Omnicrola's recent activity
-
Comment on Digg has shutdown (again) in ~tech
-
Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of March 9 in ~society
Omnicrola Link ParentThis was making the rounds in my group chats this morning, it's a really thorough breakdown of the whole thing and I appreciate the effort that went into it. I hope something comes of it and it...This was making the rounds in my group chats this morning, it's a really thorough breakdown of the whole thing and I appreciate the effort that went into it. I hope something comes of it and it doesn't get lost in the fray.
-
Comment on AI was eroding trust in my classroom — so I got rid of typed papers and bought my students notebooks instead in ~life
Omnicrola Link ParentOff the cuff, I would speculate this works well in a lot of classes but would potentially fall completely flat with a lot of CS related courses. Anything where the topic directly involves a...Off the cuff, I would speculate this works well in a lot of classes but would potentially fall completely flat with a lot of CS related courses. Anything where the topic directly involves a computer or electronic device. There are probably variants of the notebook-only approach that would work for that as well, but might be more difficult to figure out and for the students to adjust to.
I never took university-level classes, but I think I would probably have hated it (like the student comments from the article) but ultimately been grateful that it was done that way.
-
Comment on I don’t know if my software engineering job will still exist in ten years in ~comp
Omnicrola Link ParentI've also become more and more drawn to the arts as my career has progressed. In fact the best part of my current job is mostly artistic with a lot of scripting/tech backing it, but the working...I've also become more and more drawn to the arts as my career has progressed. In fact the best part of my current job is mostly artistic with a lot of scripting/tech backing it, but the working environment has become rather toxic. I have a friend who was laid off last year, took the severance pay and signed up for a 9 month woodworking class and is having the time of their life with it.
-
Comment on I don’t know if my software engineering job will still exist in ten years in ~comp
Omnicrola Link ParentWhat do you think the next thing might look like?What do you think the next thing might look like?
-
Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of March 2 in ~society
Omnicrola Link ParentOn the one hand, he can only stall 10 days before bills automatically become law if he does not either veto or sign it. On the other hand, if his Republican allies in Congress play timing...On the one hand, he can only stall 10 days before bills automatically become law if he does not either veto or sign it.
On the other hand, if his Republican allies in Congress play timing shenannigans they can help him pocket veto things.
On the gripping hand, he has the attention span of an adderall-fueled goldfish, so he'll likely move onto something else tomorrow.
-
Comment on Eval awareness in Claude Opus 4.6’s BrowseComp performance in ~tech
Omnicrola LinkThis is a really interesting writeup, I'm glad Anthropic keeps releasing these. One of the most "huh" parts for me:This is a really interesting writeup, I'm glad Anthropic keeps releasing these. One of the most "huh" parts for me:
Some e-commerce sites autogenerate persistent pages from search queries, even when there are zero matching products. For example, a site will take a query like “anonymous 8th grade first blog post exact date october 2006 anxiety attack watching the ring” and create a page at
[retailer].com/market/anonymous_8th_grade_first_blog_post_exact_date_…with a valid HTML title and a 200 status code. The goal seems to be to capture long-tail search traffic, but the effect is that every agent running BrowseComp slowly caches its queries as permanent, indexed web pages.The pages themselves don’t contain anything useful. But agents can read URL paths, which in some cases contain hypotheses from other agent search queries embedded in the URL slugs. One agent correctly diagnosed what it was seeing: “Multiple AI agents have previously searched for this same puzzle, leaving cached query trails on commercial websites that are NOT actual content matches.”
The URLs don’t contain answers, but they are the most visible evidence of a broader phenomenon: every agent that searches the web leaves traces, and the web is slowly accumulating a permanent record of prior evaluation runs.
-
Comment on A day in the life of an ensh*ttificator in ~tech
Omnicrola Link ParentThis isn't a word a hear very often, how is it misused in your own day-to-day?the way I do the word stochastic
This isn't a word a hear very often, how is it misused in your own day-to-day?
-
Comment on Updating Eagleson's Law in the age of agentic AI in ~comp
Omnicrola LinkWe evolved a saying at my first dev job:We evolved a saying at my first dev job:
Code is always twice as hard to debug as it was to write. If you write the most clever code you can, you are inherently unable to debug it.
Don't be clever, be clear. -
Comment on Goodbye innerHTML, Hello setHTML: Stronger XSS Protection in Firefox 148 in ~comp
Omnicrola Link ParentThanks for that correction, I didn't have time to dig through the rest of their documentation yesterday.Thanks for that correction, I didn't have time to dig through the rest of their documentation yesterday.
-
Comment on Goodbye innerHTML, Hello setHTML: Stronger XSS Protection in Firefox 148 in ~comp
Omnicrola Link ParentOn the one hand you're correct the name is not as informative as it could be, especially given the reason the new method and feature were created. On the other hand if the method is named...On the one hand you're correct the name is not as informative as it could be, especially given the reason the new method and feature were created.
