Kilcundas's recent activity
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Comment on Thoughts on the current state of discoverability and search in ~tech
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Comment on The importance of handwriting is becoming better understood in ~humanities
Kilcundas Link ParentThank you so much for leaving these comments. Handwriting and drawing have been a shameful struggle for me for as long as I could remember. When I was in kindergarten a teacher (who I later...Thank you so much for leaving these comments. Handwriting and drawing have been a shameful struggle for me for as long as I could remember.
When I was in kindergarten a teacher (who I later anecdotally learned was not a fan of children of single mothers, like myself) interrupted another staff member trying to teach me how to hold a crayon. Since I had been 'bad' my punishment was to miss out on learning how to hold it properly, and I distinctly remember her 'correcting' me and forcing me to grip it incorrectly. I distinctly remember her saying something to the effect of "Don't bother with him" and "You don't get to, you've been difficult".
I've always struggled with my handwritting and avoid writing in cards like the plague. My hand cramps terribly and I struggle with my spacing and consistent quality over long paragraphs. I don't know how much that has to do with the experience I just spoke of, but it's such a relief to have a word I can associate with those difficulties and some research to look in to.
Were you diagnosed as an adult by any chance? And if so, how did you go about seeking a diagnosis?
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Comment on The Barbegal Aqueduct included a watermill complex with water cascading through a total of sixteen wheels. It may have been "the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world" in ~humanities.history
Kilcundas Link ParentI appreciate you asking! I find historical engineering fascinating, but what stood out to me with this article was the concept of a cascading water mill. I assumed this was a unique example, but...I appreciate you asking!
I find historical engineering fascinating, but what stood out to me with this article was the concept of a cascading water mill. I assumed this was a unique example, but apparently not within the Roman Empire:
The use of multiple stacked sequences of reverse overshot water wheels was widespread in Roman mines, especially in Spain and Wales. It is possible that the mills at Barbegal may also have been used for sawing timber and stone when not grinding wheat.
It's such a simple, clever concept. The steam engine would eventually open up further industrial capacity without the need for costly engineering projects, but considering mills like these provided enough power to generate up to 4.5 tons of flour per day it's interesting to ponder what else the Romans could have achieved well before the Industrial Revolution if they applied this technology to manufacturering.
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The Barbegal Aqueduct included a watermill complex with water cascading through a total of sixteen wheels. It may have been "the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world"
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Comment on For those of you that listen to lots of live recordings, how do you store and listen to them? in ~music
Kilcundas LinkI know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but as someone who has always enjoyed listening to song demos and early recordings I'd never heard of the term Recordings of Independent Origin....I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but as someone who has always enjoyed listening to song demos and early recordings I'd never heard of the term Recordings of Independent Origin. I'm now happily diving head first in to a rabbit hole I didn't have any knowledge of just fifteen minutes ago. Thanks for sharing!
Do you have any notable finds/tracks in your collection that you found particularly interesting?
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Comment on The second generation of school shootings in ~life
Kilcundas LinkThis was an incredibly well written, heartbreaking article. As an Australian I completely agree with the sentiment that the rest of the world considers the debate incomprehensible, particularly...This was an incredibly well written, heartbreaking article. As an Australian I completely agree with the sentiment that the rest of the world considers the debate incomprehensible, particularly after our own regulations and gun buy back schemes following the Hoddle Street and Port Arthur massacres were so successful.
That being said, I worry that the United States has passed a 'point of no return' when it comes to regulation - perhaps if national gun regulations were introduced in the late 1980's (or even after Columbine) and backed up with a supreme court ruling overturning Heller things would be different today. I fear the U. S is now a quarter of a century behind, and the hostile political climate offers no possibility of bi-partisan support.
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Comment on Tildes is still in alpha-testing. It’s an unfinished product. Set your expectations accordingly. in ~tildes
Kilcundas Link ParentNo worries at all, I definitely didn't take your comment that way! But thank you for clarifying. I'm very curious about changes to moderation as Tildes grows, but I think if done right the...No worries at all, I definitely didn't take your comment that way! But thank you for clarifying.
I'm very curious about changes to moderation as Tildes grows, but I think if done right the community can remain somewhat self-governing. I actually think the absence of a 'downvote' equivalent will, perhaps counter-intuitively, prevent a lot of negative behaviour. Any behaviour not tolerated will just be ignored.
Thanks for your hard work and detailed response!
