escher's recent activity
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
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Comment on What are the best cover songs that reinterpret the original into a different genre, style, or mood? in ~music
escher Link ParentHoly shit, I didn't even know the Jules version was a cover! Mind blown, thanks for that.Holy shit, I didn't even know the Jules version was a cover! Mind blown, thanks for that.
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Comment on What are the best cover songs that reinterpret the original into a different genre, style, or mood? in ~music
escher Link ParentI was never much of a Johnny Cash fan until his version of Hurt landed and I did an instant 180. I finally understood his talent.I was never much of a Johnny Cash fan until his version of Hurt landed and I did an instant 180. I finally understood his talent.
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Comment on Suggestions for fantasy that feels truly different in ~books
escher Link ParentMy router name is "Bridge 4", if that tells you anything.My router name is "Bridge 4", if that tells you anything.
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Comment on Suggestions for fantasy that feels truly different in ~books
escher LinkBrandon Sanderson's Oathbreaker series does a great job building up an extremely interesting fantasy world.Brandon Sanderson's Oathbreaker series does a great job building up an extremely interesting fantasy world.
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Comment on Reddit is getting rid of its Gold awards system in ~tech
escher Link ParentThis is incredibly typical because those who run companies tend to be out of touch with reality to just insane levels, to the point most people refuse to believe it until they meet these idiots...It's like they haven't thought about this at all.
This is incredibly typical because those who run companies tend to be out of touch with reality to just insane levels, to the point most people refuse to believe it until they meet these idiots for themselves.
I'd actually be more surprised if they did something sensible.
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Comment on Eli Roth’s “Borderlands” is currently in post-production hell in ~movies
escher (edited )Link ParentDirectors have done it when the producers fuck things up, but I can't think of any other instances of a writer pulling their name so I'm betting it's far more rare.Directors have done it when the producers fuck things up, but I can't think of any other instances of a writer pulling their name so I'm betting it's far more rare.
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Comment on Eli Roth’s “Borderlands” is currently in post-production hell in ~movies
escher Link ParentWhen a writer goes so far as to pull their name off of a project, you just know it's going to be a complete shitshow.When a writer goes so far as to pull their name off of a project, you just know it's going to be a complete shitshow.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
escher Link ParentYep! Missed out on most of these because even though I had an NES, I had practically no games for it because my mom would just say "But you already have some games!" and basically didn't...Is this also the first game in the series that you've tried?
Yep! Missed out on most of these because even though I had an NES, I had practically no games for it because my mom would just say "But you already have some games!" and basically didn't understand the entire point of having a console in the first place.
So now that I've got an emulator working, I'm revisiting the childhood I should have had but didn't.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
escher LinkPlaying Dragon Warrior on an NES emulator, my first ever playthrough. Technically impressive and a lot of good ideas but there is just way too much combat. Finally getting the Repel spell was a...Playing Dragon Warrior on an NES emulator, my first ever playthrough. Technically impressive and a lot of good ideas but there is just way too much combat. Finally getting the Repel spell was a godsend. The random encounter rate is just way too high, but to their credit, it was the mid 80s and probably felt really exciting back then when these kind of games were a new thing in this world.
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Comment on How Microsoft's ruthless employee evaluation system annihilated team collaboration in ~tech
escher Link ParentIt only took three generations -- the researcher wound up breeding mean chickens.It only took three generations -- the researcher wound up breeding mean chickens.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
escher Link ParentI've had to seriously curate my reddit experience because of the sheer number of racists, fascists, and other conservatives. Prior to Trump, I thought they were a loud but small minority. Finding...I've had to seriously curate my reddit experience because of the sheer number of racists, fascists, and other conservatives. Prior to Trump, I thought they were a loud but small minority. Finding out they're at least 1/3rd the population of the U.S. has been seriously depressing.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
escher Link ParentIt was a real weird experience when my reddit comments started getting responses like "omg! yer such a nerd!". Like, the fuck are you muggles doing on my internet? I think the iPhone and resulting...It's become full of normies now anyway
It was a real weird experience when my reddit comments started getting responses like "omg! yer such a nerd!". Like, the fuck are you muggles doing on my internet?
