Omnicrola's recent activity

  1. Comment on Idaho needs doctors: But many don't want to come in ~health

    Omnicrola
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    Keep in mind, it's Idaho (I used to live there). The article doesn't mention, but I'd wager there's a large percentage of the doctors and obstetricians who remain who are fully supportive of the...

    Keep in mind, it's Idaho (I used to live there). The article doesn't mention, but I'd wager there's a large percentage of the doctors and obstetricians who remain who are fully supportive of the legislation for religious reasons.

    6 votes
  2. Comment on New York midwife fined for giving 1,500 children homeopathic pellets instead of vaccines in ~health

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    This is what got me. The fine was $300,000 and she apparently has paid half and intends to pay the rest of and just "move on". I don't know what midwifery pays, but I have even less sympathy for...

    is intoxicating as well as lucrative

    This is what got me. The fine was $300,000 and she apparently has paid half and intends to pay the rest of and just "move on".

    "She paid the fine, entered into the stipulation of settlement and intends to fully comply with the requirements of the agreement. From her perspective, this matter is over, done with, and closed and she is now moving on with her life,"

    I don't know what midwifery pays, but I have even less sympathy for an anti-vax quack who made enough money that they have $300k just "lying around" that they can pay a fine like that and just move on with their life.

    10 votes
  3. Comment on German man deliberately receives 217 Covid vaccinations over twenty-nine months, with no adverse events or strong effect on immune system in ~science

    Omnicrola
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    There are probably easier ways to forge a vaccine card.

    This was during a time when many European countries required proof of vaccination to access public venues and travel.

    The public prosecutor in Magdeburg opened an investigation into the man for the unauthorized issuing of vaccination cards and forgery of documents but did not end up filing criminal charges, according to the study.

    There are probably easier ways to forge a vaccine card.

    3 votes
  4. Comment on One in four school-starters in England and Wales not toilet-trained, say teachers in ~life

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    I can't throw shade, I've definitely gotten to the end of a long work week and tried to do some mundane analog task, made a small mistake, and reflexively moved the fingers that would normally...

    I can't throw shade, I've definitely gotten to the end of a long work week and tried to do some mundane analog task, made a small mistake, and reflexively moved the fingers that would normally press CTRL-Z. And then facepalmed myself exactly like that girl.

    31 votes
  5. Comment on Why it’s so challenging to land upright on the Moon in ~space

    Omnicrola
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    Awesome to see Scott get a shoutout in a NYT article, he has so much great content. I've watched a bunch of his Kerbal videos.

    Scott Manley, who provides commentary about rockets on X and YouTube, noted that Mr. Altemus had led the development of a shorter, squatter lander when he was at NASA a decade ago.

    Awesome to see Scott get a shoutout in a NYT article, he has so much great content. I've watched a bunch of his Kerbal videos.

    6 votes
  6. Comment on Nimona in ~movies

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    I randomly watched it when it was suggested a month or two ago, I agree it's absolutely fantastic. Incredibly well animated, really good story, all around fun time.

    I randomly watched it when it was suggested a month or two ago, I agree it's absolutely fantastic. Incredibly well animated, really good story, all around fun time.

    3 votes
  7. Comment on Why you should consider a smaller keyboard in ~comp

    Omnicrola
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    #tangent It absolutely baffles me the number of college students I see who are both in a computer science/computer engineering track, and only pseudo-touch-type. I want to judge them, but clearly...

    I think the only real "skill" you must have to consider downsizing your keyboard is the ability to decently touch type without looking. If you're the sort of person who still hunts and pecks, no judgement, but this is not for you.

    #tangent
    It absolutely baffles me the number of college students I see who are both in a computer science/computer engineering track, and only pseudo-touch-type. I want to judge them, but clearly they're managing by using some weird abomination of touch-type-but-only-with-index-and-thumbs or whatever. I get how they got there, what I don't get is why the curriculum hasn't taught them how to type faster and/or why they haven't noticed someone with faster typing speed and wanted to do that.

    6 votes
  8. Comment on New US lawsuit claims dating apps designed to turn love seekers into addicts in ~life

    Omnicrola
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    It's one of those weird scenarios where the optimal outcome for the user makes most business models either unfeasible or unprofitable. Like healthcare, the optimal scenario is the user never needs...

