papasquat's recent activity
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Comment on Dear Nintendo, please bring back the Wii Remote in ~games
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Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI thought notifications were the whole reason people had smarwatches? I can't stand notifications, they're the one thing that can send me from zero to a blind rage if they interrupt something I'm...I thought notifications were the whole reason people had smarwatches?
I can't stand notifications, they're the one thing that can send me from zero to a blind rage if they interrupt something I'm working on, or happen to frequently. I've actually broken a couple screen protectors from chucking my phone across the room because of that.
It's the reason I never got a smart watch. I would haaaaaaaate having a thing on my wrist that notified me of things.
I guess people use them for fitness tracking, but what other thing is a smart watch better than a phone at doing?
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Comment on I made a tool to generate AI powered recaps of TTRPG sessions in ~games.tabletop
papasquat Link ParentYeah true, I've noticed that too. I can't count how many times I've put some random NPC into a session as a side character to run a shop or answer a question or something, and my players just...Yeah true, I've noticed that too. I can't count how many times I've put some random NPC into a session as a side character to run a shop or answer a question or something, and my players just completely fixate on them and become OBSESSED, and they'll bring up that character in the recap, and then I have to totally retool the direction I had in mind for the campaign to include this random one-off character I came up with off the top of my head with a silly voice that I'd wish I hadn't done.
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Comment on AI content warning label in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentAh yeah, something not part of the image would be great. It would have to be entirely based on the honor system though. The thing is that there's no reliable way to automatically detect AI art....Ah yeah, something not part of the image would be great. It would have to be entirely based on the honor system though.
The thing is that there's no reliable way to automatically detect AI art. There fundementally never can be either. That makes sense if you think about it. If a computer program can detect if a piece of art is AI or not with some amount of reliability, you could just include that code in your image generation engine, and when you wanted to generate art that passes as human made, you just keep generating images until the detection system no longer flags it as AI art. Then you train your image generation model on those images being acceptable, and suddenly you have a model that rarely generates art that gets flagged as AI by that particular system.
It becomes a never ending chicken or egg situation that can never be fully resolved, so there's no really good technical way to do this.
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Comment on I made a tool to generate AI powered recaps of TTRPG sessions in ~games.tabletop
papasquat LinkLol, honestly, as someone who has DMed a bit in the past, when I asked players to write a recap of the session, I'm not doing it because I can't remember the session. A DM usually remembers the...Lol, honestly, as someone who has DMed a bit in the past, when I asked players to write a recap of the session, I'm not doing it because I can't remember the session. A DM usually remembers the session better than anyone; they designed and ran the whole thing. I could easily recap any of my sessions from memory to anyone who missed the previous session if I wanted to.
I did it as a forcing function to make sure players are paying attention to things even when it's not their turn. Otherwise, some players have a tendency to let their minds wander, have their noses in their character sheets, or the worst of all, be on their phones. Instead, I made one of them recap the previous session at the beginning of each new one. If they had some blank spots, other players would step in to fill in the blanks.
I found that if I could potentially put them on the spot during the next session to recap our previous session, it made them pay more attention to what was actually happening and thus be more engaged with the campaign.
If one of them brought an AI tool and went "look! We don't have to do that work anymore!" I'd tell them that it wasn't work, it was part of the gameplay.
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Comment on AI content warning label in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentI think the issue here is that human art is also largely derivative. That's not a bad thing, it means that the body of art can grow in new ways, and we're not stuck doing cave paintings still. The...I think the issue here is that human art is also largely derivative. That's not a bad thing, it means that the body of art can grow in new ways, and we're not stuck doing cave paintings still.
The main difference is that humans have lived experiences which are the secret sauce which makes new art. If everyone has the same lived experiences, we'd just be making the same cave paintings for tens of thousands of years..
I don't know how you can measure what's a new lived experience which fundementally changes art in some new way versus just another small remix though.
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Comment on AI content warning label in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentArt isn't about the product to me, and probably most people. It's about the labor, the emotions, and the ideas that the person poured into it. Like, most people aren't looking at the Mona Lisa...Art isn't about the product to me, and probably most people. It's about the labor, the emotions, and the ideas that the person poured into it.
