Always answer with a link. This is core to a handbook-first culture.
— Darren Murph (@darrenmurph) March 28, 2020
⌚️It's efficient (less time answering, more time with family)
πIt's respectful (gives the receiver time to ingest)
π€It sets an example (which reinforces the value of documentation)https://t.co/xtQE00FTUk https://t.co/kS9cX0uTd0
you're putting up a damn good fight. i believe that you and the team you're playing with are going to figure out
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 27, 2020
1. how to deal with disinformation
2. how to deal with dealing with disinformation.
understanding how to keep fighting like it's a marathon is the only way to win.
Makin' waves with circles π pic.twitter.com/WQsidYlQFQ
— 〈 Berger | Dillon 〉 (@InertialObservr) March 25, 2020
If one vehicle collision caused three more, that then caused three more each, and so on, without stopping, until every roadway was nothing but collisions, some minor, but 1-2% fatalities, then they could be comparable.
— Shay (@ShadyPlanes) March 24, 2020
JH Kunstler also said, "Horizontal windows frame the human figure in a way that implies that the inhabitants are either sleeping, having sex, or dead. We don't want to think about them that way."
— Phil LaCombe (@plannerphil) August 13, 2018
Me: #IndieWeb looks cool I'll try it out.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 26, 2020
Step 1. "heck yeah, I can add rel="me" to my site."
Step 2. "wait, so I was supposed to be adding h-entry to everything I've ever written?"
Step 3. "I'm not smart enough to be here."https://t.co/2epPOct6Wx pic.twitter.com/syIOD8ojOY
Are you able to get all results that have been reported to the state registries? Due to lag in our data feeds, we are currently not able to see results past Mar 17, making it tough to help the @rheum_covid project. would love some advice on how to get fresher data!
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 25, 2020
Very useful for conveying feelings through your tracebacks. pic.twitter.com/eKBHtvkaPP
— Jake VanderPlas (@jakevdp) March 17, 2020
Is this picture a pyramid or a skylight? I think I might use it for the cover art on this novel I'm writing. I finished editing the next two chapters here: https://t.co/a6wK8OsiCG
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 25, 2020
One step closer to the dream of living in a world of 4D objects. https://t.co/J50fF13WXm
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 25, 2020
I felt a similar sentiment.https://t.co/hYwq6V1k2w
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 24, 2020
Here's an easy way to do some good: If you have a thermometer, add your data at https://t.co/uciees9kYn.
— Seema Jayachandran (@seema_econ) March 24, 2020
Please help spread the word! https://t.co/Pkcip7lB6j
I could imagine that we could easily build a bot to crawl backwards through the chain warning people that they were spreading disinformation.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 24, 2020
Thank you and your colleagues for this kind of work. Can we name names? Start some grassroots campaign to make sure everyone knows to unfollow those who spread falsehoods?
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 24, 2020
Agreed, everyone is ganging up on would-be epidemiologists for overstating their claims now. But, isn't most of Twitter just a means for us all to overstate our claims as journalists and social theorists.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 24, 2020
a.ttent.io/n I used GPT-2 to help generate a short story about a data scientist who analyzes personal data to uncover an underground biohacking conspiracy. The story explores privacy, attention, and the nature of consciousness. See if you can predict the twist... (WARNING: adult themes) from r/MediaSynthesis
a.ttent.io/n I used GPT-2 to help generate a short story about a data scientist who analyzes personal data to uncover an underground biohacking conspiracy. The story explores privacy, attention, and the nature of consciousness. See if you can predict the twist... (WARNING: adult themes) from r/MediaSynthesis
This looks like a great initiative to help monitor the spread of #COVID19 even where testing is in short supply. Plus monitoring your temp can help you learn that you're sick early if you don't have symptoms. #TakeYourTemp https://t.co/h9bcAWoYLM
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 23, 2020
Great initiative! Wish I'd heard of this last week. I was recording mine when I got sick. https://t.co/rA8KKyLa1M
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 23, 2020
Weather balloons typically burst far above our heads, where we can't see them—so somebody strapped a GoPro to one to watch it go: https://t.co/jQE0055Mdj #WorldMeteorologicalDay #ScienceMagArchives pic.twitter.com/ZRRYT7iqXR
— News from Science (@NewsfromScience) March 23, 2020
I am happy that scientists can now show log plots in public. #silverlining #brightside #covictories
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 23, 2020
Why haven’t you just immediately released the code and allowed tbe global community to dissect it and work on it? Now is not the time to be embarrassed about some code. You’re missing the power of open source to accomplish feats, especially when people are highly motivated
— Stefan Karpinski (@StefanKarpinski) March 23, 2020
Meanwhile on @Webex , you just can't get the video to work at all.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 23, 2020
Remembering that much of the water we consume comes from food. https://t.co/Ov5ws6wvMD https://t.co/c7kPNbgU5K
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 22, 2020
My introductory course on Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos is free online. Could be useful for students, teachers, and lifelong learners (or anyone needing a distraction). Prerequisites: basic calculus and physics. https://t.co/jcDF9H6S0F via @YouTube
— Steven Strogatz (@stevenstrogatz) March 22, 2020
