clayh's recent activity
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Comment on What are your favourite time-loop based books, movies and video games? in ~talk
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Comment on What are some traditional internet forums that you still use? in ~tech
clayh There’s a good old school gaming forum at Quarter to Three: https://forum.quartertothree.com/There’s a good old school gaming forum at Quarter to Three: https://forum.quartertothree.com/
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Comment on What books do you recommend for someone looking for positive vibes or casual amusement or escape in ~books
clayh Check out some David Sedaris. For example, Me Talk Pretty One Day or Naked.Check out some David Sedaris. For example, Me Talk Pretty One Day or Naked.
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Comment on I hate the new internet. I hate the new tech world. I hate it all. I want out, and I can't be the only one. in ~tech
clayh Many things on the internet are designed to make us think that we should be spending more time on the internet. Here's the thing: most of the time, you just don't need it. Sure, stream Netflix or...Many things on the internet are designed to make us think that we should be spending more time on the internet. Here's the thing: most of the time, you just don't need it. Sure, stream Netflix or whatever you consume for entertainment, play some games, etc. but just dump Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and any other social media. You don't need it, even though you might think you do. This site is a weird special place because there tend to be good conversations with some depth. But guess what? You don't need it.
I decided about 2 yrs ago to dump most of the internet and spend more time creating things and participating in things in the real world. It's been great! There was some decision paralysis, but I've settled into being a member of the local curling club (which is awesome and very social), the local beekeeping club, and just spending more time outside, eating lunch with friends, etc. Pick a bunch of things to try and just get out of the house and away from the internet. You can even leave your phone at home (gasp!). You may need to cycle through a few things before you find some activities that stick, but you'll be glad that you did.
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Comment on Homeland leaves a lot to be desired - review in ~tv
clayh I was unable to handle Homeland after the first season. The amount of shark-jumping that happened and glaring counterintelligence problems with the way they approached everything just made my eyes...I was unable to handle Homeland after the first season. The amount of shark-jumping that happened and glaring counterintelligence problems with the way they approached everything just made my eyes roll too hard. I suppose if you suspend your critical thinking skills you could get on with it, but I think even giving it a 5/10 is a bit generous. For bombastic US-television style spy shows, the Jack Ryan series on Prime was better. For more realistic spy shows, The Americans was far better. There are some great European shows, such as the 2014 BBC 6-episode The Game, The Bureau, or Deutschland '83 (among others) that are far more worthy of a (re)watch.
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Comment on Speculative fiction that speaks to our current moment(s) in ~books
clayh The qntm short story Lena, which you can read here: https://qntm.org/lena It’s a thought provoking 5-10 min read.The qntm short story Lena, which you can read here:
It’s a thought provoking 5-10 min read.
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Comment on Nvidia’s $589 billion DeepSeek rout is largest in market history in ~finance
clayh I found this to be a good technical overview of what's happening and risks to Nvidia's business: https://youtubetranscriptoptimizer.com/blog/05_the_short_case_for_nvda This type of...I found this to be a good technical overview of what's happening and risks to Nvidia's business:
https://youtubetranscriptoptimizer.com/blog/05_the_short_case_for_nvda
This type of hyperventilating about $600B value drop or whatever just makes me roll my eyes. There are gads of people trigger trading in the market to try to make a quick buck. Nvidia has had bad days before and they will have bad days in the future. They also have the funds and the brains to adjust their business, if needed. Those same people who caused the $600B drop are frothing at the mouth to buy Nvidia stock "on sale" now that it's down a bit. The media should stop turning everything into a breaking! news! emergency!
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
clayh I guess I miss a non-ad-driven free internet. It’s a panacea, I suppose, but here we are. At the time I started making the site/game, my wife, daughter, and I couldn’t all play The NY Times games...I guess I miss a non-ad-driven free internet. It’s a panacea, I suppose, but here we are. At the time I started making the site/game, my wife, daughter, and I couldn’t all play The NY Times games through the subscription we had because they only supported a single player profile. That’s what prompted me to try to make this in a way that multiple people could easily play on the same device.
I do like the Wordle bot! My family have suggested I try something similar, which I might do when I get time. :)
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
clayh I've been plugging away at a word game that I made primary for my wife and daughter. It's here: https://www.gorillasuit.io Who would have thought that scoring could be so convoluted! I have been...I've been plugging away at a word game that I made primary for my wife and daughter. It's here: https://www.gorillasuit.io
Who would have thought that scoring could be so convoluted! I have been through about a dozen different scoring schemes. Friends/family seem mostly happy with the current scheme, though it's not explained particularly well in the context of the game.
It irritates me that The NY Times made Wordle, etc. require a games subscription. I know there are free variants available, as well as a boatload of other free word games online, but this was one of the major motivating points to start thinking about a site with some free web games. I also thought it would be fun to try to figure out a way to make it all work where it could be (mostly) anonymous but still have leaderboards. That makes it more prone to cheating, I think, but I've tried to put some score/word verification on the backend to mitigate it.
It's a fun side project for learning/hacking and it's rewarding to see my wife and daughter play. :)
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Comment on Recommend your social/softer science fiction books in ~books
clayh Speaking of short stories, Exhalation, by Ted Chiang, is excellent. Every story is thought provoking.Speaking of short stories, Exhalation, by Ted Chiang, is excellent. Every story is thought provoking.
