carsonc's recent activity
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Comment on Interesting material types for fantasy resources/macguffins other than crystals or metals? in ~creative
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Comment on Interesting material types for fantasy resources/macguffins other than crystals or metals? in ~creative
carsonc LinkAntimatter. Since CERN can now put antiprotons in a truck and drive them around, it might not be completely the province of fantasy, bit it is an amazing material for a Macguffin, as it was in...Antimatter. Since CERN can now put antiprotons in a truck and drive them around, it might not be completely the province of fantasy, bit it is an amazing material for a Macguffin, as it was in several embodiments for Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space.
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Comment on What’s something you’re putting up with? in ~talk
carsonc Link ParentAll people, being people, have things to be ashamed of. Bhutan was rather vigorous about ethnic cleansing some 30 years ago. As far as I can tell, none of the ethnic Nepalis was ever repatriated...All people, being people, have things to be ashamed of. Bhutan was rather vigorous about ethnic cleansing some 30 years ago. As far as I can tell, none of the ethnic Nepalis was ever repatriated or had their property restored. This isn't to throw shade on the wonderful people of Bhutan, but rather to point out that no place and no people are without faults.
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Comment on New ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie From Stephen Colbert and his son in development at Warner Bros in ~movies
carsonc Link ParentThere is so much written in the Silmarillion and in the works of Christopher Tolkien that could be adapted. I have no particular attachment to the series produced by Amazon, as it resembled...There is so much written in the Silmarillion and in the works of Christopher Tolkien that could be adapted. I have no particular attachment to the series produced by Amazon, as it resembled nothing to me so much as a kind of dry, boardroom drama more at home in the world of Dallas than Middle Earth. Even done without much heart or feeling, these were still good stories and there are plenty that haven't been approached yet.
Even so, I would probably watch it, if the title were something like "Pippin and Merry's Bogus Journey".
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Comment on Gemma needs help in ~comp
carsonc Link ParentThis is going off-topic (sort of) but there is interesting research covered here indicating that resignation behaviors may not be governed by neurons at all. I don't know enough about either...This is going off-topic (sort of) but there is interesting research covered here indicating that resignation behaviors may not be governed by neurons at all.
New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial layer of regulation.
I don't know enough about either neurobiology or artifical intelligence to be able speculate about whether this research would have applications is AI, but it was interesting that large swaths of behavior might not be governed by neurons, per se, at all.
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Comment on Why are we still doing this? in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentI didn't realize it when I wrote this, but think that's sort of what I was getting at. If the current arrangement is a honeypot that makes itself integral to my workflow, destined to entrap me and...I didn't realize it when I wrote this, but think that's sort of what I was getting at. If the current arrangement is a honeypot that makes itself integral to my workflow, destined to entrap me and slowly boil me like the frog that I am, then the business case is quite good. Tech companies have been taking enormous profits for decades now and, given their experience, it's difficult to fault them for believing that another high-growth market is sitting just over the next hill. If what you are saying is true, then Ed Zitron is wrong: dumping cash into AI is a good idea for investors because we're all going to end up locked into the network and paying $90/month for basic "compute".
I think it's easy to say that any arrangement is either economically bad for the user or bad for the company/investor, as their economic interests are naturally opposed. It can be bad for everyone from an environmental or ethical perspective, but I would be interested to see an economic argument for how AI can be bad for everyone both in the present and in the future.
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Comment on Why are we still doing this? in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentSustainability is an important consideration in every area. The principle of equity is also very important, as you point out. As you point out, we are often blind, intentional or otherwise, to the...Sustainability is an important consideration in every area. The principle of equity is also very important, as you point out. As you point out, we are often blind, intentional or otherwise, to the costs and consequences of our efforts to pursue only our own advantage.
Unfortunately, I think these costs are often hidden from us, such that many people can believe that they don't exist, making us unwitting accomplices. For myself, I doubt that my own LLM usage comprises a substantial portion of the cost that I'm imposing on the rest of the world for living my day-to-day life.
If I were an monastic software developer that relied on several continually operating AI agents and lived an otherwise spartan, ascetic life, I suppose it might be different. As it is, I think there are other, even less sustainable practices that are part of my life that make LLM usage often merely a replacement of one cost for another.
As to the article referenced, the sustainability the author was talking about was fiscal, not environmental. If AI is bad for investors, it may be good for users, at least in the short term. If it's going to be bad for users in the long term, it stands to reason that it's going to be good for investors in the long term, which undermines some of the argument against the business case for AI.
It's not a great system that we have built, and it will certainly collapse, but, for now, it's the one we have.
