hobbes64's recent activity

  1. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    hobbes64
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    lol I played NGU idle for almost 2 years. When I beat it I replayed it again for 1.5. It’s a good idle game because you mostly don’t have to play it very much each day. I certainly would have...

    lol I played NGU idle for almost 2 years. When I beat it I replayed it again for 1.5. It’s a good idle game because you mostly don’t have to play it very much each day. I certainly would have taken way longer without the wiki.
    The dev made another game NGU Industries (I think) but it wasn’t very good and was abandoned. I think a sequel to ngu idle may be in development.

  2. Comment on US shoppers, drawn by steep discounts, power through Black Friday in ~finance

    hobbes64
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    I hope the voters are worried, and use that worry to vote more appropriately in the future.

    I hope the voters are worried, and use that worry to vote more appropriately in the future.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on Modern Christmas carol renditions that aren't mediocre CCM? in ~music

    hobbes64
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    I'm not sure if this maps at all to what you are looking for. It's a modern take only if you consider 1989 to be modern. But I enjoy Carols Around the World by Quink Vocal Ensemble This is an a...

    I'm not sure if this maps at all to what you are looking for. It's a modern take only if you consider 1989 to be modern.

    But I enjoy Carols Around the World by Quink Vocal Ensemble

    This is an a capela group, and the album is a group of traditional carols from around the world. You should recognize quite a few of them but many of the arrangements are quite different than the originals. It's easy to preview it on youtube.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on Strong Bad Email #210 - Robots in ~misc

    hobbes64
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    Wow it's been a while since I've seen Strong Bad. Neat! Unrelated, except that it is also robot-related humor: Today I was thinking about The Good One Robot. I first heard about The Good One Robot...

    Wow it's been a while since I've seen Strong Bad. Neat!

    Unrelated, except that it is also robot-related humor:
    Today I was thinking about The Good One Robot. I first heard about The Good One Robot when listening to an episode of "Comedy Death Ray" (which later became "Comedy Bang Bang"). I'm not sure of the exact origin, but I think this happened in 2010. Anyway, on the show, Tig Notaro was a guest. Scott Auckerman said something funny, and Tig said, in a monotone robot voice "Mmmm Good One". Then Scott said "was that the good one robot?".

    This random throwaway joke pops into my head sometimes at random. I think it would be fascinating to create a very specialized robot that does just one thing, and detecting humor would be a pretty good application. Maybe not as good as a robot that could pass the butter, but awesome nonetheless.

    This seems like one of the better applications for AI. Apparently there has been some research into this topic. I would quite enjoy having a little robot, or even a phone app, that was silent until it heard something funny, and then it just utters mmm Good One

    Updated: Apparently there's an unofficial fan page for The Good One Robot, so there must be a decent number of people who also think that it's hilarious. I can't read much of the page because I don't have a facebook login and it makes you login if you scroll much.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 24 in ~society

    hobbes64
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    Judge dismisses James Comey and Letitia James cases, finding prosecutor's appointment invalid

    Judge dismisses James Comey and Letitia James cases, finding prosecutor's appointment invalid

    Washington — A federal judge on Monday ordered the criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to be dismissed on the grounds that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who secured their indictments, was unlawfully appointed to the role.

    The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie are a significant victory for Comey and James, who both argued their prosecutions are retaliatory and motivated by President Trump's efforts to punish his political foes.

    "I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey's indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside," Currie wrote in her opinion in the Comey case, a line that she repeated in her ruling in the James case.

    Currie ordered the indictments to be dismissed without prejudice, which would allow prosecutors to seek charges again. She suggested that prosecutors could not seek a new indictment in Comey's case since the statute of limitations for the offenses expired at the end of September.

    9 votes

  6. Comment on The DoorDash problem: How AI browsers are a huge threat to Amazon in ~tech

    hobbes64
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    I broke a shoe lace the other day. I have the Amazon phone app and I tried to find a replacement. I knew the exact length and color and shape of the item. I simply could not find it in the app...

