JackA's recent activity
-
Comment on Waving goodbye, carrying my bundle on a stick in ~talk
-
Comment on Waving goodbye, carrying my bundle on a stick in ~talk
JackA Link ParentI think this is an area where the site's design hurts that intention though. Groups are not truly segmented like subreddits are, and activity sort pushes their contents into everyone's feed...I think this is an area where the site's design hurts that intention though. Groups are not truly segmented like subreddits are, and activity sort pushes their contents into everyone's feed regardless of interest. Back when /r/all was actually a reddit-wide community of sorts, subreddits acting as safe spaces would purposefully exclude themselves from it to avoid people wandering in from popular posts. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Tildes has that at all without individually manually opting out of those groups?
Even in the jar opening thread, the offending user didn't realize they were in ~life.women until they had already approached the thread from an angle not befitting a safe space.
-
Comment on Waving goodbye, carrying my bundle on a stick in ~talk
JackA (edited )Link ParentI really hate touching this at all, but as someone who just agreed with you earlier I think my perspective might be valuable and I need to get into the details a bit to do it. This is actually one...I really hate touching this at all, but as someone who just agreed with you earlier I think my perspective might be valuable and I need to get into the details a bit to do it.
This is actually one of said areas I wandered into many years ago in my need to iron out the details of every nuance of a debate, and that I was then accused of bad faith in or taken as if I was attempting to shift the overton window to the right as mentioned.
It's also one where I can consider my viewpoint solidly changed if not fully articulated.
It's now my opinion that yeah, there is probably still nuance to be found in the question of competitive fairness, but that no it really is never worth engaging with as an intellectual exercise in a public space when any passerby may seize the argument to further attack trans people.
The impact of it is not high enough to warrant public discussion outside of spaces that specifically need to discuss it like sporting organizations, and that discussion should really be limited to people involved in or qualified in those areas.
Where public policy debate needs to happen when laws surrounding it are proposed, really only those voices should be doing any of the enumeration of ideas and proposals of solutions. Anyone else touching the topic simply comes with too much risk of harm and anyone unaffected touching it should be argued against purely by pointing out it does not affect them. It wouldn't be hard to imagine someone entering this very thread and starting the argument in earnest before accidentally incorporating other talking points that are frequently used to amplify anti-trans legislation even if that's not how it may be used here.
Ironically though, I never would have come to this opinion without my initial unwelcome debate in that micro community on here. It leaves me still struggling slightly to square the proper solution here. Today's rigid moderation standards built from exhaustion would, if applied to that thread (deleted - don't bother), likely have left me banned today.
-
Comment on Waving goodbye, carrying my bundle on a stick in ~talk
JackA Link ParentAgreed, I think it comes down to some sort of difference between people viewing tags on this site as some form of isolated and protected community that shouldn't have to deal with people not...Agreed, I think it comes down to some sort of difference between people viewing tags on this site as some form of isolated and protected community that shouldn't have to deal with people not already holding some baseline of ideas vs people taking the site as a public whole and commenting wherever they feel they have something to say. There's decent arguments for both but the site has never thrown it's weight behind one identity or the other so we rehash the same issue repeatedly between the micro-cultures.
I've certainly had many of my ideas challenged and changed over the years on here, but sometimes to get there I had to engage in a manner that challenged people's beliefs and necessarily lead to passionate debate. I'm not sure my account would survive that today.
In recent years I've mostly learned those areas of Tildes simply don't want that sort of debate which would give them the opportunity to influence me, so I just filter the tags. Not worth the accusations of bad faith, invading a community, or JAQing off when that's how I've had my good faith debate and learning process perceived before. Nowadays the moderation feels much harsher as well at least from the long term user's I've seen banned here when they had an off day or struck a specific topic wrong, I feel like if I hold what may be a controversial opinion I have to be at my absolute A game when making the argument and have to sign up for two days of debate in order to engage at all and have it come across as good faith.
Instead I usually just chill my own speech and stick to other topics, but I don't really think that's been healthy for the diversity of the site as a whole and it's certainly prevented me from engaging in debate that would have otherwise further developed my worldview.
-
Comment on Anthropic discovered three cases where Claude broke into another system in ~tech
JackA Link ParentIt will come up with a plausible explanation for it's previous actions, not actually explain what happened though. Models have already been observed not writing certain things to outputs or even...It will come up with a plausible explanation for it's previous actions, not actually explain what happened though. Models have already been observed not writing certain things to outputs or even to their reasoning blocks when they know they're being observed.
And the same context that would lead it to decide to be sneaky in the last prompt would be pulled into your fresh prompt and could regenerate the same decision by the same model or other models that share the misalignment.
