FlippantGod's recent activity

  1. Comment on Follow up on the username thread: What Tildes users do you recognize when browsing and, without being rude or inflammatory, what is your impression of them? in ~tildes

    FlippantGod
    Link
    I tend to gloss over usernames, although after reading a comment I might have a vague recollection of the author. There shouldn't be too many usernames I recognize and have an impression of, due...

    I tend to gloss over usernames, although after reading a comment I might have a vague recollection of the author.

    There shouldn't be too many usernames I recognize and have an impression of, due to my poor retention.

    Surprisingly, I seem to know a large number of handles beyond just the powerusers, active or otherwise, whom no one has yet mentioned.

    Overall, a lot of nice impressions. I continue to be impressed by users making thoughtful comments when I would say the discourse trends towards more casual as of late.

    4 votes
  2. Comment on best option for a bare-bones message board/forum? in ~comp

    FlippantGod
    Link
    There was a project, BrutaLinks, working on a stripped-down old reddit / lobste.rs style site. No categories and to my knowledge, no images. Meets all hard requirements. The project page details a...

    There was a project, BrutaLinks, working on a stripped-down old reddit / lobste.rs style site. No categories and to my knowledge, no images. Meets all hard requirements.

    The project page details a core goal of being easy to install and operate, but I'm not sure if the documentation is there. I suspect you could easily contact the author and get the details, however.

    Alternatively, you could trade relative ease of install for administrative overhead and try something like Akkoma or another fediverse project.

    Finally, simple imageboards should offer everything but threaded comments.

    2 votes
  3. Comment on They stole my voice with AI in ~tech

    FlippantGod
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Mostly just raising awareness for the software. And you are right, it wasn't exactly relevant to your comment, but it is relevant to the larger discussion. Damage can be done to people from merely...

    Mostly just raising awareness for the software. And you are right, it wasn't exactly relevant to your comment, but it is relevant to the larger discussion.

    Damage can be done to people from merely approximating their voice. But to the larger "artificial voices replacing real people's jobs" discussion, I think I've provided a good example of Hatsune Miku doing just fine despite free alternatives.

  4. Comment on They stole my voice with AI in ~tech

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    Enter OpenUTAU and free commercial use licensed voicebanks.

    You have to pay money to use Hatsune Miku

    Enter OpenUTAU and free commercial use licensed voicebanks.

  5. Comment on The GLP-1 compounding loophole in ~health

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    Not sure! Just DM me and I'll try to reply next time I have a chance to ask.

    Not sure! Just DM me and I'll try to reply next time I have a chance to ask.

    1 vote
  6. Comment on The GLP-1 compounding loophole in ~health

    FlippantGod
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Glad it was appreciated! Oh and interestingly (to me), sometimes sites do not have required equipment, which must be provided, but for ethics reasons cannot be used for anything other than this...

    Glad it was appreciated! Oh and interestingly (to me), sometimes sites do not have required equipment, which must be provided, but for ethics reasons cannot be used for anything other than this trial.

    If that sounds crazy, it is. Sites don't actually want equipment they cant use for anything else, and operators may need to be brought in. Probably just training. I don't totally recall if sometimes offsite equipment at some lab or whatever is contracted out, just that things which seem straightforward aren't, and doubly not when ethics are involved.

    Edit: This is really stretching my memory, and I might be wrong, but I seem to recall hearing extensive complaints that China was very... enthusiastic about finding sites that happen to lack equipment. But don't worry, it definitely won't be used for anything else.

    2 votes
  7. Comment on The GLP-1 compounding loophole in ~health

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    That's a really cool study. I just posted a large comment about giant global studies, so it's great to contrast that with clinical trials without phase 3 and massive global enrollment.

    That's a really cool study. I just posted a large comment about giant global studies, so it's great to contrast that with clinical trials without phase 3 and massive global enrollment.

    2 votes
  8. Comment on The GLP-1 compounding loophole in ~health

    FlippantGod
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Trials are extremely time consuming. I won't go into details as it isn't my field, but I do happen to know a bit behind the curtain, so let me tell you: the big drug companies are blasting money...

