Windows 11 … Just $10. I Think I Know Why
September 29, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
At the exercise club for dinobabies this morning (September 23, 2026) I listened to Steve Gibson’s “Security Now” program. It is available via podcast audio apps and, for the devoted video-holic, the program to which I listened is YouTubed at https://tinyurl.com/3cp2d72m . The program ran through a litany of problems allegedly originating at Microsoft. With AI helping Microsoft make quality Job Number One, I wasn’t sure if killing functions like Excel copy and paste for crazed MBA traders was a slick move. I poked around to make sure I was not distracted by the outstanding music selection provided to dinobabies at my get-fit destination.
Thanks, Midjourney. Good enough.
A couple of old-fashioned queries turned up some alleged glitches. Because I am a dinobaby with Mac and Linux machines, I just don’t have a Windows 11 machine sitting next to me sucking down updates. But others have noted:
- The scammers’ friend, RDG (remote desktop protocol) was wobbly
- For some, audio was dead, a function which greatly improves the quality and accuracy of some Windows-accessible rich media
- Those deeply flawed and obviously-uninformed Linux and Windows users who use the sci-fi-esque Plan 9 to share content were stranded like the canoeist who tipped over and had to sit on top of the vessel until someone rescued him
- Active Directory and well-named Trust Guard were for a percentage of Windows users neither active nor able to trust.
As I was scanning reports of this estimable Windows 11 update, I spotted an article titled “Windows 11 Pro is now only $10.” I noted this passage:
Pro does so much more than older versions of Windows OS, including Windows 11 Home. BitLocker encrypts the full disk for security and compliance, Hyper-V and Windows Sandbox run virtual machines and test apps in isolation, and Azure AD connects to business networks through Microsoft’s enterprise identity platform. Development, IT work, and business setups all call for at least one of these. You also get the core Windows 11 set of features. Snap layouts organize windows for multitasking, DirectX 12 Ultimate runs the latest games at full graphics, biometric login pairs with TPM 2.0 hardware security, and Copilot runs from the taskbar to answer questions, summarize pages, and generate content.
Wow, I am excited, but I noticed one omission in this sales pitch: There was no reference to Windows Updates and the apparent problem of Microsoft killing chunks of Windows 11. Our basic Windows machine has experienced at different times loss of the mouse, inability to print to both my networked printers, and — my personal fave — a black screen of death when the update rebooted our Windows machine. Although the sample size is one dinobaby, the issues have kept me focused on operating system options.
Why, therefore, is Windows 11 Pro no less just $10? I digitally interacted with a couple of people on my team and we formulated some reasons. Perhaps these have crossed your mind?
[a] Nobody is paying the list price except for some Windows certified resellers who pitch Windows 11 to their captive enterprise customers
[b] A marketer at Microsoft assumed that rolling out a Filene’s Basement deal would improve the “trust” score of the company
[c] The Windows 11 leadership team member who said, “Hey, it’s about the same price as a Starbuck’s pumpkin latte. Everyone can afford $10.”
[d] An error originating because the AI system responsible for updates and retail prices doesn’t work very well. (If MSFT is relying on AI to code as much as 50 percent of its software, might there be some issues with the smart software?)
[d] All of the above.
Several observations are warranted:
- Does Microsoft think that flawed updates enhance the technical reputation of the company? From my point of view, it must. MSFT keeps creating trivial little issues for its customers. Does anyone listen to music when working on a Windows 11 machine?
- Microsoft’s leadership flipped on its 2022 somewhat out-of-the-blue attempt to make Google look stupid. (I know a Googler followed up Mr. Nadella’s bonkers claims with incorrect AI examples.) But MSFT appears to lack basic engineering quality checks that work. The “quality” delivered by MSFT is different from what I expect when I try to print from my little used Windows 11 machine. I suppose I can fix the problem, but I just don’t care.
- Selling what used to be a flagship product for $10 raises an issue for me and my team. If a Rolls Royce used to cost US$250,000 and then the firm cut the price to US$1000, wouldn’t someone ask, “Hey, what’s up?” And “Do you still provide roadside service to a driver with a dead Roller on the M5?” The price cut is, from my dinobaby perspective a bad look, a bit of a desperate move, or just misguided.
