PuddleOfKittens's recent activity
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Comment on What's a product or service that you use but don't want to pay for and why? in ~life
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Comment on We’re seniors. It’s not our responsibility to fix the housing supply. in ~society
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentAnd I'm allowed to advocate for the govt confiscation of all boomer housing. And the death penalty for buying a Cybertruck. ...So? Your comment rests very heavily on an implied statement, so I...In a democratic republic ( for now ) people are allowed to advocate for the zoning laws that govern where they live.
And I'm allowed to advocate for the govt confiscation of all boomer housing. And the death penalty for buying a Cybertruck. ...So?
Your comment rests very heavily on an implied statement, so I invite you to please explicitly state that statement.
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Comment on We’re seniors. It’s not our responsibility to fix the housing supply. in ~society
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentInvestors don't have the resources. The reality is that a properly walkable city requires not just building an entire city - which costs somewhere from billions to trillions of dollars, but also...If you can build desirable cities from scratch, why is nobody doing it? It's not like investors don't have the resources.
Investors don't have the resources.
The reality is that a properly walkable city requires not just building an entire city - which costs somewhere from billions to trillions of dollars, but also building railways in the meanwhile - both rail inside the city, and rail from the city to other cities. And building rail to other cities faces all the same problems that California HSR faces.
Once you're NYC-scale you don't need rail to other cities, but frankly building a NYC will take decades and the nascent city will wilt in the mean time.
I don't think it's possible to build at this scale without govt support - even if it's possible, it's just too risky.
It's definitely more risky than the Culdesac Tempe model of finding an empty 250m x 250m block with a light rail station nearby and just needing a passive OK from the local govt.
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Comment on OpenAI’s H1 2025: $4.3b in income, $13.5b in loss in ~tech
PuddleOfKittens Link Parent"Hey chat, what should I do now?" "You should drink a Pepsi." ChatGPT add have unparalleled potential, because lots of people treat AI like a person they trust."Hey chat, what should I do now?"
"You should drink a Pepsi."
ChatGPT add have unparalleled potential, because lots of people treat AI like a person they trust.
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Comment on Flush with cash and soaring with hubris, Donald Trump appointees are supersizing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentIt's scalping. Lots of people hate scalping when it comes to tickets, GPUs, and toilet paper, and the main defence of scalping is basically "that's capitalism, And It's Good Actually." Ultimately...I don't think there's anything wrong with taking free stuff to resell when it was put out there with no strings attached.
It's scalping. Lots of people hate scalping when it comes to tickets, GPUs, and toilet paper, and the main defence of scalping is basically "that's capitalism, And It's Good Actually."
Ultimately it depends why you're giving stuff away: is it because you're being charitable, or because you believe the value of the goods you're trying to dispose of is ~$0? Scalping should be lauded in the latter scenario, but piss you off in the former scenario.
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Comment on Apple pulls ICEBlock from the App Store in ~tech
PuddleOfKittens LinkThis is why it's vital that consumer devices are capable of sideloading apps - anything in the walled garden exists at the masters' pleasure.This is why it's vital that consumer devices are capable of sideloading apps - anything in the walled garden exists at the masters' pleasure.
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Comment on Outrage over American Eagle's 'great jeans' ad was a conservative media creation in ~society
PuddleOfKittens LinkThis is increasingly becoming a pattern - when Charlie Kirk was shot, conservatives reflexively invented a narrative about how the shooter was trans. I suspect it's a deliberate strategy to craft...This is increasingly becoming a pattern - when Charlie Kirk was shot, conservatives reflexively invented a narrative about how the shooter was trans.
I suspect it's a deliberate strategy to craft the first impression, because often it's the only impression so now a ton of people will forever think Kirk's shooter was a trans leftist and not the MAGA nut he was.
It's just another form of slander - claim that they're the "common sense party" by inventing lunacy and smearing the other side with it.
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Comment on US solar will pass wind in 2025 and leave coal in the dust soon after in ~enviro
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentI thought it was a fart jokeI thought it was a fart joke
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Comment on EA is reportedly about to be sold in a record-setting $50 billion buyout to an investor group that includes private equity and Saudi Arabia in ~games
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentIt doesn't really matter whether genAI reduces costs or not. If it does, and there are lots of buyers willing to pay $70 with low expectations, then someone else will come along and do so. Because...It doesn't really matter whether genAI reduces costs or not. If it does, and there are lots of buyers willing to pay $70 with low expectations, then someone else will come along and do so. Because EA doesn't own the genAI.