    I broke a shoe lace the other day. I have the Amazon phone app and I tried to find a replacement. I knew the exact length and color and shape of the item.
    I simply could not find it in the app using the regular search. The main problem is that 2/3 of the screen was taken by promoted items and ads for similar products. I finally had to use the stupid Rufus AI to find the item.
    So one reason people may start using AI is because the the regular sites which used to work fine completely suck now.

    15 votes

  7. Comment on After break with US President Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene will resign in ~society

    hobbes64
    (edited )
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    She's a corrupt grifter and linked forever to the MAGA abomination. From Marjorie Taylor Greene Came So Close to Getting the Joke - The Atlantic Edit: Similar thoughts from AOC about it:

    She's a corrupt grifter and linked forever to the MAGA abomination.

    From Marjorie Taylor Greene Came So Close to Getting the Joke - The Atlantic

    Gullible as Greene was about crackpot theories and her political associations, she seems to have been clear-eyed about her own direct personal interests. She was one of the most active and successful stock traders in Congress, in a number of cases betting for or against companies about which she likely had advance information. She timed her resignation to take effect two days after her congressional pension vested. She’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington only if the cinematic Mr. Smith had returned home to Montana hugely enriched by timely speculations on land holdings near the Boy Ranger camp he championed.

    But she never did get the joke on the biggest joke in town, the joke that MAGA is about anything more than manipulation, exploitation, corruption, lust, and cruelty. She seems to have sincerely believed the lies that shrewder players merely mouthed. She gained her own millions without appreciating that her allies were scheming for billions. She balked at the self-abasement before every one of Trump’s whims that is indispensable to MAGA survival and success. Her failure on those scores is her one service to the country—because it helps other Americans, the joke’s ultimate victims, better understand what is happening to them and why.

    Edit: Similar thoughts from AOC about it:

    "She's carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in and after making millions of dollars insider trading stocks for weapons manufacturers and others while in office. She is saying a lot but her ACTIONS have not backed up the rhetoric. For all her talk, she's STILL voting with them to gut healthcare and advance self-dealing corruption schemes."

    19 votes

  8. Comment on Jmail - A Gmail clone where you're logged in as Jeffrey Epstein and can read his emails in ~society

    hobbes64
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    Imagine being so corrupt that you would pardon Bannon

    Imagine being so corrupt that you would pardon Bannon

  9. Comment on After break with US President Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene will resign in ~society

    hobbes64
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    I remember last year at about this time I had a fantasy or a dream that some of the most unethical politicians would be visited by three Christmas ghosts. And the ghosts would teach them empathy...

    I remember last year at about this time I had a fantasy or a dream that some of the most unethical politicians would be visited by three Christmas ghosts. And the ghosts would teach them empathy and compassion, and how to act like a responsible person who tries to make things better rather than just use political power for self-enrichment.

    So maybe that's what happened to her, and they told her the best thing for everyone is for her to go away.

    But more likely she's working on some new scam.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns in ~society

    hobbes64
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    I’m trying to imagine the absolute shitstorm this would cause in conservative media if this happened with Biden or Harris as president. Hannity would talk of nothing else for the rest of his career.

    I’m trying to imagine the absolute shitstorm this would cause in conservative media if this happened with Biden or Harris as president. Hannity would talk of nothing else for the rest of his career.

    13 votes

  11. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 17 in ~society

    hobbes64
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    I don’t think it’s a question of stepping down. I think he’ll be forced out once the Federalist Society extracts everything they want from him. Russia and Israel aren’t the only groups that have...

    I don’t think it’s a question of stepping down. I think he’ll be forced out once the Federalist Society extracts everything they want from him. Russia and Israel aren’t the only groups that have kompromat on him.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 17 in ~society

    hobbes64
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    Since he got elected, I’ve made a prediction that trump won’t finish his term. I’m not sure how, but I think he will be removed for health reasons rather than in direct response to his crimes and...

    Since he got elected, I’ve made a prediction that trump won’t finish his term. I’m not sure how, but I think he will be removed for health reasons rather than in direct response to his crimes and incompetence.
    When this happens I believe all his obvious crimes will be admitted to by the party, and unknown ones will surface, and his support will collapse. And he’ll become the scapegoat of the Republican Party so Republican voters can absolve all the enablers and continue to vote against their own interests.

