raze2012's recent activity
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
raze2012 Link ParentI think bundling them into one message will be stronger than trying to go piecemeal on the approach. Which is rarely the case these days for most issues. But "everyone should be able to vote!" is...these things should be addressed long before we get to mandatory voting.
I think bundling them into one message will be stronger than trying to go piecemeal on the approach. Which is rarely the case these days for most issues. But "everyone should be able to vote!" is such a clear and obvious message that it's nearly impossible to counter. They tried last year with "but illegals are voting!", leveraging their strongest issue, and it seems to have fallen flat on its face.
We don't have strong enough workers' rights nor a pattern of holding institutions accountable for that to be the initial approach IMO.
If we can't hold them accountable, then no approach matters. Decades, or even centuries of disenfranchisement has seen to that. It sucks that justice can come slow and too late, but that's not an issue any one law will fix.
I don't think one big federal law will fix everything overnight, but it will setup the foundation for decades more of ways to patch whatever loopholes will be found and exploited. We wouldn't have gotten to a point of nearly ending Gerrymandering if we didn't first have the Voting Rights Act.
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
raze2012 Link ParentThe most obvious example: younger voters have worse turnout. If there were mandatory voting, this would disproportionately allow more younger voters, who would then vote for measures that benefit...Or is there some reason to believe that the results would be ... "good", whatever that means?
The most obvious example: younger voters have worse turnout. If there were mandatory voting, this would disproportionately allow more younger voters, who would then vote for measures that benefit them, or perhaps younger candidates. This has a knock-on effect that means candidates need to appeal to a youth vote, and suddenly this snowballs into the entire national discourse and even candidate nominees shifting overnight.
I think you underestimate how in-tune the youth are with the world if you think such a shift in voting demographic would simply end up "arbitrary". Even if you truly believe that these voters will simply turn in blank ballots or randomly check stuff, this kind of voting bloc change would change so much on how campaigns would be done (and thus, how engaged these potential voters are).
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
raze2012 Link ParentThose should all be factors in any reasonable mandatory voting bill. The real penalties don't come from punishing non-voters, but from throwing the book at any organizations that don't comply to...I'd support mandatory voting if we made the penalty a small but annoying fine, allowed universal mail in voting, standardized early voting, vastly expanded election day polling locations and hours, and removed all the barriers to access for the poor and homeless, while also ensuring enfranchisement of people with convictions, including the incarcerated.
Those should all be factors in any reasonable mandatory voting bill. The real penalties don't come from punishing non-voters, but from throwing the book at any organizations that don't comply to the conditions and make it harder to vote. A proper mandatory voting measure should clear out any avenues used to traditionally disenfranchise anyone.
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
raze2012 Link ParentNo snowflake feels responsible for an avalanche. But each snowflake is needed for it to happen. it all adds up.No snowflake feels responsible for an avalanche. But each snowflake is needed for it to happen. it all adds up.
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
raze2012 Link ParentIf you feel your vote doesn't matter, you need to vote in primaries. If you feel your primary vote doesn't matter, you need to be working well before the primary to get your candidate on that...If you feel your vote doesn't matter, you need to vote in primaries. If you feel your primary vote doesn't matter, you need to be working well before the primary to get your candidate on that ballot. Your favorite candidate doesn't just magically appear on a ballot: that was the effort of thousands of total people-hours of campaign work to ensure they get the attention and fundraising.
I'm sure the audience who chooses to come on Tildes all know this, but that's the general sentiment to fight against. If you don't choose your candidate, someone else will happily choose it for you.
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
raze2012 Link Parentyes, hence mandatory voting. Which isn't about forcing everyone to vote, but about making sure institutions do any and everything to free up time and resources to getting votes in.yes, hence mandatory voting. Which isn't about forcing everyone to vote, but about making sure institutions do any and everything to free up time and resources to getting votes in.
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Comment on A lukewarm defense of LLMs in ~tech
raze2012 Link Parent"Always" is a strong word. But I'd say that this is simply the result of decades of broken windows. Some people are naturally jackasses, as you put it, and past some core point in childhood it's..., is it that these people are actually just jackasses and always were jackasses? I've seen some people say that it really is "ai" itself that causes this
"Always" is a strong word. But I'd say that this is simply the result of decades of broken windows. Some people are naturally jackasses, as you put it, and past some core point in childhood it's nearly impossible to change that. But I wager most are simply the product of their environment. You spend a decade seeing trends of the worst, most obnoxious people being rewarded the most for their crude or outright malicious behavior, and that will affect your temperament. Maybe only in minor ways like "why do I need to return this shopping cart, anyway?", maybe in major ways in how you interact with and treat people.
Communities are contagious, in the best and worst ways.
