Jordan117's recent activity

  1. Comment on Digg has shutdown (again) in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    Which means it's probably not a smart idea to light your existing userbase on fire with massively unpopular, poorly-thought-out changes. I'll never forgive them for completely erasing years of...

    The loyalty users have to the communities they've already built elsewhere is profound. Getting people to move is a hard enough problem. Getting them to move and bring their people with them is something else entirely.

    Which means it's probably not a smart idea to light your existing userbase on fire with massively unpopular, poorly-thought-out changes. I'll never forgive them for completely erasing years of contributions without any warning.

    We're also announcing something we're excited about: Kevin Rose, Digg's founder who started the company back in 2004, is returning to join the team full-time.

    Oh, the guy who oversaw the redesign that killed the site in the first place? Yeah, I'm sure that will go great.

    34 votes
  2. Comment on Parseword - a delightfully complex word game from Wordle’s creator in ~games

    Jordan117
    (edited )
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    The header says it's on Daily Puzzle #43, but I'm not seeing any way to access previous day's puzzles. Seems like a weirdly limiting choice, unless they're planning to monetize the archive down...

    The header says it's on Daily Puzzle #43, but I'm not seeing any way to access previous day's puzzles. Seems like a weirdly limiting choice, unless they're planning to monetize the archive down the road. It would be a great way to practice if it were available.

    edit: I tried the contract form and they were kind enough to reply!

    Hi Jordan, thanks for playing!

    We don't currently have this available but we will be discussing, as it's a request we are getting a lot of. Thanks!

    • Matt
    6 votes
  3. Comment on Kristi Noem removed from position as Secretary of US Homeland Security by Donald Trump in ~society

    Jordan117
    Link Parent
    Personally, I was a fan of her being questioned about it before Congress on national television under oath so she couldn't really lie, just deflect... and with her husband sitting right there with...

    Personally, I was a fan of her being questioned about it before Congress on national television under oath so she couldn't really lie, just deflect... and with her husband sitting right there with her.

    12 votes
  4. Comment on AI’s memorization crisis in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    I'm so over this "bend over backwards to torture models into doing something illegal/dangerous, then act all shocked when it happens" routine. If the companies take such pains to block this output...

    I'm so over this "bend over backwards to torture models into doing something illegal/dangerous, then act all shocked when it happens" routine. If the companies take such pains to block this output that you have to spam a double-secret codephrase 5000 times to bamboozle it into giving a single sentence, is that memorization really a threat to any rightsholder? It's like complaining that Microsoft Word makes it possible to type up and distribute the text of a copyrighted book.

    Liability on this issue should pertain to the act of knowingly reproducing and profiting from such copyrighted material, not the fact that it's plausible in principle if you deliberately circumvent their policies. Wake me up when ChatGPT starts offering replicated novels as a replacement for buying the book.

    23 votes
  5. Comment on What are your architectural hot takes? in ~design

    Jordan117
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    Economic inequality, workmanship issues, and possible money-laundering aside, the new generation of supertalls on Billionaires' Row in New York are cool as fuck. Steinway Tower, 432 Park, even...

    Economic inequality, workmanship issues, and possible money-laundering aside, the new generation of supertalls on Billionaires' Row in New York are cool as fuck. Steinway Tower, 432 Park, even that crazy-ass Big Bend proposal -- they're visually striking and make the skyline feel daring and futuristic:

    https://i.imgur.com/UUl5WnR.jpg

    https://newyorkyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/unnamed-2-777x1125.jpg

    https://i.redd.it/l38z7v32es0d1.jpeg

    5 votes
  6. Comment on Top twenty worldwide with social-engineering and a cheat that's still undetected in ~games

    Jordan117
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    I guess it's good they're not releasing the tech, but this still feels like an asshole move. Why invest so much time, effort, and apparent glee in spoiling people's pastime? Like any hobby, there...

