infpossibilityspace's recent activity
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Comment on OpenAI’s H1 2025: $4.3b in income, $13.5b in loss in ~tech
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Comment on I need headphone/mic recommendations for gaming before I rip my hair out in ~tech
infpossibilityspace LinkCan't give any headset recommendations, but in my experience separate headphones and mic setups are less likely to need software and provide better value. It sounds like your use-case is a desk...Can't give any headset recommendations, but in my experience separate headphones and mic setups are less likely to need software and provide better value.
It sounds like your use-case is a desk setup, which means cabled stuff could be an option.
Might be slightly out of budget, but something like Grado SR60X and a Samson Meteor could be good.
Look out for used stuff too, microphones are a solved problem (Shure SM58 have been the industry standard for over 50 years) and they don't really go wrong.
Can get some used deals on headphones too, old Beyerdynamic DT770 (industry standard since the 90s) and replacement ear cushions and it'll feels like new. I've had a pair for almost 15 years and they still sound great. -
Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
infpossibilityspace Link ParentYeah, I'd agree with that. I think where the mainstream frustration with economics and wealth inequality comes from is that, if economists have been studying this for a long time, why does it feel...Yeah, I'd agree with that. I think where the mainstream frustration with economics and wealth inequality comes from is that, if economists have been studying this for a long time, why does it feel like we're still seeing increasing inequality and our governments seem unable or unwilling to commit to redistribution?
Taking Gary charitably, I think this is one area where he has been effective - pushing mainstream awareness of wealth inequality and encouraging people to contact their representatives.
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Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
infpossibilityspace Link ParentIf you watch from 1:25 to 3:00 (the end of the quote), I think he makes a very similar claim to Gary, that his view of economics in very much shaped by his working-class upbringing which is framed...If you watch from 1:25 to 3:00 (the end of the quote), I think he makes a very similar claim to Gary, that his view of economics in very much shaped by his working-class upbringing which is framed as a reason to trust him more than traditional academic economists
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Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
infpossibilityspace Link ParentThe point he's making is that the socio-economic background of economists tends to be on the wealthier side, and he comes from a working-class background. I don't know how true that generalisation...He says that he made a lot of money as a trader, and immediately turns around and says you shouldn't trust rich people because they don't understand the rest of the populace. Not sure how that's congruent, but yeah you should listen to this oxford educated rich person and not the other rich academics.
The point he's making is that the socio-economic background of economists tends to be on the wealthier side, and he comes from a working-class background.
I don't know how true that generalisation is, but it's a similar yet opposite claim that Thomas Sowell makes to defend conservative policies. I guess people just like a rags-to-riches story.
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Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
infpossibilityspace Link ParentI'd love to hear more on this, as a layperson it does appear that economics as a field of study has some quite big problems when it comes to the models they use to study the economy, such as not...I'd love to hear more on this, as a layperson it does appear that economics as a field of study has some quite big problems when it comes to the models they use to study the economy, such as not accurately modelling wealth inequality, and a subset of people who aren't incentivised to solve these problems.
I'm referring to this Gary's Economics video so I'm not going to type out his whole argument, but I'd would be surprised if the problems he describes aren't being addressed. Being charitable, it seems like progress is slow?
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Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
infpossibilityspace Link ParentTo give a bit more detail, because quantum systems are incredibly delicate, they need to be set up very isolated from the outside world. When you take a measurement, what you're really doing is...To give a bit more detail, because quantum systems are incredibly delicate, they need to be set up very isolated from the outside world. When you take a measurement, what you're really doing is breaking that isolation and introducing the system to the outside world we exist in (the technical term is entanglement), which causes the system to collapse.
There are multiple schools of thought why this happens, one you may have heard of is the "many worlds" idea which essentially says that whenever a quantum system collapses, all possibilities happen and the result we observe is the "world" we happened to end up in. Crucially it is never possible to access or measure those other worlds.
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Comment on Tesla influencers tried Elon Musk’s coast-to-coast self-driving, crashed before sixty miles in ~transport
infpossibilityspace Link ParentNot sure if you watched the video rather than the gif, but you can hear both of them discussing it well in advance of the collision. Reads to me like they wanted to "prove" the car would take...Not sure if you watched the video rather than the gif, but you can hear both of them discussing it well in advance of the collision.
Reads to me like they wanted to "prove" the car would take action rather than just ploughing into it and he only took the wheel at the last second so it doesn't suddenly change direction.
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Comment on Dark patterns killed my wife's Windows 11 installation in ~tech
infpossibilityspace Link ParentIt's on old security measure that's no longer recommended. It was suggested when Microsoft first introduced Bitlocker, the reasoning was that sleep mode uses power to keep RAM active, and if...It's on old security measure that's no longer recommended. It was suggested when Microsoft first introduced Bitlocker, the reasoning was that sleep mode uses power to keep RAM active, and if Windows also keeps Bitlocker-related info in RAM then an attacker might be able to pull that data out using a special USB stick or something.
