balooga's recent activity
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Comment on Six months with Zen Browser in ~tech
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Comment on I don’t know if my software engineering job will still exist in ten years in ~comp
balooga Link ParentIt’s interesting to see what the models do with less popular languages. They’re great with Python or JavaScript but if they haven’t been trained on a large enough corpus of something the cracks...It’s interesting to see what the models do with less popular languages. They’re great with Python or JavaScript but if they haven’t been trained on a large enough corpus of something the cracks begin to show.
I recently started a Codex project with AssemblyScript. I’m deliberately building a workflow around “read the relevant docs first, then code” and requiring a full build in the definition of done for all tasks, but it’s too early to say if that will be effective. AS is very similar to TypeScript (which is why I like it)… I’m not sure if that similarity is going to be helpful or a footgun for the AI. So far I’ve been really impressed with GPT-5.4 though.
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Comment on Six months with Zen Browser in ~tech
balooga LinkIs Zen any good for development? I assume it’s got Firefox’s dev tools baked into it? I’m also curious if it supports userChrome.css UI customization (or something equivalent).Is Zen any good for development? I assume it’s got Firefox’s dev tools baked into it?
I’m also curious if it supports
userChrome.cssUI customization (or something equivalent). -
Comment on I don’t know if my software engineering job will still exist in ten years in ~comp
balooga Link ParentI really have no idea at this point. I want to pursue a creative outlet. I’ve been dabbling in screenwriting and music production. Also continuing in software but on my own terms, as a solo game...I really have no idea at this point. I want to pursue a creative outlet. I’ve been dabbling in screenwriting and music production. Also continuing in software but on my own terms, as a solo game dev. I still enjoy writing code but it’s the other parts of the industry I’ve soured on.
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Comment on I don’t know if my software engineering job will still exist in ten years in ~comp
balooga LinkI’m an SE. Or was, until I was laid off last fall. AI was never mentioned as a factor in the layoffs but it’s certainly a factor in my prospects for future SE work. I know the state of agentic...I’m an SE. Or was, until I was laid off last fall. AI was never mentioned as a factor in the layoffs but it’s certainly a factor in my prospects for future SE work. I know the state of agentic coding today, I see its trajectory, and I can read the writing on the wall: We’re cooked. I was already burned out and looking for a career change before the layoff. This AI situation is just the last straw for me. In a way I’m grateful I won’t be actively in an SE role as the next few years play out. Still looking for the next thing, but I’m getting the signal loud and clear that it’s time for me to move on from dev work.
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Comment on Shipping a button in 2026… in ~comp
balooga LinkThis pretty well encapsulates my career burnout. So much PTSD crammed into under 10 minutes! Gonna need to just curl up in a ball for a while, then find a new vocation.This pretty well encapsulates my career burnout. So much PTSD crammed into under 10 minutes! Gonna need to just curl up in a ball for a while, then find a new vocation.
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Comment on Megan Ellison is hiring: Annapurna mogul revs up movie ambitions again in ~movies
balooga Link ParentThis is so much fascinating context. I have loved Annapurna Interactive games, and Annapurna movies — though I wasn’t aware Annapurna even did movies or that there was a connection there. I...This is so much fascinating context. I have loved Annapurna Interactive games, and Annapurna movies — though I wasn’t aware Annapurna even did movies or that there was a connection there. I certainly never suspected that thoughtful, artistic indie company had any association with the Ellisons. Never heard of Megan before. So I’m learning a lot here and have a lot of very conflicted feelings about the whole thing, which are slightly assuaged by this picture of her place in the family dynamic.
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Comment on Sony pulls back from PlayStation games on PC in ~games
balooga Link ParentHeh, I’ve been using that word for years but never knew what it was abbreviating. The more you know 🌠Heh, I’ve been using that word for years but never knew what it was abbreviating. The more you know 🌠
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Comment on Using procedural generation to create the 10,000 landscapes in The Sentinel in ~games
balooga LinkThis is really cool. I wasn’t familiar with The Sentinel but I’ve been learning about procgen and it’s always interesting to see how it’s been used by others.This is really cool. I wasn’t familiar with The Sentinel but I’ve been learning about procgen and it’s always interesting to see how it’s been used by others.
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Comment on Documents reveal a web of financial ties between Donald Trump officials and the US industries they help regulate in ~society
balooga Link ParentI honestly don't know why people still talk about impeachment like it means anything at all. Trump was impeached twice. Nothing happened. He was not removed from office. Two other presidents were...I honestly don't know why people still talk about impeachment like it means anything at all. Trump was impeached twice. Nothing happened. He was not removed from office. Two other presidents were impeached before him, and nothing happened to them either. Impeachment sounds like a useful tool on paper, but in practice it's completely toothless. After 250 years it still has yet to do the thing it's intended to do, even once.
