Akir's recent activity
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Comment on A couple of posts about AI and the Independent Games Festival awards in ~games
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Comment on Those Vegan Cowboys (vegan, real cheese) in ~food
Akir Link ParentI don't think the lactose is particularly important to the fermentation process unless there's some traditional cheese that specifically requires a type of bacteria that thrives on it but not...I don't think the lactose is particularly important to the fermentation process unless there's some traditional cheese that specifically requires a type of bacteria that thrives on it but not other types of sugar.
Milkfat doesn't have much flavor, but it does have a unique texture, so it might be one of those "missing somethings" in the final product.
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Comment on A couple of posts about AI and the Independent Games Festival awards in ~games
Akir Link ParentI don’t agree with your argument because it could be used for any given art related technology. Block coding is not necessary because we already have the tools to learn to write “real code”. C# is...- Exemplary
I don’t agree with your argument because it could be used for any given art related technology. Block coding is not necessary because we already have the tools to learn to write “real code”. C# is not necessary because we have assembly. The camera is not necessary because we can already learn how to paint.
The fact of the matter is that for every technology that makes things easier for people, more people are able to participate for whatever reason, whether it’s ability, disability, or time. AI fits that framework rather nicely, whether you like it or not. And so I don’t think we can just completely dismiss its utility because of that.
You can hate AI output as much as you want but I think that most people are not taking it for what it often is, even though we call it what it is all the time: low effort slop. Those stupid AI memes your parents are sharing on Facebook are just the new version of low effort image macros. Those AI billboards you get from businesses are essentially the same as when they would paint their own signs or produce their own MS Office looking boards. It’s perfectly fine to hate those outputs. They’re slop. They aren’t purposeful.
On the other hand, AI can be used with intention to make great things. It currently is being used for a great number of things behind the scenes and you just don’t know because nobody is aware of how the software they use is written. It’s the reason why supply chain attacks are so terrifying; even when things can be checked and audited, they rarely actually are.
Making a video game is an incredibly difficult challenge and AI makes it accessible. You may not like the results of it, but the fact that it became accessible is undoubtedly a good thing because some of that trash is going to be good, and some of those trash producers are going to go on to make great things. In about an hour I will be going to meet with a student who is building a project with AI and it is going to be terrible, and my job is to teach her how to use her abilities to make it not terrible. Even if she does rely on the AI to do those changes, it will require a great deal of intervention and she will ultimately be the one who will have made her project.
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Comment on Those Vegan Cowboys (vegan, real cheese) in ~food
Akir Link ParentHmm… given that the casein in these cheeses are going to come from clean room settings, I wonder if this will open the door to the FDA approving a non-pasteurized cheese product?Hmm… given that the casein in these cheeses are going to come from clean room settings, I wonder if this will open the door to the FDA approving a non-pasteurized cheese product?
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Comment on Salon, internet’s oldest general interest publication, shuts down after thirty-one years in ~tech
Akir Link ParentTech is still fun, you just have to avoid social media, which is full of people who want to tell you about why your thing is stupid. If we use the Linux desktop as a metephor, we live in a world...Tech is still fun, you just have to avoid social media, which is full of people who want to tell you about why your thing is stupid. If we use the Linux desktop as a metephor, we live in a world where it seems like the only choices are KDE and Gnome, but projects like Enlightenment and IceWM still exist, and there are still many people out there who are making their own bespoke desktop environments with individual components they like. And for the record, you can even change the desktop environment on Windows (though to limited extent in comparison to what you can do with Linux - and only partly because of a lack of choice).
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Comment on Those Vegan Cowboys (vegan, real cheese) in ~food
Akir LinkA company called Perfect Day already makes cultured whey, so I think that the only things we need to scale up and get approved are milkfats and lactose! That being said, it appears that there are...A company called Perfect Day already makes cultured whey, so I think that the only things we need to scale up and get approved are milkfats and lactose!
That being said, it appears that there are multiple types of casein, and this company has only gotten approval for one type. It's the most abundant type, but the resulting cheese might not be a perfect recreation because of that and the lack of milkfat. It looks like they might already be selling these products in Europe - anyone have any experience with them?
