bitshift's recent activity
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Comment on Ladybird un-chooses Swift as its successor language to C++ in ~comp
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Comment on The ten best and ten worst US foreign policy decisions in ~humanities.history
bitshift Link ParentI hope I wasn't being overly nihilistic by linking that parable! I meant to inspire perspective, not apathy. The glib answer is, "Because it's the right thing to do," and although it's not an...I hope I wasn't being overly nihilistic by linking that parable! I meant to inspire perspective, not apathy.
why do anything at all
The glib answer is, "Because it's the right thing to do," and although it's not an intellectually satisfying answer, I feel it in my bones. Nothing matters, sure, but also everything matters.
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Comment on The ten best and ten worst US foreign policy decisions in ~humanities.history
bitshift Link ParentI also hope it will be positive eventually! Sometimes I think about the grade school history textbooks a century from now. We've had a bunch of presidents who were anti-establishment and/or...I also hope it will be positive eventually!
Sometimes I think about the grade school history textbooks a century from now. We've had a bunch of presidents who were anti-establishment and/or grifters, and I remember once learning the material. But by now I've forgotten most of what they did.
US presidents prior to 1926, for whom I can remember something without looking them up:
- George Washington and Abraham Lincoln (happy birthday!) are cemented in history.
- Jefferson is iconic, though sometimes for problematic reasons.
- Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt are memorable for being larger-than-life action men.
- Andrew Johnson did something wrong (can't remember) and got impeached; memorable for being the first, I guess.
- Grover Cleveland was the first to serve non-consecutive terms, but I don't know why he got voted out.
- William McKinley and James Garfield, noteworthy for being assassinated.
- Wilson was the WWI guy. Coolidge was the "You lose" guy, though I don't remember if that actually happened.
- Harrison was that guy who caught a cold and died right away.
A century from now, who will school kids remember from the years 1926-2026? FDR, JFK, Nixon, Obama. George W. Bush because of 9/11, Johnson because of civil rights, Eisenhower because of freeways. Trump might be the COVID guy in the same way that Hoover was the Depression guy, but I'm not sure that will be memorable long term (cf. Spanish Flu). Reagan was the "Tear down this wall" guy. Not sure if they'll remember Clinton.
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Comment on The ten best and ten worst US foreign policy decisions in ~humanities.history
bitshift Link ParentDefinitely! I learned some stuff reading it. Re: having to wait to judge the ramifications: I'm reminded of the parable "The old man lost his horse": A man's horse runs away. His neighbors say how...Definitely! I learned some stuff reading it.
Re: having to wait to judge the ramifications: I'm reminded of the parable "The old man lost his horse":
- A man's horse runs away. His neighbors say how horrible it is, but his dad says, "Maybe, who knows."
- The horse returns with a herd of wild horses. Neighbors say how wonderful, but his dad says, "Who knows."
- He falls off one of the wild horses and breaks his leg. Neighbors say how horrible, but his dad says, "Who knows."
- The broken leg exempts him from military service, and he survives while many other men died… Who knows?
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Comment on The ten best and ten worst US foreign policy decisions in ~humanities.history
bitshift LinkI'm curious about their criteria. Sometimes the ranking seems to be based on whether an action was shameful versus upright, and other times it's just whether it was a savvy decision in the...I'm curious about their criteria. Sometimes the ranking seems to be based on whether an action was shameful versus upright, and other times it's just whether it was a savvy decision in the interest of the country.
It feels strange to see the Louisiana Purchase listed as a good policy decision, simultaneously with the Trail of Tears (which it enabled) being listed as a bad one. I mean, it also makes total sense, because I can't call the Louisiana Purchase a bad deal for the US, nor can I condone the Trail of Tears—and they happened under different leadership as well. I'm just saying it sounds weird to hear, "The US expanded! :-)" and in the same breath, "The US expanded. :-("
I was surprised to see the bombing of Nagasaki listed as a foreign policy fail. My layman's understanding was that it forced an unconditional surrender, which led to the US remaking Japan and maintaining military dominance in the region. Maybe that would have happened anyway, but I can also imagine a world where the Cold War unfolded very differently in East Asia. (Also, if weather really was a factor, was it even a decision? As long as we're brainstorming alternate history: if the skies had been clear for two more days, and the Japanese had surrendered during those two days, we'd be praising the US for their restraint.)
