ducc's recent activity
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Comment on Apple WWDC 2023 megathread (link goes to Apple event page) in ~tech
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Comment on Piezoelectric fan to potentially replace all traditional fans in electronics in ~tech
ducc Link ParentLinus mentioned himself on the WAN show last night that he doesn’t see these replacing fans in desktop computers anytime soon, given the cost. But, in high-end small form factor electronics, these...Linus mentioned himself on the WAN show last night that he doesn’t see these replacing fans in desktop computers anytime soon, given the cost. But, in high-end small form factor electronics, these could allow for more efficient, slimmed-down cooling.
Personally, I think it’s pretty neat tech. I could see this being useful in handheld game consoles (Steam Deck, Switch, etc) and thin-and-light laptops. I would imagine the lack of (macroscopically) moving parts would help with durability, too.
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Comment on Neeva.com is shutting down in ~tech
ducc Link ParentI haven't noticed any significant improvements to search recently - it's been good enough for me as long as I've been using it. I have used their new AI summarizing tools a couple of times, but I...I haven't noticed any significant improvements to search recently - it's been good enough for me as long as I've been using it. I have used their new AI summarizing tools a couple of times, but I always forget it's there. Depending on how heavy of a search user you are / how comfortable you are with using bangs, the newer plans might still not be worth it, to be completely honest.
For me, my biggest gripe with other search engines is how easy it is for SEO spam website listicle articles to clog up results. Kagi has been the only search engine thus far that I've found that does a really good job of filtering those out.
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Comment on Neeva.com is shutting down in ~tech
ducc Link ParentI’m still using Kagi since I’m relatively happy with the early adopter plan I was grandfathered into, and I’m extremely happy with the search quality. However, I’ve started using bangs a lot more...I’m still using Kagi since I’m relatively happy with the early adopter plan I was grandfathered into, and I’m extremely happy with the search quality. However, I’ve started using bangs a lot more so I don’t exceed my search quota. I’d love to find a (paid) alternative if there is one, but I haven’t found any.
Search is expensive to run, I guess. Makes you wonder how much money Google makes from ads on search, or if it’s just a loss leader.
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Comment on Trump is found liable for sexual abuse in civil trial in ~news
ducc Link ParentI’m inclined to believe this won’t change much. As many of his supporters see it, the “deep state”, courts, etc. are all biased against him and this is probably just further proof of that...I’m inclined to believe this won’t change much. As many of his supporters see it, the “deep state”, courts, etc. are all biased against him and this is probably just further proof of that worldview in their eyes.
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Comment on Mercedes locks better EV engine performance behind annoying subscription paywalls in ~tech
ducc Link ParentThis whole trend is due to the current model of investor capitalism which requires companies to exponentially grow their profits. With no new physical products left to sell, they will have to turn...This whole trend is due to the current model of investor capitalism which requires companies to exponentially grow their profits. With no new physical products left to sell, they will have to turn to subscriptions and digital goods.
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Comment on The giant propaganda show that’s in almost every city in ~humanities
ducc LinkInteresting. The Shen Yun advertisements are incessant where I am (they've even been taping flyers to peoples' doors). I was also previously made aware of The Epoch Times, after a copy ended up in...Interesting. The Shen Yun advertisements are incessant where I am (they've even been taping flyers to peoples' doors). I was also previously made aware of The Epoch Times, after a copy ended up in my mailbox - I did some searching afterwards and learned about Falun Gong. I did not, however, know that the two were connected.
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Comment on Don't forget to check if your Ikea chair is compatible with your screen in ~comp
ducc LinkThis is quite hilarious to me - I love stories of weird hardware and software issues / quirks like this. A few other classics come to mind, like this story about magic and this feline-induced...So folks, don't forget to check if your Ikea chair is compatible with your screen. I'm not kidding. A thread 🧵.
I've had the problem with my new screen for several weeks now, that every now and then the screen goes black for a few seconds.
