RoyalHenOil's recent activity
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Comment on Someone ‘torturing’ LLMs in a robot prison has triggered the dumbest debate in AI yet in ~tech
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Comment on Given everything we know about AI so far, what do you think it can or cannot be good for? in ~tech
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI wouldn't even necessarily be opposed to seeing a movie, listening to a song, or reading a book that was AI-generated — if any of them were actually interesting. I'm not even asking for them to...I wouldn't even necessarily be opposed to seeing a movie, listening to a song, or reading a book that was AI-generated — if any of them were actually interesting. I'm not even asking for them to be good.
In the past, I have enjoyed some AI-generated things that were unintentionally funny, like Will Smith eating spaghetti, but those were the early days of gen AI when it wasn't so great at replicating its training data. That poor replication gave it some semblance of creativity. Now it's gotten so "good" that everything it makes is dull.
I guess its creations could be interesting from an anthropological or historical standpoint — like, here is the most generic example of this genre at this exact point in time, which might be a useful way to compare different genres or to study AI technology itself — but nothing I've seen gen AI create in the last couple of years has been very interesting for its own sake.
I think if gen AI were developed to be truly inventive, and not simply an attempted simulation of human creativity (which it will never be able to do as well as humans because it doesn't have human experiences to inform these choices), there might actually be some cool stuff it could do. Other kinds of AI, such as genetic algorithms, come up with some incredibly unique solutions to problems because they're not boxed in by trying to design the way a human designs — and so I find myself much more intrigued by what they create, despite being far older and far simpler than modern gen AI.
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Comment on The return of phones with physical keyboards? in ~tech
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI find phone swiping to make a lot of mistakes. For example, it almost never wants to write "staring" (it thinks I want "starting", or occasionally "staying") even if I swipe very slowly and...I find phone swiping to make a lot of mistakes. For example, it almost never wants to write "staring" (it thinks I want "starting", or occasionally "staying") even if I swipe very slowly and carefully. I have to select the right word out of a list, which slows me down, or go back later and correct words like this, which is even slower.
Swiping with my phone also irritates my hand and wrist if I do it for too long. I have some kind of tendinitis that seems to be triggered specifically by typing with a phone or using a trackpad.
I'm not sure how I'd do with a physical phone keyboard. I've never used one. But if it fixed the tendinitis issue, it would be worth it for me.
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Comment on Amazon uses its tracking data to guess whether shoppers have a flat butt and no friends in ~tech
RoyalHenOil (edited )Link ParentIt's not a feature in Australia, either, and we don't have an equivalent to GDPR. I do have an American Amazon account that I use for eBook purchases, but that account doesn't list any information...It's not a feature in Australia, either, and we don't have an equivalent to GDPR.
I do have an American Amazon account that I use for eBook purchases, but that account doesn't list any information about me whatsoever, so I guess they're ignoring Kindle data:
We haven't saved anything yet. As you shop on Amazon or chat with Alexa, we'll save helpful information to personalize your experience.
A bit of a shame because I'd actually like book recommendations based on what I like to read.
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Comment on Anyone else have Inattentive ADHD? in ~health.mental
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI have made repeated attempts to get diagnosed since ~2017, though I admittedly gave up over a year ago. I live in Australia, which for the most part has a pretty smooth healthcare system, but...I have made repeated attempts to get diagnosed since ~2017, though I admittedly gave up over a year ago.
I live in Australia, which for the most part has a pretty smooth healthcare system, but ADHD is a weirdly stark exception.
Here, you have to get a referral from a GP before you can see a psychologist. My experiences pre-COVID were that GPs were extremely reluctant to give out these referrals and insisted that I couldn't have ADHD because I was able to focus on the conversation with them. I did finally manage to get one referral after trying several times with different GPs, but the psychologist he sent me to refused to do an assessment because, in her words, "I don't believe in labeling people". She just wanted to do talk therapy.
Then COVID happened, we went into lockdown, and I stopped making unnecessary trips to medical facilities.
