balooga's recent activity
-
Comment on iPhone Duo sells out immediately, now backordered until next year in ~tech
-
Comment on Grand Theft Auto VI | Launch trailer in ~games
balooga Link ParentCan’t say I expected a thread about GTA VI to spark a debate about the labor theory of value vs. the subjective theory of value, but this is Tildes. As far as mainstream economics is concerned the...Can’t say I expected a thread about GTA VI to spark a debate about the labor theory of value vs. the subjective theory of value, but this is Tildes. As far as mainstream economics is concerned the matter has been settled for 150 years. Noah Smith has a pretty good article about it if anyone’s interested.
Long story short, stuff is worth whatever people are willing to spend on it, and the reasons behind their decisions are a beautiful tapestry of rational and irrational judgments.
-
Comment on Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news in ~news
balooga Link ParentMath derail: How many possible combinations of digits are there in a three-digit number? If the low end of the range is 000 and the high end is 999, you’ve already got the answer. Well— add one...Math derail: How many possible combinations of digits are there in a three-digit number? If the low end of the range is 000 and the high end is 999, you’ve already got the answer. Well— add one because you’re counting that zero as a possible value too, so… 1,000. Just struck me as funny that you asked AI to calculate the odds here, and I get it because probabilities can be surprisingly tricky to work out. But in this case it’s literally just counting!
-
Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of October 12 in ~society
balooga Link ParentI didn’t realize Leavitt was out. Was there a story behind that one?I didn’t realize Leavitt was out. Was there a story behind that one?
-
Comment on Metallica’s James Hetfield has a message for entertainers who bring their ‘bullshit‘ agenda to the stage in ~music
balooga Link Parent…and referring to denouncing genocide as “bullshit”? If you don’t want to mention politics, that’s fine, just don’t… mention… politics. But when you instead say that someone else’s politics are...…and referring to denouncing genocide as “bullshit”? If you don’t want to mention politics, that’s fine, just don’t… mention… politics. But when you instead say that someone else’s politics are BULLSHIT, that’s not a neutral statement, bro.
What he ended up saying is basically the opposite of what I presume he meant to say.
-
Comment on Mass shooting at US Hindu temple prevented by jammed gun in ~news
balooga Link ParentGood on that coworker. Quietly keeping an eye on the situation, sounding the alarm when things escalated. An unsung hero. Of course that didn’t stop the shooter from showing up and attempting...Good on that coworker. Quietly keeping an eye on the situation, sounding the alarm when things escalated. An unsung hero.
Of course that didn’t stop the shooter from showing up and attempting murder, I guess that jammed gun is a hero too. WTF is wrong with people? Really relieved he failed to harm anyone.
-
Comment on The state of AI video in ~tech
balooga LinkI pay close attention to the state of the tech and I agree it’s pretty damn good these days. MiniMax H3 is a phenomenal model. There are still limitations though… generation is time-consuming,...I pay close attention to the state of the tech and I agree it’s pretty damn good these days. MiniMax H3 is a phenomenal model.
There are still limitations though… generation is time-consuming, even with the beefiest hardware it takes minutes to produce just a few seconds of video output at high-quality settings. There’s been a lot of innovation in reducing that time but it always comes with a substantial quality hit. My interest is in cinema-quality realism, 4K@30fps (minimum) with visual fidelity approaching live action. And that just isn’t happening yet.
For a lot of use cases, lower quality is fine. YouTube shorts like this one are meant for rapid consumption, and people expect lower resolution and compression artifacts. Most people aren’t going to linger on this, analyzing it for AI tells. They watch once and swipe to the next thing. Which is fine for a silly MMA clip but becomes really concerning when it’s news or political content. Because the format conditions people to consume and move on (and each video is contextually disconnected from those before and after it) we’re having our critical thinking skills trained out of us. Media literacy is in trouble.
If you do rewatch the Seamus O’Grady video, and I suppose if you know what you’re looking for, you can spot plenty of tells. Most are in the text. For example, the logos for “cypso.com” (crypto.com) and “IUC LIGO” (BUD LIGHT) on the floor make it pretty obviously fake.
-
Comment on Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew | Official trailer in ~movies
balooga Link ParentThis is the Narnia adaptation I didn’t know I needed! That would be so kickass. It’s never gonna happen but holy shit if it did.go directly to Last Battle. Change it so the faithless heathen heretics are Christian Nationalists would get my approval.
