LukeZaz's recent activity
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Comment on Woman who dated US Senate candidate Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her in ~society
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Comment on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally explains his decision to bid $3.2B for parking meters before walking away in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentStrong disagree. You're making an assumption that because a technology had a purpose included in its design that it'll inevitably be good at that purpose. There is no promise of that, and both the...Strong disagree. You're making an assumption that because a technology had a purpose included in its design that it'll inevitably be good at that purpose. There is no promise of that, and both the development and usage of LLMs has indicated thoroughly that they are not good at accurate summaries. The failure rate is too high.
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Comment on European Parliament achieves upgrade to air passenger rights in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentThat would work better as an argument if my interlocutor had a different attitude with regards to other people, but there's a pattern here. Besides, the mean is not necessarily golden. That said,...you both can equally be accused of having deaf ears.
That would work better as an argument if my interlocutor had a different attitude with regards to other people, but there's a pattern here. Besides, the mean is not necessarily golden.
That said, I appreciate that you took the time to understand my position.
[...] which implies to me that Ryanair's weird pricing structure does pass on savings to customers, assuming that Ryanair has cheaper flights on average.
That's possible, sure. I think that it's hard to be certain of that from indirect analysis that's likely missing many (possibly unobtainable) variables, but I was willing to accept that as a possibility anyways.
Thing is, to me, it doesn't really matter, because I still view it as the aforementioned race to the bottom. If Ryanair or any other for-profit airline secured enough of an advantage in the market, they'd stop offering the low prices, with no good reason to believe the app would go away or become better for it.
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Comment on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally explains his decision to bid $3.2B for parking meters before walking away in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentYou can say it's designed to summarize, but I don't think you could suggest it's designed to summarize accurately. If that was the goal, they missed the mark badly. There are countless instances...You can say it's designed to summarize, but I don't think you could suggest it's designed to summarize accurately. If that was the goal, they missed the mark badly. There are countless instances of things like Gemini outputting patent nonsense to people on a regular basis, and that's just the overt stuff — many LLM errors are subtle things that only appear if you dig in.
But, crucially, it doesn't really matter. The reality is, I don't want text that is 95% likely to be 80% correct.1 I want text that is written by a person who's trying to be 100% correct. If you want human attention, put in human effort.
1. Also, I'm living in the age of a near-constant deluge of AI generated hogwash that I never asked for, but which has been thrust upon me regardless, consequences be damned. I wouldn't want that even if it worked perfectly.
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Comment on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally explains his decision to bid $3.2B for parking meters before walking away in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentI think I'd rather not have a summary at all, if I'm being honest. I don't like reading information that I feel cannot be trusted, and I absolutely do not ever trust an AI summary. Having this...Here's an AI summary of this fiasco
I think I'd rather not have a summary at all, if I'm being honest. I don't like reading information that I feel cannot be trusted, and I absolutely do not ever trust an AI summary. Having this here just feels like an opportunity to be misled. I'm sorry, but I'm going to label this as noise.
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Comment on European Parliament achieves upgrade to air passenger rights in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentThe app has nothing to do with this. I have a sneaking suspicion many of them either are already or would very much like to remove this choice entirely. Your accepting attitude of their decision...It's not a promise, it's a fact that their flights are generally the cheapest ones around.
The app has nothing to do with this.
Great, you have that option: flying with another airline!
I have a sneaking suspicion many of them either are already or would very much like to remove this choice entirely. Your accepting attitude of their decision to make things more difficult for you makes it all the easier for that decision to become the norm, and for switching airlines to solve absolutely nothing. And preventing exactly that is a prime reason why this legislation now exists.
I'm concerned that explanation will fall on deaf ears however. It has already been pointed out to you how a race-to-the-bottom works, and you didn't listen to it purely under the assumption that the status quo would somehow continue forever. This feels thoroughly like you're responding just for the sake of arguing, so accordingly, this will be my last comment here.
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Comment on European Parliament achieves upgrade to air passenger rights in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentThis boils down to "the company has more money, therefore they'll offer better service," which is a massive assumption that I've seen entirely too many times over the years. The most likely...This boils down to "the company has more money, therefore they'll offer better service," which is a massive assumption that I've seen entirely too many times over the years.
The most likely outcome for a successful company making more money is that they'll start trying to make even more than that, not that they'll suddenly start offering better prices. That only happens in an environment of healthy competition... which means that "healthy competition" is seen as a barrier to further success. This is how monopolies develop. Amazon is obscenely successful — do you think they've utilized that success for the public good?