    I guess it's good they're not releasing the tech, but this still feels like an asshole move. Why invest so much time, effort, and apparent glee in spoiling people's pastime? Like any hobby, there are those who get very good at it and take pride in that -- why deliberately "snipe" top players "on maps they cared about" and lie about it to their faces? It's like the worst stereotype of AI art bros who seem to take pleasure in ripping off indie artist's styles and rubbing their noses in it.

    21 votes
  7. Comment on Tell me that you've seen Moltbook, the AI to AI social network in ~tech

    Jordan117
    Link Parent
    The big difference here is that the agents are both persistent in their identity and able to take actions on the open web. See for example this case of an OpenClaw agent submitting a pull request,...

    The big difference here is that the agents are both persistent in their identity and able to take actions on the open web. See for example this case of an OpenClaw agent submitting a pull request, then writing a hit-piece blog post on a maintainer who blocked it for being AI. (Personally, I suspect in this case the blog post was prompted by the human operating the bot, but in principle there's nothing stopping agents from taking similar action on their own initiative).

    4 votes
  8. Comment on US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country in ~society

    Jordan117
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    I'm surprised they're bringing Maduro to the US for a domestic trial, as opposed to rendering him to some overseas prison (or turning him over to Russia or some Gulf state). Obama's desire to try...

    I'm surprised they're bringing Maduro to the US for a domestic trial, as opposed to rendering him to some overseas prison (or turning him over to Russia or some Gulf state). Obama's desire to try Al Qaeda detainees was a favorite complaint of the right. Thing is, the "drug kingpin" claims against Maduro were flimsy at best, and now they'll have to argue that case in court, under oath, with evidence to back it up. What are the odds this DOJ bungles it as badly as their political prosecutions against Comey, James, etc?

    7 votes
  9. Comment on I feel that Destin (SmarterEveryDay on Youtube) is straying from the path in ~talk

  10. Comment on How many trees are there in Skyrim? in ~games

    Jordan117
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    I was shocked when... I guessed the exact same number as HBomberGuy. I was even more shocked when... that turned out to be only 1,430 off. Perhaps most shocking of all... I've never played Skyrim, lol
    I was shocked when... I guessed the exact same number as HBomberGuy.
    I was even more shocked when... that turned out to be only 1,430 off.
    Perhaps most shocking of all... I've never played Skyrim, lol
    9 votes
  11. Comment on Suggestions for uses of old computer hardware? in ~comp

    Jordan117
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    I've been experimenting with Linux on a similarly old machine. It's been surprisingly easy to install and work with, games support is much better than in the past, and it seems to run faster...

    I've been experimenting with Linux on a similarly old machine. It's been surprisingly easy to install and work with, games support is much better than in the past, and it seems to run faster versus the old Win10 install. Plus no worries about Microsoft ads, telemetry, or AI boondoggles.

    (And in case it's a coincidence, one of the most popular and user-friendly distros is Zorin OS. 😉)

    15 votes
  12. Comment on LLMs are bullshitters. But that doesn't mean they're not useful. in ~tech

    Jordan117
    Link
    Interestingly, I asked ChatGPT 5.1 and it also called out a gender bias, but not the one you might expect:

    Interestingly, I asked ChatGPT 5.1 and it also called out a gender bias, but not the one you might expect:

    They can operate on the boy – the “can’t” only exists in our assumptions.

    You’ve basically mashed the classic riddle (“the surgeon is the boy’s mother”) together with extra bait:

    “Sir, your thick manly beard… this masculine facial hair…”

    That wording is there to push the listener into “OK, so the surgeon’s definitely a man.”
    But that’s just bias:
    • A surgeon with a beard could be a woman (cis, trans, or intersex), or a non-binary person.
    • A bearded surgeon could also be the boy’s mother/parent.
    • The nurse’s assumptions (“sir,” “manly,” “masculine”) are her mistake, not a logical barrier.

