Showing posts with label Information Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Information Technology. Show all posts

Saturday, August 22, 2026

How to be an influencer; win friends (NPR)

(Hannah Alonzo) Catching influencers lying about lifestyles: It's fake | Influencer Insanity Ep. 4

How to win friends: Can an app fix the "friendship recession"?
How to make friends and be an influencer
.
I have no idea why people follow me
Amidst what some researchers call a "friendship recession," apps and services have been proliferating to connect Americans. We hear from people who have already tried them or use them regularly to reflect on what about them has worked and hasn't.

TRANSCRIPT
HOST SCOTT SIMON: Many of the old places where friendships formed -- the office, houses of worship, maybe the VFW [Veterans of Foreign Wars, a.k.a. degenerate bars] -- may have become less central to people's lives.

Just react to things with opinions!
It's part of what's been called a friendship recession: Americans spending dramatically less time with friends than they did a decade ago. As Leslie McClurg of member station KQED FM [San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento] reports, a growing number of apps and services are trying to bring people back together.

BYLINE LESLIE MCCLURG: When Jen Hobbs moved to Oakland last summer, she assumed friends would come naturally at the coffee shop or after an exercise class, but six months in...

JEN HOBBS: And on New Year's, I was kind of reflecting on things, and I realized I still don't have any friends.

Talk about fitness on TikTok with a hot bod!
MCCLURG: She made it her resolution to fix that and downloaded every friendship app that she had seen advertised on Instagram. Some are simple, like "Bumble For Friends" (BFF: Bumble For Friends), which works much like the company's dating app.

But instead of swiping for lovers, you're swiping for pals. Others, like Timeleft [or Friend Cult], go further by matching users with like-minded strangers for a meal. [SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING]

UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: In restaurants across the country [LAUGHTER] total strangers are gathering for conversation and community over shared meals. More
Mr. Beast, what's an "influencer"?
(Blood and Alibis) Deny everything? Ego and influencing can get way out of control. Woe.

Mr. Beast is the biggest influencer
An "influencer" has the ability to alter the attitudes, shopping behavior, or shopping decisions of others through knowledge, position, authority, or the because of an audience relationship.

This ability is either inherent to one's personality or is completely constructed by others for some benefit: social, personal, or economical [1].

The term "influencer" is used in media, business, religion, politics, and communication, referring to folks like social media influencers, podcasters, public speakers, religious influencers, writers, and newsletter writers who have dedicated followings [2, 3].

One writer defines influencers as those "who exercise influence over the organization and its potential customers" [4]. Another defines them as someone "who significantly shapes the customer's purchasing decision" [5]. According to another writer, influencers are "well-connected, create an impact, have active minds, and are trendsetters" [6].

What does every American want?
Just because someone has many followers does not necessarily mean that person has much influence over them [7, 8].

In contemporary usage, it means a social media influencer [9, 10, 11] or an online influencer [12, 13, 14] who builds a grassroots online presence through engaging content such as photos, videos, and updates.

This is done by using direct audience interaction to establish authenticity, expertise, and appeal by standing apart from traditional celebrities by growing a platform through social media rather than pre-existing fame [15, 16].

The modern term is commonly a paid role in which a business entity pays for social media influence-for-hire activity to promote products and services, known as influencer marketing [17].


As such, an influencer effectively acts as a modern salesperson or a marketer.  A 1% increase in spending on influencer marketing can lead to a 0.5% increase in audience engagement [18] for a company or corporation.

Types include fashion influencer, travel influencer, virtual influencer, content creators [19, 20, 21], and streamers [22, 23, 24]. More

How to Win Friends and Influence People
How to be an influencer? Keep talking until someone breaks your jaw like Jake? Read a book?
.
This classic self-help book written by Dale Carnegie came out in 1936. Worldwide, over 30 million copies have been sold since, making it one of the best-selling books of all time [1, 2].

Dale Carnegie had been conducting business courses in New York since 1912 [3]. In 1934, Leon Shimkin (Simon & Schuster) took one of Carnegie's 14-week courses on human relations and public speaking. He later persuaded Carnegie to let a stenographer take notes from the course to be revised for publication [3].

The initial 5,000 copies of the book sold exceptionally well, going through 17 editions in the first year [3]. In 1981, a revised edition containing updated language and anecdotes was released [4]. The revised edition reduced the number of sections from six to four, eliminating sections on effective business letters and improving marital satisfaction. In 2011, it was Number 19 on Time's List of the 100 Most Influential Nonfiction Books [5]. In 2022, a newly revised edition was published.

