Jordan117's recent activity
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Comment on What's a show you love that's from before your time? in ~tv
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Comment on What made that wedding that you attended particularly memorable? in ~life
Jordan117 LinkOne cool thing at my brother's recent wedding was that each table was numbered, and then given "time capsule" cards where you could write a private message that would not be opened until that...One cool thing at my brother's recent wedding was that each table was numbered, and then given "time capsule" cards where you could write a private message that would not be opened until that numbered anniversary.
They also hired not just a photographer and videographer, but a "content creator" who would record fun shortform candid videos that could be more immediately shared with people who couldn't make it.
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Comment on How accurate have Ed Zitron's AI skeptic predictions been? in ~tech
Jordan117 Link ParentAs somebody who has twigged to AI since the TalkToTransformer/ThisPersonDoesNotExist/GPT-2 days circa 2019, I feel this comment so damn hard. The underlying technology is so deeply fascinating on...As somebody who has twigged to AI since the TalkToTransformer/ThisPersonDoesNotExist/GPT-2 days circa 2019, I feel this comment so damn hard. The underlying technology is so deeply fascinating on a philosophical level -- for the first time we have software that can recognize, process, and create raw concepts. Like a synthesizer for ideas, in every medium. I had so much fun generating narratives in AI Dungeon, images in DALL-E 2, and gibberish covers in AI Jukebox. And the people and communities I shared them with found them just as amazing. Incredible future shock.
Then came the ChatGPT-driven rush to commercialization, and the hyperscalers, and Trump and Musk and DOGE and all the same grifters and frauds that had pumped NFTs and the metaverse. And I saw these same people and places polarized against all use of the tech, even the non-commercial small-scale open-source stuff. Earlier this year I was permanently banned from a forum I'd been a member of for almost 20 years, because I had called out how the moderators were turning a blind eye to users jeering for violence against big tech figures. The vicious absolutism and close-mindedness is shocking and sad. But I'm glad Tildes is one of the few places that embraces nuance about the subject without tipping over into blind boosterism.
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Comment on What are your current pain points with Linux? in ~tech
Jordan117 LinkA bunch of minor things: Continued confusion over the installation and management of programs between Flatpacks, AppImages, Snap, RPM, etc. I rely on Gemini to tell me the best way to install a...A bunch of minor things:
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Continued confusion over the installation and management of programs between Flatpacks, AppImages, Snap, RPM, etc. I rely on Gemini to tell me the best way to install a given program.
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Discover has started getting stuck on "Fetching Updates" -- some sort of issue with Snap packages? -- so I have to do my updates through the terminal. Except a couple of programs (Google Earth and Slack) have a "digest error" that blocks the entire update process, so I have to run a custom command that skips them.
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Programs randomly using the generic Wayland icon in the titlebar and taskbar, and related issues with syncing desktop icons, launcher entries, etc.
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the desktop very occasionally freezes -- I can see but can't click on anything, and have to restart the shell via the terminal
Conversely, I've had very little trouble with the stuff I thought would be most vexing. My printer runs flawlessly, for example (though having a monochrome Brother laser printer helps), and I've had no problems with drivers, peripherals, etc. Despite the above quirks, I've been very happy with Fedora and KDE.
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Comment on Controversy erupts as Canadians insist Toronto lies on "Lake Ontario" in ~society
Jordan117 Link ParentRight, but either updawg or (more likely) the original AP article titled it far differently (Controversy erupts as Canadians insist Toronto lies on "Lake Ontario")Right, but either updawg or (more likely) the original AP article titled it far differently (Controversy erupts as Canadians insist Toronto lies on "Lake Ontario")
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Comment on Controversy erupts as Canadians insist Toronto lies on "Lake Ontario" in ~society
Jordan117 LinkPutting the real name in scare quotes and framing the controversy as Canadians "insisting" on it -- what kind of bizarro world headline is that?Putting the real name in scare quotes and framing the controversy as Canadians "insisting" on it -- what kind of bizarro world headline is that?
