“FAIR USE” AND A.I. PART 1
THE USE OF LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS scooping up copyrighted material has become a complex legal issue. Paula Samuelson’s article “Generative AI Meets Copyright” addresses fascinating aspects of this in AAAS … Continue reading
CALIFORNIA: AN AV LUDDITE OR JUST CAUTIOUS?
MY HOME STATE IS OFTEN criticized for being overly progressive (about things like human rights, y’know). But lately California has adopted less than enthusiasm for AVs, Autonomous Vehicles. Despite being … Continue reading
THANKS, MR. LIEBERSON, FOR ORIGINAL CAST LPS
FUNNY HOW ONE BIT OF SLEUTHING leads to another: In learning about Vera Zorina, one of the guests at Duffy’s Tavern, I found that her second husband was Goddard Lieberson. … Continue reading
MY FAIR 日本 LADY GETS A RELATIVE MEH FROM THE R&T TESTERS (PLUS A DATED COMMENTARY)
THE DATSUN SPL-310 WAS KNOWN as the Fairlady in right-hand-drive markets, the name linked to My Fair Lady, the fabulously successful Broadway show at the time. Indeed, Wikipedia notes, “To … Continue reading
ARCHIE’S ENGLISH, SORTA
ARCHIE, MANAGER OF DUFFY’S TAVERN, spoke New Yorkese, not to be confused with other dialects of that part of the U.S. John Dunning recounts in The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, … Continue reading
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, AMELIA EARHART, AND C. ALFRED “CHIEF” ANDERSON—SOARING ENCOUNTERS
WHAT SOARING PERSONALITIES! Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, U.S. Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly 1945 to 1952, whom President Harry S … Continue reading
AN OLD FRIEND FROM DENVER—THE EAGLEROCK
EACH TIME I CHANGED PLANES IN DENVER, I admired the Alexander Eaglerock. Now I’ve finally got this fetching biplane as a GMax project for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Here are tidbits … Continue reading
CRESCENT CITY OPERATIC TIDBITS
NEW ORLEANS MAY BE BEST KNOWN FOR JAZZ, but Henry Stewart’s “Operapedia,” Opera News, August 2023, offers “an easy stroll through the Crescent City’s opera landscape.” Here are tidbits gleaned … Continue reading
DATSUN 1000—“WHOLESOME RICE CAKES, NOT EXOTIC SINGING AND DANCING”
I DON’T KNOW THAT JAPAN HAS EVER been known for “exotic” singing and dancing, but someone at R&T in 1958 thought up this contrast. Not that any Japanese imports of … Continue reading
IF A.I. IS SO DAMNED SMART, HOW COME IT CAN’T INCLUDE E.A.?
“EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM,” E.A., for short, is a term coined in 2011 by philosophers Peter Singer, Toby Ord, and William MacAskill. Lately, it has become a buzz word among developers and doomsayers (some, the … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 