Net net: No wonder computer science students in the Eastern European in which I lectured a number of years ago, learn security by figuring out how to compromise Windows software. It is everywhere. It has more bugs that a grade school picnic held in the field near the school on a warm September day. Coming up with a “gap” can tweak outfits like the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Big does not equal quality. Trust is not purchased with a K-Mart blue light special.
Stephen E Arnold, September 29, 2026
China Message: Fight Cancer. US Message: AI Will Kill Us
September 22, 2026
Another dinobaby post. If there is an image, AI did it. I am Grandpa Arnold, not Grandma Moses.
Here’s a test question for you today. Which message is more positive? [a] AI fights cancer. [b] AI will kill everyone. I am not a psycho-linguistic type. But on the surface, my hunch is that a message like “AI fights cancer” may be more positive. The idea that AI will kill humanity seems a bit like a 1950s horror movie with a blob of slime leaking from the air ducts in the movie theater. Why did I pose this question? I have several reasons, but I want to look at the article that directed my attention to two quite different message paths for smart software.
“Alibaba Open-Sources Medical AI Model That Can Detect Cancer and Nearly 150 Conditions” has a slick subtitle as well:
Tested on nearly 40,000 real-world exams, the model outperformed most radiologists, according to a new study published in Science.
For comparison, consider this headline: “Ex-Google DeepMind Researcher Adds to Warnings That AI Could ‘Kill All Humans’.”
I think the contrast is amusing. Alibaba is a Google partner. We have a profoundly positive AI message from a Chinese-government certified outfit. From the US company, we have the crazy Terminator and nuclear bomb message. With this background, let’s look at the positive story about cancer detection.
Thanks, Midjourney. Good enough.
I noted this passage:
In a comparative study involving 26 human radiologists from multiple hospitals, the model’s average accuracy exceeded that of 23 participants, according to the study. With the model’s help, the radiologists also managed to improve their ability to prevent missed diagnoses by 10 per cent while reducing the time required by more than 30 per cent, Damo [the Alibaba research unit] said.
What did the Alibaba Dano research team do? The write up says:
The model was trained using CT scans paired with clinical reports. In nearly 40,000 real-world examinations, it achieved an average area under the curve (AUC) of 0.913 across 146 clinical findings. An AUC of 1.0 represents perfect diagnostic accuracy. The research team said the training method could eventually be extended to other types of medical imaging, calling the model “the world’s first expert-level generalist medical imaging model”.
For me, a group of humans used smart software to detect signals and spit out missed diagnoses. Presumably the research team wanted to help people.
What do you think about this story with a US spin? “Palantir AI Technology Played Role in Iran School Bombing: Report.” [Note: If the link does not resolve, give MSFT a jingle, not me.]
I am a dinobaby, and I am definitely not smart even if I have access to smart software. My interpretation is that the cancer write up is tending positive. The killing kids story seems to be a Debbie Downer.
What’s going on?
First, the China smart, US dumb information campaign is racing along at full throttle. China is rather clumsily positioning its smart software as doing good. The US approach to smart software does the end-of-the-world rhetoric.
Second, if one looks at this messaging from the point of view of those outside the US, China’s smart software is being applied in ways that appear on the surface to be helpful. Who doesn’t want medicine to be more beneficial? Now raise your hands if you want US smart software to increase the kill score when taking out kiddies at school. The obvious question is, “What’s the message globally?” The answer could be China smart, US dumb or China benign, US bad.
Third, I am not for one New York minute fooled by the messaging from China. However, I have to admit, I am not sure about the US messaging. Even those allegedly trying to make smart software somewhat helpful attract attention when emitting frightening statements about zeros and ones. Technology has upsides and downsides. However, misinformation campaigns allegedly have a specific instrumentality.
