unkz's recent activity

  1. Comment on Wyoming high court rejects state abortion ban with thoughtful opinion in ~society

    unkz
    Link
    It sounds like the law is mostly ok (constitutionally, not ethically) but needs to be more tightly tailored. The examples given were definitely on the medical necessity side as opposed to the...

    It sounds like the law is mostly ok (constitutionally, not ethically) but needs to be more tightly tailored. The examples given were definitely on the medical necessity side as opposed to the “elective” (I don’t know what else you’d call it, but don’t jump on my phrasing, I 100% support abortion under literally any circumstances or justifications) side. I assume the legislature will run this one back.

    3 votes

  2. Comment on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shoots and kills a woman during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown in ~society

  3. Comment on Texas A&M, under new curriculum limits, warns professor not to teach Plato in ~humanities

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Gender ideology refers to the position that genders are something other than a genetic binary, with minor physical variants such as androgen insensitivity, XXY, XYY, etc. In other words, anything...

    Gender ideology refers to the position that genders are something other than a genetic binary, with minor physical variants such as androgen insensitivity, XXY, XYY, etc. In other words, anything that supposes gender is something that occurs in the brain instead of between our legs.

    5 votes

  4. Comment on US judge indicates Elon Musk’s fraud lawsuit against OpenAI will head to trial in ~tech

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Is there a downside to that that I don’t see?

    Is there a downside to that that I don’t see?

    6 votes

  5. Comment on Scalable oral exams with an ElevenLabs voice AI agent in ~tech

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Not really arbitrary songs though. It’s more like, playing songs from a set list that you have supposedly been mastering for the whole semester.

    I'd argue that writing a paper is analogous to writing a song, and answering live questions to playing arbitrary songs on request.

    Not really arbitrary songs though. It’s more like, playing songs from a set list that you have supposedly been mastering for the whole semester.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on What's something you're "in too deep" on? in ~talk

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Does ferrety describe your appearance, behaviour, pet choice, or some or all of the above?

    Does ferrety describe your appearance, behaviour, pet choice, or some or all of the above?

    8 votes

  7. Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Also Beta-level simulations in Alastair Reynolds’s Revelation Space series. Really good books.

    Also Beta-level simulations in Alastair Reynolds’s Revelation Space series. Really good books.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on Tablet suggestions? in ~tech

    unkz
    Link Parent
    The iPad is tablet-first, and a well defined platform. All of its apps work properly on the tablet form factor because they were designed to, and there aren’t very many physical specs to consider....

    The iPad is tablet-first, and a well defined platform. All of its apps work properly on the tablet form factor because they were designed to, and there aren’t very many physical specs to consider. Storage is better too, with up to 2TB. The stylus support is leagues ahead of anything else in terms of responsiveness and sensitivity. The display is excellent. Real world battery life is better on iPad from my experience, unless you are very particular about your apps. Also heating is a real issue on a surface. Expect to be downclocked frequently.

    The only thing I wish it had was the button support, eraser, and alternate tips that the surface has. I understand their desire for a clean appearance but it’s very useful.

    I think if Windows 8 hadn’t been terminated that the surface could have been a closer competitor or even superior. The first few generations of the surface pro were very slick. Unfortunately, regular windows desktop apps, while fairly usable on a tablet, are still a bit janky. You will frequently run into weird conditions that are difficult to debug or sometimes more or less impossible. Lots of DPI issues too, which isn’t a tablet specific issue but just a windows complaint that crops up frequently on this hardware.

    For context, I own every surface device (I mean every, including all the desktops, laptops, hybrid tablets, and tablets) and also every iPad and iPhone. I have a large number of android devices, but obviously with the size of the market I can’t have all of them, which is one of their biggest weaknesses for compatibility.

    9 votes

  10. Comment on Tablet suggestions? in ~tech

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Agree, surfaces are the best non apple tablet by a wide margin, but an iPad Pro is better than a surface by a similar margin.

    Agree, surfaces are the best non apple tablet by a wide margin, but an iPad Pro is better than a surface by a similar margin.

    13 votes

  11. Comment on GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder in ~games

    unkz
    Link
    I don’t see any downside at all to this announcement. Is my optimism unfounded?

    I don’t see any downside at all to this announcement. Is my optimism unfounded?

    15 votes

  12. Comment on Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs. in ~tech

  13. Comment on Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs. in ~tech

    unkz
    Link Parent
    That’s interesting, how do you end up with access to people’s chats?

    That’s interesting, how do you end up with access to people’s chats?

    7 votes

  14. Comment on Jon Stewart is our only hope in ~society

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Compared to Trump, she had many gaffes? Compared to Trump, she is not articulate or knowledgeable on policy? This is not what made the difference. The difference is the pitch, plain and simple....

