unkz's recent activity
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Comment on Police are not primarily crime fighters in ~life
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Comment on Students invent quieter leaf blower in ~engineering
unkz Link ParentI have limited experience with gas powered blowers, but I use a battery powered one regularly and it's quite good -- power-wise, it's somewhat comparable to a gas powered blower. The one I use...I have limited experience with gas powered blowers, but I use a battery powered one regularly and it's quite good -- power-wise, it's somewhat comparable to a gas powered blower. The one I use does 200 mph, 765 cfm. In comparison, pretty high end backpack gas models can be found in the 240 mph 835 cfm range so there's a bit of a gap but I imagine there must exist higher end electric versions as well. You can get 2-3 hours of work off a single charge on low speed which is what I'm generally using, but that does drop down to about 15 minutes on turbo. I would think typically you wouldn't need to be on turbo the entire time though, and you could expect somewhere in the middle. I'm not using it to move leaves around though, so I don't know what a typical use pattern would be.
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Comment on Cryptocurrency mining as a novel virtual energy storage system in islanded and grid-connected microgrids in ~enviro
unkz Link ParentBitcoin mining wastes energy either way. This moves some of the bitcoin to the MG, but the savings are illusory on a whole system perspective. It simply redistributes the waste as all global miner...Bitcoin mining wastes energy either way. This moves some of the bitcoin to the MG, but the savings are illusory on a whole system perspective. It simply redistributes the waste as all global miner efficiency drops. This is environmentally horrifying.
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Comment on How do you organize your Linux packages? in ~comp
unkz LinkI do about 95%+ of my development inside docker containers to avoid these kinds of issues.I do about 95%+ of my development inside docker containers to avoid these kinds of issues.
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Comment on Honest Question: Why did PHP remove dynamic properties in 8.x? in ~comp
unkz Link ParentThis is... unlikely for at least a few reasons. It's such an easy fix, that codeigniter/cakephp updated their code to work with these changes almost immediately, over a year ago. If this was an...This is... unlikely for at least a few reasons.
- It's such an easy fix, that codeigniter/cakephp updated their code to work with these changes almost immediately, over a year ago. If this was an attempt to undermine PHP, it's a very poorly planned out sabotage.
- People with commit privileges to PHP's codebase, who have dedicated years of their lives to the ecosystem, are not there to destroy their life's work.
- How on earth could this even happen? Someone at SAP or IBM calls a meeting and orders staff to go deep cover to infiltrate the PHP Foundation for the purpose of sabotaging downstream open source frameworks?
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Comment on Honest Question: Why did PHP remove dynamic properties in 8.x? in ~comp
unkz LinkI'm not totally following here. Are you saying that "Big IT" could have deliberately sabotaged PHP for some reason? Why?The influence of Corporate IT in various open source foundations is pretty well known and also well known is the extent to which corporate greed goes to achieve its interests and objectives across the world. The only way to assuage this uncomfortable thought (at least in this particular case) is to ask if there was any technical merit at all in removing dynamic properties feature from a dynamic programming language?
I'm not totally following here. Are you saying that "Big IT" could have deliberately sabotaged PHP for some reason? Why?
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Comment on Honest Question: Why did PHP remove dynamic properties in 8.x? in ~comp
unkz Link ParentPython absolutely lets you write to new variables like in the above php example. It will only throw an error if you try to read from one that hasn't yet been created like that. class A: pass a =...Python absolutely lets you write to new variables like in the above php example. It will only throw an error if you try to read from one that hasn't yet been created like that.
class A: pass a = A() a.fakevar = 1 print(a.fakevar) print(a.fakevar2)results in
1 Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/pi/bluetooth/checkp.py", line 8, in <module> print(a.fakevar2) AttributeError: 'A' object has no attribute 'fakevar2' -
Comment on People without an inner voice have poorer verbal memory in ~humanities.languages
unkz Link ParentYeah, it's literally a voice that I hear in my head. It's exactly like the one that I hear when I speak.I'm curious, do others actually hear the words as if they're being spoken rather than just think the words?
Yeah, it's literally a voice that I hear in my head. It's exactly like the one that I hear when I speak.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
unkz Link ParentOne’s economic worth is more or less the maximum of what the set of all available employers are willing to pay for their services. This is a dynamic value insofar as the job market is dynamic, but...One’s economic worth is more or less the maximum of what the set of all available employers are willing to pay for their services. This is a dynamic value insofar as the job market is dynamic, but it is objective and not tied to a single assessor.
There clearly exist people whose value under this metric is low, and below a living wage.
