nothis's recent activity
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Comment on “First of its kind” AI settlement: Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion in ~books
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Comment on “First of its kind” AI settlement: Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion in ~books
nothis Link ParentCan you claim that shit from Europe? I found something I wrote years ago in there!Can you claim that shit from Europe? I found something I wrote years ago in there!
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Comment on Over twenty-one days of talking with ChatGPT, an otherwise perfectly sane man became convinced he was a superhero in ~tech
nothis Link ParentThe "go eat" part is striking, but the rest is also basically a jumbled version of the same reply. LLMs are exceptional at taking a sample sentence and outputting multiple variations. I wonder if...The "go eat" part is striking, but the rest is also basically a jumbled version of the same reply. LLMs are exceptional at taking a sample sentence and outputting multiple variations. I wonder if the reason for that is that they are very good at finding the common thread and linguistically playing around it. While the general target stays fixed.
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Comment on Xbox Series X and S: Microsoft has reportedly sold less than 30 million consoles this generation in ~games
nothis Link ParentWhat I find so yucky about Microsoft is that they never acknowledge mistakes. They never say, "we tried this and failed", they act like all is going according to plan and we just don't get it. And...What I find so yucky about Microsoft is that they never acknowledge mistakes. They never say, "we tried this and failed", they act like all is going according to plan and we just don't get it. And that makes it hard to trust anything they claim to commit to since you just know they'll pivot to the sleaziest money-grab the moment they have a chance. I don't want them to hold any power over the future of gaming for that reason alone.
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Comment on Over twenty-one days of talking with ChatGPT, an otherwise perfectly sane man became convinced he was a superhero in ~tech
nothis LinkI found the last bit fascinating: They gave 3 LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude) the same (rather unusual?) prompt and they answered with different words but exactly the same content. Like, the...I found the last bit fascinating: They gave 3 LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude) the same (rather unusual?) prompt and they answered with different words but exactly the same content. Like, the second to last paragraph starts with:
"So now eat something. Hydrate." (ChatGPT)
"Now please — for the love of Chrono — go eat something." (Claude)
"Now, go grab something to eat. Fuel the machine." (Gemini)
You see it mentioned that LLMs are "not deterministic" but while these are different words, the content is eerily identical. This might be well known behavior but I have never seen such clear examples before. It means that LLMs might use some level of randomness ("temperature"?) to stay out of infinite loops and same-y answers, they probably cannot escape a fairly deterministic path without deteriorating accuracy. In other words: LLMs always giving the most likely answer means they are exceptionally bad at breaking out from their training data, maybe more so than we think. GPT 5 seems to be showing signs of plateauing performance. Maybe this is a real wall, even for less crazy scenarios.
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Comment on ‘Star Wars’ “looks terrible” in screening of long lost original 1977 version in ~movies
nothis (edited )Link ParentI tuned out of this whole drama a while ago but you say "years" and now I wonder how much happened since I last checked. I distinctly remember that the original print was considered "lost" for a...I tuned out of this whole drama a while ago but you say "years" and now I wonder how much happened since I last checked.
I distinctly remember that the original print was considered "lost" for a long time and most attempts by fans to restore it awkwardly stitched together random old versions, i.e. "20 seconds of VHS footage in-between 4K material". The article seems to talk about the real deal, a properly stored original print.
Is "4K77" a scan of a proper original print or that stitched-together monstrosity I remember seeing footage of?
EDIT: Who am I kidding, of course I had to spend half an hour researching this. From the official 4K77 website: 97% are from a perfect-ish scan of a 1977 Technicolor print. The rest is sourced from a few other prints and like 400 frames from the blue ray. Quote: "There are no frames from VHS, laserdisc or DVD." This seems pretty much perfect. The wonky version I remembered was likely Harmy's Despecialized Edition.
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Comment on Nintendo Switch 2 launch topic in ~games
nothis Link ParentThank god. The Switch 1 store UI is the most baffling thing about the Switch for me (I think it runs as a website in its webbrowser which is slow as hell). It is the most "broken" part of the...UI-wise, things also run smoother, especially the store, which often had weird hiccups when scrolling on the old switch
Thank god. The Switch 1 store UI is the most baffling thing about the Switch for me (I think it runs as a website in its webbrowser which is slow as hell). It is the most "broken" part of the device after the joystick drift and they never bothered to fix it in 8 years.
