A dozen states have tried so far, but Maine is now on the verge of becoming the first in the US with a state-wide data center ban. www.linkedin.com/posts/jonipp... #MEpolitics #AIethics #DataCenter #Environment #Climate #Sustainability
Faces of Ben Brumfield, Jon Ippolito, Greg Nelson, and Ethan Morin on screen during the teleconference
Curious about AI’s real environmental impact? In this recorded webinar we debunk overblown claims from both sides, share new comparisons, and demo a tool that tracks your AI footprint in real time. digitalcuration.umaine.edu/teleconferen...
In just under two hours, we're hosting @jonippolito.net in a webinar presenting his research on the environmental impact of #AI use compared with other common digital technologies.
Register for "How Green is your Prompt" webinar here: content.fromthepage.com/april-2026-w...
Suspicious trades before Iran war announcements on the West Texas Intermediate oil futures exchange, 23 March 2026. Source: CNBC.
At 6:50am last Monday, markets spiked despite no news on the war. 15 minutes later, the US president announced he's reversing course to de-escalate. Someone's cashing in on vacillation over the war, at a time when Trump's circle is hobbling the SEC blog.still-water.net/its-650am-do...
Ha, I hear you! I have a similar problem with multitasking — and AI agents bring that to a whole new level.
UPCOMING WEBINAR How Green Is Your Prompt? April 2, 2026 9:00 AM PDT, 11:00 AM CDT, 12:00 PM EDT
Is it fair to compare AI’s footprint to Netflix binges or burgers? Join me Thursday 2 April for a non-partisan look at the science that will reveal why context matters as much as numbers. content.fromthepage.com/april-2026-w...
A roulette wheel
A $400K bet on Maduro’s capture and 11th-hour wagers before the US strike on Iran show how prediction markets can reward insider knowledge. Could they also shape government and military decisions? blog.still-water.net/corruption-g...
Alongside my provocation, read @mahabali.bsky.social @annamillsoer.bsky.social @marcwatkins.bsky.social @anetv.bsky.social @markmarino.bsky.social debate the value of friction at preview.electronicbookreview.com/publications...
"Friction makes learning more effective"—yes, but for whom? Like "discipline" and "grit," friction in the classroom may serve teachers and future bosses more than students. electronicbookreview.com/publications...
How green is your prompt?
This workshop aims to cut through the hype on both sides of the AI debate to clarify the environmental impact of your work and what you can do about it.
April 2, 2026, 12:00 pm EDT with @jonippolito.net
Register: content.fromthepage.com/april-2026-w...
Saw that, but AFAICT Prime did not describe a bot rewriting its soul doc?
Sure, but OP seemed to imply OpenClaw bots could rewrite their soul docs or other system prompts. I don't recall ever hearing that.
"the “soul” document that defines an OpenClaw agent’s personality. These documents are editable by the human who sets up the AI, but they are also recursively editable in real-time by the agent itself" Is this capability confined to OpenClaw?
Where in the real world has this been played out?
Normally I'd say you couldn't tell, but given OpenClaw's lack of security that might just be possible.
It certainly possible that a human directed the bot, either by writing the post manually or just adding a tendentious system prompt. But the blog entry is classic chatbot-speak and feels like legit AI
Some speculate that this behavior could have been encoded into the bot's system prompt. But AI-augmented trolls are not what I was looking forward to in 2026 ☹️
Facts! Games provide ritual humiliation, and we keep coming back for more.
A rogue AI enrolls in your online class, then publicly shames you when you remove it. This just happened in a dev forum. Are we ready if it happens to our courses? www.linkedin.com/posts/jonipp...
A graphic showing a teacher, robot, and students collaborating in a workflow, next to the words "AI Foundations for Educators," UMaine Online, March-April 2026
On March 9th I’m helping launch AI Foundations for Educators, a 5-week online course that goes beyond workshop-level knowledge to guide teachers and school staff in developing a personalized framework for adapting classrooms to AI. DM me with any questions or visit learnwithai.org/courses.html
I know, right? A little squished, but better than nothing
I've been worried AI will crowd out human voices. Now an AI copy has replaced my 2006 Connected Knowledge site, warping context and displacing the original work online. Are we going to be able to stop this creeping ensloppification? www.linkedin.com/posts/jonipp...
1. Announcements 2. Generative AI 3. Other business
Agenda from an upcoming faculty meeting, which I'm choosing to interpret as a Fluxus score:
Where are AI’s scientific breakthroughs? It’s been three years since ChatGPT’s release, and still no headlines about AI discovering new particles or curing diseases. When AI does help science, it's not the kind Sam Altman and co. are shilling. www.linkedin.com/posts/jonipp...
Another Maine town just defeated a data center in its backyard. In this Women Talking 'Bout AI podcast, Joline Blais explains how her community rallied to the cause, and why AI is only a small part of the reason these are being built www.linkedin.com/posts/jonipp...
Yeah I can see some uses for AI in conservation, especially for non-destructive actions. But in-painting is like language translation on steroids – interpretation with a level of cultural context that should not be reduced to statistics.
Hard to believe this won't have unpleasant consequences.
Great idea! I haven't researched it yet but an excellent comparison
Screenshot showing that a UMaine digital preservation course is eligible for grant funding
Give yourself the gift of digital permanence by applying for a DPOE grant to pay for digital preservation training this spring.
Students who've applied it to my online DIG 550 class digitalcuration.umaine.edu say it's easy and paid for the course.
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www.dpoe.network/training-opp...
I just spoke to WGME CBS/Fox last night about a data center proposed for an old Maine mill. Lewiston's climate and water resources are a better fit than in the southern US, but city managers still overestimate the benefits to local economies—about 20 jobs post-construction, many remote.