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
Akir Link ParentThe irony is that even if Election Day were a federal holiday, many jobs - especially low-income-generating jobs - do not get holidays off! So unless the government were to actually legislate all...The irony is that even if Election Day were a federal holiday, many jobs - especially low-income-generating jobs - do not get holidays off! So unless the government were to actually legislate all businesses to close on that day, it wouldn’t really make much of a difference at all.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Akir Link ParentI also wish they did a bit more for OoT. The stealth in hyrule castle was so painfully easy that I had the only real problem with difficulty with the last guard because it was the only one that...I also wish they did a bit more for OoT. The stealth in hyrule castle was so painfully easy that I had the only real problem with difficulty with the last guard because it was the only one that needed me to put in any real effort.
I’m glad they nerfed Jabu Jabu though. I hated that dungeon so much in the original. I do feel like they ended up making Ruto’s personality much more annoying in this game, but somehow it became very endearing.
I’m a bit surprised you had problems with money because it felt like money was everywhere in the game. You can sell bugs, you can play games that you’ll always win, and more importantly you can find secrets. Just for finding the secrets I never ran out of money; on the contrary I had issues hitting the ceiling.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Akir Link ParentThey did a fantastic job with the feel of the game, that’s for sure. The only real problems I had with it were that I thought that adult Zelda was particularly funny-looking (her nose is huge! And...They did a fantastic job with the feel of the game, that’s for sure. The only real problems I had with it were that I thought that adult Zelda was particularly funny-looking (her nose is huge! And that dress - girl, you’re in an apocalypse! It really took me out of the game) and that it was painfully easy. I didn’t die once during the course of the game, nor did I ever run out of money.
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Comment on California’s utility wildfire liability conundrum could put clean energy projects in a delay doom loop in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentI should have been clearer, I guess. When I said "nationalized" I was using it colloquially. I meant public ownership, and the state is the obvious candidate, not the federal government. You...I should have been clearer, I guess. When I said "nationalized" I was using it colloquially. I meant public ownership, and the state is the obvious candidate, not the federal government. You mentioned that regional public power utilities work well, and that is something I basically want for everyone. We already have larger operations like LADWP. Scaling up to the size of PG&E would be hard but it’s hardly unimaginable.
I'm going to be honest here: I'm upset. PG&E's equipment has killed well over 100 people, 85 of them in the Camp Fire alone. I've brought up the profit motive, their history of criminal negligence, and the century-old equipment, and every time it feels like those points get stepped over so we can go back to talking about budgets and the federal government. Maybe that's not what you meant to do, but it's left me feeling like you don’t think any of those things matter.
I'm not saying government is always competent. I'm saying a profit-driven monopoly literally has a reason built into it to cut corners, and not just on maintenance but on capital investment too. Every dollar they don't spend replacing or hardening the grid is a dollar that can go to shareholders. That's a huge part of why vegetation clearance is such a big deal today. If those lines had been replaced, insulated, or put underground decades ago, we wouldn't be relying on tree trimming as the main thing standing between a power line and a town burning down. A public utility can still make bad decisions, sure, but it doesn't have that pressure pushing against safety the whole time.
Anyway, I think we've both made our cases, so I'll leave it here.
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Comment on California’s utility wildfire liability conundrum could put clean energy projects in a delay doom loop in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentI really wish you hadn't just coughed up what ChatGPT told you. AI has the tendency of telling you what you want to hear and not getting the entire story before responding to you. I asked Claude...I really wish you hadn't just coughed up what ChatGPT told you. AI has the tendency of telling you what you want to hear and not getting the entire story before responding to you. I asked Claude as to why CPUC had made the decision to limit that increase, and it gave e the context that from 1987 to 1995, PG&E were consistently under-spending their vegetation clearance budget so they could divert those funds to other projects. So in other words, the denial to give the full funding was due to their history misappropriation. But still, CPUC gave them an increase. And it should be noted that even though they didn't get the amount they wanted, they were still liable for all the problems caused by not doing the work, and they did not do their due diligence to make up that difference.
