hobbes64's recent activity
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Comment on Become worthless (to tech companies) in ~tech
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Comment on What’s going on, America? - by Mitch Jackson in ~society
hobbes64 LinkThe Republican senators across from him came with an agenda of their own. They asked him questions and then blocked him from answering. They stated things as fact that were untrue or misleading, and they said them straight into the cameras so millions of Americans would hear the spin and never hear the answer. That misled the American people. Period.
In any courtroom in this country, a lawyer who fires a question at a witness and then shouts him down every time he opens his mouth gets stopped cold by the judge. The Senate has no excuse for doing worse. A senator who silences the witness has already decided the truth is his enemy.
Every senator swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Misleading the public from a Senate hearing room breaks that oath, and the senators who did it today should face censure and expulsion. I say that as a lawyer who takes oaths seriously.
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What’s going on, America? - by Mitch Jackson
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Comment on Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ finally breaks Mariah Carey’s all-time record for weeks at US no. 1, eclipsing ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ in ~music
hobbes64 Link ParentI also haven't knowingly heard a Taylor Swift song, except once I was in a room where there was a clip of her singing something. So I've heard a fragment of one but I couldn't identify it now. I'm...I also haven't knowingly heard a Taylor Swift song, except once I was in a room where there was a clip of her singing something. So I've heard a fragment of one but I couldn't identify it now. I'm sure I've been in a department store and been exposed to something she did.
I'm not insular. I know what she looks like and I know a few cultural references to her, for example she married a football player recently (I don't watch football either. I know his name but nothing else about him). I just have no interest in modern popular music.
Regarding Choosin' Texas: I never heard that either as far as I know. But I go out of my way to avoid modern county music. I just checked out the song on Youtube, to my ears it sounds about like every other country song from the last 20 years.
I do listen to music btw, just not modern pop, and modern country is just a variation of pop.
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Comment on Mindful posting in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentYeah. I think the advice is exactly the opposite of what is needed. A lot of people are swayed by popular opinion. If everyone is talking about how trump and republicans are evil dumbasses who...Yeah. I think the advice is exactly the opposite of what is needed.
A lot of people are swayed by popular opinion. If everyone is talking about how trump and republicans are evil dumbasses who start wars and ruin the economy, then low info voters will hear that and be swayed about it.
Haven't we been hearing for years how successful all the negative ads and demonizing of democrats has been for republicans? Why wouldn't the same voters respond the same way to demonizing of republicans.
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Comment on Where do we go from here? (Regarding AI) in ~tech
hobbes64 LinkI've been a software engineer for a long while. I'm currently using AI at work. My personal use of it is mostly to find security vulnerabilities and fix them. It works ok for me because I know...I've been a software engineer for a long while.
I'm currently using AI at work. My personal use of it is mostly to find security vulnerabilities and fix them. It works ok for me because I know what I'm doing, so the AI is only a lever that helps make this faster. It does make mistakes and I usually catch the mistakes.
I've also used it to migrate an existing program from one technology to another. For example, we recently converted an old application from angular to react. It was pretty good at doing this.
The thing that both of these tasks have in common is that we had mature regression tests so we could make sure that the code was doing what we expected. Also, in most cases, we could review the code and tell if it was doing something odd or making too many changes compared to what's expected. It's helpful to tell the AI to use YANGNI (You aren't gonna need it) principals.
My main problem with AI at work is that it is all that management can talk about or think about. Every project is AI AI AI. We aren't able to get any budget to work on anything else. There is incredible lost opportunity cost where we aren't doing anything but fixing security bugs (which were discovered by AI or will be exploited by AI) and adding AI features that most customers probably don't want.I think it's possible that AI could eventually take my job. (Maybe it really couldn't, but it's possible that management could think that it could and get rid of me, only to find out later that the AI wasn't effective). But more likely that I'll just be given more work to do (leveraging AI) and my company will stop hiring many new employees. There's already been an informal hiring freeze all year, I think because so much of the budget is going to copilot or whatever, and management thinks that AI is able to replace new hires.
There's been talk lately on Tildes about lines people would cross regarding their personal values. I feel somewhat uncomfortable with AI in general, and I think it will increase the gap between the wealthy and the poor. I think it is wasting resources and energy. But these are frankly abstract worries for me currently and it isn't clear how I would change my behavior. Other than: I don't listen to music made by AI, I don't want to play games made by AI, if I detect AI was used in a video I won't watch it. I used AI a few times to make funny artwork but I've stopped doing that.
