Timwi's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes' Colossal Game Adventure: Inauguration and nominations in ~games
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Comment on Could a space traveler accelerate at 1g forever? in ~space
Timwi Link ParentI did not say anything about growing to include new locations, but even if you want to define it that way, that still doesn't let you reach a location outside of it. I don't see how that squares...Also, you argue that by the time we get there, light must have gotten back from there to earth, so the observable universe has grown to include that location in the meantime.
I did not say anything about growing to include new locations, but even if you want to define it that way, that still doesn't let you reach a location outside of it.
However, unintuitively you can outrun light indefinitely while moving slower than c
I don't see how that squares with anything I know about relativity. You have some extraordinary explaining to do if you want to maintain this claim. If you're slower than c, then by definition you do not outrun light.
once you're far enough away from earth, the expansion of the universe is going to make your distance to earth grow faster than light as well.
Yes but that is true of everything, including things that aren't moving, so actually, I don't think that's relevant at all.
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Comment on Could a space traveler accelerate at 1g forever? in ~space
Timwi Link ParentThis contradicts the definition of observable universe. If you can get there without surpassing the speed of light, then light can get from there to us, so it's observable.you can actually get outside of what is the to us observable universe this way
This contradicts the definition of observable universe. If you can get there without surpassing the speed of light, then light can get from there to us, so it's observable.
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Comment on How many remakes have ever actually lived up to or surpassed the original? in ~movies
Timwi Link ParentThis is fascinating. I'd never heard of Nanban despite being a die-hard fan of 3 Idiots and considering it one of my top favorite movies (and having recommended it to many people). I'd be...This is fascinating. I'd never heard of Nanban despite being a die-hard fan of 3 Idiots and considering it one of my top favorite movies (and having recommended it to many people). I'd be intrigued to give Nanban a shot. However, I am not from India and am wholly unfamiliar with Hindi or Tamil culture, so none of your points in favor of the remake apply to me. Therefore, I suspect that a shot-by-shot remake will seem to me like essentially the same movie just with different actors than the ones I've come to love in those roles.
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Comment on What is the most insane, tedious, difficult, and/or noteworthy gaming achievement you have completed or given up on? in ~games
Timwi (edited )LinkWell, it's clear that you're asking for official achievements programmed into the game, rather than just personal achievements/milestones, but I'll ignore that and brag about my world record...Well, it's clear that you're asking for official achievements programmed into the game, rather than just personal achievements/milestones, but I'll ignore that and brag about my world record anyway.
I had a world record in a video game speedrunning category for over 10 years without knowing it. I posted it on YouTube at the time, unaware of the broader speedrunning community, and then forgot about it. This was at a time when YouTube videos were limited to 10 minutes! Getting the record took months of playing the game on end; today you would call it insane grinding.
I posted it to speedrun.com 4 years ago, after having discovered and binge-watched speedrunning videos from Summoning Salt. I didn't expect to be on top, I thought I was only second place, but to my surprise I was awarded the world record because it was retimed, and the website actually reflected the 10 years I've had the record for.
The previous record holder immediately came out of the woodworks and beat me within a week, and not by a little. There's no way I can ever reclaim the record. The new record is insane.
My record has since been beaten again 4 months ago, which means I'm in third place now.
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Comment on I wrote my first Chrome extension to simplify Wikipedia articles in ~comp
Timwi Link ParentWe must be talking about different LLMs then. I just pressed Random on Wikipedia a couple times and asked ChatGPT about the articles that came up and all of the answers were either “this is not a...We must be talking about different LLMs then. I just pressed Random on Wikipedia a couple times and asked ChatGPT about the articles that came up and all of the answers were either “this is not a famous person” (ChatGPT’s way of saying “I've never heard of them”) or a complete hallucination.
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Comment on ITA was a 1960s schools experiment that created a whole new alphabet – and left thousands of UK children unable to spell in ~humanities.languages
Timwi Link ParentI am fully aware of everything you said. I think you’re falling pray to a false binary choice: either make it completely 100% phonetic, or keep the current atrocity. I think English spelling could...I am fully aware of everything you said. I think you’re falling pray to a false binary choice: either make it completely 100% phonetic, or keep the current atrocity. I think English spelling could be significantly improved without making it 100% phonetic and without making US/UK spelling mutually unintelligible. I mentioned other languages precisely because they did exactly this: standardize on one dialect, sometimes an artificial one, and still end up with a vastly more useful and sensible spelling than English, even for people who speak a different dialect.