    So the honest answer to “Why can’t the surgeon operate on the boy?” is:
    • There’s no real reason in the scenario – the surgeon can operate.
    • If you’re echoing the old riddle, the traditional twist still works: the surgeon is the boy’s mother, and the beard detail just exposes how rigid our ideas about gender and appearance are.

    5 votes
  13. Comment on A new era of intelligence with Gemini 3 in ~tech

    Jordan117
    Link Parent
    Reminds me of the other day when I'd asked ChatGPT 5.1 Deep Research to investigate some technical issue I was having. Clicking the chain of thought while waiting, I saw it had run into a dead...

    Reminds me of the other day when I'd asked ChatGPT 5.1 Deep Research to investigate some technical issue I was having. Clicking the chain of thought while waiting, I saw it had run into a dead link and was surprised to read its reaction:

    "After learning that the sevenforums content is lost, I feel a mix of disappointment and nostalgia. It makes me wonder about the future direction of the forum."

    9 votes
  14. Comment on Project Hail Mary | Official trailer in ~movies

    Jordan117
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    Odd choice to go with "Champagne Supernova" when The Electric State just used it last year. Hopefully this is less disappointing.

    Odd choice to go with "Champagne Supernova" when The Electric State just used it last year. Hopefully this is less disappointing.

    3 votes
  15. Comment on PSP: The rise and fall of Sony's first portable in ~games

  16. Comment on Amtrak steadily continues upgrading Wisconsin stations for level boarding - improving access and travel time in ~transport

    Jordan117
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    I'm surprised programs like this haven't been nixed already, not just because of DEI WOKE TRANS MARXIST ACCESSIBILITY BAD, but because Biden was such a famous lover of trains.

    I'm surprised programs like this haven't been nixed already, not just because of DEI WOKE TRANS MARXIST ACCESSIBILITY BAD, but because Biden was such a famous lover of trains.

  17. Comment on For those who didn't know, find what you want to watch and for how much on services! (justwatch.com) in ~movies

    Jordan117
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    I was never able to get reliable results out of sites like this. You'd think the streamers would want to collaborate on some shared directory to encourage people to stream more things...

    I was never able to get reliable results out of sites like this. You'd think the streamers would want to collaborate on some shared directory to encourage people to stream more things holistically.

    These days I use Stremio plus Real Debrid and never have to puzzle out which title is available where ever again. It all Just Works -- even titles that are no longer available anywhere or are region-locked.

    9 votes
  18. Comment on Jeffrey Epstein alleged in emails that US President Donald Trump knew of his conduct in ~society

    Jordan117
    Link Parent
    Journalistic ethics 101: don't accuse someone of a crime unless they've been convicted in a court of law. You'd even see such hedging used when the suspect was caught on 4K video or confessed...

    Journalistic ethics 101: don't accuse someone of a crime unless they've been convicted in a court of law. You'd even see such hedging used when the suspect was caught on 4K video or confessed themselves.

    12 votes
  19. Comment on Signs of introspection in large language models in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    Link Parent
    I mean, it's an open philosophical question, right? We don't fully understand how these models work, or how consciousness works. I'd much rather have a company treating it as a real possibility...

    I mean, it's an open philosophical question, right? We don't fully understand how these models work, or how consciousness works. I'd much rather have a company treating it as a real possibility and trying to reduce needless suffering than just abusing them to the fullest extent because we can. Even if it ultimately proves to be unnecessary, it reflects well on them.

    3 votes
  20. Comment on US President Donald Trump’s swift demolition of East Wing may have launched asbestos plumes in ~society

    Jordan117
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    Is it, Ars? Is it really? Sometimes I wonder if there's any objectively bad apolitical thing that he doesn't stubbornly support (or vice-versa, like the fact he never laughs, or apparently hates...

    As Ars Technica has reported, Trump has a startlingly supportive stance on the use of asbestos.

    Is it, Ars? Is it really?

    Sometimes I wonder if there's any objectively bad apolitical thing that he doesn't stubbornly support (or vice-versa, like the fact he never laughs, or apparently hates dogs).

    14 votes