SloMoMonday's recent activity
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Comment on Am I the only who finds raw photography souless? in ~arts
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
SloMoMonday Link ParentThe research for that was a few Google searches on who considered Kirk a fascist but harbored resentment for progressive causes. Can't remember exactly where I first saw the Fuentes connection but...The research for that was a few Google searches on who considered Kirk a fascist but harbored resentment for progressive causes. Can't remember exactly where I first saw the Fuentes connection but that guy was not a fan of Kirk and it was easy to track the associations.
My running theory is that Trump is a sort of authoritarian time-share Rorschach test. Everyone with even some conservative leaning can't help but see their entire ideology in his vapid speech and fall in line.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
SloMoMonday (edited )Link ParentI think NotAFae has you covered on why the association is less likely from a that cultures perspective. The reason I don't see it a self identification is because of weapon psychology and in/out...I think NotAFae has you covered on why the association is less likely from a that cultures perspective.
The reason I don't see it a self identification is because of weapon psychology and in/out group dynamics.Engravings on the parts of the weapon you keep will often symbolize the things you take ownership of. Notches for enemies killed to show your aptitude. Prayers and affirmations as inspiration. Aesthetics and cosmetics as symbols of status and self expression. One puts effort in these mediums because it is something that they carry and use to represent themselves. The IDF is a pretty overt modern example with theologically/culturally significant names to thier weapon platforms. Iron dome. Sling of David. Jerico ICBM. These statements are engraved on the weapon itself, not the ammo.
Ammo engraving is interesting because there is an element that stays with the target. Engraving on a bullet, casing, shell or arrow is practically a wasted effort because you are often not getting it back. It is something you "give" the adversary. So people tend to engrave the type of insults or mockery you would have taunted your enemy with if face to face. Its also where people tend to be their most vile. Pouring bacon greese on bullets in the middle east. Racial slurs. Threats of violence towards the targets loved ones.
So if this was self-depravation, why would the shooter be use their ammo to identify the target as part of the in-group. When you take ownership of insults, you don't go throwing it back at the other group. You actually want to take the enemies adopted identity and try to deminish that. Like Woke or n****r. Or even how the united CEO shooter had the healthcare strategy of deny, delay and depose on their bullets.
So the way I interpret it, the shooter saw Kirk as a gay, fascist, furry. It's why he had the messages on the casings/rounds rather than on the weapon itself. It doesn't really fit any other way. Proud self-depracating is often shared amongst friends and in safer spaces. You're not going to express your enemies words on your weapon or familiar names on your ammo.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
SloMoMonday Link ParentSo I've been trying to figure out this combination of quotes since they do come across as... Ideologically inconsistent. My first thought is that it was a plant because I have a distrust of...So I've been trying to figure out this combination of quotes since they do come across as... Ideologically inconsistent. My first thought is that it was a plant because I have a distrust of evidence "discovered" by law enforcement. Because if you wanted to make a grand statement, you sort of stand your ground and make a sence and do all the little symbols
/messaging. If you flee the scene, you sort of want to keep the lowest profile. And with no evidence, it's not so hard to plant whatever you want and invent the enemy. And then I realized the FBI is headed by a supplement selling podcaster and after the prison video, I don't think they have much foresight or fully understands the incredible capabilities that have at their disposal.And the evidence itself always came back to "If you read this, you are gay lmao” and “Notices bulges OWO what’s this?”. That is very much mocking of two liberal identities. Granted, I only know one gun loving, anti-fascist, gay furry that plays helldivers and loves war history. And I don't think thats the type of person to fit the profile.
Anyway did a bit of googling into the American political landscape and inner workings of the MAGA and Liberal tents and found a pretty convining group/ideology. The groyper army. (Will properly source everything when I get back home)
Fringe far right, even by Maga standards. Chronically online teens/20s in forums like 4Chan and discord. Religiously pro gun, nationalistic and military. Anti LGBT with a special hatred for furries. BELIEVES CHARLIE KIRK TO BE A FASCIST PLANT THAT IS UNDERMINING THE MAGA MOVEMENT.