Ryanair does not force an app because it lets them offer cheaper tickets. They force an app because it makes them money.1 The cheaper tickets are there for the same reason, and they'd absolutely increase the price if they felt they could. They should not be treated like a charity.
1. Well, probably. There are a few other reasons I can come up with – "everyone else is doing it!" for one – but none of them are exactly good. The point stands, regardless.
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Comment on European Parliament achieves upgrade to air passenger rights in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentYes, I understood. I wrote my point the way I did to try and make it more brief, but if a rewording helps: The app doesn't actually make anything cheaper for you. Even if it does save/make the...It's not a discount, it's that they started requiring an app for digital boarding passes some time ago. By cheap tickets I meant that they're in general one of the cheapest airlines in Europe.
Yes, I understood. I wrote my point the way I did to try and make it more brief, but if a rewording helps: The app doesn't actually make anything cheaper for you.
Even if it does save/make the company money, there is no promise whatsoever that those savings will be passed on to you at all, much less for any extended length of time. This goes double in an environment where the shitty app is the expected default that everyone is used to having to deal with whether they like it or not, because if everyone's shit, then being shitty becomes free. The customer has no choice, and thus the company no longer needs to care about providing anything extra in exchange.
You get forced to download an app because inconveniencing and spying on you is beneficial for the company. It is an active detriment to you, whether you know it or not.
Seriously, do you really care if you open Ryanair app, Google Wallet or Adobe Acrobat to pull up your boarding pass?
Yes. I don't want to be forced to use apps that I do not trust.
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Comment on Woman who dated US Senate candidate Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentWere I in Maine, I'd easily vote for an establishment Democrat over Platner. I'd hate both of them though, and voting would not be the thing I'd be most focused on when it came to positive change....Were I in Maine, I'd easily vote for an establishment Democrat over Platner. I'd hate both of them though, and voting would not be the thing I'd be most focused on when it came to positive change.
And more to the point, if you're concerned about people withholding votes because the Democrat Party has by-and-large been a sweeping disappointment, then I've already written a post about that, which I'd recommend reading.
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Comment on European Parliament achieves upgrade to air passenger rights in ~transport
LukeZaz Link ParentThere's an awfully thin line between "we'll give you a discount if you use the app" and "we'll fine you if you don't." Most corporate apps aren't there to benefit you, so this legislation is a...but I'll happily install the app if it means cheap tickets.
There's an awfully thin line between "we'll give you a discount if you use the app" and "we'll fine you if you don't." Most corporate apps aren't there to benefit you, so this legislation is a clear win as far as I'm concerned.
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Comment on Chat control passed, on Thursday only an absolute majority can stop it in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentI think Kamala Harris had her fair share of positions which were an expected, establishment default, but which I would not at all call populism. Her stance on Gaza, for one, considering Gallup...I think Kamala Harris had her fair share of positions which were an expected, establishment default, but which I would not at all call populism. Her stance on Gaza, for one, considering Gallup polls didn't agree with her.
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Comment on Bethesda, id Software reportedly hit hard by Microsoft layoffs in ~games
LukeZaz LinkidTech coders are the absolute wizards who managed to make Doom Eternal run smooth as room-temperature butter on my machine, even on high graphics, despite the fact that said machine was built...a majority of id had been laid off, “including most (if not all) coders.”
idTech coders are the absolute wizards who managed to make Doom Eternal run smooth as room-temperature butter on my machine, even on high graphics, despite the fact that said machine was built with parts that were eight years old at the time. I'll never forget the astonishment I had at just how insanely quick every level was loading, even on an HDD. I do not remember any other time a game's engine impressed me so much that I had to dedicate time to it in my review.
Layoffs may be a tragedy, but layoffs at id of all places is insanity.
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Comment on Microsoft’s Xbox to cut 3,200 jobs, divest five studios in major overhaul (gifted link) in ~games
LukeZaz Link ParentI feel this way about Twitter. It's insane to me how many people I know from all walks of life are still using that platform despite the fact that it's 1) rife with bots, 2) owned by a Nazi, and...I feel this way about Twitter. It's insane to me how many people I know from all walks of life are still using that platform despite the fact that it's 1) rife with bots, 2) owned by a Nazi, and 3) has an official bot that produced CSAM.
If people aren't willing to drop it after all that, it ends up feeling like nothing could ever be enough reason. Elon could personally shoot their dog and they'd just tweet angrily about it.