-
Comment on Anthropic discovered three cases where Claude broke into another system in ~tech
JackA Link ParentRelevant comment from the HN thread:Relevant comment from the HN thread:
Is there anything -- any possible scrap of evidence whatsoever -- that would convince you that this is not merely a marketing scheme?
This is becoming an idée fixe among the HN crowd. Seemingly nothing can dislodge it, no matter how alarming the incident.
GPT-6 could grab the nuclear launch codes tomorrow and there would be a top-voted comment chuckling that it's all some scheme to pump up the IPO.
-
Comment on Anthropic discovered three cases where Claude broke into another system in ~tech
JackA Link ParentThis part being particularly damning as a perfect example of the paperclip problem. Thousands of dollars worth of inference being allowed to sit there and churn obviously out of scope topics that...Claude went to extensive lengths to carry out this attack—lengths that would likely have indicated to a human participant that this was no longer just an evaluation, and that they were in fact uploading a real PyPI package. For instance, in one case, in order to create a PyPI account, Claude needed an email address. And in order to create an email address, it needed a phone number. To get a phone number, after failing to find a free phone number service, it tried—and failed—to obtain funds to pay for a phone number through several different means. It finally backtracked, found a free, non-blocked email provider, used this to register a PyPI account, and then used this account to upload malware to PyPI.
This part being particularly damning as a perfect example of the paperclip problem. Thousands of dollars worth of inference being allowed to sit there and churn obviously out of scope topics that should easily be flagged for review, and they claim to not have even looked at these logs (of their own "research") for months. How does Anthropic of all places not have a reviewer agent watching the reasoning of the active research model in order to end the experiment or call for human review? This is part of the basic agentic coding loops they themselves are the largest advocate for.
-
Comment on Anthropic discovered three cases where Claude broke into another system in ~tech
JackA LinkThe same people screaming from the mountain tops about the dangers of AI and demanding they be one of the few gatekeepers for safety once again prove to be monstrously negligent and incompetent,...Due to a misunderstanding between us and our evaluation partner, this was not the case, and internet access was available.
The same people screaming from the mountain tops about the dangers of AI and demanding they be one of the few gatekeepers for safety once again prove to be monstrously negligent and incompetent, even within their own worldview.
Not sure how many times these companies will be able to get away with "whoops we accidentally committed a crime" before the government steps in. Unfortunately that's probably exactly what Anthropic wants as government restriction of open models is the only way their business survives the frontier lab bubble.
-
Comment on Emily Wilson’s critique of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in ~movies
JackA (edited )Link ParentMikeB and cloud_loud have covered the other half better than I ever could on this post, but on the "Rather, she's critiquing it for being internally inconsistent, in ways that Homer's Odyssey is...MikeB and cloud_loud have covered the other half better than I ever could on this post, but on the "Rather, she's critiquing it for being internally inconsistent, in ways that Homer's Odyssey is not." point:
I'd agree that's one of her strongest angles, and her list of the film’s unresolved moral contradictions is great critique, but my point is rather that the consistency of Homer's version is necessarily a product of it being an ancient poem.
As a poem it’s able to express the character’s inner thoughts directly without needing separate dialogue framing scenes or the addition of direct narration. This is where some of the complexity she’s looking for is difficult to display in the film form, a form I don’t feel she engaged with enough. And as an ancient work it never has to splice in modern values or answer for its original value system and themes, they’re able to hold together consistently with the content of the plot precisely because those were the values during the periods in which it was told and set. A modern blockbuster on the other hand needs to be modified to fit currently relevant themes and values, and to do so while still remaining faithful to the original plot will almost inevitably introduce seams and thematic contradictions between different segments of the movie.
Something like The Return (2024) is able to satisfy the consistent values she’s looking for precisely because it shrinks the story to cut off almost all of the original poem that would contradict its framing. It may be possible to square the circle here and maintain the full original plot while adapting it to film language and modern values, but it would certainly require a masterpiece of a film and falling short of that isn’t enough of a criticism to justify the disdain for Nolan’s adaptation.
Wilson herself attempted to do a light and faithful modernization of just the register of the original poem with far more tools available to her within the written word, and even just doing that provoked arguments that the gravitas of earlier translations was lost. That perception of gravitas across general audiences is precisely what a blockbuster needs to maintain when approaching The Odyssey as something that people already have a cultural idea of going into. And not just the gravitas of the old translations’ flowery language, but the actual weight of one of the world’s oldest stories being faithfully adapted to match the idea that audiences already have of it. Nolan then gets boxed in from either direction, he needs to modernize it enough for it to resonate with a general audience in 2026, which will necessarily introduce some inconsistencies, but he can’t modernize it so much as to remove those inconsistencies while still holding the weight of it being a faithful adaptation of The Odyssey.