Like, most people aren't looking at the Mona Lisa because they think it's a great painting or because the image quality is so spectacular. They're looking at it because of who painted it, the fame, noteriety, and cultural impact that specific object holds. If it wasn't about that, you could just save yourself a ticket to the Louvre and a trip to Paris and Google an image of it real quick.
When I look at a Zdzisław Beksiński painting, I'm creeped out because I imagine what emotions he was feeling and the thoughts he was thinking when he created those images. If I saw the exact same thing made by an image generation tool, I'd just think "huh. The tool must be kinda broken". It's not intentional, because there's no mind behind it with an intent. There are no experiences informing the artistic decisions it's making.
It's just cheap mass produced crap in my opinion.
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Comment on AI content warning label in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentI think in the context of general understanding, it's pretty clear what people mean when they say AI in relation to art. They're not talking about fuzzy selection or automatic color correction or...I think in the context of general understanding, it's pretty clear what people mean when they say AI in relation to art. They're not talking about fuzzy selection or automatic color correction or lens distortion correction or anything like that. They're talking about wholesale diffusion type image generators.
On a technical basis it's pretty muddy what constitutes AI, because it's not well defined even within the field. In the general publics understanding though, it's pretty clear.
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Comment on AI content warning label in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentI think you're better off including that as metadata around your art versus on the art itself. Personally I find watermarks other than maybe a signature distracting in art, and it really takes me...I think you're better off including that as metadata around your art versus on the art itself. Personally I find watermarks other than maybe a signature distracting in art, and it really takes me out of it. It would be doubly so with some "NO AI" mark. If you put it as a note sort of like how paintings have the medium they were created with alongside the title of the piece and artists name on a placard next to it in a gallery, it might be more appropriate.
"Digital art without generative AI" or something like that.
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Comment on California's next energy experiment is happening above aqueducts, reducing evaporation and increasing solar panel efficiency in ~enviro
papasquat Link ParentYeah, makes a lot of sense to me. I'm always extremely skeptical of these types of "kills two birds with one stone!" type of solutions though. Usually when you're doing a large project, you're...Yeah, makes a lot of sense to me. I'm always extremely skeptical of these types of "kills two birds with one stone!" type of solutions though. Usually when you're doing a large project, you're optimizing for one thing (electricity production in the case of solar panels), while compromising a bit on that thing for a lot of other consideration which make that main objective possible. (How close are we to where we need that electricity? How do we maintain the panels? Is there a skilled workforce close enough to do this stuff? What's the land use like? How much risk is there from natural disaster/vandalism/theft? And of course, most of all, how much does this cost?). Optimizing for two main objectives (electricity production and evaporation reduction) exponentially increases the compromises you have to make.
On the surface, this seems great, but we've been burned by extreme hype over seems great solutions in the past (anyone else remember "SOLAR FRICKIN ROADWAYS!")?
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Comment on Slow social media in ~tech
papasquat LinkThis is basically just describing what social media was 20 years ago. I don't have any problem with that, but social media 20 years ago also had its fair share of issues. Those issues were more...This is basically just describing what social media was 20 years ago. I don't have any problem with that, but social media 20 years ago also had its fair share of issues. Those issues were more about cyberbullying and God awful page customization though, so probably small potatoes compared to what we're doing now.
The main issue with not just social media, but so much of our world is that organizations have largely been allowed to pursue the profit motive above any other consideration. There's no regulation governing social media in the US besides you have to be over 13, which isn't actually enforced. Beyond that, companies can do whatever they want. As a result they've become paper clip optimizers optimizing solely on engagement, which results in them employing dark patterns like preying on human psychological weaknesses to foster addiction.
I think if this continues to be allowed, the inevitable end result, when the technology allows it is some sort of direct feed into your brain that simulates something like heroin, plus ads. Something that capitalizes every ounce of free time and energy you have while not working to consume advertising and stay on a platform. It's a really dark prospect, and I don't see how anything but extremely drastic, extremely strong government regulation can do anything to stop it.