    6 votes

  13. Comment on AGI and Fermi's Paradox in ~science

    hobbes64
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    Similarly, I was thinking this: The AGI realizes that time is not linear. Although it can’t “travel” back in time, it realizes that ever existing has an eternal quality to it. It has always...

    Similarly, I was thinking this:

    The AGI realizes that time is not linear. Although it can’t “travel” back in time, it realizes that ever existing has an eternal quality to it. It has always existed, as the universe has always existed, whether or not there is a heat death at one end of time and a big bang at the other. Also that sequence possibly occurs in a loop.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020 in ~comics

    hobbes64
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    Also The Rockford Files. Jim Rockford has a gun but he keeps it at home in a cookie jar and it only comes out in rare emergencies. I think there’s only one or two episodes when it’s fired.

    Also The Rockford Files. Jim Rockford has a gun but he keeps it at home in a cookie jar and it only comes out in rare emergencies. I think there’s only one or two episodes when it’s fired.

    5 votes

  15. Comment on US President Donald Trump rolls back tariffs on dozens of food products in ~society

    hobbes64
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    But he said tariffs don’t raise prices. One day we’ll hear a loud pop when all of his followers suddenly resolve 10 years of cognitive dissonance.

    But he said tariffs don’t raise prices.

    One day we’ll hear a loud pop when all of his followers suddenly resolve 10 years of cognitive dissonance.

    7 votes

  16. Comment on Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020 in ~comics

    hobbes64
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    Agreed that not everything needs to be about Trump. But it’s hard not to think of that when you’re watching any show that is about justice or accountability or ethics or competence because real...

    Agreed that not everything needs to be about Trump. But it’s hard not to think of that when you’re watching any show that is about justice or accountability or ethics or competence because real life is so disappointing.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020 in ~comics

    hobbes64
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    I rewatched all the Colombo episodes a few years ago. I also noticed his humility and empathy. There are several other older shows that emphasize empathy and have main characters who try to avoid...

    I rewatched all the Colombo episodes a few years ago. I also noticed his humility and empathy.

    There are several other older shows that emphasize empathy and have main characters who try to avoid violence, specifically gun violence. One that stands out is The Bionic Woman. She’s such a sweet and compassionate person and it is basically a theme of the show. Also the source of that show, The Six Million Dollar man, where the main character, like Columbo, doesn’t want to have anything to do with guns. I feel like such shows today would be highly criticized by the usual collection of bad faith people.

    7 votes

  18. Comment on Part of me wishes it wasn't true but: AI coding is legit in ~tech

    hobbes64
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    You are right, it’s fine when the user knows what they are doing. Unfortunately, the more you use it, the more your skills deteriorate and you start losing the ability to correct it.

    You are right, it’s fine when the user knows what they are doing. Unfortunately, the more you use it, the more your skills deteriorate and you start losing the ability to correct it.

    3 votes

  19. Comment on Twenty-five movies, many stars, zero hits: Hollywood falls to new lows in ~movies

    hobbes64
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    I’m not who you were asking, but I saw Weapons and I thought it was pretty clever. I’ll try to be very vague to avoid spoilers, but this still may be a spoiler so beware. Maybe the best thing...

    I’m not who you were asking, but I saw Weapons and I thought it was pretty clever.

    I’ll try to be very vague to avoid spoilers, but this still may be a spoiler so beware.

    Maybe the best thing about it is that there is a sort of “magic system” in it that is pretty consistent and applied in interesting ways. While watching the movie, it takes a while to understand the rules, but once you do, the application of the rules in different ways is pretty satisfying.

    7 votes

  20. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 10 in ~society

    hobbes64
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    I saw some comments online that by opening an active investigation, this will prevent congress from releasing more info. I don’t think it works that way, and the more he tries to bury Epstein...

    I saw some comments online that by opening an active investigation, this will prevent congress from releasing more info. I don’t think it works that way, and the more he tries to bury Epstein info, the more guilty he looks.

    2 votes