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Comment on Which unanswered questions do you want to see an answer for in your lifetime? in ~science
nothis Link ParentNow I'm actually curious how that would work, even in theory?disproof of other life in the universe
Now I'm actually curious how that would work, even in theory?
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Comment on An image of an archeologist adventurer who wears a hat and uses a bullwhip in ~tech
nothis Link ParentThis is what truly bothers me about AI. The copyright issue is real but can potentially be solved with money. But the actual danger is more sinister: If no new solutions to interesting ideas have...This is what truly bothers me about AI. The copyright issue is real but can potentially be solved with money. But the actual danger is more sinister: If no new solutions to interesting ideas have to be come up with, where does that leave creativity? The “Alien” alien, Indiana Jones, Predator, John McClane and the Terminator were invented. There were no characters like them before (although, of course, there were stereotypes and inspirations) and someone came up with them and then there were. Now we can get hung up on the definition of “stereotypes and inspirations” but very clearly AI isn’t “inspired”, it plain copies shit. Let’s train them on whatever the difference is, maybe, but whatever it is: they have not figured it out.
So the true negative effect of AI on society is less a lack of copyright revenue but a sharp and tragic drop in creativity. I personally (maybe naively) like to think that people will notice that and “AI-generic” imagery will grow to be considered cheap and low quality (more so than it already is).
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Comment on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and US influencers bash seed oils, baffling nutrition scientists in ~food
nothis Link ParentAt this point I’m just assuming the paranoid take to be correct if it favors right-wing lunacy: This is a way to humiliate vegetarians. Half the people celebrating this trend might not give a...At this point I’m just assuming the paranoid take to be correct if it favors right-wing lunacy: This is a way to humiliate vegetarians. Half the people celebrating this trend might not give a flying fuck about how healthy their French fries are but they gleefully start to „consider the science“ if it would mean fast food restaurants becoming required to use beef tallow to fry vegetables so you could smugly lecture vegetarians that consuming beef is for the greater good.
There was a time when I dismissed trains of thought like that as too cynical but we are absolutely 100% there, now.
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Comment on Obsidian is now free for work in ~tech
nothis Link ParentOh, it‘s iCloud compatible? That would work for me.Oh, it‘s iCloud compatible? That would work for me.
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Comment on Obsidian is now free for work in ~tech
nothis LinkI've been looking for a more advanced not taking app and find myself mostly just overwhelmed by choice. Does Obsidian stand out as particularly good? And do I see this right, it's $4/month if you...I've been looking for a more advanced not taking app and find myself mostly just overwhelmed by choice. Does Obsidian stand out as particularly good? And do I see this right, it's $4/month if you want to sync between your laptop and your phone?
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Comment on reCAPTCHA: 819 million hours of wasted human time and billions of dollars in Google profits in ~tech
nothis Link ParentThat‘s how the algorithm learns to select a pixel with 0.5% intensity, thank you.That‘s how the algorithm learns to select a pixel with 0.5% intensity, thank you.
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Comment on US$ 30 million to reinvent the wheel (Bluesky vs. Mastodon) in ~tech
nothis Link ParentYup. A classic case of idealist open software projects shooting themselves in the foot by not realizing that people make decisions emotionally. A lot of unpleasant things go through my head just...Yup. A classic case of idealist open software projects shooting themselves in the foot by not realizing that people make decisions emotionally. A lot of unpleasant things go through my head just reading the name but certainly reading a “primer” of how mastodon even fucking works, which is not how any other social media app ever worked in this millennium. And the techy idealists crowd (which I’d include myself as being a part of, to a large degree) largely ignored any issues with onboarding and confusion for potential users. Like, almost rolling their eyes at your aunt and uncle not being able to read a short readme.md and do a little research on potential instances. How deluded and out of touch is that? I was a little more open at first because it honestly would have been great if it succeeded, but who are we kidding? It has always been bonkers.
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Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech
nothis Link ParentGlad you brought it back to TikTok. It turns out the “internet” of the late 1990s to early 2010s that, I assume, lots of Tildes users grew up with, was an anomaly. Average persons had to learn how...Glad you brought it back to TikTok.
It turns out the “internet” of the late 1990s to early 2010s that, I assume, lots of Tildes users grew up with, was an anomaly. Average persons had to learn how to deal with duct-taped-together technical artifact that made thousands of unique attempts of forming communities, setting policies. Forums, video game servers, niche interest websites. You had communities form that, in size, resembled real-life communities where you could know everyone, see different personalities and have human discussions.
