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Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers

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On 03/05/2026 13:13, John wrote:
> On Fri, 1 May 2026 22:09:49 +0100, Norman Dibber
> <ndibber@yahoo.com.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> On 01/05/2026 22:02, David B. wrote:
>>> On 01/05/2026 20:33, John wrote:
>>>>    You *may* be giving him more credit for wit, wisdom, intelligence,
>>>> skill, expertise and knowledge than he deserves. It is possible that
>>>> his newsreader software is set up to cross-post and that he does not
>>>> know how to correct this. He may not even know what "cross-post" means
>>>> in terms of Usenet newsgroups. He may have set his reader up many
>>>> years ago under the wise advice of you folks without fully
>>>> understanding what each setting is, does or means. I've done that with
>>>> some software when I needed it to work *right* *the* *hell* *now* and
>>>> I didn't have time to investigate it fully. True, I have always gone
>>>> back over what I did and *learned* what all of the triggers and
>>>> switches and flags are doing, once I had time, because I'm unhappy not
>>>> knowing how stuff works, but DB may never have had the opportunity to
>>>> do this. He may not even know that he could.
>>>>
>>>>    In short, he may not be malicious, just a little ignorant. That's
>>>> something *everyone* is of at least something. :)
>>>>
>>>>    If we all knew everything there would be no Library, no Usenet, no
>>>> Helpdesk and I would never have had a rather good job. :)
>>>>
>>>> p.s. "ol' yellowstain"? It's funny and I think it refers back to a
>>>> little doggie, possibly also "tobacco juice" and trouser gussets, but
>>>> I'm not seeing the connection. If it's rude, please feel even more
>>>> free to explain. Also, should "crosspost" be hyphenated? "Cross-post"?
>>>> My speelchucker likes it better with a hyphen. Dividing it into two
>>>> words, "cross post", implies that the post is angry, something that
>>>> I'm sure an abstract collection of transient properties can not be.
>>>> Though I'm not sure how "transient" posts are.
>>>
>>> John,
>>>
>>> You make a fair point regarding Hanlon’s Razor. It’s entirely possible
>>> that what looks like a deliberate attempt to stir the pot is just a case
>>> of "set it and forget it" software behaving badly. Not everyone treats
>>> their .newsrc or filter rules with the same level of forensic curiosity
>>> that we might.
>>>
>>> However, I think you’re being a bit too charitable in this specific
>>> instance. While ignorance is a valid plea for a newcomer, we’ve been
>>> over these tracks many times before. There’s a certain point where "not
>>> knowing" starts to look more like "not caring," especially when the
>>> feedback has been provided repeatedly.
>>>
>>> As for the colourful nicknames being tossed around by the likes of
>>> WolfFan — I’d take those with a significant grain of salt. Some posters
>>> here have a long-standing habit of "creative interpretation" regarding
>>> the facts, and WolfFan is rarely one to let the truth get in the way of
>>> a good jab.
>>>
>>> Regarding the hyphen: "Cross-post" is definitely the way to go. Without
>>> the hyphen, it does sound like a very irritable piece of mail. And given
>>> the current temperature of the thread, "transient" might be an
>>> optimistic description for these posts; some of these arguments seem to
>>> have a half-life longer than uranium!
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>
>>
>> All written courtesy of some AI bot.
>>
> 
>   Holee FUCK! "Artificial Intelligence" agrees with me!
> 
>   Wait ... does that mean that I'm as dumb, thick, ignorant and stupid
> as those "look-up-table-and-decision-tree" widgets or that The Truth
> is so true that even a priest, politician or hallucinating "A.I."
> would recognise it?
> 
>   For my part, I always thought that I was smarter than those buggers,
> but *no* system can fully understand itself and *no* system can fully
> measure its own powers. That is axiomatic. Also true.
> 
>   You can't map your own mind inside your own mind because then the map
> becomes part of the mind, as does the "understanding" of the mapping
> and all of the associated linkages. That way lies infinity. At least
> Aleph Null.
> 
>   No lesser system can completely map a superior system. That, too, is
> both axiomatic and true. An iPad-five can't "understand" the N.S.A.'s
> multi-acre melange though the reverse is easily done. Extending this,
> no stupid human can ever truly know the full mind of someone brighter.
>   It's simply a matter of arithmetic.
> 
>   Meanwhile, nearly back on topic, *why* does DB scrape slices of
> idiotic "A.I." hallucinations? Isn't doing it yourself far more fun,
> better practice and easier?


