TechPlus+ | Technology & Development Redux
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Programming – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (maybe) – I
Read more: Programming – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (maybe) – IYesterday I accidentally learned how to master computer programming. I was finishing high school and faced the daunting decision of choosing a study field. As my father was an engineer, I leaned toward the same area. However, my passion for music dominated my then-minimalistic environment. I was thus more inclined to go for electronic engineering—not…
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The Dynamics of Global Development, South and North
Read more: The Dynamics of Global Development, South and NorthThe Development of Development In its beginnings, unmovable numeric rankings permeated the always slippery and bumpy development racetrack. Stuck in first place were a selected group of countries labeled as developed, even though many were still rebuilding their economies after the bloody World War II that killed 3 percent of the world’s total population. Led…
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The Real Structures Sustaining the Cyberspace Imaginary – II
Read more: The Real Structures Sustaining the Cyberspace Imaginary – IIHistory Matters Following the historical evolution of the Internet and Cyberspace sheds light on the origins of the “superhighway” and “virtual” metaphors, depicted in the first part of this post. Useful summaries from a pure infrastructural perspective are available from the NFS and UCSD, the latter furnishing cool schematic diagrams of the overall network architecture.…
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The Real Structures Sustaining the Cyberspace Imaginary – I
Read more: The Real Structures Sustaining the Cyberspace Imaginary – IRecreating the Imaginary If I were to ask another human being (not ChatGPT) for directions on how to get to Cyberspace, most would probably think I am joking. Others might consider me an imbecile or conclude I must be flying high on drugs. Finally, a selected few might quickly flash their super smartphones and try…
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AI’s Seemingly Elusive Infrastructure – II
Read more: AI’s Seemingly Elusive Infrastructure – IIUndoubtedly, the infrastructural requirements used to produce the 2020 175 billion GPT-3 model are hefty by most standards. But, of course, that just means that competitors now striving to generate their own creatures on the same genre must have access to similar infrastructure – not to mention talent. And we can count their number with…
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AI’s Seemingly Elusive Infrastructure – I
Read more: AI’s Seemingly Elusive Infrastructure – IChatGTP’s sudden and arguably premature success has yet again exposed the usually overlooked link between so-called “virtual” digital technologies and very tangible infrastructure. Indeed, early adopters of the latest incarnation of GTP-3-based bots directly experienced repeated network and login failures. That happened a few times in December when I started playing with the newly launched…
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ChatGPT’s New Version
Read more: ChatGPT’s New VersionYesterday, OpenAI released a new iteration of ChatGPT, version 3.5. To quickly check, I decided to ask some of the same questions I did back in December. The table below compares the results. ChatGPT November 2022 v3.0 January 30 2023, v3.5 1. Can you perceive any gaps in your training? As a computational agent, I…
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Best Films – 2022
Read more: Best Films – 2022I read somewhere that 2022 was an excellent year for filmmaking. After all, the pandemic has become endemic (learn to live with it, no matter what). And previous virus constraints have now evaporated. Back to 2019, so to speak. Almost. Maybe I am slowing down or something, but I have to disagree with such a…
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Chatting with ChatGPT
Read more: Chatting with ChatGPTOpenAI’s new shiny chatbot, with the not-so-brilliant name of ChatGPT, has taken the world by storm, surprising most, company staff included. Evidence of the latter stems from the fact that whenever one tries to access the platform, a message announcing imponderable delays quickly pops up on the screen. Clearly, the current demand is way above…
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How Green is AI?
Read more: How Green is AI?Playing Games My father taught me how to play chess when I was nine years old or thereabouts. He played his fair share of games while he was studying engineering. He told me that a few of his classmates quit thanks to their chess obsession, an example I should not follow. Not a smart move,…
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ICTs and Emissions – V
Read more: ICTs and Emissions – VWalking Around the Main Gallery Unlike its basement, the abode’s main gallery is noisy, crowded and chaotic, offering a maze-like layout we need to navigate safely. Indeed, one can easily get lost, and while checking in is pretty simple, finding one of the exit doors is undoubtedly far more elaborate. Thus, we must stand on…
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Digital Technologies and Sustainable Development: The Missing Link
Read more: Digital Technologies and Sustainable Development: The Missing LinkContext Nowadays, digital technologies occupy most of the interstices of society. While the global pandemic exposed glaring gaps, especially in developing countries, avoiding their mantra seems torturous. Undoubtedly, their rapid diffusion in the last 30 years is historical (Comin & Mestieri, 2018). However, once touted as unstoppable drivers for social change, many now perceive modern…
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ICTs and Emissions – IV
Read more: ICTs and Emissions – IVEnvironmental Footprints As previously mentioned, data centers (DCs) depend not only on energy consumption but also require plenty of water for survival, just like humans. We thus have increasing competition for a critical resource, significantly when droughts and wildfires are increasing. Not surprisingly, the availability of adequate and nearby water resources is one of the…
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ICTs and Emissions – III
Read more: ICTs and Emissions – IIIThe Abode is a Humongous Shopping Mall As some pundits have observed, data centers (DCs) are the backbone of the digital realm—hiding in plain sight, I would add. However, DCs do not live alone in their noisy, albeit warm homes. They cannot afford to for existential, not financial, reasons. DCs depend on several other beings…
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ICTs and Emissions – II
Read more: ICTs and Emissions – IICyberspace Mansions In 2009, amid the Global Financial Crisis, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) announced plans to create a 1.2 billion dollar data center (DC) in Utah. Indeed, surveillance once again proved it is immune to economic disasters, regardless of magnitude. In any case, actual construction began only in 2011, after government approval. The…