Omnicrola's recent activity

  1. Comment on US President Donald Trump has begun demolishing the east wing of the White House, without approval in ~society

    Omnicrola
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    Who's approval does he need exactly? The title here does not match the article title (currently, I know this often changes after initial posting) and the article does not mention needing approval,...

    Who's approval does he need exactly? The title here does not match the article title (currently, I know this often changes after initial posting) and the article does not mention needing approval, or who would need to give it.

    5 votes

  2. Comment on Grand Theft Auto made him a legend. His latest game was a disaster. in ~games

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    100% this. Others have mentioned the great man theory, but that isn't quite what is happening here. People like Benzies (who I did not know before... 10 min ago) are often legitimately great at...

    100% this. Others have mentioned the great man theory, but that isn't quite what is happening here.

    People like Benzies (who I did not know before... 10 min ago) are often legitimately great at what they do, but only because of certain constraints. They were great because they were not in charge of certain decisions, other competent people formed guardrails that kept the team focused and reigned in the wilder ideas. Remove creative people from the constraints that helped make them successful, and it's little wonder they fail to produce the same level of quality.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on Lazy Sunday storytime - One for the Trekkies in ~tv

    Omnicrola
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    I like this, I'd watch it. I think the only major quibble I have with it also appears to be your main thesis. This is also something I would like to believe, but current times have left me jaded...

    I like this, I'd watch it. I think the only major quibble I have with it also appears to be your main thesis.

    I would like to hope that if a deep truth got sent out into the world it would mean something, so that's what's in what I wrote here.

    This is also something I would like to believe, but current times have left me jaded and cynical for obvious reasons. I 100% agree that having Star Trek resolve a plot like this works though, it's the hopeful aspirational kind of thing that I deeply love about the franchise.

    Along the same lines, if you choose to refine this at all and get more into character details, it would be very on theme to see main characters interact with people off-ship that they have close relationships with, gradually turn against them as misinformation spreads. Watching the crew discuss and deal with the emotional fallout of that would be very poignant.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Lazy Sunday storytime - One for the Trekkies in ~tv

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    It deals with some similar themes eg: security state, threats from within, disinformation, etc. That's not a criticism though, just a coincidence. B5 is one of my favorites, but so it's DS9, and...

    It deals with some similar themes eg: security state, threats from within, disinformation, etc. That's not a criticism though, just a coincidence. B5 is one of my favorites, but so it's DS9, and for similar reasons.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on This site is fast in ~tildes

    Omnicrola
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    I have the same thought frequently, whenever browsing around sites that you would think would have a high focus on speed. Like YouTube. It's baffling to me that I can click on a YT link, and click...

    I have the same thought frequently, whenever browsing around sites that you would think would have a high focus on speed. Like YouTube. It's baffling to me that I can click on a YT link, and click the play button fast enough in regular use, that the video won't play correctly.

    The other one that gets me is Home Depot. If I'm standing in their store, ready to buy thing, and I load up their website to try and find an isle location, it is infuriating slow, even on wifi.

    21 votes

  6. Comment on Pete Hegseth announces Qatar will build air force facility at US base in Idaho in ~society

    Omnicrola
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    On the one hand, the US does train pilots from other countries like this all the time (this article mentions that, others I've read today have neglected to mention it). So that in and of itself is...

    On the one hand, the US does train pilots from other countries like this all the time (this article mentions that, others I've read today have neglected to mention it). So that in and of itself is not that unusual.

    But the continuing cozying up to Qatar is definitely unusual, and seems at odds with US interests.

    8 votes

  7. Comment on Sora gives deepfakes 'a publicist and a distribution deal.' It could change the internet. in ~tech

    Omnicrola
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    That last one got me. This is basically "if we didn't build the Torment Nexus, someone else would have, so I guess we have to".

    "It's as if deepfakes got a publicist and a distribution deal," said Daisy Soderberg-Rivkin, a former trust and safety manager at TikTok. "It's an amplification of something that has been scary for a while, but now it has a whole new platform."