Is Claude's understanding correct? Who knows. Actually I asked it to confirm the narrative and it said that it was wrong, and then gave me a lot of details that didn't really clear things up very much. One of them was a 1997 jury verdict of 739 counts of negligence for vegetation clearance leading up to the 1994 Traunor Fire, so they clearly have a history of neglect and poor management.
But in any case, it seems like you're really hung up on budgeting decisions when I've brought plenty of other reasons why utilities - PG&E specifically - should be nationalized.
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Comment on California’s utility wildfire liability conundrum could put clean energy projects in a delay doom loop in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentI don't think it's useful to argue based on a vague recollection. There's probably more than one case, but if you can't name a single one, it's not worth talking about. But if you want a damning...I don't think it's useful to argue based on a vague recollection. There's probably more than one case, but if you can't name a single one, it's not worth talking about.
But if you want a damning portrait about why we shouldn't trust a corporation - PG&E specifically, here's a damn good one. They had 108 year old towers holding up the wires that caused the Camp fire, that had a scheduled lifespan of 65 years. They have a number of structures and equipment that they don't even know how old they are.
If PG&E were nationalized, any and all improvements to the grid could be handled as a tax rather than a bill increase, and so only the people who are most able to afford would pay the higher costs, so people could still afford to buy the thing that makes their oxygen concentrators work even if we had a major grid-wide emergency repair that had to happen. Bad decisions could still happen, but if a nakedly bad decision happens, it's going to be open and transparent, and average citizens will have a way to be heard in a way they are not currently heard.
The big problem with utilities is that they are not just businesses, they are government sanctioned monopolies. And as such, they are fundamentally flawed and immoral; you get the worst of the business world while getting the tyranny of government-like powers. You talk about CPUC blocking their proposal? I wouldn't put it beyond them to put the proposal up and then lobbying against it. Energy companies actually spend quite a lot of money on lobbying, and in fact this year they've broken a spending record on it. And while they're not supposed to be using your electric bill money to pay for it, they've found loopholes through the years and taken advantage of them, which is why legislature had to make a new law against it last year. If the utilities were nationalized, they may not work smoothly with other agencies, but I doubt that they'd be trying to buy them off.
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Comment on California’s utility wildfire liability conundrum could put clean energy projects in a delay doom loop in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentI think you started to talk yourself into it at the end. It won’t solve the cash flow problems, of course, but it would help solve problems of liability, cut out middlemen and perverse incentives...I think you started to talk yourself into it at the end.
It won’t solve the cash flow problems, of course, but it would help solve problems of liability, cut out middlemen and perverse incentives that currently exist, and remove an entire class of lobbyists from circulation. While I think SCEdison at least is making a good effort to expand renewables already, it would also give government more license to force them to accelerate those plans.
The reason why we are in this mess right now is largely a function of the power companies being run as businesses instead of as public services. As mentioned earlier, a major cause of these wildfires is vegetation. My memory is pretty bad, but I’m pretty sure we’ve known about plants for much longer than we’ve known about electricity. As much money as PG&E is spending on vegetation management, it pales to the amount they haven’t spent on making sure that their installations are resilient to these types of pitfalls. For every tree that falls on a power line in the wilderness, for every million dollars they spend on land management, imagine how much less they would have spent if they just paid to make those towers another 10 feet higher or something to that extent.
A business exists to make a profit. And that means that at any point in time they can and likely will reduce the quality of service in order to increase that profit. Even with the heavy regulations of a utility, this still happens. Which is why privately owned utilities should not be allowed to exist. People are dying horrific deaths because of this shit.
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Comment on Cold-weather vegan recipes in ~food
Akir Link ParentI saw a recipe for an avocado banana brownie that seemed really great. I haven’t made it myself, though, since I’m not one for sweets these days. I’m pretty sure this is the video I saw it on:...I saw a recipe for an avocado banana brownie that seemed really great. I haven’t made it myself, though, since I’m not one for sweets these days.
I’m pretty sure this is the video I saw it on: https://youtu.be/olKg1tKadHk
Watching it again he says it’s relatively cakey, so I’d probably up the avocado for more fat, and maybe lean more on the bananas than the maple syrup. The guy is more about making healthy food so it doesn’t surprise me he’d be making it with as little as possible - see also his black bean brownies….
