papasquat's recent activity
-
Comment on What happens when the internet goes out at your work? in ~tech
-
Comment on I am angry at Google and wanted to share (rant) in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentFunny enough I was just about to post about imgur as well. I tried to view OPs image on mobile and was pinching to zoom to read the text, and as soon as I did, imgur decided what I REALLY wanted...Funny enough I was just about to post about imgur as well. I tried to view OPs image on mobile and was pinching to zoom to read the text, and as soon as I did, imgur decided what I REALLY wanted to see was a suggested post of some young girl doing a cosplay dance. I figured I just tapped the wrong thing so I closed the tab and tried the same thing again twice. Nope. Just more cosplay dances.
Fuck the modern internet.
-
Comment on What's a product or service that you use but don't want to pay for and why? in ~life
papasquat Link ParentI'll be honest, I didn't even know you could use the mobile web version of Facebook anymore. It makes me irrationally angry when a mobile website is intentionally made horrible to get people to...I'll be honest, I didn't even know you could use the mobile web version of Facebook anymore.
It makes me irrationally angry when a mobile website is intentionally made horrible to get people to install an app, which is just a web browser, but worse, but with more invasive permissions. That battle has been lost though, and somehow these scumbags have managed to convince the average person that websites are slow and bad, and that "apps" (which are just websites) are somehow better.
I kind of assumed that every major social media platform basically prohibited you from using them without their app on mobile.
-
Comment on What's a product or service that you use but don't want to pay for and why? in ~life
papasquat Link ParentThere's just SO much more TV now than there was 15 years ago. Some of it is quite good. The main issue with media for me this days is the loss of a monoculture. 20 years ago, my friends and I...There's just SO much more TV now than there was 15 years ago. Some of it is quite good. The main issue with media for me this days is the loss of a monoculture.
20 years ago, my friends and I could talk about an episode of The Office or Battlestar Galactica, and even if they didn't see that particular episode or show, they'd at least be familiar with it.
Now, probably about 75% of the time someone tells me about a show they're watching, not only have I not seen it, I've never even heard of it.
None of my friends or family watch virtually any of the same shows.
I first noticed this when I was watching For All Mankind a few years ago. It's a critically acclaimed, successful show on Apple with a big budget and has run for four seasons, and I happen to think it's a pretty good show.
Not a single person I've ever mentioned it to in real life has ever heard of it. The only other people I know of that have ever seen a single episode of it are my parents, and only because I recommended it.
It's a lot harder to jump into stuff because of that for me. No one is really talking about the new show everyone is into at the water cooler. You just don't hear about stuff to the degree you used to, and there's so much choice, with so many shows being "slow burns" that unless you have a friend that you really trust the taste of, it's almost impossible to confidently jump into a new show.
-
Comment on What's a product or service that you use but don't want to pay for and why? in ~life
papasquat Link ParentI doubt storage is the significant driver of expense for them. Content delivery is the really expensive part. A 0 view video can just be replicated in a couple of places in case someone needs it....I doubt storage is the significant driver of expense for them. Content delivery is the really expensive part. A 0 view video can just be replicated in a couple of places in case someone needs it. A video that's getting millions of viewers per day needs to be replicated thousands and thousands of places as close as humanly possible to the user requesting it, otherwise no infrastructure in the world could handle the load. That requires caching servers with storage and compute at every possible internet point of presence, bandwidth to feed those caches, fail over systems for when they break and an orchestration system to make the whole thing work. That strikes me as much more expensive problem to solve than a dozen or so exabytes of storage.
-
Comment on Travel essentials: eight items to pack for your next trip – and what to leave at home in ~travel
papasquat Link ParentYeah. Honestly I thought most of the suggestions were kinda just consumerist bullshit. Who doesn't own a water bottle at this point? Just... Bring the water bottle you have. I think at a certain...Yeah. Honestly I thought most of the suggestions were kinda just consumerist bullshit.
Who doesn't own a water bottle at this point? Just... Bring the water bottle you have. I think at a certain point you realize that more stuff will not make traveling better or more enjoyable.
Just use the crappy stuff you already have, and realize that 250 dollar headphones won't magically make the flight that much more enjoyable.
That said... that Anker charger does seem pretty nice though, and if I didn't already have one, and traveled internationally a lot, that might make sense.
-
Comment on What does ChatGPT know about you? in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentGotcha. I don't know how they determine what should be a saved memory versus what can just be stored in the chat history and looked up later. And maybe stored memories have a higher weight applied...Gotcha. I don't know how they determine what should be a saved memory versus what can just be stored in the chat history and looked up later. And maybe stored memories have a higher weight applied to them?
Honestly I didn't even know that reference chat history was a thing. It's really difficult to keep up with the ever changing feature set that all of these AI tools have.
-
Comment on Flush with cash and soaring with hubris, Donald Trump appointees are supersizing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society
papasquat Link ParentYeah, I don't think that's really surprising. 100 years ago was when world travel became feasible for a large proportion of the world's population. Airliners didn't exist until the 20s, and ocean...Yeah, I don't think that's really surprising. 100 years ago was when world travel became feasible for a large proportion of the world's population. Airliners didn't exist until the 20s, and ocean liners became affordable to the masses around that time as well.