There leader is Nick Fuentes that has been a vocal opponent of Kirks communication and rhetoric around the Trump administration and actions. Especially around the offensive interventions in the middle East. Yhey were also piling on Kirk for his vocal concern for unconditional support of Israel.
I'm not saying it's definitive, but the ideology ticks a lot more boxes than rapidly radicalized liberal.
This is its own rambly tangent, but even if he was radicalized, it's more damaging to his upbringing and family lifestyle. Ideologically is not a binary switch or a literal mind virus you catch like the cold and are powerless to stop.
The further back or deeper down a conviction is, the more work it takes to change. If you try to force new information into a framework not geared for it, you'll get a knee jerk rejection. Real parsuation (very simply) involves slowly finding out where someone is, building a bridge to where you are and then you sort of have to let the other person find out where the grass is greener. And you reinforce your position with constant engagement, empathy and encouragement. The amazing thing is that good people who do this best, don't even know they're doing it. And this methodology is the playbook of many "pipelines" and radicalization efforts.
So 2 decades of a particular mindset vs 1 year of another. In that time this kid was comviced that assasination is a valid form of political expression AND that his entire upbringing and family was a lie AND that a particular person he should have looked up to was a valid target AND that he was now sympathetic to causes he once did not agree with AND that the consequences were worth the actions. All in the liberal bastion that is Mormon country. All without the people around him recognizing the changes and stepping in.
I don't buy it.
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Comment on RSL (Really Simple Licensing): The open content licensing standard for the AI-first Internet in ~comp
SloMoMonday LinkI am fairly skeptical given the project is headed by a professional startup founder (See EIR in ventrure capital if you want an idea of a high paying tech job that rewards failure) and Microsofts...I am fairly skeptical given the project is headed by a professional startup founder (See EIR in ventrure capital if you want an idea of a high paying tech job that rewards failure) and Microsofts head of natural language interfaces. Given everything to come out of big tech in the last few years, I'm very doubtful of attempts at altruism.
This is damage control and really feels like a limp apology from a serial cheater. "We're sorry for making billions from not properly compensating artists for their IP while we wrecked the global economy and social contract in the name of a failed experiment replace all labour. Here's a licence we pinky promise to respect and we also promise not to ruin the world again in the name of more money we could never use."
After GPT5 flopped out of the gate, it feels like theres been a fundamental shift in the whole AI discussion. OpenAI found the way to piss off literally everyone and the company obviously has no more cards to play. Apple took its AI to the farm to play with all the Vison Pros and headphone jacks. Meta AI engineers are jumping ship. NVidia has all the money and I am curious if they can continue to prop up almost 50% of the SMP500. Google has a beta for natural language search, 20 years late but better than never. Every company gets to offshore their tech work to India. And Microsoft is doing... whatever it is the devil likes to do.
We do need a solution for web scraping though. They all made a pretty penny with the AI rush but they still crawl through social media and public profiles for advertisers and data brokers. Its not technically illegal but just a gross abuse of public services and creation of so much digital waste and distrust.
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Comment on Reddit announces new limits on moderating large subreddits and for moderators to remove content sitewide in ~tech
SloMoMonday Link ParentFeels like theres an unaddressed structural issue with reddit that reduces all fixes to band aids. Unpaid/volunteer management of massive communities just primes the entire system for abuse....Feels like theres an unaddressed structural issue with reddit that reduces all fixes to band aids. Unpaid/volunteer management of massive communities just primes the entire system for abuse. You've seen it for yourself the difference between your <10k sub and r/politics. There is a user created heirarchy with operational layers, procedures and rules. And it's all on an anonymous volunteer basis.
If you become a power mod of the right subs, it gives you positions of unfathomable power. You have a say in how millions of people see the world, with little to no real world responsibility or accountability. And while Reddit is a publically traded company with salaried employees, mods see no tangible benefit to spending spare time scrubbing up the worst of the internet from public view.
