DynamoSunshirt's recent activity
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Comment on Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets to build AI hardware in ~tech
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Comment on AI mania is eviscerating global decisionmaking in ~tech
DynamoSunshirt LinkThis in particular resonated with my workplace experience over the last couple of years:This in particular resonated with my workplace experience over the last couple of years:
On several occasions, we’ve been exposed to folks that have been sort of lukewarm on our main offerings, but they really, really wanted to use AI to perform a natural language query on their data. And we thought “Okay, if you really want to see it, maybe we can caveat this appropriately and show you what it might look like.”
This was a terrible mistake. It backfired in the most predictable way imaginable – every lukewarm client that saw the chatbot in action, even with us telling them that it was not going to accomplish what they wanted, wanted to buy it immediately. Every other consideration, including millions of dollars that we could plausibly help them achieve by non-AI means, was swept aside. It was like a dark and terrible force seized control of their limbs, plunged their hands into their own chests, and presented their still-beating credit cards to us in grim supplication. We were so mortified by the inexplicable shift in energy that we (wisely) declined to take the money and ended the sales process, and soon thereafter removed Cortex from our list of demonstrations. It would have been too irresponsible to exploit this gap in their reasoning, and frankly, it was already irresponsible to have even run the demonstration – doctors don’t walk around showing off cool pills that they’d never prescribe.
Watching the total 180°, that shift from ice-cold to red-hot buying frenzy, was a deeply unsettling experience. It was personally uncomfortable to see people that clearly didn’t gel with us interpersonally suddenly dying to enter an ongoing relationship, but more broadly uncomfortable because for a brief moment I began to understand what is happening in sales meetings around the world.
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AI mania is eviscerating global decisionmaking
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Comment on Linus Torvalds says Linux is not "anti-AI", tells haters to 'fork it' and 'just walk away' in ~tech
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentI am inclined to agree with you, philosophically. I avoid LLMs for any task that I truly care about and treat them with extreme skepticism. And I find them even more ethically dubious than most...I am inclined to agree with you, philosophically. I avoid LLMs for any task that I truly care about and treat them with extreme skepticism. And I find them even more ethically dubious than most grocery store meat.
Unfortunately, much like I wind up buying those meats when they're on a good sale at my local co-op, I sometimes lean on LLMs when I get stuck or mentally blocked. But it's important to use them sparingly, and avoid getting hooked. And once powerful enough local models that don't destroy water supplies, electricity prices, or poor people's health are available, I'll use those exclusively. Same for a model that isn't built by ingesting the entire goddamn internet's worth of public writing with no compensation.
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Comment on Linus Torvalds says Linux is not "anti-AI", tells haters to 'fork it' and 'just walk away' in ~tech
DynamoSunshirt Link Parent"look over the MR and think it looks fine and merge it" is ambiguous. If you know the codebase front and back and have a pretty good notion of how to solve the problem, you can probably just look..."look over the MR and think it looks fine and merge it" is ambiguous.
If you know the codebase front and back and have a pretty good notion of how to solve the problem, you can probably just look through the MR to validate that the code matches the rough draft in your brain. If you have adequate testing, you might even be able to confirm that it behaves as expected. In that case, I think you're good.
If you don't know your codebase that well, don't have a good notion of how to solve the problem, or you don't extensively test the LLM-provided solution? Yep, that's vibe coding. You can probably get away with it. But it's absolutely vibecoding and a bit sloppy.
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Comment on Linus Torvalds says Linux is not "anti-AI", tells haters to 'fork it' and 'just walk away' in ~tech
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentIt's a bit like food production. Sure, you can try to ethically source all of the food at a restaurant... but basically the only way to do that is to run a vegan restaurant. And even then, are you...It's a bit like food production. Sure, you can try to ethically source all of the food at a restaurant... but basically the only way to do that is to run a vegan restaurant. And even then, are you absolutely sure that nobody was exploited to produce the fertilizer to grow the veggies? And that nobody committed genocide to get that farmland? (spoiler alert: someone definitely did).
