A Social Club of One

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 1, 2024


Washed the salt off my car on Sunday…..




My Mustang



Then back home to get Easter supper ready. The UN quadrennial report is basically done. I’ll catch up on some other online activities that need to be done.



On Monday I get tested or get a Measles shot. According to the paperwork I have no measles shot because they didn’t exist until I was four years of age. Mom is gone now, so I have no idea and Monday things get rectified.



Some time this week I have or get an EIN number for FOFSTOCK so we can operate and get members in the States! I’m not crazy about more paperwork with the IRS but that will now set up the music for my gradual hand off
to the younger generation. Years and years away but I have to be realistic about life.



Guitar corner:



I did pass by two guitar stores and didn’t see any guitars I had to have. Maybe it would be nice to have a discounted Les Paul Classic instead of the plain Les Paul Studio, but my philosophy at the time was to get the lower end - but real deal - classic electric guitars and my purchases reflect this. I took another look at the RG metal shred machines from Ibanez. I hate the complexity of tuning of the Floyd Rose and those colours are not me - as in bright red, yellow and neon purple. So I’m stuck with the AZ premium line and the guitar I have - they nailed me in their description as that AZ guitar will not get you the “surprised side-eye look” from your friends - in other words I’m too old for the all out shred machines - so you go with the more subdued but capable model at higher cost. And yes, the side-eye stuff was actually in the official description…..




My new Gibson SG Standard with the “devil horns”!



And - I’m actually getting to like the look and feel of the SG. I used to hate that guitar and was the last one I got but what a turnaround of events!




My seven string “old fart” guitar!


The thicker neck of the SG and the AZ as opposed to the RG super thin “Wizard neck” has been validated. Tuning off and on during a song with the 61 SG and warping and cracking with the older RG Ibanez guitars just hammers home the super thin necks will always have issues. The best way is for me to just use chunkier neck and since I am new to this I will not miss the super thin necks. And yes I am starting to play the guitars now - after one year…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 2, 2024


As you get older you realize you end up doing things you never would have thought you would ever do…..



The most shocking one is me being put in a position to defend Canada and its situation with our Indigenous people. One reason I avoid international get togethers is being put in this position constantly. And - it got worse when the stuff about mass graves of Indigenous children being found beside the Residential Schools made the news. It doesn’t get any more ghoulish than that.



So you don’t criticize other nations and keep to yourself at international events as of late.



However, at home there is this mass amnesia over the general population about the bad stuff that has gone on in our country’s past. They don’t get reminded about it like I do. So I end up being an ambassador of Canada whether I want it or not. The country that treated me so badly in so many ways (and systemic also) as a visible minority - and I end up having to play defence for the very negative aspects that made my life in Canada hell!



Reality is stranger than fiction.



v
Me at UNESCO in Paris France at an event.



When I was in Paris, France for the WSIS+10 Review Meetings, all of us from Canada were treated the same, anglophone or francophone, black or white, it didn’t matter as you were all labeled Canadian and strangely treated the same. As much as I tried to deny it - I was a Canadian born and bred. So strange - but that’s the first time I felt any kid of nationalism among those others that were also Canadian. It is just a bizarre world in the international sphere and people there are playing games of all sorts…..



But like I said - life can be weird and you can be in the strange position of defending a system that failed you, and a system you fought against your whole life - how bizarre is that?



Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/aw9mEFn38to?si=WFSANAV-4Jp4bm7c

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 3, 2024


Updates, and more updates…..

FOFSTOCK Registered as a Corporation in the USA!




By Shane Murphy,
FOFSTOCK
FOF RECORDS Inc.





Having received an EIN number and now in the IRS database of corporations, FOFSOCK can now do business in the United States of America.



FOFSTOCK EIN: 98-1783940



This means FOFSTOCK can open an office in places like New York, hold concerts and festivals there and sign American musicians as members and of course advocacy in the States. More on this expanding area of business activities as it happens going forward!



FOFSTOCK: THE MUSIC ORGANIZATION FOR MUSICIANS!

So, FOFSTOCK the musicians association can now operate legally in the States! More taxes but I’m used to that by now. This means FOF Records and FOFSTOCK have the same “footprint” and the eventual handoff of this musicians collective becomes more real. The next is the purchase of the record label to the not-for-profit, but that will only happen when I am stepping down. The fact is that the label is still a money hungry entity for costs and this will have to be tweaked before the membership and donations at FOFSTOCK can handle it.