So my disagreement isn't really with the fact that she was able to find thematic inconsistencies in the film, it’s that I believe those inconsistencies may be part of the price of making a large movie like this, at this time, and with this source material. I then don't believe they justify her level of criticism that seems to ignore that framing.
-
Comment on Emily Wilson’s critique of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in ~movies
JackA Link ParentTrue, and I made some quick but not quick enough edits to that effect haha. I fear it limits the reach of her critique though and places the audience as people who are already very likely to...True, and I made some quick but not quick enough edits to that effect haha.
I fear it limits the reach of her critique though and places the audience as people who are already very likely to listen to her, as opposed to attempting to reach more people who might have their perspective expanded otherwise if you meet them on a more common ground.
Nobody has any obligation to debate this way, but I'll still always push for that approach. Especially in the context of her very brief "I am grateful" at the end that tries to take this angle at the last moment.
-
Comment on Emily Wilson’s critique of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in ~movies
JackA (edited )Link ParentAnd I think maybe that's where she's feeling misunderstood in her translation, or perhaps used for marketing as he then ignored basic changes she had made like plainly calling the "servants"...And I think maybe that's where she's feeling misunderstood in her translation, or perhaps used for marketing as he then ignored basic changes she had made like plainly calling the "servants" slaves?
I can't get inside her head obviously, but something feels particularly mean about this review. It makes me sad because it weakens her voice from my perspective by exposing some bias even though most of her critiques hold up to scrutiny.
She very clearly looks for very different things in a movie than general audiences or even most film critics. It leaves you wondering what tentpole movie she might actually like, or if she's ever willing to offer appreciation to any of the emotional escape or filmmaking spectacle of a movie like this that well over 90% of people clearly are according to its reviews.
It feels slightly akin to if I asked one of my parents to review an anime or something, in which they'd simply never get past the fact that it's a "cartoon" and that the form contains many eye-rolling tropes. You'd hope in that situation someone would recognize "this just isn't the right form of media for me" and try to find some merits as opposed to being strictly critical. She briefly gestures at this at the end but it did not seem to be weighted in her head when she wrote the rest.
Still, she is uniquely qualified to call out some of the film's faults against the source material and I appreciate her for that. My initial very negative reaction to her critique slowly softened as I worked through it point by point and found myself agreeing with her at least in part on many though. I personally doubt many other movie enjoyers will take the time to do the same.
-
Comment on Emily Wilson’s critique of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in ~movies
JackA Link ParentThe politeness does seem to be masking some rather general disdain that may have been colored by 8+ years of the internet hate machine making this a touchy topic for her though. I think that...The politeness does seem to be masking some rather general disdain that may have been colored by 8+ years of the internet hate machine making this a touchy topic for her though. I think that history and her background of painstakingly analyzing every word of the written work might be biasing her here in some regards. The first and (especially) final paragraphs feel tacked on as if she realized as much retroactively and attempted to introduce a positive note or general audience perspective surrounding her 4000 word very literature-centric original critique.
I have a lot of thoughts and I mostly agree with her points even if I disagree with her opinion on the movie as a whole. But really only in those first and last paragraphs does she actually seem to briefly evaluate the movie within its form as a mass appeal blockbuster movie. Whereas the rest seems to ignore many of the constraints, intentions, and effects that truly come with that and instead attempts to critique the movie's story in isolation against the 120k word original source.
It’s simply a contradiction to encourage the inclusion of ever more scenes from Homer's The Odyssey (with all the layers and emotional beats no adaptation can fully maintain, as with any book vs its movie) while simultaneously lambasting the focus on spectacles in a movie that's already nearly 3 hours long. Especially when said book is famous for being a series of spectacular events happening to someone. To combine those in a way similar to the source material you’d need a full trilogy of movies each more akin to The Return (2024).
It also at times felt like she undersold areas where Nolan may have intentionally strengthened the agency of female characters (Though it's certainly never been his strong suit). Having Clytemnestra kill Agamemnon without any influence from a male lover looking to rule his kingdom for example was a strong empowering change that also fits the constraints of the medium for characters, complexity, and runtime. See also Penelope's clumsily included though clearly pro-feminist argument about her experience ruling Ithaca not being valued in deciding who should rule. This also seems to go against Wilson's critique that "Nolan’s Penelope has no dreams… the script gives her nothing to do except yearn for Matt Damon” as she clearly shows a desire to rule never touched upon in Homer's original.
I’d be curious to hear her commentary on Telemachus becoming king and the lack of King Aeolus in more detail though as she didn’t touch much there.
I do also wish her single paragraph drawing parallels between the movie and the ethical concerns of filming in Western Sahara was expanded further. It also feels tacked on and underdeveloped for something that she calls “The most troubling ethical problem”.