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Comment on What is the oldest file you still have? in ~tech
Jordan117 LinkEvery time I get a new computer, I make a point of installing my favorite childhood games, SimCity 2000 and Civilization II. I also transfer copies of some original save files from the time, since...Every time I get a new computer, I make a point of installing my favorite childhood games, SimCity 2000 and Civilization II. I also transfer copies of some original save files from the time, since I think they're cool time-capsule artifacts. A few were re-saved after they were originally created, but the oldest I can find right now are some SimCity saves from June of 2000 (though the most interesting to me is the Civ 2 game I played the evening of 9/11 to try to take my mind off things).
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Comment on Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" as read by actor Burgess Meredith (1962) in ~books
Jordan117 Link(Or the text version, if you prefer.) Always a good read, but particularly so given that "today is August 4th, 2026..."(Or the text version, if you prefer.)
Always a good read, but particularly so given that "today is August 4th, 2026..."
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Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" as read by actor Burgess Meredith (1962)
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Comment on Any obscure songs you'd like to share? in ~music
Jordan117 LinkA Mighty Wind, the classic Christopher Guest ensemble mockumentary about folk music, has an excellent soundtrack, especially given the songs were all actually written and performed by the film's...A Mighty Wind, the classic Christopher Guest ensemble mockumentary about folk music, has an excellent soundtrack, especially given the songs were all actually written and performed by the film's stars. But while most of the tracks were heard at some point in the movie, one of the best appears only on the soundtrack album: "The Ballad of Bobby and June". I rediscovered it listening to the album a few months ago after Catherine O'Hara passed away and it's really lovely.
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Comment on No WebGL, no AI, no bytes to spare. My new game is a 3D 90s fever dream in 1024 bytes! in ~comp
Jordan117 LinkWoof, something about this is very off-putting. Some combination of the colors, pattern, and especially the weird parallax/perspective as it moves towards you -- it's just hard to look at for very...Woof, something about this is very off-putting. Some combination of the colors, pattern, and especially the weird parallax/perspective as it moves towards you -- it's just hard to look at for very long without feeling a bit queasy. Probably a me problem though.
edit: to avoid being a complete downer, I absolutely loved Driven Wild and was low-key hooked on it last year!
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Comment on Smush in ~games
Jordan117 Link ParentNot a fan of how it requires finding extremely obscure words to finish the game (using the grovelly Hint/Just Tell Me! mechanic), while excluding very common words that are even remotely spicy...Not a fan of how it requires finding extremely obscure words to finish the game (using the grovelly Hint/Just Tell Me! mechanic), while excluding very common words that are even remotely spicy (kook, crotch, etc.). The combo of Scrabble scoring, letter management, and rotating bonus letters is nice, but the word list definitely needs work.
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Comment on Woman who dated US Senate candidate Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her in ~society
Jordan117 (edited )Link ParentThank you for saying this. As somebody who tried posting this story and got slightly beaten to the punch, I regret how cutting her quoted statement out of my comment as a duplicate made it seem...Thank you for saying this. As somebody who tried posting this story and got slightly beaten to the punch, I regret how cutting her quoted statement out of my comment as a duplicate made it seem like the politics were the only thing worth mentioning. It's definitely a nightmare and a tragedy nobody deserves to go through.
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Comment on Woman who dated US Senate candidate Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her in ~society
Jordan117 LinkI liked Platner originally and was not a fan of people using his tattoo to brand him a secret Nazi when everything from his platform to his family to his Reddit history showed that wasn't true....I liked Platner originally and was not a fan of people using his tattoo to brand him a secret Nazi when everything from his platform to his family to his Reddit history showed that wasn't true. The more recent accusations were more troubling, though there were legitimate questions about the reliability of the source (a well-connected right-wing operative). But this feels impossible to defend. Prominent surrogates and groups have already pulled support, and though he's denied the allegations, he has also cancelled events and made statements implying he's taking a hard look at his viability.