In other news:




I sent in the Buick Enclave for the bodywork repairs and received a red Volkswagen Jetta as a rental car. This was a 2021 car and full of everything I hate with stop start/engine performance and full connectivity. Even so I’ll take advantage of Apple Carplay and see what I am missing. All my cars are off the grid - it’s an old man thing. But I will have some fun with this car while I have it! The speedo in German cars - there is no way this thing will hit 260km - hahaha - but my old fashioned Mustang will and stock with only the speed governor turned off via my SCT scanner. The full boot Gen 3 V8 is only 7 miles per hour faster than my car at 164 vs. 157 (miles per hour and not km) because the Mustang is a rolling brick and aerodynamic drag puts some limits on things. Anyway I’m having some fun there.



AI is making me question every photo I see. It’s funny how fast that happened. You can’t trust any photo you see anymore. How do you know it’s the real thing? Below is a photo of me today. Took it getting ready to soak in the tub and punch this out for you. Yes that is me unedited, how do you know? Just look for the scraggly grey hairs here and there. What’s that - some minor peach fuzz on his shoulder - I’m not a hairy guy but get up there in age and that happens. So that is one way as vanity usually has them blurring the peach fuzz away as well as the grey. I could look worse for wear…..




Me unedited as I am today.



The plan now is just to take care of all the little tasks that bother me so I can actually relax a bit. That will take a while but at least it’s a plan!




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 4, 2024


I’m thinking of the AI issue as of late.




Basically we are screwed…..




We probably can’t turn back the clock on AI development because when you stop development in one area and not another the area that continues development, this gives an advantage the other does not. So the argument to continue development stands in that situation. This can be in all sorts of areas like medicine, commerce and even military. Whatever, reigning in the AI threat cannot be piecemeal. It cannot be nation by nation - it must be by international consensus, and that means the United Nations.



By achieving global consensus you at least provide a level playing field with restrictions on AI development that may threaten humanity and drive those who wish to continue development into areas of the world where huge billion dollar data centers would be a crazy idea. This actually could work if acted upon immediately as a poor business model would cripple development.



The Summit of the Future actually has AI as one of its mandates and I would not mind being a part of that agenda. I’m strategically positioned to help with it - so why not?



My dad went on TV when I was a kid and told everyone on a morning show we had nothing to worry about with regard to computers taking over the world - I was sitting at home in front of the TV with my mom when he said that. Well, it has actually become very real about computers taking over the world - not just that but imperiling humanity as well! The sins of the father are visited upon his son, and so here I am doing my bit and feeling totally justified if not obligated to sticking my nose in it.







What gives the head of a journalist association any credibility in this field? Well you don’t want a bunch of so called AI experts in the industry weighing in on a risk that involves their livelihood. You want stakeholders in the discussion that don’t have a vested interest in AI development and the only area that does not have an interest is the common individual of which I am one, and I can participate as a voice for all - if need be. I’d rather have it done by the Worldwide Vote but we won’t go there now. But I can get involved - and that is huge to me personally.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/fKv5MshdCe8?si=Sg7HnBxiEMYmSAtS

[Maurice Ali]

April 4, 2024


And so it begins:







More later…..





https://sentientai.net





https://youtu.be/9VBTcDF1eVQ?si=Wx4QDFj119i-RN1Y

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 5, 2024


So, we made a little announcement:

IAIJ Invited to the AI For Good Global Summit!




By Samantha Blackwell







The International Association of Independent Journalists Inc. has received an invitation to attend the AI for Good Global Summit 2024 at International Telecommunication Union (ITU) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The ITU is a special agency of the United Nations and its parent entity is the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) under which we have consultative status.








As per the rules, we are allowed to send one delegate to the event that happens May 30/31 (2024). We are still waiting for the event to finalize events and side events as this is still ongoing.




ITU Council Meeting!



More news as it becomes available.



Please visit: https://sentientai.net

But we only announce it here at FOF as we don’t have a lot of information yet. But this is a start, our first start actually, with regard to advocacy and AI. We are a journalist org and we are known internationally. I also wrote a book about AI that can get me a speaking position if need be. We are ready for this!







Going to Geneva is not as simple as you think. There are all sort of entities I advocated on that reside here. If you look at the map you will see the UN headquarters in Geneva are just across the street from the ITU. The United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) is also there. The WTO where I tried to get a booth or side event promoting the Worldwide Vote (for two years?) is there on the east side. The WHO is a little north of the UN. All sorts of worldwide organizations are concentrated in this tiny geographical area.




So if I did travel there I would have to at least check out United Nation Headquarters. I can even get a yearly pass like in New York. Funnily, I would probably take the tour and then use the pass to really get to know some of the areas and so on. So traveling there is a pain and once there you may as well stay for a few days or a week and take it all in. While out there I should pop in the London office and say hi to our director there. It’s a big trip to say the least.