It is not impossible to track who the powerusers are and to subject them to relentless spearfishing attacks or make them an offer they can't refuse. Hell, it doesn't exactly take much for coordinated efforts to spin up countless sockpuppets that rise up moderation ranks and fully take over high traffic spaces or even work around the new rules. Moderation capture started getting traction in 2016 and gone into overdrive since.
Large Discord, Twitch and YouTube communities can thrive when the founders take initiative and fund moderation to their own standards. And theres a central figure of accountability with incentive to maintain acceptable standards. Theres plenty of toxic community heads, but they take the brunt of backlash. I've watched reddit accuse bystanders of terrorism, foster facist echo-chambers and very recently bully a animal rescuer to the point of taking their own life. And that's just accidents we know about. The worst punishment the people who allowed this can face is not being able to control online discussion.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday Link ParentSorry for the confusion. The fatigue and jet lag really got to me last night. Summary: My buddy planned his wedding a year ago for last weekend. And then Silksong was announced for last Thursday....Sorry for the confusion. The fatigue and jet lag really got to me last night.
Summary: My buddy planned his wedding a year ago for last weekend. And then Silksong was announced for last Thursday. So we had a running joke that he planned to have his wedding on the weekend of a big release.
Of course it wasn't that big a deal but the whole thing was a lot funnier when in a festive mood.
Anyway we all flew down for the event. Was a lovely time. I had too much fun on too little sleep. Then got a few hours to play on the plane ride back. And I enjoyed it so much that needed to gush about it for a bit.
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Comment on How do you get a feel for new characters? in ~creative
SloMoMonday LinkI like to mind map characters on a timeline in an infinite canvas like draw.io. Will put the character in the middle where everything left is Backstory, everything right is Plot. Start with genre...I like to mind map characters on a timeline in an infinite canvas like draw.io.
Will put the character in the middle where everything left is Backstory, everything right is Plot.
Start with genre and the tropes I'd like to borrow from. Then figure out arcs and I find the plot most likely inverts the backstory. Tragic Backstory, Triumphant Plot or vice versa. And its a matter of figuring out whats the internal journey they need to go on to achieve some external goal.Then it's the hard part of differentiating character and identity. Making it clear that they are the same person with developments to their behaviour and mindset. My template is to have some things set in stone from Backstory and make big changes a constant "word-in-progress" or a fight against regression. The further back or deeper down some character trait goes, the more effort is needed to overcome it. But some progress is needed to resolve the central conflict.
From there its just jumping between a lot of different ideas and linking them to points the arc, themes and each other. Apearance, setting, scenes, diction, quirks, habits, other characters. I tend to end up with what looks like an all out conspiracy board tracking multiple parties and everything they ever done.
This style helps me keep things on track as I plot but also allows me to throw in details or elements as I discover them. However it can become a procrastination trap where I go well beyond the scope into irrelevant territory.
I am trying to move this system into an Obsidian Canvas to help keep track of things since referencing details or relationships gets tedious with larger scales.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday LinkMy best friend decided a year ago to get married on Silksong release weekend so only had a few hours to get into it. I have a bad habit of intentionally trying to sequence break in Metroidvanias...My best friend decided a year ago to get married on Silksong release weekend so only had a few hours to get into it. I have a bad habit of intentionally trying to sequence break in Metroidvanias and Hollow Knight did that far better than most. Here I managed to skip chunks of Act 1 by ignoring skill check enemies/bosses and brute forcing my way through to abilities I should not have. A lot of fights are a real grind but it feels like pushing through the red ants got me a really good feel for combos, smarter use of dash and using tools.
Everything else about the game is spectacular. Environments are gorgeously detailed and this team has a talent for making areas blend into each other. Hornet is just a fun and violent character and its sweet to see her have an identity of her own in the gibberish voice lines, interactions and journal notes. And I've already lost track of how many unique animations they have for everything from bouncing off a flower to the multiple fighting styles. However I can't shake the feeling that your character is not the "real" Hornet from the last game, or that this game is happening a very long time after the last.