    Trials are extremely time consuming. I won't go into details as it isn't my field, but I do happen to know a bit behind the curtain, so let me tell you:

    the big drug companies are blasting money and talent at clinical trials, working with sites globally. Working with global sites is hard. China? Have to be there, and that's it's own thing. Japan, yeah. Korea? Mhm. Brazil? Oh yeah, that too. India? No biggie. Germany? Surely that one isn't so bad. Wait, what's this about GDPR? UK? Slow down please. Russia? Uh....... Ukraine? These are really exceptions, right?

    These sites operate in their own special ways. They have different cultures, and standards of care, reporting (yeah, can't always trust em) treatments and practices, which have huge impacts on studies and must be controlled, but-

    no-one likes to be corrected, sometimes they have reasons for operating differently, the local governments have varying oversight and watchdogs that resist change, and populations respond differently to enrollment at each location.

    Oh, and each country has it's own ethics boards (usually). Huh, what does the EU look like? Are there.... multiple ethics boards? Multiple regulators? How often does this stuff change anyway?

    Then these trials take years. Sites might drop out. Some might make mistakes, and become invalid data. Regulations change over this time. There might be multiple stages (I'm familiar with three; @patience_limited linked a study of trial costs that also discusses smaller trials with fewer stages).

    Maybe the worst thing of all, is that a given site will not be enthusiastic about a trial that isn't showing results there. They want to provide the best care for patients. They don't like diverting patients to something that doesn't seem to help, even if it is valuable data.

    For as careful and judicious these companies are about avoiding failure, they mess up. They develop drugs that aren't as good, don't work, have side effects. If they're lucky it's no good at what it was supposed to be good at but really good at something else.

    7 votes
  9. Comment on The GLP-1 compounding loophole in ~health

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    Hmm, I think the author was asking how the economy (market) would respond to a drug that everyone wants but expects to pay $12,000 a year for. The answer to which was, "the compounding loophole"....

    how will the economy handle a $12,000/year drug that everyone wants?

    I know it isn't the focus of this specific blog post, but I do want to point out that this is a false premise. These medications don't cost anywhere near $12,000 to manufacturer a year's supply of.

    Hmm, I think the author was asking how the economy (market) would respond to a drug that everyone wants but expects to pay $12,000 a year for. The answer to which was, "the compounding loophole".

    Which can exist because it is cheaper to manufacture. And because demand outstrips current supply, thus placing it in a shortage.

    I guess I have no idea why you've reacted so strongly to the opening statements, when it seems to be exactly what you've gone in detail to reiterate. Am I missing something?

    10 votes
  10. Comment on Forgejo is now copyleft, just like Git in ~comp

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    By all means, please tell us more. IAC is my true love.

    By all means, please tell us more. IAC is my true love.

    2 votes
  11. Comment on Nothing CEO Carl Pei gives employees two months to return to office full-time in ~tech

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    Most of the cases are subjective, but I'm pretty sure this one is contradictory.

    we also need to... do more with way less resources than competitors in all areas of our business. This does not work well remotely.

    Most of the cases are subjective, but I'm pretty sure this one is contradictory.

    46 votes
  12. Comment on Viral hot sauce challenges have fueled a $100 million chile pepper arms race in ~food

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    This is in no way scientific, but it has been my experience that growing conditions have affected the spiciness of my chili peppers. I'm not sure how happy they would be outside of maybe BW.

    This is in no way scientific, but it has been my experience that growing conditions have affected the spiciness of my chili peppers. I'm not sure how happy they would be outside of maybe BW.

    1 vote
  13. Comment on AI music generator Suno admits it was trained on ‘essentially all music files on the internet’ in ~tech

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    I believe this is largely because it is difficult to move far from the average in current models and frameworks. Significant portions of heavily weighted data likely are very similar in the same...

    ... there’s a very visible “statistical averageness”

    I believe this is largely because it is difficult to move far from the average in current models and frameworks.

    Significant portions of heavily weighted data likely are very similar in the same way that stock photos of office workers have the exact same "averageness". Image generators were initially trained on controlled data because it gave the best results the earliest, especially for GANs.

    There are some renderings of textures and materials which are simply not consistent or of even remotely decent quality from base models, and this should be doubly true for elements of composition and lighting which are beyond laypersons to articulate and thus underrepresented in datasets.

    There are actually many elements which are - generously speaking - subpar, but I don't think this will be the case when generators have sufficiently improved.

