MimicSquid's recent activity
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Comment on Montreal’s new rail line is the future in ~transport
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Comment on The latrine disaster in Erfurt in ~humanities.history
MimicSquid Link ParentI mean, I wouldn't want to spend another minute in a town where I almost drowned in a latrine while I was handling a side errand for my dad.I mean, I wouldn't want to spend another minute in a town where I almost drowned in a latrine while I was handling a side errand for my dad.
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Comment on I don't care much for symbolism in ~creative
MimicSquid LinkI think that symbolism is an extension of the human need to tell stories. A person reading something you've written is creating an internal narrative about the experience of reading your piece,...I think that symbolism is an extension of the human need to tell stories. A person reading something you've written is creating an internal narrative about the experience of reading your piece, latching onto mental shortcuts and existing known story patterns to ease the mental load of understanding your writing. Anything is a symbol. Whether you intentionally include them or not, people will read into your words more than you said.
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Comment on At dusk, fifty people went to San Francisco's longest dead-end street and all ordered a Waymo at the same time in ~transport
MimicSquid Link ParentMore drivers would have seen the traffic jam ahead and done things like diverting onto another street and calling the passenger.More drivers would have seen the traffic jam ahead and done things like diverting onto another street and calling the passenger.
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Comment on Order of the Sinking Star | Official announcement trailer in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentOof. Thanks. What a bummer.Oof. Thanks. What a bummer.
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Comment on Order of the Sinking Star | Official announcement trailer in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentAs someone who liked his previous work and have no idea of what he's been up to on the bigotry front, would you be willing to catch me up?As someone who liked his previous work and have no idea of what he's been up to on the bigotry front, would you be willing to catch me up?
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Comment on The iconic ‘Home Alone’ house is being renovated by its new owner (The interior is being restored to match its appearance in the original 1990 film) in ~movies
MimicSquid Link ParentDepending on the specific renovations a house has undergone, a contractor may have convinced a previous owner to "upgrade" to modern flooring because there's a strong secondary market for old...Depending on the specific renovations a house has undergone, a contractor may have convinced a previous owner to "upgrade" to modern flooring because there's a strong secondary market for old growth hardwood flooring. They can be so helpful as to handle the old boards along with the other construction waste without additional charge. Similar things are done with old chandeliers and other electrical fixtures they no longer manufacture. It's one of those things that's not stealing, since the new owner does want the change, but it's kind of embezzling, as the value of the old stuff is extracted without the owners' knowledge.
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Comment on CONTROL Resonant | Announcement trailer in ~games
MimicSquid LinkWell, that looks a good bit more like my kind of thing than Firebreak.Well, that looks a good bit more like my kind of thing than Firebreak.
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Comment on Disney inks blockbuster $1b deal with OpenAI, handing characters over to Sora in ~tech
MimicSquid LinkI give it a day, maximum, before there is video of Captain America saying things entirely counter to his character while in the background Yoda and Moana perform actions implying coitus. How well...The three-year licensing agreement will allow Sora users to create bespoke fan videos with the likes of Captain America, Yoda, and Moana.
I give it a day, maximum, before there is video of Captain America saying things entirely counter to his character while in the background Yoda and Moana perform actions implying coitus.
The release added: “OpenAI and Disney have affirmed a shared commitment to maintaining robust controls to prevent the generation of illegal or harmful content.”
How well has that actually worked to date?
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Comment on Low pressure, fatal consequences: Explosion at Yenkin-Majestic in ~science
MimicSquid Link ParentPeople are never supposed to crash their cars. Why should car manufacturers have seatbelts or crumple zones? No one is supposed to catch their kitchen on fire. Why should we require smoke alarms...People are never supposed to crash their cars. Why should car manufacturers have seatbelts or crumple zones? No one is supposed to catch their kitchen on fire. Why should we require smoke alarms or fire escapes?
If you only secure things to the point at which they're supposed to operate, you're failing to prepare for things to go wrong. That's the whole point of safety tolerances, automatic warnings, and built-in emergency plans.
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Comment on These travel influencers don’t want freebies. They’re AI. in ~travel
MimicSquid Link ParentA lot of what's hard for a real person is content creation. Going places, writing scripts, recording themselves, photographing things, etc. If all of that is replaced with AI images and videos,...A lot of what's hard for a real person is content creation. Going places, writing scripts, recording themselves, photographing things, etc. If all of that is replaced with AI images and videos, the cost craters. And then you can spam hundreds of accounts with variations of the same image and personality for the cost of one trip to Europe for one person. It's not that any one account will be as effective to start as one influencer, but they're much cheaper.
