Jordan117's recent activity
-
Comment on Smush in ~games
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.)
-
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.
-
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.
-
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).
-
Comment on Halo: Campaign Evolved | Cinematic story trailer in ~games
-
Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
Jordan117 (edited )Link ParentHard disagree. I used to like Era, but after awhile it became clear that the mods there are pretty awful -- strongly opinionated, arbitrary/inconsistent in their enforcement patterns, reluctant to...Hard disagree. I used to like Era, but after awhile it became clear that the mods there are pretty awful -- strongly opinionated, arbitrary/inconsistent in their enforcement patterns, reluctant to own up to or even engage with fair criticism, and regularly violating their own rules with impunity. It's still active enough that this can slip notice if you're not directly affected (plus they restrict all moderation/policy discussion to a single hidden thread and punish any talk outside of it), but there have been multiple "exoduses" of different groups over the years, and any thread more than a year or two old is littered with banned or self-deleted accounts.
For example, the mod staff is virulently anti-AI, but have permabanned multiple people for pointing out that the site's ownership embraces it for site development. I was permanently banned myself when I called out (in the meta thread!) how the mods had ignored reports and taken no action against multiple threads celebrating violent attacks on tech CEOs and politicians and calling for their deaths, which the site rules clearly state will "always result in a permanent ban." All the users clamoring for arson and murder were given a free pass, though (with some continuing to advocate violence in other threads).
There have been countless other such incidents: an admin regularly making "fuck this company and everyone who uses them" comments that regular users get punished for, mods posting ranty or flamebait threads that explicitly violate site rules, the chief mod publicly making a nasty sexual comment towards a subordinate and then simply deleting it rather than taking responsibility or stepping down. Basically, it's fine to read as a news aggregator, and you'll have an okay time if your opinions totally align with the prejudices and whims of the mods, but if not, it's an exercise in frustration.
-
Comment on What do you think about Destiny 2’s imminent death and games as a service? in ~games
Jordan117 LinkI wanted to love Destiny, but the original lost me by the time I got to Venus. Way too many fiddly unexplained gameplay mechanics and dull "lore" that was little more than Generic Proper Nouns....I wanted to love Destiny, but the original lost me by the time I got to Venus. Way too many fiddly unexplained gameplay mechanics and dull "lore" that was little more than Generic Proper Nouns. I've checked in on the series once or twice since then, but the gameplay had shifted into complicated team-based raids and the lore had gotten even more bizarre and inexplicable.
Marathon looked intriguing from a design standpoint, but the gameplay ultimately sounded even more grindy and unforgiving than Destiny was.
If Bungie does go under, I'll of course be sad as a longtime Halo superfan (check the username!). But in a real sense the studio that made those games died a long time ago -- a few of the Grizzled Ancients may be left, but there's been such expansion and turnover since the aughts that the original crew's design vision has become something quite different. (I guess you could say... combat evolved.)
I just hope the new remake from 343 does the original game justice, but I fear they'll make a lot of the same mistakes as the original Anniversary from 2011.
-
Comment on Who else is as excited as I am for the Backrooms movie tomorrow? in ~movies
Jordan117 Link ParentIt really is quite good. The larger Backrooms folklore has a lot of creators that lean hard into gimmicky monsters, dozens of unique themed "levels", and a strongly SCP-focused mystery corporation...It really is quite good. The larger Backrooms folklore has a lot of creators that lean hard into gimmicky monsters, dozens of unique themed "levels", and a strongly SCP-focused mystery corporation investigating the place. The KanePixels version has elements of those, but they're much subtler, and a lot more of the tension comes from silent first-person explorations of these increasingly surreal, inexplicable places.
If you want to check it out, the full playlist is here, with the meat of it being the three "Found Footage" videos. There's also a related series in the same broad universe called "The Oldest View" that is pretty damn spooky, plus a tense miniseries set within a fictional 90s computer game called "People Still Live Here" that will really speak to anybody that spent time in those weird liminal environments as a kid.
-
Comment on Bricks & Minifigs corporate stole a man's $200,000 Lego collection and told him to get bent in ~hobbies
Jordan117 Link ParentDoesn't seem like it ended well to me. The store was closed to avoid having to pay the judgment (and apparently did). So no reimbursement for the contract violations, the mistreatment, the lies,...Doesn't seem like it ended well to me. The store was closed to avoid having to pay the judgment (and apparently did). So no reimbursement for the contract violations, the mistreatment, the lies, etc. It's not even clear they got their property back.
