jackson's recent activity

  1. Comment on Why do so many people think US President Donald Trump is good? in ~society

  2. Comment on AI is a mass-delusion event (gifted link) in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    Should be fine in the topic, thanks!

    Should be fine in the topic, thanks!

    1 vote

  3. Comment on AI is a mass-delusion event (gifted link) in ~tech

  5. Comment on I accidentally bought Cyberpunk again, if you want the key, it's yours in ~games

    jackson
    Link
    I'll take you up on it. Favorite game is Balatro!

    I'll take you up on it. Favorite game is Balatro!

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Transit passes are better but free fares are good too in ~transport

    jackson
    Link Parent
    Where I live they made it free for everyone 18 and under. They prefer if children get a fare card for this (still free, just requires registration, this is mostly for metrics and probably to build...

    Where I live they made it free for everyone 18 and under. They prefer if children get a fare card for this (still free, just requires registration, this is mostly for metrics and probably to build the habit of tapping for transit when they’re old enough to pay) but it’s also ok for them to ride without tapping since we don’t do turnstiles.

    Big fan of the lack of registration requirements, keeps it as simple as possible.

    10 votes

  7. Comment on Transit passes are better but free fares are good too in ~transport

    jackson
    Link Parent
    I’d be curious to see a more thorough study of the peak demand effects of free transit fares. My commute is roughly equivalent in terms of travel time whether I take the bus, train, or walk, but I...

    I’d be curious to see a more thorough study of the peak demand effects of free transit fares. My commute is roughly equivalent in terms of travel time whether I take the bus, train, or walk, but I choose to walk because I prefer a moderate (around 1.5mi) walk to the “hurry up and wait” of the bus (and also crowding). My transit fares are paid fully by my employer, so it’s effectively free.

    Of course I’m young and personally enjoy walking, so I imagine this doesn’t apply smoothly across the entire population.

    9 votes

  8. Comment on Bergen in Norway has been building one of the world's most advanced trash systems, using vacuum tubes to whisk waste away in ~enviro

    jackson
    Link Parent
    I recently moved into an apartment that doesn't do traditional billing for waste services - instead of a flat monthly fee, I order trash/recycling bags from the city (roughly $5/bag for trash and...

    I recently moved into an apartment that doesn't do traditional billing for waste services - instead of a flat monthly fee, I order trash/recycling bags from the city (roughly $5/bag for trash and $2.50/bag for recycling) and that serves as my waste services payment. Compost and corrugated cardboard recycling are free.

    I've definitely been more keen to properly recycle and compost when I otherwise wouldn't be due to a lack of time or willingness to clean out a plastic container.

    As for the grocery store, I was very pleasantly surprised to see stores up here start to offer paper bags for produce rather than the normal plastic film bags. I've also seen compostable bags but those are such a pain to work with (and paper is compostable anyways).

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Do dumbphones actually… work? (realistic week in the life) in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    fwiw if you find the right MVNO you can definitely get data included for $20/mo to make MMS usable. Might require a bit of commitment (paid up in advance since they're prepaid plans).

    fwiw if you find the right MVNO you can definitely get data included for $20/mo to make MMS usable. Might require a bit of commitment (paid up in advance since they're prepaid plans).

  10. Comment on Ring the fish doorbell! in ~enviro

    jackson
    Link Parent
    I believe it’s seasonal and doesn’t actually need to be monitored 24/7 even when in-season.

    I believe it’s seasonal and doesn’t actually need to be monitored 24/7 even when in-season.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Everyone is cheating their way through college in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    All my other classes had take-home exams (sometimes with a lockdown browser, sometimes without) or would just have exams during a normal section. Finals were the exception, those were scheduled...

    All my other classes had take-home exams (sometimes with a lockdown browser, sometimes without) or would just have exams during a normal section.

    Finals were the exception, those were scheduled centrally based on when class was usually scheduled to prevent conflicts.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Business idea and feedback thread in ~talk

    jackson
    Link Parent
    Tacking on, if the product is something created mostly with AI, there's effectively no moat since these tools are publicly available. A more skilled engineer could replicate your software with...