@paris you might be interested too.
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Comment on Cold-weather vegan recipes in ~food
Akir Link ParentTVP is usually my go-to for soupy recipes. It’s stored dry and lasts forever. It’s also a lot cheaper and is basically 100% protein. It’s basically tofu, but with the fat pressed out of it.TVP is usually my go-to for soupy recipes. It’s stored dry and lasts forever. It’s also a lot cheaper and is basically 100% protein. It’s basically tofu, but with the fat pressed out of it.
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Comment on Where’s the beef? The lab-grown-meat revolution that wasn’t. in ~food
Akir Link ParentThat’s why they use the term “cultured”, which is actually more accurate. The “lab-grown” moniker is one used by journalists and laypeople.That’s why they use the term “cultured”, which is actually more accurate. The “lab-grown” moniker is one used by journalists and laypeople.
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Comment on California’s utility wildfire liability conundrum could put clean energy projects in a delay doom loop in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentIt is insane that we allow privatized utility companies at all, regardless of how heavy the regulation may be. I think private metering - having every household pay its fair share - is absolutely...It is insane that we allow privatized utility companies at all, regardless of how heavy the regulation may be. I think private metering - having every household pay its fair share - is absolutely reasonable since it is a way to prevent people from overusing limited resources, but we are talking about services that our society are literally built on. Electricity is actually one of the best examples because it not only prevents our food from spoiling, it is the fuel we use to cook, it is what we use to regulate our temperatures to survive extreme heat and cold, and for some of us it literally powers the machines keeping us alive and healthy.
Electricity is literally vital for our survival. So why do we allow rent-seekers to extract a profit from us for it?
This is something literally everyone should be upset about but nobody is because it’s always been this way.
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Comment on Where’s the beef? The lab-grown-meat revolution that wasn’t. in ~food
Akir Link ParentThe thing that has always bugged me about these “high end” vegan meat analogue products is that they tend to be expensive for very little reason. I can forgive the original Myoko’s which was...The thing that has always bugged me about these “high end” vegan meat analogue products is that they tend to be expensive for very little reason. I can forgive the original Myoko’s which was fermenting nuts and making “real” cheese, but with plants, but Beyond has been around for a while now, their products are all over the place, and their ingredients are all vastly cheaper than beef. So why are we paying so much more for them?
Actually Beyond is a public company, so we have a pretty good idea; they’re kind of badly run. They own too much factory because they expanded too quickly in the big veg*n rush and when that died down they were left with big expenses and not enough buyers. Impossible is likely having the same problem.
I prefer to think that the bigger win is to think beyond meat altogether.
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
Akir Link ParentCA also has secure drop boxes for ballots set up so that voters can bypass post offices if they fear for reliability (which, given the state of USPS and the current postmaster general, is very...CA also has secure drop boxes for ballots set up so that voters can bypass post offices if they fear for reliability (which, given the state of USPS and the current postmaster general, is very warranted).
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Comment on Historic voter turnout powered US Democrats’ blue wave in ~society
Akir Link ParentUnless things have silently changed in the background without me noticing, California already has universal mail-in voting. It happened during the COVID pandemic. Everyone gets a mail-in ballot...Unless things have silently changed in the background without me noticing, California already has universal mail-in voting. It happened during the COVID pandemic. Everyone gets a mail-in ballot and polling places only exist for those who would prefer to vote in person.
In fact I’m not even sure in-person polling still exists because I have been so disinterested for so long. The state already had an expansive opt-in mail-in ballot system before COVID.
Honestly, I don't think there's any reason to continue this conversation because I don't think you're able or willing to understand what I was trying to convey. You want to see the world in this scary way, you are married to the idea that AI is inherently immoral, and there's no way anyone will be able to convince you otherwise.
For the record, I am not teaching children to use AI by choice. I am doing so because the alternative is simply not taking any classes and losing what little income I have. It's by learning about AI and using it hands-on that I have gained the perspective about what it means to use it, and how I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn't take away your artistic voice in the least. In any case, I'd appreciate if you didn't question my character in the future.