After the lockdowns, I started trying again, and I suddenly (for reasons I still don't entirely understand) had much more success finding GPs willing to give me a referral. In fact, every single GP I went to basically said, "Yep, you obviously have ADHD." The problem was that none of them knew who to refer me to. Every referral I got ended up being to a psychologist who was not accepting any new patients, even just for a one-time assessment, so I kept having to go back to the GP to try a new referral.
Finally, I got a GP who said to call around and find a psychologist with an opening, and then call her immediately on her personal mobile after so she could get me a referral ASAP before the opening closed. But I called and I called every psychologist I could find listed (I live rural, so not a lot of options unfortunately, but I was willing to drive 3+ hours to see one), but none had any openings and weren't willing to book me more than 6 months ahead. After months of trying to find anybody willing to see me, I finally gave up and decided to devote my free time to other endeavors (including, unfortunately, a more pressing medical issue that came up).
My partner had more success (he found a psychologist willing to book him an appointment a year ahead), but the whole process of getting diagnosed still took him quite a bit longer than that because the assessment required multiple appointments. The heart tests were quick, at least (Australia's good at heart stuff). But ultimately, as I already described, he found that the benefits of the medication proved not worth the ongoing effort of managing renewals and refills, frequently missing doses due to shortages, and having it interfere with travel. He's much (and I mean much) better at dealing with that particular flavor of hoop-jumping than I am.
As I mentioned, Australia's healthcare system is usually much more responsive and easy to work with. For every other medical concern I've had, I've never had any issues booking appointments, getting referrals, getting assessments, refilling prescriptions, renewing prescriptions, etc. I can almost always book appointments within 24 hours, get a referral to see a specialist within a few days, get my prescriptions overlapped so I don't run out, etc.
But for some reason, ADHD seems to be uniquely difficult to navigate. Even immigrating (from my first backpacker's visa all the way to full dual citizenship) was easier and faster.
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Comment on Anyone else have Inattentive ADHD? in ~health.mental
RoyalHenOil (edited )Link ParentUnfortunately, even after assessment (which where I live is pretty extensive, including assorted heart tests that require multiple hospital visits), you do have to test out different strength...Unfortunately, even after assessment (which where I live is pretty extensive, including assorted heart tests that require multiple hospital visits), you do have to test out different strength levels (unless you luck out and they get it right the first time), which means repeatedly bouncing back and forth between the doctor and the pharmacist for each prescription update. Then once you settle on a final strength, you have to keep refilling it forever and getting the prescription regularly renewed — and that's on top of navigating medication shortages, planning trips around your prescription refill/renewal schedule, combing through assorted local laws around possession of controlled substances whenever you travel, etc.
It's a big pain. I know it is because my partner (who is diagnosed with inattentive ADHD, although his symptoms are not nearly as severe as mine) has been navigating the system for years. He finally went off his medication because it was too much work to keep his prescription filled. I get that the medication itself makes work like that easier to tolerate, but even on a very strong dosage of Vyvanse, he was really struggling to juggle doctor's appointments, prescription refills, etc., and he often had to take days off work (very hard for him to do as a teacher) because the windows for refilling prescriptions for controlled substances are so tight. I think for someone with milder ADHD or who doesn't work full-time, or for someone who lives in a place with lax drug laws, it's probably a pretty navigable system, but I can't see how to make it work for myself.
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Comment on Anyone else have Inattentive ADHD? in ~health.mental
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI find I'm generally pretty good at jotting things down, as long as it's very easy to. I keep whiteboard markers on my fridge (in a little magnetic holder) and write quick notes and lists directly...I find I'm generally pretty good at jotting things down, as long as it's very easy to. I keep whiteboard markers on my fridge (in a little magnetic holder) and write quick notes and lists directly on the fridge. Then later, I take a photo of those notes on my phone to keep as a to-do list.