It's a niche attack method but because breaking Bitlocker gives access to all the data on that machine, it was thought to be a good protection.
I haven't looked up why it's no longer recommended, but on Windows 11 even if you disable it with Intune, it gets ignored and sleep still works.
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Comment on The Buff Scammer, isolation, and the male loneliness epidemic in ~life.men
infpossibilityspace Link ParentBack of the envelope maths on the UK using ONS and census data, the male population is 29.2 million and total number of sexual crimes at 1.1 million. Assuming they are all unrelated, none are...*At least my assumption is that 93% of men aren't committing sexual crimes. Please tell me I'm right and that it's a far, far, far smaller percentage.
Back of the envelope maths on the UK using ONS and census data, the male population is 29.2 million and total number of sexual crimes at 1.1 million. Assuming they are all unrelated, none are unreported (a known stigma with male victims), and 93% of those are committed by men, it works out to about 3.5% of the male population. That 1.1 million includes all forms of sexual crimes from unwanted touching (most common) to the more explicit stuff.
So yes, a lot lower than 93% of all men
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Comment on Dark patterns killed my wife's Windows 11 installation in ~tech
infpossibilityspace Link ParentThis is a catch-22 problem. As someone working in cybersecurity, I see both sides. I would love it if our users understood filesystems and registry, but we have users who save everything to the...What is the point of knowing exactly how to describe an issue, to find solutions on the internet, to be comfortable with simple registry edits and maybe copy-paste a command line or two; when said solutions are a complete non-starter for my work laptop, because it’s got so many added guardrails to prevent me from taking anything but the most basic steps?
This is a catch-22 problem. As someone working in cybersecurity, I see both sides. I would love it if our users understood filesystems and registry, but we have users who save everything to the desktop and need training to use MFA.
If my job is to prevent the company from getting breached, I'm forced to accommodate the lowest common denominator. It's not even that I don't want to teach them, rather they don't care enough to spend the time required to learn it.
Not to put all the blame on users though, the erosion of ownership and self-repair has infected people's brains with a learned helplessness to where they don't even recognise they can fix their own problems.
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Comment on Why do you like your job? in ~life
infpossibilityspace LinkI like my job given the context that I need one to participate in society, and cybersecurity is the least-bad option I've found so far :D It satisfies my techy interests and is broad/deep enough...I like my job given the context that I need one to participate in society, and cybersecurity is the least-bad option I've found so far :D
It satisfies my techy interests and is broad/deep enough that there's always something new to learn. Contrary to popular belief there's still a lot of careful design and human communication required - I'm essentially putting restrictions in place for security but if it gets in the way too much people will resent/circumvent them, and I like the challenge of finding that balance.
On a more human level, it makes me happy that I'm protecting people from hackers. I have family working in health care and cyber feels like the digital equivalent of that.
It's not without difficulties though, people are putting a huge amount of trust in me to do the right thing - not surveil them for nefarious purposes like monitoring productivity, for example, and I take that very seriously.
Overall, it's a good mix of being mentally stimulating, has a positive impact to people, and keeps me ethically vigilant. It also pays well and I'm fortunate that my colleagues are great too! I'm not looking to change career anytime soon.
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Comment on Spoon - Everything Hits At Once (2001) in ~music
infpossibilityspace LinkI found Spoon from a KEXP session with material from their Hot Thoughts album and immediately bought 3 albums. The music and lyrics are really imaginative, definitely deserve more listeners.I found Spoon from a KEXP session with material from their Hot Thoughts album and immediately bought 3 albums. The music and lyrics are really imaginative, definitely deserve more listeners.
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Comment on Europe's rich are watching Norway's election debate on wealth taxes – changes to taxation are at the heart of the centre-right's attempts to retake power in ~society
infpossibilityspace Link ParentThe problem with relying on inheritance tax is you risk getting into a situation like the South Korean chabol Samsung. I'll refer to Wendover's great video on the subject, but suffice to say it...The problem with relying on inheritance tax is you risk getting into a situation like the South Korean chabol Samsung. I'll refer to Wendover's great video on the subject, but suffice to say it led to a ridiculous web of company ownership and political bribery to attempt to avoid paying the inheritance tax when passing the reigns to his family.
Inheritance tax can be manipulated too.
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Comment on Europe's rich are watching Norway's election debate on wealth taxes – changes to taxation are at the heart of the centre-right's attempts to retake power in ~society
infpossibilityspace Link ParentPer your own article: Firstly, 26% is still a massive amount of hoarded wealth, it's second overall and historically the highest (nothing has an outright majority), and being second now doesn't...Per your own article:
For the first time in 15 years, real estate lost its top hold in billionaires’ investment portfolios. By a narrow 28% to 26% margin, according to the TIGER 21 report, private equity now holds top billing.
