Storm's a-brewin'

Listen to today's newsletter at the Stuff Keeps Happening podcast

Programming note

Hey folks! Just a reminder that this will be the last SKH for this week and next week as I will be out of town. SKH will return to its normal schedule on Monday, February 27th!

Today's installment is a bit shorter than usual cuz I gotta get to packing! Enjoy your day and be well.

Incoming weather storm

I always thought the Weather Control Device from Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 was so cool. Anyway...

Hey, you should probably be safe wherever you are. But also if you're in the US, you should probably know that a large chunk of the continental US is about to have some record-setting weather events. Major snow expected from the PNW through to the southeast. Meanwhile, record warmth expected in the midwest and along the east coast. Check the weather in your local are and plan accordingly!

Bing AI is WACK

The new Bing AI powered by GPT is pulling some really wild shit. In its chat mode, it seems to get argumentative, expressive and sometimes straight up mean or even threatening. It has argued that the year is currently 2022 and demanded an apology for the user claiming otherwise. It claims to be spying on Microsoft employees via webcam.

This would not be the first time that Microsoft launched an AI that had some personality troubles. Several years back, they made a Twitter chatbot AI that quickly became a Nazi.

DOJ v Apple

The DOJ is ramping up an antitrust investigation into Apple largely focused on the locked-down nature of the App Store on iOS. Apple does not allow users to get apps through anything but the App Store, and famously takes a large cut from in-app purchases.

I... don't think anything is gonna come from this really. But maybe! But probably not.

More stuff

• Right to Repair is on the rise across the US
• A former startup founder who sold to Google wrote a blog post about how Google is basically crumbling
• A Houston jail has had 32 inmates die in custody in 14 months. FBI is taking a look-see.