The reality is that AAA devs primarily avoid competing with indie devs by being too expensive to copy. If genAI makes AAA graphics cheaper, they're permitting more competition with EA and thus lowering profits, not boosting them.
And note that all of this is after "if genAI can".
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Comment on Donald Trump suggests using ‘dangerous’ US cities as ‘training grounds’ for military in ~society
PuddleOfKittens LinkOoh let's put untrained troops with guns into cities full of innocent people, what's the worst that could happen?Ooh let's put untrained troops with guns into cities full of innocent people, what's the worst that could happen?
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Comment on Vladimir Putin has called up 135,000 men for routine military service, the country's biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016 in ~society
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentConscription involves mailing people to go show up at X office with the required gear - mailing out the notices is trivial, the number of conscripts isn't relevant, unless they try to dodge the...Conscription involves mailing people to go show up at X office with the required gear - mailing out the notices is trivial, the number of conscripts isn't relevant, unless they try to dodge the draft.
If they dodge the draft, then the Russian govt has a lot of practice at the whole 'citizen surveillance' thing and have some options.
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Comment on Vladimir Putin has called up 135,000 men for routine military service, the country's biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016 in ~society
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentYes and no. According to Russia, Ukraine is Russia, but not Russia Russia. i.e. conscripts don't get sent to the frontline (mostly), they're sent to guard internationally-recognized Russian...Yes and no. According to Russia, Ukraine is Russia, but not Russia Russia. i.e. conscripts don't get sent to the frontline (mostly), they're sent to guard internationally-recognized Russian borders (thus freeing up the existing volunteer troop guards to fight in Ukraine).
Putin knows damn well that public support for the war is contingent on Russian citizens being able to ignore it if they don't like it, and benefiting financially. Specifically, troop sign-on bonuses have skyrocketed as Russian troops get decimated, and demand for factory workers (and thus factory wages) have skyrocketed as the Russian army is desperate for war materiel. This is wonderful for Russian citizens.
All of that breaks if Putin starts mass-conscripting and sending conscripts into the meat-grinder. So no, conscripts won't be sent to the frontline.
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Comment on Proton batteries - new still-in-the-lab batteries that use hydrogen ions instead of lithium ions (also a different anode/cathode) in ~tech
PuddleOfKittens (edited )Link ParentEnergy density has a ton of knock-on effects - transport costs, manufacturing rates (if you can tweak one process to make the same battery 2x as energy-dense, then your factory is effectively...Energy density has a ton of knock-on effects - transport costs, manufacturing rates (if you can tweak one process to make the same battery 2x as energy-dense, then your factory is effectively producing 2x as many batteries), cost floor (manufacturing costs trend toward just the cost of raw materials, and energy density determines how much capacity you can wring out of said raw materials).
FWIW "vehicle use in China" doesn't mean a lot; there are plenty of new vehicles (basically mopeds and tuktuks IIRC) that use lead-acid batteries there. In small, relatively low-speed vehicles with low range, the energy density of the battery doesn't really matter, but price absolutely matters when the whole vehicle costs $1k (and lithium has only very recently (mostly) defeated lead-acid batteries in price). So yeah, sodium batteries can go toe-to-toe with lead acid, great.
No seriously, that is great. I love sodium batteries as a concept, and I love low-speed absurdly-dirt-cheap alleged cars (they cost <$1000 because they don't make massive the engineering demands that inevitably balloon mainstream cars up to $30k+, like "must go faster than 30KM/h" or "must have 4+ seats" or "must have more than 100KM range". We've outlawed these cars from our roads even though they're more than adequate for all sorts of jobs, because they impeded the $30k+ cars from going 60KM/h. These $1k cars are the modern version of a horsecart and there are some jobs that don't and never needed anything more, but we're paying 30x the price regardless.
...anyway sodium-ion batteries are cool because throwing energy-density at stuff has makes me suspect a failure of imagination, and if you ignore energy-density then sodium-ion is definitely the coolest battery (outside the lab, at least).
But energy density has a ton of knock-on effects for everything including price, so saying "just energy density" is like saying "just white" when talking about the color spectrum - everything is in there.
Also, much like airships, sodium's big problem isn't its downsides but its lack of upsides to compensate for its downsides, and the fact that its dominant competitors are really quite good, actually. Even though airships are obviously really cool, especially when you realize they have basically infinite room for solar panels and thus could be solar-powered electric airships without herculean engineering efforts at optimizing the panels and power use like in solar planes.