This is the Narnia adaptation I didn’t know I needed! That would be so kickass. It’s never gonna happen but holy shit if it did.
-
Comment on Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew | Official trailer in ~movies
balooga Link ParentI keep rewatching the trailer and noticing substantial differences from the book. One major thing I haven’t seen anyone talking about is that it’s set in a different time period… the book’s earth...I keep rewatching the trailer and noticing substantial differences from the book. One major thing I haven’t seen anyone talking about is that it’s set in a different time period… the book’s earth scenes take place in Victorian London, Sherlock Holmes is mentioned by name and the streets are full of horse-drawn carriages, not automobiles. This change alone tells me the film isn’t meant to be a “faithful” adaptation of the source material. It’s a creative reimagining.
I think Greta Gerwig’s track record is strong enough that I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. One of her superpowers is finding new meanings and interpretations in existing works. There have been a million versions of Little Women, for example, but hers was really adept at finding new narrative strings to tug on, new lenses to look at the story through, without disrespecting the source material. I think she revealed a lot of richness in it that was previously untapped. I’d love for her to do the same with The Magician’s Nephew.
I suspect there’s going to be a lot of pearls clutched over authorial intent, and that’s a valid point. From what’s shown in the trailer and what I know of C.S. Lewis he himself would probably be appalled at the changes. This is Gerwig’s vision, not his. I think it’s going to rub a lot of purists the wrong way. C.S. Lewis is something of a saint in some circles, people are more likely to be up in arms about reinterpreting him than, say, Roald Dahl or A.A. Milne. Personally I’m open-minded about it. But I think it helps to level-set expectations about what kind of adaptation it’s going to be. People don’t like to be bait-and-switched.
-
Comment on US Pentagon says the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed in ~society
balooga Link ParentI think you and @mat are right. I decided to look into this instead of just spouting off on the internet about things I’m uneducated on. Turns out there’s a good amount written about the ability...I think you and @mat are right. I decided to look into this instead of just spouting off on the internet about things I’m uneducated on. Turns out there’s a good amount written about the ability of experienced riflemen to differentiate between blanks and live rounds, by recoil feel alone. I stand corrected!
I’m opposed to the death penalty all around, but it’s still a morbidly interesting thing to think about; the ballistic physics, the psychology and ethics, and the debate about which execution methods are the most humane. I have a very visceral reaction to the thought of firing squads in general but on reflection I do think they’re one of the better options, presuming executions aren’t going away.
-
Comment on Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew | Official trailer in ~movies
balooga Link ParentGreat invocation of the burning bush voice in The Prince of Egypt. I think I could get behind a different interpretation of Aslan than the mouth-talking corporeal Liam Neeson lion. Something like...Great invocation of the burning bush voice in The Prince of Egypt. I think I could get behind a different interpretation of Aslan than the mouth-talking corporeal Liam Neeson lion. Something like a lion-shaped supernatural visage with androgynous telepathic speech could be amazing.
-
Comment on The dock on Mac, from OS 10 to macOS 27 in ~comp
balooga Link ParentYou started with a good one! I’ve been a Mac user since System 6 and I still look back to Snow Leopard as one of the best.You started with a good one! I’ve been a Mac user since System 6 and I still look back to Snow Leopard as one of the best.
-
Comment on Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew | Official trailer in ~movies
balooga LinkThis was always my favorite book in the series, and I have yet to be disappointed by Greta Gerwig. Looks like a feast for the eyes! Color me excited. I’m not totally sold on the look of Jadis or...This was always my favorite book in the series, and I have yet to be disappointed by Greta Gerwig. Looks like a feast for the eyes! Color me excited.
I’m not totally sold on the look of Jadis or Charn but I’ll hold my judgment on those. The Wood Between the Worlds also looks pretty different from how I pictured it and honestly that might be the thing that annoys me the most at the end of the day, because I really like my version, because it’s identical to C.S. Lewis’s version. IDENTICAL!
I like Meryl Streep but I’m really hoping her involvement is more than stunt casting to trigger the culture war mob. As versatile a performer as she is, just seems like a weird pick for the voice of a talking, clearly male lion who is also the not-so-subtle stand-in for Christ in Narnia’s allegory. Seems like a gender swap that could be, but hopefully isn’t, intended from the outset as dumb ragebait. I will say Meryl Streep would probably make a great Jadis herself, but Tilda Swinton has already covered that ground and it would be a crime for anyone to ape her performance, so I’m sure it’s for the best to take the character in a different direction. I’m here for it.