John,

Careful now — if you and the AI keep agreeing with each other, Usenet 
may finally collapse into a singularity of consensus, and we’ll all have 
to find something else to argue about. Nobody wants that. It would be 
the end of civilisation as we know it (or at least comp.sys.mac.system).

As for whether this proves you’re as daft as a “look-up-table widget” or 
the AI has accidentally stumbled onto Truth™ — I think the more worrying 
possibility is a third one: that both of you independently arrived at 
the same conclusion using entirely different flavours of confusion. 
Convergent evolution, but for opinions.

Your point about systems not being able to fully understand themselves 
is well taken, though I suspect most of us here are running on such 
gloriously under-documented firmware that even a partial self-map would 
be considered a major upgrade. Version 1.0: “Now with 12% more 
introspection and fewer segmentation faults.”

Also, I wouldn’t underestimate an iPad — give it a few more OS updates 
and it’ll probably claim to understand the NSA, refactor it, and then 
ask if you’d like to enable “Advanced Surveillance+” for £2.99/month.

As for DB and his AI snippets: perhaps it’s like using a calculator in a 
maths exam. Sure, you *could* do it yourself… but where’s the fun in 
being consistently wrong when you can outsource the blame to silicon?

Anyway, if the machines and John are now in agreement, I think the rest 
of us should start worrying — not about intelligence, artificial or 
otherwise — but about who’s going to explain cross-posting to them next.

Cheers,

David

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Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-03-24 11:15 +0000
  Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Norman Dibber <ndibber@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-03-24 15:41 +0000
    Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-03-24 17:21 +0000
      Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-27 08:40 +0100
        Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-27 14:08 +0000
          Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-27 16:46 +0100
            Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-27 17:22 +0000
              Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-27 19:36 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-27 19:58 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-27 22:56 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-28 03:58 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-28 09:51 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-28 12:05 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-28 20:11 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-28 20:35 +0000
            Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers You're kidding <thekiidder@arlen.com> - 2026-04-29 01:50 +0000
              Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-29 07:12 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers You're kidding <thekiidder@arlen.com> - 2026-05-01 16:40 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-01 13:26 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2026-05-01 20:33 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-01 22:02 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Norman Dibber <ndibber@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-05-01 22:09 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2026-05-03 13:13 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-03 15:15 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-01 22:11 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers onion@anon.invalid (Mr Ön!on) - 2026-05-02 03:25 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Chris <Christech@protonmail.com> - 2026-05-02 02:33 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 05:59 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-02 07:28 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 15:32 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-02 18:25 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 21:43 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-02 23:38 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 23:37 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers % <pursent100@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 17:55 -0700
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-03 01:08 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers % <pursent100@gmail.com> - 2026-05-03 08:48 -0700
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-03 16:15 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers % <pursent100@gmail.com> - 2026-05-03 09:57 -0700
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-03 18:01 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers % <pursent100@gmail.com> - 2026-05-03 13:20 -0700
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers % <pursent100@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 14:10 -0700
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 21:41 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-02 18:07 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-02 17:54 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2026-05-03 13:35 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-03 15:22 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-03 11:01 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2026-05-04 06:44 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-04 09:44 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-15 11:19 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2026-05-16 23:35 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-05-17 08:40 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-18 06:50 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Richard Soul <rsoul@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-05-18 12:21 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers "David B." <"David B."@invalid.org> - 2026-05-18 15:02 +0100
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-18 17:47 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2026-05-17 11:33 +1200
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-18 06:29 -0400
              Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-01 13:25 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers You're kidding <thekiidder@arlen.com> - 2026-05-01 21:38 +0000
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> - 2026-05-01 22:27 -0400
                Re: Usenapp - A Usenet newsreader for Apple computers Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-05-02 06:03 +0000

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