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Comment on Why are we still doing this? in ~tech
carsonc LinkAs a user, these kinds of arguments are very persuasive in favor of using AI. Gmail was a great idea to use when it was first created. It was almost magical watching that amount of space available...As a user, these kinds of arguments are very persuasive in favor of using AI. Gmail was a great idea to use when it was first created. It was almost magical watching that amount of space available to you in your inbox continually increase. Society, at the time, was going to great lengths to provide me with great free stuff. The same could be said of the early days of Uber, where the company was determined to lose money for the privilege of winning my business.
Is Claude Code a bad investment decision? Maybe. But if Anthropic is determined to bankrupt itself so that I can get deeply discounted comput... ational capabilities, isn't that all the more reason to make use of it while it's cheap?
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Comment on Recommended beginning soldering kits in ~hobbies
carsonc LinkI have to recommend kits like this from Elenco. My father worked for Elenco when I was a child, so my parents gave these little things to me as gifts when I got good grades. All I can say is that...I have to recommend kits like this from Elenco. My father worked for Elenco when I was a child, so my parents gave these little things to me as gifts when I got good grades. All I can say is that it worked: I have been able to solder all my adult life. If you ever find the Yap Box, you will hear the sound of my childhood.
I also recommend a third hand, as they are super helpful. You can solder without them, but its much easier with them.
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Comment on In the world of tech, people constantly ask “Could chatbots ever be conscious?” but I feel like asking “Are you?” Take the test! in ~tech
carsonc LinkThe C-Score was great. I found it reminiscent of Egan's "Learning to Be Me" and Chiang's "Understand" (but somehow, in reverse) or "Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep?" (albeit without Dick's...The C-Score was great. I found it reminiscent of Egan's "Learning to Be Me" and Chiang's "Understand" (but somehow, in reverse) or "Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep?" (albeit without Dick's madcap antics).
I was trying to get through the Nagel paper, but its better as a sleep aid then a thought experiment as bedtime approaches. The thing that struck me about the thesis was that (maybe I missed it) the argument by analogy in this case seems very powerful, but I couldn't find it. That is: I know, in a very Cartesian sense, that I have consciousness. I can't tell you what it is or how it works, but I know that I have it.
If you ask me, "What is it like to be a bat?" I might say, "Well, I imagine flying around and eating fruit, etc. etc." So, if this question is the basis for an analysis of consciousness, I'd have to say, "Yes, a bat probably is conscious because I can imagine being a bat and having the thing that I call a consciousness."
That is, for one thing to be like another, they have to have some property in common by which to make a comparison. Ergo, a bat may have a fair degree of consciousness in the way that I understand it in myself merely because I can imagine being a bat. Other living things, like trees, are much harder and inanimate objects like rocks or neutrinos harder still. Not to say that these things don't have consciousness, rather, whatever consciousness they have must be so alien to me that I cannot associate it with what I experience as such.
But, it seems I'm wrong. Why is this admittedly simplistic approach somehow inadequate? I scored a Zero on the Conciousness test, if that helps any.
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Comment on Hisense TVs show ads during normal operation in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentThere is an enormous difference between me paying my ISP or network for the privilege of having my own devices that I purchased with my own money use my network to serve me ads on behalf of the...There is an enormous difference between me paying my ISP or network for the privilege of having my own devices that I purchased with my own money use my network to serve me ads on behalf of the manufacturer of said device and the manufacturer of said device paying their ISP with their own money for the privilege of serving me ads. In the first case, they only pay a marginal fee to ship the data; I pay to receive. In the second case, they pay to ship and they pay to recieve. Now, a few packets of compressed text is cheap, so its no thing for your washing machine and refrigerator to spy on you and send home little messages about what they learn. But streaming video? It would be difficult to purchase sufficient bandwidth at scale from wireless providers at affordable costs to make the ad revenue profitable.
I think.
(I hope.)
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Comment on Game testers wanted for science fiction game in ~games
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Comment on Almost a third of Gen Z men agree a wife should obey her husband in ~life.men
carsonc Link ParentActually, the people writing the article are the same people who contracted Ipsos to perform the study, so yes, you actually can blame them, as they are one and the same.Actually, the people writing the article are the same people who contracted Ipsos to perform the study, so yes, you actually can blame them, as they are one and the same.
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Comment on Almost a third of Gen Z men agree a wife should obey her husband in ~life.men
carsonc (edited )Link ParentI think the authors of the original study are just doing polling, albeit with a stated slant in honor of Women's International Day. The journalists covering the Ipsos poll are feeding their...I think the authors of the original study are just doing polling, albeit with a stated slant in honor of Women's International Day. The journalists covering the Ipsos poll are feeding their readers... are intentionally misleading their readers.