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Comment on Tildes is still in alpha-testing. It’s an unfinished product. Set your expectations accordingly. in ~tildes
Kilcundas Link ParentAgreed, and to add on to your comment 'reading' is the key word, I think! The text-based format does wonders. I'm finding myself finding and reading far more longform articles, the comments are...Agreed, and to add on to your comment 'reading' is the key word, I think! The text-based format does wonders. I'm finding myself finding and reading far more longform articles, the comments are more verbose, in general there's much more interesting conversation going on. I'm feeling very optimistic so far!
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Comment on Tildes is still in alpha-testing. It’s an unfinished product. Set your expectations accordingly. in ~tildes
Kilcundas LinkGreat summary of Tildes 'as is' and the direction it will head in, thank you. With the wave of new users from Reddit (myself included), I can imagine this must be a formative period for the...Great summary of Tildes 'as is' and the direction it will head in, thank you.
With the wave of new users from Reddit (myself included), I can imagine this must be a formative period for the website. Has there been a shift in priorities due to the influx of new users beyond moderation tools? How much time is currently spent on manual moderation?
I'm very much enjoying the culture here, while I'm looking forward to new features I hope that remains consistent.
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Comment on AI-assisted co-DM'ing personal novels in ~hobbies
Kilcundas Link ParentSure! Here's a pastebin link of the entire conversation. Unfortunately the formatting is a little all over the place, but it's still definitely readable. I'll see if I can put together something a...Sure! Here's a pastebin link of the entire conversation.
Unfortunately the formatting is a little all over the place, but it's still definitely readable. I'll see if I can put together something a bit tidier when I get home.
I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts as someone with an NLP background!
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Comment on AI-assisted co-DM'ing personal novels in ~hobbies
Kilcundas Link ParentI definitely need to check out NovelAI! That was my frustration with using ChatGPT for the murder mystery game, fortunately I figured out a similar trick where I would ask it to summarise the...I definitely need to check out NovelAI! That was my frustration with using ChatGPT for the murder mystery game, fortunately I figured out a similar trick where I would ask it to summarise the investigation so far every ten or so prompts.
Your writing process sounds fascinating, definitely something I'd like to experiment with for worldbuilding. How much do you find yourself 'steering the ship', for lack of a better term? Obviously there will always be some prompt engineering involved, but do you find yourself guiding the story? Or the story itself taking the lead and heading in unexpected directions?
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Comment on AI-assisted co-DM'ing personal novels in ~hobbies
Kilcundas LinkThe most fun I've had experimenting with ChatGPT was asking it to play a murder mystery game with the below prompt: I got a classic Agatha Christie style mansion murder with some genuinely...The most fun I've had experimenting with ChatGPT was asking it to play a murder mystery game with the below prompt:
Hello! Let's play a game: Give me a fictional murder mystery to solve, including some clues, characters and scenes. I'll then ask you questions to try and determine the murderer.
I got a classic Agatha Christie style mansion murder with some genuinely interesting characters. I did have to re-generate some responses that completely contradicted previous information provided, and at one point ChatGBT outright refused to provide me with contents of a completely fictional will, but other than those hickups I had a blast interviewing suspects and following leads.
Eventually I made an arrest and had ChatGBT play out a trial. I hilariously got chewed out for my terrible reliance on circumstantial evidence (which made me start to question many murder mystery protagonists in novels I have read), but eventually the jury returned a guilty verdict against the accused. I asked ChatGBT to score my investigation, point out clues I missed, and tell me more information about the murder as an omnipresent observer with full knowledge of the events.
I had a blast, will definitely do it again!
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Comment on I need casual, easy going games to help me relax. So, Tildes, what you got? in ~games
Kilcundas Link ParentSeconding Transport Fever 2, so incredibly satisfying. I've been experiencing a lot of pressure at work lately and this has been my go-to game to de-stress. The game has some great mod content on...Seconding Transport Fever 2, so incredibly satisfying. I've been experiencing a lot of pressure at work lately and this has been my go-to game to de-stress.
The game has some great mod content on the Workshop as well! Very easy to sink hundreds of hours in to.
Unfortunately I think there are two issues at play here: The quality of the search engines and the quality of the results themselves.
To use an analogy, I feel as though the internet started as a library and is turning in to a shopping mall. A search for a particular topic fifteen years ago would more return blog articles, journals, and topic-specific websites, in part because they made up a larger fraction of the content available. Now a search query is much more likely to return results aimed at capitalising on your curiosity: e.g click-bait, sponsored articles, etc.
Sadly, this trend is in full swing and the ability to generate AI content will only make the problem worse. I'm conscious this is already a very pessimistic take, but I fear that the hobbyist internet is giving way to something much less beneficial to us all, and there just isn't enough of an incentive for search engines to prioritise the quality content that remains.