Khalos's recent activity
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Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech
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Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech
Khalos Link ParentI agree with your sentiment that for someone who is using the AI to generate income there's math here that can make sense in some situations. The article is discussing why "normal" people aren't...I agree with your sentiment that for someone who is using the AI to generate income there's math here that can make sense in some situations.
The article is discussing why "normal" people aren't using AI Agents though. $800/mo would be massively expensive for a "normal" person to use at home.
Maybe someone wealthy who has staff at home could justify offsetting the $800 in staff for AI token spend, but that's not most "normal" people.
The pricing would have to be extremely different for a consumer market vs business for it to make any kind of broad adoption to make economic sense.
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Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech
Khalos Link ParentThis seems like one of the biggest issues in the "AI Boom(/Bubble)" and it's super high evaluations/investment. I also think the gap between the promise of "anyone can use AI to do tons of amazing...This seems like one of the biggest issues in the "AI Boom(/Bubble)" and it's super high evaluations/investment.
I also think the gap between the promise of "anyone can use AI to do tons of amazing things for you" proponents talk about and the reality of the complexity of actually setting up more advanced AI Agents/harnesses. Let alone using them in any kind of effective way.
I think he's right that in order to get any kind of broad adoption it needs to get WAY simpler for ordinary non-tech people to be able to use. The problem is by the time you simplify and "dumb down" the tooling enough to be usable by an average non-technical Joe it's lost nearly all its usefulness. You're at Microsoft levels of AI tools that can't even do what the "suggested prompt" says.
I don't think the tech industry is conscious of how much their existing skillsets lead them to being able to 'effectively' use these tools. How to be specific and clear enough in prompts to get results even close to what you wanted. How to review the output to see if it actually did what you asked and re-prompt for changes where it didn't.
The more autonomous it is the more it will get things horribly wrong and make catastrophic mistakes which leads to bad PR and even more people realizing how dangerous it can be running these tools without proper isolation and security practices. The more autonomous and long running an agent is the more important a good highly detailed prompt is, and even then there's a very good chance it's still going to get lots wrong.
Then we're back at needing to teach people very technical skills to use them, which defeats the whole idea of broad appeal.
None of this is to mention all the other issues with AI.
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Comment on YouTube Premium to come with Peacock, NBCSports to stream events on YouTube in ~tv
Khalos LinkI'm sure for folks who are into watching live sports this is welcome news! I'm a bit concerned that everyone (including rest of us who aren't) will be facing price hikes in the near future to...I'm sure for folks who are into watching live sports this is welcome news! I'm a bit concerned that everyone (including rest of us who aren't) will be facing price hikes in the near future to account for this extra "value" in the plan.
YouTube Premium already bundles music in, it feels like this is going back to the 90s/00s cable company model of bundling lots of things together with prices to match. Great if you want it all in one place, less so if you want YT Premium for YT, Spotify for music, and a rotation of premium movie/TV streaming services.
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Comment on What movies become better by having a bus suddenly come out of no where and hit someone? in ~movies
Khalos Link ParentYour Indiana Jones one got me laughing pretty good at the pure absurdity of a bus zooming past the long abandoned ruins on a remote island. The impact would be huge given how early in the...Your Indiana Jones one got me laughing pretty good at the pure absurdity of a bus zooming past the long abandoned ruins on a remote island.
The impact would be huge given how early in the franchise it occurs.
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Comment on "Why was I invited to Beast Studios?" - A comprehensive investigative analysis of YouTube's biggest channel in ~tech
Khalos Link ParentYou'll have missed several great visual gags and some clips giving context to what he was discussing but largely the main themes and points of the video stand without them. Dan does a great job on...You'll have missed several great visual gags and some clips giving context to what he was discussing but largely the main themes and points of the video stand without them.
Dan does a great job on the visuals and I always watch his videos (at least the first time), but I think he intentionally designs videos to also mostly work audio only knowing a probably not insignificant amount of viewers may be listening more than watching.