The tricky part, for me, isn't finishing tasks. That's easy. Once I get started, nothing will stop me — not even finishing the task. I'll over-polish it just to keep going. (People think I'm perfectionistic for this reason, but actually I just can't stop thinking about whatever it is I've been working on.)
What's hard is actually getting started on new tasks. I do have some thoughts on how to do that, at least for certain kinds of tasks, but this is definitely my biggest weakness.
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Comment on Anyone else have Inattentive ADHD? in ~health.mental
RoyalHenOil Link ParentThis is 1000% me (and my dad, who I no doubt get it from), and I think everyone who knows me would agree intensely. I've never been diagnosed. I've made several attempts to, but it's just too hard...This is 1000% me (and my dad, who I no doubt get it from), and I think everyone who knows me would agree intensely.
I've never been diagnosed. I've made several attempts to, but it's just too hard to follow through all the hoops to actually get an assessment — and testing out different medications and keeping up with prescriptions sounds exactly like the kind of wagon I constantly fall off of.
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Comment on Approved for altruistic kidney donation in ~health
RoyalHenOil Link ParentHow was your own recovery?How was your own recovery?
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Comment on When do you know that you've found "the one"? in ~life
RoyalHenOil (edited )LinkA big question to ask yourself is why you want to get married in the first place. Is it because that's what people are expected to do, or it feels like you'll be missing out on a major life step...- Exemplary
A big question to ask yourself is why you want to get married in the first place.
Is it because that's what people are expected to do, or it feels like you'll be missing out on a major life step if you don't, or you hope it will fix the ache in your soul, or you've always dreamed of your wedding day? If the answer is yes, you might not be ready to get married.
Is it because marriage has practical benefits (e.g., immigration, children, health insurance)? These are valid reasons to seek a legal partnership, but ask yourself: would you still want to spend the rest of your life with your partner even if legal marriage weren't an option, or would you prefer to cut your losses and find someone else to marry in that case? If the answer is that you'd want to stay, you might be ready to get married and to your partner, but if the answer is that you'd rather move on, you might be ready to get married but possibly not to this person.
Is it because you love your partner so deeply that you feel almost like you have to marry them? If the answer is yes, I'd take that as a good sign, but I'd caution against getting married just yet. In my opinion, you should get married only after the novelty of the relationship has worn off and you can think soberly about what exactly marriage to this person would look like — and, not to put a downer on things, but what divorce with this person might look like, too. If you can't think of any potential risks or downsides to spending your lives together, you might be too twitterpated to get married (yet).
Your partner should ask themselves the same questions, and you should make sure that you're generally aligned: both of you want to get married and specifically to each other, both of you are hoping to get the same (or at least compatible) things out of marriage, and your relationship has matured sufficiently that you can talk productively about issues you might run into (like differing ideas about housework, budgeting, raising kids, illness, in-laws, infidelity, recovering from lost passion, etc.).
Apart from all that, how much do you and your partner just plain like each other? Are you best friends? If one of you ended up in an accident and you couldn't have sex anymore or do any of your favorite romantic activities anymore, would you still love hanging out together? Would your relationship still be fun and interesting?
How's your compatibility? Does your relationship energize you or exhaust you? If something bad is going on in your life, does telling your partner make you feel better or worse? If you have to work on a project together or organize an activity together, does it leave you feeling closer or further apart? If your partner became depressed or ill or lost their income, do you like the idea of taking care of them, or does that sound awful?
If both of you can answer these questions to your mutual satisfaction and there's no glaring reason why you shouldn't get married, but you still have cold feet, think about where those cold feet could be coming from. Do you often get cold feet before making large or lifelong decisions, or are you getting uniquely bad feelings about this relationship? Are you (and/or your partner) someone who tends to jump into big decisions and then regret them later, or are you (and/or your partner) someone who routinely gets anxious before big decisions even when they're the right decision and you're ultimately happy you made them? Do any of your friends or family share your reservations, and if so, what are their concerns?
