MimicSquid's recent activity
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Comment on US households using Ozempic spend less on groceries in ~health
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Comment on We are officially cooked in ~society
MimicSquid LinkI think longer time between cuts is going to be a marker of authenticity, at least for a while. If it can't go more than a few seconds without a cut, the chances of it being AI go up. In general,...I think longer time between cuts is going to be a marker of authenticity, at least for a while. If it can't go more than a few seconds without a cut, the chances of it being AI go up. In general, at least for now, the main challenge of completely AI video is its ability to stay on track and continue to show the same thing without drastic variations. It's a problem that short form video content in general is prone to that choppy editing to get things across quickly, as it plays well with AI's strengths. I don't hold out much hope that people in general will learn, but at least for a while experienced people will be able to see the tells. As people once said: "This looks 'shopped. I can tell from some of the pixels, and from seeing quite a few 'shops in my time."
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Comment on UK Conservative party would ban under-16s from social media in ~society
MimicSquid LinkHonestly, a complete social media ban for anyone sub-99 seems reasonable to me. But when you move from broad goal to implementation, it all gets very messy. How do you know the age of the person...Honestly, a complete social media ban for anyone sub-99 seems reasonable to me. But when you move from broad goal to implementation, it all gets very messy. How do you know the age of the person behind the device? What information do you need to gather to make that happen? How do you regulate new phones to ensure the age of their user is tracked? What about a VPN? What if a site in a foreign country doesn't track people the way you want them to? I'm not going to say that the goal isn't worthy, but I will say there'll be a lot of side-effects corrosive to any degree of personal anonymity on the internet.
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Comment on How to practically liquidate lots of little things of moderate value in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentOh, yeah. The only places I know of in my area have actual storefronts. A place that doesn't have a physical location is inherently ephemeral.Oh, yeah. The only places I know of in my area have actual storefronts. A place that doesn't have a physical location is inherently ephemeral.
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Comment on How to practically liquidate lots of little things of moderate value in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentI'd search for consignment shops and ask them if they sell things on eBay or other platforms. EDIT: Perryapsis got to it first, and I cosign their suggestion.I'd search for consignment shops and ask them if they sell things on eBay or other platforms.
EDIT: Perryapsis got to it first, and I cosign their suggestion.
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Comment on How to practically liquidate lots of little things of moderate value in ~finance
MimicSquid LinkI know my area does have a couple of businesses that will take your stuff and sell it on eBay, taking a cut, but I wouldn't hazard a guess as to whether your area does. I'd take a look, as getting...I know my area does have a couple of businesses that will take your stuff and sell it on eBay, taking a cut, but I wouldn't hazard a guess as to whether your area does. I'd take a look, as getting that labor off your plate seems as valuable as whatever cut they're likely to take.
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Comment on What private companies are you happy doing business with? in ~talk
MimicSquid Link ParentThey also have an incredibly extensive list of ingredient volume to weight conversions if you run into recipes that haven't already had the ingredient weights listed. It's saved my butt more than...They also have an incredibly extensive list of ingredient volume to weight conversions if you run into recipes that haven't already had the ingredient weights listed. It's saved my butt more than once.
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Comment on One regulation E, two very different regimes in ~finance
MimicSquid LinkThat's very cool. I knew banks were protecting consumers, but I didn't realize how broad and consumer-friendly it was.That's very cool. I knew banks were protecting consumers, but I didn't realize how broad and consumer-friendly it was.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 5 in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentPrevious discussion -
Comment on Hundreds of mysterious Victorian-era shoes are washing up on a beach in Wales in ~humanities.history
MimicSquid LinkThis is a cool reminder of the history all around us. That said, they aren't "washing up", they've been there for years enough for people to have been making art installations about them in years...This is a cool reminder of the history all around us. That said, they aren't "washing up", they've been there for years enough for people to have been making art installations about them in years past. Sometimes sands move and more of them are revealed, but they washed up long ago, and they aren't mysterious, as they have a good idea of the specific ship that was carrying them.
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Comment on US Border agents shoot, wound two people in Portland in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentFunny how much "weaponizing a vehicle" is suddenly a thing when ICE agents want to shoot someone, and nothing like that is happening when peaceful protesters are the ones being hit by drivers.Funny how much "weaponizing a vehicle" is suddenly a thing when ICE agents want to shoot someone, and nothing like that is happening when peaceful protesters are the ones being hit by drivers.
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Comment on US withdraws from sixty-six international organisations in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentHow do you ensure that the open-source wiki-like platform is truly representative of the citizens of the country and not whatever organizations have the most power and influence within the arena...How do you ensure that the open-source wiki-like platform is truly representative of the citizens of the country and not whatever organizations have the most power and influence within the arena that platform exists within, i.e. the internet at large? It would have to be tied directly to each citizen's real identity, with all the problems that brings, and would still be administered by someone, who would be where the buck stops when it comes to determining a new constitution. If you think those people running the open source project are incorruptible, I admire your optimism, but I believe that they'd have millions or billions in dollars and threats against everything they loved thrown at them within minutes if it meant that there could be influence over the process.
Practically, there's still significant reasons to do these things in person. Broadcast it to the world, make it all visible, sure, but having it be in any significant way decided online would introduce incredible vulnerabilities. Or do we want Constitution McConstitutionface as our new guiding document?
