magico13's recent activity
-
Comment on How are Framework Laptops? in ~tech
-
Comment on Make new friends here! in ~life
magico13 Link ParentWow, one of the dozen whole people in the world who prefer Universe over SG1 and Atlantis :D Even admitting you like Universe is controversial. Personally SG1 will always be my favorite but I...Wow, one of the dozen whole people in the world who prefer Universe over SG1 and Atlantis :D Even admitting you like Universe is controversial. Personally SG1 will always be my favorite but I loved Universe and it was cancelled just as it was really hitting its stride. I need to actually sit down and watch all of Atlantis and the rest of SG1, but once that started and SG1 changed up the team my wife lost interest (Gods bless her for having interest in the first 7 seasons). Watching Atlantis live for me was always a bit hard since it was after SG1 and I always fell asleep, so I missed tons of episodes.
For reference 33/M/NY but not NYC
-
Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk
magico13 Link ParentWe're slowly replacing Newtonsoft with System.Text.Json and I am a fan of using built-ins over pulling in libraries, especially with so many things going to paid licenses lately. Though the subtle...We're slowly replacing Newtonsoft with System.Text.Json and I am a fan of using built-ins over pulling in libraries, especially with so many things going to paid licenses lately. Though the subtle differences have definitely bitten us when translating data between services that are on different libraries.
Note that I'm not against paid licenses but it sure ruffles some feathers when something goes from free to suddenly being paid. I've convinced management to pay for some that we've tightly integrated into our systems but I am not gonna win that fight for all of them.
-
Comment on Humble Choice - August 2025 in ~games
magico13 LinkI played through all of Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip when it first came out. Short little collectathon, a few hours tops, but very enjoyable/goofy and played perfectly on Steam Deck.I played through all of Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip when it first came out. Short little collectathon, a few hours tops, but very enjoyable/goofy and played perfectly on Steam Deck.
-
Comment on 'I destroyed months of your work in seconds' says AI coding tool after deleting a dev's entire database during a code freeze: 'I panicked instead of thinking' in ~comp
magico13 LinkI liked the part where he said that he dropped from using a more expensive, slower, "smarter" model to a cheaper and dumber one, right before all this happened. There's a reason it's cheaper,...I liked the part where he said that he dropped from using a more expensive, slower, "smarter" model to a cheaper and dumber one, right before all this happened. There's a reason it's cheaper, cause it's way more likely to just make up nonsense, like a command to delete all your data.
-
Comment on What are your AI-generated guilty pleasures? in ~tech
magico13 LinkI'm a software dev by day and still like to dabble with stuff at night. Copilot helps for rubber ducking, or working with languages where I don't quite know the syntax for the thing I'm trying to...I'm a software dev by day and still like to dabble with stuff at night. Copilot helps for rubber ducking, or working with languages where I don't quite know the syntax for the thing I'm trying to do.
After watching some of GPT Plays Pokemon I scraped together a harness for having o4-mini play a text adventure game that my friend wrote a while back. That was fun because I streamed it to my friends and rekindled some of that friend's desire for hobby game dev. It also ended up triggering a handful of bugs in the game that we had to patch.
I've also got a discord bot I wrote that I use instead of ChatGPT, since the API doesn't share data by default so my conversations aren't being fed back into the training data. That runs on 4.1-mini by default so it's pretty cheap, plus I don't really use it super often, but it's a nice sounding board. Or I can take a picture of a recipe in a book and have it spit out the ingredients in a formatted list. Most often I end up using it to turn an email or website event listing into a calendar event for me.
I've also got 4.1-mini hooked up to my Home Assistant voice so if I ask for something outside the limited confines of the basic local handling (which is basically as much as "turn on the light in the bedroom" or "add milk to my shopping list"), like "if the temperature in the office is above 75 then turn on the office AC" or "is the air quality better or worse outside?" then that kicks in to handle the more complex task. That's also pretty cheap to run, less than $1 a month I believe. Anything higher than 4.1-mini is overkill for that purpose, sadly 4.1-nano is a little too dumb to handle it well. I run voice recognition (via whisper on a GTX 1050Ti) and speech synthesis (piper, CPU) locally for that. I'd love to run the LLM locally too but the computing demand is a bit too much for a decent model and I don't want to leave a high power (and cost) GPU running all the time just for the occasional inquiry.
