Holy crap what a stat 'Between 2001 and 2014, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost the US an estimated $1.5 trillion to $1.7 trillion in direct spending. Global AI spending, according to Gartner, is forecast to reach nearly $1.5 trillion this year, putting today's AI boom in the same cash-burning league as two major wars.'

AI faces closing time at the cash buffet

opinion: Will businesses continue to invest in something that's shown so little return?

#France #Africa #Algeria #colonialism 'Legislators in Algeria voted to declare France’s colonization of the North African country a crime, approving a law that calls for restitution of property taken by France during its 130-year rule, among other demands seeking to redress historical wrongs.' https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/algeria-votes-declare-french-colonization-crime-demands-restitution-128691093

Google has gone completely off the fucking rails 'Last week, an update on the Google Support forum revealed that over the last few months, staffers have been working on Portraits, an “experimental feature” it said “lets viewers conversationally interact with AI representations of participating creators and gives these creators insights into topics that their audiences are interested in.”'

Tubefilter

Google is churning YouTubers into chatbots. Historically, that has not gone well. - Tubefilter

Google is keeping its eye on the potential LLM bubble burst. But despite that, it--like pretty much every other major tech company--continues pouri...

#community #food #gardening 'A new review published in Current Opinion in Psychology suggests that community gardens function as vital social infrastructure that contributes significantly to individual and collective health.'

PsyPost - Psychology News

Community gardens function as essential social infrastructure, analysis suggests

A new review in Current Opinion in Psychology finds that community gardens are vital social infrastructure. Analyzing 50 studies, researchers repor...

Merry Christmas to everyone but especially Boris the Cat.

1News

Cat missing after SPCA break-in found just in time for Christmas

Boris and two dogs went missing after a break-in back in February. While the dogs were found, the chatty black cat remained on the lam.

#ElonMusk #Tesla #PublicSafety 'A new chapter in an ongoing investigative report from Bloomberg starts from the news that at least 15 people have died in Teslas where the electrically powered doors would not open after a crash.'

Car and Driver

Report Focuses on Deaths Due to Tesla Doors That Couldn

Bloomberg news service investigation looks into Tesla

#politics #Epstein #crime 'Prior to the DOJ’s attempt to walk back what little transparency was to be found, COURIER retrieved every item from the initial release and published it in a searchable database that is available to the public.'

COURIER

We created a searchable database for the Epstein Files, including everything the DOJ wants hidden

The repository will continue to grow as the Trump administration releases hundreds of thousands more documents from the investigation into Epstein�...

Olivia Grace Jordan, 1923-2025. My best friend. I'll be back when I'm back. Love you.

ResearchBuzz

Olivia Grace Jordan, 1923-2025.

My best friend. I’ll be back when I’m back. Love you.

Olivia Grace Jordan 1923-2025 My best friend. My cousin called me a little while ago. She's going to the care center to stay with Granny until the funeral home people turn up. I want to but the movers will be here at 9 and things aren't ready because I was at Granny's late. So I guess I better get to work.

Shofo, Sega Channel, Merriam-Webster, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, December 16, 2025 My Granny is not well (yes, I still have a Granny, she's 102) and I have spent much of the last two days at her care center. Headed back there this afternoon. Newsletters may be disrupted. On the other hand I've had enough caffeine to power a thousand Monday mornings so perhaps they'll be on time with extra spelling errors, which a certain segment of you will be delighted to chastise me…

ResearchBuzz

Shofo, Sega Channel, Merriam-Webster, More: Tuesday ResearchBuzz, December 16, 2025

My Granny is not well (yes, I still have a Granny, she’s 102) and I have spent much of the last two days at her care center. Headed back ther...