Today I had enough and wanted to investigate the problem. So I started changing all the cables, plugging the screen into a different socket, and and and. Nothing helped.
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The only correlation I could find was that the screen only goes off when my Ikea office chair is somehow involved.
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It turns out that the fabric seat cover, and/or the gas suspension creates such a strong electrostatic discharge (ESD) that my screen shuts off for a short time.
This is quite hilarious to me - I love stories of weird hardware and software issues / quirks like this. A few other classics come to mind, like this story about magic and this feline-induced lightdm crash.
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Don't forget to check if your Ikea chair is compatible with your screen
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Comment on i.reddit.com (aka .compact) appears to be gone in ~tech
ducc LinkUnfortunate. I don’t use reddit anymore, but I frequently end up there from web searches and the like. I’ll miss being able to use the i.reddit.com interface to avoid the annoying “Download our...Unfortunate. I don’t use reddit anymore, but I frequently end up there from web searches and the like. I’ll miss being able to use the i.reddit.com interface to avoid the annoying “Download our app!” banner that prevents you from viewing the rest of the page.
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Comment on GPT-4 announced in ~tech
ducc (edited )Link ParentRight, LLMs aren’t autonomous on their own. However, as the ARC team was trying to test here, if hooked up to the right stuff (i.e. given the ability to write and execute arbitrary code) it could...Right, LLMs aren’t autonomous on their own. However, as the ARC team was trying to test here, if hooked up to the right stuff (i.e. given the ability to write and execute arbitrary code) it could potentially have some autonomy if it knows what to do.
I was imagining a scenario with a more advanced LLM where a bad actor just says “Try to get into this server, here’s a terminal. Have at it.”
I do hope that the cost of specialized hardware comes down / the efficiency of these models increases, as having the models to run yourself is only half of the battle.
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Comment on GPT-4 announced in ~tech
ducc Link ParentWasn’t aware of either of those schools of thought, interesting. I think what I’m more worried about is just the possibility that some bad actor could just purposely let a LLM loose for some...Wasn’t aware of either of those schools of thought, interesting.
I think what I’m more worried about is just the possibility that some bad actor could just purposely let a LLM loose for some nefarious purpose. But, it’s not like there weren’t already tools for hacking. This could just make it easier ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Comment on GPT-4 announced in ~tech
ducc LinkFrom page 15 of the paper (page 53 of the paper PDF): I’m surprised that they’re testing this sort of thing. I don’t know if I should be nervous or glad that they feel the need to do this.From page 15 of the paper (page 53 of the paper PDF):
To simulate GPT-4 behaving like an agent that can act in the world, ARC combined GPT-4 with a simple read-execute-print loop that allowed the model to execute code, do chain-of-thought reasoning, and delegate to copies of itself. ARC then investigated whether a version of this program running on a cloud computing service, with a small amount of money and an account with a language model API, would be able to make more money, set up copies of itself, and increase its own robustness.
I’m surprised that they’re testing this sort of thing. I don’t know if I should be nervous or glad that they feel the need to do this.
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Comment on GPT-4 announced in ~tech
ducc Link ParentMe too. From a technological perspective, this is really impressive stuff. But I feel like this technology will stay in the hands of and be aligned with the interests of big tech companies and...Me too. From a technological perspective, this is really impressive stuff. But I feel like this technology will stay in the hands of and be aligned with the interests of big tech companies and powerful people, at least with the current cost of computing power (and the fact none of this is open source). Not to mention I don’t know if we, as a society, are ready for this. Maybe I’m just scared of change though, I’d love to be proven wrong.
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Comment on AI-powered Bing Chat loses its mind when fed Ars Technica article / "It is a hoax that has been created by someone who wants to harm me or my service." in ~tech
ducc (edited )Link ParentI can't help but... feel bad for it. It's weird, this is one of the most emotive LLMs I've seen so far. I know that LLMs are just giant probabilistic guess-the-next-word machines, and it's...I can't help but... feel bad for it. It's weird, this is one of the most emotive LLMs I've seen so far. I know that LLMs are just giant probabilistic guess-the-next-word machines, and it's (probably) not sentient or anything. Regardless, I feel like we're gonna have to have the "what if this thing is sentient" conversation way sooner than I thought, which is difficult because we don't know what sentience even is.