First, if you look through the actual study, there are plenty of signs that things are not so bad. The same trends are found with women across the generations and polling questions. The so-called increases in misogynistic attitudes are proportionally small. There are several indicators that could be selected where attitudes are increasingly feminist, like "I define myself as a feminist."
Second, even for these misogynistic trends, there will be a natural weighting towards traditional attitudes in younger populations based purely on the fact that the countries with the highest fertility rates also happen to have strongly traditional attitudes, and will therefore exert a proportional weight in the results. As the disparity between fertility rates increases, so to will the resulting statistical bias in the data.
These polling results have nothing to do with manosphere influencers or the disillusionment of young men with western style democracy. In fact, it has hardly anything to do with "the West" at all, and the problem is that it is being presented as though it does. Of course, if it would be needlessly vindictive for a journalist to write about how 66% of all Indonesians belive that a wife should always obey her husband, even if it were accurate. (Or maybe not, see note).
However, to use statistical slight of hand to draw false equivalencies between totally disparate groups of people on opposite sides of the globe in radically different socio-political circumstances, is acceptable, it seems, so long as the target is "Generation Z men".
Malpractice indeed.
Edit: The technical result at the bottom of the study says,
“The Global Country Average” reflects the average result for all the countries and markets in which the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result.
What, then, is the use of the "Global Country Average"?
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Comment on Motorola and GrapheneOS Foundation partnership announced in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentIf it's any indicator, we have had Motorola phones for the past 5 years. I am writing this message on a Motorola 5g Supra 2022. I got my mom a late model Razr flip phone and she likes it. This...If it's any indicator, we have had Motorola phones for the past 5 years. I am writing this message on a Motorola 5g Supra 2022. I got my mom a late model Razr flip phone and she likes it. This might not sound like much, but my mother is over 80 years old and has had life-long rheumatoid arthritis. Her marginally functional hands have difficulty operating most phone screens. She no longer has legible fingerprints that can unlock the phone on the fingerprint reader. However, the flip phone folds into a shape that is easy for her to hold and operate. Better than anything else she has tried in the past few years.
Honestly, I'm a little jealous. I might get a flip phone when I finally decide that my current Motorola has completed its service. But, now that I know about this, it seems like a good reason to hold out and see if can get something with a GrapheneOS.
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Comment on Photons that aren’t actually there influence superconductivity in ~science
carsonc Link ParentSo I can't comment on all of it, but although photons do have momentum (the quotient of Planck's constant and the photon's wavelength), they do not have mass. This is what allows them to travel...So I can't comment on all of it, but although photons do have momentum (the quotient of Planck's constant and the photon's wavelength), they do not have mass. This is what allows them to travel at, well... the speed of light without requiring infinite energy to get there.
Lacking mass, it is very difficult (likely impossible) for light to exert gravitational effects. Furthermore, as mentioned, light has a much larger effect pushing outward than pulling inward. Of course, cosmologically, this effect is also deeply attenuated at distance, as the expanding universe causes the wavelength to become redshifted, decreasing its aforementioned momentum, in the process, so it can't contribute anything to the dark energy side of the equation, either.
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Comment on The first fully general computer action model in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentThis looks really amazing, but I don't know enough to be able to gauge what this means. Could you provide some thoughts about this?This looks really amazing, but I don't know enough to be able to gauge what this means. Could you provide some thoughts about this?
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Comment on Help me untangle my 3d printer filament in ~tech
carsonc LinkHow about 3D printing an adapter for an egg beater to a filament spool? Then you can hook one end of the filament in, maybe keep tension with your other hand or foot and spool it in that way....How about 3D printing an adapter for an egg beater to a filament spool? Then you can hook one end of the filament in, maybe keep tension with your other hand or foot and spool it in that way.
Would that work?
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Comment on Swedish heavy metal band Avatar cancel London concert mid-performance after the stage at Exhibition White City became electrified, shocking two crew members in ~music
carsonc Link ParentIts a good thing that they weren't accompanied by an orchestra. I can only imagine what would have happened if there was a good... conductor!Its a good thing that they weren't accompanied by an orchestra. I can only imagine what would have happened if there was a good... conductor!
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Comment on Swedish heavy metal band Avatar cancel London concert mid-performance after the stage at Exhibition White City became electrified, shocking two crew members in ~music
carsonc LinkImproper electrical grounding is very dangerous, especially around... Metal! 🤘Improper electrical grounding is very dangerous, especially around... Metal! 🤘
That was the Macguffin in Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Several of those through out the book. My favorite was the one at the beginning: a full Empty.
The stuff of miracles in that book was, as far as anyone could tell, literal garbage that passing aliens had dumped on our planet on their way through. Being so advanced, though, these objects were strange, powerful, and potentially deadly to us.