The issue described in your first paragraph is the only real reason that makes sense, and of course I’m aware of it too. Despite, it still seems reasonable that small changes could be made without reprinting everything. It should be acceptable to just start writing epitomy instead of epitome and not have everyone decry you for illiteracy. I think this kind of snobbish superiority is the main reason why the spelling is so unbelievably outdated in the first place.
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Comment on ITA was a 1960s schools experiment that created a whole new alphabet – and left thousands of UK children unable to spell in ~humanities.languages
Timwi Link ParentThis is a common objection to spelling reforms but I've always felt it's a total red herring. Firstly, spelling differences already exist between variants of English, so it's not without...they always assume a default or "standard" accent
This is a common objection to spelling reforms but I've always felt it's a total red herring.
Firstly, spelling differences already exist between variants of English, so it's not without precedent. We already teach our children the spelling of our own culture and then gradually introduce the minor differences that exist across the globe. With a phonetic reform, at least those differences would actually tell you about a real difference in pronunciation, unlike color/colour which is just pointless.
Secondly, most other languages manage to create a vastly more logical and consistent writing system than English’s despite the existence of dialects. The ridiculous complexity of English spelling isn't required just because of minor variations like the cot/caught merger or the presence or absence of rhoticity.
I don't think accents/dialects are the real reason for the pushback against spelling reform.
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Comment on The rise of Whatever in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentLLM hallucinations happen even if the training corpus doesn't contain any BS. LLMs are only mimicking the text in the training corpus, not the thought or sentiment behind the text. The training...LLM hallucinations happen even if the training corpus doesn't contain any BS. LLMs are only mimicking the text in the training corpus, not the thought or sentiment behind the text. The training process doesn't teach the LLM to self-reflect to determine whether it “knows” something or not.
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Comment on I wrote my first Chrome extension to simplify Wikipedia articles in ~comp
Timwi Link ParentSurely that'll depend on the article. There are plenty topics on Wikipedia obscure enough that an LLM won't have heard of, but there are also plenty where an LLM could shine.The LLM would probably do a pretty good job
Surely that'll depend on the article. There are plenty topics on Wikipedia obscure enough that an LLM won't have heard of, but there are also plenty where an LLM could shine.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
Timwi Link ParentI have considered the Spectre tile. I hadn't thought of the idea of having image on both sides of the tile — mostly because I'm using a type of object in Tabletop Simulator that automatically...I have considered the Spectre tile. I hadn't thought of the idea of having image on both sides of the tile — mostly because I'm using a type of object in Tabletop Simulator that automatically turns itself right side up when picked up — but thanks for the nightmares, now I have something to truly fear I might do one day lol
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Comment on ‘Elio’ box office flop: Why can’t Pixar launch original films? in ~movies
Timwi Link ParentMayonuki said 10% of the marketing budget, not the production budget.Mayonuki said 10% of the marketing budget, not the production budget.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
Timwi LinkI've gotten really into jigsaw puzzles lately, and although I've solved a number of physical ones, I play most of them on Tabletop Simulator. Unfortunately, Tabletop Simulator’s built-in jigsaw...I've gotten really into jigsaw puzzles lately, and although I've solved a number of physical ones, I play most of them on Tabletop Simulator. Unfortunately, Tabletop Simulator’s built-in jigsaw system has many flaws, shortcomings and limitations. So these past two weeks I've been writing my own:
- JigGen — Tabletop Simulator jigsaw puzzle generator
Initially it was just about supporting greater numbers of pieces, unique innie/outie shapes and arbitrary image aspect ratios, but it has now grown to a pretty complex system:
- You can design your own piece cut in Inkscape.
- You can draw straight lines and have JigGen turn them into innies/outies automatically.
- It can auto-generate a “normal” piece cut made of squares or, my newest addition, a piece cut modelled after Cairo pentagonal tiling. I've already solved a jigsaw with that and it was great fun. I'm using my implementation of Cairo tiling in RT.Coordinates (documentation) for this and intend to add maybe a couple more (imagine a piece cut generated from Penrose tiling... one can dream).