    It's one of those weird scenarios where the optimal outcome for the user makes most business models either unfeasible or unprofitable. Like healthcare, the optimal scenario is the user never needs your services in the first place. And if they ever do they want to stop using them as quickly as possible. Which as a revenue model is really unattractive. So what we have instead is this insanity.

    I found my ex-wife on OKC in 2011. Then she became my ex and I fired up OKC and several other dating apps for the first time in a decade and discovered they were all pretty much exactly the same micro-transaction bullshit. Fortunately this time I lucked out and found a very lovely nerdy lady a few months into using them and deleted them all and haven't looked back.

    23 votes
  9. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of February 12 in ~news

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    I'm not familiar with the historical precedent, but how often have presidents chosen a new VP? Is that a viable strategy here?

    and will either resign or die in office so that Kamala Harris can take over?

    I'm not familiar with the historical precedent, but how often have presidents chosen a new VP? Is that a viable strategy here?

    1 vote
  10. Comment on Reduce, reuse, redirect outrage: How plastic makers used recycling as a fig leaf in ~enviro

    Omnicrola
    (edited )
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    A few excerpts:

    A few excerpts:

    Around the time the plastics industry launched its recycling campaign, the head of a trade group called the Vinyl Institute acknowledged at a 1989 conference that "recycling cannot go on indefinitely, and does not solve the solid waste problem."

    The idea that recycling can solve the problem of plastic waste "has always been a fraud, and it's always been a way for the industry to sell more plastic," says Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity

    The economics of plastic recycling "haven't changed at all. Not at all. And if virgin [plastic] was always cheaper and of higher quality, that's still the case today," says Wiles of the Center for Climate Integrity.

    He says the plastics industry continues to mislead the public and needs to be held responsible for it.

    17 votes
  11. Comment on OpenAI releases Sora: Creating video from text in ~tech

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    It's fascinating to me the different ways in which this generator breaks, now that motion is involved. The cat waking up it's owner has 3 legs, the wolf pups merging and splitting, the birthday...

    It's fascinating to me the different ways in which this generator breaks, now that motion is involved. The cat waking up it's owner has 3 legs, the wolf pups merging and splitting, the birthday crowd moving naturally and yet still incorrectly.

    Unlike previous still image generator errors where the error was often downright horrifying, a lot of these example videos look a lot like someone did it intentionally as a VFX trick for a specific purpose.

    13 votes
  12. Comment on OpenAI releases Sora: Creating video from text in ~tech

    Omnicrola
    (edited )
    Link
    Holy crap this looks so smooth and seamless. It has none of the teltale flags I'm used to looking for in AI imagery (mangled hands, bad eyes, glitchy movement). The only glitch I've noticed at...

    Holy crap this looks so smooth and seamless. It has none of the teltale flags I'm used to looking for in AI imagery (mangled hands, bad eyes, glitchy movement). The only glitch I've noticed at first glance is the disconnected perspective shift as the camera moves down in the Lagos, Nigeria shot, followed by the distant traffic moving erratically. But it's composed together well enough that you almost don't notice.

    Edit: There's some interesting examples further down the page illustrating the mode's current weaknesses with object persistence, impossible physical motion, and difficulty with multiple moving entities (like a puppy pile).

    20 votes
  13. Comment on ‘The Umbrella Academy’ final season sets August release date on Netflix in ~tv

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    Klaus is a fantastic character, and Sheehan absolutely nails it. So enjoyable to watch. Colm Feore is also a delight to watch as Reginald.

    Klaus is a fantastic character, and Sheehan absolutely nails it. So enjoyable to watch. Colm Feore is also a delight to watch as Reginald.

    4 votes
  14. Comment on ‘The Umbrella Academy’ final season sets August release date on Netflix in ~tv

    Omnicrola
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    I have really enjoyed this series. I haven't read the graphic novels, so when the announced a S4 I was very surprised given how S3 ended. It wasn't a happy-ever-after ending, it was a morally and...

    I have really enjoyed this series. I haven't read the graphic novels, so when the announced a S4 I was very surprised given how S3 ended. It wasn't a happy-ever-after ending, it was a morally and narratively ambiguous ending which is the kind I really enjoy. So I'm very curious to see how it wraps up all the characters.

    8 votes
  15. Comment on I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take this bizarre personality test in ~life

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    It can be very intimidating, and it's definitely not for everyone, but you might be surprised at yourself if you ever have the chance to try it. The vast majority of developers at that job all...