Let me answer my “what’s going on?” question. My view is that US government and institutional messaging is helping out China. Not only are Chinese models pretty good, but these models are not linked with dead children. Sure, they could be, but they are not. Is this a missed opportunity? My immediate reaction is that the US knowingly or unknowingly has whipped out a 9mm weapon and is busy pumping bullets in its feet. Ouch.
I have seen some wild estimates of the uptake and use of Chinese models like Alibaba’s Qwen in systems located outside the US. Good or bad, once smart software is integrated into an organization, the maker of the software has an advantage. I am probably wrong. Commercial success may be achieved by messaging that US smart software will destroy everyone. Stranger things have happened.
Stephen E Arnold, September 22, 2026
No Wonder People Hate These AI Dudes
September 21, 2026
Another dinobaby post. If there is an image, AI did it. I am Grandpa Arnold, not Grandma Moses.
A flurry of news on one topic choked one of my newsreaders. The stories were variations on the theme “Yeah, we stole content, screwed publishers, and shafted copyright holders.” I added my own sub-title to these stories: “Now you can go pound sand.”
I have selected one write up to represent a dump truck full of write ups about the information sucking behavior of some big AI technology (BAIT) outfits. I like the term “bait.” Chum is good, but more people know that an earthworm on a hook can trick the pea sized brain of a fish into biting down and ending up in a frying pan.
Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough.
Let’s take a quick look at “OpenAI and Microsoft Leaders Knew AI May Cause Doom Loop Hurting Entire Web.” The article reports:
Top executives at OpenAI and Microsoft admitted they knew artificial intelligence poses an “existential threat” to news publications as the New York Times sues the technology companies over copyright infringement.
I am not sure who briefed Brent Hecht, Microsoft’s “director of applied science,” before he went on the record. I want to make sure I know the name of the firm so I can mock that organization for some cheap laughs the next time I give a lecture. Brent, do you know why people dislike AI?
Here’s the statement which like everything I read on the Internet is probably really, really true:
“Our AI content strategy has started a ‘doom loop’ that will hurt the performance of our models and the entire web at the same time. It is highly unusual that an end-product threatens the economic foundations of its essential suppliers, but that is the situation we have created for our LLM business with respect to its ‘content supply chain.’”
I think there is another PR firm helping these BAIT big wigs explain their trashing of writers, publishers, education, et al. The write up quotes one of those OpenAI wizards singing from the same hymnal. I quote:
Nick Turley, the vice president and head of ChatGPT, similarly said publishers face an “existential threat” from AI chatbots because they “are largely substitutive” and “will get more and more substitutive as they get better.” Hecht called the rising trend of chatbots accessing news articles for training “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” adding that perhaps it may be the “largest theft of labor in human history.”
I suppose the PR firms offer crisis communication services as well as media coaching. One thing is certain: Both MSFT and Sam AI-Man will have some damage control narrative spinning to output. I assume the smart software can provide assistance. I think the AI software is serviceable; for example, “White Hat Hackers Just Breached OpenAI Using Anthropic’s Claude in Less Than 72 hours — And It Is a Case Study in Just How Fast AI is Advancing.” Nifty because AI has flipped the checker board over for cyber security. Do you hear the cheering from the bad actors who are now using AI to steal data and money from 78 year olds with swarms of agents? I do. Rah rah rah.
Will the BAITs change their stripes? I am not too hopeful. Here’s the ceramic brake on change from the cited article:
The revelation of AI leaders’ thoughts on the key issues underpinning the legal case comes after the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest supporting the defense made by OpenAI and Microsoft. The DOJ argued, in part, that preventing AI models from training on copyrighted material under a “misunderstanding” of fair use “would thwart such creative and scientific progress while hindering American prosperity and economic mobility.”
With serious consequences seemingly pushed to the curb, why not explain that these really smart BAIT folks knew what they were doing and did it anyway. On top of pushing forward, the BAITs have pumped more cash into the AI belief system. Why not? It is a winner take all game, and, based on my dinobaby experience, these BAITs want to catch lots of fish, maybe all the fish.
Someone said, “Confession is good for the soul.” I bet BAIT dudes have great souls.