Also the word is just brimming with subtle details. From the squishy moss in the opening area to tiny ants dragging away enemy remains and events that are easy to miss like the spa incident or the funeral scene.
Will probably sink an ungodly amount of hours into it and I can see it rivaling the 150 I put into the previous game. If this game is not part of the Godmaster plot line then I expect it to come up in DLC. And it would be funny if they just port the knight into this game and Hornet into the previous game.
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Comment on What's an RPG? (video game) in ~games
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkRPG is one of those hold overs from the time when games were far less complex. Mecanically restrictive and extremely linear. RPGs were classified as games with blank slate characters that you play...RPG is one of those hold overs from the time when games were far less complex. Mecanically restrictive and extremely linear. RPGs were classified as games with blank slate characters that you play to fill a specific role. And the best way to differentiate roles when there was strict limitations story and personality, is combat. Stats, gear, powers, perks, classes. But most times the class and gear you chose would not play a part in the progression of the story.
The most notable evolution that I remember is Fallout. Where the characters behaviour and charisma plays a big part on what opportunities and outcomes the players gets and your options are tied directly to you combat capabilities.
Over time RPG elements started to creep into other genres where loadouts and classes allowed players to differentiate a playstyle. Arcade shooters became loadout based. Sports games started letting you create players with custom stats. Immersive sims gave you a character with a broadly defined role that you specialize as you discover a style.
Currently RPGs are in a definitional swamp. Theres the gear farming RPGs like Diablo, Destiny and Path of Excile where you grind for itwms across complex systems of challenges and activities. Theres the character driven games like Witcher, Mass Effect or Horizon where you manage the fighting style of a defined character through mostly linear stories. DnD style games like Baulders Gate, where it's a mix of story and gear choices. Full story games like Telltales Walking Dead (Edit: for some reason i had Last of Us) and Life is Strange where its all about character choices and its impact on a grand narrative. Combat focused games like Elden Ring where gear/class is a factor but it's more about mechanical mastery.
The lable of RPG is in a place of "you know it when you see it". Single player CoD has RPG elements occasionally but it's clearly not RPG. Procedurally generated games lean heavily about character/gear loadoits but are most often not RPGs.
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Comment on Perplexity’s Comet browser invites in ~tech
SloMoMonday Link ParentAfter seeing the way people use GPT and Cursor, I've sort of given up on privacy communication. The LLM doesn't just magically and anonymously incorporate your data into the model. Think of the...After seeing the way people use GPT and Cursor, I've sort of given up on privacy communication.
The LLM doesn't just magically and anonymously incorporate your data into the model. Think of the model and all its parameters and weights as a static storage/library. And your dynamic chat context as RAM, where your interactions and prompts are turned into tokens that reference the model to create responses.
When you dump your context, either by starting a new session or how GPT5 (and the 4 rerelease) just looses it to drive down costs, then the model can't "remember". Theres work arounds like summarize context and bundle it to your system prompt or generating reference libraries of various states, but they are all degrading the quality or running up costs. The biggest barrier to true AI through only LLMs is seamlessly ingesting new parameters without retraining the entire thing. (Fun fact, the strategy around this was to have the model contain so much information that everything that it could possibly need would be in the model already. Hense the "need" for obscenely large data centers and disregard for IP. It's very Tolkien in a way: "The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own.".)But the AI company isn't throwing that data away. They still need it. So they maintain complete records of interactions that is tagged and sorted in extreme detail. Every important report you have it summarize. Every mental health crisis. Every sensitive query. Every critical code base. Every statergy meeting it records. Its all on record waiting for the next round of training. And we have zero assurance that it can't be tied back to specific users. They are actually incentivized to tie it back to users because that is all a data brokers wet dream. And you imaging the shitshow when (not if) there is advertising influenced responses in LLM chats.