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Comment on Tell me about your favourite web-based logic puzzles! in ~games
balooga Link ParentSorry to keep bumping this thread but I’ve got a few days of stats under my belt now (I was #1 yesterday!) and finally decided to try the guest account migration flow with Discord. This is within...Sorry to keep bumping this thread but I’ve got a few days of stats under my belt now (I was #1 yesterday!) and finally decided to try the guest account migration flow with Discord. This is within the PWA on iOS.
I was able to authenticate and authorize Gametje but the next screen afterward was the login view on your side, with the Discord/Google/Guest choices. The Discord option just repeated that process, returning me to the same place. Since I don’t want to use Google and there are no other choices on this screen (or standard nav controls because PWA) I tried Continue as Guest. That brought me back to the game, but with my existing session wiped. Looks like I lost all my stats. 😭
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Comment on US Pentagon leverages AI in Iran strikes amid feud with Anthropic in ~society
balooga LinkI think this is the context we were missing in the last thread about this. Anthropic's two objections were autonomous killing, and mass surveillance. I think we weren't really sure what to make of...I think this is the context we were missing in the last thread about this. Anthropic's two objections were autonomous killing, and mass surveillance. I think we weren't really sure what to make of that because Claude isn't particularly well suited for either.
The missing piece is that Palantir is the backend for both. Maven is using mass surveillance to facilitate (semi-)autonomous killing. Claude is just a frontend they've integrated with that system. Which violates their ToS. Things make a lot more sense now.
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Comment on LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users at scale with surprising accuracy in ~tech
balooga Link ParentI was just thinking about the value of a tool that could do that retroactively. I’m careful about what I write but still, it all just lives online forever after I hit the post button. It’s...I was just thinking about the value of a tool that could do that retroactively. I’m careful about what I write but still, it all just lives online forever after I hit the post button. It’s anybody’s guess how some long-forgotten throwaway comment could be used against me years from now by some internet historian with an axe to grind. Some people have taken to nuking all their post history but that’s too destructive for my tastes; I want people to be able to read threads in the future without having to guess what used to be in the deleted parts.
But if I had a bot that waited until a thread I participated in was dormant, and then came in and fuzzed my comment, that could be interesting. It would have to use an LLM specifically prompted to (1) remove stylometric identifiers, and (2) replace all remotely identifiable details with fabrications. While also taking the whole context into consideration so it doesn’t change the meaning of the comment or break continuity with any later replies in the thread. I wonder if anybody would find that useful. Probably a lot of people would hate it, lol
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Comment on What are you no longer a fan of? in ~talk
balooga Link ParentI was pretty into that scene half a lifetime ago. The first concert I ever attended was dc Talk and Jars of Clay, in the mid ‘90s. My first job was corralling the CDs in a chain Christian...98% of Christian music
I was pretty into that scene half a lifetime ago. The first concert I ever attended was dc Talk and Jars of Clay, in the mid ‘90s. My first job was corralling the CDs in a chain Christian bookstore. I was a huge Tooth & Nail fan, my tastes ran the gamut from The Juliana Theory to John Reuben to Joy Electric and The Echoing Green. Got into sound engineering running the boards for a few churches and youth groups, and rode that into broadcasting at a local Christian radio station. I spent the summer of ‘05 digitizing a huge library of the worst CCM from the ‘70s and ‘80s for an early “solid gold” streaming radio startup, now that was an interesting couple of months, ha. I had my sights on hosting a countdown style show of my own to boost new releases, hell I even made the pilot episode for that.
Well my career went in a very different direction and, I guess, I got old. It seemed like all the new music was either obnoxious scene kid screamo or absolute brainless worship sludge. I guess people’s musical tastes tend to anchor to whatever they listened to in high school… I knew it wasn’t for me anymore. I stopped keeping up with that world. Eventually (many years later) I lost my faith as well, and now I look back on my time in that culture as a sort of nostalgic curiosity. I wonder where I’d be today if I hadn’t changed career tracks.
From time to time I’ll look up bands I used to like and see what they’re up to. I’m kind of relieved that Five Iron Frenzy’s still playing shows. Most of what I see is tragic. I was shocked that Skillet went full MAGA but I guess most of them did. Newsboys too, but of course that’s all overshadowed now with the ongoing Michael Tait bombshells, which I grimly suspect could become the Epstein files of the Nashville CCM world. There’s something really troubling happening there, being kept under wraps, I think. Feels like the whole Christian recording industry is rotting, it leaves me feeling empty inside.
I’ve long wished I had the resources to make a “where are they now” documentary about the CCM scene I remember. I just want to catch up with people who were in it then, and either walked away or were pushed out. I want to catch up with Jennifer Knapp, Amy Grant, Ray Boltz, David Bazan, Ja’Marc Davis, Derek Webb… anybody who tasted that fame and controversy’d out. I just want to hear their stories.