-
Comment on Being Heumann | Official trailer in ~movies
balooga LinkLooks like a fun retelling of some not-so-distant history more people should be familiar with. I also recommend the excellent documentary Crip Camp, and there’s a surprisingly good episode of...Looks like a fun retelling of some not-so-distant history more people should be familiar with. I also recommend the excellent documentary Crip Camp, and there’s a surprisingly good episode of Drunk History about Heumann and the disability rights movement too.
With all the work being done these days to disenfranchise… well, MOST PEOPLE if you sum up all the minority groups in the crosshairs… it’s as important as ever to keep these issues front of mind so they’re not scrubbed out of the new histories.
-
Comment on Canadian YouTuber builds 'Flock-like' camera to exclusively track police vehicles, gets a visit from police — officers visit his home to express privacy concerns in ~tech
balooga (edited )LinkJust chiming in to say YES. I strongly believe that the best way to resist most surveillance is to find a way to turn it back on its proponents. Give ‘em a taste of their own medicine. When the...Just chiming in to say YES. I strongly believe that the best way to resist most surveillance is to find a way to turn it back on its proponents. Give ‘em a taste of their own medicine. When the rubber meets the road, the people clamoring for big brother usually don’t take long to reveal their whole prerogative is “surveillance for thee, not for me.”
We need to get these cams up everywhere.
-
Comment on Popcorn! What's the best way to make it? in ~food
balooga LinkI am going to defer to @cfabbro’s wisdom, posted here previously. I replicated his method and it’s some of the best popcorn ever. You’re on the right track with Flavacol, but the Whirley Pop is...- Exemplary
I am going to defer to @cfabbro’s wisdom, posted here previously. I replicated his method and it’s some of the best popcorn ever. You’re on the right track with Flavacol, but the Whirley Pop is clutch.
-
Comment on The imperial dilemma of Civilization V in ~games
balooga Link ParentAlso, you’re allowed to think about imperialism, study imperialism, and play games about imperialism without being an imperialist. Playing Tomb Raider doesn’t make you an archaeologist either....Also, you’re allowed to think about imperialism, study imperialism, and play games about imperialism without being an imperialist. Playing Tomb Raider doesn’t make you an archaeologist either. Playing Mario doesn’t make you a plumber.
-
Comment on What it means when the US right refers to the ‘Indian question’ in ~society
balooga Link ParentI miss the days when Victorian-style xenophobic racism was too obviously lunatic fringe to even deserve a mention from outlets like CNN. Platforming this drivel, even in opposition to it, lends it...I miss the days when Victorian-style xenophobic racism was too obviously lunatic fringe to even deserve a mention from outlets like CNN. Platforming this drivel, even in opposition to it, lends it credence as if it’s a legitimate minority point of view, rather than the backwards, hateful detritus it is.
We shouldn’t even be giving it the time of day. Shut these people out.
-
Comment on Solo developer rebuilds Adobe Creative Suite in Rust using Claude, releases it free to all in ~tech
balooga Link ParentI mean, does that make it not true? The industry is changing. These things don’t happen all at once or in every company according to a common timeline. Some people will feel the effects before...I mean, does that make it not true?
The industry is changing. These things don’t happen all at once or in every company according to a common timeline. Some people will feel the effects before others do, and that’s largely a matter of luck.
My SE career of 18 years ended last year when I and many in my department were unceremoniously laid off. I thought my department head was being unusually gruff when he gave me the bad news and bolted, only later did I learn that he’d been given the axe himself moments before, and his final duty with the company was to do the same to his subordinates. A shitty day all around. AI was never the stated reason, just nebulous “restructuring.” Okay. We were early adopters of Claude Code, so it was at least a factor, but saying more than that is idle speculation.
Anyway, I had already been grappling with career burnout for a few years. The work just wasn’t fun like it had been a decade before. It paid well, but (particularly after the pandemic killed off IRL coworker friendships and cool office perks) it was losing its luster. Then the introduction of Claude workflows redefined my role from a solution finder to a prompt-writer and AI babysitter. I was growing steadily less satisfied with that lot by the time the layoff came, and that was the final straw for me. Of course, I still had to look for new work.