What Herman is detailing is a nice idea, but as he's noted, it will never take off. Social media is the way it is not just because it's profitable. It's profitable because it's addictive. It's also popular because it's addictive. Offering the majority of people a healthier alternative is no different from offering a heroin addict a set of hiking boots in exchange for his bag of dope. I don't think it's likely to be successful until they truly come to the realization that they want to change themselves, and even then, it would still be hard.
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Comment on It’s the little things that make me not fully jump to linux in ~comp
papasquat Link ParentHonestly, much of this may just be due to using a niche distro. A lot more users have used Fedora or Ubuntu or Debian, so problems with those distros tend to get ironed out much quicker than weird...Honestly, much of this may just be due to using a niche distro. A lot more users have used Fedora or Ubuntu or Debian, so problems with those distros tend to get ironed out much quicker than weird quirks with niche distros. I used to distro hop a lot, but to be honest, most Linux distro are 90% the same anyway for day to day use. I'd just pick the DE you like, then pick your favorite package manager and use the most popular distro that uses that combination.
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Comment on It’s the little things that make me not fully jump to linux in ~comp
papasquat Link ParentNvidia does provide drivers for Linux, they're just not in the kernel. They're precompiled, proprietary binaries. The kernel does have some support for Nvidia GPUs, but not a lot of the advanced...Nvidia does provide drivers for Linux, they're just not in the kernel. They're precompiled, proprietary binaries. The kernel does have some support for Nvidia GPUs, but not a lot of the advanced features that Nvidia keeps in their proprietary drivers.
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Comment on Your phone already has social credit. We just lie about it. in ~finance
papasquat Link ParentSo you had two different companies agree that a chargeback was valid, but decide to ban you anyway? That sucks, but businesses have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, as long as...So you had two different companies agree that a chargeback was valid, but decide to ban you anyway?
That sucks, but businesses have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, as long as it's not discrimination of a protected class.
If a businesses policy is to ban anyone who does a chargeback, that's a pretty shitty policy, but it's their right to do that. What would be the alternative from a public policy perspective? Force businesses to put up with any sort of behavior from their customers, even if it hurts their business?
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Comment on Your phone already has social credit. We just lie about it. in ~finance
papasquat Link ParentIf you're someone who is being abused, if you lost your job, if your housing costs went up such that you can't afford to pay your bills and so on, then you're a riskier proposition for a lender....If you're someone who is being abused, if you lost your job, if your housing costs went up such that you can't afford to pay your bills and so on, then you're a riskier proposition for a lender. Its not a judgement call about the situation you're in, or an assignment of fault, it's just an assessment of how likely you are to default on debt.
I don't necessarily think it's fair, but then, I also don't think it's fair for credit scores to go away, forcing everyone else to have to pay higher interest rates to make up for people who don't pay their debts.
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Comment on Your phone already has social credit. We just lie about it. in ~finance
papasquat LinkThe only one of these I'd come close to agreeing with is credit scores. The rest of these don't meaningfully impact your life at all for the most part. Yes, Amazon tracks my purchases, but are...The only one of these I'd come close to agreeing with is credit scores. The rest of these don't meaningfully impact your life at all for the most part.
Yes, Amazon tracks my purchases, but are they going to refuse to sell me things because I bought too many things that they've frowned upon? LinkedIn tracks me (or would it I used it), but is the fact that I don't post enough on LinkedIn going to result in me not getting a job?
These are all voluntary associations, not a widespread system to ensure that I'm living my life according to someone's view of morality. If I'm an Uber driver, I'm probably not picking someone up that has one star not because I don't approve of their lifestyle or because I want them to be more moral, I'm not picking them up because I don't want them to puke in my car, start an argument with me, then slash my tires.
They're free to use a cab or Lyft if they want to, neither of which are going to look at their Uber rating.
Credit ratings are trickier because they're much more pervasive. On the one hand, it makes sense for creditors to have a system that allows them to determine risk. On the other hand, it can be pretty invasive. It's still not about morality though. It's about your likelihood to repay debts, which is the one thing a creditor actually cares about.