Firstly, 26% is still a massive amount of hoarded wealth, it's second overall and historically the highest (nothing has an outright majority), and being second now doesn't necessarily mean they've sold their real estate (which is unlikely) - just that PE has grown relative to it.
Secondly, PE is fundamentally ownership of companies, which are incorporated and subject to the laws a given country, so you could tax the ownership of shares. Unless they plan on moving the legal entity of the company to one with fewer taxes, then their personal location still doesn't matter.
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Comment on Europe's rich are watching Norway's election debate on wealth taxes – changes to taxation are at the heart of the centre-right's attempts to retake power in ~society
infpossibilityspace Link ParentPushing back on this, the super rich make their money from owning assets like land and housing. It doesn't matter where they personally relocate to, they can't move the assets themselves. Gary's...Taxes just end up making the tax dodgers move to dodge taxes, as they tend to do.
Pushing back on this, the super rich make their money from owning assets like land and housing. It doesn't matter where they personally relocate to, they can't move the assets themselves.
Gary's Economics has a great explanation of this, skip to 19:20
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Comment on I am still awake after feeding my newborn in ~talk
infpossibilityspace Link ParentAhh, you might be like my brother who's very sensitive to light, he needs blackout curtains and a sleep mask to get some shut-eye, but my apartment just has paper blinds and I'm fine with it. I'm...Ahh, you might be like my brother who's very sensitive to light, he needs blackout curtains and a sleep mask to get some shut-eye, but my apartment just has paper blinds and I'm fine with it. I'm fortunate that I've always found it easy to sleep, even on trains/planes.
If 100 lumens is enough to keep you awake, maybe reading wouldn't work for you. I used to have a smart bulb which you could make fade over 30 minutes until it's completely off, which was a nice feature.
Smart bulbs can be quite expensive and are usually tied to their apps though, so you're at the whim of their updates and EULA, but that could be an option.
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Comment on I am still awake after feeding my newborn in ~talk
infpossibilityspace LinkReading a book/ereader has been shown to improve sleep quality and reduce stress. Even the light from a phone screen can be enough to keep you awake/stimulated compared to an ereader. I love...Reading a book/ereader has been shown to improve sleep quality and reduce stress. Even the light from a phone screen can be enough to keep you awake/stimulated compared to an ereader.
I love reading before sleep, except I'm not the most disciplined at stopping if it's an interesting story. I find renting from the library is a great extra nudge to read instead of using my phone, too.
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Comment on How can we fix UK universities? in ~life
infpossibilityspace Link ParentAbsolutely! I'm going a bit off topic here but there's an interesting talk by Jon Blow called Preventing the Collapse of Civilisation. Hyperbolic title aside, he discusses the importance of...Absolutely! I'm going a bit off topic here but there's an interesting talk by Jon Blow called Preventing the Collapse of Civilisation. Hyperbolic title aside, he discusses the importance of generational transfer of knowledge and how it's impacted civilisations across history.
Relating it to the UK, our decline of industrial sectors means there are fewer people to pass on that specialist knowledge, which explains why it's been so hard to develop those skills in the younger generations and why they're having to turn to less vocational professions to earn a living.
The more you tug the string it just keeps unravelling through myriad decisions and economic changes made by generations past that got us where we are now.
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Comment on How can we fix UK universities? in ~life
infpossibilityspace LinkI graduated with a physics degree in 2015 from a mid-range university, and while I no longer work in that field, my experience of university did do more than teach the test and I still admire...I graduated with a physics degree in 2015 from a mid-range university, and while I no longer work in that field, my experience of university did do more than teach the test and I still admire physics today. I think my viewpoint is different (and perhaps idealistic) since my choice of degree was based purely on curiosity with no regard for job prospects on the other side (though I knew a technical degree would be helpful somehow).
Many degrees only teach you what you need to know to pass the exams and produce acceptable coursework, which is not the point of a university degree.
While this may be true, I don't think this is the root cause of the issue. Like many young people I was sold the idea that going to university would lead to a good job, and there was a parental expectation I would study something. While I'm fortunate it worked out for me, I don't think you can separate the increasingly transactional nature of higher education with it's devaluation as an accomplishment as a result of the job market seeing it as an expectation. At the same time you rightly point out the funding shift from governmental to student loans, both of which dovetail with students' willingness to cheat their coursework (but that's a whole other rabbit-hole).
I believe there fundamentally needs to be more avenues for good job prospects than just having a degree, so the people who are curious about their subject are free to pursue it, while others can opt for apprenticeships etc. and they are still seen as equally valuable. Thus forcing universities to compete on merit again.
I'd agree that targeted integration is probably more useful than a generic chatbot, but I'm curious if there's much difference between the difference chat models? Why wouldn't people switch to a different model if one of them starts spamming ads? I don't use ai so genuinely have no idea what a given model's USP is and if that difference is big enough to make people put up with increased ads.