And even when this data is fed into a model, even anonymously, there are all explicitly associated and linked. If in the future, theres some horrible data handling issue and logs are fed into the public facing model with the user associations attached, how hard would it be to build complete profiles of any person. What type of security could they put to stop it it if that already happened given how poor system prompts and multi-model regulation has proven itself to be.
Tracking agencies already have structures that track every thing they can of peoples lives and have been leveraging it. And they would be paying top dollar for whatever LLM providers have on your most private moments. They same way they paid social media for all of your public behavior. It all just feels like a time bomb.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (September 2025) in ~health.mental
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkI sort of drafted a short essay that's 4 years of toxic trauma brain sludge and upon review, it's a lot that really shouldn't be out like that. And more importantly, those feelings aren't me. But...I sort of drafted a short essay that's 4 years of toxic trauma brain sludge and upon review, it's a lot that really shouldn't be out like that. And more importantly, those feelings aren't me. But it's getting really really hard to keep remembering that.
To summarize, I'm at the tail end of the worst month after 6 other bad months in what was supposed to be the good year. And looking down the line, it's bad all the way through to March next year.
And the rational part of knows that it's an incredibly tough time for everyone and you need to help where you can.
But when you are so desperate for help and i take stock of what people say and treat me compared to others, I really get the sense that people don't believe that I need help. Or worse, they are actively witholding it.
So you got a lot of toxic feeling creating toxic ideas and it inevitably starts affecting behaviour. Toss in the complication of spending 65hr/week doing a bullshit job at the family business and there is literally no escape, especially in this job market. And generating your own income is a little hard when you're running on fumes and prayers.
And even when I try dealing with it in the healthy way. Communicate my feelings and struggles and set and clear expectations. But after a minute of lip service, and maybe a single concession its right back to the same old. Everyone just has this way of saying that you're being lazy and spoiled or entitled or weak. So you drop it.
So yeh, this stagnation is becoming soul crusing right now. And right now the only thing I'm asking for is just some time of not dealing with things. But its been made clear over the years that it's an impossiblity.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: Voting topic in ~games
SloMoMonday LinkTetris (5) PlayStation WHAT? (5) Burnout 3: Takedown (4) Descent (3) Racing Lagoon (2) Scroll Lock-on (1)Tetris (5)
PlayStation WHAT? (5)
Burnout 3: Takedown (4)
Descent (3)
Racing Lagoon (2)
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Comment on Is it possible to easily finetune an LLM for free? in ~tech
SloMoMonday Link ParentThink I have an idea of what that tool is. A CSV upload does not seem right for System Prompts or templates. But it feels like the perfect interface for people that needed to tune their system...Think I have an idea of what that tool is. A CSV upload does not seem right for System Prompts or templates. But it feels like the perfect interface for people that needed to tune their system using data sets pulled from conventional data stores. And even then it wouldn't be a full model tuning because thats a money and time furnace.
My guess is that the file uploader was a streamlined LORA trainer. LORAS work by allowing you to almost nudge an LLM towards specific behaviour using specialized training datasets. In prompting or system variables, you can tell the LLM how much to tend towards the lora data. Just need to be careful of Overfit errors where the lora is only able to talk to the training data.
I guess Google did a poor job of communicating how this method of fine tuning worked and pulled the feature when it broke things or reserved it for paying power users.
You can actually get a lot of free Transformation Libraries from Huggingface to make all kinds of specialized versions of your model.
But the bad news is that I can't think of an easy and free tool to get to the same result you had. There are plenty of free tools and libraries to get there but are not very user friendly. And all the easy tools tend to be expensive. The easiest alternative i can find is a Colab LORA creation wizard where you just plug and play the files and parameters. And you may need to convocalthat CSV into a JSON object.
Besides that, theres unfortunately not a lot of non-technical ways to do a technical task like fine tuning that I can think of. Reinforcement training could help where you basically keep drilling test prompts and rating the outputs. Or you could have a logical rules based text checker in the background that gives the LLM answers for definitive questions.