    "When there's an unregulated version with no safety rails, it will be used to generate synthetic child sexual abuse material that bypasses current detections," said Rodericks, whose employer, Blueaky has leaned into customizable content moderation to set it apart from platforms like X, where there are fewer rules. "You'll see state-sponsored actors fabricating realistic news segments and propaganda to legitimize false narratives."

    "We're already at the point where we can't tell what's real and what's not online, and OpenAI and other tech companies will have to solve around that," said the former OpenAI engineer, using tech lingo for finding a solution to a problem. "But that's not an argument for not trying to dominate this market. You can't stop progress. If OpenAI didn't release Sora, someone else would have."

    That last one got me. This is basically "if we didn't build the Torment Nexus, someone else would have, so I guess we have to".

    26 votes

  9. Comment on Amazon's Prime Day deals could actually cost you more in ~tech

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    A number of years ago I recognized this pattern (buying really cheap Steam games and never playing them) that I instituted a rule for myself: I can never buy a Steam game unless I am going to play...

    A number of years ago I recognized this pattern (buying really cheap Steam games and never playing them) that I instituted a rule for myself: I can never buy a Steam game unless I am going to play it right NOW. This also applies to pre-orders. Several years later, I have no regrets. Every game that I've bought since doing this I've gotten at least a few hours of entertainment out of, well worth the $1 - $20 of most of them. A few of them like Monster Hunter and Clair Obscura were more expensive but I also got way way more hours of entertainment out of them.

    I generally apply this to a lot of physical purchasing as well, though it becomes a lot more difficult when trying to deal with shipping logistics and trying to time things for gifts, crafting complex projects, and house DIY things. All of which require varying degrees of advance purchasing and planning, which I'm generally kind of terrible at.

    12 votes

  10. Comment on Robin Williams' daughter pleads for people to stop sending her AI videos of her dad in ~tech

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    Maybe this is the reason why The Matrix's internal timeline was set to the 90s.

    Maybe this is the reason why The Matrix's internal timeline was set to the 90s.

    5 votes

  11. Comment on The Oatmeal: A cartoonist's review of AI art in ~comics

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    Definitely that second part, and it's possible your friend heard it that way even if you didn't say it that directly. But also I believe there's often more to reactions like that. I believe it's...

    Why did he get so emotional and angry with me? Maybe people just hate being told they did something the wrong way?

    Definitely that second part, and it's possible your friend heard it that way even if you didn't say it that directly.

    But also I believe there's often more to reactions like that. I believe it's because the expectations of people are massively misaligned.

    Think of a child who makes a child level drawing and shows it to an adult. Every adult can clearly see that it is not "good", it's scribbles or barely identifiable stick figures. But most (not all) adults also know to praise and encourage a child who shows them a drawing so that they will keep doing it and enjoying it.

    Now transpose that interaction onto college age people. Each of those students will arrive with varying levels of skill and self confidence. If they begin their classes by being told their art sucks, a lot of people would probably drop the class and maybe go get an MBA. Teachers know this, and most artists know this, and a lot of them are very encouraging. Great art is grounded in emotion and is also emotionally evocative. It takes a lot of support and encouragement to be able to express some of your deepest inner thoughts to other people.

    So to bring it back to my assertion that expectations are misaligned. Someone who creates something with AI is creating art. But it's child art. It is often shallow thoughts and feelings that through AI has been given the form of something with far more depth and consideration. And so we often call it out for what it is, and rightfully so. At the same time, we are also crushing that child's crayon drawing and telling them their drawing is slop.

    Am I advocating we be nicer to people making slop, and pat them on the head and pin it to the fridge? No definitely not. But I also don't think we should crumple up all their crayon drawings*.

    * I'm mostly taking about speaking to individual friends and family or coworkers. Anyone operating at a mass level (techbro, influencer, content mill, etc) can all go kick rocks

    15 votes

  12. Comment on High pollen count: The last straw effect on suicide risk in ~health.mental

    Omnicrola
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    Glad you found it interesting! I get a lot of work emails with weird studies and projects UM is doing, this one stood out as worth sharing in particular.