Finally, I just have to comment on the Tildes metadata:
Published Jan 1 1793
Word count 36 words -
Comment on Hundreds of mysterious Victorian-era shoes are washing up on a beach in Wales in ~humanities.history
bitshift Link ParentThank you for sharing that! It's the first clear explanation I've seen on the topic. I was reading the BBC article which does make a passing reference to the shoes being "embedded in the river...Thank you for sharing that! It's the first clear explanation I've seen on the topic.
I was reading the BBC article which does make a passing reference to the shoes being "embedded in the river banks," implying they washed ashore years ago and erosion is releasing them. But the article also mentions that "shipwrecks from the Victorian era could now be starting to degrade and fall apart," implying the shoes only recently left the wreckage and washed ashore. Very confusing.
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Comment on Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’ in ~tech
bitshift Link ParentFYI, ECLAG citing the Stanford study might not be the best support of their argument. There's a game of telephone where ECLAG's position paper has (their boldface): …with footnote 7 citing the...FYI, ECLAG citing the Stanford study might not be the best support of their argument. There's a game of telephone where ECLAG's position paper has (their boldface):
Similar to pornography, the stimulation arising from watching CSAM,
including AI-CSAM, is proven to often increase CSAM addiction and even fuel existing
fantasies of in-person child sexual abuse.7…with footnote 7 citing the Stanford paper, which says something similar but in much milder words. The most relevant part I could find:
However, neither the viability nor efficacy of such a practice has been sufficiently studied and many warn that, for some, this material could have an adverse effect—lowering barriers of inhibition or contributing to existing fantasies of real-world abuse.16
…which is much less confident wording. Insufficient study? And who's the "many"? Grumble grumble avoid weasel words next time, but I presume they mean the studies cited by the summary paper that is footnote 16 (my cherrypicking from the relevant section):
The material has been argued to potentially serve as a gateway to contact offending (Maras and Shapiro 2017), as the offender may become desensitized to passive viewing, finding it to be insufficient over time (Schell et al. 2007).
While engaging with abusive material does not inevitably result in contact offending (Henshaw et al. 2015), there are effects to the exposure of such.
Given VCSAM is related in content to CSAM, the ongoing effects of exposure to VCSAM is an important avenue for future research.
So there are real concerns, founded in real pathways by which an increase in AI imagery might increase physical harm to children. But there's also a lot of carefully hedged language (and the cliché of researchers saying more research is needed). ECLAG's wording of "is proven" feels like a stretch when describing the current research, even assuming their conclusion is correct.
I didn't dig any further. But I will say that, after that deep dive, I'm more concerned than I was beforehand re: AI imagery. Most of my increased concern is around the second-order effects, though, and Pandora's box is already open to varying degrees on that front. (And unfortunately that's a larger issue than just CSAM cases—regardless of the crime, seeing is no longer believing when it comes to evaluating evidence.)
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Comment on Indie Game Awards rescinds Clair Obscur's GOTY wins over use of generative AI [for now-removed background assets] in ~games
bitshift Link ParentTotally agree that what makes a game "indie" is hard to quantify. I used budget as an example since that was something @macleod mentioned, and it was an easy way to demonstrate following the...CO33 was developed like a high budget AA(A) game [...] Even that is hardly quantifiable.
Totally agree that what makes a game "indie" is hard to quantify. I used budget as an example since that was something @macleod mentioned, and it was an easy way to demonstrate following the letter of the rules without satisfying the spirit.
I still have a question, though. What qualifications does one currently need to enter a game for the Indie Game Awards?
