[Hidden-tech] News sources (wasRe: Rewriting SSA code in months - possible?)

Wed Apr 2 17:15:50 UTC 2025

Rob, I rely heavily on The Guardian, the AP News, Al Jazeera for Middle
Eastern stuff, and perplexity.ai because it gives the sources. I also read
a number of progressive columnists but I feel like listing them here is a
little off topic.

On Tue, Apr 1, 2025, 8:24 PM Rob Laporte via Hidden-discuss <
hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote:

> As in love, war, sales, science, history, and most everything, I find that
> truly listening to others, especially those I differ from, helps me learn
> new things, and sometimes leads both sides to higher ground. I also learn
> more by following: "The beginning of wisdom is 'I don't know'" (Socrates);
> or Bill Mahar's “I don’t know 99.9% of stuff.”
>
> The problem is news is for sale now. Google sucked out most news channels'
> ad revenue, so channels had to sell out more or less. This means it takes
> too much time to find out what actually is happening in a field. One way I
> save time is to permanently discard a news source that lied (or grossly
> omitted) in a major story. After doing that for years, I've had to throw
> out pretty much all the formerly top news sources, which presents the whole
> new problem of finding reliable news.
>
> One solution I tried was Musk's Grok <https://x.com/i/grok> LLM because,
> on a purely technical basis (it would take hours to explain), Grok seems to
> vectorize recent data better than the other top LLMs which compile data
> every few months while merely slapping on more recent data. I tested Grok
> by asking it to examine opposing stories about DOGE. If you are one who
> selects facts to fit your existing understanding, and you hate DOGE, you'd
> love some of Grok's replies to my queries. But in general, Grok, by citing
> and linking to actual sources within a perspective that considered opposing
> views, made all the extreme views look silly.
>
> I've long thought that the greatest threat to those who aim to destroy
> democracy is an LLM "Truth Machine." You might think that Grok, coming
> from, not Musk, but teams Musk hired, must be evil so not worth trying.
> Myself, I try to avoid prejudice (that is, not pre-judge), and so far I
> have found Grok has resolved extremes to useful, nuanced assessment, which
> taught me a lot I did not know. ChatGPT has done so too, but not so well
> with recent data, and hardly at all with very recent data. While Grok beta
> is still free, why not ask it about, for example, the constitutional issue
> of executive vs. congressonal managment of federal agencies
> <https://x.com/i/grok/share/uDBx1CGKhPgYFA0mLTaLpdXUE>? (That's a Grok
> thread.) I think you'll be surprised to find that valid points on both
> sides of an issue are addressed, in contrast to this or that news source
> that excludes one or the other side and thereby incites US neighbors to
> attack rather than learn from one another.
>
> Regarding SS payments, it's *really* worth knowing what Musk said in this
> one minute video:
> https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxit7SyqsJxYkfVJGYIKNYGEe8AtT5-wJX?si=4VVWpzQnubES1r1R.
> Will that happen? I don't know, but I sure as heck expect a half-decent
> news source to report that statement to me, because then I can follow-up on
> it later.
>
> *Here's the punch line:* harmony among citizens depends on news channels
> that are balanced and not mere editorial fed to fan our feelings and clock
> click revenue. I'm still seeking one such news source, if anyone has
> suggestions. I've heard an India news source is good, but I forget which.
> Though using a "truth machine" takes much less time than verifying each
> news story I read, it still takes a lot more time than good ol' news that
> obeys no party, cites the relevant sources, and does not omit crucial parts
> of the story.
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> *Rob Laporte*
> CEO  |  R&D Manager
> *DISC - Making Websites Make Money*
> Rob at 2disc.com, 413-584-6500
> www.2disc.com
>
> *NOTE:* Emails can be blocked by spam filters throughout the web. If you
> don’t get a reply within an expected span of time, please call.
>
>
>
> ---- On Tue, 01 Apr 2025 12:55:20 -0400 *Michael Muller via
> Hidden-discuss <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>>* wrote ---
>
> Considering the recent backtracking and re-hiring of some of the more
> important fired personnel at critical federal agencies, the slap-dash eager
> beavers running around DOGE without a leash feel like drunk moshers in
> china shop. Any conversion by these people will be a fiasco, because they
> intrinsically don't care.
>
> Log in to the SSA portal and download your payments and benefits report
> before it's offline.
>
> Mik
>
> Mik Muller, president
> Montague WebWorks
> 20 River Street, Greenfield, MA
> 413-320-5336http://MontagueWebWorks.com
> Powered by ROCKETFUSION
>
> On 3/29/2025 1:12 AM, AI Zuckerman via Hidden-discuss wrote:
>
> https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/03/28/2148205/doge-to-rewrite-ssa-
> <https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/03/28/2148205/doge-to-rewrite-ssa-codebase-in-months?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed>
> codebase-in-months?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
> <https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/03/28/2148205/doge-to-rewrite-ssa-codebase-in-months?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed>
>
> Hi Hidden Techies,
> Here's one for coders on the list. A friend sent me a link to this article
> in Wired. Apparently, DOGE techies are claiming they can rewrite the SSA
> code in months. Wire reports that the SSA codebase has over 60 million
> lines of COBOL
> <https://oig.ssa.gov/congressional-testimony/2016-07-14-newsroom-congressional-testimony-july14-ssa-modernization/> and
> handles record keeping for all American workers and payments for all Social
> Security recipients.
> The aim is to migrate all  SSA systems off COBOL ... and onto a more
> modern replacement like Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few
> months," notes Wired.
> Some questions:
> Is it possible to handle this mammoth job in a month?
> What happens if the techies in DOGE make mistakes?
> Would SSA have a backup system of the COBOL code?
>
> Let all of us oldsters who depend on our SSA benefits keep them safe. If
> any people can do this, I know either you can or know someone who can.
> Please post your thoughts to the list.
> If you want to chat with me about this situation then call me at
> 413-362-4392.
> thanks!
>
> Amy Zuckerman
> HIDDEN TECH mother emeritus
>
> I
>
>
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