raze2012's recent activity

  1. Comment on Elon Musk plans to take on Wikipedia with 'Grokipedia' in ~tech

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    "Overt racism" is a better way to phrase it, I suppose. That early boom of modern social media in the early '10's at least had people use dogwhistles or anonymity. Saying half the stuff today...

    "Overt racism" is a better way to phrase it, I suppose. That early boom of modern social media in the early '10's at least had people use dogwhistles or anonymity. Saying half the stuff today would have ended political careers.

    of course, 2016 took a very hard turn.

    9 votes

  2. Comment on Updates to Xbox Game Pass: Introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate plans in ~games

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    https://www.theverge.com/news/718038/spotify-premium-subscription-price-increase-outside-us Give it a month or two. This is the same strategy the consoles did before finally raising prices in the...

    https://www.theverge.com/news/718038/spotify-premium-subscription-price-increase-outside-us

    Give it a month or two. This is the same strategy the consoles did before finally raising prices in the US. They always try to make other countries foot the bill first.

    And I bet my bottom dollar this isn't the last price increase either. Youtube had two price jumps in a year.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on White House in a bind as soybean sales to China plummet to zero in ~society

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    Yeah, many people and even some diehard trump supporter are realizing that this isn't the same trump they voted for in 2016. The dread is there. Also, this as usual hurts the smaller farms the...

    Yeah, many people and even some diehard trump supporter are realizing that this isn't the same trump they voted for in 2016. The dread is there.

    Also, this as usual hurts the smaller farms the most. The bigger farms will weather it until the BBB kicks in. The smaller ones simply go bakrupt or sell off to private equity, which has been on a firesale lately.

    5 votes

  4. Comment on White House in a bind as soybean sales to China plummet to zero in ~society

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badGHJLDpP8 This is a great explanation from someone in the agriculture sector. But as a very brief summary: Farmers got handouts during the 2018 trade war and...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badGHJLDpP8

    This is a great explanation from someone in the agriculture sector.

    But as a very brief summary: Farmers got handouts during the 2018 trade war and expected the same here. I'm not sure if it was in this video, btu there's also the fact that the Big Bill of questionable Beauty has major subsidies for farmers that kicks in in 2026. So they wanna hold out just a little longer.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5xxTIPKY8s

    This is another nice breakdown from the economic perspective.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on Updates to Xbox Game Pass: Introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate plans in ~games

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    There are some great games, but I think you picked some odd examples here. Silksong is now cheaper than a month of gamepass, and Oblivion is he exact kind of game I would not want to "rent". I...

    There are some great games, but I think you picked some odd examples here. Silksong is now cheaper than a month of gamepass, and Oblivion is he exact kind of game I would not want to "rent". I will be modding that game for years to come, I'd rather buy it outright. Avowed feels the same but I haven't had a chance to play yet.

    Clair Obscure is a very "me" thing, though. it's an "J"RPG, and I buy those on playstation when I have a choice.

    9 votes

  6. Comment on Elon Musk plans to take on Wikipedia with 'Grokipedia' in ~tech

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    I miss that brief window in time where racism wasn't profitable. But I suppose Lyndon B Johnson's quote made this inevitable.

    I miss that brief window in time where racism wasn't profitable. But I suppose Lyndon B Johnson's quote made this inevitable.

    10 votes

  7. Comment on Updates to Xbox Game Pass: Introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate plans in ~games

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    I'm not really a fan of "I told you so" remarks. But this seemed inevitable and we could have looked at every other medium doing this to realize that this was always an ineviability with this...

    I'm not really a fan of "I told you so" remarks. But this seemed inevitable and we could have looked at every other medium doing this to realize that this was always an ineviability with this model. Video streaming, Music streaming, ebooks, Youtube. They all followed this same pattern. I don't know why some people thought games would be different.

    In related news: https://thegamepost.com/canceling-xbox-boycott-game-pass-price-increase-microsoft/

    The backlash didn’t stop at words. Players rushing to cancel or downgrade flooded Microsoft’s account system, leaving many reporting errors and crashes.

