Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for the first few days of this week — Monday, July 15 through Thursday, July 18, 2024.
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
Tech project management / agile processes
Video, board, and role-playing games
Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for Monday, June 3 through Sunday, June 9, 2024.
Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. at Kforce in Tampa: Tampa Devs and Tampa Java User Group jointly present Orchestrate the chaos: Process automation in modern architectures.
Their description of the event:
Complex business processes can be difficult to manage and automate. How do you quickly implement changes while maintaining uptime? How do you introduce a new service to an existing process? In this talk, we will discuss how to use Business Process Modeling (BPM) to orchestrate and execute complex business processes in your application. Don’t let the name fool you: this not your father’s Visio diagram. Everyone should leave this talk with a new approach to solving their orchestration complexities!
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
Tech project management / agile processes
Video, board, and role-playing games
Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for Monday, May 27 through Sunday, June 2, 2024.
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
Tech project management / agile processes
Video, board, and role-playing games
Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
The original scene from Her had Joaquin Phoenix sitting where OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in the Canva-ized picture above. Tap to view at full size.
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably seen (or at least heard about) the demo of GPT-4o’s voice assistant mode featuring a voice named “Sky” providing vivacious — even flirty — assistance:
When I saw it, my first thought was “Wow, that’s a lot like Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of the AI in Her,” and that seemed to be a lot of other people’s first thoughts.
There’s also Altman’s single-word post on X/Twitter, which he posted on the day of the GPT-4o’s premiere on Monday, May 13th:
Tap to view the original tweet.
And now, we find out that Scarlett Johansson — the “Her” herself — issued a statement on Monday, May 20th saying that she was approached by Sam Altman to be the voice of this version of GPT, and that she turned down the offer.
Here’s the text of the statement:
Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and A.I. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people. After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer. Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me.
When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference. Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word, ‘her’ — a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human.
Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there. As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.
In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity. I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.
“OpenAI’s gonna OpenAI,” as this soon-to-be-common phrase goes, and they’ve been making their trademark obfuscating statements. As Ed Zitron summarizes in an article titled Sam Altman is Full of Shit:
Just so we are abundantly, painfully, earnestly clear here, OpenAI lied to the media multiple times.
Mira Murati, OpenAI’s CTO, lied to Kylie Robison of The Verge when she said that “Sky” wasn’t meant to sound like Scarlett Johansson.
OpenAI lied repeatedly about the reasons and terms under which “Sky” was retired, both by stating that it “believed that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinct voice” and — by omission — stating that it had been “in conversations” with representatives to bring Johansson’s voice to ChatGPT, knowing full well that she had declined twice previously and that OpenAI’s legal counsel were actively engaging with Johansson’s.
If you haven’t seen the movie Her, you’re probably wondering where you can find it on a streaming service. Here’s where you can watch it right now if you’re based in the U.S. (where I’m based):
Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for Monday, May 20 through Sunday, May 26, 2024.
This session dives into the nitty-gritty of leveraging AI for real estate. We’ll dissect the process of combining macro and microeconomic data sets with market trends and geospatial information. This process utilizes similarity scoring – a technique to analyze the distance between geographic regions and uncover hidden correlations. Additionally, we’ll tackle the exciting challenge of classifying emerging neighborhoods using AI. Imagine leveraging machine learning to pinpoint areas with a high concentration of rehabbed properties – a strong indicator of potential investment opportunities.
Welcome to another hacker swap-meet! The Temple is collabing with your local Defcon chapter, DC813, for yet another wonderful round of hang-outs, barters, trades, and co-hacking!
Gather up all of the hacker and cyber stuff you don’t want anymore that is valued under $200. This can be, but isn’t limited to: • Shirts from cons • Slaps • Hardware • Tools • Failed projects • Books from certs you already passed • Books that you already know
Put sticky notes or something on them indicating a price. Maybe print off a piece of paper indicating stuff you want/would trade for.
Load that stuff up in yo’ trunk, pick a parking spot on the side of the building and park. Or grab a table from inside or something.
You can trade, give stuff away, take cash, Venmo, cryptocurrency, chickens and goats, whatever.
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
Tech project management / agile processes
Video, board, and role-playing games
Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for Monday, May 13 through Sunday, May 19, 2024.
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
Tech project management / agile processes
Video, board, and role-playing games
Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for Monday, May 6 through Sunday, May 12, 2024.
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
Tech project management / agile processes
Video, board, and role-playing games
Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