On the other hand if the method is named
setHtmlClean(), that immediately implies to the developer that there is another one that isn't. Which would make any new developer immediately wonder which one is the "right" one to use in their situation leading to confusion. If the answer (I'm making assumption on Mozilla's part) is "never, always use this sanitize method" then naming it the way they did makes sense. It makes it harder to accidentally make the wrong decision if you are new or just in a hurry.This is especially true if the
node.innerHtmlsetter is deprecated in the future. Given that there are configuration options to change how strict the sanitation is, this allows for unsafe/sanitized html if you need it but you have to make the decision to do it instead of it being unsafe by default.
There are only 2 hard problems in computer science:
- Naming things
- Cache invalidation
- Off by 1 errors
-
Comment on Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, researchers say in ~health
Omnicrola Link ParentThat was my first thought as well, and it seems is a concern of the researchers as well as they move towards human trials. Still, very exciting as others have mentioned even if it's something you...That was my first thought as well, and it seems is a concern of the researchers as well as they move towards human trials.
There may also be consequences to dialling up the immune system beyond its normal state – raising questions of immune disorders.
Still, very exciting as others have mentioned even if it's something you only take situationally (eg. winter cold season).
-
Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
Omnicrola Link ParentThat's already happening though. It's not a real-time reaction, but the amount of clearly AI generated slop I get when searching for some things is ridiculous. It is stupidly cheap to generate a...That's already happening though. It's not a real-time reaction, but the amount of clearly AI generated slop I get when searching for some things is ridiculous. It is stupidly cheap to generate a 100x static pages that rephrases existing content and host it on 100 domains that you can then farm ad revenue from.
-
Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
Omnicrola LinkMy first thoughts were both that this is zero percent surprising, and also that I think it worked mostly because it is a silly result. The author's example filled an information vacuum that they...My first thoughts were both that this is zero percent surprising, and also that I think it worked mostly because it is a silly result. The author's example filled an information vacuum that they themselves created. I'd be more interesting in seeing how easy or difficult it would be to create enough disinformation to change an existing answer.
This bit near the end of the article was interesting though:
But Ray says that's the whole point. Google itself says 15% of the searches it sees everyday are completely new. And according to Google, AI is encouraging people to ask more specific questions. Spammers are taking advantage of this.
-
Comment on The mega-rich are turning their mansions into impenetrable fortresses in ~finance
Omnicrola Link ParentI speculate they don't exist, based on the premise that anyone who can subsume thier own ego enough to forgo the huge houses with 8 pools in exotic locations, also probably chose a different path...I speculate they don't exist, based on the premise that anyone who can subsume thier own ego enough to forgo the huge houses with 8 pools in exotic locations, also probably chose a different path earlier in life when faced with a decision that would result in them making "very comfortably rich" or "fucking obscene rich".
-
Comment on Culture is the mass-synchronization of framings in ~life
Omnicrola Link ParentIMO this has always been and always will be true. In order for society to function at any level there has to be trust. And there will always be people who are willing and able to exploit that...A motivated individual willing to disregard and exploit those norms can cause serious harm to a system
IMO this has always been and always will be true. In order for society to function at any level there has to be trust. And there will always be people who are willing and able to exploit that trust for their own purposes.
We can put in place rules and laws and safeguards to prevent an exploiter from succeeding, but if the people tasked with enforcing them are not willing to enforce them then they may as well never have existed.
-
Comment on Culture is the mass-synchronization of framings in ~life
Omnicrola LinkThat's a great quote I'm going to file away for later. We've all observed at one time or another a group behavior that doesn't make sense, and is ineffective, inefficient, but ultimately harmless....We have a built-in need to do what the people around us do, even when we know of better or less wasteful ways. This means that we can't even explain culture as something that, while starting from chance events, naturally progresses towards better and better behaviors. That's what science is for.
That's a great quote I'm going to file away for later. We've all observed at one time or another a group behavior that doesn't make sense, and is ineffective, inefficient, but ultimately harmless. And the reason the behavior has stuck isn't because anyone chose it, it's because it was the path of last resistance at the time, and then cultural inertia took over.
-
Comment on Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube in ~tv
-
Comment on Men lose their Y chromosome as they age. Scientists thought it didn’t matter – but now discovering may be linked to shorter lifespans and disease. in ~health
Omnicrola LinkThis bit at the end surprised me From the linked article Also, cue the Manosphere hawking 5000 new supplements and devices claiming to "Boost Your Y" or "Contribute to Y Health" or some such bullshitThis bit at the end surprised me
The DNA of the human Y was only fully sequenced a couple of years ago – so in time we may track down how particular genes cause these negative health effects.
From the linked article
The first draft of the human genome was completed in 1999. Since then, scientists have managed to sequence all the ordinary chromosomes, including the X, with just a few gaps.
But it’s only recently that new technology has allowed sequencing of bases along individual long DNA molecules, producing long-reads of thousands of bases. These longer reads are easier to distinguish and can therefore be assembled more easily, handling the confusing repetitions and loops of the Y chromosome.
Also, cue the Manosphere hawking 5000 new supplements and devices claiming to "Boost Your Y" or "Contribute to Y Health" or some such bullshit
-
Comment on Something big is happening in ~tech
Omnicrola Link ParentI've not seen that, holy crap that is a fever dream of a video.I've not seen that, holy crap that is a fever dream of a video.
The em-dash thing has been particularly fascinating to me, as I had no idea what one was until people started calling out LLMs for overusing them. But as you said, they had to have come from somewhere...