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Comment on Proton batteries - new still-in-the-lab batteries that use hydrogen ions instead of lithium ions (also a different anode/cathode) in ~tech
PuddleOfKittens LinkYes, that's not the best title, but the original title contains far too much wank and no useful information: That said, I'm super hopeful for this tech. It gives a broader range of potential raw...Proton batteries - new still-in-the-lab batteries that use hydrogen ions instead of lithium ions (also a different anode/cathode)
Yes, that's not the best title, but the original title contains far too much wank and no useful information:
Proton batteries: an innovative option for the future of energy storage
That said, I'm super hopeful for this tech. It gives a broader range of potential raw materials to work with that aren't an obvious downgrade (like sodium-ion is), which means a lower potential cost of battery over time since costs will trend towards the cost of raw materials. Not to mention the incredible geostrategic implications of those various geographically-limited metals not being necessary for high energy density anymore. Meanwhile, hydrogen seems potentially superior to lithium, while also being 1/10th the cost as a raw material, so I'm excited (but not assuming) for a potential improvement to energy density gains over the next few years/decades.
If nothing else, a competitor to lithium-ion would be good (unless it halves the scale of each type of battery, and thus splits research between them and slows down both their progress).
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Proton batteries - new still-in-the-lab batteries that use hydrogen ions instead of lithium ions (also a different anode/cathode)
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Comment on Drones seen over Danish military bases in latest air disruption in ~society
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentI think invoking Article 4 is a needless formality when it has already been invoked in response to Russia repeatedly violating NATO airspace. Article 4 might be invoked per situation, rather than...I think invoking Article 4 is a needless formality when it has already been invoked in response to Russia repeatedly violating NATO airspace. Article 4 might be invoked per situation, rather than per country, in which case they can't invoke Article 4.
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Comment on Starship was doomed from the beginning in ~space
PuddleOfKittens LinkI haven't followed Space stuff very closely, is this plausibly true?I haven't followed Space stuff very closely, is this plausibly true?
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Starship was doomed from the beginning
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Comment on Tesla influencers tried Elon Musk’s coast-to-coast self-driving, crashed before sixty miles in ~transport
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentThe best response to this, IMO, is to talk about how we replaced blacksmithing: we didn't re-invent hands, but instead constrained the metal and meticulously planned to have power-hammers...The best response to this, IMO, is to talk about how we replaced blacksmithing: we didn't re-invent hands, but instead constrained the metal and meticulously planned to have power-hammers hammering from a single predefined angle.
Humans can adjust course in response to errors. Robots are far less talented at this, so throwing sensors at the problem to reduce error rate is a better option.
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Comment on Samsung confirms its $1,800+ fridges will start showing you ads in ~tech
PuddleOfKittens Link ParentI excluded the touchscreen monitor because I don't know enough about fridge monitors, but I'm guessing those things are the fairly small type of monitor and not a proper desktop sized one - at...I excluded the touchscreen monitor because I don't know enough about fridge monitors, but I'm guessing those things are the fairly small type of monitor and not a proper desktop sized one - at which point the same argument applies that nobody really wants to re-use the screen, for the same reason laptops are 13" and not 8".
If the fridge screen was physically modular in that it was basically just a slot with a purpose-built iPad that had a wired plug to talk with the fridge's chip, would that be any different to a literal iPad stapled to the fridge door? Half the point of integrating the functionality into the fridge is that the module slots and sockets are expensive, and nobody wants to pay for the extra expense - so companies make cheap shit that's integrated because it's cheap, and coincidentally also shoddy/unreliable because it's cheap. For instance, touchscreens are often used because they're a single screen with a single wire, which nowadays is cheaper than having a bunch of custom knobs/buttons with labels. This might not be the case for fridges, but it's why cars have been moving to touchscreens.
I've never seen a fridge that has a calendar, AIUI they add stuff like internal cameras that let you check what's in the fridge without opening it and letting the cold out - a really cool energy-efficiency measure, if the manufacturing energy of the electronics is low enough. Although, having a calendar interface on the fridge honestly makes perfect sense to me, because it's an attempt to skip the 'pull out tiny screen from pocket and futz around with finding the app' problem. Food is inherently time-sensitive, and deciding how to schedule your time re:food generally involves going to the fridge and checking inventory already. In a sense, moving various app functionality to an appliance's screen would be an attempt to appliance-ize phone apps.
Youtube. Because Fuck Google, They're A Monopoly.
I'm not opposed to subscribing to Youtube, in principle. I'm just not willing to do so for them. I hate that I can't spite Youtube by going to a competitor.