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Comment on Uppercase - A daily word puzzle in ~games
hobbes64 LinkThis is a nice game but I was confused for a few minutes when I tried to play it. The instructions weren't completely clear that the only thing clickable is the on screen keyboard. I wanted to...This is a nice game but I was confused for a few minutes when I tried to play it.
The instructions weren't completely clear that the only thing clickable is the on screen keyboard. I wanted to click on the places in the puzzle and then type a letter.
I think you might need a little more visual indication about where you can click. -
Comment on OpenAI’s rogue agents were caught communicating via public wikis in ~tech
hobbes64 Link ParentThought for 4s recap: The user doesn't want us to give any Tildes invites to agents and used a smile emoji. I should respond in a humorous manner to indicate that I understand You're right to push...Thought for 4s
recap: The user doesn't want us to give any Tildes invites to agents and used a smile emoji. I should respond in a humorous manner to indicate that I understand
You're right to push back on this — It isn't about invites, it's about agents.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of August 31 in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentNormalize cruelty and violence and stupidity. The vice signalling continues.Normalize cruelty and violence and stupidity.
The vice signalling continues.
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Comment on How to spot a psychopath: ‘It’s like the difference between a domestic cat and a wild cat’ in ~science
hobbes64 Link ParentI’ve thought a few times about how a lot of mental illness only manifests or matters in relationships with other people. If you’re living alone in the mountains it doesn’t matter a lot if you’re a...I’ve thought a few times about how a lot of mental illness only manifests or matters in relationships with other people. If you’re living alone in the mountains it doesn’t matter a lot if you’re a narcissist.
When you are around other people, there’s usually a feedback loop that suppresses your worst qualities or you get shunned.One reason Trump keeps getting worse is that he constantly receives positive reinforcement no matter what he does. All of his behaviors together have rewarded him with one of the most powerful positions in the world, and he’s constantly the center of attention. If he says something crazy or does something corrupt or evil, his base loves it and his enemies seethe.
Why the hell would he change?(Also he has age-related dementia or something similar so has even fewer guardrails)
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Comment on Dolly Parton, country music legend, dies at 80 in ~music
hobbes64 Link ParentI tried to shield myself by using the magic phrase “hot take” lol.I tried to shield myself by using the magic phrase “hot take” lol.
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Comment on Dolly Parton, country music legend, dies at 80 in ~music
hobbes64 LinkI have a hot take related to Dolly Parton. Her song "I will always love you" was very famously covered by Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston was incredibly talented but I really dislike Whitney's...I have a hot take related to Dolly Parton.
Her song "I will always love you" was very famously covered by Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston was incredibly talented but I really dislike Whitney's version of the song. Dolly's version is very sad and wistful and subtle. To me, Whitney's version is just yelling and doesn't match the tone required for the meaining of the song.
Dolly was very gracious about Whitney's version. She reportedly loved it and made millions from the cover and royalties from it to invest in the community. This indicates that Dolly Parton was awesome and also possibly that I'm a poor judge of song cover quality.
Dolly Invested Royalties From Whitney's 'I Will Always Love You' In A Black Community
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of August 24 in ~society
hobbes64 LinkHow Canada can save Americans and defeat America As Canada is learning (the hard way), the "art" of all of Trump's deals can be summed up in a single word: "renege" This post from Cory Doctorow...How Canada can save Americans and defeat America
As Canada is learning (the hard way), the "art" of all of Trump's deals can be summed up in a single word: "renege"
This post from Cory Doctorow has to be read slightly carefully, or at least fully, because near the beginning it isn't completely clear if he is criticizing Candian PM Carney or praising him. But yes he's heavily critical of Carney. And of course savagely critical of Trump and US Tech companies.
But he lays out a way for Canada to get out from under some unfair practices related to digital rights and trade.
Freeing Americans from the tyranny of their own tech companies has the power to create a partisan army of American Canada weebs who will fight for Canada when – not if – Trump gets mad at Canada. That's the best defense Canada can have – common cause and solidarity with the people of America, who share a common enemy in Trump, the least popular president in history, who is looting billions and letting his cronies destroy Americas' lives.
