Karzyn's recent activity
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Comment on Software engineers / programmers: how’s it going? in ~comp
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Karzyn Link ParentAwesome! Though that does mean we're going to have to figure out how to move one of our PCs since they're right next to each other.Awesome! Though that does mean we're going to have to figure out how to move one of our PCs since they're right next to each other.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Karzyn Link ParentDo you think that it would work well with two players?Do you think that it would work well with two players?
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
Karzyn Link ParentI also read the Ginsburg English translation. It's missing some chapters but my understanding from internet discussions was that it closer matched the tone in the original Russian. It seemed worth...I also read the Ginsburg English translation. It's missing some chapters but my understanding from internet discussions was that it closer matched the tone in the original Russian. It seemed worth compromising on missing content to make the rest of the book read more accurately.
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
Karzyn Link ParentNo real answer, but as someone who considers One Hundred Years of Solitude in a whole other class above anything else I've ever read and couldn't tell you a single thing about my experience...No real answer, but as someone who considers One Hundred Years of Solitude in a whole other class above anything else I've ever read and couldn't tell you a single thing about my experience reading Foucault's Pendulum I find your comment fascinating. We always know about different preferences but rarely see it so starkly shown.
My best guess at an answer is momentum. A book is considered good and so it always comes up when people think about making these lists.
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
Karzyn Link ParentWhich translation is especially true for The Master and Margarita. There are multiple translations with different strengths and tones. When I decided to read it picking which version took some...Which translation is especially true for The Master and Margarita. There are multiple translations with different strengths and tones. When I decided to read it picking which version took some research.
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Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk
Karzyn Link ParentI guess that depends on how you define "line of work". I'm a C++ programmer and have no idea how to answer #1 or 3. However, are we in the same line of work? I think that it would be super...I guess that depends on how you define "line of work". I'm a C++ programmer and have no idea how to answer #1 or 3. However, are we in the same line of work? I think that it would be super difficult to come up with a question that most software engineers could answer but a layperson couldn't. Though maybe your #2 comes close.
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Comment on What is the most insane, tedious, difficult, and/or noteworthy gaming achievement you have completed or given up on? in ~games
Karzyn (edited )LinkI have gotten the main game completion achievement for every Zachtronics puzzle game except Infinifactory. Note that this includes the Spacechem Dlc, the three Last Call BBSs "Zach-likes", and the...I have gotten the main game completion achievement for every Zachtronics puzzle game except Infinifactory. Note that this includes the Spacechem Dlc, the three Last Call BBSs "Zach-likes", and the epilogue levels from EXAPUNKS and Opus Magnum. This does not include Opus Magnum journals or Spacechem researchnet.
For context, these are games where you do some programming-like activity (with a couple exceptions) to build a system to solve a puzzle. I'm a huge fan of them because they're very open and flexible systems that exist to give you options to try out. You're not trying to find a known, best solution: you're trying to build your own. Some other games I've played (The Signal State and Silicon Zeros) try to emulate this but they fall short by having a goal solution for the player to discover. Zachtronics games will tell you how you compare to other players on certain measurement axes but figuring out what that means is left to the player. This gives you space to experiment and improve on your own merits; you're not trying to guess what optimal solution the designer had in mind - there is none. For most puzzle games the operative verb is "discover". Discover what the intended solution is. For Zachtronics puzzle games the verb is "build". Build your own solution.
Anyway, they can run the gamut between fairly approachable (Opus Magnum) to brain-meltingly hard (Spacechem and Shenzhen I/O). Beating the kelp harvesting robot level in Shenzhen I/O is one of my proudest achievements, and I'm a professional programmer. I know that there's a new game from Coincidence (which is basically Zachtronics 2) called Kaizen but I'm giving that one time to cook. Word is that it's much shorter and easier though.
(I also beat Mobius Front '83 from Zachtronics but that's a very different sort of game so it doesn't really count for this.)