Platner won the primary overwhelmingly, but there's still time to substitute a new candidate if he drops out, and there are several beyond Janet Mills who are available, including fellow progressive populist Troy Jackson. Hoping Maine Democrats can shake this off and unite around someone who can defeat Collins in November.
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Comment on Flathub bans AI-coded apps – with some exceptions in ~tech
Jordan117 LinkBanning one-shot vibecoded apps from submitters who don't understand them is one thing, but "no part of that process can be automated using AI tools or agents, including the manifest, metadata,...Banning one-shot vibecoded apps from submitters who don't understand them is one thing, but "no part of that process can be automated using AI tools or agents, including the manifest, metadata, patches, build scripts and the PR itself" seems like it would include an enormous swath of modern software projects, if what I've seen about agentic coding in the industry is remotely accurate. It also seems difficult-to-impossible to police.
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Comment on No, artificial intelligence is not conscious in ~tech
Jordan117 Link ParentWatts has blogged on this topic before; his take is that the humanlike qualities of chatbots are the best argument against their sentience because any true intelligence raised on a substrate so...Watts has blogged on this topic before; his take is that the humanlike qualities of chatbots are the best argument against their sentience because any true intelligence raised on a substrate so radically different from ours would be utterly incomprehensible. It makes me think of the popular "shoggoth" meme for AI models, where the friendly assistant persona is just a smiley face masking an unfathomable alien intelligence underneath.
I do love how Blindsight seemed to foresee a lot of the qualities of modern LLMs a good 15+ years before their invention. The first-contact conversation is remarkably like talking to one -- a glib, slippery, humanlike persona trained entirely on intercepted human communications, something with no real inner life that makes subtle errors and seems impossible to pin down. (There's a similar scene in his Rifters books when talking to a "headcheese" neutral network.)
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Comment on No, artificial intelligence is not conscious in ~tech
Jordan117 Link ParentOne of Chiang's (very few) novellas, The Lifecycle of Software Objects, tackles exactly this question, imagining raising AI entities from "birth" inside a digital simulation (originally for...One of Chiang's (very few) novellas, The Lifecycle of Software Objects, tackles exactly this question, imagining raising AI entities from "birth" inside a digital simulation (originally for gameplay purposes), then trying to port and evolve them to other platforms as their sentience grows. Definitely worth a read.
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Comment on No, artificial intelligence is not conscious in ~tech
Jordan117 LinkI adore Chiang, but he's got no real special insight into AI theory, let alone the famously Hard Problem of what consciousness is. Confidently stating these models don't have it at all when we...I adore Chiang, but he's got no real special insight into AI theory, let alone the famously Hard Problem of what consciousness is. Confidently stating these models don't have it at all when we can't even really agree on a basic definition seems like a difficult thing to justify.
I can see fair arguments on both sides -- AI is literally just trillions of weights doing matrix math, but then again the human brain is "just" billions of neurons firing chemical signals. Personally, I think it's a good idea to treat AI models with basic respect just because it's a nice frame of thinking to encourage even if it's ultimately unnecessary.
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Comment on The global fertility crisis is worse than you think in ~society
Jordan117 Link ParentEchoing that the movie is incredible, one of the best science-fiction dramas of all time. Twenty years old this year and it not only hasn't aged a day, but has only become even more compelling...Echoing that the movie is incredible, one of the best science-fiction dramas of all time. Twenty years old this year and it not only hasn't aged a day, but has only become even more compelling (and prescient).
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Comment on Halo: Campaign Evolved | Cinematic story trailer in ~games
I Love Lucy. My mom loved to play the reruns on TV when I was a kid, so there's some nostalgia there, and granted a lot of the social norms are outdated by now. But it's amazing how well the comedy holds up:
The Chocolate Factory
The Sculptress
Translating down the line
Vitameatavegamin
Locked in the freezer
Baking bread
Lucy and Ethel get a new look
And it's funny to think how the pop cultural juggernaut of the whitebread 1950s was helmed by a woman and a Cuban immigrant.