I hate that I am by myself sort of going on this witch hunt in my head when I am playing this random game that I even feel like is one of the better ones I played in this game jam.
Well, I'm a game dev and I'd say I'm pretty anti-AI myself. But I do have to admit two things.
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I have no clue how any competitive game jam is going to preserve its integrity. These are supposed to be timeboxed sessions of execution, and the one thing LLMs can do better is rapid prototype. I'm still very doubtful about full fledged releases, but a game jam isn't about that.
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Despite the reverence for intellect and wisdom, modern society has always been at odds with enrichment vs. "content" production. And AI is putting us to the ultimate test on how much we value production over enrichment. And we're doing pretty terribly right now (for reasons related to the "environment" comments above). We were doing terribly beforehand too, for the last 30ish years. But we're really diving off a cliff now.
Game jams are fundamentally supposed to be an environment of enrichment, so having suspicions on that being cheated for the sake of "production" is indeed a frustrating feeling. It's like using a graphing calculator on a test about plotting graphs. It's not about the calculator being good/bad, it's about robbing yourself of the learning process needed to understand graphing trends. But if someone does that and gets an A, there's that nagging feeling again. Am I here to learn or "produce" grades?
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Comment on Anthropic's Claude AI blocks video game cloning and reverse-engineering — sweeping new restrictions also hit legitimate developers and basic troubleshooting tasks in ~tech
raze2012 LinkJust your daily reminder that these companies are not on your side, nor some neutral entity working in the interest of only money. Anytime you try to take power back in your life they will shut...Just your daily reminder that these companies are not on your side, nor some neutral entity working in the interest of only money. Anytime you try to take power back in your life they will shut that down quick. Other companies can install stateside surveillance on every street corner and your TV, but you're the bad person for digging into the TV you own and ripping the undisclosed camera out.
Given this audience, I'll skip the rest of the "corporation bad" speech and continue to emphasize the importance of owning your own tools. Relying on someone else's servers will always end this way.
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in in ~tech
raze2012 Link Parentbeen asking for that for 5 years now. We'll see if this is the moment.been asking for that for 5 years now. We'll see if this is the moment.
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentThe most recent numbers I can find, though. is that many people do in fact visit reddit without an account. I imagine that is a non-trivial amount of ad revenue. Google still has an 8 figure deal...but people who go on tildes aren’t a very numerous nor lucrative market, so it doesn’t really matter.
The most recent numbers I can find, though. is that many people do in fact visit reddit without an account. I imagine that is a non-trivial amount of ad revenue.
Google’s AI answer is heavily dependent on Reddit data
Google still has an 8 figure deal with reddit. Maybe Claude and OpenAI will feel it, but this is actually a huge win for Gemini.
Even then, this probably just turns into a game of cat and mouse with how to scrape reddit. If 30 year legacy suites like adobe are being reverse compiled, some website that isn't trivially indexable isn't going to be be a real moat.
I suspect the next time their deal renews it will be very much more expensive for Google.
Who knows? Google can do the above and join the scrape race, or they can argue against how AI-ridden the site is and argue terms down.
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Comment on I can kinda see why social media sites use divisive topics to solicit engagement in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentI know what you mean. But this isn't relying on the wisdom of the masses to play out. Simply the individual incentives of every active player in this adtech sector. The same thing that got us into...I know what you mean. But this isn't relying on the wisdom of the masses to play out. Simply the individual incentives of every active player in this adtech sector. The same thing that got us into this mess.
Believe me, this kind of disclosure would quickly make headaches for any kind of social media advertiser.
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Comment on I can kinda see why social media sites use divisive topics to solicit engagement in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentI feel this is more of a case of "truth is the best disinfectant". Make laws requiring disclosures of algorithmic weights and the knock-on effects will come naturally. the "worst case", suddenly...I feel this is more of a case of "truth is the best disinfectant".
Make laws requiring disclosures of algorithmic weights and the knock-on effects will come naturally. the "worst case", suddenly social media is transparently essay to game and such abundance of content swinging with trends devalues mass advertisement.
More realistically, there will start to be public pressures on companies against various dark patterns we already know exist but can't easily prove out in the open (dating apps is one of the most blatant examples). If it's bad enough, legislation will need to sweep in and regulate certain aspects of the algorithms.
Another possibility is that algorithmic weights become much less radical or non-existent: if they can't do it behind closed doors, the best move is to be hands off and claim this is all the will of the people. Which would sill cause problems, but prevent the worst case actors. There'd be no more instances of Facebook coaxing a genocide without it being seen in the open.
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Comment on Electronic Arts to cut 400 jobs, shut down BioWare in ~games
raze2012 Link ParentAll western studios maybe. There's a reason Nintendo is still at the top of its game 40 years in. Turns out studios are made of people and people tend to get better at something the longer they do...All studios fade eventually.
