cdb's recent activity
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Comment on America’s tech-filled classrooms are facing a backlash against school-assigned devices in ~life
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
cdb Link ParentAgree. Whatever your current position, you had to get there somehow, right? In addition, I feel like people tend to frame it as a process of continuous improvement, as if current-self is better in...Agree. Whatever your current position, you had to get there somehow, right?
In addition, I feel like people tend to frame it as a process of continuous improvement, as if current-self is better in every way than past-self. While current-me is a lot better than past-me in many ways, there are some ups and downs. The benefits of age have been discussed a lot here and elsewhere so I won't rehash. Aside from that, past-me me knew more general school topics like history/math/biology, was proficient in several musical instruments, and was braver, for better or worse. Current me has forgotten most schooling, retaining and cultivating a very specialized knowledge set, only really plays one instrument, and is more cautious, for better or worse.
While I feel like I'm wiser and probably a better person overall than before, I feel like getting older has been a complicated change, rather than a line trending up.
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Comment on What stock do you put in gut feelings? in ~talk
cdb (edited )LinkYou have to go with your gut on decisions where you won't ever get enough information that will strongly weight things one way or another, whether it's constrained based on time or availability of...You have to go with your gut on decisions where you won't ever get enough information that will strongly weight things one way or another, whether it's constrained based on time or availability of info. That's the only way to avoid regret. If there's a lot of reliable information pointing the other way, you might need to figure out why your gut is pointing the other way. Sometimes it's because you don't trust those sources, and sometimes it's because you're clinging to a decision you made earlier with less information so you have choice bias kicking in.
To give a low-stakes example, fantasy football is filled with decisions where information helps a bit, but in most cases any difficult decision will come down to luck. So, you should pick the players you like better or just have a better feeling about, because even if it turns out you were wrong, at least you were true to yourself and will probably feel less regret about it. It feels extra bad to be convinced into making a decision that went against your gut based on outside sources, and you still end up wrong. So, maybe it's more about avoiding this kind of situation.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #5: Pineapple on pizza? (Results) in ~talk
cdb Link ParentI don't know if it was me that changed or the ingredients that changed, but the last time I went to Italy I was disappointed by the flavor of the food. I remember going to Italy about 20 years ago...I don't know if it was me that changed or the ingredients that changed, but the last time I went to Italy I was disappointed by the flavor of the food. I remember going to Italy about 20 years ago and being blown away by everything I ate, even the cheapest tourist-trap pizza, because the ingredients tasted so different from what I was used to. When I went about 5 years ago I felt like everything tasted kind of meh in general. I don't know if that's partially due to a breakdown in correlation between restaurant ratings and food quality, but I didn't feel the same at all about the difference in flavor for all the things I ate. I'm not sure if that's because the US caught up in Italian food and ingredient quality, Italy learned to truly cheap out on ingredients, or some combination of the two and more.
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Comment on Introducing Googlebook, designed for Gemini Intelligence in ~tech
cdb Link ParentI wonder if this will expand capabilities of existing phones with a real desktop interface. I still think that idea of docking your phone with a laptop shell is a good one, like the Motorola...I wonder if this will expand capabilities of existing phones with a real desktop interface. I still think that idea of docking your phone with a laptop shell is a good one, like the Motorola Atrix. That one didn't work out since the phone was so underpowered compared to laptop CPUs, but nowadays my phone has higher single core performance than any desktop/laptop in my house, with pretty good multi-core as well.
There are things like the Nex dock, but I feel like Samsung's Dex is not a polished experience, while offerings from other phone makers are even worse. If google is making real improvements to their android desktop experience I'm all for it.
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Comment on What was the best job you ever had? in ~life
cdb LinkI'll try to take a slightly different tack than others with this one. I'm an introvert who didn't grow up with very good social skills. Although it was difficult for me, the best job for me and my...I'll try to take a slightly different tack than others with this one. I'm an introvert who didn't grow up with very good social skills. Although it was difficult for me, the best job for me and my long-term success in life was working as a leasing agent at a large group of apartment complexes during a break from college. I'm not sure how someone like me got a job like this, but I had to talk to people all day every day. If I wasn't handling walk-ins or leading model home tours, I was making calls to follow up on leads or schedule more tours. It's surprising how many issues one can overcome when their income and survival depends on it.
I was only at that job for about half a year, and most of the confidence at that job hasn't translated to other situations in life. Some of it did, though. I still have some anxiety when it comes to phone calls or talking to groups of people, but I still sometimes think back to that time in my life, which gives me a bit of confidence.