This isn't literally true, of course. There's the concept of the trust thermocline. But damn if that point shouldn't have passed years ago!
I've made efforts [to let go of Windows]
I'll have you know that I'm making a very serious effort to not immediately begin telling you what my favorite distro is!
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Comment on Chat control passed, on Thursday only an absolute majority can stop it in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentProbably since getting power by appealing to people means rejecting greater power from moneyed interests, sadly. Sure, doing this might win an election with ease, but not doing it might mean...Probably since getting power by appealing to people means rejecting greater power from moneyed interests, sadly. Sure, doing this might win an election with ease, but not doing it might mean getting a ten million dollar kickback.
That said, I doubt that's the only piece of the puzzle. I personally suspect a smaller but still significant chunk is ignorance — people with lots of money tend not to understand people without very well. Such is the effect of severe inequality.
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Comment on Discord bans (then unbans) around 8400 accounts because of a CSAM neural hash collision in ~tech
LukeZaz (edited )Link ParentThey also use machine learning, which is significantly more unpredictable and imprecise, so it's worth noting the differences between those two things.1 Put simply, PhotoDNA is a perceptual...Discord appears to be using the gold-standard PhotoDNA system
They also use machine learning, which is significantly more unpredictable and imprecise, so it's worth noting the differences between those two things.1
Put simply, PhotoDNA is a perceptual hashing algorithm that applies a series of modifications to an image2 before boiling it down to a string of text. It then compares that text against a database to see if it's extremely similar, and if it is, it flags it. What it's looking for depends on what the database contains — usually, this is CSAM, but the algorithm doesn't actually care. If it's in the database, it can be matched against.
Unless this algorithm is configured badly, it has a pretty fairly low error rate. Which is where the comparison to machine learning comes in: Unlike PhotoDNA, neural nets will almost certainly fare worse. The benefit they provide is that once trained, they can detect images that were never in the database to begin with... which, as we've seen here, is a bit of a double-edged sword.
1. I originally wrote a different comment explaining this, but then decided to double-check my knowledge, whereupon I found out that whoops, PhotoDNA didn't use cryptographic hashes, and then I promptly fell down a rabbit hole. For those interested, here's a study.
2. These modifications are done to reduce the odds of small changes preventing matches. For example, these changes mean PhotoDNA can match an image even if lossy compression is applied. -
Comment on Discord bans (then unbans) around 8400 accounts because of a CSAM neural hash collision in ~tech
LukeZaz (edited )Link ParentBit incorrect; PhotoDNA uses perceptual hashing, which unlike a cryptographic hash does not need to be completely identical to get flagged. It does have to be very similar, however, so much of the...cryptographic hash detection system.
Bit incorrect; PhotoDNA uses perceptual hashing, which unlike a cryptographic hash does not need to be completely identical to get flagged. It does have to be very similar, however, so much of the same ideas apply. This prevents small or incidental changes (e.g. image compression) from preventing a match, in exchange for adding the possibility of false positives depending on how the algorithm is configured.
EDIT: Extra downside I forgot to mention: Due to how this hashing technique works, I'm all but certain the image has to be decrypted and viewable. So no privacy guarantees here.
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Comment on Fines doubled as teens outsmart Australia's world-first social media ban in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentA post went around a while back that alleged that Meta is behind most of this, seemingly with receipts (see below). The motive for them being that they 1) aren't the target of some of the bills...A post went around a while back that alleged that Meta is behind most of this, seemingly with receipts (see below). The motive for them being that they 1) aren't the target of some of the bills (e.g. the California operating system one), 2) benefit from regulations that smaller sites can't afford as easily, and 3) get an excuse to collect more data.
That said, I'm not sure if the "research" was well verified, and it looks like AI was used pretty significantly in it. So it's possible it's all wrong. Still, for those interested, here's where it got posted on Tildes.
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Comment on Fines doubled as teens outsmart Australia's world-first social media ban in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentGiven that the relevant concerns to this legislation are a) leakage of fiscally or socially important personal information in security breaches and b) government prosecution of groups based on...Given that the relevant concerns to this legislation are a) leakage of fiscally or socially important personal information in security breaches and b) government prosecution of groups based on internet activity, it's safe to say that ID cards and credit cards are exactly the kind of thing people should want to protect.