    “Looks like their site is actually having trouble processing subscription changes right now, probably from being overloaded with folks downgrading and canceling,” one user noted. Some described their frustration more vividly. “Why drop new plans [and] not expect the traffic? Scummy business practice,” one commenter said.

    Guess we'll see if the invisible hand can side with the consumers for once.

    6 votes

  8. Comment on How I escaped MAGA. Critical thinking woke me up. in ~society

    raze2012
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    The Bible is so large and told through the eyes of so many prophets that you can support any political spectrum you want. And sadly, that's been abused for decades at this point. Trust in many...

    The Bible is so large and told through the eyes of so many prophets that you can support any political spectrum you want. And sadly, that's been abused for decades at this point. Trust in many churches in their interpretations and institutions as a whole weakened the trust among many liberal minds.

    It can also be very generational. I was raised by my grandparents and they were highly religious. I only associate religion with restricting what I can't do, as opposed to what guidance to take in life. No water guns, no trick or treating, one of my two weekend days were spent going to a place where I had no friends and had to dress up for said lack of friends. I even had a short spell where I had to convince my grandma that pokemon was not in fact about summoning demons. So I don't have great memories despite probably knowing more of the Bible than the average church goer.

    I'm not sure where I was really going here. I guess I'm just saying that I wouldn't be surprised if my experiences aren't unique. It's a shame because churches do feel like one of the last true third places. Outside of tithes you never need to pay to participate and churches in fact have food drives for those in need.

    7 votes

  9. Comment on OpenAI enables shopping directly from ChatGPT in ~tech

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    No, but all their big funders (Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle) are. And internally they already tried to oust Altman once. It's clear that there's trillions of dollars of pressure coming in all...

    OpenAI isn't even a regular for-profit company - they haven't untangled the nonprofit structure yet.

    No, but all their big funders (Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle) are. And internally they already tried to oust Altman once. It's clear that there's trillions of dollars of pressure coming in all directions despite this being a private company. Until they become independently wealthy off this, they are pretty much a de-facto public company in operations. But given the way billion dollar corporations work as constantly borrowing debt, this is unlikely even if it becomes profitable.

    It seems like a more important incentive is that most of the employees will potentially earn many millions if OpenAI succeeds, or at least doesn't fail before they're able to sell.

    And that's great for the employees. But them succeeding doesn't mean the company succeeds. The poaching for engineers in this space was (and is) especially ravenous.

    And that mentality of "don't fail before they sell" is exactly why I'm skeptical of this whole scene as of now. It's a gold rush and people in the current environment just want to mine, sell and get out. The real value of that gold won't really come (in my opinion) until that rush is over. Gold isn't valuable just because it's shiny and new.

    6 votes

  10. Comment on Will an AI actress really become ‘the next Scarlett Johansson’? in ~movies

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    I see nothing stopping it. We have universes with characters interacting when they're outside the spotlight, and we have collabs across different universes. Likewise, we've had VA's and other...

    I see nothing stopping it. We have universes with characters interacting when they're outside the spotlight, and we have collabs across different universes. Likewise, we've had VA's and other creatives behind the creations do live touring and commenting.

    Now, would there be any mass appeal having some AI character appear "in real life"? Hard to say, but I sure do know that making an AI version of a dead person to attract an audience is about as dystopian as you can get.
    If that's our timeline, I'd rather they experiment with tarnishing the creations rahter than the creator.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Will an AI actress really become ‘the next Scarlett Johansson’? in ~movies

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    This seems highly presumptuous of the creative process. The feedback from the artist community clearly does not suggest this. As well as Nintendo's own "wait and see" stance when asked at board...

    Had AI been around pikachu would’ve been designed with it.

    This seems highly presumptuous of the creative process. The feedback from the artist community clearly does not suggest this. As well as Nintendo's own "wait and see" stance when asked at board meetings. I do not think Nintendo would jump on it immediately 30 years prior.