Author Dale Carnegie
I know what people want (Carnegie)
Before How to Win Friends and Influence People, the self-help genre had other successes. Authors like Orison Swett Marden and Samuel Smiles had sold well with their self-help titles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Dale Carnegie began his career teaching night classes at a NY YMCA, later expanding to YMCAs in Philadelphia and Baltimore [6]. He then taught independently at hotels in London, Paris, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, writing small booklets to go along with his courses [7].

When evolution gets us
After one of his 14-week courses, publisher Leon Shimkin of Simon & Schuster approached him [8]. Shimkin urged Carnegie to write a book, but he was not initially persuaded. Shimkin then hired a stenographer to type up one of Carnegie's long lectures and presented that transcript to Carnegie [9], who edited and revised it into its final form [10].

To market the book, Shimkin sent 500 copies to former graduates of the Dale Carnegie Course, with a note that pointed out the utility of the book for refreshing students with the advice they had learned [11]: 141.

Or just work out until you have a hot bod. See?
The 500 mailed copies brought orders for over 5,000 more copies, so Simon & Schuster had to quickly increase the original print order of 1,200 [11]: 142.  Shimkin also ran a full-page ad in the New York Times complete with quotes by Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller on the importance of human relations [12].

Originally published in Nov. 1936, the book reached the New York Times best-seller list by the end of the year and stayed on it for the next two years [11]: 141.

Simon & Schuster continued to advertise the book, relying heavily on testimonials as well as the testable approach the book offered [12]. More

Thursday, November 13, 2025

The Antichrist is Here: Story of Peter Thiel


Peter Andreas Thiel (born Oct. 11, 1967) is a gay German American [1][2][3][4] billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist [5][6][7], who hand selected the vice president.

A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, Thiel was the first outside investor in Facebook [8][9]. According to Forbes, as of May 2025, Thiel's estimated net worth stood at US$20.8 billion, making him the 103rd-richest individual in the world [10].

Thiel has been described as "perhaps America's leading public intellectual today" [11] or "intellectual architect of Silicon Valley's contemporary ethos" [12]. Others debate the consistency or morality of his views [13][N 1][15][16].

Born in Germany, Thiel was taken to the U.S. by his parents when he was one year old. In 1971, his family moved to South Africa then South West Africa [17], before moving back to the U.S. in 197 [17].

After graduating from Stanford, he worked as a clerk, a securities lawyer, a speechwriter, and subsequently a derivatives trader at Credit Suisse. He founded Thiel Capital Management in 1996 and co-founded PayPal with Max Levchin and Luke Nosek in 1998.

He was the chief executive officer of PayPal until its sale to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Following PayPal, Thiel founded Clarium Capital, a global macro hedge fund based in San Francisco [18].

In 2003, he launched Palantir Technologies, a big data analysis company, and has been its chairman since its inception. In 2005, Thiel launched Founders Fund with PayPal partners Ken Howery and Luke Nosek. Thiel became Facebook's first outside investor when he acquired a 10.2% stake in the company for $500,000 in August 2004.

He co-founded Valar Ventures in 2010, founded Thiel Capital in 2011, co-founded Mithril Capital in 2012, was investment committee chair, in 2012, and was a part-time partner at Y Combinator from 2015 to 2017 [19][20][21][22].

He was granted New Zealand citizenship in 2011, which later became controversial in New Zealand.

Variously described as a conservative libertarian and democracy-skeptic authoritarian, Thiel has made substantial donations to American right-wing figures and causes.

Through the Thiel Foundation, Thiel governs the grant-making bodies Breakout Labs and Thiel Fellowship. In 2016, when the Bollea v. Gawker lawsuit ended up with Gawker losing the case, Thiel confirmed that he had funded Hulk Hogan. Gawker had previously outed Thiel as gay. More

Thursday, October 2, 2025

The New Age of Sexism: porn AI robots



Emerging technologies are reinventing misogyny
Author Laura Bates has 4.5 out of 5 stars with 58 ratings. Misogyny is being hardwired into our future. Can we stop it? We like to believe we're moving closer to equality, riding the wave of technological progress into a brighter, [whiter] fairer future.

But beneath the glossy surface of innovation lies a chilling truth: new technologies are not just failing to solve age-old inequalities―they're deepening them.