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Comment on What are some “sore thumb” lyrics for you? in ~music
papasquat Link ParentI think there's maybe a fundemtal value mismatch with me on that. Personally I don't think thoughts are wrong; they're natural, and they're difficult if not impossible to control in many cases....I think there's maybe a fundemtal value mismatch with me on that. Personally I don't think thoughts are wrong; they're natural, and they're difficult if not impossible to control in many cases. Actions, however, are controllable, and are what have actual consequences in the world.
I think that if you're in love with someone that doesn't love you back, you are going to have thoughts and fantasies about them no matter what. You can try to control them, but that is probably only possible to an extent. It's also very normal and natural, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Is it creepy? Yeah, kind of, and I think that's what so many of these songs are trying to explore. I don't think creepy = wrong though, necessary.
When you start actually doing creepy things, that's when it becomes wrong. If you're a dorky frumpy girl who is in love with the most popular guy in school who doesn't even know you exist, you're probably going to wonder what it's like to kiss him or lie in bed with him. Having those thoughts isn't wrong. Sneaking into his house and actually lying in his bed? Yeah, that's wrong.
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Comment on What are some “sore thumb” lyrics for you? in ~music
papasquat Link ParentUnrequited love is sort of inherently creepy. You have feelings for someone that you know they don't share, and you know you think about them far more than they ever think about you. It feels...Unrequited love is sort of inherently creepy. You have feelings for someone that you know they don't share, and you know you think about them far more than they ever think about you.
It feels creepy being in that situation and I think most people can identify with having to consciously think about whether something you want to do would be perceived as creepy or not if you've been in that situation.
I don't think there's really anything wrong with writing a song about it.
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Comment on Has anyone else run up against higher costs due to the US tariffs? in ~society
papasquat Link ParentUnfortunately, Ukraine still cannot build drones completely domestically. The carbon fiber frames, the motors, and the plastic parts aren't too difficult to stand up. The flight controllers...Unfortunately, Ukraine still cannot build drones completely domestically. The carbon fiber frames, the motors, and the plastic parts aren't too difficult to stand up. The flight controllers require chip fabs to create from scratch though, and Ukraine or even the US is just not set up to build those at scale.
Currently, it's also not economically viable for anyone but china to sell those other drone parts either. Ukraine can produce a carbon fiber frame, but they can't produce a carbon fiber frame that they can sell for 20 bucks and still make a profit. They don't have the combination of low wages, light regulations, and very automated, streamlined supply chains and manufacturing lines that china has. So they can produce that stuff for their military because their objective is just to get as much on the front lines as possible, but they can't actually set up an industry to sell the stuff just yet.
FPV drones use in warfare also aren't resistant to jamming, with the exception of fiber optic drones. They're pretty much completely identical to drones used by hobbyists, except 5" and smaller drones are more popular for hobbyists because of practicality, while FPV drones used for warfare are usually 7" and bigger because they need to carry payload. 7" and bigger drones are mostly used for long range flight by hobbyists though.
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Comment on Musings on "Developer Mode" in ~comp
papasquat LinkDeveloper mode is the same thing as a debug mode or an expert mode or an advanced mode, which is what they're called in various other programs. They're features that most users don't need or want,...Developer mode is the same thing as a debug mode or an expert mode or an advanced mode, which is what they're called in various other programs. They're features that most users don't need or want, but are useful for troubleshooting issues that only a developer really has the power to fix. If a site is rendering style incorrectly, the developer tools will help a developer identify that and fix it. If an app is causing a memory leak, the developer tools can help identify that. The fact that these tools can be used by normal users in some case to gain some desired functionality is a side effect, not the main feature. For most people, these tools are useless, confusion, and potentially dangerous, so it makes sense to hide them behind an additional step.
It's not part of a conspiracy about classes or anything, and it's not just big tech. It's a very standard paradigm across the technology field.
It was ok vertically. Horizontally was really bad though. Honestly one of the most uncomfortable controllers ever. It's really odd that the author cited the ergonomics on one of the least ergonomic controllers of all time in one of its two major modes.