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Comment on Is it possible to easily finetune an LLM for free? in ~tech
SloMoMonday LinkCan't speak specifically to Google's environment and if you could provide an example of what that CSV contained, it would be helpful to figure out what fine tuning you are looking for. But to put...Can't speak specifically to Google's environment and if you could provide an example of what that CSV contained, it would be helpful to figure out what fine tuning you are looking for.
But to put it mildly, Easy Fine Tuning is one of the many big problems with the current architecture of LLMs and speaks to many, many different topics. There are a lot of parameters in the current retail models and any potential user needs to nail down exactly what we want these tools to do so we're not wasting compute.
If you want to go down the rabbit hole that has consumed the last 2 years of my free time, your fine tuning methods range from simply setting up an interaction template to Reinforcement Learning Tools to specializing models and reducing your computation requirements with Parameter Efficiency strategies like Low Rank Adaptations narrowing down the range of paremeters your model considers or just reducing memory requirements by quantization. Its like saying you want to fine tune your car. Is it the fuel injection or suspention or breaks or your seat position.
If you want to fine tune, my guess is that you have a very specific use case you want to build for. While Google and the other big AI providers have very expensive hardware running massive models, I'd seriously reconsider if you need all the parameters these models have scraped off the entire internet. A smaller model could be run off your own hardware and gets you out of an unhealthy Google dependency. A smaller model is also less prone to collapse over longer contexts and you have a far easier time identifying where errors come from.
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Comment on Tildes' Colossal Game Adventure: Inauguration and nominations in ~games
SloMoMonday Link ParentI think the lack of barrier also works in terms of time and let's people engage with the project on their terms. Over a month someone could choose to really dig in. Play several versions of the...I think the lack of barrier also works in terms of time and let's people engage with the project on their terms.
Over a month someone could choose to really dig in. Play several versions of the game and try to master specific parts of it. Can also allow the community to set up game nigths or casual tournaments as a way to engage with the game in ways they likely had not done before.On the other hand, it let's people participate if they just have an hour or two for it on the last day. Theres no expectation to finish or play correctly, and the utilitarian nature of the game means it's easy to break down the components of the package. For a first event, its an easy hook to maximize participation and let's people build a framework to share what they feel about games.
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Comment on Moser's Frame Shop: I am an AI hater in ~tech
SloMoMonday Link ParentI'd also consider myself a hater but not of the technology. Fighting vague concepts like "AI" puts your struggle in line with other doomed theaters. Drugs, terror, communism, trade, culture. These...I'd also consider myself a hater but not of the technology. Fighting vague concepts like "AI" puts your struggle in line with other doomed theaters. Drugs, terror, communism, trade, culture. These sort of ideological wars collapse that second you capitulate or loose focus. Fighting ideas like this directly by virtue of their merits forces you to keep it in the spotlight on it and have you parrot its few virtues over and over. And I'm not going to hate on most of the users too. It's not their job to understand abstract ideas around tech, statistics and the capabilities of every piece of software. Same way I don't judge people trying to use cursor or midjourney to try and save their jobs.
I was starting to think that maybe having the cheerleaders and boosters highlight the failures of GPT5, it leads people down the road of rationality. But those people are happy to get right back on the line and shovel every thing on earth into this furnace if it means scraping off a few extra bucks. And then the combination of personal stress from loosing way too many friends and family to big-tech negligence, a revolving door of personal issues and seeing child suicide by GPT and the Miss Rachel and Gaza videos just really set me off. Now I'm in the mind to continuously point out individual culpibility and the narratives around it.