Maybe the answer is there are no qualifications. Maybe accepting any and all games for consideration, then kicking out the ones that don't "feel right" on technicalities, is just an example of the system working. And if you're a big studio that's definitely not indie by any metric, you're probably going to filter yourself out because there's nothing to gain by trying.
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Comment on Indie Game Awards rescinds Clair Obscur's GOTY wins over use of generative AI [for now-removed background assets] in ~games
bitshift Link ParentComing in as a curious outsider here… How come they weren't disqualified right off the bat for being professional game devs? One scenario I'm imagining is there's some entrance criteria for who is...Coming in as a curious outsider here… How come they weren't disqualified right off the bat for being professional game devs?
One scenario I'm imagining is there's some entrance criteria for who is truely indie, such as (and I'm making this up), "It can't be a true indie game if you spent more than $10 million." And the E33 team had a budget of $9.5 million, so they said to themselves, hey, let's go enter our game for that award! We might step on a few toes because for other cultural reasons we're unlike everyone else there, but we satisfy the letter of the law, right?
(Again, I'm making up that scenario. But if the awards were searching for a technicality on which to throw them out, I'm curious how they got into it in the first place.)
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Comment on Big company names join US lawsuit against Donald Trump-backed tariffs including Costco and Revlon in ~finance
bitshift Link ParentAt the risk of being too Pollyanna-ish, I'm personally grateful for a legal system where it is possible to sue the government, even in theory. It wasn't that long ago when, if your lord or your...At the risk of being too Pollyanna-ish, I'm personally grateful for a legal system where it is possible to sue the government, even in theory. It wasn't that long ago when, if your lord or your king cheated you somehow, welp! Guess you're not getting that gold back, huh?
(I'm aware I'm glossing over pretty much all of world history here. If you have cool facts about historical legal systems, I'm all ears!)
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Comment on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end all monkey research in ~science
bitshift Link ParentSpoken like a true paperclip maximizer!“My goal is to save animals, not science,” Goodman replied. “I could care less about scientific institutions and whether they burn.”
Spoken like a true paperclip maximizer!
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Comment on NATO alphabet in ~talk
bitshift Link ParentI just now got the joke that the P in psychology in silent. My other favorite is Thomson's "without a P, as in Venezuela."I just now got the joke that the P in psychology in silent.
My other favorite is Thomson's "without a P, as in Venezuela."
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Comment on Dithering explainer in ~tech
bitshift Link ParentI bet the author will cover Atkinson dithering. Though I didn't see anything in the demo that indicates they had that specific algorithm in mind: error diffusion is a whole category (e.g.,...I bet the author will cover Atkinson dithering. Though I didn't see anything in the demo that indicates they had that specific algorithm in mind: error diffusion is a whole category (e.g., Floyd-Steinberg, Sierra…) of which Atkinson is one variant.
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Comment on People with a very good memory: does that make it harder to forgive? in ~talk
bitshift Link ParentI was hoping someone would write this! It's a pessimistic assumption that the full record of interactions with a person, good and bad, would paint them in a negative light. If you truly believe...I can remember both the sum of things (plenty of good they've also done) or I can place it in context better (the sum of negative things others have done)
I was hoping someone would write this! It's a pessimistic assumption that the full record of interactions with a person, good and bad, would paint them in a negative light.
If you truly believe that having a better memory would dredge up more bad than good, the logical thing is to start holding speculative grudges: on average they did something bad to you, even if you can't remember what it was. And the future is just as real as the past, so don't forget to make some preemptive grudges as well! (I'm joking to make a point. Try not to hold grudges, it's bad for you.)
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Comment on North Korean Career Coaches in ~comp
bitshift LinkSo… North Korea decides where you work. North Korea helps you cheat on the interview. You then cheat North Korea, who knows where you live and where you work. Interesting thought exercise, but I...So…
- North Korea decides where you work.
- North Korea helps you cheat on the interview.
- You then cheat North Korea, who knows where you live and where you work.
