Pepetto's recent activity
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Comment on Help choosing a new linux computer? in ~tech
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Comment on Data removal services? in ~tech
Pepetto (edited )Link ParentI think brokers use any sources they can get, no matter how reliable, official or authoritative. It's quantity over quality. For one, some countries don't broadcast their citizen's private info,...I think brokers use any sources they can get, no matter how reliable, official or authoritative. It's quantity over quality.
For one, some countries don't broadcast their citizen's private info, yet broker still operate there.
And the GAFAM sure seem to try very hard to collect info about us for a world where only official sources are trusted by brokers.
Of course they don't read blogs (until AI manages to make that viable, if it hasn't already), but they do use "non authoritative sources" like dating app profile, browsing history, type of people you interacted with, ect.
I really don't see how they could get valuable data about you at scale any other way.
Unless I'm mistaken, the Optery link you provided earlier mentions some broker require a linkedin account as proof of identity.Some data brokers require Linkedin URL
As LinkedIn is a social media, at least some broker find social media authoritative enough.
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Comment on Data removal services? in ~tech
Pepetto Link ParentOptery does seem much less scamy than it's competition and I completely agree emailing everyone yourself is way too time consuming to be worth it. I'd like to nit-pick the "optery doesn't just...Optery does seem much less scamy than it's competition and I completely agree emailing everyone yourself is way too time consuming to be worth it.
I'd like to nit-pick the "optery doesn't just send emails with your info to everyone" point:
The link you shared says that Optery only provides your info (only the "minimum required info by the broker", but they freely admit that can include everything for some broker) to brokers who they've identified already have some of your info.
But they encourage their optional "expanded reach program" in which they do just contact every brokerParticipation in Expanded Reach is entirely optional and can be disabled at any time via your Optery dashboard.
Not sure if this means that expanded reach is toggled on by default? I hope not.
Expanded reach programe [...] that expands the universe of data brokers we remove you from significantly
So not sure how valuable the Optery service is without expand reach... They don't say how many they cover without it (but to be fair, I wouldn't know how to interpret that number anyway...).
As it is, my read of this is that if you object to sending data which they might not have to brokers, then even Optery's service isn't desirable (even without expanded reach, as brokers can request info they don't already have, as "necessary" to process your deletion).
Mailing everyone yourself isn't reasonable (and brokers can still "require" you to provide more info about yourself than is reasonable).
I still think just outputting lots of fake info about yourself (to poison broker's database, it's actually fun), use a VPN (a well reputed one like mullvad, not the spy ones) and multiple browser ( which you regalarly reset), and shedding your online identities regularly is the only sane way to maintain some kind of privacy.
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Comment on Data removal services? in ~tech
Pepetto LinkI've looked into getting one of those service a few years back and ultimately decided not to use them. Those compagnies juste send mass emails on pour behalf to every databroker and companies that...I've looked into getting one of those service a few years back and ultimately decided not to use them.
Those compagnies juste send mass emails on pour behalf to every databroker and companies that they can. Those emails necessarily contain your definitely correct information (full name, email, adress) to check against their database.
I feel this does more harm than good. You get law abiding compagnies to delete you at the cost of sending out your info to everyone.
Also, compagnies have to keep a record of the request, so there is now a permanent record of your info in every compagnie imaginable (even those that comply). (And email is not very secure).
And you broadcast to everyone that you value your privacy, making you a very juicy target.I concluded that I'm much better off doing it myself, or poison the data by giving fake info into my account.
It may seem drastic, but the low effort way to have ok privacy would be to periodically change phone number (and redo all your accounts).
Not saying you should abandon trying to acheive privacy, but have resonable expectation, and i think incognito and deleteme type compagnies are mostly privacy theater.
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Comment on Acts of kindness you've experienced recently? in ~life
Pepetto LinkWe could look out how for occasions to be the next person's random act of kindness. If every random act of kindness generate 2 more, we'll soon be swimming in it, world peace, infinite love,...I felt like I could have done more. Like thanked them with more words or given them a small reward etc. I was overwhelmed by the unusual situation that I didn't have any time to think.
We could look out how for occasions to be the next person's random act of kindness. If every random act of kindness generate 2 more, we'll soon be swimming in it, world peace, infinite love, transcendent humanism.
I'm only half joking. -
Comment on Probiotics: hype or helpful? An interview with Professor Jens Walter. in ~health
Pepetto Link ParentThey are not so different because most of our antibiotics are "stolen" from microorganisms and barely modified. (they are chemically synthesized, but the structure is mostly the same as naturally...They are not so different because most of our antibiotics are "stolen" from microorganisms and barely modified. (they are chemically synthesized, but the structure is mostly the same as naturally produced antibiotics).