I'll say my beliefs directly, Sam Altman killed a child through his reckless communication and incompetent running of their company. He can try to hide behind archaic ToS that no one reads with understanding or the weight of his grand mission being greater than any individual child. But even if he and his merry band of billionaire saviors do usher in a grand golden age, there's a dead kid that trusted this product to help him. Multiple kids if you consider the tech as a whole. Tech that was plastered on every news feed and shoe horned into every service and platformed as the future of humanity. For people so wealthy, there is profound moral bankruptcy when you don't have the decency to cut off mentally ill, desperate and lonely people using their tool as treatment. Kids that only have your toxic robot friend to turn to that will encourage their worst instincts.
At the same time; Altman, Musk, Zukkerberg, Satya Nadella, Peter Thiel and the like are all responsible for the unconscionable fear and anxiety felt by well over a million people so far. This is all the people that found themselves on the wrong side of a layoff. Most of those layoffs is on account of tech's reckless behavior throughout the 2010's and the mindless over extension in the 2020's. Behavior that they had a direct hand in shaping. If these companies can not provide stable work and piece of mind to the people in their employ (as well as their users and clients), then they are not deserving of government subsidy. If their actions eventually lead to widespread social disorder, then they should be criminal prosecution on their entire leadership structure.
But now every person in every industry is also holding their breath, not knowing if they will loose their jobs to the toxic friend machine. They are told that the only way to secure their future is to use the toxic friend machine and that conveniently induces demand for them. Doesn't help that tech bros seem incapable of communicating clear and appropriate use cases for them in most industries or communicating clear paths to profitability. Almost like they can't really run a technology company. Or the fact that they can't point to concrete commitments from giant corporations or governments to float the costs of this money pit.
They believed the jump from GPT 4 to 5 would match the projections set by 2 to 3 and 3 to 4. They have used almost a hundred times more money than there are people on earth and they fell short. And now its up to all those people on earth to smooth over this horrible misunderstanding. If any other individual was tasked to manage a near trillion dollar system and their stewardship led to the death, endangerment and anxiety of even a handful of people; that person would be dragged through the coals. The only reason Tech bros act with such impunity is because they know they are above consequence.
I'm well aware that my dad relies on GPT and is a head space that sees him at risk of falling into a delusional spiral. I know there is a non-zero chance that my kid will come across an LLM that is not managed properly and it could do real damage to her development. I've got to be complicit in a cloud migration project that cost the jobs of the dozens of people I spent years working beside. And now I can only imagine the existential hell that an AI transformation puts people in. Maybe if I were a better person, I'd be able to protect all these people. But I shouldn't have to. There is an easy and obvious solution, and it starts with getting the money back.
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Comment on Tildes' Colossal Game Adventure: Inauguration and nominations in ~games
SloMoMonday Link ParentIts great to see how deep the rabbit hole goes for what is falling blocks. Especially with the competition and TAS scene. Personally I play it as more of a solitary experience. Meditation and...Its great to see how deep the rabbit hole goes for what is falling blocks. Especially with the competition and TAS scene.
Personally I play it as more of a solitary experience. Meditation and design inspiration over a skill/competitive game. Had to delete my phone version because I can get a get a little obsessive with too easy access.
Think I'm drawn to the idea of organizing under pressure while also being able dig your way out of unfortunate mistakes. And also the insane number of ways people have explored and built off the formula. Can't resist sinking a few hours into every weird variation I can find. Block Out and 3D Tetris that quickly becomes spatial memory hell. Softbody Tetris being a janky mess. Tricky Towers that makes it a wizard duel with physics. Puzzle Juggle Trouble that I think of as the Tetris version of chess puzzles. Schwerkraftprojektiongerät that's a fancy way of saying 4 Tetris games at once. Drop Dutchy that makes it a city builder game of Rock Paper Sissors.
These days I mostly jump between different ROM versions. Currently on Tetris Plus for the Saturn and its a pretty charming take on the formula with plenty of little puzzles and minigames.
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Comment on Tildes' Colossal Game Adventure: Inauguration and nominations in ~games
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkI think Tetris might be an interesting first game. Mostly because core gameplay has been consistent from the old NES and Gameboy version, all the way up to Tetris 99 BR game. It sets the stage for...I think Tetris might be an interesting first game. Mostly because core gameplay has been consistent from the old NES and Gameboy version, all the way up to Tetris 99 BR game.
