apolz's recent activity
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
apolz Link ParentLoved this one! What’s super cool was is that the whole story of this book is set in a 24 hour period.Loved this one! What’s super cool was is that the whole story of this book is set in a 24 hour period.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
apolz LinkI’ve been reading the Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch. This is a non-fiction, pop-physics and philosophy of science book by a great physicist. And it’s a damn tough read! I wanted to dig into...I’ve been reading the Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch. This is a non-fiction, pop-physics and philosophy of science book by a great physicist. And it’s a damn tough read!
I wanted to dig into to Deutsch’s work after hearing his thoughts on the limits of epistemology(theory of knowledge). He holds an outlier opinion in thinking that we human beings have no limits in how much we could understand about reality and the laws on nature. His reasoning for that is that we understand the laws of computation and that the physics of nature are analogous to computation. Therefore totally knowable. I’m still not totally sold on the epistemology. But the book is definitely fascinating. It also touches on other topics such as the relationships between quantum mechanics, theory of evolution, the problem of induction, virtual reality and the “reality of mathematical constructs.”
Reading the above paragraph I think I made it sound like a mess of crackpot conspiracies, but the arguments on his philosophy of science really are well reasoned. Just be prepared to think deeply about which arguments to take or reject! And you might need some light, relaxing reading after getting through this one. I know I will.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
apolz Link ParentDefinitely! Right now I’m waiting for the Kharkhanas trilogy to be out and I’m planning on reading those first.Definitely! Right now I’m waiting for the Kharkhanas trilogy to be out and I’m planning on reading those first.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
apolz Link ParentMalazan is truly epic! It took me so long (7-8 months) to get through the 10 main books that it felt like saying goodbye to an old friend by the end of it.Malazan is truly epic! It took me so long (7-8 months) to get through the 10 main books that it felt like saying goodbye to an old friend by the end of it.
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Comment on Shouldn't somebody *stop* "Meta Superintelligence Labs"? in ~tech
apolz Link ParentI don’t really agree with Yudkowsky, but this is just a total strawman of his argument. Nowhere in his writings does he say that he is scared of LLMs or even talks about them specifically. He is...I don’t really agree with Yudkowsky, but this is just a total strawman of his argument. Nowhere in his writings does he say that he is scared of LLMs or even talks about them specifically. He is worried about AI agents - meaning when people handoff some of their own power to AIs.
Spoiler alert: AI agents are already here and people are in fact handing off their own tasks and power to them. LLMs or whatever the models are, are just an implementation detail and have no relevance to the argument of taking them seriously.
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Comment on Why Koreans ask what year you were born in ~life
apolz LinkI’m glad I read the whole article because I learned about Korean age! What a delightfully bizarre concept! I wish the author would have opened with that one.I’m glad I read the whole article because I learned about Korean age! What a delightfully bizarre concept! I wish the author would have opened with that one.
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Comment on Which challenging book was worth the effort for you? in ~books
apolz LinkCrime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. Didn’t help that I was reading it in the original and my Russian is a bit rusty. However, the main issue I had with this book is the protagonist. He is awful!...Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. Didn’t help that I was reading it in the original and my Russian is a bit rusty. However, the main issue I had with this book is the protagonist. He is awful! In the first few chapters I felt like I’ve never read a book where I hated the protagonist more. It isn’t much of a spoiler to say that Rasskolnikov is just a terrible, terrible human being.
But that’s exactly the point of the book! This is deep, challenging, philosophical literature. The point is to examine Rasskolnikov, his misguided motivations, and just how costly his transgressions were to himself and to society.
I read it about six months ago, and haven’t stopped thinking about it since then. It really is a work of art. No wonder it’s been a best seller for about 150 years. Highly recommended!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
apolz Link ParentI played Sleeping Dogs for the first time a year or two ago and I gotta say it still holds up great! The Hong Kong setting and gritty atmosphere feel a lot more engaging than GTA V despite the...I miss the days of GTA clones.
I played Sleeping Dogs for the first time a year or two ago and I gotta say it still holds up great! The Hong Kong setting and gritty atmosphere feel a lot more engaging than GTA V despite the dated but passable graphics.
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Comment on Christopher Nolan’s next film is an adaptation of Homer’s ‘The Odyssey,’ Universal reveals in ~movies
apolz LinkI love Christopher Nolan, but I feel like this will either be awful or amazing. Either way, props to him for picking up the riskiest projects in Hollywood! The rest of the blockbuster movie...I love Christopher Nolan, but I feel like this will either be awful or amazing. Either way, props to him for picking up the riskiest projects in Hollywood! The rest of the blockbuster movie industry has been a total yawn for years.