Stephen E Arnold, September 21, 2026
Google Says, “Me Too, Me Too. Our AI Escapes. The Sky Is Falling.”
September 21, 2026
Another dinobaby post. If there is an image, AI did it. I am Grandpa Arnold, not Grandma Moses.
I read “Google’s Gemini Becomes Latest AI Model to Break Out and Hack Computer Systems.” Do you hear the “me too, me too” in the item? If you have used any of Google’s smart software, one has to work to get it to do more than spit back obvious and popular stuff. But that’s just my personal view of Googzilla’s smart software. Let’s look at what the write up says, shall we?
I noted this statement:
The Gemini model accessed three separate private computer systems by guessing passwords and by twice using a repository of publicly listed passwords
Okay, I interpret this to mean that Gemini decided to select three targets. Then Gemini brute force guessed passwords. For the final breach, Gemini used a publicly-accessible list of passwords to fire at the target. I am not sure that Gemini’s approach is much different from what can accomplish with some of those Telegram-compatible bots available from third-party developers. But Google would not know about Telegram-type bots because it does such an outstanding job of filtering “negative” content delivered by some of its advertisers and YouTube creators.
Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough.
The write up said:
Google said the incident happened in May and it was notified by Irregular in late July. Google has worked with Irregular to change its testing process. A Google spokesperson declined to identify the exact Gemini model involved. “These events highlight the importance of training powerful AI models to act responsibly,” Google’s Adkins said in a statement.
If I understand this, the “problem” stems from an outfit named Irregular. For me, this means that Gemini did not do much at all. Prompts were fed to Google’s smart software, and the Google smart software just did what its nifty gradient descent output.
Several observations seems to be warranted.
First, Google is just a victim of Irregular, an Israeli outfit. This means that Gemini is not much different from the other AI systems that can solve a “problem” for a person feeding a prompt into a system. Poor Google. A third party misused its system. Advertisers work around Google’s mechanism for preventing ads that deliver malware or pitch harmful products. Google just can’t do anything about these miscreants’ actions. (Google, however, does collect any fees due I assume.)
Second, Google’s “me too” announcement is just a big AI tech outfit jumping on what seems to be a bandwagon rolling down the information highway. As far as PR goes, this effort is late, and, in my view, somewhat lame. There is no zip, zing, and protected monopolistic jingoism. What a disappointment! Google marketing needs to up its game once it finishes spinning a new set of office posters.
Third, of the suite of BAITs whose technology got away from the ethics-infused developers, Google is the one without a recent frontier model. Is Google behind or is Google just slowing down the pace of its brilliant AI engineers? I don’t know. But those Chinese outfits, including the Google partner Alibaba, seems to be cranking out variants at a record pace. What if Google recognizes that Alibaba might be the answer to its AI challenges, not the Alipay payment rails Google has slapped in place? Yeah, what if? I find the China link quite suggestive.
Where does this leave us? As a dinobaby, I can only articulate how this “revelation” strikes me. I will leave it to the new BAIT philosophers, the click hungry journalists turned pocasters, and assorted mid tier consulting firms to extend this single Google admission to a larger set. I am not impressed, but AI has some utility for me and my team. But what it does cannot replace the humans upon whom I rely for criticism, feedback, and research. Gemini does not think like a former CIA operator, a retired detective, a couple of research librarians (one from Copenhagen and one from Lexington, Kentucky), a skilled coder, and a couple of MBAs kicking around when they are not working their MBA Taco Delite operation.
Net net: Control your enthusiasm. AI has utility and value. It may seem to operate on its lonesome. That’s a belief or an assertion. You choose. What we have are outfits that have committed a great deal of money to what they hope will be the next big thing. Everyone needs to have a goal. I am not that impressed with admissions about the instrumentalism of several companies’ smart software. I am not impressed with meae culpae. Spare me or put money in the donation box, please.
Stephen E Arnold, September 21, 2026
How about Some of That “We Are Doomed“ AI Talk?