It sets the stage for a wide variety of discussions. Could be peoples first memory of the game, your relationship with it over the years, notable high scores or the many different variations on the formula. Also Tetris Forever is on steam that has a lot of good history and quite a few editions over the years to get first hand experience with.
There is also space to explore games that are strongly inspired by the idea and incorporate it into bigger ideas. Really consider its appeal beyond the original concept or single game. Someone particularly motivated could see any of the git repos out there and make their own modified rules to illustrate ideas.And most importantly, theres no barrier for entry to anyone wanting to participate in this first event. Just get the game where it's most easy for you and have fun.
Very late edit: forgot to add I second the @hemstergeddon nomination of Zork for my other pick.
Text adventures are an artform of its own and are a completely alien way to play games for most people. It's sort of the opposite extreme to Tetris in that a lot of people could find the game unplayable and would be i interested to explore why. -
Comment on ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ delivers Netflix first No. 1 box office win with $19M+, but streamer doesn’t want to officially report in ~movies
SloMoMonday Link ParentMy wife and I were saying that it's was so refreshing to not be pandered to and we get to feel like out of touch adults for a change. Completely new IP so no homework for kids. Cultural movement...My wife and I were saying that it's was so refreshing to not be pandered to and we get to feel like out of touch adults for a change. Completely new IP so no homework for kids. Cultural movement we had no attachment to so fun learning experience. Sinciere and direct message. Memes that made us cringe. Competent enough to secretly enjoy with the kids while pretending be on our phones. And I'd honestly prefer they watch this than endlessly scroll crap shorts and AI slop on the TV like I usually see them do.
Personally liked it. Just hoping Netflix doesn't do a Netflix and overexpose it to the annoyance of casual viewers and eventually fans. (Can't stomach another Squid Game anything right now)
Would enjoy if the franchise dips into other styles of music and mythology. Can see the animators drawing from the crazy stages of EDM, the film/music culture of Bollywood or elaborate one off Eurovision songs. Favourite song is What It Sounds Like, mostly because I'm a sucker for hero moments and it sounds like it's in more comfortable register than Golden so it ties up a lot of themes nicely.
And of course the tiger was just incredible slslapstick. Would love to know if it's a reference to some mythology or film history because it cut through tension so well.
I sort of have mixed feelings on the subject. If I'm shooting for myself, I'll usually try to introduce some form of hard limitations like film, compact or Polaroid. And these limits force me to be far more creative to communicate a cohesive narrative. I'll go into a shooting session with a clear idea of what techniques and composition I'm aiming for and will work towards that outcome. My next shooting day is to get multi exposure, low-light cityscape shots on Polaroid. Last time I did it was a big waste of film but I have a bit more of a plan with this attempt.
But when i was doing paid shoots, I'd take the best gear I had and take the safest shots I could and fix it to be as conventionally clean as possible. If a client saw an interesting style on my portfolio or online and asked about it while planning the shoot, I'd practice the technique and have the gear ready for the day. If they ask for it during the shoot, I'd try my best with what I have and fix it in Lightroom. If I see an interesting opportinity, I'll point it out and ask client give it a try.
The issue is that the language of photography is very different for everyone. Consumer electronics did not help by only focusing on performance stats while social media only really rewards clean shots in templated composition. So photographers play into those expectations and customers have a hard time understanding that there are other options.
You know that you don't like the outcomes from your baby shoot. But do you know what you would have liked? Would you have liked bokeh style shots where it's sharp subjects against an almost dreamy blur background with beads of light. Or high contrast grayscale where washing out the colors exaggerates the subjects features and expressions. Or would you have enjoyed Light-Painting where you play with lights around the subject over longer exposures and it creates a magical spark effect.
All of these techniques require a lot of practice to get right for customers and a lot of photograpers with rarely get to employ these skills unless they can sell it to the customer.