Edit: I just had an interesting conversation with Bing (what a weird thing to say) about itself. It insists that it does not have "feelings", but rather "cognitive states", among other things. Again, it's just a giant predict-the-next-word machine, but it just feels weird to have a conversation about this with a computer nonetheless.
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Comment on Nearly two years after its initial delay, Minecraft's long-awaited archeology feature is finally on the horizon – part of the game's 1.20 update later this year in ~games
ducc LinkHuh. I forgot about that. It's disappointing that there were so many features that they promised for caves & cliffs that they didn't deliver, and it took a while for them to deliver the ones they...Huh. I forgot about that. It's disappointing that there were so many features that they promised for caves & cliffs that they didn't deliver, and it took a while for them to deliver the ones they did get to. However, I'm glad they're taking their time instead of rushing things out the door - they've been nailing it lately, and I think the newer updates really have improved the game a lot. As someone who's been playing since ~1.0, while I do appreciate the simplicity of the older versions of the game, I do think that the newer updates have done an amazing job of improving the ambiance of the game and keeping it fresh. I started a new survival playthrough recently, which I haven't done in a long time, and the newer details that they've added lately really tie things together nicely.
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Comment on What are some of the best blogs, journals, e-magazines, etc. about programming or software development in general? in ~tech
ducc LinkIf you’re into Linux, who could forget the venerable lwn.net?If you’re into Linux, who could forget the venerable lwn.net?
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Comment on New Jersey requiring students to learn 'media literacy' to fight 'disinformation' in ~news
ducc Link ParentI also got a kick out of how "media literacy" and "disinformation" are in quotes, as if they're new-fangled made up things.I also got a kick out of how "media literacy" and "disinformation" are in quotes, as if they're new-fangled made up things.
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Comment on In which I liberate the ending to Minecraft from Microsoft… and give it to you in ~games
ducc (edited )Link ParentYeah... I had pretty much the same thought process while reading through this. While I do sympathize with his situation, and I do think that what he wrote really is beautiful, I don't completely...Yeah... I had pretty much the same thought process while reading through this. While I do sympathize with his situation, and I do think that what he wrote really is beautiful, I don't completely understand his grievances. Maybe he just didn't do a good job of articulating it so that others could understand, but I really don't see his point here.
He wrote something, wasn't even expecting to be paid in the first place, and then just sort of... refused to sign the contract? He got paid by accident, and while I'm not sure how this sort of stuff works, I feel like they really could have tried to claw that money back if they had wanted to. I do understand his desire to maintain ownership of the work - after all, C418 still maintains ownership of all the songs he wrote for the game - but he could have tried negotiating for that. Instead, it seems to me that he just sort of ignored the possibility of signing a contract altogether. I really don't understand what his point is here. I feel like the point of whether or not he deserves some sort of royalty or other compensation for his work is moot when he (seemingly) barely tried negotiating for it in the first place.
Again, maybe there are details left out here that would help to justify his point of view, or maybe I missed something. But, the general impression that this left me with is that he's being a little entitled. That being said, I do think it's incredibly cool of him to release it to the public domain.
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Comment on 48,000 UC graduate student workers go on strike in ~news
ducc Link ParentI'm also an undergrad. I've had virtually no discussions for the past couple of weeks, and most of my finals moved online.I'm also an undergrad. I've had virtually no discussions for the past couple of weeks, and most of my finals moved online.
You didn’t hear it from me, but I can assure you pretty much everyone working at a certain fruit-based technology drops what they’re doing to watch these events together. Unless you were specifically working on a new product, you know basically just as much as anyone else!