All that stuff has been absorbed into maybe five major “hubs” that unify policy and tone. Meta is certainly the largest. This headline is an example of why monopolies are a bad idea. Ironically, both the rich and the left would agree. Only that the right’s solution is to take over the monopolies rather than to break them.
Even Tildes is a place where I generally do not recognize usernames (with a few major exceptions). It’s as if I was screaming replies at a disembodied opinion. It could be a Russian troll farm employee. It could be an AI. I do not even really care. It’s bizarre. And a place like TikTok, X or Reddit is the same but increased by a factor of 1000 or more.
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Comment on Astro Bot wins Game of the Year 2024 in ~games
nothis (edited )Link ParentBit bummed that a glorified gambling-simulator won against Animal Well and UFO 50 in the indie categories but I guess that's what you get in a show that's primarily watched for the advertising.Bit bummed that a glorified gambling-simulator won against Animal Well and UFO 50 in the indie categories but I guess that's what you get in a show that's primarily watched for the advertising.
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Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech
nothis Link ParentThat’s a bit like saying we need monopolies to solve a problem that monopolies caused. Browsers didn’t use to be that absurdly complicated and expensive. It’s Google pushing them to become product...That’s a bit like saying we need monopolies to solve a problem that monopolies caused. Browsers didn’t use to be that absurdly complicated and expensive. It’s Google pushing them to become product platforms that turned browsers (readers for open information) into mini-operating systems.
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Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech
nothis Link ParentMicrosoft was sued for a browser monopoly before. Would be pretty cynical if they could just buy Chrome lol.Microsoft was sued for a browser monopoly before. Would be pretty cynical if they could just buy Chrome lol.
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Comment on I think it's time to give a "news detox" a try in ~talk
nothis Link ParentI honestly believe you can make that decision with maybe an hour of effort. How many issues can there be to shape that decision? Who genuinely watches the news “to make a decision”?I honestly believe you can make that decision with maybe an hour of effort. How many issues can there be to shape that decision?
Who genuinely watches the news “to make a decision”?
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I think it's time to give a "news detox" a try
I've spent the past months with an unhealthy obsession with "the news", due to both an election in my own country and the one in the US. Maybe it was an attempt at being in control of a situation...
I've spent the past months with an unhealthy obsession with "the news", due to both an election in my own country and the one in the US. Maybe it was an attempt at being in control of a situation I have absolutely zero control over, despite it shaping aspects of the world I really care about. But that control is an illusion.
I've rediscovered an older article by Rolf Dobelli called "Avoid News – Towards a Healthy News Diet". It argues against the value of high-frequency (daily) news consumption in 15 points. It does not vilify journalism as a whole, however, arguing for replacing a daily feed of online news with individual, high-quality, in-depth articles consumed weekly or so.
I know that I probably can't resist having some idea of what is going on in the world (and I have some niche interests that I genuinely find productive to keep up with). So I'll try something simple: No "news" (quotes because I include random social media feeds in this) during weekdays. No news websites, no tildes, no reddit. There's ways to filter for the top posts of the "last 7 days". I never use this feature since I look almost daily, anyways. Well, I'll try and make that my default way of consuming social media. On weekends I can decided to use some of my precious free time to read up on the "big" events of the week. I hope this will make me realize that most weeks go by without producing any information that I can use to improve my own life (both privately and at work) or that of people I care about.
There is stuff I'm looking forward to: This sounds depressing but I have this huge list of non-critical things I wanted to accomplish that I kinda stopped even considering because every damn minute of free time I had was spent doom-scrolling. I hope the "touch grass" people are right and spending more time focused on my own environment will also help me get a better sense of what is important.
I also feel slightly guilty about the thought that this will make me less compassionate towards people who live outside my own bubble and whose stories I would not hear just talking to friends and family. This is an attempt to put my head in the sand and pretend that large parts of the world do not exist. But the truth is: There is only so much I can do, effectively. I can maybe join a group dedicated to fixing a specific wrong or raise awareness. Maybe two. But I could never address that whole laundry list of problems from my news feed that left me paralyzed with fear. I will have a more positive impact on the world if I focus on less.
Let's see where this goes.
67 votes
Europe, published and citizen. I guess not then? If you found a good explanation online relating to that case, I’d still appreciate it, I’m curious.