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Comment on How to get better at academic writing quickly? in ~humanities
RoyalHenOil LinkOne thing that can help is learning how to write to extremely tight word counts. When I went from high school to university, this was the biggest change for me — going from essays with a (large)...One thing that can help is learning how to write to extremely tight word counts. When I went from high school to university, this was the biggest change for me — going from essays with a (large) minimum word count to essays with a (tiny) maximum word count — and I had to unlearn some very bad habits.
If you intend to publish in academia, this skill will be particularly relevant. The publisher (especially at a top tier journal) will give you word or character counts that sometimes feel impossible to meet (especially when combined with assorted other requirements, like writing out the full names of organic compounds — ugh!).
A good way to practice is, any time you write something, challenge yourself to edit/rewrite it to 50% of your original word count. And after you've done that, do it again.
It will force you to expand your vocabulary substantially and learn how to hone in on your central thesis.
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Comment on Societal type of question in ~life
RoyalHenOil LinkI barely know anybody in my field — really just my current coworkers and a few former coworkers, which totals to under ten people. I'd say three of us are tied for being the most successful (in...I barely know anybody in my field — really just my current coworkers and a few former coworkers, which totals to under ten people. I'd say three of us are tied for being the most successful (in terms of things like promotions and how much we 'own' the projects that the rest of the team puts out).
The other two are firmly A, while I'm probably mostly D, since this job just kind of fell into my lap when my partner idly mentioned to a friend (one of the two A people) that I was thinking about a career change. She got me the job and taught me everything she knew, and then I got promoted into her role when she left.
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Comment on Does the dryer shrink your clothes? in ~life
RoyalHenOil Link ParentWhere I live, in one of Australia's coolest regions, hanging thicker items (such as towels, jeans, and blankets) in the winter tends to cause them to become moldy before they finish drying. Our...Where I live, in one of Australia's coolest regions, hanging thicker items (such as towels, jeans, and blankets) in the winter tends to cause them to become moldy before they finish drying. Our winters are very humid and rainy, and even a thin T-shirt usually takes three days to dry. I do hang thinner items, like T-shirts, but it takes them so long and I have such limited space under cover (protected from rain) that I usually can't hang them all. (Pro tip: You can fit more clothes on a line by using coat hangers! I recommend the kind with clips.)
In the summer, however, hanging clothes to dry works extremely well. Our summers are very dry, so even just draping clothes over a chair indoors will usually dry them within a couple hours (and boost the indoor humidity, which is always welcome that time of year).
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Comment on UN says world will miss its climate target, warming must be reversed in ~enviro
RoyalHenOil (edited )Link ParentPlanting trees over roads and parking lots, instead of over houses, is also safer from a wildfire standpoint, which is a pretty major concern in a lot of places (particularly those with dry, hot...Planting trees over roads and parking lots, instead of over houses, is also safer from a wildfire standpoint, which is a pretty major concern in a lot of places (particularly those with dry, hot summers), and it's only going to get worse as droughts become more frequent and more intense.
Where I live (rural Australia), large trees have to be planted at a pretty significant setback from buildings, which means lots and lots of roofs exposed to lots and lots of sun — perfect conditions for solar panels.
People here make up for the lack of trees next to homes by planting shady avenues all over the place. These trees can still catch fire, but the road accessibility ensures firefighters can reach them quickly, making it dramatically easier to get fires under control before they reach buildings.
Edit:
I'd also like to mention that planting trees (specifically native trees) along roads has other environmental benefits. One of the biggest is that tree-lined roads function as wildlife corridors and go a long way toward mitigating the effects of habitat fragmentation. Tree-lined roads mean you can have lots of smaller parks instead of just a few really big parks. Small parks are more affordable/achievable for local governments, more human-friendly (who doesn't like having a park nearby?), and allow a greater variety of habitats to be preserved.