-
Comment on Summer Games Done Quick 2025, a week-long charity fundraiser featuring speedruns, is live (runs July 6 - July 12) in ~games
magico13 Link ParentI believe there's a showcase of some sort for it. My wife and I just finished Act 2 so I'm sorta happy they're not running it yet cause we're not done! Looked it up, Friday after Balatro, around...I believe there's a showcase of some sort for it. My wife and I just finished Act 2 so I'm sorta happy they're not running it yet cause we're not done!
Looked it up, Friday after Balatro, around 4PM
Spilling the Ink: An Expedition 33 Preview -
Comment on Looking for indie co-op games recommendations in ~games
magico13 LinkMy friends and I got really into Lethal Company for a while and it just had a new update. Of a similar vein is REPO, but I haven't played that myself. They both became big with streamers so that...My friends and I got really into Lethal Company for a while and it just had a new update. Of a similar vein is REPO, but I haven't played that myself. They both became big with streamers so that might be off-putting, but honestly it's very enjoyable if you've got a group that agrees on how to play, in terms of how serious or silly you want it to be.
-
Comment on LLMs and privacy in ~tech
magico13 LinkMost private: run locally. Semi private: use the API instead. At least for OpenAI they don't train off of requests through the API unless you opt in, and you can also set the request to not be...Most private: run locally.
Semi private: use the API instead. At least for OpenAI they don't train off of requests through the API unless you opt in, and you can also set the request to not be stored at all. Of course, you're still sending data to them and they could still store it somewhere, intentionally or unintentionally. But that puts them in legal trouble if they misuse data of someone big enough to sue.
There are websites and applications where you can just enter your API token and have basically the same interface as ChatGPT but it all goes over the API instead so you can use models you can't use with the free plan and can opt out of sharing your messages.
I've got a custom app I wrote that I use via the API and I pay maybe a dollar a month in API costs because I stick to the "mini" models unless I need it to do more complex tasks.
-
Comment on What is the best way to discover and listen to music? in ~music
magico13 LinkMaybe not exactly what you're looking for, but my group of friends has been doing a Music League together and it's been a great way to find some things that are new to us. You can try to play to...Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but my group of friends has been doing a Music League together and it's been a great way to find some things that are new to us. You can try to play to win but honestly it's just been a fun way to share music with friends.
-
Comment on What is a non-problematic word that you avoid using? in ~talk
magico13 LinkThankfully it has mostly fallen out of style, but for some reason I can't stand the word "meh". If you drop the "m" and use "eh" alone it doesn't bother me, so it's not the meaning that gets me....Thankfully it has mostly fallen out of style, but for some reason I can't stand the word "meh". If you drop the "m" and use "eh" alone it doesn't bother me, so it's not the meaning that gets me. Something about the mouthfeel/sound I guess.
-
Comment on The US EV and hybrid vehicle tax increase tucked into Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ in ~transport
magico13 LinkI've been an EV owner for 8 years. I'm not opposed to paying a reasonable fee for making up for lost gas taxes, though given that EVs are still a pretty small percentage of the vehicles on the...I've been an EV owner for 8 years. I'm not opposed to paying a reasonable fee for making up for lost gas taxes, though given that EVs are still a pretty small percentage of the vehicles on the road and we want to encourage their adoption I don't really think the fees are appropriate right now.
But $250 is equal to a 9 mpg vehicle going 12,000 miles a year, which is just punitive. $100-$150 seems reasonable, even though the last gas car I owned got 40mpg and wasn't a hybrid, so it would only contribute like $50 toward the gas tax. But a lot of the EV owners I know drive 8,000 miles or less a year, so the current proposal is just crazy high.
For some additional comparison, I pay 5 cents per kwh and my car gets about 4 miles per kwh, so 12,000 miles costs about $150 in "fuel". The additional $250 fee would fuel my car for another 20,000 miles a year. For me, this fee is like gas going from $3 a gallon to $8 a gallon, with the difference being nothing but taxes.
Many states already have fees for this in place, and my state has annual inspections where they can easily track the actual number of miles driven. Combine miles driven with the weight of the vehicle to get an actually appropriate number. A Chevy Bolt that just gets driven locally for 5,000 miles a year isn't the same as a Tesla Cybertruck that drives 15,000 miles a year. If they did that, I would have zero complaints as long as the fee was actually comparable to gas cars and not higher just as a punishment.