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Comment on Ring camera is getting more and more annoying in ~tech
Khalos (edited )Link ParentI use Frigate (and it's awesome integration with Home Assistant) and I swear by it too. The quality, stability, and pace of new features for a free and open source (with optional paid features...I use Frigate (and it's awesome integration with Home Assistant) and I swear by it too. The quality, stability, and pace of new features for a free and open source (with optional paid features that I don't use) is truely impressive.
Through the new Image Classification features I now have it detecting garbage trucks and if my bins are out or not.
It does facial recognition, arbitrary classification where you provide sample images, recording, retention based on movement, detection, and more.
I am a techy person though, so if you're really not it is admittedly more complex to set up than throwing up a Ring camera.
The camera isn't even connected to the internet and Frigate runs everything in my house, so all of this happens locally, which aligns with my privacy focused home setup.
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Comment on US to Canada package forwarding service? in ~talk
Khalos Link ParentI used Shippsy successfully several years ago and it was good overall. The cost was what they said and reasonable and pickup was straightforward. This was well before the current state of the US...I used Shippsy successfully several years ago and it was good overall. The cost was what they said and reasonable and pickup was straightforward.
This was well before the current state of the US though, so I can't really comment on what Tariffs and duties look like today.
One other thing I will note, the product I had delivered worked well, but after about a year it had an issue and was told by the company that the warrantee did not apply outside of the country that it was purchased (even though they sold the same product in Canada). Nothing to do with the shipper, but something to consider that I wasn't aware of at the time.
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Comment on Did Disney really steal Aladdin? in ~movies
Khalos Link ParentShe took a 3-4 year hiatus from YT and was only on Nebula until a little over a year ago. Now she posts some of her bigger stuff to both (Seemingly to help promote her book), which I think is...She took a 3-4 year hiatus from YT and was only on Nebula until a little over a year ago.
Now she posts some of her bigger stuff to both (Seemingly to help promote her book), which I think is great. Her content is good and more people see it this way.
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Comment on Disney reportedly keen on buying Fortnite developer Epic Games in ~games
Khalos LinkI could see Disney wanting Fortnite itself and maybe some of their other media IPs. This seems like it would be a very odd fit for Unreal Engine though. I could see them wanting it for the video...I could see Disney wanting Fortnite itself and maybe some of their other media IPs.
This seems like it would be a very odd fit for Unreal Engine though. I could see them wanting it for the video production side, but I don't think Disney has any other examples of them licensing their tools to third-parties do they? Let alone to competitors and to the extent of UE.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
Khalos Link ParentI can really only speak for myself, but I do agree that it's very hard (basically impossible really) to fully ethically consume anything in capitalism. You're right that everyone is going to have...I can really only speak for myself, but I do agree that it's very hard (basically impossible really) to fully ethically consume anything in capitalism. You're right that everyone is going to have made purchases that someone (heck probably even themselves) would find unethical.
I don't have a hardline "purchasing X makes make you good/bad by definition" policy. To me it's more of a spectrum and an indicator of someone's overall morals.
I'm apparently not a fervent JKR hater to the point where I'm going to go out of my way to tell everyone how much she sucks as a person, and I don't have a problem with people who still consume Harry Potter content. So am I on the 'bad' side? Even if I have given JKR less money than the people who are now on the 'good' side?
I'm going to answer this since you asked, I think my answer is more mild than you might expect, but either way please don't take it as an attack on you or anything.
I would consider this behaviour to be on the "bystander" side of things. I think it's less ethical than someone who is raising awareness and trying to reduce the effectiveness of her hate. It's more ethical than someone actively supporting her. It makes me "think less of you" but it doesn't automatically make you "a bad person" if that makes sense.
It's the same for other people as well, I hold no special place for Harry Potter and Rowling here. If we were commenting in a thread asking moderators to stop people from bringing up Kanye's antisemitism in threads when he releases a new album instead I'd feel pretty similar.