    Now Halo with Microsoft? Probably. Would it succeed with it? I'm not too confident. Reading the hell to get Halo 2 out the door makes me think any other monkey wrench thrown in would ruin that very critical moment. Also, consider that console development 20 years ago didn't leave room for bugs to fix on a day one patch. They had one real shot and any miss could change the entire course of history.

    The only reason this is even a question is because it’s an AI being used to replace a person and I think we’ve covered that.

    The question is a question because the post asks it in the title, yes. A tautology indeed.

    Calling me naive because you have a different opinion on the main question being asked and only arguing against my examples under this assumption that there's wide acceptance of AI to begin with really doesn't give me much of an impression that we "covered" anything. We just made assumptions and are speculating more. Very bad speculation in the case of one example, in my eyes.

    4 votes

  12. Comment on OpenAI enables shopping directly from ChatGPT in ~tech

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    Unlike Wirecutter, OpenAI has tens, hundreds of billions to pay off. I don't think taking a small cut on shopping is enough to be enough to appease the shareholders. It's not inevitable, but those...

    It's certainly possible that things will go downhill from there, but not inevitable.

    Unlike Wirecutter, OpenAI has tens, hundreds of billions to pay off. I don't think taking a small cut on shopping is enough to be enough to appease the shareholders.

    It's not inevitable, but those who hold the wallet sure do want to push it off the tracks. I sure do wish more companies could properly push back and say "no, we're doing this the right way for long term prosperity" instead of concede to short term heists that burn their market share.

    23 votes

  13. Comment on Will an AI actress really become ‘the next Scarlett Johansson’? in ~movies

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    Yes. And they take one step farther without realizing why that mascot became iconic to begin with. You need to make people resonate with the character before you proceed to have them sell out....

    The only real point of failure to this, which I think is huge, is getting something that is actually anywhere near that good.

    Yes. And they take one step farther without realizing why that mascot became iconic to begin with. You need to make people resonate with the character before you proceed to have them sell out. There is no Master Chief if Halo 2 didn't become a household name and the face of online gaming. There is no Pikachu if the Pokemon games and anime didn't proceed to define an entire cultural movement.

    I simply don't see the next AI mascot because the people trying to push this initiative don't understand the art they strive to replicate. And they clearly aren't trying to recruit artists into their pipeline (that runs counter to their marketing).

    3 votes

  14. Comment on What game is your personal "Silksong"? in ~games

    raze2012
    Link
    I suppose I'll bring out the hot takes and say Kingdom Hearts 3 It was by no means perfect, but the world explorations through places that looked almost as good as the movies, through IP's of...

    I suppose I'll bring out the hot takes and say Kingdom Hearts 3

    It was by no means perfect, but the world explorations through places that looked almost as good as the movies, through IP's of varying art styles, isn't really a feeling that has been matched up to that point. Even the Pirates world, which was a bit jarring in KH2, really felt immersive come KH3. The gameplay also seemed to really find its ground after several games experimenting and made its own unique identity instead of just being "KH2 but more", taking bits and pieces from Birth By Sleep, Days, and even the mobile games on how you upgrade your keyblades.

    The story... well, I can talk about that all day. It's not my favorite but it's also not really its own story, if you know what I mean. KH3's goals were to conclude the arc, and it did that to... okay execution. That's probably the only real downside in my eyes: despite being a numbered titled it feels like it acts more like a "bridge" than the other 5 bridge games. Less there to tell its own story and more to tie up loose ends (and make more in the process).

    6 votes

  15. Comment on OpenAI enables shopping directly from ChatGPT in ~tech

    raze2012
    Link
    Yup, this is the progenitor to AI pushing ads into you face, the inevitable endgame of modern consumer-facing SaaS. Entrusting a black box on what you get to see when querying it only ends in the...

    Yup, this is the progenitor to AI pushing ads into you face, the inevitable endgame of modern consumer-facing SaaS. Entrusting a black box on what you get to see when querying it only ends in the highest bidder making sure they are the answer.