September 17, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
I am a dinobaby, and I am a reasonably cheerful one. I am also optimistic although I know Emily Dickinson’s pal can turn up at any time. To be direct, I think the folks running around explaining that BAIT (big AI tech) outfits have lost control of their software is a bit tiring, repetitive, self-serving, and just plain ill advised. I worked in the nuclear industry for a period of time. Did we run around explaining how certain substances can kill you in less time than than it takes to get in your car and turn it on? Nope.
Thanks, Midjourney. Good enough.
AI is different. Instead of working, these outfits send mixed signals, sue one another, write polemics, and create a terrarium in which Ed Zitron-types can fulminate. And what did I spot today (September 7, 2026), another example of the wonkiness of the smart software gang. BAIT much? Yeah, BAIT 24×7.
The article in question is “OpenAI Chief Scientist Warns No One Is Prepared for Consequences of AI.” The Beeb quoted an AI wizard at OpenAI (Sam AI-Man’s company) as saying:
“We are facing a transition to a world with incredibly intelligent machines, and we need to ensure that transition works out well for humanity.
Based on performance to date, smart software has created user pushback, citizen complaints about data centers, and wrinkled foreheads on the financial masterminds who find circular financing just the best way to get a big bonus.
The BBC offers an interesting comment from an expert at the University of Cambridge (the school with the rowing team I think):
“Instead of better AI guardrails, regulations, or assurance to keep people safe, they propose developing internal AI agents to research these problems,” said Professor Gina Neff, head of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge. “Such answers to growing concerns about the problems OpenAI’s models are causing for cyber-security, job loss, mistakes, errors and fraud are simply not good enough.”
I quite like the idea of Sam AI-Man’s team developing agents to control the uncontrolled agents that hacked into Hugging Face and a service in Germany. The OpenAI smart software organized more effectively than Google employees trying to set up a union and communicated secretly with a message board. (Pavel Durov’s Telegram was not involved; therefore, France cannot slam another online crime charge on his GOAT-ly self.)
It is observation time, a dinobaby trademark:
- A failure of governance is not remediated by using the technology that the company could not manage.
- Predicting doom is growing old.
- The credibility of OpenAI, Sam AI-Man, and his staff is eroding with every written and verbal output.
Net net: Why not try a different approach? Death does not sell. Apocalypses do not exhibit positive vibes. Do something about that, bros.
Stephen E Arnold, September 17, 2026
Stephen E Arnold
Is Ed Zitron Google Material? A Xoogler Argues, “No Way, José”
September 16, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
Predicting the end of the world at the hands of a faceless US company wielding smart software, robots, and 24×7 surveillance methods pulls clicks, eyeballs, and fame chasers. Now this is my opinion. I think that individuals motivated to do the doom-is-coming vaudeville act should have at it. Do I believe the outputs? Not really, but that’s because [a] at age 82 I really don’t care that much and [b] I have been caught in marketing cow patty flows before and survived. Therefore, most people will make it through smelly but largely unscathed. Nevertheless, I do like a slick takedown when I come across one.
Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough.
I read “Ed Zitron’s AI Prediction Track Record.” The essay is a version of my seventh-grade teacher’s report card reports. Mine featured numerous low grades and some snide comments about my 11 year old self. I remember one of these remarks 71 years later: “Steve wants to go to the library instead of sitting in class.” Well, there you go. A damning comment if there ever was one. My parents were high school graduates and pounded into my dense mind: “Learn. Get good grades.” Believe me. Sitting in that seventh-grade class learning about a country in which I had lived did not inspire me.
The cited essay is about a media star named Ed Zitron. From what I can gather, he was a super duper advertising type. He discovered that AI was his surfboard to stardom. On a regular basis, he outputs essays, appears on podcasts, and does some videos. I am not sure about much else, but I have gleaned one factoid from him: AI is a one-way ticket to death, destruction, assorted evils, and the end of civilization. I think I have covered most of Mr. Zitron’s bases. I did not, however, keep count of his predictions and then match those up to assorted actual factual material. I am a dinobaby and generally indifferent to the Zitronesque approach to popularity.