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Comment on Reddit reports 69% jump in revenue, topping analyst estimates in ~tech
cdb Link ParentI don't understand this comment. Could you please elaborate? You have to use a certain writing style or word choice or something? What subreddits does this apply to?I don't understand this comment. Could you please elaborate? You have to use a certain writing style or word choice or something? What subreddits does this apply to?
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Comment on Lost/losing the drive for friendship in ~health.mental
cdb Link ParentMy interpretation in this case is... Id: Inherent automatic thought Superego: Learned automatic thought Ego: Conscious thought So for this situation is maybe your id makes you not feel like going...My interpretation in this case is...
Id: Inherent automatic thought
Superego: Learned automatic thought
Ego: Conscious thoughtSo for this situation is maybe your id makes you not feel like going out to some event because the unknown can be scary, your superego makes you not feel like going out because you developed an aversion to social events after avoiding them for several years, so your ego needs to say "shut up, stupid automatic thoughts, socializing is the rational decision so I'm going."
Personally, I am so bad at this. I end up staying home often. It's a relatively new standing rule in my household that my partner and I should accept any invitations to hang out with friends unless there is a legitimate conflict.
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Comment on The great 2028 Olympic ticket crashout, explained in ~sports
cdb Link ParentYeah, nothing in this article seems unexpected to me. You could probably use this as a good case study for an intro to microeconomics class. This article details things relating to: scarcity,...Yeah, nothing in this article seems unexpected to me. You could probably use this as a good case study for an intro to microeconomics class. This article details things relating to: scarcity, opportunity cost, supply/demand, market equilibria, elasticity, utility, budget constraints, market structures, etc. (Yes, I referenced a list of typical curriculum topics).
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Comment on What’s the best 3D-printed thing you have? in ~talk
cdb LinkI have a cheap FDM and a cheap resin printer and have printed a few figurines, but I've been too lazy and unmotivated to really get into modeling my own stuff, so they mostly sit unused. Probably...I have a cheap FDM and a cheap resin printer and have printed a few figurines, but I've been too lazy and unmotivated to really get into modeling my own stuff, so they mostly sit unused.
Probably the best thing I've 3D printed is repairing a crack in my garbage bin and adding plastic numbers using a 3D printing pen, which seems to be holding up, surprisingly.
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Comment on What are your go-to meals that you cook? in ~food
cdb LinkI've been trying to eat relatively lower carb during the week, because I tend to go out and eat a lot of unhealthy foods during the weekend. So, weeknight dinners usually consist of air fryer...I've been trying to eat relatively lower carb during the week, because I tend to go out and eat a lot of unhealthy foods during the weekend. So, weeknight dinners usually consist of air fryer vegetables with some kind of protein with pan sauce.
Air fryer vegetables are just cut up and tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put it in the air fryer at 400-450F or so until slightly charred. The high heat and char are very important to me. Works with a large variety of things: carrots, onions, potatoes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, squash, cauliflower, bell peppers, asparagus, etc. It sounds really simple, but I honestly prefer this type of preparation over something more complex or highly seasoned, especially if the veggies are fresh and in season.
Protein can be pork chops, boneless chicken thighs, steak, whatever is on sale in the meat department. Sear hard and pan fry until done (a meat thermometer helps). Make a pan sauce with ingredients that are salty, sour, and sweet to varying degrees, plus a little water if necessary. For example, I might cook some chicken thighs then deglaze with soy sauce, lemon juice, a little sugar, and enough water to just cover the pan. Cook the sauce down until it starts to thicken and immediately pour on top of the chicken. Or maybe pork chops the deglaze with red wine vinegar, fig jam, salt, and a little butter thrown in at the end. I guess for amounts, about a tablespoon of each is a good place to start (not the salt though). I just go by feel for balance. You can always taste and add more, so just try not to overdo the stronger ingredients.
Another easy one is nabe. Buy thinly sliced beef then put it in a pot along with some napa cabbage, green onions, enoki mushrooms, dashi powder (enough for 2 cups of broth per directions), a few tbsp soy sauce, a few tbsp sake/cooking wine, then water to cover halfway. Cook on stove with lid on until the meat is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Eat with rice. I often fill out my rice with some cauliflower rice to sneak extra veggies in there, one cup cauliflower for each cup of dry rice. I just chuck it all in a rice cooker, and it turns out pretty well.