Another big one is that trees along roads are generally left in a more natural state than trees around people's homes. For example, if a tree dies next to a house, it needs to be removed before it damages the house. But along roads, dead trees can often be left standing (depending on how close they are to the road and how busy the road is). Dead trees are important for a lot of wildlife, especially birds and mammals that nest in hollows. In my region, the loss of dead trees is by far the biggest factor in bird decline, and they are protected more carefully than living trees (e.g., if the council needs to choose between cutting down a live tree and a dead tree to build an access road, they will preserve the dead tree if it has hollows).
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Comment on UN says world will miss its climate target, warming must be reversed in ~enviro
RoyalHenOil Link ParentMy first job after getting my B.S. in ecology was lab and field work on some forestry-related climate change studies (similar to/associated with the Duke Forest FACE experiment) recording tree...My first job after getting my B.S. in ecology was
lab and field work on some forestry-related climate change studies (similar to/associated with the Duke Forest FACE experiment) recording tree growth and calculating biomass.What's especially frustrating about the wasted space we could be devoting to trees is that a maximally carbon-sequestering forest can still be highly economically valuable to humans. This can be a win-win.
On a per-hectare basis, a young forest captures carbon faster than an old forest — which favors tree farms, where you harvest the trees relatively young and immediately replant. And you can arrest all that carbon in the timber by making permanent products out of it, such as houses and furniture/cabinetry (specifically higher-quality products that don't just end up in a dump).
Locking up tree-farm-grown wood by building houses is so effective that, on average, building a timber-framed house removes more carbon from the atmosphere than it adds, despite the heavily polluting techniques widely used across the construction industry (heavy fossil fuel vehicles, cement foundations, long distance transport of materials, etc.). This ratio could be improved even further with minimal disruption — but more importantly, we should simply be building more wood houses even if we don't improve our construction techniques.
In every region of the world where a forestry industry is viable, governments should be subsidizing them heavily, particularly tree farms destined for the construction and carpentry industries. Let's make wood cheap again!
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Comment on Farmers turn to perennial grains as one solution to extreme weather in ~enviro
RoyalHenOil Link ParentBefore any soil prep takes place, above-ground portions of the crop may be harvested (e.g., for straw) or utilized in some other way. Where I live, farmers commonly put sheep on a field for a week...Before any soil prep takes place, above-ground portions of the crop may be harvested (e.g., for straw) or utilized in some other way. Where I live, farmers commonly put sheep on a field for a week or two. The sheep eat the grass down to stubble and redeposit most of it as manure all over the field.
Any underground portion of the crops will stay in place. For cereal crops, the roots are likely the bulk of the plant's biomass.
The soil is usually prepared via plowing, discing, or tilling (or some combination depending on the state of the soil). Whatever's left in or on the field — roots, stubble, manure, whatever the farmer has spread on the field, etc. — gets incorporated. Some of this carbon will be lost through natural processes, like microbial activity. Bare, soft soil is also suspectable to erosion, so until the new crop grows in, some carbon will be lost that way. But on the whole, you're going to be adding more carbon than you remove, even if you do annual cereal cropping.
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Comment on What made that wedding that you attended particularly memorable? in ~life
RoyalHenOil LinkMy sister's wedding. She and her husband got married in a former church (a cute little primitive Baptist church built in the early 1800s), and they rented the building out overnight and set it up...My sister's wedding. She and her husband got married in a former church (a cute little primitive Baptist church built in the early 1800s), and they rented the building out overnight and set it up for an all-night video game party for all their guests. We were sitting on pews and lying in sleeping bags playing midnight Super Smash Brothers on a big projector screen with amazing church acoustics.
Not only was it a lot of fun, but it basically served to bond our two families. It was the first time I met my brother-in-law's family, but they really became my family, too, by the end of the night.