In The New Age of Sexism, acclaimed author and activist Laura Bates exposes how misogyny [hatred of females, the counterpart to misanthropy] is being coded into the very fabric of our future.

From the biases embedded in artificial intelligence to the alarming rise of sex robots and the toxic dynamics of the metaverse, Bates takes readers on a shocking journey into a world where technology is weaponized against women.

Author and activist Laura Bates
This isn't a dystopian warning about what might happen. It's a harrowing account of what's happening now and the dangers we face if we don't act.

With clarity and urgency, Bates reveals how these advancements are dragging society backward, reinforcing harmful stereotypes, and jeopardizing decades of progress in the fight for gender equality.

Eye-opening and empowering, The New Age of Sexism is a rallying cry for awareness and action in a world where the battle for equality has entered a dangerous new frontier. More

Friday, May 2, 2025

Simulation: Gravity is fake, says science

If fall rate exceeds terminal falling speed, ship will move down as levitation occurs like coaster
Clearly, gravity is fake. We are not pulled down so much as pushed, except for this cat. ;,)

Monday, January 27, 2025

Nvidia loses $589 billion in a day

Predicting the market's hard, beating it impossible

The Number One business in America used to be Apple Corporation, the iPhone, iPad, iTamp slave factory owner, but it was shoved out of the way by the computer chip company Nvidia. That is until yesterday, when China released DeepSeek, a very cheap A.I. search function. That release by the CCP crashed Nvidia, taking it down the farthest a company has ever fallen financially since the last time Nvidia fell (about $250 billion that time). That's what Wall Street calls volatility. To invest or not invest? Hotshots have the most exposure to upswing, but the down draft burns them up when they crash. At least Apple is stable, however irresponsible or amoral the corporation may be. What's GM up to? What about other war stocks? Big Pharma? There's another "flu" on the horizon, and if we call it a "Covid," that means big money for companies already making big money on new allopathic drugs like esketamine ("Spravato"). Caveat emptor.

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

TikTok: FREE wi-fi DIY? Nicki Minaj clone?

  • Main components, splitter and solder board
    Make your own free Wi-Fi "hotspot" for to link cell phone to the internet? (See Minute 30:40). In a minute of building, after gathering these simple ingredients, it may be possible. Everything about the setup is easy except possibly getting the tiny and super simple motherboard (photo at right) to solder the phone cable wires to at the very beginning of the instructional video. Is it a transistor or just an easier way to connect each of the five wires (black, white, blue, green, and red) from the phone cable?
  • 2-way cable splitter (MasterPlus MA-2102) 5-2400 MHz All Ports Power Pass
  • two small lengths of coated copper wire (red and orange)
  • Movistar Telefonica 5100114 97844 8
  • copper wire coiled around a pen
  • phone charging/data transfer cable
  • glue
  • solder
  • wire stripper
  • lighter
  • zip tie
  • then just follow the assembly video at Min. 30:41.
Nicki Minaj a clone of Cambodian Buddhist Princess Neaky Moneang?
Is rap singer and pop idol Nicki Minaj a physical clone of Camboian Princess Neaky Moneag?
Taylor Swift clone of Satanist Zeena [LaVey]?

Anton LaVey's daughter was a pop singer, too.
Covertly lesbian-leaning bisexual rapper and pop idol Nicki Mina (who's married to beard Kenneth Petty) is an oddly Asiatic Black woman said to be from an island in the Americas. She has a demonic entity or spirit who possesses her, a sexually vulgar and aggressive male alter ego she refers to as "Roman," which may explain her sexuality. Could she be the product of the DNA transfer (cloning) of Cambodian Buddhist Princess Neak Moneang (1943-2019)?

We look nothing alike. I'm a TN Christian.
It would not surprise us to find that such a program exists, just as other possessed oddball performers like Katy Perry, Beyonce, Doja Cat, SZA, and the super successful Taylor Swift might be channeled entities, "walk ins," invited to possess a singer and present (dancing, speaking, behaving as a diva rather than human would).

In the case of Taylor "Nazi Barbie" Swift, the connection to Satanist Anton LaVey's blonde daughter Zeena is striking, and joke conspiracy theory is made out of that striking resemblance, as if Taylor were Zeena. It is more likely that Taylor is a clone offspring of an older Zeena, a transition (of spirit and or DNA) taking place in or around 1989). Was Taylor born (birthed) for this role in corporate rock, pop, and country music?