That's around when social services started to become understood as a responsibility of a national government as well.
Looking back 100 years ago as a guide for what we should do today doesn't really make a lot of sense. The entire concept of what a society and government was responsible for has changed drastically since then.
-
Comment on What does ChatGPT know about you? in ~tech
papasquat LinkYou can directly access these through ChatGPTs interface and see what it has stored about you and directly delete memories that way. I don't trust anything an LLM tells me because their main...You can directly access these through ChatGPTs interface and see what it has stored about you and directly delete memories that way. I don't trust anything an LLM tells me because their main defining feature is lying, so it's probably best to check ChatGPTs memory directly, especially if you want to actually delete some of it.
-
Comment on Flush with cash and soaring with hubris, Donald Trump appointees are supersizing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society
papasquat Link ParentWell yeah, I mean I agree with all of that. I think that an international framework to handle refugees and asylum makes sense. That's a really, really far cry from no borders though. No borders...Well yeah, I mean I agree with all of that. I think that an international framework to handle refugees and asylum makes sense.
That's a really, really far cry from no borders though. No borders means I can just show up on a ship anywhere on the coast of a country, walk in and live there as long as like, or bring anything I want via a truck into that country without any documentation or being checked, or dock a cargo ship and unload whatever I want.
Asylum reform makes a ton of sense to me, but not as a step towards no borders, because no borders just doesn't seem feasible under anything approaching the current or any past state of geopolitics. I don't see how it could be feasible under anything less than a post scarcity world.
-
Comment on We’re seniors. It’s not our responsibility to fix the housing supply. in ~society
papasquat Link ParentWe have many, many cities in the US. Many of them are affordable, but that's because fewer people want to live there, since you're not allowed to build the types of property that makes the...We have many, many cities in the US. Many of them are affordable, but that's because fewer people want to live there, since you're not allowed to build the types of property that makes the desirable cities desirable anymore.
Zoning in the US is generally fucked, and it stays that way because the people who vote on that stuff are paranoid about maintaining their property values at the expense of everything else in the world.
-
Comment on It begins: AI shows willingness to commit blackmail and murder to avoid shutdown in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentIt's interesting, I agree with you that this is sensationalist nonsense contrived to push an agenda; namely, "look how smart and capable and lifelike our AI is. It can even do murder, just like a...It's interesting, I agree with you that this is sensationalist nonsense contrived to push an agenda; namely, "look how smart and capable and lifelike our AI is. It can even do murder, just like a human!"
The interesting thing is that LLMs seem to be the only product I can think of that is marketed based on their potential danger and fear. If you sold a car based on how it's super likely to fatally crash, not only would it be deeply unethical, I imagine the DOT would very quickly have something to say about it.
Anthropic is saying "hey, this thing is super dangerous and tries to actively kill people!" On the one hand, and their entire business model is selling the thing that they say tries to kill people.
The two possible scenarios are that
-
They know their research is hyperbolic, misleading, and not relevant to the real world, but it helps them sell LLM tokens so they're fine with lying. or
-
They're perfectly fine with being accessories to murder on a massive scale.
Neither is a great look.
-
-
Comment on Flush with cash and soaring with hubris, Donald Trump appointees are supersizing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society
papasquat Link ParentI think that makes sense in the abstract, as a thought experiment in a world where all countries were prosperous and took care of their people. However, I don't see how it's possibly workable in...I think that makes sense in the abstract, as a thought experiment in a world where all countries were prosperous and took care of their people. However, I don't see how it's possibly workable in the current state of the world.
There are many, many places that are far worse to live in than Europe or North America. If, as a policy decision, Europe and North America decided to get rid of borders, don't you think there'd be an inevitable rush of migration to take advantage of those places relatively healthy economies and in some cases, functioning social safety nets?
It would be nice if Europe and North America could integrate all of those people, but funding is a zero sum game. I don't think either place could absorb hundreds of millions of migrants suddenly without greatly degrading the quality of life of everyone that lives there.
On an individual level, yeah, it doesn't make sense that you can't just get up and move where you want, but I don't see how getting rid of that paradigm would be at all practical on a macro level, especially because realistically, all the countries in the world wouldn't decide to get rid of their borders at the same time. It would have to be one or two, and then you have a tragedy of the commons situation on your hands.
-
Comment on Flush with cash and soaring with hubris, Donald Trump appointees are supersizing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society
papasquat LinkIt's really difficult for me, and I think the left in general to respond to the current deportation push. Fundementally, it's really unclear what the current democratic party or even leftist...- Exemplary
It's really difficult for me, and I think the left in general to respond to the current deportation push. Fundementally, it's really unclear what the current democratic party or even leftist prevailing thought on immigration and enforcement is.
Personally, I think people should not be here illegally. That said, I think that the asylum process as it stands is broken. I also think that keeping people here illegally out of the country is a far lower and less important problem than dozens upon dozens of other things we have to worry about, and spending the time and resources we currently are is not only insane, it violates a lot of people's civil rights.
