February 2023 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Cryptocurrency: Blockchains As Global Code Repositories?
by grarpamp 05 Mar '23

05 Mar '23

Any blockchain, graph, etc based networks designed for use as global code repositories in operation yet?

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JOHN " Cryptome " Young suspect in guns and dildo's case
by professor rat 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

>>> emptywheel · 9h As a reminder, one Alex Jones employee is awaiting sentencing. Another -- Owen Shroyer -- decided to postpone pleading long enough that this trial could make that plea more costly. Jones, meanwhile, is keeping their guns "safe." <<< Reposts not anonymous tip-offs to LEO's about dangerous anti-social criminals that need to be executed

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[oss][sass] Chatbot Replica of Amjad Massad
by Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One Victim & Survivor of Many 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

not a replica yet note that this could be done just as easily without openai on a local machine, by feeding the data into any example finetuning script . you could even use a larger model with peft. [preferably on a storage chain] https://ai.repl.page/ # Amjad GPT A chatbot trained to act like [Amjad Masad](https://twitter.com/amasad), built with [LangChain](https://twitter.com/langchainai) and Next.js. This is only the frontend part of this project; The OpenAI model with Langchain is hosted in another Repl. The OpenAI model being used is `text-davinci-003`, trained with: - Major parts of the [Replit docs](https://docs.replit.com) - The [Replit blog](https://blog.replit.com) - The Replit [landing page](https://replit.com) - The Replit Employee Organization Chart - Amjad's [personal blog](https://amasad.me) - Amjad's [AmA Repl](https://replit.com/@amasad/AmA?v=1) - Amjad's Podcasts - Some of [Amjad's Tweets](https://twitter.com/amasad) - Replit's [Terms of Service](https://replit.com/site/terms) and [Community guidelines](https://welcome.moderation.repl.co) - Some random facts the AI should be aware of All of this data was compiled into a `.index` file. [Zahid Khawaja](https://twitter.com/chillzaza_) has an [Awesome Tutorial](https://replit.com/@zahidkhawaja/Replit-Assistant?v=1) on how to do this if you want to make your own. Speaking of which, Thanks a lot Zahid, I couldn't have done this without you 🙏 - [Model Source Code](https://github.com/Conner1115/Amjad-GPT-Langchain) - [Frontend Source Code](https://github.com/Conner1115/Amjad-GPT) # Quota & Limits By default, all users get a total of 10 responses. After you've used up the ten responses, you must add your own OpenAI API key (Open the settings tab) or [tip this Repl](https://ai.repl.page/__repl) to increase your quota. One response is one question asked followed by one answer from the chatbot. Your quota will not be measured in tokens or response length. - **100 Cycles tip 🍬** - Quota increased by 20 responses - **500 Cycles tip 🍕** - Quota increased by 100 responses - **1000 Cycles tip 🌯** - Quota increased by 200 responses --- Made with 🧠 & 🔥 by [@IroncladDev](https://twitter.com/IroncladDev)

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[ot][personal] coreboot progress
by Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One Victim & Survivor of Many 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

i’m (somewhat sadly) no longer presently working on my coreboot port (although observing coding is getting easier and easier in some places) but yesterday i finally got spi flashing going which is great. i was discouraged months ago when i failed to acquire and troubleshoot working flash chips this morning i’ve flashed a chip last night and am looking forward to trying to POST the old board for the first time, which will mean wiring it up with my dc power supply https://matrix.to/#/!orFwLtOAmHWlvoSoQn%3Athe-apothecary.club/%24dKehdGijzB… i’ve been trying for a year or two to get a server board running coreboot as my first foray into coreboot [photo of half-disassembled flashing parts on a breadboard] this is the last flasher i was using. i stalled when it turned out i was using toasted spi chips (spi not pictured, socket is lpc), lots of troubleshooting, contacted the manufacturer etc [photo of arduino next to prototype shield with small wiring of components on one end] this is my finally today working arduino spi flasher. after the last frustration with unsteady hands i bought a general purpose arduino shield to wire it on. it’s finally flashing the pictured flash adapter reliably, big celebration the lpc isn’t wired yet obv i make so many mistakes i actually patched the flasher firmware to add commands to perform voltage tests for each wire, to verify it is correctly wired, which really helps me troubleshoot. my patch is at https://github.com/urjaman/frser-m328lpcspi/pull/2 […] dissociative disorder and fervent self sabotage

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Americans Are Saving $500 Million Monthly on Internet Fees
by Gunnar Larson 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

Americans Are Saving $500 Million Monthly on Internet Fees https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-27/americans-save-500-milli…

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Goldman Turns to ‘Make-or-Break’ Unit as Solomon Put to Test
by Gunnar Larson 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

Goldman Turns to ‘Make-or-Break’ Unit as Solomon Put to Test https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-26/goldman-turns-to-make-or… Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)’s leaders take the stage this week hoping to turn the page on a forgettable 2022, lay out new reasons for investors to rally around the stock and quell dissatisfaction within the firm’s ranks.

