Gourd's recent activity
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Comment on Can we talk about rice cookers? in ~food
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Gourd Link ParentOhhhh man, thank you so much for bringing Ernesto Schnack to my attention! And he sells tabs. Even better :)Ohhhh man, thank you so much for bringing Ernesto Schnack to my attention! And he sells tabs. Even better :)
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Comment on This eerily accurate ‘LinkedIn Speak’ translation tool will help you sound like an instant thinkfluencer in ~tech
Gourd LinkI’m thrilled to share my love for Kagi! 🚀 It’s incredibly exciting to see this new addition to their platform. Innovation at its finest! #Kagi #Innovation #TechUpdates #GratefulI’m thrilled to share my love for Kagi! 🚀 It’s incredibly exciting to see this new addition to their platform. Innovation at its finest! #Kagi #Innovation #TechUpdates #Grateful
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Comment on Venture underground to discover the new sulfur cube and the sulfur caves in Minecraft in ~games
Gourd LinkI bought Minecraft for like $5 in pre-alpha back in 2010. Couldn't recover my account, so I bought it again for like $30 in 2019. I tried to play again last week and apparently my account was...I bought Minecraft for like $5 in pre-alpha back in 2010. Couldn't recover my account, so I bought it again for like $30 in 2019. I tried to play again last week and apparently my account was deleted due to some Microsoft account migration, with no way to recover it, and I'd have to pay Microsoft something like $40 to play again :{
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Comment on OpenAI shuts down Sora AI video, Disney drops planned $1B investment in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentThat was my first thought. Should be interesting regardless, because this is not a good look.That was my first thought. Should be interesting regardless, because this is not a good look.
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
Gourd Link19/20! Somehow got personnel wrong, which in hindsight seems like one of the easier words.19/20! Somehow got personnel wrong, which in hindsight seems like one of the easier words.
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Comment on Tildes Gardening Group: Week 24/3/26 in ~hobbies
Gourd LinkStill in the freezing temps here, but as soon as it's warm enough we're going to start planting. Two years ago, we planted a small herb garden which as done very well. Last year we expanded and...Still in the freezing temps here, but as soon as it's warm enough we're going to start planting. Two years ago, we planted a small herb garden which as done very well. Last year we expanded and made a tomato garden, which we waaay over-planted and didn't add enough calcium to prevent blossom end rot.
This year, we'll be expanding that tomato garden and planting a reasonable number of tomato plants. Really looking forward to it!
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Comment on Our commitment to Windows quality in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentIntegrating AI? Let's start with search indexing that actually fucking works. Baby steps, Microsoft.Integrating AI? Let's start with search indexing that actually fucking works. Baby steps, Microsoft.
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Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentHa, you're absolutely right about that. I review a lot of code, and I saw a steep drop in quality from a few devs in the latter half of 2024 and a good part of 2025. I don't think that was a...Ha, you're absolutely right about that. I review a lot of code, and I saw a steep drop in quality from a few devs in the latter half of 2024 and a good part of 2025. I don't think that was a coincidence.
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Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentEven a year ago, these models were pretty awful. Try using Gemini 2.5 (released March 2025) for code. It's unusable.Even a year ago, these models were pretty awful. Try using Gemini 2.5 (released March 2025) for code. It's unusable.
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentThere is some indication that these massive foundation models may be rapidly approaching a plateau in usefulness as coding agents. I think the true future of serious development could be a mix,...There is some indication that these massive foundation models may be rapidly approaching a plateau in usefulness as coding agents. I think the true future of serious development could be a mix, using more traditional workflows but with several smaller, highly-specialized models, possibly small enough to comfortably run locally. Like with current AI-assisted development, a good developer is still needed to produce a good product, but these tools could give more control and still provide the increase in efficiency.
With regards to commercial viability, I heard someone someone recently make the comparison to the collapse of the music industry in the late 90s, with commercial recording studios (data centers in the case of AI) basically becoming obsolete overnight as home recording studios became easily attainable.
But I'm speculating way outside of my area of expertise. I think you're spot-on with the C memory safety analogy.