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Comment on Invincible Season 4 finale discussion in ~tv
cdb Link ParentI started thinking this way for a bit, but then I started accepting that it's a comic book and lots of things won't make sense. I guess you could say that for choking, it's more about cutting off...I started thinking this way for a bit, but then I started accepting that it's a comic book and lots of things won't make sense. I guess you could say that for choking, it's more about cutting off blood flow to the brain than cutting off air. That's why you can choke someone unconscious in a matter of seconds even if they can hold their breath for minutes. There's a ton of complaints I could make about consistency of rules in this universe, but I'm enjoying the show overall so I'm setting those thoughts aside. Season 1 was great. Seasons 2 and 3 were noticeably worse for me, but I really enjoyed Season 4.
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Comment on “60s lounge” and Laufey in ~music
cdb Link ParentIt reminds me of some of the music from 60's Bond movies. So, it might be worthwhile to look into some of those soundtracks. Maybe You Only Live Twice would be a place to start. However, I also...It reminds me of some of the music from 60's Bond movies. So, it might be worthwhile to look into some of those soundtracks. Maybe You Only Live Twice would be a place to start. However, I also think there's a lot of bossa nova influence. It's probably more accurate to say that it was inspired by a variety of styles.
Maybe it depends on your background. If you've grown up hearing a lot of american instrumental music, you might notice the bossa nova aspect as more distinctive, and vice versa.
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Comment on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home targeted with molotov cocktail in ~tech
cdb (edited )Link ParentI guess that depends on whether we can find more uses for code or other AI outputs. It seems like excel didn't decrease accountants too much, just increased the amount of accounting we're doing....I guess that depends on whether we can find more uses for code or other AI outputs. It seems like excel didn't decrease accountants too much, just increased the amount of accounting we're doing. Maybe we don't necessarily decrease the number of programmers so much as increase the amount of programming/coding. I'm seeing some of this happen in research. People are applying coding approaches to a lot more situations than before since the barrier seems to be lower. Who knows how the balance of jobs will shake out a few years from now?
I'm reminded of the post from a bit ago with the perspective that AI models won't let us work less, just do more with less time. It seems to me that this is a pattern that has held up through history. As long as we feel like there are gains to be made, we'll think of jobs for people to do, until AI and robotics clearly outperform us in every aspect. Despite the hype from people like Altman, I don't think we're particularly close to that point so far, although people may need to be adaptable to stay employed, depending on how industries shift.
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Comment on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home targeted with molotov cocktail in ~tech
cdb Link ParentYeah, I've been using Google Antigravity for a few projects, and I'm impressed. It's significantly better than trying to code by just having a conversation with a chatbot and copy pasting in and...Yeah, I've been using Google Antigravity for a few projects, and I'm impressed. It's significantly better than trying to code by just having a conversation with a chatbot and copy pasting in and out. At its core, it's not that much different from a manual chatbot approach, but the ease of use and automation of gruntwork feels significant to me. It's not a magic bullet. I still have to iterate on the roadmap, then iterate on the design docs for each element on the roadmap, then iterate on the implementation plans for each element on the design docs, then iterate on corrections for shifting goals or things that went wrong. However, you can get to some good results on platforms/languages you don't know just by knowing fundamentals of programming and software engineering. I made a Chrome extension recently that seems to work quite well, despite the fact that I've never programmed in JS. I can't speak for professional software engineering, but for people like me who deal more in data analysis, one-offs, and hobby projects, it's been great.
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Comment on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home targeted with molotov cocktail in ~tech
cdb Link ParentI used to get a lot of fillings due to poor oral hygiene, maybe one or two a year. This meant longer sessions at the dentist or sometimes a separate appointment to perform the extra work. Then I...I used to get a lot of fillings due to poor oral hygiene, maybe one or two a year. This meant longer sessions at the dentist or sometimes a separate appointment to perform the extra work. Then I got gingivitis, which scared me into consistently brushing and flossing ever since. Haven't needed a new filling in almost 20 years. My dentist has even suggested that I don't actually need to go to them twice a year since they usually don't find much. Although I still go to the dentist twice a year, fillings and other dental work would be a significant addition to the typical maintenance work.
Toothbrushes obviously aren't an alternative to ALL dentistry, but I'm sure that the fact that toothbrushes are cheap and widely available means less work for dentists in aggregate. If we didn't have toothbrushes we'd need more dentists. That's just in a vacuum though. I think the number of dentists in reality is more influenced by economics and culture than any measure of overall dental health in the population.