So we shall see how things pan out. Major money will be spent. I would say that if I get a chance to speak I am definitely going there. However, just to wander around there with no direct advocacy would seem to be a waste of time as that trip and the money involved could be saved for an event that really means something. There is the International Court of Justice (one of six organs of the United Nations) I could fly to instead. We shall just have to see.



Generally, people are quite interested in this area of advocacy and my ability to get into many of these places. Attendance is usually restricted - especially at the UN - and the cost just cripples participation - especially in Geneva! These are not barriers to me so I become the proxy for those around me concerned about AI and our future. I run a journalist org, so any issue or event is in our domain for advocacy if we write about it. Most other organizations are just “one trick ponies” when it comes to issues but the way I designed Fortress and its organizations leads us to an extremely agile scope and amount of advocacy and influence. I get no praise or acknowledgment for this until “shit hits the fan” and I’m the only one around that can do anything about it…..



And so it goes for the AI issue. It’s has begun…..



BTW: This is insane - as the reach to my goals becomes closer and more real - that my age starts to push back just as “you come into your own”. It is crazy how life and time conspire to stop people from really doing good around the world. The Fates gave me a few more years than most, but nobody escapes old age. My recent interest in guitars - for example - and playing the guitar is just another attempt to stay intellectually sharp as the big plays get made. It all flies around your head like this weird carousel running around your head, and you don’t know what issue to deal with as it’s all out there for the taking - like so many brass rings…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 6, 2024


So this AI summit got a bit more real on Friday…..







I’m already registered with a badge number and all - just like that. I looked at the speakers list and all. On the first day the presenters are:


Doreen Bogdan-Martin who took office as Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).







HRH Princess Beatrice (UK) (for me this is a wild card, royalty exists in advocacy at the UN and it’s not outside the realm of possibility to get the ear of a Princess if the event is of interest to them. They realize how they got their position and in a crazy way would be open to a person like myself as opposed to a member of academia like the others - so she gets her picture uploaded on my server)


Stuart Russell (University of California at Berkeley), he is considered an expert in AI and robotics.




Anyway it turns out I have the week off anyway when this event happens and in addition to the event I could check out the UN across the street and get my yearly grounds pass there while I’m at it. I could also check out the WTO on the east side and the WHO to the north. I think the UN Human Rights Council is at the UN proper - but I’m not sure - but I’ll check that out also. My sister says to check out the Alps but I’m on a mission there, in the end it’s mostly reconnaissance but with a chance to get in a word with regard to AI.



This was heady stuff for Friday as originally I just wanted to show that I was just starting the AI advocacy - but things got real - real quick! I heard some rumblings about needing to have a visa to get into Switzerland in the future but I’m not sure if that applies now. So I’m rushing around planning a trip I never expected. That doesn’t mean it will happen, but I can’t wait and pull the trigger at the last minute. For this you have to plan with the ability to get out of it and see how things unfold.




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 7, 2024


I’ve been driving a red Volkswagen Jetta since Tuesday and here are my impressions on that vs. my Mustang and the old Buick Enclave.







Pros:


Apple Car Play! MY Mustang doesn’t have it but this does. Siri does the voice play on text messages. The music has the artwork one the big screen but the Mustang is actually the same when it comes to the music with the switches in the steering wheel and so in. You can voice command the music in the Mustang.



It has a cavernous truck and back seat people can sit it - and it has four doors - which is a con for me but not for others.



Cons:




My Mustang



Nobody looks at you or cares who you are! With the Mustang young women always look at you and you get used to it. Then when you get into the red Jetta nobody cares - you are almost invisible. Even if you are unshaven and haggard the women still look your way even if they avert quickly when driving the Mustang - but you do get their attention. With my Buick Enclave - it is so different you expect this, but the red Jetta gets no attention - even a black Mustang like mine gets you a different audience. And - no guys want to race a Jetta - but you all know this.



Stop start: At first I thought there was something wrong with the engine - then I realized this was start stop technology! You do get used to this at stop lights after a while when the engine stops to save gas, and you can anticipate a green light and take your foot of the brake which starts the engine. Not for me though!



Turbo lag! The car is surprisingly peppy! The dowside is that it’s a turbo four. Compared to the Mustang this thing is frustrating to scoot around in dense traffic. What I get in the Mustang is just linear power that is instantaneous and predictable. You can take the Mustang to the track and get faster and faster times as you get used to the track as muscle memory kicks in. I know people buying this car aren’t buying a sports car but I had to mention it.