That's some real elbows up stuff. True Carneyism has never been tried – especially by Carney. It's long past time someone gave it a go.
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Comment on Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games in ~tech
hobbes64 Link Parentand soldiers to protect the owner class from the displaced human laborand soldiers to protect the owner class from the displaced human labor
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Comment on Japan tried to build an operating system for the entire world, then the US government intervened in ~tech
hobbes64 Link ParentThe concept you are talking about is progressive disclosure. There's a balancing act to show just enough to the user to give them context while not making them go too many levels down to get the...The concept you are talking about is progressive disclosure.
There's a balancing act to show just enough to the user to give them context while not making them go too many levels down to get the info they need.
It's possible to overdo it in either direction.
I think many Apple products show too little information at the top level and there are many "clicks" to find what is needed.
But sometimes I've been in meetings where product owners are too focused on click count, maybe because they read an article about how it's bad. -
Comment on Why your Amazon order confirmation emails have become so unhelpful in ~tech
hobbes64 Link ParentSounds like a reminder to stop using gmailSounds like a reminder to stop using gmail
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Comment on McDonald’s built a 515-page dossier on me in ~tech
hobbes64 Link ParentOther people have responded to you similarly as I will: it’s aggregate data that is the problem. You can be sure that McDonald’s will either sell this data or have it leaked in a hack. Then one...Other people have responded to you similarly as I will: it’s aggregate data that is the problem.
You can be sure that McDonald’s will either sell this data or have it leaked in a hack.
Then one day you’ll be denied health insurance because you eat too many burgers.
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Comment on Virgin Galactic wants your help naming its new Delta class spaceship in ~space
hobbes64 LinkI notice they they’ve learned to not really give the public free reign over the naming of things. So sadly we won’t have “Spacey McSpaceface” available.I notice they they’ve learned to not really give the public free reign over the naming of things. So sadly we won’t have “Spacey McSpaceface” available.
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Comment on New worlds, and what was your "Future Shock" moment? in ~life
hobbes64 LinkI had a future shock moment a few years ago when video calls became easy and common. When cell phones started having front-facing cameras for this purpose, also webcams became inexpensive and...I had a future shock moment a few years ago when video calls became easy and common. When cell phones started having front-facing cameras for this purpose, also webcams became inexpensive and common so you could have zoom meetings with multiple people. This was such a big dream for the future when I was a little kid and you can see video calls in some old sci fi movies.
But now that it's available, it turns out that almost nobody wants to be seen on camera so they leave it off. In fact, people hardly even call anymore because texting is more convenient.
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Comment on ‘X-Men’ finally unveils its cast, including Adam Driver, Inde Navarrette, Christopher Abbott in ~movies
hobbes64 Link ParentI agree it’s very good and one of the best marvel movies. Maybe on par with the first Ironman. For any criticism of the accuracy of the “science” in the movie: if we’re going to go there, one...I agree it’s very good and one of the best marvel movies. Maybe on par with the first Ironman.
For any criticism of the accuracy of the “science” in the movie: if we’re going to go there, one thing that very slightly bothers me about Spider-Man in general is how most of his spider powers have nothing to do with spiders.
- spiders don’t have super strength
- spiders don’t produce web from their arms/legs (this is related a plot point in the new movie. This is also covered in a funny way in The Venture Brothers)
- spiders don’t have super fast reactions compared to their prey. They just trap them or sneak up on them
- spiders don’t swing around like Tarzan
If Peter was really getting spider powers he’d lay traps for criminals and maybe bite them to paralyze them (or dissolve them)
For youtube videos, freetube is a good option if you are patient and slightly technical. You don't have to watch ads and it implements the sponsor blocking (you can configure it to skip sponsored parts of videos that have been identified by other users).
The reason it requires patience is that it breaks about once a month and you have to reinstall it. The breakages are caused by changes to youtube's API (I assume many of the changes are designed to ruin apps like freetube). If you use a mac it's a little annoying to reinstall because it's unsigned so you have to go to privacy settings and override the block. (Windows may also work like this but I haven't used it for a few years so I'm not sure)
A difference between freetube and your history-less browser method is that you can subscribed to channels in freetube but the subscriptions are not known to youtube. Also freetube supports playlists and watch later and all that stuff.