meijer

Really surprisingly bad work by HBO.

Well, they use AI to create "content". So I guess it's fair to use AI to read it. This is what Claude says about "Grokipedia"'s article about the Gaza war, compared to the original:

Major Differences Between Wikipedia and Grokipedia's Gaza War Articles

1. Framing and Perspective

Wikipedia: Presents the conflict with multiple perspectives, acknowledging disputed narratives. Uses neutral language like "armed conflict" and presents genocide allegations as claims made by "many human rights organizations and scholars."

Grokipedia: Frames the conflict almost entirely from an Israeli perspective. Hamas is consistently portrayed as the aggressor and sole source of civilian suffering, with Israeli actions defended as necessary self-defense.

2. Casualty Figures and Reporting

Wikipedia: Reports over 79,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza as reported figures, noting they come from the Gaza Health Ministry but presenting them as the available data.

Grokipedia: Systematically questions and undermines Palestinian casualty figures, dedicating entire sections to "Verification Challenges and Inflated Figures" and "Combatants Versus Civilians." It emphasizes that figures are "Hamas-administered" and suggests deliberate fabrication, claiming the ministry has "incentives for propagandistic reporting."

3. Treatment of Genocide Allegations

Wikipedia: States that "many human rights organizations and scholars of genocide studies and international law, including an independent UN commission, say that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, though some dispute this".

Grokipedia: Dismisses genocide allegations as part of "double standards in scrutiny" and frames them as politically motivated attacks on Israel's legitimate self-defense. The word "genocide" appears primarily in sections criticizing those who make such claims.

4. Hamas's Responsibility for Civilian Harm

Wikipedia: Mentions Hamas's use of civilian infrastructure but doesn't make it the primary explanation for Palestinian casualties.

Grokipedia: Contains extensive sections titled "Impact of Hamas Tactics on Civilian Suffering" arguing that Hamas's embedding of military assets in civilian areas is the primary cause of Palestinian civilian deaths, stating "Hamas's operational choices to a disproportionate share of Palestinian suffering, independent of Israeli response intensity."

5. Aid and Humanitarian Crisis

Wikipedia: Describes Israel's blockade cutting off necessities and causing famine, with Israel's actions as a key factor.

Grokipedia: Features a section on "Aid Distribution Failures and Diversion by Hamas," emphasizing that "Hamas diverts up to 25% of incoming aid supplies" and that aid failures stem primarily from Hamas's control and diversion rather than Israeli restrictions.

6. Language and Terminology

Wikipedia: Uses terms like "Israeli invasion," "Israeli offensive," and "Israeli strikes" in a descriptive manner.

Grokipedia: Uses emotionally charged language like Hamas's "systematic atrocities," "barbarism," and describes October 7 as involving "mass killings, sexual violence, and arson" while Israeli actions are described as "targeted operations," "precision strikes," and "necessary self-defense."

7. International Law and War Crimes

Wikipedia: Notes that "experts and human rights organizations have stated that Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes", treating both sides' alleged violations seriously.

Grokipedia: Has separate sections for "Hamas Violations" and "Israeli Actions Under International Law," with the Hamas section focusing on terrorism and war crimes, while the Israeli section emphasizes legal justification, proportionality, and compliance efforts. It includes a section on "Investigations and Double Standards in Scrutiny" arguing Israel faces biased treatment.

8. Historical Context

Wikipedia: Provides context about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the occupation, and blockade as contributing factors.

Grokipedia: Emphasizes Hamas's ideology, its 1988 charter calling for Israel's destruction, and its "rejectionism" as the primary context, with a section on "Hamas's October 7, 2023 Attack" prominently featuring "Atrocities and Hostage Abductions" with graphic details.

9. Verification and Sources

Wikipedia: Generally presents available information with citations, acknowledging when sources are disputed.

Grokipedia: Systematically questions sources that reflect negatively on Israel (especially UN and Gaza Health Ministry data) while presenting Israeli military assessments as reliable. It includes phrases like "Hamas-controlled" and "unverified" repeatedly when discussing Palestinian sources.

10. Overall Narrative

Wikipedia: Attempts to present the conflict as complex with legitimate grievances and wrongdoing on multiple sides.

Grokipedia: Presents a clear narrative of Israeli victimhood and justified response to Hamas terrorism, with Palestinian civilian suffering primarily attributed to Hamas's tactics rather than Israeli military operations.

Conclusion

The Grokipedia article reads as an explicitly pro-Israel advocacy piece rather than an encyclopedia article. It systematically frames Israeli actions in the most favorable light while questioning, undermining, or recontextualizing information that might reflect negatively on Israel. This represents a fundamental departure from Wikipedia's attempt at neutral point of view, confirming the concerns about Grokipedia presenting topics aligned with Elon Musk's political positions.

All this doesn't matter.

The truth is: Europeans don't trust the US anymore (except maybe Hungary).

Better yet: don't be a "guest" in the USA.

The story can also be considered on-topic because it shows how the USA is increasingly becoming a bad place to start a business.

When foreign talent can be snatched by masked secret police at any time and the rule of law is increasingly ignored, it hardly creates a favorable business environment.

You don't see it, like the fish who does not see the water.

No, that has now become a value of American Republicans.

maybe they can adopt "stop begging USA for military protection" as their value first.

Basically we did that already. But the preferred wording is "Don't rely on the USA because they are no longer trustworty."

There is broad consensus in Europe that we don't want to be like Trumpist America.

For me, "Support European Values." is prominently displayed on the page.

It's not all or nothing.

Ultimately it's about trust.

And why would you trust Trump or Musk?

Note: pg appears to be "generally sympathetic" to what Musk is doing here.

https://xcancel.com/paulg/status/1886741943050211408

In addition, except for companies with serious economic problems, layoffs are also simply much less common in Germany, I believe.

He did not directly call anyone "retard". But he reposted it. And in this case it was obviously ment as endorsement.

Well, this was reposted by Garry Tan: https://x.com/TiffanyFong_/status/1881476982103523531

It seems, YC and HN made their decision.

Wait, has Google really dropped support for Flutter and Dart? Or were there "just" some layoffs?

There are regular pro Palestine protests in my German hometown. And they do condemn Israel's actions.

My theory is that excessive linter rules might be a symptom of trying to compensate for the weaknesses of a programming language. I see it a lot in Python and JavaScript projects where the language gives very litte guarantees about anything.

If you use a programming language that affords some guarantees like Haskell or even just C#, people seem to be less interested in linters.

I think it is likely that politics is exactly the type of stuff where Homo sapiens outperforms Neanderthals.

Did you possibly enter the prefix +49 as part of the number?

It seems to expect a number without the country prefix, starting with a number like "174" or whatever your provider prefix is...

Yeah, but that would still have been a poor investment strategy. You have to manage the risk. And you can only do that by looking forward, not backward.

Polio is much more dangerous for small children, though. This could make quite a difference.

I tend to isolate myself from the environment using noise-cancelling headphones.

Now I'm wondering if this might be a bad idea, neurologically speaking...

Notice the "Schwarzkopf" killer in the 4th screenshot, a useful tool against the notorious "Saddam" virus (which could be activated simply by inserting a disk into your Amiga).

Some animals age very, very little: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negligible_senescence

Among them the Naked Mole Rat, a mammal.

So it looks like evolution can do it. But it usually doesn't.

I don't think respect for basic humans rights and heavy individualization are necessarily related. They should be discussed separately.

The new UI looks a bit like Visual Studio Code, I think?

Reminds me of Data's poetry. (Ode to Spot)

Is this even true? I thought the monetary policy of the Fed (as a reaction to Covid) simply made investments cheaper.