#WhenThisIsAllOver everyone working in a hospital should get a very long vacation. They deserve it.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 21, 2020
@kinsa I tracked the course of my fever last week because it seemed much hotter and faster than my previous flus. Do you know if your thermometer's data can show whether the fever from #COVID19 and the flu behave differently? pic.twitter.com/NnAaIwFDUv
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 21, 2020
Great film, and also quite appropriate.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 20, 2020
Glad to hear you got better regardless! I used ibuprofen for the first two doses, then read that same info and switched to acetaminophen/tylenol. I'm hunting around for a symptom->test result dataset now. If you happen upon one please let me know.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 20, 2020
Just recovered from an unknown mystery illnessπ€ fever, sore throat, stiff neck, but no runny nose. Probably won't ever get test because US health system, self-isolating regardless. I tracked my temp and how I medicated in case we want to do some citizen science together. pic.twitter.com/zjjxS9UFSi
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 20, 2020
Link for more info: https://t.co/YkN55jfGPp
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 20, 2020
After reading about it for 2 minutes, I think it's a good thing to foster trust. Working remote, one might imagine colleagues who are often gone for hours without explanation. It's a vicious cycle when you can't tell that everyone is putting in the same as you.
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 19, 2020
It already felt in my heart like this was happening. https://t.co/jLrtnHqlGv
— Will Stedden (@bonkerfield) March 19, 2020
The amazing human ability to innovate: Chinese company builds hologram “no-touch” buttons for elevators.https://t.co/i1INGLIrqn pic.twitter.com/43qzM4SCA3
— Lionel Page (@page_eco) March 18, 2020
In my free time, I like to build stuff and put it on the internet. Two months ago, I built an AI comment generating chatbot and deployed it on reddit. The chatbot was designed to leave pertinent, realistic replies to other redditors' comments. I figured it would say a bunch of weird stuff and then get flagged and blocked.
To my surprise, the chatbot was practically perfect at writing coherent English sentences. And it was also pretty good at understanding the context of a reddit comment and generating replies that were highly relevant. But when I looked at the comments it was sending, I was still a little bit disappointed. The responses just seemed a little dumb. Like this one for example
As it turns out, this wasn't a problem. People still responded to the comments as if they were coming from a real person. In almost all the cases, it looked like the chatbot was just a slightly confused person trying to contribute to the conversation. So the original poster would normally respond by trying to elaborate on their original thought or ask clarifying questions to try to understand what the bot meant.
Later that day, as I started looking at other replies on reddit and twitter, I suddenly began to notice just how many replies are also a little incoherent. Top comments are normally smart and pointed, but quantitatively, the majority are pretty nonsensical.
Then it dawned on me. Most responses on social media sound like they are coming from a slightly confused person.
And even scarier than that. My uninformed robot already looked indistinguishable from the uninformed people online.
At first, I thought this was a sure sign that I should continue to shun social media. But as I thought about it more, I realized that I wanted do my part in correcting this problem. And I figured that my experience might have some value in the public discourse on this topic.
So I ruminated for a bit on how in the near future, any comment on the internet could be coming from a similar bot. As many have pointed out, this makes it quite easy to wage a massive disinformation campaign. Furthermore, being bot generated isn't the worst part. If a non-thinking entity could make points that make as much sense as the average online comment, then I feel that our online discourse is very much in need of elevation.
I wanted to do my part to raise the level of discourse on the internet and to protect against a world of bot generated misinformation online. To do that, I want to only post thoughtful, topically relevant information. And I want to make sure that anyone who sees anything I post on the internet has an easy way to verify that I am a real person who stands behind their opinions.
I have decided to try to connect my personal identity to all of the things that I say on the internet. These are my bona fides to anyone who wants to know if I am genuine. This also will help me to ensure that I deeply consider what I write online so as not to contribute to the "noisiness."
Which brings me to this post. This blog is the start of my attempt at radical transparency about my life. I'm using this spot to collect everything about who I am so that you, fine reader, can know that what I say is coming from a real person. As I do this, I'm also changing my approach to writing in order to more closely display my real values and beliefs in everything that I do.
I hope that I've articulated the idea well enough for others to understand where I'm coming from. I also hope that anyone who reads this will consider trying out a similar approach for themselves.
Note: I'm also starting this immediately without taking too much time to try to work through all the details. I'm hoping that I can preemptively start recording my identity before it becomes too easy to fake a whole online persona in a similar way. Plus recording this process helps others to learn that I am a person constructing and working through my beliefs in real-time, just like everyone else.