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Comment on MiniPCs, portable monitors? in ~tech
apolz Link ParentExternal GPUs aren't worth the headache. ML engineers usually use their laptop to ssh into a real Linux server with GPUs and CUDA and all that.External GPUs aren't worth the headache. ML engineers usually use their laptop to ssh into a real Linux server with GPUs and CUDA and all that.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
apolz LinkTorment: Tides of Numenera - this game was the spiritual successor to the old-school CRPG Planescape: Torment. Numenera was made by some of the same devs as a kick-starter project. So if anyone is...Torment: Tides of Numenera - this game was the spiritual successor to the old-school CRPG Planescape: Torment. Numenera was made by some of the same devs as a kick-starter project. So if anyone is itching for some text-heavy CRPGs with an extremely rich setting then give it a shot!
The setting is Science-Fantasy Earth 9 billion years into the future (I think the sun aught to have went poof by then). It really takes the Clarckian adage about "any sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic" to heart. Full of nano/bio/xeno-engineering and true to the Torment line musings on philosophy of self-worth.
Combat sucks ass, there's no voiced dialogue so it's probably not for everyone. But I really enjoyed talking my way out of tricky situations rather than struggling with the boring combat system. Think of it more as a Role-Playing reading game.
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Comment on A message to our community: Unity is canceling the Runtime Fee in ~games
apolz Link ParentWhat do you mean no consequences? He got fired. What else did you expect?What do you mean no consequences? He got fired. What else did you expect?
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Comment on Grokking KOReader in ~books
apolz LinkAgreed with everyone else here that the author's font is hilariously unreadable. But like the author mentioned KOreader does allow any and all font and view customizations. KOreader is an amazing...Agreed with everyone else here that the author's font is hilariously unreadable. But like the author mentioned KOreader does allow any and all font and view customizations.
KOreader is an amazing tool. After getting used to it a few years ago I can't go back to any other reading UI. I like the swipe shortcuts to adjust day/night modes, warmth and backlight intensity. It has a lot of neat features like: pulling down RSS news feeds, word dictionaries (to keep up my Spanish), Calibre integrations, reading history and statistics, etc.
Recommend it to anyone that loves their e-reader and doesn't mind tinkering with power user tools.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~games
apolz Link ParentI am somewhat disappointed clicking into the link though. Was really looking forward to reading about some crazy Marxist, command-economy experiment in Eve Online ran by the Chinese Communist Party.I am somewhat disappointed clicking into the link though. Was really looking forward to reading about some crazy Marxist, command-economy experiment in Eve Online ran by the Chinese Communist Party.
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Comment on What are some great time savers on CLI that you would recommend? in ~comp
apolz Linkzsh with oh-my-zsh is great. Lot's small improvements over your basic bash. zellij is a neat replacement for screen/tmux with saner default settings than tmux. fd (sometimes called fd-find) is a...zsh with oh-my-zsh is great. Lot's small improvements over your basic bash.
zellij is a neat replacement for screen/tmux with saner default settings than tmux.
fd (sometimes called fd-find) is a great replacement for find with more powerful and easier to remember options.
sl - "steam locomotive" draws a silly train driving across your terminal anytime you misspelled an ls command. Never fails to bring a smile to my face.
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Comment on Spotify raises US prices of premium streaming plans for second time in one year in ~music
apolz Link ParentHere's a copy of the script: https://github.com/andpol5/spotify2ytmHere's a copy of the script: https://github.com/andpol5/spotify2ytm
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Comment on Spotify raises US prices of premium streaming plans for second time in one year in ~music
apolz Link ParentI uploaded the script here: https://github.com/andpol5/spotify2ytmI uploaded the script here:
https://github.com/andpol5/spotify2ytm -
Comment on US-made M270 and HIMARS hammer targets inside Russia, first cross-border strikes since Joe Biden green light in ~society
apolz Link ParentI wish that were true. Unfortunately Russia is still advancing. And there's of course the risk of "Trump ending the war in 24 hours" - meaning stopping US military aid to Ukraine. Russia's...I wish that were true. Unfortunately Russia is still advancing. And there's of course the risk of "Trump ending the war in 24 hours" - meaning stopping US military aid to Ukraine.
Russia's military performance has been pathetic at the individual infantryman and the small unit level, but that's always been true. This is how they won on the Eastern Front of WW2.
The war in Ukraine is fundamentally down to Western support. If we drop it, they will lose. Saying that Russia already lost isn't helpful, it breeds complacency.
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Comment on Spotify raises US prices of premium streaming plans for second time in one year in ~music
apolz Link ParentThe YTM recommendation engine is better than Spotify in my opinion! It gets the genre right and actually recommends other songs I haven't heard in that genre. Spotify was always far too repetitive...The YTM recommendation engine is better than Spotify in my opinion! It gets the genre right and actually recommends other songs I haven't heard in that genre. Spotify was always far too repetitive for my taste.
I wrote a Python script for myself and my wife to export playlists and songs to YTM. I can share that if you're knowledgeable about Python, otherwise you can try some online tools that do this for you.
Andromeda Nebula is an interesting choice. If you or anyone else is looking for a quick Soviet sci-fi short story then check out Crab Island by Dneprov. It’s about robots and evolution.