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Comment on Summer US box office hits all-time $4.76b record: how audiences surrendered to moviegoing in ~movies
RoyalHenOil Link ParentMy partner and I used to go to small indie theaters that showed a mixture of recent hits, obscure films, and older movies. We'd pick out a movie poster that looked cool and was scheduled to play...My partner and I used to go to small indie theaters that showed a mixture of recent hits, obscure films, and older movies. We'd pick out a movie poster that looked cool and was scheduled to play in the next hour or two, and then go in blind. We wouldn't even look up the genre first.
But then those theaters closed and our only options were big chain theaters, which are much more expensive, too far away to visit on a whim (45+ minutes because we live in the boonies), and have a far more limited selection. After covid, every time we got the itch to go see a movie, we'd looked at what was playing and nothing grabbed us (we're not into superhero movies or little kids' movies).
It's only very recently that we've started seeing movies again because the selection is more interesting now. It's still nowhere as good as it used to be with the indie theaters, though. Those are covid casualties we'll probably never get back (especially our local in-town theater, since it's already been divided and repurposed into shops).
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Comment on Dragon Con 2026 in ~hobbies
RoyalHenOil (edited )LinkI used to go every year in my teens and early 20s, back when it was just in two hotels (the Hyatt and the Marriott, though the Marriott was kind of dead back then). I remember when they added the...I used to go every year in my teens and early 20s, back when it was just in two hotels (the Hyatt and the Marriott, though the Marriott was kind of dead back then). I remember when they added the third hotel as well, but I never spent much time there.
I was active in Atlanta's Rocky Horror Picture Show scene, and we'd all volunteer to work DragonCon security together, so most of my memories are security-related. The ones I remember most: the time someone set up an illegal tattoo parlor in their hotel room and were tattooing drunk guests, the time someone dressed as Spider Man was climbing between balconies on the outside of the Hyatt, the time some cosplayers were carrying around a bunch of illegal guns and got super pissed when we told them to get rid of them quick before the cops saw them, and the time James Marsters cut his hand on a sword belonging to one of my friends and the chaos that caused over the radio (we didn't have a code word for that type of incident, but we used the term "package" to refer to VIPs — as in, "I delivered a package to X" meaning a VIP has been successfully escorted somewhere — and my friend improvised with, "Uh, I have a damaged package" and we were all freaking out in the security room trying to figure out what that meant and how serious it was).
I don't live in Atlanta (or even the US) anymore, but I've been sporadically a few times since then, as a regular guest. My favorite event is the robot battles. (I never got to go to any events when I worked security, unless you count guarding the door.)
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Comment on How to spot a psychopath: ‘It’s like the difference between a domestic cat and a wild cat’ in ~science
RoyalHenOil Link ParentWhat I mean is that it's not enough to recognize that Trump is fascist. It's important to recognize the precise psychopathic (or at least psychopath-like) tactics he uses so that you can resist...What I mean is that it's not enough to recognize that Trump is fascist. It's important to recognize the precise psychopathic (or at least psychopath-like) tactics he uses so that you can resist them. When he starts telling a "big lie", for example, the issue isn't (just) that he has bad politics, but that he's warping your understanding of reality — whether you agree with his politics or not.
Even if Trump had good politics, it would still important to recognize the ways he manipulates public discourse. There's nothing stopping a psychopath from getting into leftwing politics, after all. Someone as manipulative as Trump isn't married to the platform they espouse; their political alignment is just another tool they use to influence people.
Agreed. We don't know how to identify consciousness effectively (e.g., see debates on which animals are conscious, and even which of our own brain processes are conscious), or even exactly what consciousness is. I don't think we can make any definitive claims at this point, and I'd prefer to err on the side of caution.
That being said, if LLMs do experience anything that could potentially be classified as consciousness, I think it's highly likely that it's very unlike our own consciousness, and I'd be deeply surprised if things that make us feel good or hurt our feelings would have the same effect on an LLM, since they don't share our brain chemistry in any way, shape, or form. They are truly alien.
Even if someone could definitely prove that LLMs aren't conscious, I do think it's still good policy to require people to interact with LLMs politely, just to discourage harmful communication habits. These things have a way of bleeding out into real life.