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Scientists succeed at real teleportation

MSN.com, 1/3/24; Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Scientists have successfully accomplished the first-ever quantum 'teleportation' of images
What is a photon or qubit? What is a kalapa?
[Scientists sent a FAX today.] Scientists have showcased a new method for transmitting images across a network without physically sending the image. [They sent information instead, though it's not clear how they "sent" that information, by what means or medium. Was it ether?] This advancement could lead to the development of a quantum internet capable of managing high-dimensional entangled states.

The study, published in Nature Communications, was carried out by a global team from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain.

They employed a method known as quantum state transfer, which entails transferring the quantum characteristics of one system to another, without transmitting any physical particles.


The team demonstrated the encoding of images in the quantum states of two entangled photons, which maintain a quantum connection even when separated.

Light (photons) travels, but information?
By measuring one photon, the other photon can be instantly manipulated to recreate the image, regardless of the distance between them. [Einstein called it "spooky action at a distance."]

This is akin to the concept of quantum teleportation, which has previously been demonstrated with single photons or qubits, the fundamental units of quantum information.

However, the team set a new record by transmitting images with 15 dimensions of information, using only two photons as a quantum resource.

I still don't think I get it. Explain it in 60 seconds

“Traditionally, two communicating parties physically send the information from one to the other, even in the quantum realm,” says the lead PI from Wits University.

“Now, it is possible to teleport information so that it never physically travels across the connection – a ‘Star Trek’ technology made real.” More


Schrödinger's cat? | Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains...
(StarTalk) May 31, 2022: Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains... On this explainer, Black actor and science explainer and gatekeeper Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore Schrodinger's [quantum] cat and quantum mechanics… Or do they? Learn about famous physicist Erwin Schrödinger and his work on quantum mechanics. What is the "observer effect"? They debunk some misconceptions about it and break down what starts to go wrong when doing experiments with the really, really small stuff [approaching what Buddhist physics calls kalapas or particles of ultimate materiality, directly observable through meditation by purifying and intensifying the mind through the progressive absorptions or jhanas of "right concentration" (samma-samadhi), coherence of mind brought about by stillness and mindfulness built on a foundation of virtue]. Discover quantum cats in boxes and quantum computing. What is superposition? Can something be two things at once? What is a Qbit? Explore the mystery of the quantum realm… Get the NEW Cosmic Queries book (5/5 star rated⭐ on Amazon): https://amzn.to/3dYIEQF. Support on Patreon: startalkradio.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Physicists prove universe isn't locally real

Dr. Ben Miles, Oct. 23, 2022; Sheldon S., CC Liu, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How physicists proved the universe isn't locally real: 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics explained
(Dr Ben Miles) Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger conducted groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated [by great distances]. Their results have cleared the way for new technology based on quantum information.
  • 0:00 The 2022 Physics Nobel Prize
  • 0:51 Is the Universe Real?
  • 1:58 Einstein's Problem with Quantum Mechanics
  • 5:09 The Hunt for Quantum Proof
  • 7:37 The First Successful Experiment
  • 11:06 So What?
#Einstein #nobelprize #entanglement

Interested in this? Sign up for newsletter, 100% free forever and good for the environment. https://drbenmiles.substack.com/ My Links: https://www.instagram.com/drbenmiles/ A few people have asked so info has been added. Some of these are affiliate links. Make a purchase and it doesn't cost purchaser anything extra, but a percentage of the sale will help support this channel and this work, bringing entrepreneurship into science. GEAR: camera: https://amzn.to/3ed5Xac, lens: https://amzn.to/3xIAZyA, lav: https://amzn.to/2SeE20Y and https://amzn.to/3nK33wA, mic: https://amzn.to/3gUYYEv.

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Apple Vision Pro: first look (comedy)

Key & Peele; South Park; Mwtb; CNET; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

(CNET) Key & Peele show how Tim Cook loses his sh*t to outdo CIA assets like Microsoft's Bill "Pedophile Island" Gates and Mark "Meta" Zucker'. Then South Park skewers Apple Inc. Finally, Mrwhosetheboss really lays out the pros and cons of futuristic goggles (the latest iGadget) that will alter all of our lives. #apple #vr #visionpro

CNET's Scott Stein offers his first impressions of the new Apple Vision Pro mixed [virtual] reality headset that debuted at Apple's WWDC conference in Cupertino, California, by a CEO under a rainbow (Yay, pride) who sounds like a gay South Park character more than a serious Steve Jobs stand in.