I'm currently playing a 700-piece jigsaw with a friend whose piece cut is derived from the CircularCell grid structure (which I generated using the library and then manually turned into a rectangle using Inkscape).
It's been a wild ride. I haven't been so enthusiastic about a random just-for-fun programming project for some time. It's actually giving me nostalgia. And I get really cool, fun and challenging jigsaw puzzles out of it.
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Comment on Where do you go to veg out online? in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentCan you give advice on how to make that work? A “constant feed of everything I'm interested in” sounds real nice. However, I find that if I subscribe to channels willy nilly, there will be tons of...Can you give advice on how to make that work? A “constant feed of everything I'm interested in” sounds real nice. However, I find that if I subscribe to channels willy nilly, there will be tons of crap that I'm emphatically not interested in, and if I try to curate it, I end up with a small set of channels that I've mostly already fully watched — not remotely enough for a “constant feed”.
Are my interests just too narrow?
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Comment on Goodbye, old friend in ~life.men
Timwi LinkGood on you for trying to keep the friendship alive. In my experience it's usually the ones that start romantic relationships or families who suddenly and unabashedly forget about their friends or...Good on you for trying to keep the friendship alive. In my experience it's usually the ones that start romantic relationships or families who suddenly and unabashedly forget about their friends or stop taking friendship seriously.
I'm the kind of person that frequently interacts with friends in a way that might seem transactional in the moment — the most frequent example being trying to find people to play a game with. Despite, I like to think of myself as a perfectly viable friend outside of gaming circles and I can only hope I don't come across the wrong way when I'm just obsessed with a game.
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Comment on Which translation tools are LLM free? Will they remain LLM free? in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentJust for clarification, my comment didn't say “lou” nor did it say “English”.I feel like lou's ability to speak, at least write, English is fairly good.
Just for clarification, my comment didn't say “lou” nor did it say “English”.
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Comment on Which translation tools are LLM free? Will they remain LLM free? in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentI'm sorry for any misunderstanding, but I was referring neither to you nor to English specifically.I'm sorry for any misunderstanding, but I was referring neither to you nor to English specifically.
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Comment on Which translation tools are LLM free? Will they remain LLM free? in ~tech
Timwi (edited )Link ParentHow do you “fully verify, adapt, and fix the translation” for a language you don't speak? Edit: apparently I didn't fully pick up on the context. I wasn't referring to the OP or any particular...How do you “fully verify, adapt, and fix the translation” for a language you don't speak?
Edit: apparently I didn't fully pick up on the context. I wasn't referring to the OP or any particular author, nor was I singling out English or any other particular language. I was just saying that “the author can just vet the translation” is not an option in most cases.
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Comment on Which translation tools are LLM free? Will they remain LLM free? in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentThis is an important point. I'm not a professional translator, but if I were, I would ask the author for clarification on unwritten subtleties in the source material to ensure that the translation...This is an important point. I'm not a professional translator, but if I were, I would ask the author for clarification on unwritten subtleties in the source material to ensure that the translation is accurate to their intention. An LLM does not do this (ask follow-up questions).
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Comment on In his memoirs, Bill Gates acknowledges his privileges and luck in ~books
Timwi Link ParentYour description of “coming from the same upbringing” leaves out the influence from their parents, which I think is the primary factor in what most people consider “upbringing”. Unfortunately I...Your description of “coming from the same upbringing” leaves out the influence from their parents, which I think is the primary factor in what most people consider “upbringing”. Unfortunately I don't know anything at all about Bill Gates’s upbringing and the article barely even mentions his grandmother. We do, however, know about Frank Trump’s raging narcissism and his treatment of Donald as the golden child (and his cruelty towards Frank Jr., Donald’s brother, who was originally supposed to be the golden child). Frank Jr.’s daughter, Mary Trump, has written and spoken about it at length and it's chilling.
I'm not too late! I'll nominate two games for two different reasons:
Prince of Persia — the one I played is the DOS version, but I'm sure versions for other platforms are equivalent in gameplay. I'm nominating this because of all the games I beat as a child, this is the one that kept me the most hooked relative to the amount of perseverance I needed to actually get the success ending. I was not very patient with any other game!
Alley Cat — because CGA. When you mentioned CGA (blocky graphics) this is the game that came to mind first. For a game this old it holds up surprisingly well even today!
Both of these can be played in DosBox.