    Glad you found it interesting! I get a lot of work emails with weird studies and projects UM is doing, this one stood out as worth sharing in particular.

    8 votes

  13. Comment on High pollen count: The last straw effect on suicide risk in ~health.mental

    Omnicrola
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    Link to actual study : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629625001043 I don't have allergies as bad as some other people, but I can easily imagine how having your body...
    • Exemplary

    A new University of Michigan study found a 7.4% jump in deaths, suggesting the physical discomfort of allergies may trigger a deeper, more dangerous despair, an overlooked factor in suicide prevention.

    The study indicates that allergies’ physiological effects, such as poor sleep and mental distress, may contribute to this increased risk.

    Published in the Journal of Health Economics, the study also found that individuals with a known mental health condition or who had received prior mental health treatment had an 8.6% higher incidence of suicide on days with the highest pollen levels. White men strongly drive the effect, but the study also found an unexpectedly high vulnerability among Black individuals.

    Link to actual study : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629625001043

    I don't have allergies as bad as some other people, but I can easily imagine how having your body basically revolt against you for months at a time can wear on a person's mental health enough to tip them over the edge.

    This part in particular was notable/concerning:

    The authors predict that as climate change extends and intensifies the pollen season, the impact of allergies on suicide rates could more than double by the end of the century.

    26 votes

  15. Comment on Why do LLMs freak out over the seahorse emoji? in ~tech

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    Fun trivia in case you or others didn't know, this is also known as a "spoonerism". Named after an absent minded priest who often whipped his fords in this way....

    I'll say a mixed up word instead of what I mean to say (last night I said "carescrow" several times instead of "scarecrow")

    Fun trivia in case you or others didn't know, this is also known as a "spoonerism". Named after an absent minded priest who often whipped his fords in this way.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Gen-Z protests are spreading globally. What's driving this youth-led movement? in ~society

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    Appreciate the extra background! I watched S1 of the live action and enjoyed it, and watched some (a dozen orso episodes) of the amine and enjoyed it. So many other things to watch in just haven't...

    Appreciate the extra background! I watched S1 of the live action and enjoyed it, and watched some (a dozen orso episodes) of the amine and enjoyed it. So many other things to watch in just haven't circled back to it yet.

    5 votes

  17. Comment on Gen-Z protests are spreading globally. What's driving this youth-led movement? in ~society

    Omnicrola
    Link
    Related article: Why Gen Z protesters worldwide are flying an anime pirate flag

    Related article:
    Why Gen Z protesters worldwide are flying an anime pirate flag

    "What makes One Piece so powerful in protest is really the story at its core. It is about a group of misfits, outsiders, rebels, people who do not fit in the system coming together," explains Nuurrianti Jalli, an assistant professor affiliated with the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, at Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore.

    8 votes

  18. Comment on ‘Reading Rainbow’ to return, with new host Mychal Threets in ~tv

    Omnicrola
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    This is genuinely good news, I'm not familiar with Mychal but he sounds like a great choice for this. I can't wait to see what he does.

    This is genuinely good news, I'm not familiar with Mychal but he sounds like a great choice for this. I can't wait to see what he does.

    4 votes

  19. Comment on British Columbia Premier David Eby announces new Prince George, Surrey involuntary care facilities in ~health.mental

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    I'm a mostly functional adult with a job and a house, and even I struggle to do the things on that list.

    I'm a mostly functional adult with a job and a house, and even I struggle to do the things on that list.

    9 votes

  20. Comment on US House Democrats release latest Jeffrey Epstein documents with Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Steve Bannon and Prince Andrew mentions in ~society

    Omnicrola
    Link Parent
    Unexpected consequences of tariffs: whiteout shortages

    Unexpected consequences of tariffs: whiteout shortages

    12 votes