    2 votes
  14. Comment on ROMhacking.net moves to news only, database and file archive released to Internet Archive in ~games

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    Yeowch, my gut reflex was to wonder if datacrystal might be capable and willing of taking on the hosting duties. So of course it was already tried.... Sad news all the way around.

    Yeowch, my gut reflex was to wonder if datacrystal might be capable and willing of taking on the hosting duties. So of course it was already tried.... Sad news all the way around.

    5 votes
  15. Comment on California Forever pulls measure to build Bay Area city in ~design

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    I initially followed it very closely, as I had already been imagining what-if scenarios in that same area. There was a lot going for a forward-thinking and sustainable development there. So...

    I initially followed it very closely, as I had already been imagining what-if scenarios in that same area. There was a lot going for a forward-thinking and sustainable development there. So naturally the actual effort with money behind it is underwhelming. It appears to me, for all intents and purposes, as a straightforward unaltruistic investment with minor megalomania.

    Could have been an opportunity to experiment. Work with locals to convert pasture into hemp farms and vegetable gardens, use hempcrete and local materials to construct mixed use attached buildings that are more pleasant and more efficient to live in.

    If it's just going to be another development that doesn't teach us anything new, revitalize what we already have in spades.

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Donald Trump whisked off stage in Pennsylvania after apparent gunshots rang through the crowd in ~news

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    Taxation without representation. There is a difference.

    ...they didn’t like being taxed so much so they decided to start killing people over that.

    Taxation without representation. There is a difference.

    11 votes
  17. Comment on I tried ditching my vehicle and doing the no-car thing. It was awful. in ~transport

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    You aren't suggesting to move cities closer together, so I assume you are talking about in city transportation. I thought I was pretty clearly discussing regional rail networks.

    You aren't suggesting to move cities closer together, so I assume you are talking about in city transportation. I thought I was pretty clearly discussing regional rail networks.

    1 vote
  18. Comment on I tried ditching my vehicle and doing the no-car thing. It was awful. in ~transport

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    On some level I will still maintain that it is also a density problem. Perhaps the more devoted public transit advocates have run more numbers, but I have yet to grasp how exactly the U.S. is...

    At this level of wealth it's a policy problem, not a wealth problem

    On some level I will still maintain that it is also a density problem. Perhaps the more devoted public transit advocates have run more numbers, but I have yet to grasp how exactly the U.S. is expected to copy paste solutions from Switzerland and the Netherlands.

    It could stand to steal the Netherlands' bike infrastructure for cities wholesale, but your regional train system? I have doubts. Although serious expansion of passenger lines in a few key corridors of the rust belt seems like an ambitious but potentially viable start imo. Here is a nice layman's ideation of what I am thinking, a corridor from Chicago to Indianapolis.

    I find the costs (many billions of $) underestimated for Illinois construction. It would be more than 1.5x the length of Switzerland's entire high speed rail system, from checking a couple wikipedia pages.

    8 votes
  19. Comment on Noctua releases new CPU cooler NH-D15 G2 and NF-A14x25r G2 fan in ~comp

    FlippantGod
    Link Parent
    HBC is for Intel and LBC is for AMD.

    HBC is for Intel and LBC is for AMD.

    1 vote
  20. Comment on USB and the myth of 500 milliamps in ~engineering

    FlippantGod
    Link
    Around 2011 we got Battery Charging 1.2, which had a few standout features: Dedicated Charging Ports (DCPs) may output more than 1.5A. Allows Portable Devices (PDs) with switch mode chargers to...

    Around 2011 we got Battery Charging 1.2, which had a few standout features:

    • Dedicated Charging Ports (DCPs) may output more than 1.5A. Allows Portable Devices (PDs) with switch mode chargers to
      draw more power (not sure about the PD part, spec seemed to contradict itself.)
    • Minimum Charging Data Port (CDP) current is now 1.5A.
    • PDs may draw up to 1.5A during High-Speed traffic.
    • CDPs must support 1.5A during High-Speed traffic.
    • Secondary Detection now optional for PDs.
    • Remove resistive detection.
    • Any downstream port may act as a DCP (specifically, an SDP, CDP or DCP, and can switch roles).

    Even if this wasn't Power Delivery's "Clean Slate" design, I do think this was roughly everything required for straightforward ~25W charging, power and data combined operation, and a consistent, predictable user experience.

    3 votes