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Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk
unkz Link ParentI’m with you on pretty much all of it, except for executing foreign citizens. Hereditary rulers are definitely some kind of massive scale crime against humanity though.I’m with you on pretty much all of it, except for executing foreign citizens. Hereditary rulers are definitely some kind of massive scale crime against humanity though.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
unkz Link ParentYou’re conflating two separate kinds of value. There’s economic value, and then there’s this amorphous, unquantifiable “human” value. However interesting that latter value is to some people, it...What's my "value" as a human?
You’re conflating two separate kinds of value. There’s economic value, and then there’s this amorphous, unquantifiable “human” value.
However interesting that latter value is to some people, it doesn’t pay for rent and groceries. We have to do that with economic value.
Discrimination is wrong. We should rightly condemn and prohibit people from employed based on, as you mention, being disabled, female, immigrant, or black. Why then should we allow discrimination based on not being capable of generating a threshold level of economic output?
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Comment on What is a value or belief you have that is extremely outside the norm? in ~talk
unkz LinkNo particular aversion to, and mild interest in, cannibalism. At least of the lab grown cultured meat form.No particular aversion to, and mild interest in, cannibalism. At least of the lab grown cultured meat form.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
unkz Link ParentWhether people are "seen in terms of economic value" is kind of irrelevant though. People do in fact have a quantifiable economic value, whether it is seen or not. It's great if some companies...Whether people are "seen in terms of economic value" is kind of irrelevant though. People do in fact have a quantifiable economic value, whether it is seen or not. It's great if some companies decide to be charitable and spend money on staff that ultimately cost them money, but that's not sustainable on a large scale.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
unkz Link ParentNo, I don't really mean "low-skill". As you rightly point out, there are lots of low-skill jobs out there that have economic value. What I mean is low-capability. There are people who are not...No, I don't really mean "low-skill". As you rightly point out, there are lots of low-skill jobs out there that have economic value. What I mean is low-capability. There are people who are not capable of producing sufficient economic value to support themselves. They may even be "high-skill" workers who are simply incapable of working efficiently enough. As an employer, if I have a software developer who takes 10x as long as another, I can't pay them $100k/year if they only generate $10k/year of value.
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Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech
unkz Link ParentBy this, no, but some of the voice cloning technology that is available now is pretty close. In combination with that, it's getting much closer -- being able to provide feedback like in these...By this, no, but some of the voice cloning technology that is available now is pretty close. In combination with that, it's getting much closer -- being able to provide feedback like in these videos (speak slower, speak faster, more whispery, more melodic) to an AI equipped with a cloned voice? Already, voice clones are taking jobs from voice actors. I would say it's going to be a few years at most before real voice actors are only ever used because of contractual obligations and "artistic integrity".
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Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech
unkz Link ParentThis is oddly dismissive of the intellectual capabilities of engineers, like they are borderline idiots. Is it really likely that AI engineers do not spend an enormous amount of time thinking...This is oddly dismissive of the intellectual capabilities of engineers, like they are borderline idiots. Is it really likely that AI engineers do not spend an enormous amount of time thinking about the consequences of this technology? And that people in the humanities, who for the most part haven't got the faintest idea of how any of these works, would have a better understanding?
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Comment on Two pizzas for me - What is this article trying to say? in ~tech
unkz LinkOE is a real problem in the tech sector, now that WFH has become so commonplace.OE is a real problem in the tech sector, now that WFH has become so commonplace.
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Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech
unkz Link ParentDidn't they say they weren't releasing a search engine, and that something else was in store?...Didn't they say they weren't releasing a search engine, and that something else was in store?
In Short
Reports of OpenAI planning a Google Search competitor had surfaced online Sam Altman has denied these reports He added that new announcements regarding ChatGPT are in store -
Comment on GPT-4o in ~tech
unkz Link ParentYes, Rabbit and Humane are entirely obsoleted by this. I'm thoroughly impressed by this tech demo, it's a major leap forward.Yes, Rabbit and Humane are entirely obsoleted by this. I'm thoroughly impressed by this tech demo, it's a major leap forward.
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Comment on Seattle’s law mandating higher pay for food delivery workers is a case study in backfire economics in ~finance
unkz Link ParentI'm not arguing that anyone "should" be paid less, but I am saying that there are people who can't be profitably paid a living wage to do a job because employing them would be a net cost. What are...who should be paid less
I'm not arguing that anyone "should" be paid less, but I am saying that there are people who can't be profitably paid a living wage to do a job because employing them would be a net cost. What are the options for these people? If we demand that they be paid a living wage if they work, then they will be de facto excluded from the job market because they are not usable as employees at that rate.
Or are you suggesting that corporations should be required to hire people at a living wage rate to do jobs they aren't capable of as some kind of compulsory welfare program?
More people die in car accidents than they do from homicide. It seems like a pretty good use of police time on the face of it.