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Karzyn Link ParentThanks for posting your review! While I liked the ideas in Opus Magnum the openness took something of the experience away. The optimal time solution was almost always a massive number of arms on...Thanks for posting your review! While I liked the ideas in Opus Magnum the openness took something of the experience away. The optimal time solution was almost always a massive number of arms on tracks and the optimal cost solution was usually one arm slowly working its way through a massive number of instructions. For me, at least, there needs to be a little more restriction to make the game sing. So a little more difficult Opus Magnum sounds great. Molek-Syntez was sort of that but it was a bit lacking in variation. Though I probably still preferred it overall.
I've got some games on my backlog first but it's good to read your positive thoughts first.
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Comment on I need advice, which laptop would you buy now? in ~tech
Karzyn Link ParentNot sure if exactly what syncing messages means, but if you have an android phone you can go to messages.google.com, pair your phone, and text via your browser.Not sure if exactly what syncing messages means, but if you have an android phone you can go to messages.google.com, pair your phone, and text via your browser.
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Comment on Bread maker recipes? Tips and tricks? in ~food
Karzyn LinkI just use the basic recipe that came with my machine. It's actually printed on a sticker on its side. That's probably not a common thing for a manufacturer to do but it's actually super...I just use the basic recipe that came with my machine. It's actually printed on a sticker on its side. That's probably not a common thing for a manufacturer to do but it's actually super convenient. Consider putting your recipe right on your machine's side.
The instructions are very clear about what order to add ingredients and you definitely need to follow that. Liquids first, then flour, dry ingredients, lastly it said to put the yeast in a small depression on top of the flour mound. Importantly you don't want the yeast to get wet too soon since that will activate it too quickly or early (I forget which). So yeah, read the instructions carefully.
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Comment on Do you like being thrifty? in ~talk
Karzyn Link ParentKind of unrelated, but why have you bought 50 cars over the course of your life? That's so many cars! There's gotta be a story there. On topic, I've bought one car and it's currently 11.5 years...Kind of unrelated, but why have you bought 50 cars over the course of your life? That's so many cars! There's gotta be a story there.
On topic, I've bought one car and it's currently 11.5 years old. Given that I don't enjoy buying things and don't do it all that often I generally don't bother with thrifting. If I've decided that I want/need something I want to purchase it with the minimal friction possible. Yeah, I end up spending more money but that's buying me peace of mind that the product is correct and the time not spent looking for the thrifted alternative. I don't really enjoy having stuff so I'm not buying that much. If I bought more things maybe my outlook would change.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Karzyn Link ParentOne thing that you didn't mention about The Talos Principle 2 is that it's so dang pretty. The first game was alright on the eyes but, personally, the historical-ish settings didn't really excite...One thing that you didn't mention about The Talos Principle 2 is that it's so dang pretty. The first game was alright on the eyes but, personally, the historical-ish settings didn't really excite me. In 2 the way that the puzzles and paths blended into the natural environment was so satisfying. When I played I would just kind of walk around and gawk at the scenery. They really knocked that aspect of the game out of the park.
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Comment on 'Murderbot' is the best new comedy of 2025. You read that right. in ~tv
Karzyn Link ParentCan we not jump to "toxic" for simple mistakes? I sure wouldn't want to be called that if I'd made the same mistake.Can we not jump to "toxic" for simple mistakes? I sure wouldn't want to be called that if I'd made the same mistake.
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Comment on Where are the small phones? in ~tech
Karzyn Link ParentThe Pixel 9a doesn't have a camera bump, just a smooth back. What's wild is the reviews saying that they didn't like that look or that it was boring. Somehow they figured that the bump on the back...The Pixel 9a doesn't have a camera bump, just a smooth back. What's wild is the reviews saying that they didn't like that look or that it was boring. Somehow they figured that the bump on the back was a feature instead of an annoyance. Like, they're actually dinging the score of the 9a for looking like the boring rectangle that a phone actually is. Meanwhile I have a Pixel 9 and when I take the case off I have to marvel at how hideous and impractical the giant camera bump is.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~books
Karzyn Link ParentIn middle school I started reading Rendezvous with Rama and became so engrossed that I pulled just short of an all nighter (on a school night) to finish it. I wasn't crazy about how the series...In middle school I started reading Rendezvous with Rama and became so engrossed that I pulled just short of an all nighter (on a school night) to finish it. I wasn't crazy about how the series ended, but there was something so engaging about that first book. Such a good premise: here's some neat alien stuff, explore it.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
Karzyn Link ParentThat's very disappointing about The City We Became. Last year I read The Broken Earth Trilogy by Jemisin and while I enjoyed her writing the ending just sort of happened. There were big events...That's very disappointing about The City We Became. Last year I read The Broken Earth Trilogy by Jemisin and while I enjoyed her writing the ending just sort of happened. There were big events surrounding the climax but none of them had room to breathe as we rushed to finish the book. Perhaps she struggles to end stories with a satisfying pace.
