Trevor Noah, Microsoft’s Chief Questions Officer
Season 1, Episode 6: AI is sometimes the only solution
Two things. One, holy fuck - the fucker will do anything for money. Two, this is some straight up Onion shit.
this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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chapotraphouse
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Never thought the demand to join the Borg would be coming from Trevor Noah, did you?
The Matrix missed an oportunity. Trevor Noah's name should be Gink Grob which a reverse palindrome for Borg King.
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Pointless trivia
There's a ridiculous chess opening named after Henri Grob - an unremarkable chess player.
Grob's Attack, or the Grob Opening, is an unconventional chess opening in which White begins with the move:
1. g4
It is widely considered to be one of the worst possible first moves for White. International Master (IM) John Watson writes, "As far as I can tell, 1 g4 is competitive with 1 h4 for the honour of being White's worst first move. Against an informed or skilled opponent, it is simply masochistic."
That would be pretty funny. Also, Gorbachev using that opening as a ceremonial move and then forcing the player he stood in for to finish the game feels really on brand for him.
Even though it's good for black - when I'm playing as black - I hate such openings. The situation on the board is going to be odd and chaotic. And both of those things give can give me serious grief. I hate it when I blunder and then resign on about move 20 because I'm going to get vivisected.
Luckily - people who play those openings tend not to be patient and their defense is weak. My goal is go hold on to the endgame.
Gorbachev
I really need to learn about his time in power from a leftist perspective. I was an adult then but I was naïve liberal and way too trusting of the media. I was such a strange time compared to now. There was bipartisan dislike if not hatred of Russia. Plus two foreign words "perestroika" and "glasnost" were floating around even though many Americans hate learning new things. The media even used a nickname for him.
I suspect the average person of my generation has a positive view of "Gorby" even though they don't remember anything he did or didn't do. Propaganda is so funny that way. People like something (or dislike it) but they don't even remember why.
Ninja edit. Effective propaganda becomes a sort of nostalgia "memory implant". I watched Total Recall for the nth time a couple weeks ago.
I never really got into chess, but there's a similar strategy in go where you just open the game by attacking your opponent instead of trying to first establish your own position. In the higher levels it's almost never played because players are smart enough not to play reactively, but in the lower levels it can be a nuisance because it leads to large, sprawling fights and chaotic gameplay.
Yeah, I also remember the "Gorby" stuff from when I was young - I probably know a lot less than I think.
I probably know a lot less than I think.
That's very true for me. I had had zero contact with any leftist media - even vaguely leftist. I just accepted the narrative of broadcast news which was - of course - ultra-simplistic and entirely pro-American.
large, sprawling fights and chaotic gameplay
When I watch speed chess online - my favorite things is when two very strong players have an attacking style and the game is like that. An example can be the king's gambit opening. Black typically does one of two things.
- Refutes white's choice. The typical way to do this is with the Falkbeer Countergambit. Black wants to be in the driver's seat. I think it's a truism for grandmasters playing speed chess that that black usually does #1. The game can still be aggressive but it's most likely less wild than #2.
-or-
- To uglily mix metaphors - if black jumps into the fire - we are off to the races. Both sides are attacking each other and at the same time their king side pawns become very weak. I love "uglily".
The king's gambit is these three moves.
1. e4 e5
2. f4
The Falkbeer Countergambit begins with black's second move. Meaning...
1. e4 e5
2. f4 d5
Youtube - Chess Openings - Falkbeer Countergambit
If you're interested at all in learning a bit about the king's gambit - there's a paradox. I think it's better to learn about the Falkbeer Countergambit first because it shows something surprising. It illustrates a fundamental conceptual problem that a lot of people have. Not only does white have a plan but black does too. I'm sure you're thinking something like "How could people not understand that? Of course black has a plan!"
I don't know why it happens but it certainly does. And in my opinion - countries do pretty much the same thing. CountryA might assume the war that's just started with CountryB will be a cakewalk. A four star general of CountryA might say to the media "Our usage of the king's gambit will lead to an decisive victory." But then CountryB replies with the Falkbeer Countergambit. CountryA is shocked and it's on the back foot.
Cue Robin Williams yelling out "Good morning, Vietnaaaaaaaam!"
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Is this just a marketing campaign for Micro$uck's spyware?
The lab itself is supposed to take on pro bono projects that use AI/Machine Learning to advance the public good, which is probably meant to be an advertisement for Microsoft's products.
Still good to be informed of the dealings of Micro$uck. There is value in that.
Of course, we should all be delighted over news of how AI is definitely making the world a better place.
Isn't that the daily show guy?
It is indeed the man himself. He's making a logical career transition from serious news programming.