As for the last part, I do think there's an important aspect of awareness. If you bought her books 20 years ago and didn't know about her hate, I don't hold that against you. If you do so today, knowing full well what she will use that money to do, then I do think that's worse. It doesn't make you evil, but it would lower my opinion of you.
This is why I think it's good to allow these conversations around an artist so that the awareness is there, and support becomes an explicit choice. If we had known what she would have done earlier, maybe she'd have less money to use to harm people.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
Khalos Link ParentI think the fundamental difference in opinion is that I don't see it as "off topic" at all, so it's not "let's stay on topic" to me. Discussions of media often involve discussions around those...I think the fundamental difference in opinion is that I don't see it as "off topic" at all, so it's not "let's stay on topic" to me.
Discussions of media often involve discussions around those involved in its creation. We talk about actors, writers, directors, comedians, producers, poets all the time when talking about their creations.
We see this with controversial artists and creators pretty regularly, I'm not sure why we'd need to treat Harry Potter any differently.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
Khalos Link ParentGiven the context in the post I'm confused how it could be read any other way. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that. OP claimed to not want to suppress anyone, says JKR discussion on HP...Given the context in the post I'm confused how it could be read any other way. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that. OP claimed to not want to suppress anyone, says JKR discussion on HP doesn't work, is asking for a decision, and clearly aligns with one side, so I'm not really sure how else to square that hole.
I definitely do mean this would apply to not just famous people, but I feel like that rarely comes up. If some hypothetical racist neighbour makes a movie and we're talking about it, I absolutely support people calling that out.
As for there being others and JKR not being the only anti-trans supporter, sure that's true. She's an influential billionaire who uses her assets to spread hate, so of course she'll be talked about a lot. Other less public people should be called on it too, but they don't come up in conversation as much. I don't think "there are worse people out there" means you give up and only call out the single worst person in existence. Systemically this is a problem and we should do what we can to move the needle.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
Khalos Link ParentI think we're talking about very different things here. I'm not at all suggesting to blindly boycott things others don't like and doing so arbitrarily or without thought. What I am suggesting is...I think we're talking about very different things here. I'm not at all suggesting to blindly boycott things others don't like and doing so arbitrarily or without thought.
What I am suggesting is that people should be free share their thoughts when someone is being discussed that does things they think are amoral. I'm not arbitrarily picking specifically on Rowling, loads of famous people do terrible stuff and deserve to be called out, call them all out! I listed a few people who created works I like that I think are reprehensible.
OP seems to want a safe space for HP fans to talk about HP without people bringing up the real harm Rowling is doing to people:
if yall want this platform to be a place where Potter fans can discuss the series
a decision probably need to be made regarding how to handle the folks that feel the need to always bring up Rowling's view on trans-folks whenever Harry Potter gets brought up
but if yall want to be a welcoming place for Potter fans to discuss that world without being told to go fuck themselves and then have the whole post be locked down, probably might want to do something about that.
I'm not saying that means all the people who like HP have to boycott it, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't make their feelings part of the discussion. I say the same thing for any thread with a problematic figurehead.
People can then make the informed choice whether they want to boycott or support instead of putting their heads in the sand.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
Khalos Link ParentI agree that if you're not actively researching everything you may ignorantly and accidentally financially support something you're against. I think that's part of why I think it's a good idea for...I agree that if you're not actively researching everything you may ignorantly and accidentally financially support something you're against.
I think that's part of why I think it's a good idea for people to share problems about a person or company or whatever whenever it gets mentioned. Then you become informed and can make a conscious decision: follow your ethics and stop supporting or decide you don't really care and continue to do so.
It's not an arbitrary position to me to support people calling out Rowling's anti-trans actions when people talk about Harry Potter, or Card's homophobia, or Whedon's abusive behavior when discussing Buffy or Firefly.
Asking people to research themselves first is high minded and principled, but I think unrealistic. If we suppress people from talking about it then more people will remain ignorant.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
Khalos Link ParentI'm going to address points 2 & 4 because those are the ones I have the strongest feelings on. For #2, I don't think it's anyone's responsibility to do research on every author, but that's very...I'm going to address points 2 & 4 because those are the ones I have the strongest feelings on.