I think it makes sense to not let perfect be the enemy of good here, even if I dislike LLMs personally. Let's shame people for slop, but admit that LLMs are a tool that many find very helpful for software development.
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Comment on Silicon Valley has a science fiction problem in ~tech
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentOn one hand, I want to agree with you. On the other hand, tech billionaires keep building the goddamn Torment Nexus. Maybe someone could show them Event Horizon and we could finally get rid of...On one hand, I want to agree with you. On the other hand, tech billionaires keep building the goddamn Torment Nexus.
Maybe someone could show them Event Horizon and we could finally get rid of them by sending them to a Torment Plane?
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Comment on Christopher Nolan's Odyssey and the rise of the single issue filmgoer in ~movies
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentUndoubtably a lot of the backlash was sexist. But let's not pretend it was a good movie!Undoubtably a lot of the backlash was sexist. But let's not pretend it was a good movie!
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Comment on Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ reportedly a “mess” in the edit after shooting without a finished script and packing in over sixty roles in ~movies
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentI'd give a pinkie.I'd give a pinkie.
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Comment on Chat control 1.0 passes even though majority actually voted against in todays vote in ~society
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentFrom a snarky US perspective: maybe they modeled their legislative rules on our electoral college?From a snarky US perspective: maybe they modeled their legislative rules on our electoral college?
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentI think this article uses a good 6000 words more than necessary to get its point across. Kind of the Atlantic's vibe, unfortunately. I appreciate the nuance and extra context, since short news...I think this article uses a good 6000 words more than necessary to get its point across. Kind of the Atlantic's vibe, unfortunately. I appreciate the nuance and extra context, since short news articles always leave me wanting more, but I think it's perfectly valid to dislike this rambly tone. I always hate a story/vibe article that opens with some unrelated background about the author getting dinner or something.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentI was fascinated to hear that the author eschews text messages in favor of voice messages for communication with her friends. As someone who hates listening to audio from my phone (unless I've...I was fascinated to hear that the author eschews text messages in favor of voice messages for communication with her friends. As someone who hates listening to audio from my phone (unless I've already put headphones in to intentionally listen to a podcast or music), yeeesh. I'd never be able to communicate like that! Hell, I get annoyed when people use voice-to-text because it always produces rambly and partially incoherent messages.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentI think hobbies and education are a chicken-egg problem. If you don't have a good education, you lack the fundamentals to get started in a lot of hobbies. And education isn't just the base...I think hobbies and education are a chicken-egg problem. If you don't have a good education, you lack the fundamentals to get started in a lot of hobbies. And education isn't just the base fundamentals like math, science, and english -- it fans outwards into everything, from how to properly measure, to the science of lifting, to pacing yourself during cardiovascular work, to debugging where your plumbing system has a loose connection.
Books are one of the cheapest ways to extend your existing skillset, but if you don't have a good foundation to start from, you're still screwed. I would struggle to build a deck, for instance, but my dad figured out how to build one 30 years ago from a single book at his local library. How? His parents taught him fundamentals like digging postholes and assembling fences, and he extended his knowledge. Meanwhile he never taught me those fundamentals, so I'll need to cover the fundamentals before I start building new walls in my basement.
There is some hope, though. How-to videos lower the bar dramatically for a lot of mechanical tasks. I figured out basically all of my bicycle repair and maintenance skills from Park Tool's excellent video series (plus Sheldon Brown's website). But I fear as a society we're losing a lot of fundamental skills between generations that will take a lot of effort to reclaim.
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The end of reading is here
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Comment on Steam Machine prices revealed, starting at US$1049.00 in ~games
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentSame with the Switch 2. I wonder if Valve will also adopt microSD express with this? Honestly, the speed of my Switch 2 card might as well be an SSD.Same with the Switch 2. I wonder if Valve will also adopt microSD express with this? Honestly, the speed of my Switch 2 card might as well be an SSD.