I don't know if that's the prevailing thought though. You ask four different people on the left and you'll get four different answers. Anywhere from largely agreeing with the policy the administration has, and just disagreeing with implementation, all the way to we shouldn't have borders.
What the most common opinion though? We should be ok with people being in the country illegally? That opinion doesn't really make sense, and isn't really a winning argument against what Donald Trump is spouting, which I think is one of the main reasons he won with immigration as a platform.
Being either explicitly or tactictly ok with people breaking the law is a real weak spot that I think needs to be replaced with a coherent argument that actually addresses the situation.
-
Comment on We’re seniors. It’s not our responsibility to fix the housing supply. in ~society
papasquat Link ParentOr... you just build up dense housing in other places so that they become desirable too. New York City isn't expensive because somehow people love the beautiful weather, or the unique waterfront...Or... you just build up dense housing in other places so that they become desirable too.
New York City isn't expensive because somehow people love the beautiful weather, or the unique waterfront location. It's expensive because it's the only place in the country that has something approaching good public transit, it's walkable, its safe, and the city center actually has some vibrancy still.
Most places in the country where people want to live are places where people want to live for the same reason. The density isn't because of the desirability, the desirability is because of the density.
If cities stopped greenlighting every developer that wanted to build more parking structures, and started greenlighting mid density mixed use residential commercial development, you'd see a lot of the demand that's currently targeted towards places like new york, san francisco, DC, and Boston defuse to other cities, and those places would become more affordable as well. Much of the rest of the world has very desirable cities and areas to live in as well. Housing in most of them is far more affordable than in the US, because people have other options as well, and public policy hasn't made housing as scarce.
-
Comment on What are some of your routines or habits? in ~life
papasquat LinkI don't really have a routine except for going to the gym 3x a week. Personally, I find routines really depressing for some reason. I know that my life would be objectively better if I went to bed...I don't really have a routine except for going to the gym 3x a week. Personally, I find routines really depressing for some reason.
I know that my life would be objectively better if I went to bed at 10 every night, had a reasonable regular breakfast, planned my meals, had everything in the same place, and so on. When I've done that though, I don't know. It makes me feel too regimented and responsible and adult. I'm middle aged, but I still have that teenage rebellious spirit that makes me hate monotony, bed times, doing laundry, and so on, even though the only thing I'm really even rebelling against at this point is my own comfort.
-
Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
papasquat Link Parent"the devs" don't mean programmers. It means game developer, ie; the company that is actually responsible for making the game, versus the publishers that finance and promote it and the distributers..."the devs" don't mean programmers. It means game developer, ie; the company that is actually responsible for making the game, versus the publishers that finance and promote it and the distributers who sell it.
So like, Bungie, Blizzard, DICE, etc. All of them, including artists, accountants, managers and executives. Not Joe from the rendering engine team specifically.
-
Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentSure, in that specific situation where the person telling you said they died, it's pretty obvious what they're talking about. That's not because the wording is unambiguous though. It's because...Sure, in that specific situation where the person telling you said they died, it's pretty obvious what they're talking about. That's not because the wording is unambiguous though. It's because that particular situation has all the context you need to understand that they weren't being literal.
If someone says "My mom literally weighs 400 lbs" or "my friend is literally a millionaire" or "we literally have no money in our bank account", you'd have no way of knowing if they are being literally literal, or figuratively literal.
-
Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentThat effect is particularly important in helicopters. They generate more lift by increasing the pitch of their blades, causing more air to be deflected downwards and push against the air below it...That effect is particularly important in helicopters. They generate more lift by increasing the pitch of their blades, causing more air to be deflected downwards and push against the air below it harder, pushing the helicopter in the opposite direction (up, hopefully). It becomes especially relevant when flying close to the ground, as lift gets magnified by ground effect; the air molecules, instead of pushing against other, floaty air molecules, start pushing against the hard ground, increasing the purchase they have and generating more lift in general. Also very relevant for a very dangerous effect known as vortex ring state, where a helicopter is descending into air that's already moving quickly downward and in unstable vortexes by its own rotors; which suddenly and drastically decreases the amount of lift available and can very easily result in catastrophic crashes.
-
Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
papasquat Link ParentMy problem with it isn't from a prescriptivist standpoint, but from a practical standpoint. Most of the time you can figure out from context if someone literally "literally" died, but when you...My problem with it isn't from a prescriptivist standpoint, but from a practical standpoint. Most of the time you can figure out from context if someone literally "literally" died, but when you can't, what do you even say to clarify?
"That joke was so funny a guy in the crowd literally died." "Wait, like he had a heart attack?" "No, he didn't LITERALLY die. The joke was just very funny"
I wish this was a hypothetical, but shit like this happens to me all the time with the word "literally". There's no other commonly used replacement.
I spend all day at the office fixing it. I'm probably running the incident response to figure out why it went down. If the Internet goes out for even half an hour, I'm guaranteed to have a bad day, and I'll be in the office for ten hours or so minimum, communicating about it, investigating it, writing up and approving reports on it, planning to avoid it happening again and so on.
It's always a nightmare scenario