    Harris is not articulate or knowledgable on policy. She's had many gaffes that are hard to ignore.

    Compared to Trump, she had many gaffes? Compared to Trump, she is not articulate or knowledgeable on policy?

    This is not what made the difference. The difference is the pitch, plain and simple. Trump was promising what voters wanted.

    Perhaps she would've been treated better if she were a man, but that's a depressingly low bar to accept regardless.

    I do actually think this was a major factor. I’d ballpark gender at 20% of her loss.

    She also refused to pay even lip service on Gaza and failed to describe how she'd be any different from Biden.

    Not being different than Biden is dramatically better than Trump’s policies. I can’t put myself in the mind of a person who voted for Trump because they thought he would be good for Gaza. It would take a startling level of ignorance of his stated policies, while also simultaneously being a voter who cares about policies.

    15 votes

  15. Comment on Jon Stewart is our only hope in ~society

  16. Comment on Jon Stewart is our only hope in ~society

    unkz
    Link Parent
    I think Stewart could pull hundreds of millions of dollars in a couple hours if he wanted to. The bigger problem for him is the hundreds and possibly thousands of sound bites of him joking about...

    I think Stewart could pull hundreds of millions of dollars in a couple hours if he wanted to. The bigger problem for him is the hundreds and possibly thousands of sound bites of him joking about all the swing states that he would need to carry. The ads write themselves.

    8 votes

  17. Merry Christmas!

    ~talk Ask
    Like the title says! For some reason I have actually woken up before my kids and I’m the only person stirring in the house — I have nothing to do but browse Tildes while I wait for the day to get...

    Like the title says! For some reason I have actually woken up before my kids and I’m the only person stirring in the house — I have nothing to do but browse Tildes while I wait for the day to get started. What’s everyone’s plan today?

    81 votes

  18. Comment on What are your predictions for 2026? in ~talk

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Not for live public rides, but Waymo has "tens of thousands of miles" in snow. I don't think it will be far away. https://waymo.com/blog/2025/10/creating-an-all-weather-driver I know they are...

    Not for live public rides, but Waymo has "tens of thousands of miles" in snow. I don't think it will be far away.

    https://waymo.com/blog/2025/10/creating-an-all-weather-driver

    For years, we've been advancing our system in some of the snowiest conditions across the country —regularly driving in Upstate New York, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the Sierra. We've amassed tens of thousands of miles in diverse, snowy conditions. This has allowed the Waymo Driver’s AI to learn from real driving experience and train to navigate a wide range of winter weather.

    I know they are actively lobbying in BC to drive here, and we get our fair share of snow every year.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on What are your predictions for 2026? in ~talk

    unkz
    Link
    Looking at last year's predictions, here are some of the good ones IMO @OBLIVIATER "We're going to see several more high profile 'assassination' attempts." - Charlie Kirk, Melissa Hortman, John...
    • Exemplary

    Looking at last year's predictions, here are some of the good ones IMO

    • @OBLIVIATER

      • "We're going to see several more high profile 'assassination' attempts." - Charlie Kirk, Melissa Hortman, John Hoffman (attempt), Josh Shapiro (arson attempt), I probably missed some others

    • @kingofsnake

      • "We'll have an election following the resignation of Justin Trudeau (I'm calling it for January)." - Trudeau resigned on January 6, 2025, we did indeed have an election

    • @X08

      • "Israel/Palestinian war will escalate further into surrounding region." - The conflict spread regionally, involving strikes in Iran and Qatar.
      • "New temperature records during the summer for nearly every part of the world." - July and August 2025 confirmed as the third-warmest on record globally.
      • "Cowless cheese gains traction." - The market for cow-free dairy and cultivated meat did quite well IMO
      • "California gets hit by biggest forest fires yet." - California experienced a severe wildfire season, especially with the January fires in LA.

    • @EarlyWords

      • "Next year the bill for the climate comes due. The days of having the climate catastrophe 'ahead of us' are now over." - Arguably, hotter than ever before at least. I feel like every year the bill has come due, and we keep paying.

    • @DynamoSunshirt

      • "Big Tech move from AI to ramming self-driving tech... across as much of the USA as possible." - Waymo is killing it, self-driving cars are everywhere
    27 votes

  20. Comment on Indie Game Awards rescinds Clair Obscur's GOTY wins over use of generative AI [for now-removed background assets] in ~games

    unkz
    Link Parent
    Almost all successful “Indie“ games are still multimillion dollar operations. AI tools have the potential to open the space to motivated single individuals.

    Almost all successful “Indie“ games are still multimillion dollar operations. AI tools have the potential to open the space to motivated single individuals.

    1 vote