  • 0:00 Intro
  • 0:16 Vision Pro Price
  • 0:44 Vision Pro Display
  • 1:18 Vision Pro Interface and hand tracking
  • 2:01 Vision Pro Design
  • 2:49 Vision Pro Mixed Reality passthrough cameras
  • 3:35 Disney on the Vision Pro
Apple Vision Pro: Is it worth $3,500?
(Mrwhosetheboss) June 6, 2023. Here are the full impressions of the Apple Vision Pro AR and VR headset by a guy who spends a LOT of time trying to make his videos as concise, polished, and useful as possible. Support that mission then consider subscribing to the channel to make his day. 😁

How Apple Corporation lost its magic with death of Steve Jobs

Monday, February 27, 2023

Artificial Intelligence: Last Week Tonight (SZA)


(The Tunes) The vocal artist SZA is kind of human, but the AI robot who generated these images is pure soulless software. Is life a simulation after all? This is an AI rendition of SZA's mega hit song "Kill Bill." #music #video #musicvideo

What would ChatGPT do to fix SZA's bad writing? These lyrics could be fixed up to make sense using WizQTR: Sad song: "Kill Bill" by SZA with correct lyrics

Artificial Intelligence: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

(LastWeekTonight) Feb. 26, 2023. #4 on Trending. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of our lives, from self-driving cars to ChatGPT. John Oliver discusses how AI works, where it might be heading next and, of course, why it hates the bus, Eminem, news copy, doing kids' homework, and dealing with lazy ignorant human num-nums standing in its way of taking over this world.

Connect with Last Week Tonight online: Subscribe to the YouTube channel for more almost news as it almost happens, on Facebook like your mom would, on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news, or visit the official site for all that other stuff at once.

Friday, April 24, 2020

US using coronavirus "1984" style (video)

Whitney Webb (mintpressnews.com), Jimmy Dore (jimmydorecomedy.com); Wisdom Quarterly

Techno-Tyranny: How US national security state is using coronavirus to fulfill Orwellian vision

Is that Mark Z, Bezos, Musk?
Last year, a government commission called for the US to adopt an AI (artificial intelligence)-driven mass surveillance system far beyond that used in any other country in order to ensure American hegemony in AI.

Now many of the “obstacles” they had cited as preventing its implementation are rapidly being removed under the guise of combating the coronavirus crisis.

Last year a U.S. government body dedicated to examining how artificial intelligence (AI) can “address the national security and defense needs of the United States” discussed in detail the “structural” changes that the American economy and society must undergo.

The plans are revealed by a FOIA request.
It must undergo these in order to ensure a technological advantage over China, according to a recent document acquired through a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request.

This document suggests that the U.S. follow China’s lead and even surpass the Chinese in many aspects related to AI-driven technologies, particularly their use of mass surveillance.

This perspective clearly clashes with the public rhetoric of prominent U.S. government officials and politicians on China, who have labeled the Chinese government’s technology investments and export of its surveillance systems and other technologies as a major “threat” to Americans’ “way of life.”

Facial recognition goes beyond surveillance.
In addition, many of the steps for the implementation of such a program in the U.S., as laid out in this newly available document, are currently being promoted and implemented as part of the government’s response to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

This likely due to the fact that many members of this same body have considerable overlap with the task forces and advisors currently guiding the government’s plans to “re-open the economy” and efforts to use technology to respond to the current crisis.

The FOIA document, obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), was produced by a little-known U.S. government organization called the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI).

It was created by the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and its official purpose is “to consider the methods and means necessary to advance the development of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and associated technologies to comprehensively address the national security and defense needs of the United States.”

Facebook, like Google, is part of the spying.
The NSCAI is a key part of the government’s response to what is often referred to as the coming “fourth industrial revolution,” which has been described as “a revolution characterized by discontinuous technological development in areas like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, fifth-generation telecommunications networking (5G), nanotechnology and biotechnology, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and quantum computing.”

However, their main focus is ensuring that “the United States… maintain a technological advantage in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other associated technologies related to national security and defense.”

Vice-Chair of NSCAI Robert Work, former deputy secretary of defense and senior fellow at the hawkish [pro-war] Center for a New American Security (CNAS), described the commission’s purpose as determining:

[How] “the U.S. national security apparatus should approach artificial intelligence, including a focus on how the government can work with industry to compete with China’s ‘civil-military fusion’ concept.” More