Featured post

Why can't everyone condemn Hamas?

Following Hamas' atrocities in Israel, the media are awash with commentary, so I will keep my comments short. I am shocked by the willin...

Monday, 27 January 2025

OTG WE 2 Feb 25

Is DeepSeek a product or an admission?

Only a few days ago NVIDIA, the world leader in the manufacture of AI computer chips, lost $1 trillion in its market capitalisation. You could say they had a bad day, but it was only 15% of their share price, which has soared over 40% in the last year. So don't shed worth crocodile tears for NVIDIA. But of course, it is a rather sudden shock caused by the unexpected entry of a Chinese competitor into the world AI market. The product called DeepSeek R1 has been called 'a Sputnik moment' for AI. When Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union some 75 years ago the world was shocked. How had the USSR beaten the US to put a satellite into orbit? After all the US had been thought to be way ahead and surely the communists could not have beaten them. Of course that all changed over the following decade with the US making great strides and reaching the moon in 1969.

DeepSeek has been touted as a high-functioning AI tool built without the high-power AI chips that were perceived as a prerequisite for such a tool. Equally shocking China claims to have developed it with an investment of just $6m. The news was felt by stock markets around the world—well, for a couple of days.

No doubt the announcement of a Chinese AI solution heralds a new era of competition to win this all-powerful technology. As to China's claims regarding the cost and even the non-use of high-power chips I am sceptical. After all, China has made many claims that later turn out false, think COVID origin, and indeed are known to have pilfered Western technology as a shortcut for their own development. In this vein, Sam Altman has already accused China of having stolen their copyrighted data. (Read DeepSeek data theft: OpenAI cries foul while critics question its own ethics)

This is the first prick in the AI bubble, but my guess is that the AI bubble has a long way to go. It will totally transform how we interact with each other and the world. AI threatens every crevice of our lives, and of course, will offer new opportunities. We live in interesting times!


WEF gets another slam!

The WEF is not having a good week. Unlike many a prior year meeting where acolytes genuflected at the home of the great Klaus, hanging on every word on how people of the future would "not own anything but would be happy" and of "World Resets", "Buid back better" and the evils of "misinformaiton" and disinformation. Not so this week. First came Donald Trump, who zoomed in to declare that he will withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Accord, the WHO and has enacted executive orders against government censorship and DEI. All jaw dropping stuff for the acolytes.

Now, it was Javier Milei's turn. He flew to Davos to address the crowd directly, and he did not hold back. He called out the fundamental flaw in the economic management of many Western democracies, where liberalism has been corrupted by socialist leanings.  This is a short video, well worth the view.


Israel bans UNRWA

Following extensive infiltration by Hamas into UNRWA, effective Jan 30 Israel has stopped all work with UNRWA and close all UNRWA offices in Israel.
For decades UNRWA has played a duplicitous role, both providing humanitarian support to Gaza's citizens and also support Hamas terrorists who had taken many roles within UNWRA. This included taking part in the Oct 7 atrocities at the Nova music festival.

At last, Israel has taken decisive action, albeit much belated. Donald Trump gave US support for this action.

Watch the announcement by Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Dani Danon.





Pardons still causing ructions

Biden's pardons are reverberating through the chatterati. Every commentator has covered them, but most of those with left-of-centre sympathies have avoided too much detail. Not so the Republicans and their supporters. I have already stated my personal views, but I saw this one from Hannity that presents the blatant hypocrisy of the Left Wing  Media, and of course also Biden. Well worth the few minutes.




Trump confronts the WEF

Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum, WEF, has a rather inflated view of the forum. In its welcome statement to the forum last week he declared the world's future would be shaped by the ' people in this room'. Mmm, yes he would say that wouldn't he. But the rest of us mere mortals do not want to be 'shaped' by a small group of unelected rich men and women who happen to be members of this exclusive group. Trump was invited to attend the forum via Zoom, and he took the opportunity to cut them down to size. 

In a short presentation, he recapped some of his policies and highlighted his policy on free speech. This directly countermands the WEF's extensive promotion of laws against 'misinformation' and 'disinformation'. The WEF to 'shape' the world wants to have laws that in effect censor free speech. After all, you cannot control the population if you cannot control communications. Of course, they never talk of 'censorship'. No, we are all for free speech but you don't want false speech, you don't want 'misinformation'. 

But Trump saw through that. After all, he was a victim of the Biden administration suppressing Republican free speech. Trump has taken a strong stand and has issued an Executive Order preventing such censorship in the future. The speech is well worth a view. See below. 



Nostalgia

For those of us no longer in our prime, every now and then we look back over the decades and see how things have changed. Here is a collection of images highlighting yesteryear. Worth a chuckle, I think.



















Trump ripples

It is hard to remember that Trump only took office a week ago. In just this short time he has transformed the social and political landscape. Some of his changes have been direct. After all, he has signed some 200 executive orders in just one week, more than he signed in four years of his first term. But his influence goes far beyond his direct moves. Everyone, not just in the US but worldwide, can anticipate what is coming, and many have moved to position their countries and businesses to win favour with the new administration.  There are too many to list, but this one struck me. "Harvard University settles two antisemitism lawsuits one day after Trump takes office".  The Woke Universities under pressure from their unconstitutional DEI policies are trying to clean up their act, fearing the threatened funding cuts from the new administration. Hallelujah!

No comments:

Post a Comment