balooga's recent activity
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Comment on New $500m artillery shell plant failed to produce any 155mm parts in ~society
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Comment on 'VPNs are lawful technical tools,' says EU court in landmark Anne Frank copyright ruling in ~society
balooga Link ParentIt’s almost as on-the-nose as that time Amazon deleted books people had purchased off their own Kindles, and the book was Orwell’s 1984.It’s almost as on-the-nose as that time Amazon deleted books people had purchased off their own Kindles, and the book was Orwell’s 1984.
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Comment on Hong Kong police raid independent bookstores and arrest five people in ~society
balooga Link ParentI’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free… to be white, cisgendered, straight, Christian, anti-abortion, anti-science, pro-capitalism, pro-police, and pro-military. Why’s can’t...I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free… to be white, cisgendered, straight, Christian, anti-abortion, anti-science, pro-capitalism, pro-police, and pro-military. Why’s can’t everybody just fall in line with that freedom? It’s the freest freedom that ever freed.
Oh yeah, and we have freedom to bear arms too, in case we ever need to take a stand against TYRANNY. But only the specific kind of tyranny that’s done by people who want the wrong kinds of freedom, who actually have no social standing or real political power but are making us uncomfortable just by existing where we can see them. THOSE tyrants. Certainly not the people who are already in power and are using it to further marginalize and disenfranchise. That’s not tyranny, that’s, uh, freedom.
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Comment on Claude Code is the ceiling on vibe-coded software in ~tech
balooga LinkThere are too many different strategies and techniques that get layered onto Claude Code to declare Anthropic’s results the ceiling. This is still an active field of experimentation and people are...There are too many different strategies and techniques that get layered onto Claude Code to declare Anthropic’s results the ceiling. This is still an active field of experimentation and people are trying wacky new things all the time. I’m talking about stuff like Ralph Wiggum loops, caveman speak, and Gas City. Things Anthropic never dreamed up, that originated in the user community and are reshaping expectations about how to use Claude (and competitors). Some of these ideas get fed back into the product, others get dropped, and many live in an in-between space of contested “best practices” for harnesses, prompts, workflows, and the like. Eventually the cream may rise to the top but at the moment this is all still very much in flux. I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume the Claude Code team knows better than anyone else how best to use it.
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Comment on Cryptocurrency and AI scams bilk Americans of billions in ~finance
balooga Link ParentStill, one could be forgiven for thinking they are the party of law and order, traditional values, and honest hard work. It takes a nontrivial amount of effort for most folks to see past the branding.Still, one could be forgiven for thinking they are the party of law and order, traditional values, and honest hard work. It takes a nontrivial amount of effort for most folks to see past the branding.
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Comment on Peter Jackson says the next film he’s directing is “The Adventures of TinTin 2” in ~movies
balooga Link ParentI’ve been in anticipation the whole time! The first movie was criminally underrated. I’d given up hope of this ever happening. Really hoping the magic is still there, after so long!I’ve been in anticipation the whole time! The first movie was criminally underrated. I’d given up hope of this ever happening. Really hoping the magic is still there, after so long!
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Comment on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is threatening to deport witnesses of its latest shooting in ~society
balooga Link ParentNot so different from how we all acclimated to mass shootings. What a sick culture.Not so different from how we all acclimated to mass shootings. What a sick culture.
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Comment on Mesh LLM: distributed AI computing on iroh in ~comp
balooga Link ParentSounds like it's intended to be used by a single operator with a pool of machines they already control, probably for the reasons you mentioned. I think ultimately this kind of distributed...Sounds like it's intended to be used by a single operator with a pool of machines they already control, probably for the reasons you mentioned.
I think ultimately this kind of distributed architecture is going to be vital as models get larger and even the beefiest GPUs struggle with workloads. So any progress in that direction is good. But I agree that it's not very practical in this form. Without having tried it, I'm extremely skeptical about performance. Seems like the latency alone would be a deal-breaker. It's hard enough splitting a workload between multiple GPUs in the same system, let alone wrangling separate boxes over a network.
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Comment on Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ reportedly a “mess” in the edit after shooting without a finished script and packing in over sixty roles in ~movies
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Comment on US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry in ~space
balooga Link ParentDevil’s advocate: Everything alters the planet. There’s no such thing as a closed system in the real world. It’s the butterfly effect — We are all connected and every action no matter how small...Even scarier that altering the planet only requires the approval of only a single nation's commission.
Devil’s advocate: Everything alters the planet. There’s no such thing as a closed system in the real world. It’s the butterfly effect — We are all connected and every action no matter how small will interact with the surrounding environment in some way.
I agree with you in spirit but I’m just pointing out how impossible it is to define terms around this.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
balooga Link ParentOh nice, I assumed the AI was doing the quotes for you but it just wrote the JS so you can pick them yourself. Slick!Oh nice, I assumed the AI was doing the quotes for you but it just wrote the JS so you can pick them yourself. Slick!