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Comment on Grocery stores are profiling online shoppers and charging them dynamic prices based on algorithmically determined affluence in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentAll of that is only relevant if there's a single level of pricing going on. With the price floor set by the shop who isn't dynamically pricing their goods, there's no cheaper goods for people...All of that is only relevant if there's a single level of pricing going on. With the price floor set by the shop who isn't dynamically pricing their goods, there's no cheaper goods for people whose personal demand drops below the baseline. And then the middleman's markup only provides profit for the middleman rather than offsetting the cheaper goods provided to people with leas demand.
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Comment on Grocery stores are profiling online shoppers and charging them dynamic prices based on algorithmically determined affluence in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentRight, which means that the higher prices being charged some people doesn't actually imply a decrease in the price for anyone else.Right, which means that the higher prices being charged some people doesn't actually imply a decrease in the price for anyone else.
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Comment on Grocery stores are profiling online shoppers and charging them dynamic prices based on algorithmically determined affluence in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentTo my understanding Instacart isn't setting the base price, the retailer is, and then Instacart is applying a markup. So the floor is what makes profit for the retailer, which has nothing to do...To my understanding Instacart isn't setting the base price, the retailer is, and then Instacart is applying a markup. So the floor is what makes profit for the retailer, which has nothing to do with Instagram's markups. This wipes out any benefit for the poorest people.
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Comment on Grocery stores are profiling online shoppers and charging them dynamic prices based on algorithmically determined affluence in ~finance
MimicSquid Link ParentI would think that there's nothing wrong with that sort of price discrimination if the revenue was used to subsidize food for the less fortunate. For it to go into a middleman's pocket doesn't...I would think that there's nothing wrong with that sort of price discrimination if the revenue was used to subsidize food for the less fortunate. For it to go into a middleman's pocket doesn't seem to have any benefit to society beyond padding Instacart's balance sheet.
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Comment on China’s growth is coming at the rest of the world’s expense in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentLet's take the most extreme hypothetical case: China can produce enough of everything for everyone on Earth, and cheaply enough that it's still profitable to ship it in rather than manufacture...Let's take the most extreme hypothetical case: China can produce enough of everything for everyone on Earth, and cheaply enough that it's still profitable to ship it in rather than manufacture locally. In this instance China needs nothing from other countries and still ruins everyone's domestic production because the Chinese stuff is still better/cheaper than building domestically.
Historically, there's been a balance of trade, where different countries import and export things, and it more or less balances out. When it doesn't, that's when people start worrying about trade deficits. If China imports nothing and sells things, over time, the assets available to other nations will flow to China as it accumulates more of the resources that used to be spread more evenly. You can think of it as equivalent to Amazon's strategy of selling at a loss to drive other competitors out of business. The longer China sells more than it imports and at a rate that diminishes the competitive capability of other nations the stronger they'll be by comparison.
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Comment on A post on X claiming that Denmark has introduced an IQ threshold of at least 85 for sperm donors has sparked confusion, debate and memes, but ultimately is misleading in ~health
MimicSquid Link ParentAnd is also updated regularly to aim at the midpoint of the range. Someone's IQ can change over the course of their life not only because of their own innate efforts, but because the population...And is also updated regularly to aim at the midpoint of the range. Someone's IQ can change over the course of their life not only because of their own innate efforts, but because the population got smarter around them. Truly, IQ is a zero sum game.
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Comment on RAM is so expensive, Samsung won’t even sell it to Samsung in ~tech
MimicSquid Link ParentTo be fair, that was for one year, as they were developing a new consumer product, on an item not a mainstay of modern civilization.To be fair, that was for one year, as they were developing a new consumer product, on an item not a mainstay of modern civilization.
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Comment on Swiss reject millionaire inheritance tax in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentI'm curious about what a person could do with a billion dollars of personal wealth that would be out of reach with 100 million that is more important than 900 million extra for infrastructure,...I'm curious about what a person could do with a billion dollars of personal wealth that would be out of reach with 100 million that is more important than 900 million extra for infrastructure, social programs, and other matters of government? What are they actually losing the ability to do? Yes, a number changed. What does that mean for them?
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Comment on Swiss reject millionaire inheritance tax in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentRight. And what I'm saying is that losing 90% of their net worth is not a major sacrifice for a billionaire. Their life will still be one of absolute comfort as far as money could provide.Right. And what I'm saying is that losing 90% of their net worth is not a major sacrifice for a billionaire. Their life will still be one of absolute comfort as far as money could provide.
At a savings of $440 million a kilometer over similar projects, it's really down to what the actual ridership is over the next century. If it ends up that there are more than 4.4 million riders per year per kilometer, then at some point in the next century there may be payouts that end up being greater than the costs that otherwise would have needed to be paid right now.
But that's future money, and is inherently less valuable than today money.