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AI systems have learned how to deceive humans. What does that mean for our future? https://theconversation.com/ai-systems-have-learned-how-to-deceive-humans-what-does-that-mean-for-our-future-212197 Perhaps the most disturbing example of a deceptive AI is found in Meta’s CICERO, an AI model designed to play the alliance-building world conquest game Diplomacy. Meta claims it built CICERO to be “largely honest and helpful”, and CICERO would “never intentionally backstab” and attack allies. To investigate these rosy claims, we looked carefully at Meta’s own game data from the CICERO experiment. On close inspection, Meta’s AI turned out to be a master of deception. In one example, CICERO engaged in premeditated deception. Playing as France, the AI reached out to Germany (a human player) with a plan to trick England (another human player) into leaving itself open to invasion. After conspiring with Germany to invade the North Sea, CICERO told England it would defend England if anyone invaded the North Sea. Once England was convinced that France/CICERO was protecting the North Sea, CICERO reported to Germany it was ready to attack. AI systems with deceptive capabilities could be misused in numerous ways, including to commit fraud, tamper with elections and generate propaganda. The potential risks are only limited by the imagination and the technical know-how of malicious individuals. Humanity:

Mother of Michigan school shooter admits she and husband gifted their son the gun used in the attack https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/02/us/jennifer-crumbley-michigan-school-shooter-trial/index.html “It’s a rare case that takes some really egregious facts,” she added. “It takes the unthinkable, and she has done the unthinkable, and because of that, four kids have died.” However, the defense has argued that the blame lay elsewhere: On her husband for improperly securing the firearm; on the school for failing to notify her about her son’s behavioral issues; and on Ethan himself, who actually pulled the trigger. Jennifer Crumbley was the only witness called. “I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have,” she testified Thursday. She's guilty as sin. Yes, she didn't pull the trigger, but she might as well have just left a loaded gun outside. I hope she gets the absolute maximum possible sentence.

From 2009 -- Goat detained over armed robbery https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE50M4XT/ Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery. Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323. "We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat," he said. Something proved scientifically... that a human being, turned... into a goat? Ummm...

Sounds as asinine as this -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel-related_animal_conspiracy_theories In 2013, a kestrel was subjected to medical examinations at Firat University in Turkey after being identified as an "Israeli spy". Birds (as well as other animals) are often tagged with GPS tracking devices or identification bands to record their movements for animal migration tracking and similar reasons.

If there's a meme hall of fame, this belongs there

Indiebox did just that, all their games were included (DRM free) on a USB stick, it was great! They were like the LRG for computer games, but alas, just did not succeed for whatever reasons.

Very fair point. I thought the actual game was on the USB stick, so that is a bit disappointing. I'll be getting the console release.

Heads-up, the classic Colossal Cave Adventure by Roberta Williams is being released in a "reimagined" format! I pray we see King's Quest, Space Quest, and other classics ported to modern consoles and computers!!

Best Dad joke in a while... we need a Dad Joke emoji

I think what you say is very valid. In some ways, you can ask "Does it really matter what we call a game?" If it's fun then great, if it's not you probably could care less what genre it's classified as! Still, many of us decide if a game is of potential interest based upon the genre -- for example, I love RPGs, so if I hear a new RPG is coming out I would certainly be far more interested than a FPS, but of course you can have games like Mass Effect which combine both genres. Here is what wikipedia has to say -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_genres And they say a lot! They have a whole article on Roguelike -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike Newer games that move away from traditional hack-and-slash elements but otherwise keeping procedural generation and permadeath features are sometimes called "rogue-lites". But, Hades which many call Roguelite does not keep permadeath, so as you noted, maybe it's a Tempdeath Roguelite... I don't know. I just made that up

All of it Seriously, whatever you can take pics of I'm sure everyone will enjoy looking at, thanks.

I'd love to see detailed pics of your games! I see you have Zork, Loom, Ultima -- great stuff

Let's show some love to those classic non-console releases -- PC, Amiga, C64, Mac, etc! Let me start by showing off one of fairly recent additions -- Not gonna lie -- I paid "a bit" more than $5 for it, but no regrets Show off some of your favorites! Or discuss what's on your non-console wish-list!

Recently the same thing happened to me when I purchased a couple of Evercade cartridges -- they were the European edition and not the USA edition. I informed the seller and they gave a substantial refund (not the entire price) if I kept the games -- they were cheap enough that it wasn't worth my time returning them. Still very annoying...

Very cool! In a few years PS2 games are going to be very hot collectibles -- some already are of course, but I think many more will be graded, sold, and collected

I wasn't aware that Strictly Limited Games started selling on amazon -- perhaps this has been going on for a while now? At any rate, some really good prices on their games, and since it's amazon free shipping https://www.amazon.com/stores/StrictlyLimited/page/AA235868-C642-4802-9911-DAD30D6AE03E

I plan to try out Epics of Hammerwatch soon. I heard it's a fabulous Roguelite

It's amazing how many scams are on eBay, usually sellers trying to pass off a much cheaper product as the NA or other release. Hope you got your money back.

Again, I agree about the permadeath which is why many people call Hades and similar games "Roguelite" https://screenrant.com/roguelike-roguelite-difference-permadeath-hades-rogue-slay-spire/ Because of the stringent rules laid out by the Berlin Interpretation, most popular Roguelike games are more properly referred to as roguelites. roguelite games utilize some, but not all of the design elements of Rogue as the foundation for their gameplay. Permadeath and procedurally generated maps are still crucial to a roguelites design, but many games have added new spins to the genre. A number of roguelites have introduced a mechanic of carry-over progression to eventually make runs easier and allow players to go farther. Hades, for instance, contains certain resources that don't reset on death that are used to buy permanent upgrades to the character. Whether or not a game strictly qualifies as a roguelike or the more loosely defined roguelite, the subgenres have created a space for a wide range of games and play styles.

ABT is 100% the way to go! I mean, I plan to vote for Biden, but I am praying the GOP gets its act together and nominate someone who's not a traitor. I did mention I'm praying...

I pray Haley wins the Republican nomination. I've heard some people say "Biden can definitely beat Trump, so we should let Trump have the nomination" -- but I'm not so sure. I would feel far more comfortable with Haley, or honestly pretty much anyone but Trump on the ticket.

You're right that in general roguelike games have permadeath, but not always, or at any rate I've seen people debate whether "roguelike" has to include permadeath. I will say, Hades has all the other traits of roguelike -- but maybe "roguelite" is a better descriptor of Hades.

Internet disagrees --

Shoot, I totally missed out on Monster Train