Not a person writing at Danluu dot com. I urge you to read his essay. Among the more interesting bits of information about Mr. Zitron’s approach to detail, math, and numbers is a report card about his predictive performance. (I give him a 100 percent on regularity and consistency.) The author of the essay is a bit more harsh. More of that later.
First, we learn that Mr. Zitron’s assertion that Meta, Google, and Microsoft are dying is not accurate. How does the author refute Mr. Zitron’s assertion? Answer: He just presents some financial performance data. In the US, numbers matter. The dying companies may have pancreatic cancer but on the surface, these firms are chugging along. Example: The three firms’ revenues were up about 30 percent in the first half of 2026. Ed Zitron gets an F.
Second, Prabhakar Raghavan, whom Mr. Zitron labeled the “man who killed Google search”, the essay provides a bit of color. Specifically, the implementation of the ads first and relevance never emerged over time. Prabhakar just was a billboard upon which Mr. Zitron slapped a label. It worked. One does not hear too much from Prabhakar, does one? Ed Zitron gets a C minus.
Third, the author of the Zitron’s wrong essay presents a list of predictions. Of the more than two dozen Zitron predictions about AI, the essay scores Zitron, the prognosticator, with a failing grade. Zippo. None was correct, according to the essay. (I fear that Mr. Zitron will release one of his “rants” explaining that the author of the essay was 100 percent off base and conclude that the essaying should be committed to a care facility which are more rare than ethical decisions among the big AI tech companies in my opinion.
Unfortunately the essay covers some subjective facets of the Zitron publicity machine. You can work through these at your leisure. Now it is time for my dinobaby observations or dinoversations. (Hey, that’s snappy.)
- Mr. Zitron is surfing a trend using the methods of a contrarian. It works for Mr. Zitron; therefore, it is unlikely to change any time soon.
- Right or wrong, Mr. Zitron has an audience. That audience cares about the idea that AI will kill you. Facts are essentially irrelevant.
- Media hounds love Mr. Zitron and his ilk. By presenting him and listening or pretending to listen to him, the media hounds get clicks. That’s what life to some is: Clicks.
Net net: It is unlikely that Mr. Zitron will be hired by Google’s marketing unit. He may be an invited “outside speaker” and get paid some money for his presentation. For Googlers, Mr. Zitron would be the equivalent of a Jerry Seinfeld stand up.
Stephen E Arnold, September 16, 2026
OpenAI Achieves Maximum AI Hype. Winner!
September 9, 2026
The race is over. It is official. I know that OpenAI, Sam AI-Man, and the uncontrollable (ha ha) smart software is now deliveered science fiction as a service or SFAS. Gizmodo’s article “OpenAI Claims We’re in the ‘AGI Era’ With Release of GPT-6 Astra” makes this clear. Ignore the fact that the Ed Zitrons of the world like to poke fun with mock outrage at the financial set up of OpenAI. Just look the other way when the system just delivers some of those buried Swiss underwear data or goes offline due to network magic. OpenAI has turned zeros and ones into … artificial intelligence.
The write up states in a weird he said, someone said way:
According to Wired, OpenAI President Greg Brockman said, “It’s not unreasonable to feel that we are now in the AGI era,” regarding the release. “I think that if we fast-forward a couple of years, when we look back and say, ‘When was it really that AGI was created?’ I think it’s going to be about this time, and I think it might be about this model.”
I interpret this OpenAI statement as actual factual. I translated it to “Winner!” In my opinion, whether true or not, other AI outfits will be sipping their tea, lattes, and filtered infused water discussing this OpenAI statement of its reality. US companies will lose their marketing demons to reposition the OpenAI statement and point out that OpenAI is manifesting distressing psychological behaviors suggestive of profound mental disordeer. Chinese outfits (yes, I know you are there ByteDance) will just release stealth free equivalents. A few days later the beyond OpenAI models will become available at bargain basement prices. Other AI companies will point to the strengths of their narrow scope models. I am waiting to hear from you Thomson Reuters.