    41 votes

  16. Comment on EA is reportedly about to be sold in a record-setting $50 billion buyout to an investor group that includes private equity and Saudi Arabia in ~games

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    They haven't? Seems like every-time Tencent touches something there's controversy. Most recently when they took a stake in Ubisoft. It's only placated in recent years for the same reason a lot of...

    China has not only hosted numerous sporting and esports events, but Chinese firms have invested heavily in and even outright acquired some US developers, yet nobody bats a fucking eyelid.

    They haven't? Seems like every-time Tencent touches something there's controversy. Most recently when they took a stake in Ubisoft.

    It's only placated in recent years for the same reason a lot of things in games gets whitewashed: China does manage to make games people like, and that's really all it takes to satisfy the gamers. And China has been hitting hard this decade with games in mobile and console spaces. Saudi, not so much.

    5 votes

  17. Comment on The video-game industry has a problem: there are too many games (gifted link) in ~games

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    Ultimately, Discord is just a small "town square" of sorts, but skewed towards certain subjects. Joining a specific gaming discord will usually have topics to talk about other games or even other...

    Ultimately, Discord is just a small "town square" of sorts, but skewed towards certain subjects. Joining a specific gaming discord will usually have topics to talk about other games or even other topics in general.

    Those that become regulars and engage on those other non-main channels will likely talking about and bring up games similar to what that server mainly talks about. In my example, I have an active guild for a game and the #off-topic channel has people talk about all kinds of other games. Be it console games, F2P stuff, old games getting updates and patches, or even some small time games they just share. It's about as close to "word of mouth" as you can get.

    More public channels can definitely be gamed, though. Larger gaming channels can definiteyl blur between "community" and "ad".

    4 votes

  18. Comment on The video-game industry has a problem: there are too many games (gifted link) in ~games

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    Monopoly is inevitable if nothing else otherwise tries to disrupt the natural course of things. Not just because market leaders will inevitably use their power to ensure their market dominance,...

    Monopoly is inevitable if nothing else otherwise tries to disrupt the natural course of things. Not just because market leaders will inevitably use their power to ensure their market dominance, but because consumers fall into their own network effects and build habits around that service. People naturally want all their eggs in one basket, and that's the really dangerous part about market domination.

    There are ways to get the best of both worlds. As an example, if your interface was the central hub and all other stores hooked into that frontend UI to provide their service. An RSS feed is a great example, and that's supposed to be what federation does (but in practice, many of these frontend UX's suck. But that's a whole other topic). Email is sort of like this as well in terms of the protocol allowing a variety of domains to communcate, though you still do store your mail onto someone elses servers

    But obviously, most companies would not desire this outcome.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on The video-game industry has a problem: there are too many games (gifted link) in ~games

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    It's a paradox in terms of marketing. The games most needing discoverability are the ones that likely never get it. Meanwhile, all that advertising will be focused on games that will probably be...

    It's a paradox in terms of marketing. The games most needing discoverability are the ones that likely never get it. Meanwhile, all that advertising will be focused on games that will probably be discovered anyway by any popularity sort.

    The Hidden Gems of Steam 250 is a good start to the kinds of algorithm I'd like to see. Something looking for highly rated games with some, but not a lot of reviews. Some manual curation is inevitable here to really make this effective, though.

    9 votes

  20. Comment on California attorney fined for using twenty-one AI hallucinated cases in court filing in ~tech

    raze2012
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually fired his assistants, thinking ChatGPT could make him productive on his own. I don't know the rigor a paralegal proofreader goes through to verify a...

    Now, I have no idea if they actually had someone checking this in the first place. Given recent LLM adoption practices, probably not.

    Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually fired his assistants, thinking ChatGPT could make him productive on his own. I don't know the rigor a paralegal proofreader goes through to verify a filing is correct, but if a judge can sniff out one red flag and find 17 false/misrepresented cases, I can't imagine any decent paralegal wouldn't do so as well.

    8 votes