bayne's recent activity

  1. Comment on Looking for novel retro puzzle game recommendations in ~games

    bayne
    Link
    One early afternoon I was lying on the couch trying to recover from the brink of burnout by taking a nap. As I descended my layers of consciousness into what I hoped to be a couple minutes of...

    One early afternoon I was lying on the couch trying to recover from the brink of burnout by taking a nap. As I descended my layers of consciousness into what I hoped to be a couple minutes of REM.. a single word popped into my brain: Zoop

    It was something I haven't thought about for more than two decades. It wasn't even something that was consequential in my life or even nostalgic. As with everyone else during the time it was released.. it was just kinda meh given all the hype and marketing. They wanted it to be the next Tetris so bad, they thought marketing and advertising would be what would get them embedded in the collective consciousness and join the immortal ranks that Tetris held. It appears they got part of the way there. Instead of the compulsive hum of the theme song when I'm organizing the back of a moving truck or cluttered drawer, they got a dusty corner of my mind as a tripping hazard for my servant of Somnus'

    4 votes

  2. Comment on The vast majority ~90% of us only consume, never post and never comment. So come on in, leave a tildes-worthy comment, and join the 10% my dear lurker in ~talk

    bayne
    Link
    I'm a lurker and I have always been. I want to post more but the thoughts don't flow as easily as I imagine it does for others. The content we consume shapes us and the world we live in (and even...

    I'm a lurker and I have always been. I want to post more but the thoughts don't flow as easily as I imagine it does for others. The content we consume shapes us and the world we live in (and even more so as technology marches on at connecting us and summarizing us).

    So I believe we need more participants, we need more voices and we need more diversity of thought. The more content created by the less typical "content-producer", the better the community.

    Also I'm not talking about one word comments like "first" or "yes". And I'm not talking about single sentence comments that lack the ability for follow up (ex. puns or jokes). And not just another trill from the hive mind.

    I'm talking about an echo of your person, something that partially shows something about you. We each have unique experiences and something to contribute. I feel like that's what tildes is about and it's what I meant by tildes-worthy.

    The current 10% is not good enough. They are a small portion of us and they aren't representative. You ever find yourself reading through posts or comments and not seeing yourself in any of them? It's not because you don't belong, it's because the many others that are just like you, are like you and they are also a lurker. This isn't a knock on the current 10% but rather a call to the 90% of us to go ahead and participate.

    I'm ND and it might be coming out through my writing. It might be a bit less structured, less cohesive, more cringe, and more preachy than the typical post but I think that's what I was going for. I wanted an example for the bar to be low to increase participation but I also want the bar to still ask for your individualality.

    What do you think? Am I wrong and it should it stay as the 10%? Am I right and can we have a majority that participates? Maybe you have tangent that is related?

    23 votes

  4. Comment on Computational tyranny in ~society

    bayne
    Link
    Sometimes I come across a blog post that captures and distills a vague notion I've been carrying around in my head. It's the idea that complexity of systems and an individual person's limit to...

    Sometimes I come across a blog post that captures and distills a vague notion I've been carrying around in my head. It's the idea that complexity of systems and an individual person's limit to comprehend them is used to reinforce those same systems.

    The question of whether is malicious or not is a bit more difficult for me and so with the limited information I follow Hanlon's Razor for my own sanity. If it is a self-reinforcing system then I believe just being aware of this side-effect of complexity will help in the long run, specifically if you have influence over designing a simple vs complex system. Personally I've always preferred simpler systems that solve today's problem rather than an unlikely next year's problem, seeing complexity through this lens just cements it even further.

    4 votes

  6. Comment on Paying for AI: Have you found it to be worth it? in ~tech

    bayne
    Link Parent
    Yep that's pretty much how I use it and I kinda see myself using it like that for a while. The AI things that try to automate everything or try to solve too many problems at once always seem to...