All western studios maybe. There's a reason Nintendo is still at the top of its game 40 years in. Turns out studios are made of people and people tend to get better at something the longer they do it. And that tends to be how much of Japan's studios work.
A studio like Obsidian (to use a less controversial example)? They don't necessarily become objectively worse, but how many people there who worked on KOTOR 2 are around today? More than you'd think for an American studio, but still not a lot. We don't foster talent here, we rely on brands and have a revolving door underneath trying to keep the show running.
Art never worked like that.
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Comment on Electronic Arts to cut 400 jobs, shut down BioWare in ~games
raze2012 Link ParentEasy to have a villain when they act like a villain, yes. This whole thing is a result of leadership jumping ship and selling the studio to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, on the developer side...Easy to have a villain when they act like a villain, yes. This whole thing is a result of leadership jumping ship and selling the studio to the highest bidder.
Meanwhile, on the developer side rule of cool is in effect. Gamers can be brutal , but they'll also forgive a lot of issues for a game that's overall engaging. Metal Gear Solid 5 is basically unfinished but people still love it to death because of the core experience that's in there.
I can say that without much bioware balance. The only game from them I played was Sonic: Dark Brotherhood. And if you are invested in Sonic, you know that's not a good experience.
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Comment on I can kinda see why social media sites use divisive topics to solicit engagement in ~tech
raze2012 LinkWe had it wrong the whole time on how to attack this. We were worried about people and content (#1 and #2) when we should've been focused on exposing curation and algorithms. If we stopped #3, a...We had it wrong the whole time on how to attack this. We were worried about people and content (#1 and #2) when we should've been focused on exposing curation and algorithms. If we stopped #3, a lot of that rage-bait dies in the sea of slop. Not all, but a lot. Which creates a feedback loop of 'well, rage-bait isn't valuable '
Companies were never going to do this willingly, so that's where legislation comes in. A real shame the median congressman in the US barely understands why social media is bad. They were the same ones who'd say "TV rots your brain" yester-decade, but this time it's actually true.
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Comment on Anthropic logged net loss of over $80 billion in first half of 2026 in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentMy understanding of this explanation comes down to "investors are trying to get in a good position and hoping the IPO makes them big money". So... it depends on Anthropic having a good IPO (plus...My understanding of this explanation comes down to "investors are trying to get in a good position and hoping the IPO makes them big money". So... it depends on Anthropic having a good IPO (plus whatever vesting period is needed) to know if this is a good or bad move?
From the sounds of things: unlike normal stocks with protections against "going into debt", this one removes such protections in exchange for a bigger potential payout. So if this doesn't go super well, it's going to cost investors dearly.... or probably not because there's a dozen other protections to catch them.
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Comment on Developers are using AI to strip ads and tracking from smart TVs in ~tech
raze2012 Link Parentone of the few times I'm tempted to praise AI and it instantly reminds me why it got its bad rep. A purely destructive sequence that can subtract negative value out of your TV without (hopefully)...one of the few times I'm tempted to praise AI and it instantly reminds me why it got its bad rep. A purely destructive sequence that can subtract negative value out of your TV without (hopefully) bricking the core experience seems like something within an AI's ability.
this tech crunch article seems more genuine: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/19/people-are-using-ai-to-make-their-smart-tvs-dumb-again/
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Comment on What can be done about Linux being slopified? in ~tech
raze2012 Link ParentSame way you filter out potentially vague human reports. Have a form, require minimal repro if appropriate, have the team able to triage priority. I don't think anything fundamentally changes in...How exactly will you, reliably, filter out LLM generated bug reports if they're not necessarily labelled as such?
Same way you filter out potentially vague human reports. Have a form, require minimal repro if appropriate, have the team able to triage priority.
I don't think anything fundamentally changes in the dynamic. If all these LLM generated reports were high quality, it wouldn't be a problem to begin with. If this makes AI generated reports higher quality to hide its Ai-ness, then in the words of XKCD: "Mission. Fucking. Accomplished"
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Comment on Asset flips and vibes: fifteen years of videogames as a preview of the LLM era in ~comp
raze2012 Link ParentNot a bad idea at all. And if would be a pretty easy filter to make even on the consumer facing side. Would be neat to see a site try to do that in a similar vein to Steam250Not a bad idea at all. And if would be a pretty easy filter to make even on the consumer facing side. Would be neat to see a site try to do that in a similar vein to Steam250
Seems so. However the job gets done, I'm satisfied as long as the wheels are rolling in the right direction for once. I don't hold a strong stance on how it gets rolling. Especially because ...
This is the large question mark, as usual. Seems like even with this blue wave there's a dozen different interests everyone in Congress has (and in all fairness, there's a lot of muck to clean up). I just hope someone with a strong message and policy can rally everyone up.