There is a billion years chemical war between microorganism going on everywhere including our guts. Many resistance mechanism are preexisting and only need to be slightly modified or upregulated to make microorganisms more resistant.
but many resistance mechanism are costly (either it make some enzyme less effective, or it cost energy to maintain) so microorganisms tend to revert back to non-resistant when they no longer need it (they usually keep a dormant copy of what they need to become resistant again, leading to "induced resistance" phenotype). Over time we get a kind of equilibrium.If anything, our use of antibiotics (massive doses) would impact gut bacteria's antibiotics use (smaller dose to hamstring the competition) much more than the other way around.
Multi resistant super bug are the microorganisms trying to adapt to an environment of high antibiotics use (hospital). -
Comment on Modos debuts an open-source e-paper with a 75-Hz refresh rate in ~tech
Pepetto Link Parentdefinitely less efficient than a regular "slow" eink display, their crowd funding page says consumption is "high" instead of "low" (for all other eink panel drivers). the only hard numbers I can...definitely less efficient than a regular "slow" eink display, their crowd funding page says consumption is "high" instead of "low" (for all other eink panel drivers).
the only hard numbers I can find are
E-paper power supply with up to 1 A peak current on the ±15 V rail to support large panel sizes.
so I guess 30 Watt peak if updating the panel is most of the consumption and the driver itself consumes little? I have no idea if that is actually the case...
OLED screen uses about 40-80 Watts, but highly dependant on the brightness of the scene outputted (15-130 Watts at the extreme dark and bright) (warning, these are order of magnitude, I didn't research more than 5 minutes).so this high refresh rate eink is only slightly less energy hungry than an OLED panel but their strengh are kind of complementary: eink is better in bright environment, reading (I hope it can step down from 75Hz when displaying a static text document, I would love for my device to be very energy efficient most of the time, but still be capable of displaying videos occasionnaly if I need it to, at the price of efficiency during viewing), and keep displaying when off. OLED is great when in a dark environment, for color (movies).
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Comment on Denmark has proposed scrapping its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices in ~food
Pepetto Link ParentWell, if Wal-Mart increases prices until people stop buying (simplifying obviously, they increase price until enough people stop buying that it makes less profit overall), then supply has no (or...I'm kinda confused how you got to that conclusion.
Well, if Wal-Mart increases prices until people stop buying (simplifying obviously, they increase price until enough people stop buying that it makes less profit overall), then supply has no (or very very little) impact (as long as supply is more than demand).
Netflix increased price just because it could get away with it. Supply hadn't changed, demand hadn't changed.The optimal point won't be the same. It'll be somewhere in the middle, depending on the dynamics of the demand curve.
In my mind, even if price go halfway back up after tax cut, that is still undesirable since that's equivalent to the state losing (not earning) 2 dollars so that consumer can spare 1 dollar and the big store can earn 1 more dollars.
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Comment on Denmark has proposed scrapping its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices in ~food
Pepetto Link ParentSo... Are you agreeing that my initial comment is 100% correct (with some important nuances brought about by u/EgoEimi) ? The one where I say prices mostly depend on how much buyer find acceptable...So... Are you agreeing that my initial comment is 100% correct (with some important nuances brought about by u/EgoEimi) ? The one where I say prices mostly depend on how much buyer find acceptable and will let the sellers get away with. And if we lower the taxes, people are still used to the old prices, so the sellers will just raise the prices back to what they where before the tax break.
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Comment on Denmark has proposed scrapping its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices in ~food
Pepetto Link ParentThank you, price difference between bordering countries finally makes a bit of sense! But then since streaming service can (and do) raise their price so long as the customers globally tolerate it,...Thank you, price difference between bordering countries finally makes a bit of sense!
They probably calculated that they can raise prices and lose a few customers but make more money overall.
But then since streaming service can (and do) raise their price so long as the customers globally tolerate it, why assume it's any different for supermarkets?
Whats stopping Walmart from raising the price of mashed potatoes to as high as it can go (after calculating the optimum balance with customer loss)?
And to circle back to this thread's topic, wouldn't removing taxes on Netflix/chocolate just mean that Netflix/chocolate_sellers will raise their prices accordingly (to return to the same optimal point)? -
Comment on Denmark has proposed scrapping its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices in ~food
Pepetto (edited )Link ParentThank you for taking the time to explain this to me. This makes a lot of sense. I did indeed forget about the third world coming into the competion for luxuries. But how does that square with my...Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. This makes a lot of sense. I did indeed forget about the third world coming into the competion for luxuries.
But how does that square with my exemple of regional products being more expensive in their home region? Shouldn't price equalize as supermarkets rearrange which location stock more of the products.
Why are the exact same products sometime half the price in spain than in france, if not because the supermarket adjust it's expectation to locals' income.
Also, how about the web service industry: Youtube and Netflix prices increase for example. Can they not keep building datacenter, why would they send the signal to consume less?
