Weekly dose of Paranoia - Nov 13, 2024
Return of the Paranoid...
Greetings all - welcome to the first issue of my new newsletter which I plan on sending out weekly or thereabouts. For those of you who were my colleagues at Liquidnet, the goal here is to bring back the spirit of my “Dose of Paranoia” emails. So of course, the first thing I need to say is that there will be no snowstorms this weekend. (If you were there, you know).
Trigger warning - if you are happy with the way that the recent election went, I can just about guarantee (and fervently hope) that there will be things in this and all future newsletters for the duration of the kakistocracy that will annoy you. (Like calling it a kakistocracy). Tough. Unsubscribe if you don’t like it. Just saying. This newsletter does not reflect the opinions of any person, organization, cabal, or secret society other than myself.
On with the show!
Info Security
Some people think that ChatGPT and its robot brethren are not capable of doing anything really useful. Tish tosh I say! Recent research shows that ChatGPT (when equipped with voice capabilities) can actually out perform humans at one very profitable and growing job… drum roll please… scamming people! Yes, these researchers were able to build autonomous AI agents which were able to successfully scam humans 7 different ways, with success rates ranging from 20-60 percent and at a per victim cost of between $0.17 and $2.51. This is an amazing breakthrough for humanity and Sam Altman’s mom must be soooo proud. So glad our new idiot overlords will most probably prevent any pesky regulation or guardrails that might have been put on this tech.
The bad guys really have the upper hand when it comes to scamming people - especially vulnerable folks like senior citizens. AARP’s Fraud Watch Network is a great resource to help seniors recognize, avoid and recover from scams and fraud. They have a hotline for victims too - 877-908-3360 - which is available to anyone - even you young whippersnappers.
Health
A Canadian teen who contracted H5N1 avian flu without any known contact with infected animals is in critical condition in a British Columbia hospital. This is Canada’s first human case of the highly infectious disease. The case began with conjunctivitis and progressed to fever and cough and later hospitalization. Investigations are ongoing to figure out how he caught the virus and while this is definitely not something to panic about, it is a reminder that the specter of another pandemic remains with us. But not to worry as we clearly learned our lessons last time and will have brain worm guy guided by a stable coherent genius and a cabinet full of totally sane experts who can get us through the next one, possibly even alive, if there’s enough bleach and horse pills to go around.
Monster Policy
Japan’s recovery from World War II was especially remarkable in light of the constant peril posed by repeated giant monster attacks. But should the Japan Self Defense Forces really be involved when Godzilla menaces Tokyo or Mothra rampages near Osaka? That’s actually a bit of a complex legal question, which at least one Japanese Prime Minister has given some public thought to. I never heard ANY policy statements from the previous administration on how the US government would protect us from Ghidra (who, I would note would definitely count as an undocumented migrant and is clearly taking jobs away from American giant monsters). I think THIS is the true reason the Democrats lost the election.
By the way, if you want an entertaining look at this vital issue from the kaiju point of view, I heartily recommend John Scalzi’s Kaiju Preservation Society. A really fun read as is his Starter Villain.
And to end things off, something to share with the classical music lovers in your life…
Stay paranoid…
Al