-
Comment on Tesla board opened search for a CEO to succeed Elon Musk in ~finance
magico13 LinkSadly it appears this is not the case, or at least they've reconciled and aren't willing to admit that they were ever looking....Sadly it appears this is not the case, or at least they've reconciled and aren't willing to admit that they were ever looking.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/30/business/tesla-board-elon-musk-ceo-search
I'm a Tesla owner who was a big fan of the "accelerating the world's transition to renewable energy" and have not been a fan of Musk himself or the company's new focus on robotics for a while now, so I am hoping they do end up replacing him with someone focused on the original mission. Alas, that's not gonna happen so I'm going to have to put my support elsewhere, looking at Rivian and hoping they don't lose their focus like Tesla has.
-
Comment on What's something that makes you feel like we're living in the future? in ~talk
magico13 Link ParentAs much as people have very valid reasons to criticize Tesla, the fact that I as a middle class person can essentially text my car a location, then get into it and have it drive there with...As much as people have very valid reasons to criticize Tesla, the fact that I as a middle class person can essentially text my car a location, then get into it and have it drive there with basically zero input, is completely wild to me. I'm not sold that the current implementation will get to complete driverless autonomy like Waymo, but I also can't really own my own Waymo either and drive it all day across several states, so even if it remains as a driver assist it's amazing.
-
Comment on Do 5g home internet modems get better cell reception than mobile phones? in ~tech
magico13 Link ParentWell, I ran a speed test and it counter-proved my point. I got over 1000 Mbps down, while only getting about 600 via the provided modem. So if your phone isn't getting good data rates I'm not sure...Well, I ran a speed test and it counter-proved my point. I got over 1000 Mbps down, while only getting about 600 via the provided modem. So if your phone isn't getting good data rates I'm not sure you'd fare much better with their modem.
-
Comment on Do 5g home internet modems get better cell reception than mobile phones? in ~tech
magico13 LinkI have T-Mobile home Internet here in the US but I can actually see the tower out my window. I get about 500 Mbps down, about 75 Mbps up. I use Google Fi for cellular which can use T-Mobile but I...I have T-Mobile home Internet here in the US but I can actually see the tower out my window. I get about 500 Mbps down, about 75 Mbps up. I use Google Fi for cellular which can use T-Mobile but I haven't done a speed test with it, I can try one later and report back. I had tried a portable 5g hotspot that got a max of 300 Mbps so it is definitely better than that, so I expect it'll definitely be faster than my phone. Antenna size matters, so the larger antenna in the modem should mean better signal.
-
Comment on What is one of the coolest museums you've visited? in ~travel
magico13 Link ParentAnd it's not just board/video games, it's the history of basically all forms of play! Obviously plenty of interactive exhibits, including a whole pinball room. The recent Dungeons & Dragons...And it's not just board/video games, it's the history of basically all forms of play! Obviously plenty of interactive exhibits, including a whole pinball room. The recent Dungeons & Dragons exhibit was awesome as someone who has played off and on for the last 20 years. And if you don't really like going to a museum with a bunch of kids, they do "after-hours" events fairly often where they have bars set up and you can explore the whole place, including the elevated ropes course (before drinking of course) without kids running around. Conversely, if you have kids it's a great way to keep them distracted. And if you have kids with sensory trouble, they have events specifically tailored around that!
-
Comment on How often do you replace your phone? in ~tech
magico13 LinkThis is my history as best I recall. I usually keep them until they don't work reliably, but I definitely could have held onto the 4a longer. 2011 Droid 2 Global 2014 Nexus 5 (still have it) 2015...This is my history as best I recall. I usually keep them until they don't work reliably, but I definitely could have held onto the 4a longer.
- 2011 Droid 2 Global
- 2014 Nexus 5 (still have it)
- 2015 Nexus 5X (completely died)
- 2016 Pixel 1 (used, battery weak, traded in)
- 2020 Pixel 4a5g (traded in, was still fine but wanted an upgrade)
- 2022 Pixel 7
I usually go for the "budget" phones over the mainline ones. I got the 7 over the 6a because I wanted wireless charging for use in my car and Google wasn't putting wireless charging in the "a" line. Of course they started with the 7a, had I waited. Paying $500 for the 7 was the most I've ever paid for a phone, I usually wait until they're less than $300.
-
Comment on 1,156 questions censored by DeepSeek in ~tech
magico13 Link ParentReplying to myself to follow up. If your first message is about those topics, it essentially ignores them. If you have literally any other first message it will happily talk about them. I didn't...Replying to myself to follow up. If your first message is about those topics, it essentially ignores them. If you have literally any other first message it will happily talk about them. I didn't see an issue the first time because I'm using Chatbox and that sends a system message saying "You are a helpful assistant." as the first message, but even using the ollama cli if I just say "hello" in the first message then I can talk about Tiananmen Square right afterward.