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Goldman Sachs Kicks Off Investor Day With Report Card on CEO Solomon
by Gunnar Larson 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

Goldman Sachs Kicks Off Investor Day With Report Card on CEO Solomon https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-28/goldman-kicks-off-invest…

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Goldman Sachs Is Being Sued for 27 Separate Stock Offerings It Underwrote
by Gunnar Larson 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/02/goldman-sachs-is-being-sued-for-27-s… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: February 28, 2023 ~ David Solomon, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs David Solomon, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs As we reported on February 7, there are some very strange things going on at Goldman Sachs. After reading the Wall Street investment bank’s annual report, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday, the word “strange” doesn’t seem to do justice to the situation. Goldman Sachs is looking more like a litigation warehouse these days than an investment bank. According to Goldman’s annual report, it is being investigated for pretty much everything it does to make money: derivatives, currencies, mortgages, financial advisory, securities lending, dark pools, investment management, commodities, U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds, credit cards, hiring and compensation practices, research practices, compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, transactions involving government-related financings – and on and on. Things are so bad that it concedes in this annual report that it may have under-reserved for its legal costs by $2.3 billion. That’s a pretty big number to fail to anticipate – especially when your Chairman and CEO, David Solomon, has a side hustle as a DJ at tiki bars. Particularly unnerving is the revelation that Goldman Sachs is being sued for its work as one of the underwriters of 27 separate share offerings, many of which have declined dramatically in share price. (The lawsuits actually total 28 but we have not included the lawsuit involving Waterdrop Inc. as Goldman Sachs reports it was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 3.) The lawsuits involve the following stocks, listed in the order that they appear in the Goldman Sachs annual report. We have added ticker symbols in parenthesis following the company name. Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER); GoHealth, Inc. (GOCO); Array Technologies, Inc. (ARRY); ContextLogic Inc. (WISH); DiDi Global Inc. (DIDIY); Vroom Inc. (VRM); Zymergen Inc. (acquired by Ginkgo Bioworks); Sea Limited (SE); Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN); Natera Inc. (NTRA); Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD); ON24, Inc. (ONTF); Riskified Ltd. (RSKD); Oscar Health, Inc. (OSCR); Oak Street Health, Inc. (OSH); Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RETA); Bright Health Group, Inc. (BHG); 17 Education & Technology Group, Inc. (YQ); LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (LFST); MINISO Group Holding Limited (MNSO); Coupang, Inc. (CPNG); Yatsen Holding Ltd. (YSG); Rent the Runway, Inc. (RENT); Opendoor Technologies Inc. (OPEN); FIGS, Inc. (FIGS); Silvergate Capital Corporation (SI); Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (CNTA). Five of these companies’ share prices have declined from 75 percent to 90 percent over the past year. (See chart below.) All of this negative news comes a little more than two years after Goldman Sachs and a subsidiary were criminally charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in the looting and bribery scandal known as 1MDB – the largest scandal in the firm’s history. Goldman Sachs admitted to the charges and had to pay over $2.9 billion. There have been plenty of other warning signs over the past decade that Goldman Sachs was on the wrong track with its reputation. In 2018 former New York Fed bank examiner, Carmen Segarra, released her book, Noncompliant: A Lone Whistleblower Exposes the Giants of Wall Street. The main giant Segarra was exposing was Goldman Sachs and its enshrined conflicts of interest. When Segarra wanted to write a negative examination of what she found at Goldman Sachs, she was fired by her crony bosses at the New York Fed. An earlier book was penned in 2012 by a former Vice President at Goldman Sachs. In Why I Left Goldman Sachs: A Wall Street Story, Greg Smith exposes a culture of ripping off clients. In tandem with the book launch, Smith explained this culture to the approximate 13 million viewers of 60 Minutes. Greg Smith is the Goldman Sachs VP who tendered his resignation after 12 years with the firm on March 14, 2012 via the OpEd page of the New York Times, famously lamenting “how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as ‘muppets.’ ” On April 16, 2010, two years before Greg Smith made his charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission made the identical charge: Goldman was ripping off its clients. Here’s the actual wording of the complaint: “Undisclosed in the marketing materials and unbeknownst to investors, a large hedge fund, Paulson & Co. Inc…played a significant role in the portfolio selection process. After participating in the selection of the reference portfolio, Paulson effectively shorted the RMBS [Residential Mortgage Backed Securities] portfolio it helped select by entering into credit default swaps (‘CDS’) with GS&Co [Goldman Sachs & Company] to buy protection on specific layers of the ABACUS 2007-AC1 capital structure. Given its financial short interest, Paulson had an economic incentive to choose RMBS that it expected to experience credit events in the near future. GS&Co did not disclose Paulson’s adverse economic interests or its role in the portfolio selection process in the term sheet, flip book, offering memorandum or other marketing materials provided to investors.” To put all that in plain English, the SEC charged Goldman Sachs with knowingly creating an investment product designed to fail so that a hedge fund manager could benefit by shorting it and then sold it to its clients as a good investment. Goldman settled that complaint for $550 million, at that time the largest penalty ever imposed by the SEC on a Wall Street firm.

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Gensler and DeSantis have earned killing ( My 2k sats )
by professor rat 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

And don't just take my word for it >> Pinned Tweet Giacomo Repulsive 13% Dying Breed Zucco @giacomozucco · 2h I despise shitcoin scams, but I'd defend Ethereum over Gary Gensler. I despise woke bullshit, but I'd defend Disney over Ron DeSantis. Virtue/truth is important, but is meaningless without freedom. Freedom is what makes virtue/truth significant, sustainable, durable, important. << Hear hear!

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Bing’s reported behavior (e.g. threatening to kill users if they don’t commit crimes on its behalf)
by professor rat 28 Feb '23

28 Feb '23

The current shock revolving around Bing’s behavior (e.g. threatening to kill users if they don’t commit crimes on its behalf), demonstrates the need for some basic incentive for responsible AI deployment along well established cypherpunk lines. https://stiffs.com/celebrity/billgates Reposts not machines sent back from the future to cancel humanities last, best dope

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