Today I am going to share with you a heartbreaking article about mental health family struggles in the US, AI backlash may be starting, it is very hard building airports these days, a majestic video of Southeast Pacific seamounts and a fantastic quote about social media imbeciles having a voice online. The regular longer post returns on Friday featuring the usual mix of eclectic curated links along with my commentary, thank you for reading my blog.
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Back with another short Tuesday post. I will see you all Friday with the usual longer post. Actually, this week I will most likely post on Thursday due to travel.
A Lawyer Abandoned Family and Career to Follow the Voices in His Head
Rob Dart took a fast track to the American dream until mental illness turned his brilliant mind against him
This story is the one that stayed with me since my last post on Friday last week. And it was so difficult reading about this man’s mental health struggles. And his family’s efforts to help him get treatment. I can not imagine going through something like this. We must do better treating people with mental health illness. This is the original Wall Street Journal article link.
They Praised AI at SXSW—and the Audience Started Booing
I have been posting a lot about social media lately. I have pretty much stopped posting on Facebook and just post a few articles on Twitter and Linkedin. I do post links to my blog articles through my blog Twitter account but judging from the click activity I am clearly wasting my time. Anyway, these days I just prefer to provide some content here in my blog and keeping it real. Because almost everything on social media is just not real. There was a blog reader here who used to have in his profile a picture of a dog and “In the internet nobody knows you are a dog“. Kind of appropriate imho. Before you read the article, I found this graph and maybe indeed the backlash has started:
Ok, now on to the article by The Honest Broker I am linking to above…
I think it is a must read in its entirety. It starts out like this and never relents, enjoy.
Tech leaders gathered in Austin for the South-by-Southwest conference a few days ago. There they showed a video boasting about the wonders of new AI technology. And the audience started booing. At first, just a few people booed. But then more and more—and louder and louder. The more the experts on screen praised the benefits of artificial intelligence, the more hostile the crowd got. The booing started in response to the comment that “AI is a culture.” And the audience booed louder when the word disrupted was used as a term of praise (as is often the case in the tech world nowadays).
Ah, but the audience booed the loudest at this statement:
“I actually think that AI fundamentally makes us more human.”
The event was a debacle—the exact opposite of what the promoters anticipated. And it should be a reality check for the technocracy.
Why It’s So Hard to Build an Airport
Very educational article about a place we travel enthusiasts love. And I learned a lot about the subject and wanted to share it with you here. Some of the most surprising things I learned were:
Of the 50 largest airports in the US, the average age is 82 years, and only three have been built in the last 50 years. The US has built more commercial nuclear reactors in the past 25 years (two) than it has major commercial airports (none), even though air travel increased by almost 50% over that period.
In 1970, commercial aircraft were on average just 49% full. Today, that has risen to more than 80%.
And the conclusion:
Air travel is an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand, building the infrastructure for it is unbelievably difficult. Airports are incredibly hard to build, aircraft are incredibly hard to make a profit selling, airlines are frequently going bankrupt. And yet this hasn’t stopped air travel from steadily becoming cheaper, safer, more convenient and more ubiquitous. The pre-jet era, when aircraft and airports could be developed without spending billions of dollars, was also the era where air travel was noisy, inconvenient, and reserved for a relatively small number of people. It was somehow brought to the masses, transformed from a miracle to a modern convenience even as every aspect of it steadily got closer and closer to being impossible to achieve.
Seamounts of the Southeast Pacific
Stunning video, amazing, must click. You can read more about these amazing creatures here: ‘Mind-blowing’ deep sea expedition uncovers more than 100 new species and a gigantic underwater mountain.
Quote
I like to collect quotes. And I found this one so good I wanted to share it with you here:
Social media gives the right to speak to legions of imbeciles who previously only spoke at the bar after a glass of wine, without damaging the community. They were immediately silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of imbeciles.
–Umberto Eco
This blog started with a focus on miles and points and travel. It has evolved since then. All the miles & points sections return on Friday, along with the other gems you have become accustomed to.
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
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TBB
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Bigly soccer game today at 1 pm. Georgia vs Greece, winner goes to Euro 2024.
One day my blog will end. Until then, enjoy it. I still do enjoy bringing it to you, this is my way of giving back.
You all have a great day, see you Thursday this week.
The article on why no new airports have been built is terrific. Not in my back yard! NIMBY strikes again.
Hope your foot is better.
I read that article about Rob Dart a couple days ago. Truly a sad story, for sure! Gonna read that Airport one later on the phone as I wait for my always late doctor! Nothing bad but time for a check up on some stuff and adjust some meds, most likely. And a lecture about my weight. Sigh.
Have a great day, George! Thanks as always for the post!
Good morning Buzz,
Fascinating article about airports. Looking forward to reading the rest over Sweet 16 weekend.
I am thankful the crowd in Austin gave them a hoot, artificial insolence sounds apropos.
Good luck with the healing and have a great trip!
First half Georgia Greece 0-0
So phucking intense, wow!
https://www.alphatv.gr/live/
Game went to penalty kicks…and we lost by one.
TBB #mourning #thishurts
Sorry to hear about Greece’s Euro campaign.
In other Euro news, Belgium’s new Tintin-inspired kits are delightful.
https://apnews.com/article/belgium-kit-tintin-euro-60b06ad569be1068772d1d18880dae42
Tintin? I used to love Tintin growing up as a kid! They look good to me.
The Poles eliminating Wales in PKs away and breaking everyone’s heart in the stadium, wow. Ukraine beat Iceland after going down 1-0 and making the country proud making it to Euro 2024. Loved the Phuck Putin signs, with an F.
@ DML/Carl/David: Hi to the regulars. Yeah, NIMBY again…I was shocked to learn that more nuclear plants than airports were built! I am starting to get used to going 16 hours without eating anything, so down to 2 meals per day. I need to reevaluate my life without Hyatt Globalist breakfasts and lounge access though lol. Waiting to hear back from new doc after I dropped off the CD rom with the CT scan…hope he calls me soon! Been walking 2 to 3 miles per day for almost a week…so, a little better I guess. What a weird injury, I guess no Barkley marathons for me LOL.
New post tomorrow Thursday.