I think the iPhone and resulting changeover to smartphones are what started that trend, and at this point I kinda wish they hadn't been invented yet.
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Comment on How Microsoft's ruthless employee evaluation system annihilated team collaboration in ~tech
escher Link ParentThing is, stack ranking is a known stupid idea. It's been a known stupid idea since the 90s, when a researcher tried it on chickens to increase egg-laying: cull the bottom x% of egg layers, breed...Thing is, stack ranking is a known stupid idea. It's been a known stupid idea since the 90s, when a researcher tried it on chickens to increase egg-laying: cull the bottom x% of egg layers, breed the rest, and egg-laying should go up, right?
The result wasn't more eggs. Instead, the result was a bunch of really vicious, mean chickens that attacked all the chickens around them so they'd look better in comparison. Even if you're going by metrics, stack ranking is one of the dumbest fucking ideas ever.
The fact that it still exists in various corporations today only illustrates how moronic C-level management is.
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Comment on How Microsoft's ruthless employee evaluation system annihilated team collaboration in ~tech
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Comment on How Microsoft's ruthless employee evaluation system annihilated team collaboration in ~tech
escher Link ParentAmazon still does this. Had I known, I never would have accepted a position there. I was a sacrificial hire (someone hired specifically to be culled so that the manager can keep the rest of their...Amazon still does this. Had I known, I never would have accepted a position there. I was a sacrificial hire (someone hired specifically to be culled so that the manager can keep the rest of their team intact) and now have some pretty severe trust issues as a result.
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Comment on What are you all drinking tonight? in ~food
escher Link ParentBelieve it or not, this is actually an improvement for me. I did a 6-month stint as a dev at Amazon and then spent the next seven months drunk all day every day. Fuck that place. As it stands, I...Believe it or not, this is actually an improvement for me. I did a 6-month stint as a dev at Amazon and then spent the next seven months drunk all day every day. Fuck that place.
As it stands, I still can't have hard spirits in the apartment. A 750ml bottle of bourbon will last me exactly two very drunken days. At least with wine I've been able to shove my drinking into the late hours of the night (with a little bit of weed toking as well), and spend the rest of my time sober.
Alcoholism is a hell of a thing. I never understood it until Amazon practically destroyed me.
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Comment on What are you all drinking tonight? in ~food
escher LinkA bottle of cheap cabernet sauvignon. I'm a dev who's over 40, times have been rough, and this has become a regular thing for me at night. :(A bottle of cheap cabernet sauvignon. I'm a dev who's over 40, times have been rough, and this has become a regular thing for me at night. :(
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Comment on What is your favorite “so bad it’s good” movie? in ~movies
escher Link ParentBruce Campbell's audio commentary for The Evil Dead sets the gold standard for what an audio commentary should be.Bruce Campbell's audio commentary for The Evil Dead sets the gold standard for what an audio commentary should be.
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Comment on What is your favorite “so bad it’s good” movie? in ~movies
escher Link ParentEasily one of the best Bad Science sci-fi movies, and I love how serious the performances are. The sillier the concept, the more serious the characters have to take themselves for it to work, and...Easily one of the best Bad Science sci-fi movies, and I love how serious the performances are. The sillier the concept, the more serious the characters have to take themselves for it to work, and they all did a marvelous job. Like when Aaron Eckhart, after describing what's coming, says with absolute convincing desperation: "Feel free to throw up. I did."
I dug out an old coding project that fell over due to some serious (but non-obvious) design flaws and am making another go of it -- free-thinking NPCs for open-world adventure games.
Everyone's all "oooh! ahhh!" over today's large language models, but those are just statistical next-word finders, require a ton of GPU power, and are frozen in whatever structure their training resulted in. They don't think. They can't reason. And they're wholly unsuited for NPC behavior at scale (think 1000+ NPCs running in realtime).
I'm salvaging what code actually worked and updating it with my current skillz, and planning out new routes of design for the areas that ultimately failed and collapsed. Currently have full-on fuzzy logic and bitwise clustering done, and am now updating the generic energy minimization system that will be used for NPC goal-reaching planning behavior.
After that, I get to the actual wonky stuff, the part of the system that represents an NPCs understanding of world state and their beliefs about it. Made some serious mistakes in the design so now I have to figure out how to fix that.