For #2, I don't think it's anyone's responsibility to do research on every author, but that's very different from trying to suppress others from speaking up about horrible things an author has done when they come up. If others have done that research and can share information, then that's a great way to learn, and change your mind on things without having to do the research legwork yourself.
Lots of people now know Rowling is transphobic and hateful because people do this. They often don't know the extent, so the more people raise specifics the more that information spreads too.
On #4, I'm actually in a very similar boat to you. I loved Harry Potter growing up (and still watch my DVDs once a year, though it has changed the way I feel about them), and Ender's Game is probably my favorite book I've ever read. I even like a lot of Card's other books, even though he's an awful person. Many of my other favorite creators are similar (Joss Whedon especially saddened me).
But I also feel empathy for people who like us, grew up loving these stories, but who are harmed by these authors actions. That's a lot more of a "real issue" to me than if people feel bad for a bit when they're reminded that an author they like is causing real harm.
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Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech
Khalos Link ParentI disagree, the one day wait period is especially egregious. Would you feel the same way if you bought a new Windows PC and had to go through all these inane hoops if you wanted to install...I disagree, the one day wait period is especially egregious.
Would you feel the same way if you bought a new Windows PC and had to go through all these inane hoops if you wanted to install something from somewhere other than the Microsoft Store?
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Comment on Tom Lehrer, influential musical satirist of '50s and '60s dies at 97 in ~music
Khalos Link ParentI enjoy Bo Burnham a lot too! Excellent recommendation. As much as I like his work too, I definitely agree it's often missing the "fun" aspect though. I think this is what makes Tom Lehrer's work...I enjoy Bo Burnham a lot too! Excellent recommendation.
As much as I like his work too, I definitely agree it's often missing the "fun" aspect though. I think this is what makes Tom Lehrer's work stand out so well is that he somehow managed to be biting, humorous, political, clever, dark, topical, and fun all at once. There are some artists who hit a lot of these, but not many that hit them all. Bo Burnham is missing the fun, Weird Al is fun but isn't biting, Tim Minchin and Stephen Lynch are clever but aren't very topical/political. They're all great in their own rights, but Lehrer had a real talent in bringing it all together.
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Comment on Tom Lehrer, influential musical satirist of '50s and '60s dies at 97 in ~music
Khalos LinkMost celebrity deaths are sad but don't really hit me. His death does. His work is a lot older than I am, but it was so sharp, fun, and clever that it still really connected with me and I listen...Most celebrity deaths are sad but don't really hit me. His death does. His work is a lot older than I am, but it was so sharp, fun, and clever that it still really connected with me and I listen to it regularly. May he rest in peace.
It also makes me sad that no one really picked up the mantle of his kind of music. Sure we have some political and satirical songs still, but nothing that feels quite as biting while still remaining fun. Would love to hear if anyone has modern suggestions.
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Comment on Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (April 2025) — Version 1.4 adds a text size setting in ~tildes
Khalos LinkI can't tell you how grateful I am for the text scaling, thank you! I've used Three Cheers for quite a while already, but it was the only app I use regularly where I had trouble reading. Today...I can't tell you how grateful I am for the text scaling, thank you!
I've used Three Cheers for quite a while already, but it was the only app I use regularly where I had trouble reading. Today that's been fixed and I'm so happy.
I agree with most of what you're saying, I think you hit the nail on the head with having to use cheaper open weight (likely Chinese - fwiw this is what I use at home for playing around in this space) models to save costs and that the features themselves aren't there yet.
Not saying they definitely never will be, but these two things alone are huge for general adoption and broadly answer the question the article poses.
I think your example is likely the way this will go. Less "AI as a product" and more "This consumer facing product or service has some AI features now". This will probably eventually move from "gimmicks" to features normal people actually want.
I think we're still a very very long way off from "normal" people running agents to do useful tasks for themselves.