I don’t listen to much of that music anymore, but there are definitely times when nothing else scratches the itch.
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Comment on Tell me about your favourite web-based logic puzzles! in ~games
balooga Link ParentQuestion for you— I just played today’s and scored 90 points for one of my answers. When I expanded the top three, it showed me words valuing 100, 87, and 74 points. No mention of my word in the...Question for you— I just played today’s and scored 90 points for one of my answers. When I expanded the top three, it showed me words valuing 100, 87, and 74 points. No mention of my word in the list though. What could be the cause of that?
Spoilers about the word that may be relevant
The adjective was SONIC. I guessed HEDGEHOG. These two words aren’t usually adjacent — they’re separated by “the” — but apparently that’s okay for scoring purposes. But the top 3 words (BOOM, SCREWDRIVER, and WEAPON) are always adjacent to the adjective. I’m not sure if that’s relevant but it seems like it might be.
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Comment on The US Pentagon says it’s ‘lethalitymaxxing’. Why has ‘incel’ slang crossed into the mainstream? in ~society
balooga Link ParentIt’s Pokémon GO to the polls all over again. cringeIt’s Pokémon GO to the polls all over again. cringe
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Comment on The US Pentagon says it’s ‘lethalitymaxxing’. Why has ‘incel’ slang crossed into the mainstream? in ~society
balooga Link ParentEverything’s a remix… I assumed the incels borrowed it from “min-maxxing” which is a gaming thing all about optimizing character builds in spreadsheety ways. I think? That’s not my scene either so...Everything’s a remix… I assumed the incels borrowed it from “min-maxxing” which is a gaming thing all about optimizing character builds in spreadsheety ways. I think? That’s not my scene either so maybe I just made that up but I thought that was a term in MMO circles.
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Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: February 2026 Voting Topic in ~games
balooga (edited )Link ParentMy instinct is to do something like this: Count the total existing rollover votes, r, and the total new votes cast in this round, n. I haven’t looked at the numbers for either but for example...My instinct is to do something like this:
- Count the total existing rollover votes, r, and the total new votes cast in this round, n. I haven’t looked at the numbers for either but for example let’s say there were 180 votes last time and 100 votes this time.
- Calculate n / r, so
100 / 180 ≈ 0.56which becomes the weight to apply to (multiply by) all rollover votes. Round to the nearest whole number for every title. - Add this round’s unweighted votes to the weighted rollover votes to get the adjusted results for this round. If any title’s votes got rounded to zero, wipe that title from the list.
- After winner selection, the remaining results will be used as rollovers for the next round, repeating the process.
Edit: I forgot to answer your first question. I voted for games I want to play! Of course my first ballot was invalid and that one was specifically intended to get Space Rogue on the charts lol
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Comment on The US Pentagon says it’s ‘lethalitymaxxing’. Why has ‘incel’ slang crossed into the mainstream? in ~society
balooga Link404 Media recently ran an opinion piece called We Have Learned Nothing About Amplifying Morons. I love and endorse the title, but IMHO the article itself is pretty meandering and ineffective....404 Media recently ran an opinion piece called We Have Learned Nothing About Amplifying Morons. I love and endorse the title, but IMHO the article itself is pretty meandering and ineffective. Still, it does refer back to Whitney Phillips’ groundbreaking 2018 report The Oxygen of Amplification: Better Practices for Reporting on Extremists, Antagonists, and Manipulators. Journalists today, including those from The Guardian, would do well to review the lessons from that.
Of course, the Trump administration isn’t journalists and their fascist agenda is engineered to be at odds with neutral truth-telling. So no one should be surprised they’re gleefully amplifying other fascist brain rot. It’s nothing but a victory for them if American culture is pulled deeper into the vortex of antisocial nihilistic idiocy. That’s brand synergy, baby!
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Comment on Device that can extract 1,000 liters of clean water a day from desert air revealed by 2025 Nobel Prize winner in ~enviro
balooga Link ParentMy gut tells me it would be negligible just because of the size difference between the wind farm and the amount of atmosphere above it. Feels like we’re barely skimming from the edge. I wouldn’t...My gut tells me it would be negligible just because of the size difference between the wind farm and the amount of atmosphere above it. Feels like we’re barely skimming from the edge. I wouldn’t think they would be more disruptive than a tall forest, or a city.
Cool, thanks for confirming. Looks like userChrome.css is supported with some kind of live-editing feature, which sounds useful. I’m tempted to switch but it’s hard to overcome the momentum of my current browser. I use Firefox Developer Edition and have a lot of things dialed in just how I like them. Tons of open tabs I would lose too, but of course that’s part of the problem and the reason why Zen looks interesting.