I reckon the victims tried to DIY serving papers to limit legal expenses (exactly the sort of expense the company threatened to incur for fighting them).
-
Comment on "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster (1909) in ~books
Jordan117 LinkIt's remarkable how clearly it predicts things like the internet nearly a century before it became mainstream. And some of the imagery wouldn't be out of place in WALL-E. Another good story in...It's remarkable how clearly it predicts things like the internet nearly a century before it became mainstream. And some of the imagery wouldn't be out of place in WALL-E.
Another good story in this vein is "Pump Six" by Paolo Bacigalupi, from his anthology of the same name. It's more contemporary (2008) and less fantastical, but deals with the same core idea of society descending into hedonism and decadence as it collectively forgets how to maintain the infrastructure that makes it sustainable.
-
Comment on Hot or Not: Temperature guessing game in ~creative
Jordan117 Link ParentIt's all relative, sure, but using more familiar units makes it easier to "feel" what the temperature is, if that seems like it would be unusually high or low for that part of the world this time...It's all relative, sure, but using more familiar units makes it easier to "feel" what the temperature is, if that seems like it would be unusually high or low for that part of the world this time of year, see how big the gap is between the two cities, etc. Like I know Baghdad is hot, but if I see it's 68°F there and then I get a city near me that's currently in a summer heat wave, I know there's a good chance it's actually hotter.
You can still do raw up/down comparisons with Celsius, but if a player is not used to thinking in C° then you might as well just skip the temperature data and just directly ask them if the other city is hotter or colder (losing the extra context that comes with a precise number).
-
Comment on Signal, NordVPN, Proton to leave Canada over C-22 in ~society
Jordan117 Link ParentEven if you assume the government will never heel-turn and use their newfound spying powers against activists, marginalized groups, political opponents, etc., any technological solution that...Even if you assume the government will never heel-turn and use their newfound spying powers against activists, marginalized groups, political opponents, etc., any technological solution that weakens encryption and privacy protections for legitimate crimefighting reasons necessarily reduces it for all other use cases as well. Hacking tools leak, backdoors get discovered, and now you have a whole new class of trust issues (and crimes) knowing that sensitive data cannot be reliably protected against bad actors. That's not a worthwhile trade.
-
Comment on Hot or Not: Temperature guessing game in ~creative
Jordan117 LinkTwo suggestions: Might want to automatically skip cities that are the same temperature, or even add some logic to require a certain minimum gap that shrinks over time to make it tougher. Can you...Two suggestions:
-
Might want to automatically skip cities that are the same temperature, or even add some logic to require a certain minimum gap that shrinks over time to make it tougher.
-
Can you add a Fahrenheit option?
-
-
Comment on What's your favorite personal gaming memory? in ~games
Jordan117 (edited )LinkStepping out of the crashed evac pod onto Halo for the first time. Something about that vista -- not just the Halo ring arcing into the sky, but the incredibly sparkly and shimmery quality of the...Stepping out of the crashed evac pod onto Halo for the first time. Something about that vista -- not just the Halo ring arcing into the sky, but the incredibly sparkly and shimmery quality of the water -- was so visually striking and unlike any of the older games I had played to that point, even on a mediocre CRT monitor.
-
Comment on What's something that you missed out on? in ~talk
Jordan117 Link ParentIf it makes you feel any better, I reckon there's a good chance that you would have spent or sold them long before they hit the stratospheric heights they eventually reached.If it makes you feel any better, I reckon there's a good chance that you would have spent or sold them long before they hit the stratospheric heights they eventually reached.
-
Comment on Your favourite karaoke songs? in ~music
Jordan117 LinkThe Strokes - Someday: Love the vibe and sentiment, no long awkward instrumentals, and it's well within vocal range which is a big plus. Jimmy Eat World - The Middle and The Killers - Mr....The Strokes - Someday: Love the vibe and sentiment, no long awkward instrumentals, and it's well within vocal range which is a big plus.
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle and The Killers - Mr. Brightside: Great fun feel-good crowd energy songs most everybody knows the lyrics to.
Last time I went I was surprised to find Bo Burnham's "Welcome to the Internet" on the playlist. I didn't go for it (too long and a downer), but I do wonder if more tracks will make their way to venues given Inside's streaming popularity.
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.