Commentary: Cory Doctorow: Reverse Centaurs – Locus Online

https://locusmag.com/feature/commentary-cory-doctorow-reverse-centaurs/

This quote, about how to use AI (Whisper, a tool to turn audio into text files) struck a core with me. Yes, AI can be useful, if we use it right. 

I recently installed some AI software on my laptop: an open source model called Whisper that can transcribe audio files. I installed it be­cause I was writing an article and I wanted to cite something I'd heard an expert say on a podcast. I couldn't remember which expert, nor even which podcast. So I downloaded Whisper, threw 30 or 40 hours' worth of podcasts I'd recently listened to at it, and then, a couple hours later, searched the text until I found the episode, along with timecode for the relevant passage. I was able to call up the audio and review it and match it to the transcript, correct a few small errors, and paste it into my essay.

A year ago, I simply would have omitted the reference. There was no way I was ever going to re-listen to hours and hours of podcasts looking for this half-remembered passage. Thanks to a free AI model that ran on my modest laptop, in the background while I was doing other work, I was able to write a better essay.

How to keep using and keep installing Windows 10

Windows 10 belongs to us now (just like Streets of Rage Remake)

Windows 10 PCs will soon be the community's responsibility, not Microsoft's.

First, let's talk unofficial upgrades: Community-driven tools like Rufus and Flyoobe will let you install Windows 11 on a variety of Windows 10 PCs -- but not all of them. They're a solution for PCs that just missed the cutoff, but they won't help with every Windows 10 PC.

Applications may continue supporting Windows 10. For example, Google hasn't announced an end-of-support date for Windows 10. Even Microsoft will continue updating Edge on Windows 10 with security patches until at least October 2028, so you'll still get browser security updates. Many antivirus companies will likely continue supporting Windows 10 with antimalware software.

Stacher, a YouTube downloader for Mac and Windows

https://stacher.io/

A modern GUI for yt-dlp (and other youtube-dl forks)