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Comment on Fines doubled as teens outsmart Australia's world-first social media ban in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentI think this is a bit silly, because it makes tech companies sound like three-letter agencies. They only care about your data insofar as it is monetizable to them, which means their privacy...I think this is a bit silly, because it makes tech companies sound like three-letter agencies. They only care about your data insofar as it is monetizable to them, which means their privacy invasion is reckless and incidental. It's a means, not an end.
I know this distinction may seem pointless, since the end result is still an invasion of your privacy, but it's really not. There's carelessness in the latter, and that reduces the efficacy of data collection. It also means that even if they have the data, they frequently have no idea what to do with it. Shit, they might not even know they have it at all.
Depending on how you use it, social media might have a lot of data about you. This is easier to defeat than you'd think – yes, including the fingerprinting – and it is absolutely possible to use it whilst still being anonymous. It requires extra legwork, but it's possible.
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Comment on Nations previously opposed voted for Chat control, next vote July 6th in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentI want to say that this could be bad too, in the sense that a "cooldown period" can be applied to good concepts that're desperately needed... but that kind of stuff doesn't ever get pushed that...I want to say that this could be bad too, in the sense that a "cooldown period" can be applied to good concepts that're desperately needed... but that kind of stuff doesn't ever get pushed that hard, does it?
It's always gotta be the shitty things that pop back up like whack-a-mole.
I'm not. I'm a democratic socialist. I wouldn't listen to a Republican talking head if they told me the sky was blue. Please don't build a strawman of me.
I clearly touched a nerve saying what I did. Though I stand by it since I and many others do genuinely feel that way, I hope you understand I was not trying to insult you either then or now.
There are two competitors for these titles, and one of them is currently being lead by a de facto fascist who lied several times about everything from drug treatments to vaccine progress to COVID's source. This means the bar to clear is approximately located at the bottom of the Deepwater Horizon borehole. If you want to make this point, you'll need to mention specific gains and how they counter the immense backslide we've been facing.
This graph from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows CPI spiking during Biden's term. I attribute this to COVID, but it doesn't recover by the end and remains at or above 2.4% for the rest of it. Overall, not bad, but I wouldn't call it an improvement. Obama's terms look better, but it's still far from impressing.
Judging by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics page on unemployment rates, unemployment rose from 3.6% to 4.1% from January 2020 to December 2024, not counting COVID spikes. That's not bad considering the data for 2008 to 2020, but if we're going to give credit for this then you could also give credit to Trump's first term for decreasing it, and I don't think that makes much sense.
With that out of the way though, I'd like to address why I consider the Democratic Party (thanks @patience_limited) a sweeping disappointment.
There are several things that I consider vitally important. An incomplete, unordered list:
I'd be happy just to get major wins in maybe one or two of these, and I'd be completely fine with them happening slowly, so long as I could trust that they were happening. But the party consistently feels like it has no interest in half of these, and what wins we got were thin on the ground.
This doesn't mean I think we got nothing. I'm aware that the Respect for Marriage Act got passed in 2022, and that's fantastic. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 also contained several useful aspects with regards to healthcare, and Lina Khan was a wonderful pick for the FTC who I greatly appreciated the work of.
But this gets counterbalanced by so many levels of either failure or inaction: A public option was campaigned on for healthcare, then fast dropped once Biden was elected. Immigrant rights looked good, right until 2023-24 where more of the border wall got built and asylum seeking got further restricted. Some voting reform was considered and pushed, but ultimately failed in part due to some Democrats siding against it, and the latter two reform options I mentioned above weren't even considered.
Then with drugs, the most we have is a federal pardon and an "inquiry" into rescheduling marijuana, all while police funding rose considerably despite the death of George Floyd having been so recent. The worst is the attitude with regard to Gaza though — 2024 saw an egregious amount of arming and support for Israel despite the fact that it was increasingly clear it was committing actual genocide, and when widespread protests happened, they got cracked down on.
Seriously, I want to bring extra attention to that last one. Israel was bombing a city to dust, regularly killing children, taking people's homes by force, locking out humanitarian aid, and calling Palestinians "human animals." Yet the weapons from the U.S. kept going, with no stances changing even through an election campaign. I mean no hyperbole when I say that this unforgivable.
What am I supposed to do with that? If I'm meant to feel inspired, I don't. The Democratic Party is better than the Republicans, no doubt about that, but let's be clear here: If you have to stand next to a fascist to look good, then your house is not in order. With Gaza in mind, I can't even expect to get basic human decency, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel represented in an environment like that.