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Comment on Smartphones arrived just before the US fertility rate plunged. One study says it’s a direct cause. in ~health
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentYou don't even have to look abroad for examples. I grew up in Northern New York. Like most of the Rust belt, almost every city in Upstate is an absolute shell of its former self. Some of the worst...You don't even have to look abroad for examples. I grew up in Northern New York. Like most of the Rust belt, almost every city in Upstate is an absolute shell of its former self. Some of the worst are towns like Utica, Rome, and Amsterdam, that were once thriving cities, now with maybe half (or less) their peak population. Hell, even Buffalo, which has a lot going on by Upstate standards, is way smaller than it used to be.
The biggest problem seems to be infrastructure. Stuff breaks. Roads deteriorate. Empty lots fester. Water and sewage infrastructure and natural gas requires a growing userbase to keep costs low, and once you find yourself replacing all of your pipes, you discover just how labor-intensive that can be.
All I can say is it isn't pretty and it isn't the kind of thing I enjoy seeing every day. Some of these towns look like something out of the Blitz, with collapsing buildings and overgrown lots taking up large swaths of the "downtown."
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Comment on The rise of build-to-rent housing in ~finance
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentMaybe across the USA. Here in the Northeast, a modest house pays more like 4-5k, more like 7-10k if you bought in the last couple of years when anything habitable started to hit 400+. I suspect...Maybe across the USA. Here in the Northeast, a modest house pays more like 4-5k, more like 7-10k if you bought in the last couple of years when anything habitable started to hit 400+.
I suspect properties that haven't been sold in a while (and thus have awfully low assessments relative to actual value) distort that figure significantly.
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Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentOh I hadn't even considered spoilers. I suppose you could implement spoiler tags of some sort, but it's definitely complicated. You're likely right that creating a glossary is just adding to the...Oh I hadn't even considered spoilers. I suppose you could implement spoiler tags of some sort, but it's definitely complicated.
You're likely right that creating a glossary is just adding to the absolute heap of work most authors have to do. I hope someday authors with spare resources can invest in decent glossaries... but in the meantime, I definitely wasn't thinking about all of the pitfalls!
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentThis is probably the best way to approach a conversation with your partner about the subject as well. It's not that you're lusting after the sister; your brain is simply confusing "person I have a...This is probably the best way to approach a conversation with your partner about the subject as well. It's not that you're lusting after the sister; your brain is simply confusing "person I have a romantic relationship with" and "person I have a platonic relationship with who is present at 99% of the events my romantic partner is at, looks similar, has a similar upbringing, and who is also not related to me." No wonder you're confused!
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life
DynamoSunshirt LinkI think your judgment might be clouded by your feelings (crush?) for the sister. One question before my advice: If the sister has feelings for you, would you leave your partner? If yes: go to...I think your judgment might be clouded by your feelings (crush?) for the sister. One question before my advice:
If the sister has feelings for you, would you leave your partner?
If yes: go to therapy first and work on yourself.
If no: proceed with my advice.
In my experience, you have to tell your partner. A reasonable partner will hear you out and help you work through the issue. Crushes happen. You haven't done anything wrong yet, but your partner deserves transparency. If they react poorly at first... well, it would be a shock, give them a little time to process. But if you have a strong foundation of understanding and trust in your relationship, there's no reason you can't work through a crush.
Bottling this up and keeping it a secret could work for some people, eventually your unrequited romantic feelings for the sister should fade. But I suspect keeping it a secret for this long has exacerbated the issue so far, and if you're reaching out for help, it might be worth trying a more honest approach with your micro-family. But whatever you do, talk to your partner FIRST. And if you talk to them, be sure that you aren't asking for permission (even subtly) to be with their sibling. It won't end well.
"profitable on inference" is only true if you ignore the fact that they offload lots of free trial and discount costs as marketing (not GAAP compliant, iirc). Unless you believe they spend massively more on advertising than Coca-Cola!