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Comment on Vaping likely to cause lung and oral cancer, Australian researchers find in new review of evidence in ~health
cdb LinkThe studies linked by the Guardian article are really weak evidence. Two of them describe case studies that claim to link oral cancer observations with vaping, but neither of them have any...The studies linked by the Guardian article are really weak evidence. Two of them describe case studies that claim to link oral cancer observations with vaping, but neither of them have any evidence to establish a causal link between vaping and these observations, even though it's reported as such. This screams bias and agenda to me rather than evidence. The mouse study I've read before, and it's pretty bad. The mice were subjected to 4 hours of daily vapor exposure, which is completely unrealistic. The calculated exposure seems invalid because it only takes inhalation into account and not the fact that the vapor can deposit on the mice and everything in their living area. Then it turns out that the increased incidence of tumors is not even statistically significant between nicotine vapor and the fresh air control group (p=0.15). The high p-value is in one of the main tables, but the fact that they mention other p-values while this one is never mentioned in the text discussion or conclusion sections is highly suspicious.
I haven't reviewed the whole study itself since the link isn't working for me, although I see someone posted an archive version, so I'll take a closer look later. I'm not a big fan of qualitative studies making fairly bold conclusions about risk like this one does though. Also, the concluding statement about how ecigs can't be said to be less risky than cigarettes is a serious misrepresentation of the linked study, because that study actually shows that ecigs were less risky for asthma, COPD, and oral disease.
After saying all that, I'm not particularly pro-vaping, especially not for minors, and I think it's clear that it's not risk-free. However, I am a former vaper, and it's become a topic of interest to me how much slander and bias there is about it in media and society overall, even relative to smoking. It seems like there's often a major drive to show that it's just as bad as smoking, even though the data doesn't seem to support that. I can't point to direct evidence, but I don't think it's that much of a conspiracy theory to suggest that it's likely due to pressure from tobacco companies.
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Comment on Are there any small Android phones comparable to the size of an iPhone 12 mini? in ~tech
cdb LinkYou can try searching by dimensions with gsmarena's phone finder. Looks like there's not a ton of options, mainly the smallest galaxy s phones and some other fringe options....You can try searching by dimensions with gsmarena's phone finder. Looks like there's not a ton of options, mainly the smallest galaxy s phones and some other fringe options.
https://m.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2024&nHeightMax=150
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Comment on AI was eroding trust in my classroom — so I got rid of typed papers and bought my students notebooks instead in ~life
cdb (edited )Link ParentWhile it's less exciting than a dedicated typing device, I think you can pretty much get the desired result with a managed chromebook in locked mode. If that's not sufficient, then it's just a...While it's less exciting than a dedicated typing device, I think you can pretty much get the desired result with a managed chromebook in locked mode. If that's not sufficient, then it's just a software problem to solve.
I would like to think that a simpler dedicated word processor device could be cheaper, but the more I think about it the more I think in reality it's probably hard to beat the economies of scale of chromebooks. I think even a dumber device ultimately ends up having most of the components of a laptop anyway. Using a worse display, processor, battery, and storage doesn't reduce the cost that much, since you still need them, and chromebook components are already cheap. Although the existing modern Alphasmart clones are tailored towards a more premium design and audience, they're a lot more expensive than chromebooks. Other existing cyberdecks seem about as cheap as the cheapest chromebooks. My guess is the price of a system with all the needed functions probably can't be reduced to be significantly less than a chromebook.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
cdb LinkFinished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I guess I don't have much more to say about this book beyond what I posted last time halfway through. I feel like most of the point of the book was...Finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I guess I don't have much more to say about this book beyond what I posted last time halfway through. I feel like most of the point of the book was already made before the ending was revealed, which was not much of a surprise. It seems like the apocalyptic result was due to a society with higher technology but lower morals and lower checks and balances than ours. In the book, most of the damage was done by an individual, but in modern times I think it's hard to get anything significant done without a large team working together in multiple stages. It looks like the current state of tech isn't empowering individuals to do society-level damage, but I wonder if future technology will eventually change that.
Currently reading The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian, about halfway through. It's about aligning AI systems with human values and brings up some ethical dilemmas introduced by AI models. Although it's from 2020, I think it's modern enough to remain relevant.
A chromebook can be a complete brick, a fully functional computer, and everything in between depending on the software. I have a hard time understanding why it sounds like schools are operating on an opt-out model vs an opt-in model for access. It seems to me that by default a school-issued laptop should only have access to office suite (AI disabled), specific course content (text/video/audio), specific course support pages/apps (like quizzes, zoom, or duolingo), and maybe a drawing program (similar MS paint). Basically what we had in the past, but in computer form that's more compact than a stack of books and can take advantage of the advances in edtech. Access to anything else should only be added as needed. I don't think it's really necessary to have curriculum that depends on access to the entire internet in grade school, even possibly through high school.
Why do young children get to play games, watch non-course-related videos, and access the entire internet on their school devices? That should be a separate device, if the parents decide to provide it, and used outside school hours.