When I re-entered the tech job market I noticed a lot of things were different from the last time I had been there:
- Most of the roles now had “Agentic” or “AI-native” in the title. These were prompt-writing and AI babysitting jobs. Not what I ever signed up for or was good at.
- Constant ghosting is apparently the norm now. Supposedly that’s because companies are overrun with LLM-slop applications and can’t sort the signal from the noise; also I guess a lot of job boards are now filled with fake ads and scams so the problem is multiplied. Very seldom did I hear back from any listing I applied to.
- Pay on offer was notably reduced, across the board, from what I’d been making for years.
- One of the things I’ve come to dread the most in
job huntinglife is the tech interview loop. I’ve been through too many to count, over the years, and have some real trauma from them. I’m not sure how the AI era has changed them, because I didn’t make it that far with anyone this time around. Felt like a slap in the face after all the years of hard work I’ve done.
Anyway to make a long story short, I pivoted. Left the tech sector entirely, and I’m happier for it. I got an administrative job at a large public university. Now I’m doing work that directly helps students. I meet with them and solve problems for them and I get to see the gratitude on their faces. I never got that from any of my old jobs, where I was kept as far away from humans as possible and the ultimate goal of every task I completed was just to make arrow go up.
I’m making about 1/4 of what I used to make, which legitimately sucks, but I’m happy with what I’m doing. Compared to constantly reviewing Claude’s verbose PRs, which were always so confident yet wrong in subtle but critical ways… this new job is mentally so much easier. And my non-technical coworkers think I’m a genius when I show them how to update their email signatures, lol. I feel appreciated, and for once like I might have lasting job security too.
A nice bonus is that I do have access to basically unlimited AI resources, courtesy of the university. So I’m able to keep up with the tech (which is still interesting to me) at no personal cost, and research uses for it on my own terms, to build things that help people, with no PMs breathing down my neck or KPIs driving everything I do. I’m pleased with how things worked out.
But, to summarize — I absolutely do credit AI’s impact on the tech industry as the killing blow to my SE career. I think maybe it hit me earlier than others (including those it’s still coming for but hasn’t reached yet), just because of the nature of my preexisting burnout and
middle agelong career history. I think many in the field will remain employed, but have to accept that the work they’re doing is irreversibly changing. Maybe they’ll like it better this way, I didn’t. I don’t know what the future holds for me or my SE compatriots, but I can say right now that I’m glad I got out. -
Comment on Solo developer rebuilds Adobe Creative Suite in Rust using Claude, releases it free to all in ~tech
balooga Link ParentThis is simultaneously amazing and terrifying. I love the responsiveness and quick turnaround. But what happens when someone files “bug reports” that guide Claude in completely out-of-scope (or...I reported a bug, it was fixed in a day and included in an update 4 days later. Claude communicated with me in github issues on behalf of the owner.
This is simultaneously amazing and terrifying. I love the responsiveness and quick turnaround. But what happens when someone files “bug reports” that guide Claude in completely out-of-scope (or malicious) directions? Does it just do what it’s told or does it actually have some concept of a product vision in mind that it’s trying to hold to? Seems like a good piece of software could go bad very quickly this way.
I think VR’s ship has sailed. I’ve got a PSVR2. Its games look and feel pretty great, it’s comfortable to use… I really do like it. But it’s been months since I touched it! Why? Hard to say. I always enjoy my experience with it, but there’s a mental barrier that’s enough to prevent me from turning it on. Specifically: it feels like a hassle. I don’t want to move my coffee table out of the way to create a playable space in the room. I don’t want to fiddle with the headset fit or the lens focus. I don’t want to get the controllers and headphones set up. I don’t want to play standing up, extending my arms, moving around the room. I’m lazy.
In hindsight, it’s not really that much effort and I’m always glad to have done it… but when it’s my wind-down time at the end of the day and the choice is between that, and just plopping down on the couch to play a game on the TV, the latter wins every time. Apple’s clearly lost a ton on the Vision Pro, and don’t get me started on the embarrassing all-in pivot Zuckerberg made with the metaverse.
There could still be an exciting future for AR/VR someday but I’d guess we’ll need to wait another 25 years for a hardware leap that will get us to the other side of the inconvenience valley.