    Tacking on, if the product is something created mostly with AI, there's effectively no moat since these tools are publicly available. A more skilled engineer could replicate your software with higher quality easily in that situation.

    Perfectly fine if it's something you're just making for fun, not sustainable as a business though.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on Everyone is cheating their way through college in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    My university physics class worked around that by scheduling all students (across all sections) for exams at the exact same time (something like 4pm) on Fridays when no sections for that course...

    My university physics class worked around that by scheduling all students (across all sections) for exams at the exact same time (something like 4pm) on Fridays when no sections for that course were scheduled. It was part of the schedule on course registration, so no surprises, and cut down on cheating by making every single person take the exam at the exact same time using pen and paper.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Donald Trump says "I don't know" regarding whether he has to uphold the Constitution of the United States in ~society

  15. Comment on Passing the torch - Discord is getting a new CEO in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    I'm personally partial to Discourse as a modern forum. Still requires some care to get set up but it's pretty hands-off once it's configured.

    I'm personally partial to Discourse as a modern forum. Still requires some care to get set up but it's pretty hands-off once it's configured.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Key US regulators approve merger of Capital One and Discover, paving the way for a new biggest credit card company in ~finance

    jackson
    Link Parent
    Interestingly amex was the only US card brand that SNCF (French train operator) accepted for a seat reservation when I was traveling in 2023.

    Interestingly amex was the only US card brand that SNCF (French train operator) accepted for a seat reservation when I was traveling in 2023.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Patreon tests a native live video feature where creators can stream 24/7 in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    Oh neat! This must be new. I gifted a membership last year by creating a card on privacy.com with a spend limit. Worked well enough but was ultimately pretty janky since I had to make a throwaway...

    Oh neat! This must be new. I gifted a membership last year by creating a card on privacy.com with a spend limit. Worked well enough but was ultimately pretty janky since I had to make a throwaway Patreon account to hand over to the person I was gifting to.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on I'm tired of dismissive anti-AI bias in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    I think there's a pretty big gulf between "piracy for personal use" and "piracy for profit." It's generally a bannable offense on private trackers to use content from their collections for profit.

    I think there's a pretty big gulf between "piracy for personal use" and "piracy for profit." It's generally a bannable offense on private trackers to use content from their collections for profit.

    24 votes

  19. Comment on I'm tired of dismissive anti-AI bias in ~tech

    jackson
    Link Parent
    I personally found it worse than LSP - regularly in large Java projects it would spit out completions with incorrect argument counts and types, which is table-stakes in the Java world. I do have...

    I personally found it worse than LSP - regularly in large Java projects it would spit out completions with incorrect argument counts and types, which is table-stakes in the Java world.

    I do have relatively limited access to models at work because of security policy, but I have been unimpressed whenever I've played with what we have. I'm not really interested in nannying an LLM when I have other tools that work perfectly fine.

    7 votes

  20. Comment on Things progressives get wrong in ~society

    jackson
    Link
    I think very little of this is relevant to The Democrats' loss in the election. Sure, yes, language-policing is a poor vehicle for change, and trans rights make a great wedge issue for the right,...

    I think very little of this is relevant to The Democrats' loss in the election. Sure, yes, language-policing is a poor vehicle for change, and trans rights make a great wedge issue for the right, but I don't think The Democrats' actions related to either of those are why Trump won and Harris lost. If anything, Harris distanced herself from "The Left" whenever possible during her campaign.

    The only clear and consistent message I got from The Democrats this year was "we're not Republicans," and even that was rather unclear. They chose to run a lukewarm, uninspired campaign rather than propose something bold that people will get excited about, and that shows in the voter turnout.

    Say what you will about the substance of his policies, but Trump's "Mass Deportations Now!" got voters excited. Maybe if Harris championed something like "Feed Our Children Now!" she would've fared better.

    22 votes