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Comment on Flu cases are surging and rates will likely get worse, new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows in ~health
MimicSquid LinkThis is one of those situations where if there's local wastewater testing you can get better data than looking at the CDC numbers. It's focused on your area, it's more up to date, and there's less...This is one of those situations where if there's local wastewater testing you can get better data than looking at the CDC numbers. It's focused on your area, it's more up to date, and there's less space for politics getting in the way of the data saying what it says.
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Comment on Moving out soon. Think out loud with me regarding saving money vs. quality of life. in ~life
MimicSquid LinkIf I were in your situation, I would take the less expensive option of having housemates for a combination of social and economic reasons. If you're in the process of breaking up, having other...If I were in your situation, I would take the less expensive option of having housemates for a combination of social and economic reasons.
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If you're in the process of breaking up, having other people around isn't the worst thing. They're a reason to stay on top of your household shit, they're opportunities to be low-effort social around the house, you won't be going from a situation where you've got other people around to a situation where you're all alone in your space. Maybe you're the sort of person who would like to be alone in your living space? If so, this is less relevant, but I find an empty house to be too quiet for my tastes.
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Saving $1k a month is significant. If you can put that into investments consistently, in 30 years you'll have more than $1.2 million. Having the savings will help throughout your life. You can invest it in something that invests broadly across the world to avoid being too vulnerable to any one economy's insanity, but I'm not an investment advisor, especially not at this chaotic moment.
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Even if you just keep saving without investing, you'll be almost doubling your takehome pay going for the place with housemates. That feels significant.
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Laundry is a huge amount of time. The house with built-in laundry will save you 2-4 hours a week of sitting in a laundromat.
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I feel like that flexibility will serve you better. If it isn't working you can always trade up, but having something less expensive to start with and trading up if you've got just huge piles of cash on hand and want something nicer is much nicer than finding that the more expensive place isn't going to work for you and needing to trade down.
Whichever way you choose to go, I hope this change brings with it good things, and that your next living situation is happy, stable, and secure.
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Comment on Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’ in ~tech
MimicSquid Link ParentIn the abstract it knows what a child looks like with clothes on, and it knows what a naked person looks like. It doesn't have to be trained specifically on CSAM to be able to generate it. You...In the abstract it knows what a child looks like with clothes on, and it knows what a naked person looks like. It doesn't have to be trained specifically on CSAM to be able to generate it. You might as well say "If an AI can effectively generate lifelike images of aliens, WHAT was it trained on?" It can generate images of things outside of the specific images in its dataset because it has some ability to generalize, and both naked adults and clothed children are common in the images.
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Comment on Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’ in ~tech
MimicSquid Link ParentDo you think that movies showing fake murders lead to an increased demand for movies showing real murders? Do "incest" themed adult movies lead to more actual incest?Do you think that movies showing fake murders lead to an increased demand for movies showing real murders? Do "incest" themed adult movies lead to more actual incest?
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Comment on Luxury apartments reduced rent in some big US cities in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentAnd they're planning on pulling back on building more housing anywhere the cost of housing decreased use to increased supply. In general a large corporation would like to make more money rather...And they're planning on pulling back on building more housing anywhere the cost of housing decreased use to increased supply. In general a large corporation would like to make more money rather than less. Since they could spend their money to build a new apartment building anywhere in the nation or anywhere in the world, why would they put the time and attention into somewhere where the margins are slightly worse? Without any assumption of ill will on their part, market consolidation (in part due to the pure technical expertise needed for larger construction products) has led a few corporations to make construction choices on a scale very detached from the lives of the people who are going to live in their structures. What skin off their nose if housing affordability keeps getting worse? They can build wherever they want, and choose whatever market is most profitable this year. An optimal choice for them, but I can't help but feel like the systems of the world are optimizing for some set of effects that are best only for a group of people who are unanchored to any location. Anyone with ties to a given area will be left behind when the uncaring systems optimize for something that is of no local use.
This isn't new. When the corporations were smaller and only spanned a single county or state, some areas had the economic demand to spur more construction, and others didn't. Smaller cities faded or were absorbed by their larger neighbors. Rural areas got only enough development to support their agricultural or resource extraction efforts. It's just now zoomed out even further. Many states are no longer larger than the corporations they theoretically manage. Many countries, too. So we're left in a position where whatever subsidies a county or state might provide to a major homebuilder has to beat out potential sheer profit anywhere in the nation, maybe anywhere in the world. Can it happen? Maybe. Will it be what's good for the locals? Absolutely not.
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Comment on Two visions for the future of AR smart glasses in ~tech
MimicSquid Link ParentI'd wear a high-tech pince nez that magnetically clips to my nose. That sounds silly and entertaining.I'd wear a high-tech pince nez that magnetically clips to my nose. That sounds silly and entertaining.
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Comment on Looking for Backroom games with something to do in them other than walking in ~games
MimicSquid LinkPlay Control. The environmental design plays around with those feelings while still having an actual game.Play Control. The environmental design plays around with those feelings while still having an actual game.
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Comment on Mystic Symbolic Generator in ~design
MimicSquid Link ParentThis is definitely a weakness of the URL format. There's no way I can easily visually identify them as distinct. Let me give this another go.This is definitely a weakness of the URL format. There's no way I can easily visually identify them as distinct. Let me give this another go.
Because $150 a month and taking a pill is much cheaper, easier, and faster than attending the support groups and therapy needed to achieve the same thing? I'm doing it the way you suggest, but it's definitely not cheaper, faster, or easier.