    It can be very intimidating, and it's definitely not for everyone, but you might be surprised at yourself if you ever have the chance to try it. The vast majority of developers at that job all described themselves as introverts, and yet worked in this highly social way. It turns out if you're an introvert, but you and the other person are given a very specific task to do, on a topic that you both enjoy, it's not nearly as overwhelming as most social situations.

    Similar to how at a fan convention people who would normally not be social, can suddenly be very social, because they know everyone else around them shares an intense interest in a very specific topic. Are we all still awkward as hell? Of course, but nobody cares!

    2 votes
  16. Comment on I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take this bizarre personality test in ~life

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    It definitely was, the 3 week thing was a huge barrier to recruiting anyone who already had a job. And even for those who didn't the uncertainty of it often deterred some very qualified...

    It definitely was, the 3 week thing was a huge barrier to recruiting anyone who already had a job. And even for those who didn't the uncertainty of it often deterred some very qualified candidates. This was also on top of the vast majority of the developers (90% of a team of 30) being contractors. Up until the last year I was there, when they finally figured out that was a super shady thing to do and made everyone normal W2 waged employees. But I digress.

    As for the on-boarding, I mentioned pairing in the previous post. I neglected to mention that wasn't just an interview technique. All developers where expected and required to pair (2 people per computer) at all times, no exceptions.

    There is a very long list of reasons both for and against working this way, but for the purposes of your question about on-boarding it's great. Working alongside someone the entire day every day and having them patiently walk you through the code base, answer questions, give context and backstory about decisions, all without having to stop and interrupt someone else is incredible. You also get a pretty good feel for how good of a developer someone is when they're helping you design code and debug in real time.

    1 vote
  17. Comment on I applied for a software role at FedEx and was asked to take this bizarre personality test in ~life

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    I worked at a company for a few years that did interviews in 3 stages. I personally "interviewed" dozens of people this way during my time there. First was a mass interview where each candidate...

    I worked at a company for a few years that did interviews in 3 stages. I personally "interviewed" dozens of people this way during my time there.

    First was a mass interview where each candidate was randomly paired with another candidate and given a simple task to work on together for 15 min. All the candidates were told exactly what was going to happen in advance, and also exactly what we where looking for and the criteria they were being judged on.

    The candidate pair-ups were then re-randomized and repeated 2 more times and then they all went home. The task worksheets where thrown away and the employees all sat around and discussed what they observed about each candidate. They were evaluated on how they conducted themselves during a collaborative task. i.e. "can you share your pencil" and other basic "kindergarten skills" that make someone pleasant to work with.

    The second was a day-long "interview" where a candidate came into the office and worked for an entire day (paid). They worked paired[1] the entire day, with one person in the morning and a different person in the afternoon. This served 2 purposes very well. Primarily it was a test of "can I tolerate this person for an entire day". Secondarily it was a real-world test of technical skills, the willingness to ask questions and say "I dont know", and how fast someone could pick up new knowledge.

    The third part was a "3 week trial" where they literally just came and worked (paid) for 3 weeks. Which is a really stupid way to "interview" someone who almost certainly has other obligations.

    There where a lot of advantages of this system and several distinct disadvantages. The major advantage was that you could pretty easily filter people who where jerks, or even just unpleasant. The major disadvantage is that people like people who are similar to themselves, so there was a very strong self-selection bias.

    The major thing that I've taken away from my time at that job was that the main thing I look for when interview people is if they are pleasant to work with. I cannot teach people to not be assholes. I can teach them technical skills. So I look for a certain minimum level of technical skill, but if it comes down to 2 candidates and one has less technical skill and the other more knowledgeable but kind of a jerk, I will 100% pick the nicer one.


    1 - Meaning they shared a keyboard and mouse the entire time and worked collaboratively. But that's a topic for a different post.

    10 votes
  18. Comment on Happy Lunar New Year! in ~talk

    Omnicrola
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    I mean, no weirder than other cultures. Lot of places celebrate a holiday by eating an animal, there's just been enough industrialization that most people choose not to do it directly themselves.

    I mean, no weirder than other cultures. Lot of places celebrate a holiday by eating an animal, there's just been enough industrialization that most people choose not to do it directly themselves.

    15 votes
  19. Comment on Happy Lunar New Year! in ~talk

    Omnicrola
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    Happy New Year! Fun fact, if you google "lunar new year" today, you get some fireworks!

    Happy New Year!

    Fun fact, if you google "lunar new year" today, you get some fireworks!

    8 votes