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[Baffler]

Googling something else I came across this story:
http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/tech/town-rejects-solar-panels-that-would-suck-up-all-the-energy-from-the-sun/

A North Carolina town council approved a sweeping moratorium on solar power development after residents expressed fears that solar panels cause cancer and drain the sun's energy, which would leave their town dark and devoid of plant life.

The Woodland Town Council was meeting to re-zone land for a proposed solar power project from Strata Solar Company. During the meeting, a retired science teacher raised concerns "that photosynthesis, which depends upon sunlight, would not happen and would keep the plants from growing," local newspaper The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald reports.

She attempted to substantiate to her claim by adding that she had "observed areas near solar panels where the plants are brown and dead because they did not get enough sunlight."

I checked this out because I was sure it had to be a hoax story, but it looks real.

Well... directly under them, it probably would be. Maybe she's just NIMBYing?

[PTTG??]

Yeah, that's from 2015. I think it mostly worked itself out.

[martinuzz]

Yeah, that's from 2015. I think it mostly worked itself out.

It's backlash will be felt for decades, until that retired science teacher's pupils have all died. How did that guy ever become a science teacher?

[Reelya]

A she not a he, and that's what you get when counties run your nation's education system. It's literally this. Local towns in the USA raise their own property taxes to pay for the local education system, and have local school boards which are elected by the locals. It's like an 1800s approach to education, with predictable results and massive variations in teaching standards.

[Loud Whispers]

Surely such cases where one is mistaken over how solar panels work could be solved easily with a friendly conversation? And an encyclopedia?

[ChairmanPoo]

Surely such cases where one is mistaken over how solar panels work could be solved easily with a friendly conversation? And an encyclopedia?

Those are manipulated by the Solar Energy lobby for their own nefarious purposes. Take off your blindfold man!

[TempAcc]

I'm still trying to think of how they came up with the idea that solar panels somehow cause cancer.

[Loud Whispers]

Surely such cases where one is mistaken over how solar panels work could be solved easily with a friendly conversation? And an encyclopedia?

Those are manipulated by the Solar Energy lobby for their own nefarious purposes. Take off your blindfold man!

At last I see

Or rather, I can't see, because all the light has been sucked up by solar panels

[martinuzz]

Solar panels sucking up light is just a conspiracy theory created by the CIA to divert attention from windmills bringing the earth's rotation to a halt, which is the real cause of global warming.

WE NEED TO STOP GREEN ENERGY BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE 

[Starver]

We've been having a lot more wind, recently. There are too many wind farms, meaning we're growing a surplus.

[martinuzz]

We've been having a lot more wind, recently. There are too many wind farms, meaning we're growing a surplus.

Nah that was just me, eating too much beans.

[Max™]

Now, I assumed that LW meant the encyclopedia could be used to bludgeon some sense into the "solar panels suck up light" folks, now I see that they're intended to drive Martinuzz away before his foulness kills us all! Go on! Shoo! This is only J-K, I've got M right there and I'll go grab S if I have to!

[Reelya]

https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/07/1447216/chatbot-that-overturned-160000-parking-fines-now-helping-refugees-claim-asylum

The creator of a chatbot which overturned more than 160,000 parking fines and helped vulnerable people apply for emergency housing is now turning the bot to helping refugees claim asylum. The original DoNotPay, created by Stanford student Joshua Browder, describes itself as "the world's first robot lawyer", giving free legal aid to users through a simple-to-use chat interface. The chatbot, using Facebook Messenger, can now help refugees fill in an immigration application in the US and Canada. For those in the UK, it helps them apply for asylum support. The London-born developer worked with lawyers in each country, as well as speaking to asylum seekers whose applications have been successful. Browder says this new functionality for his robot lawyer is "long overdue".

All lawyers, bureaucrats and tax accountants beware of the bots.

[redwallzyl]

https://news.slashdot.org/story/17/03/07/1447216/chatbot-that-overturned-160000-parking-fines-now-helping-refugees-claim-asylum

The creator of a chatbot which overturned more than 160,000 parking fines and helped vulnerable people apply for emergency housing is now turning the bot to helping refugees claim asylum. The original DoNotPay, created by Stanford student Joshua Browder, describes itself as "the world's first robot lawyer", giving free legal aid to users through a simple-to-use chat interface. The chatbot, using Facebook Messenger, can now help refugees fill in an immigration application in the US and Canada. For those in the UK, it helps them apply for asylum support. The London-born developer worked with lawyers in each country, as well as speaking to asylum seekers whose applications have been successful. Browder says this new functionality for his robot lawyer is "long overdue".

All lawyers, bureaucrats and tax accountants beware of the bots.

next up, kitchen bots that actually make you want to buy their kitchens.

[Jopax]

More machine learning goodness: http://geometry.cs.ucl.ac.uk/projects/2017/how2sketch/paper_docs/how2sketch_highres.pdf

I haven't read it yet because it's late and I've had a few but a video explains the basic gist of it nicely.

AI that creates tutorials for drawing things, and it seems to be better at doing so than actual humans.