Don’t worry. The microplastics will probably kill us first. :(

OT: House Stuff

Well, that explains a lot. I hope they manage to clean all of it up.

Happy Halloween, Orbsters!

Hear hear

OT- Another new addition (thanks, Dixie. )

Are they after Destry?

OT: A story to show that dogs and cats can be friends. Add the usual beginning letters and forward slashes and change the dot to a .

people dot com/depressed-dog-transforms-after-becoming-dad-to-foster-kittens-8729325

I hope that is enough to help folks find the original article. If not, try searching for it by title: “Depressed Dog Saved from Kill Shelter Transforms After Becoming a Dad to Foster Kittens”

Oops. Posted something in yesterday’s that no one will ever see.

Sending heartfelt condolences to Georgia and family, along with head hoops and comforting purrs. Take all the time you need sweet lady, the Orb will wait for your return. <3

Got into Joplin about 3 something pm local time. Left about 4.

OT: Jerika

I made a test run from Skagit County to the Snohomish Public Library today in preparation for Georgia’s talk there. I hope that she will not have to cancel, but if she does, and reschedules, I will be ready. 3 hour round trip in light traffic on Washington Highway 9 (not I-5.) It’s a very pretty trip.

Good news!

I did well in home PT today. Yesterday, the phlebotomist came to the house to siphon off some blood for labs. Easy for a change. I barfed yesterday, but I’m doing better on soup and popsicles.

The cats are happy I’m home. So am I.

Anyone ever read Ray Bradbury’s short story, “There Will Come Soft Rains”? The whole “cleaning up (something) wherever they find it” thing evokes that story for me.

I passed by the St Louis Arch about 40 minutes ago. I am on i-70 headed toward Indianapolis. You are all wonderful.

OT – TampaFanatic

More of a denouement than a dramatic conclusion but thanks for the Halloween story. It would be nice to know how they expected to eliminate AI with their massively effective floor-cleaning powers. :)