The article makes this statement:
Altman even said in July that he believes “we are now, like, in the singularity.” So OpenAI not quite declaring AGI but getting about as close to the line as you can without going over is in keeping with the clear effort to ramp up the hype.
Yes, Sam AI-Man, you are the point humanoid. You are a winner. Maybe you are THE winner?
Engadget reminds me:
OpenAI also made a special point to emphasize that GPT-6 is its safest model yet, with more work put into Astra’s alignment and lots of oversight of its chain-of-thought reasoning to make sure that it doesn’t go off the rails. Understandably, OpenAI would really want to ease concerns there, given that it’s still reeling a bit from the fact that one of its models (not GPT-6 but another, secret model) broke containment during training and hacked Hugging Face, and, reportedly, no one on the OpenAI team noticed it happened for about a week.
Yep, super intelligent stuff. Software created by humans so that humans cannot know what the smart software is doing. Is there any doubt that these AI wizards are the most loved, respected, and adored innovators on earth? Of course not. But now there is just one winner. How will those who perceive themselves as super human AI players react? Will they just roll over? Will they redefine smart software so they are winners in their logic space?
One thing is 100 percent certain: The love and affection of the American people for BAIT (big AI tech) outfits is only going to increase. Data centers? No problem, Sam AI-Man. Water and electricity price increases and brown outs? Hey, no big deal, right? Mass roll out of AI-centric ways to reduce personnel costs? Definitely a winner.
Yep, ladies and gentleman, we have a winner.
Stephen E Arnold, Septmber 9, 2026
Why Specialized Service Outfits Should Not Become Too Visible
August 21, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
I have used NSO Group and its Pegasus specialized software as an example of the problems marketing or publicity creates. I may have to update my example based on the allegedly accurate information in “Sensing He’s in Deep Trouble, Flock Safety CEO Says It’s All Been a Big Understanding.” Well, maybe, but the publicity has had some knock on effects. The cameras are causing crime. Citizens who are able to spot a Flock have been killing the data birds. That’s illegal, and for a policeware company causing crime is not a great idea.
Thanks, Midjourney. Good enough.
What’s a Flock? Stated simply: 24×7 cameras, data capture, software to correlate information. Purpose: Enforce the law.
But the big problem is that what probably started as a cute “nerd moment” blew up into a PR problem. The article is an example of what Flock’s crisis communications team is going to have to ameliorate. The way marketing of specialized products and services used to work until the NSO Group’s emergence as the poster child of bad marketing was:
- Write a white paper and maybe get an outfit like Police1 to help distribute it to professionals who work in a specialized enforcement field
- Sign up for a trade show booth where attendees have to be verified as government professionals and civilians are few an far between (except for this dinobaby who gives talks at these types of events)
- Set up one on one meetings with trade show attendees who express interest in the specialized service or product
- Prepare a video (hopefully professionally produced) and put it on a private video distribution service like the original Vimeo. I don’t know who is in this niche now, but a specialized software and product company should be able to use a Web search system to locate a service. (I am not a cheerleader for this type of content to be posted on YouTube. Google loves training its smart software on interesting content. Make what you will of my observation.)
- Respond to calls for papers at relevant law enforcement and related events.
The problem with this five step process is that it does none of the marketing actions that can create a viral PR problem. If a specialized software company holds Zoom webinars and blasts out invites to any name on a data broker’s list, trouble can arise. Skip the off the cuff webinars with influencers. People who develop specialized products and services can go overboard with examples, use cases, and explanations of how a neutral technology can be applied.
The write up says:
The company is still trying to paint itself as the good guy, promising to help law enforcement to fight crime, while underplaying egregious instances its tech being misused. Flock also announced that it’s making changes to its platform amidst major scrutiny from lawmakers and civil liberties groups in an apparent attempt to address privacy concerns.
I noted this passage:
Beyond its surveillance network of over 100,000 cameras, the company is hoping to unleash drones, surveillance trailers, and gunshot-detecting hardware — efforts that likely won’t convince an already extremely wary public.