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentThis is an interesting point. The ripple effects outside of just model collapse, even if the problem of model collapse is somehow solved.This is an interesting point. The ripple effects outside of just model collapse, even if the problem of model collapse is somehow solved.
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentI agree wholeheartedly. I review terrible AI-generated code all the time :{I agree wholeheartedly. I review terrible AI-generated code all the time :{
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentThanks for the insight! I admittedly was not aware of the details, and I thought it was another issue in us-east. I was out of office for most of December but I was absolutely impacted by the...Thanks for the insight! I admittedly was not aware of the details, and I thought it was another issue in us-east. I was out of office for most of December but I was absolutely impacted by the October outage lol
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentOh god, I still have to regularly work with SOAP and it's a nightmare lol. I've been a bit glib here, but just look at how quickly Stackoverflow is losing traffic. It seems clear that a huge...Oh god, I still have to regularly work with SOAP and it's a nightmare lol. I've been a bit glib here, but just look at how quickly Stackoverflow is losing traffic. It seems clear that a huge percentage of developers are now regularly using AI in their workflow, and only increasingly so. I get the comparison to blockchain (especially with regards to the hype around it), but LLMs are a much more generally applicable technology.
You are right though, the future is very uncertain. Model collapse, for instance is just one of many very real problems that could change everything.
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentIt's definitely not black and white. As far as I know, there's no widely agreed upon definition of art, period.It's definitely not black and white. As far as I know, there's no widely agreed upon definition of art, period.
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd Link ParentI agree with both points, but I still think there is a difference. I'm a career software engineer so I very much appreciate the creativity that goes into coding. But software engineering is all...I agree with both points, but I still think there is a difference. I'm a career software engineer so I very much appreciate the creativity that goes into coding. But software engineering is all about abstraction. If you think of an API as black box, purely in terms of inputs and outputs, an AI-coded product and a human-coded product might be indistinguishable. I can prompt an AI to generate a picture in the style of an oil painting, but the AI can't generate a literal oil painting.
I know this is possibly arbitrary, and very subjective, but it is my opinion on the matter.
The actual coding is still a relatively small part of the job
This is an important point, and something I repeatedly tell my boss when he talks about efficiency. There's a ton of human involvement that is still necessary. As for the code quality AI outputs, though, we're a hell of a lot further along than we were even one year ago.
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
Gourd (edited )LinkI understand the temptation to hate everything AI generated, but like it or not, this is the future of development. It's already happening at scale, and it's not going to stop. It's just another...I understand the temptation to hate everything AI generated, but like it or not, this is the future of development. It's already happening at scale, and it's not going to stop. It's just another layer of abstraction in the software engineering process. Just like how we aren't writing assembly anymore. Its totally reasonable to say that an experienced engineer can produce a virtually identical product with AI that they could have written manually, but much faster. This is not the case with art.
Artists have an understandable bone to pick with genAI, and I think most people would agree that AI is not capable of producing art. AI slop is a major fucking annoyance and it's doing real harm to real people. But things are different in the software industry. Its either adapt or get left behind.
And of course there are major negative implications. It's much easier for unskilled devs to ship broken or dangerous code. Or crash all of AWS for 12 hours like back in December*. Who knows how this will impact the job market or affect a junior dev's ability to land a job. Whether it's good or bad, it's here to stay.
Editing to say that I love this site! I want to thank everyone for the civil and high-quality conversation. Especially involving such a controversial topic that we all clearly have strong opinions about.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Gourd Link ParentI initially unknowingly rushed straight to the twins, killed them at level 12 or so and I thought the game was already over. Glad I went back and found the other 50% of the map! I think I'm going...I initially unknowingly rushed straight to the twins, killed them at level 12 or so and I thought the game was already over. Glad I went back and found the other 50% of the map! I think I'm going to wait for 1.0 to try coop, but it looks great.
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Comment on Tom Scott: England — Official teaser for Nebula in ~travel
Gourd Link ParentFor real. I watched this and just for a minute I felt like I was back in 2014.For real. I watched this and just for a minute I felt like I was back in 2014.
How do you do brown rice in the instant pot?? I'll have to try that.