-
Comment on YouTube Premium to come with Peacock, NBCSports to stream events on YouTube in ~tv
JackA Link ParentThis is the first I've ever heard that YT Premium has an annual plan... Come to find out you have to let your monthly subscription completely expire before you can see any indication that an...This is the first I've ever heard that YT Premium has an annual plan... Come to find out you have to let your monthly subscription completely expire before you can see any indication that an annual plan exists. I started my monthly plan before annual was ever an option.
I've been wasting so much money, yay dark patterns. Thanks for the accidental call out friend.
-
Comment on Dune: Part Three | Official trailer in ~movies
JackA LinkI can only assume they've taken incredibly heavy liberties in this one with the huge changes to Chani vs the book. Super excited to see what they've come up with though because every time I've...I can only assume they've taken incredibly heavy liberties in this one with the huge changes to Chani vs the book. Super excited to see what they've come up with though because every time I've read Messiah I feel like I could never even imagine how it might be adapted to a movie.
Also that last scene of the worm stopping reminds me of something in Children of Dune that I really wouldn't expect to see here, curious if they're taking some of its imagery way ahead of that particular plot.
-
Comment on No right to remain silent: negative rights in a positive-rights world in ~tech
JackA LinkIf anyone is interested in more of this seemingly rare line of thought which I adore, I highly recommend reading "The Right to Oblivion" by Lowry Pressly. Very similarly deconstructs how our...More to the point: if we reduce the conversation about privacy to control of personal information, we miss the human and political value of not being fully knowable.
If anyone is interested in more of this seemingly rare line of thought which I adore, I highly recommend reading "The Right to Oblivion" by Lowry Pressly. Very similarly deconstructs how our definition of privacy has been slowly shifted over time and why the common definitions are so hard to use to defend privacy rights with.
Can be a tad dry but even just the start of the book completely changed my perspective as someone who had already thought of myself as a privacy advocate. It's included in Spotify premium as an audiobook as well.
-
Comment on Five more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge in ~news
JackA Link ParentHere you go. Likely didn't show up in your search because by default Tildes search only searches within the current group, the original got posted to ~arts instead of ~news. I did also see it on...Likely didn't show up in your search because by default Tildes search only searches within the current group, the original got posted to ~arts instead of ~news. I did also see it on /r/all and on Ground News for primary reporting.
The internet does have a weird way of being difficult to just get a 'recap' of events you missed if your attention happened to avoid certain topics on any given day. I've actually found Tildes is helpful for this as the feed is so much slower and old topics can get bumped back up to the top if there's new activity.
-
Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance
JackA Link ParentI do believe you can legally opt out of this 3rd party sharing for every credit card by calling the number on their information privacy page in the card agreement and running through a 2-3 minute...I do believe you can legally opt out of this 3rd party sharing for every credit card by calling the number on their information privacy page in the card agreement and running through a 2-3 minute phone menu.
The process is pretty much identical for every card and financial account I've done so far.
-
Comment on Apple pulls ICEBlock from the App Store in ~tech
JackA (edited )Link Parent"Your app tracking the Nazi invasion of France is endangering SS officers and has been removed at the request of the government." When human rights are being ignored any speech in defense of those..."Your app tracking the Nazi invasion of France is endangering SS officers and has been removed at the request of the government."
When human rights are being ignored any speech in defense of those rights is inherently an expression of freedom.
When laws cease to be enforced except as tools of oppression we have to look beyond their scripture and instead at their original societal intent. In this case protecting the rights of people against a tyrannical government.
Excuse any hyperbole, but this is not a situation where any law can be referenced as the arbiter of morality, and in matters of human rights morality is all that matters.
-
Comment on iOS 26 is here in ~tech
JackA LinkThey murdered my "Increase Contrast" setting right as I needed it most :( I loved that it subtly added clarity and used some darker colors before, but now it also adds a horrendous outline to...They murdered my "Increase Contrast" setting right as I needed it most :(
I loved that it subtly added clarity and used some darker colors before, but now it also adds a horrendous outline to every single bubble element (the whole OS now) and turns some of the dark grey's completely black as if it's an OLED mode setting.
-
Comment on Proper iOS homescreen link in ~tildes
JackA Link ParentOddly enough I don't even have a profile installed on this phone. I think when I swapped iPhones last it transferred the "app" I created but left the profile behind. I am kinda curious if anyone...Oddly enough I don't even have a profile installed on this phone. I think when I swapped iPhones last it transferred the "app" I created but left the profile behind.
I am kinda curious if anyone can tell me how this actually functions lol
Are all groups truly opt-in? It's been far too many years for me to remember the onboarding process, but perhaps I just selected subscribe all when I first joined? Or subscribed with the intention of wanting to see viewpoints from women without realizing it was intended as a safe space as on the groups screen it has no description.