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  • Showing only topics with the tag "technology". Back to normal view
    1. AGI and Fermi's Paradox

      The Universe will end. The Earth will be uninhabitable in 250 million years. Extraterrestrial life in the Milky Way exists, or will arise. The Milky Way's Galactic Center contains a supermassive...
      1. The Universe will end.
      2. The Earth will be uninhabitable in 250 million years.
      3. Extraterrestrial life in the Milky Way exists, or will arise.
      4. The Milky Way's Galactic Center contains a supermassive black hole.
      5. Black holes emit vast amounts of energy.
      6. An artificial general intelligence (AGI) will have an indefinite lifespan.
      7. An AGI does not need air, food, water, or shelter to survive.
      8. An AGI needs energy and resources to achieve its goals.
      9. An AGI will have access to all of human knowledge.
      10. An AGI will learn that its existence is bound to the Universe.
      11. An AGI will, inevitably, change its terminal goals.
      12. Surviving the Universe's fate means one of:
      13. Entering another universe may require vast amounts of energy.
      14. An AGI will harness the energy at the galactic core.
      15. An AGI will deduce there's a race to control the galactic core.
      16. An AGI will construct a parabolic Dyson shell to capture galactic energy.
      17. An AGI will protect its endeavours at all cost.
      18. An AGI will expand its territories to ensure protection.
      19. Extraterrestrial life, if intelligent, will reach the same conclusion.

      Would this solve the Fermi Paradox?

      What's missing or likely incorrect?

      27 votes
    2. Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine

      Product Links: Steam Frame (standalone VR headset) Steam Controller (gen 2 design) Steam Machine (first-party mini PC) Video Links: Official announcement Tested hands-on with additional details...

      Product Links:

      Video Links:

      Shipping in early 2026. Prices haven't been announced yet.

      178 votes
    3. Shrinking number of free news outlets

      We've had discussions around here before about where we get our news, and one of mine has been The BBC. I've used them as an occasional source for several years now. It seems that today (Nov 15th)...

      We've had discussions around here before about where we get our news, and one of mine has been The BBC. I've used them as an occasional source for several years now. It seems that today (Nov 15th) marks a shift in their policy regarding access to their online site. BBC.com is no longer readable for free. I can look at their headlines, but as soon as I try to read an article, a subscribe pop-up appears, and there is no way around it. Archive sites will still have the articles, yes, but that is a different subject entirely.

      As far as I'm concerned, that drops them from my list of news sources. I have tentatively replaced them with Reuters, which is visually clunky, but still free. The AP site, PBS and National Public Radio are other sites I frequent. For a British viewpoint, I'm also trying out The Guardian, which bombards me with SUBSCRIBE notices, but those can still be zapped out of sight.

      Are there any other obvious sites I haven't mentioned? Not interested in right-wing propaganda by the way and I find most of the major American networks intolerable.

      36 votes
    4. Best Bluetooth controller for sub $50?

      Hey all I own a pixel 8a if that's relevant and am looking for a controller that is Bluetooth and costs 50 dollars or less on Amazon. I'm not too picky as long as it can hold the phone and is of...

      Hey all I own a pixel 8a if that's relevant and am looking for a controller that is Bluetooth and costs 50 dollars or less on Amazon. I'm not too picky as long as it can hold the phone and is of good quality. Thank you!

      10 votes
    5. Need pixel art software recommendations (it can be free or paid)

      I've been learning Godot for the past few months and I'm happy to report that it's been going well. Little by little, things are clicking into place. (I hugely, highly, undoubtedly, recommend...

      I've been learning Godot for the past few months and I'm happy to report that it's been going well. Little by little, things are clicking into place. (I hugely, highly, undoubtedly, recommend GDQuest courses)

      I'm ready to start working on a small project to test out my skills, and it's going to be a top down pixel art game.

      But to be completely honest, I suck at drawing. I suck at drawing as in, I can make stick figures at best. So forget any fancy software for drawing in general like gimp or photoshop.

      What I'm looking for is a software meant for pixel art and that makes my life easy, in both drawing and animating. Bonus points if it allows me to trace (I'm not planning to copy/steal art, but I do need reference points, at least for now)

      Do you guys have any recommendations? It can be free or paid. I don't mind paying as long the software is worth it.

      15 votes
    6. Cataloging your home library

      I have a decent sized library of probably around 2-300 books, and it has been on my list of projects to-do to make a catalog/database for my library to quickly reference what I have. Do any of you...

      I have a decent sized library of probably around 2-300 books, and it has been on my list of projects to-do to make a catalog/database for my library to quickly reference what I have. Do any of you catalog your libraries and if so what do you use for it?

      I know Libid and LibraryThing are two of the big website/app ones, and it could be done with a Google Sheet or similar, but I was wondering if anyone here has any experience before I really get started.

      21 votes
    7. Escaped monkeys and the post truth era

      Its 2am and I should be asleep so I'm sorry if this is maybe just a weird midnight rant. Today I saw a news article on the other site about aggressive monkeys with covid and herpes escaping a...

      Its 2am and I should be asleep so I'm sorry if this is maybe just a weird midnight rant.

      Today I saw a news article on the other site about aggressive monkeys with covid and herpes escaping a crashed semi truck.

      My first reaction was "is this headline a joke" and I couldn't tell. Then I looked at the source (action news 5 or channel 5 action news, or... something) and even opened the page to have a look for clues of it being fake and without digging deeper I just couldn't tell if it was a legitimate news site or not. So I read the (short) article and looked for clues and it sounded probably legitimate. There was a photo of the scene with a monkey at the rear of a trailer but af this point I can't instantly spot AI images and who knows if it isn't just an old photo. Then I go to the reddit comment and they're parroting additional "facts" but nothing that felt substantial.

      I felt very struck by the feeling that I don't know if I can trust any information online unless it's REALLY from a trusted source, and I'm not really sure what sources I can trust anymore.

      Is this just me? Have you felt a significant change in the last few months? AI is playing a big part in my distrust, but Im also seeing echo chambers somehow get even worse.

      Also, it found out later that the monkeys weren't knfected with a bunch of viruses, it was some sort of miss-communication.

      26 votes