Interesting thought exercise, but I feel the problems are pretty glaring.
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Comment on Paying for AI: Have you found it to be worth it? in ~tech
bitshift Link ParentI will second Claude projects. They sounded like a gimmick to me at first, but they've turned out to be super helpful so far: they eliminate the overhead of specifying the same context over and...I will second Claude projects. They sounded like a gimmick to me at first, but they've turned out to be super helpful so far: they eliminate the overhead of specifying the same context over and over with each new chat. You can definitely work around this manually—just ask really detailed questions. But it's so nice to upload (for example) a .txt of some software's help file and have it automatically just know all that.
You can also use AI to help generate context documents. Start a new chat: "Let's pretend you're a new person on my team. I'll start describing the project, and you ask questions about what you don't understand." Then have a back-and-forth conversation. After a while, you ask it to write an "onboarding doc" in Markdown, you do some editing on your own, and then you upload the doc to the project. It still takes effort; the AI can't magically know your situation, and you still have to type all the details. But you can do it in a more casual manner, and you don't waste time describing things the AI already knows.
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Comment on The future of forums is lies, I guess in ~tech
bitshift Link ParentDid you directly email one of the admins an application or something? I got my account basically from posting "me too" or something equally low effort on one of the regularly-posted "who wants an...Did you directly email one of the admins an application or something? I got my account basically from posting "me too" or something equally low effort on one of the regularly-posted "who wants an account" Reddit threads.
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Comment on The future of forums is lies, I guess in ~tech
bitshift Link ParentI presume MMOs are trying these things to some degree. If I were running an MMO, I'd be concerned not just about catching bad actors at account creation time, but also catching legit users who get...I presume MMOs are trying these things to some degree. If I were running an MMO, I'd be concerned not just about catching bad actors at account creation time, but also catching legit users who get tired of grinding and install a bot/cheat/etc.
the more realistic the bots are made the less lucrative they become to run
Thanks for putting that into words so concisely. I hope it stays true for a while!
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Comment on The future of forums is lies, I guess in ~tech
bitshift Link ParentI like the idea of fighting LLMs with LLMs. It's not a perfect solution, but as the technology gets cheaper, it benefits the cat too, not just the mouse. In general, I think spam filters and other...I like the idea of fighting LLMs with LLMs. It's not a perfect solution, but as the technology gets cheaper, it benefits the cat too, not just the mouse.
In general, I think spam filters and other behavior-observing approaches are underutilized. Look at the behavior that aphyr documented: just enough fakery to get in the door, and then the first post is something an LLM could easily flag. And actually, an LLM would be overkill. Even a simple Bayesian filter would know most users on that site do not write all about batteries in their first post.
Granted, a determined spammer could continue the fakery for several posts and try to build a persona. But my point is that by observing behavior over time, you've successfully raised the bar for spammers in a way that mostly doesn't impact users. A spammer can automate some of the work, but they have to make sure their bot never slips up in any of its interactions. A user just has to be themselves.
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Comment on ASCII Moon: View and cycle through the Moon's phases, rendered in ASCII art in ~space
bitshift LinkI am not the first person to complain about this, but the Moon is drawn in the wrong shape. It has a big circular cutout right now, like somebody took a bite out of it; no spherical object is...I am not the first person to complain about this, but the Moon is drawn in the wrong shape. It has a big circular cutout right now, like somebody took a bite out of it; no spherical object is shaded like that.
Also, it's hardly even ASCII art. If you zoom in on the light/shadow boundary, you'll see ASCII characters that are multiple colors: e.g., a forward slash
/whose top one-third is light blue, with the bottom two-thirds dark blue. It evokes an ASCII art aesthetic. But you can't retype it. You can't copy/paste those colors, not even as rich text. You can't display it as text on a retro computer, or in an email, or in a Word doc.I know there are more serious problems in the world, but right now I feel most strongly about this one.
That it's not a nice language? Or that cross-platform adoption would harm it?