SWE at a stable company, ~15 years of experience, backend
I'm generally a pretty negative person, so there's some bias there. While my job itself hasn't gotten hugely worse I hate the change. The whole thing makes me incredibly sad.
There's people out there being so excited about how they can create so much more and I'm here like: "so what?" Who cares if a feature can get pumped out faster? I will personally not see the benefits or upsides to that. There was probably a period of time where if you were one of the few using AI coding effectively you could make yourself look better while doing less work. That's over. If everyone is speedily generating slop then your fast slop doesn't make you look any better as an employee. In order to keep my job my work needs to be on par with my peers. AI just changes what that means, it doesn't actually personally benefit me.
Moreover, I just hate the experience. There's something really satisfying to coding something juuuuust right. It's all about trying to figure it out. Look, I play puzzle video games in my free time. I have a display of my Zachtronics patches on the wall. Right now AI work is not that. It's the opposite of that. You're letting the tool solve all the problems. Maybe it's good at it, maybe it's not, but it's taking away the parts of this fucking job that I actually like. It doesn't help that a lot of my personal process is that I'm going to get it wrong the first time. I start making something, see where it's weak, and reassess. If the AI blasts it out in one go you miss on the iteration. There's a reason all our Language Arts teachers taught us to write papers with first drafts.
Worstly, AI code on a macro level can be a complete mess and we keep going with it. I'm working on a project where a sister module is getting basically all vibe-coded. The person creating it is super smart, no doubt from me, and has a lot of ideas but not a lot of time. So she has Claude generate most of it. Except it ends up as a massive nest of questionable decisions. And they all flow downhill to my module that has to interact with it. If I go try to fix up the upstream code then it's chock-full of these design decisions that a human would never make. They're hard to follow and hard to change. A human would have made a better design to start with or fixed it along the way. The AI just pushes through.
Which reflects one of my biggest complaints about AI: It removes the cost for things that SHOULD be expensive. This goes beyond code. A tool that can create things too easily means that there's no incentive to do it minimally or correctly. Now there's duplicated code because creating a new one is free whereas figuring out how the old one worked is effort. A document can be endlessly long because having the AI write everything is free but editing it down is effort.
At the end of the day though maybe I'm just yelling at clouds. Presumably assembly programmers felt the same way when compiled languages took over. We'll see.
I use them for bouncing ideas off of, reviewing code, and debugging issues. Basically stuff that I would usually go to a coworker for I try AI as a first step. Some coding, but I prefer to get a structure from AI and then change stuff myself.
Less. I hate hearing about AI, I hate working with AI.
The same. I don't really expect that to change.
Fearful, but that's my nature. Recently (I forget where) I saw something about gravestone engravers who were put out of work by automated chiseling machines. Time will tell if that's me. Right now I think that AI-coded everything won't be great but I also think that people largely won't care. If the code sucks but the thing works that's enough. Maybe they're right.
Use Codex instead of Claude. I hear that Claude is better at coding. When I switched to Codex I stopped feeling like I wanted to put my fist through my monitor every time I read its text. It's hard to explain, but the way that Claude writes English is infuriating and horrible. I cannot understand what it's saying much of the time and it wastes time. Nothing is written to be clear, it's written to follow the same bizarre patterns. Codex is clear. It says what needs to be said and I understand it the first time. Seriously, fuck Claude.
Not really. I guess I'm riding this train until I can't.