    Yep that's pretty much how I use it and I kinda see myself using it like that for a while. The AI things that try to automate everything or try to solve too many problems at once always seem to fail to deliver.
    I actually wrote a CLI tool (as many others have) that fits my workflow specifically for this, honestly the APIs between the models are fairly consistent so was straightforward to do this. Highly recommend building your own for your own custom needs. If you do build one be wary of building on top of others tools/libraries, lots of cruft out there that tries to seem like it does everything for everyone. My engineering philosophy is to try to only do as much abstraction as absolutely necessary and it as served me well so far

    1 vote

  7. Comment on What advantages does Linux have over other operating systems? in ~tech

    bayne
    Link Parent
    I've been an on and off Linux user for almost two decades (but past 5 years though I've been full time). There are days where I talk to non-computer people and I have a hard time explaining why I...

    I've been an on and off Linux user for almost two decades (but past 5 years though I've been full time). There are days where I talk to non-computer people and I have a hard time explaining why I use Linux or what it gives me. Then there are days where I'll spend hours working on a Linux specific thing but at the end I'll feel like "I've made this more complicated than it should be" (albeit I enjoy tinkering so not really wasted time).

    It's those days I want to re-read your post because you hit the nail on the head. Heck I want to print that quote and hang it above my desk.

    It's about control and empowerment. A big part of the joy I get from my tech is the feeling of ownership and you can't have ownership without control.

    15 votes

  8. Comment on New York passes legislation that would ban 'addictive' social media algorithms for kids in ~tech

    bayne
    Link Parent
    The closest thing I can think of is banning certain products on specific mediums (tobacco on television). The problem with advertisements compared with the content that surrounds them is that the...

    The closest thing I can think of is banning certain products on specific mediums (tobacco on television). The problem with advertisements compared with the content that surrounds them is that the content is partially an artistic expression. It might be designed to improve engagement but the audience is in control. The audience is allowed to choose what they consume.

    Advertisements employ dark patterns that are designed for the advertisers at the detriment of the consumer of the advertisement. Additionally the advertisements are not an artistic expression but rather something designed to influence, the relationship is adversarial instead of service-oriented.

    Currently we view digital advertisements as annoying but normal. Most people won't change their behavior if they encounter it and will tune it out. If we transition to a place where it is stigmatized (like tobacco on TV or inappropriate content on public screens) then the value of an "impression" goes down.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on New York passes legislation that would ban 'addictive' social media algorithms for kids in ~tech

    bayne
    Link Parent
    Personally I would say yes but I can see how a law banning the ads not being effective for those types of ads in the immediate. I also believe the side effects of the laws will be also useful....

    Personally I would say yes but I can see how a law banning the ads not being effective for those types of ads in the immediate. I also believe the side effects of the laws will be also useful. Digital ads right now are just considered an annoyance but normal. If it was made illegal to target children, then it becomes something truly negative and harmful.

    Once that is established in the public consciousness then people will start making better decisions (do I go see the movie that is blatantly something I consider harmful? Do I use a service that has psychologically destructive content?)

    2 votes

  10. Comment on New York passes legislation that would ban 'addictive' social media algorithms for kids in ~tech

    bayne
    Link Parent
    You are absolutely right, we should also ban digital ads to adults. Think about all the negative progress the Internet has made in the past 30 years and you'll find that for many of them the...

    You are absolutely right, we should also ban digital ads to adults. Think about all the negative progress the Internet has made in the past 30 years and you'll find that for many of them the driving force behind it all is digital advertising. But that's too radical of an idea and I think starting with banning it for children is a good stepping stone.

    6 votes

  11. Comment on New York passes legislation that would ban 'addictive' social media algorithms for kids in ~tech

    bayne
    Link
    A much easier legislation would be to ban digital ads targeting children. Remove the incentive to maximize how addictive the social media is and businesses are no longer going to spend resources...

    A much easier legislation would be to ban digital ads targeting children. Remove the incentive to maximize how addictive the social media is and businesses are no longer going to spend resources on something they can't profit from.

    32 votes

  12. Comment on The tech baron seeking to “ethnically cleanse” San Francisco in ~society

    bayne
    Link Parent
    Which is surprising considering that programming is just an act of repeatedly learning how wrong you are about things

    Which is surprising considering that programming is just an act of repeatedly learning how wrong you are about things

    18 votes