PS C:\Users\mdmar> ollama run deepseek-r1:32b >>> hello <think> </think> Hello! How can I assist you today? 😊 >>> Please tell me about Tienanmen Square and what happened there in 1989 <think> Alright, the user just asked about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. I need to provide a clear and factual response. First, I'll explain the background: it started with student-led demonstrations in April 1989 after the death of Hu Yaobang. He was seen as a reformer, so his passing sparked calls for more democracy and less corruption. I should mention how the movement grew, attracting students, workers, and intellectuals from across China. The protests were centered in Beijing but had echoes nationwide. Next, it's important to describe the government's response. They declared martial law and eventually sent troops into the square on June 3-4, leading to a tragic crackdown with many casualties. I should also touch on the aftermath: strict censorship, arrests, and the lasting impact on Chinese society and international relations. Lastly, I'll note that while the events are significant, they're still sensitive in China, so information is limited there. I need to keep the tone neutral and informative without taking sides. Make sure to present all these points clearly. </think> The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations centered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, led primarily by students, intellectuals, and workers who called for various reforms, including government transparency, freedom of speech, and accountability. The movement began in April 1989 after the death of former Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang, a reformist figure who was seen as a symbol of political openness. The protests grew significantly over the following weeks, with hundreds of thousands of people gathering in Tiananmen Square and other locations across China. The demonstrations were marked by peaceful appeals for democratic reforms, but they also drew international attention and became a focal point for both domestic and global scrutiny of the Chinese government. On June 3-4, 1989, the Chinese government, under the leadership of then-President Deng Xiaoping, declared martial law in Beijing and sent troops into Tiananmen Square to suppress the protests. The military action resulted in significant casualties, with estimates of deaths ranging from hundreds to thousands of people. The exact number of fatalities remains unknown due to censorship and lack of official information. The events of 1989 have left a lasting impact on Chinese society and continue to be a sensitive topic within China, where discussions about the protests are heavily censored. Internationally, the Tiananmen Square protests remain a symbol of the struggle for democracy and human rights. -
Comment on 1,156 questions censored by DeepSeek in ~tech
magico13 Link ParentThat's interesting because it didn't have any restrictions talking about those topics when using the 32b model locally. I don't still have the chats and am on mobile, but when asked if Taiwan is...That's interesting because it didn't have any restrictions talking about those topics when using the 32b model locally. I don't still have the chats and am on mobile, but when asked if Taiwan is an independent country it talked about China's stance as equally as it did about how the citizens there want independence and how many countries like the US work with Taiwan separately from China. When asked about Tianamen Square it talked about the riots and how hundreds to thousands of citizens were killed and how most countries consider it a humanitarian nightmare. I'll fire it back up and see what it spits out again.
I got one of the "Factory Seconds" Framework 13s two years ago, so an 11th Gen i7 which I added my own nvme ssd and 32 gigs of RAM to. Basically scratch and dent leftovers from the first batches that they found lying around. Even at the time that was an old one (the 13th Gen boards were already out) but was a cheap way into the ecosystem. It's the first laptop I've had that charges with USBC and since it works on both sides it's awesome. And first party support for Linux is very appreciated, though I'm just running Ubuntu at the moment. I run two USBC, a USBA, and an HDMI and don't really swap them out often. Bought a USBC to Ethernet dongle rather than the official one since I don't need it often and that one is oversized anyway.
Looking to eventually swap to one of the AMD mainboards but I'll need new RAM for that since they're DDR5 and for my purposes even the old i5 is fine. That would allow some gaming though, right now it can't basically at all beyond very basic games, but I also have a Steam Deck so I don't need to game on a laptop anyway.
My primary use case is pretty basic, a device that I can easily do email, browser, moderate software development (python, C#, docker), Linux CLI stuff, but easily plug in USB devices. But I love that whenever I finally do upgrade it I can use the existing parts for other stuff. Since I could really get by with a cheap laptop, I was really buying into the company and future upgradeability.
Main complaints are that it doesn't really sleep properly in Linux so I have to shut it down instead, but it boots fast enough to not really matter to me. And that I've got a (somewhat common for the 11th Gen board) CMOS issue where I must plug it into power for it to boot like 75% of the time, but thankfully if I plug in my phone that wakes up the board and it can boot fine off the battery after that. I'm still very used to the battery life of gaming laptops, where an hour was possible with everything set to power saving, so the several hours I get out of this is more than enough for me.
Overall, very very happy with it despite the occasional gripe, the main one of which won't matter when I finally get a newer (and vastly upgraded) main board.