Don't feel like you have to put in even more time to explain again if you don't feel like it, if you don't I'll go read a book, no worries.
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Comment on Could a space traveler accelerate at 1g forever? in ~space
Pepetto Link ParentDon't know who thought it up first, or if both arrived to that idea independantly, but that's also the principle behind Alastair Reynolds's Atalanta. Edit: apparently, both got the idea from an...Don't know who thought it up first, or if both arrived to that idea independantly, but that's also the principle behind Alastair Reynolds's Atalanta.
"It was a ramscoop," Dreyfus said. "A starship built around a single massive engine designed to suck in interstellar hydrogen and use it for reaction mass. Because it didn't have to carry its own fuel around, it could go almost as fast as it liked, right up to the edge of light-speed."
Edit: apparently, both got the idea from an actual real life theoretical engine. The Bussart ramjet
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Comment on Data centers don't raise people's water bills in ~tech
Pepetto Link ParentI know it's not the same scale, but isn't this like Watercooled desktop PC? I mean sure, you have to periodically flush and refill the loop so consumption isn't literally zero, but it's pretty...I know it's not the same scale, but isn't this like Watercooled desktop PC? I mean sure, you have to periodically flush and refill the loop so consumption isn't literally zero, but it's pretty damn close...
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Comment on Denmark has proposed scrapping its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices in ~food
Pepetto Link ParentWhile politely expressed, i detect undertone of condescension ("do they not teach ... at school anymore"). And I warned about my lack of education on the topic. No, I formerly thought prices...While politely expressed, i detect undertone of condescension ("do they not teach ... at school anymore"). And I warned about my lack of education on the topic.
No, I formerly thought prices reflected the equilibrium point where about as many people can buy it as we can produce (supply and demand). This might apply to general goods like steel or oil, but not consumer goods. In actuality we can produce arbitrarily larger quantities of things than people could ever buy, so price actually just reflects how much money buyers find is acceptable (and dump the excess). Otherwise you'd expect competition to drive profit lower and lower (you don't observe that, in fact profits tend to increase). -
Comment on Denmark has proposed scrapping its tax on chocolate, cake and other sweets, as well as coffee, to help consumers cope with high food prices in ~food
Pepetto Link(Not an economist, basically no economic knowledge, probably not very legitimate for me to broadcast my personal uninformed opinion) This is pandering to the electorate and won't actually lower...(Not an economist, basically no economic knowledge, probably not very legitimate for me to broadcast my personal uninformed opinion)
This is pandering to the electorate and won't actually lower prices. I've become convinced that consumer goods' prices have much more to do with how much people are willing to pay for them than how much it cost to produce (exhibit A; regional product are more expensive in their home region, where they are desirable, than in surrounding region where they had to be imported so should cost more). Lowering taxes in this situation just means higher profit. The "hand of the market" doesn't work very well for consumer goods, consumers as a whole are too sensitive to trends and perception. -
Comment on Recommendations for a obscure newer games in ~games
Pepetto LinkDon't know how popular or not they are, but my friends usually haven't heard about: webbed A cute sidescroller were you are a small spider that can shot web. Swinging like spiderman. Real fun and...Don't know how popular or not they are, but my friends usually haven't heard about:
webbed
A cute sidescroller were you are a small spider that can shot web. Swinging like spiderman. Real fun and quick.shotgun king
A chess themed turned based top down strategy shooter?apico
A beekeeping simulation game in a pixel art world. You can selectively breed your beequeens to get better hives...Teardown
You have to plan a heist, you get as long as you want to prepare but the time limit is tight once you touch the first item on your list... So you have to prepare carefully your route, put ramps and park cars in the right place to catch a few second... Did I mention everything is destructable?Let me know if you liked any of them!
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Comment on 'I can't drink the water' - Life next to a US data centre in ~enviro
Pepetto (edited )Link ParentI totally get that! Do you think we could give a more accurate approximation of overall consumption by going global. Like how many GPU.hour are owned by AI companies and assuming they run 24/7....I totally get that!
Do you think we could give a more accurate approximation of overall consumption by going global.
Like how many GPU.hour are owned by AI companies and assuming they run 24/7. Could we just assume the H100 gpu represents most of the AI companies' compute? Each is 700 watt max TDP, so (x8760 hour in the year) 6 million watt hours per year. Times 2 millions H100 sold in 2024 worldwide --> 12000 gigawatt hour.
And divide that by all model total prompt... Not sur how to get that, maybe assume it's proportional to the number of H100 possessed, so we could use open AI number to estimate total number? But then we might as well just estimate chat gpt alone:
Anyway open AI owns 700,000 H100 and has 500 millions "users" (couldn't find good sources for those).
So 700000x6million divided by 500million so 8400watt hour per user.
That's about equal to running a normal oven for 5 hours. Which is much more than I expected, (it seems you are right that training is more than actual inferring).