Surprisingly no neutral handling. Best thing abut the Mustang was the neutral handling. This is a car you can toss around corners and really use your skill to have fun. The Jetta actually feels a bit backheavy if you can believe that!



No mechanical hand brake. You can drift with the Mustang has it has a good old fashioned cable hand brake. With the Jetta you have an e-brake until it fails.



Performance with over 90 horsepower and 31 miles per hour top speed - the Mustang I have - is faster. It it is faster than the exclusive hot version of the Jetta because that 315 hp has to go through to front wheels. My Mustang is also faster to 60 than a Honda Type R - but the Honda has better aero with all that tack on stuff and it gets 16 miles per hour faster top speed which is impressive!



In the Mustang you are pushed down the road and in the Jetta you are pulled.



The Mustang is lower, wider and heavier. The steering is heavier, even the feel of the pedals are heavier. The gear selector is heavier and more robust - then you have the paddles at the wheel. Sport mode….. You can put the cheapest 87 octane in the Mustang and still get 300 horsepower. Or racing gas and get 345 with no physical modifications. Even the doors are heavier and massive. On the Jetta opening and closing the doors are cheap and tinny creaks while my 6 year plus Mustang is solid, noiseless and that sold close of the door every time. The Mustang has better crash protection also.



Anyway I’ve driven it enough. I’m going back to my Mustang after I finish this and park this car in my dad’s. garage.



Other stuff:



While I am seriously considering the trip to Geneva, remember this is a pro-AI event. If I don’t get any chance to vent this is probably a waste of resources. Time will tell, but I am officially invited as of now.



That measles shot is kicking in a mild way. I usually never get any reaction from a shot except Moderna and now the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) shot - I was warned of this!




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 8, 2024


The AI trip continues…..







I talked things over with Sue who is a director in London about the Geneva trip. Long story short, the AI thing is a personal “side hustle” of mine, but there is enough there in Geneva to keep proceeding with things as if the trip was an actual go. So I’m checking flights and availability, hotels and such. It’s more complicated than I thought, but even if we scrap the idea - I’m going there sooner or later so the planning has much merit.



In other news:



The purchasing of guitar equipment seems over. That is a good thing as the advocacy ramps up. The SG was the last guitar purchase a few weeks ago and now one guitar cable and a hard case for the SG seem to have everything covered.




My current Line 6 pedalboard!



I know how to get all the sounds out of that electronic pedal board I have so I don’t need a traditional amp set up and can learn with what I have.



As a beginner guitarist - what is the guitar in my collection that is “me”? That’s easy as most guitars I have are the classics as in:

Telecaster
Stratocaster
Hollowbody
Les Paul
SG
Acoustic


That is seven of my eight guitars. They are the most common types so I have those covered. But the guitar that fits me as a person is that Ibanez AZ Premium seven string. A rather exotic thing made of a wood not like the others that just happens to resonate with the same frequency as high gain. And it has that extra string the others do not. With that extra string that guitar can go places the other can’t. It can be tuned in a way the others can’t. Yet it is unknown as a type and flies under the radar of most guitarists.




Get up close and this is Roccoco!




Two battery doors to run this guitar!



I actually searched for this thing as the other sevens were too cheap and plain. The Schecter Hellraiser C-7 Sustainic seven string came close but the batteries needed for those active pick ups and that rococo abalone binding and inlays and such was defiantly not for subdued me. With that guitar I felt I had to wear a sombrero with tassels or actually glue horns to my head to fit in with the image. And the Schecter I was looking at had two - two - battery doors to run those super special and super hot pickups! And again the Hellraiser had the Floyd Rose bridge - yuck! The Ibanez AZ Premium with those broad shoulders and that thick oiled neck are where it’s at for me! I stayed with the steel saddles as opposed to the optional titanium saddles in the bridge as many tried them and went back to steel. That’s me…..





My seven string “old fart” guitar!



The advocacy is the important thing and the money goes there now. Time is running out on me and the big plays will play out and that will be my story…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Posted April 9, 2024


In addition to trips to Switzerland (Geneva), there will also be trips to Nairobi, Kenya. I aim to set up members there to operate as our proxy when needed at the UN Headquarters there in Africa. I need to meet with these individuals in person before letting them speak on our behalf, but this is completely in line with our timeline going forward. Typically a member will get familiar with UN staff and eventually get a job there requiring a new member to fill their vacated seat. UN jobs pay well in these parts of the world so this is understandable.




That timeline has a future without me, but a good CEO has to operate that way for the good in the organization - as depressing as that sounds…..




Goodnight…..