@Onlea_org’s Tech/Dev Lead. conjurer of cheap tricks. (prev: bioware, hinterland) (he/him). also @hanlsp@mastodon.social

Edmonton, AB
Joined February 2009
so apparently I signed up for a mimmoth back in 2018; they’re fuckin’ everywhere now I guess catch the feeling, or something? @hanlsp@mastodon.social
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
I make weird video games with my friends. Some have said they're too weird. My first indie Speed Dating for Ghosts proved the grumps wrong. Now I have a new one called Times & Galaxy and I'd be thrilled if you could RT this so the game finds its people. <3 youtube.com/watch?v=NxWq5fi6…
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
1/ I did not expected OpenAi’s CTO to somehow make a worse statement than that of last week but I was wrong. The statement below is steeped in arrogance, embarrassing talking points, contradictions and above all, a deep misunderstanding of the creative journey and its ecosystem
At OpenAI, we’re working to advance scientific understanding to help improve human well-being. The AI tools we are building, like Sora, GPT-4o, DALL·E and ChatGPT, are impressive from a technical standpoint. But what really matters is how they’re starting to change the way we interact with information and ideas. A few years ago, in my essay "Language & Coding Creativity", I wrote about how these systems represent a big shift in our relationship with language and creativity. As we keep improving these tools, our mission stays the same: to make them helpful, safe, easy to use, and available to as many people as possible. We want to help reduce the obstacles that have traditionally kept people from expressing their unique ideas and perspectives. By carefully designing these technologies to collaborate with human creators, I think we can build wonderful tools to help artists have more control, be more innovative, and explore new frontiers of possibility. When we made DALL·E, we worked closely with artists, designers, and storytellers, trying to build a tool that fits into their creative process and helps bring their visions to life. Moving forward, I believe AI has the potential to democratize creativity on an unprecedented scale. A person’s creative potential should not be limited by their access to resources, education, or industry connections. AI tools could lower the barriers and allow anyone with an idea to create. At the same time, we must be honest and acknowledge that AI will automate certain tasks. Just like spreadsheets changed things for accountants and bookkeepers, AI tools can do things like writing online ads or making generic images and templates. But it's important to recognize the difference between temporary creative tasks and the kind that add lasting meaning and value to society. With AI tools taking on more repetitive or mechanistic aspects of the creative process, like generating SEO metadata, we can free up human creators to focus on higher-level creative thinking and choices. This lets artists stay in control of their vision and focus their energy on the most important parts of their work. To make sure these technologies are developed and used in a way that does the most good and the least harm, we work closely with red-teaming experts from early stages of research. We also use an iterative approach, gradually releasing tools and carefully studying how they impact the real world to guide future development. Protecting and strengthening the most valuable aspects of creativity is fundamental to our human experience.  Realizing the potential of AI is not guaranteed. It takes carefully building tools and using them responsibly, in close partnership with creators and communities they’re intended to benefit. This means putting strong safeguards in place, reducing harmful biases, and proactively dealing with potential negative effects. At OpenAI, this is at the core of how we work, and we’ve never wavered in our commitment to this as we've released new tools.
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I hate to be That Librarian but I need you all to know how many of twitter’s current “share a story about yourself or a photo of you in shades” type memes are possible ways to determine passwords/security info and contribute to facial recognition and other evils.
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
COVID-19 still ~3x more deadly than the flu in Alberta
Alberta's weekly respiratory virus update: COVID: Deaths this season: 507 (up from 495 last wk) In hospital (primary/contributing): 128/6 (140/5) FLU: Deaths: 157 (156) In hosp (primary/contr): 28/3 (31/4) RSV: In hosp (incl incidental): 94/11
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
My friend told me their doctor said they “breathe strategically” so they’re not inhaling when a kid patient is exhaling and I just want to reiterate that breath work is not a suitable substitute for PPE
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#Ableg Fact 🤫. In 2023, Danielle Smith secretly gave $118,000,000 to build a new boutique charter school in Calgary. Turns out UCP MLA Rajan Sawheny’s daughter sat on the board of this charter school. This was NEVER disclosed. No conflict. #Abpoli
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
Just going to reshare this from Canada’s Chief Science Officer just in case @CDCgov missed it…
Even mild cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection are at risk of becoming long covid, and these results suggest the threat increases with multiple infections. (1/3) www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/…
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Holy moly, we're launching on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 too?! Who authorized this?
Get ready to sniff out stories and make friends with space weirdos, @copychaser Times & Galaxy launches on consoles & PC in Q2 2024🤖 Wishlist: 🪐 Steam: bit.ly/TaGSteam 🪐 Xbox: bit.ly/TaGXbox 🪐 PlayStation: bit.ly/TaGPlayStation 🪐 Nintendo: (coming soon!)
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
Like what the actual f*ck is wrong with people? To not have the most basic decency and understanding to protect f*cking sick children from getting sicker?
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
Alberta Children’s Hospital does not have a mask policy, despite having to implement surge capacity for the number of kids with respiratory illnesses and c*vid is actively spreading on units. Anyone responsible for this negligence can f*ck right off cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/f…
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The chances look small, the choices look grim, but everything you learn there will help when you return there.
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
You’re just boppin along at the amusement park and suddenly you’re confronted with the hardest shit you’ve ever seen.
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
Been feeling under the weather the last few days, with a pesky dry cough, so i found some covid tests from last year and swabbed myself. Well, thank god my nostril swab came back not pregnant. Hi, im a doctor.
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
This statement by Sinéad O'Connor about the consequences of tearing the picture of the Pope:
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Every Irish queer, woman and outcast is surely feeling Sinéad’s passing tonight. Back in 2017 when I worked for TENI we got a call from her management asking could she donate her closet to us to as she was downsizing and wanted the clothes to go to trans folk in need. An icon.
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
The big wigs at the Calgary Stampede knew about the abuse of children for DECADES and they did nothing. In fact, they helped cover it up. This is the REAL “leave our kids alone” scandal in Alberta. Where are the outraged conservative protests?! calgary.ctvnews.ca/we-are-de…
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To all engineering students looking to make “yet another wheelchair” final capstone project: please read this.
barbie’s wheelchair vs my actual wheelchair: a critical comparison aka the best twitter thread i will ever post strap in #Barbie
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seb hanlon 😷 retweeted
barbie’s wheelchair vs my actual wheelchair: a critical comparison aka the best twitter thread i will ever post strap in #Barbie
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“to understand the shape of the problem is to know the shape a solution must take”
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