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Comment on Any real AI recommendations from the community? in ~tech
clayh I used Copilot for a while, then downloaded and tried Cursor (https://www.cursor.com). It's a fork of VS Code with features specific to AI integration. It's significantly better, in my experience....I used Copilot for a while, then downloaded and tried Cursor (https://www.cursor.com). It's a fork of VS Code with features specific to AI integration. It's significantly better, in my experience. I usually use it with the claude-3.5-sonnet model activated. In fact, it works so well for me that I pay the $20/month. FWIW, a lot of my coding is in python, often with Django, but also with a variety of other things (maintaining a Superset instance and a Dagster instance, among them). It has a free 2 week trial, so it's worth checking out if you haven't already. That said, ChatGPT 4o and o1 models are a lot better for planning. I'll sometimes write a bullet list of requirements and have a "conversation" with ChatGPT about potential implementation approaches, UX, etc... Once I feel like I've worked through outstanding issues, I'll have it generate some boilerplate model code, which rarely needs tweaks.
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Comment on What hard scifi books could you recommend? in ~books
clayh I really enjoyed the Revelation Space series, by Alastair Reynolds. You’ll see recommendations to read them out of order, but I think that’s a mistake. The second is Chasm City, and while it...I really enjoyed the Revelation Space series, by Alastair Reynolds. You’ll see recommendations to read them out of order, but I think that’s a mistake. The second is Chasm City, and while it largely is a standalone story, you’ll learn things in it that enrich the later books.
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Comment on 2 January is National Science Fiction Day (in the US)! What are some sci-fi films you feel are particularly memorable or that you return to regularly? in ~movies
clayh I just want to give a shout out to Flight of the Navigator as a good childhood memory that remains a fun one to watch with kids!I just want to give a shout out to Flight of the Navigator as a good childhood memory that remains a fun one to watch with kids!
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
clayh For now, I calculate the word scores, multiply by 10 (because higher scores are more fun), then add 1 point per letter for the longest word and 1 point per word. It seems to be working pretty...For now, I calculate the word scores, multiply by 10 (because higher scores are more fun), then add 1 point per letter for the longest word and 1 point per word. It seems to be working pretty well, though the magnitude of those ‘bonus’ points are off from the word scoring. It’s been a blast to develop and play with, though!
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
clayh My wife and daughter enjoy playing word games together but get frustrated when there's a single profile on a site and they can't both play. So, I thought I'd build them some word games. There's...My wife and daughter enjoy playing word games together but get frustrated when there's a single profile on a site and they can't both play. So, I thought I'd build them some word games. There's one, so far, called Charming. I've gone to great lengths to try to keep as much data as possible browser-side, so everything is stored in local storage, except when you submit your (randomly generated anonymous) player name and score to the leaderboard. The leaderboards are cleared daily (at midnight UTC). The bonuses assigned to letters and the "charms" in the game are randomized daily. Trying to come up with an intuitive scoring scheme was more of a challenge than I thought. Rewarding long words leads to people just trying to find the longest word... rewarding a word count leads to a bunch of small words. There are still some problems, but if anybody wants to try it out, here you go:
I'm happy to hear any feedback! Because of local storage, it may not persist your data if you play in a "wrapped" browser, like you might get when you click the link in Discord or something.
FWIW, the game Gorilla Suit comes from a time when I convinced my kids that our neighbor was wandering around in our yard in a gorilla suit. I was trying to get them to run around outside when they were being lazy.... and it worked! :)
Edit: The back end uses Django. The front end just uses Django templates, some JS, and p5.js for the game itself.
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Comment on Do any of you use Hulu? Looking for shows that entertain adults but a 7 year old can be in the room. in ~tv
clayh I can't tell if it's still on Hulu, but Brooklyn 99 is funny and kids can be in the room.I can't tell if it's still on Hulu, but Brooklyn 99 is funny and kids can be in the room.
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Comment on What are some professions, crafts, competitions, or activities in which being older is considered advantageous? in ~talk
clayh At a recreational (and perhaps even professional) level, curling definitely is a sport that requires significant experience. Most of the best curlers at my local club are in the 40-65 age range.At a recreational (and perhaps even professional) level, curling definitely is a sport that requires significant experience. Most of the best curlers at my local club are in the 40-65 age range.
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Comment on What are your predictions for 2025? in ~talk
clayh They will see it more clearly if insurance companies refuse to cover them and the Federal Govt. stops providing funds for rebuilding. Doesn’t seem entirely unlikely, what with all the talk about...They will see it more clearly if insurance companies refuse to cover them and the Federal Govt. stops providing funds for rebuilding. Doesn’t seem entirely unlikely, what with all the talk about cutting agencies and slashing budgets.
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Comment on Why Ren'Py? in ~games
clayh There's a Ren'Py game from 2013 worth visiting, called Save the Date. You can find it here: https://paperdino.com/save-the-date/There's a Ren'Py game from 2013 worth visiting, called Save the Date. You can find it here: https://paperdino.com/save-the-date/
I really enjoyed 11/22/63, by Stephen King (it’s not his normal fare) and Time and Again, by Jack Finney. The King book is more time loop than the Finney book, which is time travel, but they’re both excellent reads.
Incidentally, Finney wrote The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which is a great short take on paranoia inspired by fascism.