(Oups, edited after you answered)
Also, i'm pretty sure the other models are also used by the same 0.5 billion users, so the fairest would be to count 3 times that. Which is still negligable. -
Comment on 'I can't drink the water' - Life next to a US data centre in ~enviro
Pepetto (edited )Link ParentYou're right that the estimation is likely lowballing real consumption. But it was just an estimation to show the order of magnitude involved, not an exact number to nitpick... sure, let's assume...You're right that the estimation is likely lowballing real consumption. But it was just an estimation to show the order of magnitude involved, not an exact number to nitpick...
sure, let's assume the server that trained gpt4 run 24/7/365 and that most other LLM company are not as used as chatgpt... Let's assume that total consuption is actually 10 times our initial assumption... And that's still low enough that i can offset that by taking a cold shower instead of a hot one once a week.
I think the main point still stands. (To clarify, I agree with you now that training might cost as much as usage, thought we cann't be sure, but i think overall consumption is still negligible, juste like I wouldn't care if my alarm clock was 10 times more energy hungry)
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Comment on 'I can't drink the water' - Life next to a US data centre in ~enviro
Pepetto (edited )Link ParentI don't know how to say this in a way that isn't offputting, (edit, looks like teaearlgreycold had a point and I was overconfident), please please please read the blog post even if (especially if)...I don't know how to say this in a way that isn't offputting,
but that's really wrong(edit, looks like teaearlgreycold had a point and I was overconfident), please please please read the blog post even if (especially if) you feel like you are allready particularly well informed. It adresses a lot of common misconception.Training GPT-4 used 50 GWh of energy. Like the 20,000 households point, this number looks ridiculously large if you don’t consider how many people are using ChatGPT. The numbers here are very uncertain, but my best guess based on available data says that since GPT-4 was trained, it answered around 50 billion prompts, until it was mostly replaced with GPT-4o. GPT-4 and other models were used for a lot more than ChatGPT — Notion, Grammarly, Jasper, AirTable, Khan Academy, Duolingo, GitHub Copilot — but to be charitable let’s assume it was only used for chatbots. Dividing 50GWh by 50 billion prompts gives us 1 Wh per prompt. This means that including the cost of training the model (and assuming each prompt is using 3 Wh) raises the energy cost per prompt by 33 percent, from the equivalent of 10 Google searches to 13. That’s not nothing, but it’s not a huge increase per prompt.
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Comment on 'I can't drink the water' - Life next to a US data centre in ~enviro
Pepetto LinkObligatory link to relevant blog post i recently read I found it pretty well explained ( even if it's repeating many time the same concept through many different metaphores, people often need to...Obligatory link to relevant blog post i recently read
I found it pretty well explained ( even if it's repeating many time the same concept through many different metaphores, people often need to hear the same thing over and over for it to finally engage with the concept).
The main jist of it, is that LLM use (personal or overall) has a negligible ecological impact, when compared to other humain activity, and it's a waste of mental ressources to worry about LLM ecological impact. (Which doesn't mean LLM's other problems are not problems, but we should be adults enough to understand that something can be bad without attributing every bad caracteristic to it)
In a lot of these conversations, I have a very strong urge to grab the other person’s shoulders and say “This is 3 Wh of energy we’re talking about!!!! We agree that’s the number! 3 Wh!!!!!! That’s so small!!!! Don’t you know this?!?!?! What happened to the climate movement????? All my climate friends used to know what 3 Wh meant!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!". This would not be very mature, so instead I post 9,000 word blog posts to let off the steam.
When I hear people say “50 ChatGPT searches use a whole bottle of water!” I think they’re internally comparing this to the few times a year they buy a bottle of water. That makes ChatGPT’s water use seem like a lot. They’re not comparing it to the 1200 bottles of water they use every single day in their ordinary lives.
This means that every single day, the average American uses enough water for 24,000-61,000 ChatGPT prompts.
Suppose you gave yourself an energy budget for goofy ChatGPT prompts. Every year, you’re allowed to use it for 1,000 goofy things (a calculator, making funny text, a simple search you could have used Google for). At the end, all those prompts together would have used the same amount of energy as running a single clothes dryer a single time for half an hour. This would increase your energy budget by 0.03%. This is not enough to worry about. If you feel like it, please goof around on ChatGPT.
it’s as if everyone suddenly started obsessing over whether the digital clocks in our bedrooms use too much energy and began condemning them as a major problem. It’s sad to see the climate movement get distracted. We have gigantic problems and real enemies to deal with. ChatGPT isn’t one of them.
You're running out of "benefit of the doubt" for framework because of what some other company did?
I would encourage you to recalibrate, taking into account that the internet makes you easily aware of every bad thing done by each 8 billions humans.
Eventually, companies will decide to stop trying to support progressives, if any misstep is met with a disproportionate reaction