The thing is, just like software subscriptions, you aren’t buying a piece of software, you’re buying the right to use it. You can be pretty sure that they have legalese in the eula that says that your right to use the software expires with non-use. I wouldn’t be surprised if they can even let it expire by simple deciding to no longer support it.

And what do you think will happen if their license servers ever go offline?

For the longest time I never bought anything digital, but I eventually caved to steam. I still blatantly refuse to join other digital platforms, except gog where I can download the software and it works without any remote server.

Same for music: I refuse to use Spotify. I buy from 7digital and the like, where I can download either mp3 or FLAC.

And they didn’t mention politics at all, they said not everyone wants to be reminded of the orange shitstain. I agree with them.

Microsoft bought it. They’re not going to let their paying userbase of millions of coders evaporate…

Lemmy is more reddit-like, while mastodon is more twitter-like.

They do federate, so yes, you should be able to see, like and comment between them.

As a drinker of both, I’ll have you know coffee a baked bean beverage, thank you very much.

Good. Maybe the envoy can explain the concept of freedom of expression to them. It’s going to come as rather a shock…

To save Tuvix was to murder Tuvok and Neelix.

They could’ve attempted to recreate the Riker accident. Copy the datastream before it’s split. Surely there’s the technical knowledge to do it.

It’s also interesting that at the end of the episode, they never go into Tuvok and Neelix’ memories of the whole thing - they don’t seem surprised to be in sickbay instead of the transporter room, so they’re clearly aware of what happened. They could have at least asked them at that point whether they’re happy to be back of if they would like to be merged again - they’ve shown that it’s just a matter of having the orchid in the same transport.

In fact, that they’re not confused by the - for them individually - new memories, like Tuvix was when he first came into being, could actually suggest that they were both actively present to some degree inside Tuvix’ personality…

Aside from all that, the way they explain the orchid’s effect means that it would never have been safe to have Tuvix in a shared transporter stream: the orchid’s means of reproduction is basically to merge with another species through the use of a particular enzyme, so it stands to reason that Tuvix is the orchid’s offspring and also possesses that enzyme.

I’m going to add to that, as this post made me rewatch it as we speak 🙂

The two very first lines Tuvix speaks, when challenge 6 for his identity, are “I am luitenant Tuvok. And I am Neelix.”

He really didn’t realize he was a person yet - he thought he was two persons.

Had you asked, in that initial time, whether he would like to be split up, I’m sure he would have answered in the positive.

Of course he’s allowed to change his mind as realization grows, so the whole thing remains a dicey proposition, but imo it just reinforces the fact that it was Janeway who triggered his (becoming aware of his own) personhood.

All of that doesn’t change the fact that Tuvix did not kill anyone. You initial premise is flawed.

I think that’s an oversimplification of what GP was getting at.

Tuvix was an accident, knew and accepted that fact, and initially was voluntarily assisting in finding a way to undo it. He seems more than capable of grasping, even at that early point in his existence, that undoing the accident means the end of him.

GP made the argument that his demeanor started changing as he got a name, a job, responsibilities etc. All the superficial hallmarks of a “person” in the very limited environment of the ship.

Nobody is saying he wasn’t a person from the start, but getting assigned all the trappings of what he saw to be individual persons undoubtedly started him thinking of himself as a person as well instead of just an accident to be corrected.

…ask Turing? Who suggested that? The Turing test is not “let’s ask Alan” 😋

Delicious 😁

Several of those thoughts have absolutely zero to do with AI, though. Well, none of them, because it’s ml, not ai, but that’s a different battle.

That seems unlikely. If starfleet warehouses the future tech (which, itself, seems like a likely scenario for the reasons outlined here), then near future research would not have access to it, or reverb know about it. Therefore there is no reason that the development of the precursor technologies should be prevented or prohibited.

Don’t forget that precursor technology often looks nothing like what eventually comes from it - it is often not even in the same ballpark. No-stick cookware was developed from space shuttle heat shielding…

Then it is long obsolete, because to a common observer, something like chatgpt could easily pass that test if it wasn’t instructed to clarify it is a machine at every turn.

This particular photo is shopped, but i think false-perspective Illusions might actually be a good path…

The Turing test is about whether it passes as human, not whether it is human.

Shouldn’t have not pooped for three days.

Dutch coffee shops, you mean?

Someone it is the answer, unfortunately. We cannot tolerate the intolerant.