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Comment on Obsidian Entertainment reportedly lays off a quarter of staff, cancels multiple projects, and begins work on new Fallout game in ~games
balooga Link ParentI really liked The Outer Worlds. I only played the first one, and it disappointed in many ways, but in terms of player choice and consequence I felt like it actually exceeded New Vegas in places....I really liked The Outer Worlds. I only played the first one, and it disappointed in many ways, but in terms of player choice and consequence I felt like it actually exceeded New Vegas in places. My favorite playthrough was the mediator path, where you resolve disputes between factions, finding points of agreement and facilitating compromise and reconciliation. It's basically a pacifist run that trades gunplay for deeper conversation trees and more interesting outcomes. I haven't seen such a thing implemented so well in any other game and I'm hungry for more of that.
I haven't played PoE... most of my experience with CRPGs is with BG3 which I assume is more or less the gold standard of the genre. I would adore a BG3-style game set in the Fallout universe. But I'm a console player and it's basically a miracle that BG3 works as well as it does in that mode. I would demand the same level of information architecture, first-class controller input support, and UI affordances from any other game of this type. Larian set the bar very high. If Obsidian could deliver, I'd be into it! Especially if they can also allow for the same sort of interfactional player agency that was in The Outer Worlds.
That said, that CRPG gameplay is so much slower than Bethesda's ARPGs. It's a full meal and honestly sometimes I just want a quick snack. Fire up the game and clear a couple dungeons before bed. After the same amount of time in BG3 I'd probably still be fighting the same battle I started in.
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Comment on Chat control 1.0 passes even though majority actually voted against in todays vote in ~society
balooga Link ParentI don't know anything about EU procedure or who you're talking about, but what can people do to have her removed from office? That's absolutely shameful behavior.the head of the EU Parliament herself
I don't know anything about EU procedure or who you're talking about, but what can people do to have her removed from office? That's absolutely shameful behavior.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
balooga Link ParentInteresting! I've always appreciated those article distillations of yours. I'm quite curious how the choice excerpts get selected for the quote... I assume you've got some sort of "Identify the...This year I used AI to write code to semi-automate it, in case you’re wondering about how the quotes happen.
Interesting! I've always appreciated those article distillations of yours. I'm quite curious how the choice excerpts get selected for the quote... I assume you've got some sort of "Identify the paragraphs which best exemplify the thesis and pertinent details of the text, to use as pull quotes; ensure that the selected excerpts do not exceed n% of the full text length." prompt in there? Would you mind sharing that? Have you ever had it fail and post something malformed or irrelevant?
Where you find your links in the first place? Are you on other link aggregator sites trawling for cool stuff to share? I don't post many links because Tildes is my main home on the web these days, so I seldom come across stuff that isn't already here.
There’s a little-used bio on your settings page that I recommend filling in if you want people to remember who you are.
I've been here 8 years and never picked up on that. Guess I don't look at people's profiles very often! I don't have many personal details I want to share with the whole entire internet but I finally added something to mine so it's not just empty. Thanks for the tip.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
balooga Link ParentI’m not even sure if Deimos actually exists. I think it’s just a name that gets passed from one person to the next, like the Dread Pirate Roberts.I’m not even sure if Deimos actually exists. I think it’s just a name that gets passed from one person to the next, like the Dread Pirate Roberts.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
balooga LinkHey there, I’m balooga. Glad to meet ya! This place is pretty chill unless you catch me on one of my soapbox days. A word of caution: All of us are fae, except for one. She’ll definitely let you...Hey there, I’m balooga. Glad to meet ya! This place is pretty chill unless you catch me on one of my soapbox days. A word of caution: All of us are fae, except for one. She’ll definitely let you know who she is though.
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Comment on Introductions | July 2026 in ~talk
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Comment on Agentic test processes, LLM benchmarks, and other notes on agentic coding in ~comp
balooga Link ParentThat’s going to be most of us in 5 years, I suspect. The companies are in market capture mode right now, selling access at a loss (subsidized temporarily by investor capital) to get everyone...That’s going to be most of us in 5 years, I suspect. The companies are in market capture mode right now, selling access at a loss (subsidized temporarily by investor capital) to get everyone hooked. Eventually shareholders are going to demand profitability which means enshittification and higher prices.
Hopefully by the time that happens, local open-source alternatives will be a viable pathway out of the trap. But I’m not holding my breath for that.
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Comment on Bethesda, id Software reportedly hit hard by Microsoft layoffs in ~games
balooga Link ParentYeesh, not to overreact but this feels like a minor game-pocalypse. How many major works in progress just got wrecked by this single action?Yeesh, not to overreact but this feels like a minor game-pocalypse. How many major works in progress just got wrecked by this single action?
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Comment on Bethesda, id Software reportedly hit hard by Microsoft layoffs in ~games
balooga LinkHas anyone heard about other studios under that umbrella? I’m worried for Obsidian…Has anyone heard about other studios under that umbrella? I’m worried for Obsidian…
Yet another story about the dire state of American manufacturing, but considering we’re talking about a failure to produce life-taking instruments of war I’m not exactly sad to read it. If only the rest of the military-industrial complex and surveillance state were as incompetent.