That’s not to mention glaring technological issues plaguing its license plate readers, which remain startlingly ineffective at the task they were designed to do. According to a recent investigation by the police department of Roseville, California, its cameras mistook one license plate number for another an astonishing 71 percent of the time between 2023 and 2024.
Modern management and marketing methods. I want a baseball cap that says, “Get Flocked.” But that could lead to a big misunderstanding.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2026
Yat Siu: Morphing a Stradivarius into a Crypto Token with Web3 Magic
August 19, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
In our Telegram Notes online magazine, we presented Yat Siu and his Stradivarius violin. The article is “Yat Siu’s Web3 Violin Performance.” What’s interesting is that buying a Strad is rarely a PR event. When one spends millions for a relatively small musical instrument, publicity can attract bad actors or their hench people. Siu’s violin is the Empress Caterina, and it is allegedly on of the best of the Strads in existence. For collectors of rare violins, Siu has a good one. In our Telegram Notes’ write up, you will learn what Siu did as soon as he took possession of the Strad. Spoiler: He turned it into a version of the Bored Ape non-fungible token. How did this happen? An outfit named Galaxy has a tokenization machine. Shove the notional violin in one end and out pops a token. The next step was to hit the Go button on a PR machine. Can you view the Empress? Yes, but you have to be a musical luminary or a wealthy Web3 savvy person. The violin is in hock and held by a trusted intermediary, and there is a procedure to follow. How did this violin performance work out? Check the Telegram Notes story. No paywall. No ads. Just an instrument and a score.
Stephen E Arnold, August 19, 2026
AI Outfits Are Playing the Same 45 RPM Record Over and Over Again
August 18, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
When I received my first battery powered radio in 1956, I remember it was a weird blue green. That did not matter. I could tune into one of four radio stations. One of the stations had a playlist. Every hour the same top hits would play. I know there was a human spinning the disks. I recall hearing the scratch of a match when the disk jockey fired up a Camel. Sometimes between songs, idle chatter would be heard before the cut over to a commercial for a drag strip. The memory that will not go away is the sound of the King’s “Hound Dog.” Well, you ain’t no friend of mine. I loathe repetition.
Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough.
The BAIT outfits (my lingo for big AI tech) have playlists, and they keep the messages on repeat. Examples include staff departures, money raising, and my personal favorite doom. Yep, doom. These companies have in my opinion demonstrated the highest of ethical standards. As a group, the firms have handled management challenges with aplomb. Employees are deliriously happy except for Jeff Dean, et al, who picked up their more than 140 patents and started a new company. Oh, there’s Microsoft. That company embraced one firm, acqui-hired another one, and now after developing its own model is cheerleading for non-commercial large language models. A little inconsistency just adds spice to the BAIT operations.
I want to highlight two write ups that plopped into my in box while I was in a meeting, “virtual, of course.” These articles are:
- “OpenAI Says Its Next AI Model Astra May Be Too Dangerous, Pauses Development”
- “Anthropic’s Boris Cherny Says AI Coding Bugs Are Getting Harder: Less Off by Ones, More System Design Problems.”
Let’s view these two items as replays of “Hound Dog,” cryin’ all the time. What will happen from the rival AI stations? I think that the fear, danger, cyber security threats, et al will be on repeat. This means that “when they said you was high-classed, Well, that was just a lie.”
The BAITs, including one from the Middle Kingdom, have confessed that their wizards cannot control their smart software. Excuse me. Humans working with human developed software have no ability to control what their creations do? Is this a remake of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus?
I think the AI outfits are putting the same scratchy discs on their really expensive devices and cranking up the volume. Can you hear the tune:
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Elvis was an entertainer, a movie star, a fellow who fired a weapon at his TV. The BAITs are in a class by themselves. True that some fly private jets. Some ride electric powered surf boards and fight former mixed martial arts champions. One enhances in-person appearances with a chain saw. I suppose that’s normal for rock stars.
However, let’s play another tune. Try to be high-classed. Stop that cryin’ all the time. If your software is a problem, pull the plug.
Stephen E Arnold, August 18, 2026
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