papasquat's recent activity
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Comment on Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games in ~tech
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Comment on Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI think it's the second part much more than the first to be honest. This kind of dexterity and motor control is impressive and genuinely useful, the humanoid form factor probably isn't though. Its...The use case as I understand it is pretty much “drop into the billions of situations that are already designed around humans doing the thing, and have the robot do the thing without needing to retrofit the whole environment for them”. That and it’s goddamn cool, of course.
I think it's the second part much more than the first to be honest. This kind of dexterity and motor control is impressive and genuinely useful, the humanoid form factor probably isn't though.
Its a lot easier and cheaper to design robots that can navigate specific environments to do specific tasks that they can do a lot better than a humanoid can versus trying to design one that can replicate everything a human can do. Still, if you want to build a laundry folding robot, or a firefighting robot, it needs to be able to have human level dexterity and object awareness, so the capabilities demoed at events like this are important.
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Comment on Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentThat's literally the whole point of the article though. If it was about just achieving an arbitrary goal, say, 10x faster than a robot from a decade ago, it'd say that, but it's specifically about...You don’t need to compare it against humans. It’s better to compare it against robots 10 years ago.
That's literally the whole point of the article though. If it was about just achieving an arbitrary goal, say, 10x faster than a robot from a decade ago, it'd say that, but it's specifically about beating human records. The subtext there is pretty clear.
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Comment on Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI think the approach is pretty flawed, because humans and machines are put together in vastly different ways. The human body has over 600 different muscles. That's 600 actuators that can...I think the approach is pretty flawed, because humans and machines are put together in vastly different ways.
The human body has over 600 different muscles. That's 600 actuators that can independently control motion to different parts of the body.
Replicating that with a robot is ridiculously expensive, and will always remain ridiculously expensive. Even if you're talking about a $20 servo, that's $12,000 in servos alone. We don't have a way to grow robots either, they need to be meticulously assembled, ironically, by hand in most cases, so at the end of the day, building one with the full capabilities of a human is astronomically expensive.
At the same time, humans aren't even that good at most physical tasks. When we mow a lawn, we use a device with a giant handle and a gas engine that we use our dumb feet to push around. A robot lawnmower does the same thing with a handful of motors and battery, and it does it way, way cheaper than a humanoid could.
So if you want a robot around your house to help you with a few tasks, say, vacuuming, mowing your lawn, and folding your laundry, are most people going to buy the $100,000 humanoid that will be equally expensive to fix when it breaks, or the $200 robot vacuum, the $400 robot lawnmower, and the $1000 robot laundry folding machine, all of which can work at the same time?
Id guess there probably are places that a humanoid robot makes sense (I actually struggle to think of one right now though), inside people's homes probably isn't that place though.
Once you can grow them in vats or replicators and just recycle them when they break, maybe, but beyond that I don't see the financials ever making sense.
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Comment on Artists built a site to escape AI. Scrapers are coming for it anyway. in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentIts not stealing, but it's also not learning. Framing AI training as "learning from something" is being a little disingenuous about what's going on. I think it's a lot more accurate to say that...Its not stealing, but it's also not learning. Framing AI training as "learning from something" is being a little disingenuous about what's going on.
I think it's a lot more accurate to say that these artists uploaded their art to a place to explicitly spell out how they didn't want their art used, and then were targeted for that exact use. You don't really need to delve into the nitty gritty technical details of how AI training works to determine that it's wrong.
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Comment on Webcomic of the author's experience in an abusive school that was a part of the Troubled Teens Industry in ~life
papasquat LinkI've spent basically my whole workday doing nothing but reading this graphic novel. Its amazingly done, and incredibly fucked up. I'd never heard of Elan, and I'd heard of abusive rehabilitation...I've spent basically my whole workday doing nothing but reading this graphic novel. Its amazingly done, and incredibly fucked up. I'd never heard of Elan, and I'd heard of abusive rehabilitation schools before, but didn't realize it was that bad. After doing some research, yep, it was, and people had known how bad it was for much of its existence. Shockingly, the school was still running until 2011. It makes me wonder how many similar places may still be running to this day.
The world, and especially the US seems to have this fatal flaw where a charismatic con-man is able to just basically weave their own reality and get away with just about anything. Its crazy how people can be put in jail for accidently leaving weed in their car, but somehow you can become a multi millionaire by abusing kids for decades, and live your entire life without facing any consequences. Really disturbing stuff.
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Comment on What game are you terrible at? in ~games
papasquat Link ParentIts interesting that you play Go, but don't have the same issue. Go is definitely older than chess, and might be the only potential rival for chess as far as games that have been absolutely...Its interesting that you play Go, but don't have the same issue. Go is definitely older than chess, and might be the only potential rival for chess as far as games that have been absolutely overanalyzed and optimized in the same way.
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Comment on McDonald’s built a 515-page dossier on me in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI eat at McDonald's probably a few times a year, but they don't know anything about me besides maybe my credit card number that I've paid with a few times. Hopefully they don't store that though....I eat at McDonald's probably a few times a year, but they don't know anything about me besides maybe my credit card number that I've paid with a few times. Hopefully they don't store that though.
You don't have to give up your personal information or download an app to get a Big Mac though. I just don't buy things from places that make me use their stupid app even though I'm there in person.
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Comment on McDonald’s built a 515-page dossier on me in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI mean, yeah, they could, but they're just as likely to lower prices for the same reason after suddenly gaining access to that data. The whole point of data like that is to find the optimal price...They could hike prices because they knew the aggregated “pain point” prices that were juuuust still in reach of customers’ wallets without driving them away completely.
I mean, yeah, they could, but they're just as likely to lower prices for the same reason after suddenly gaining access to that data. The whole point of data like that is to find the optimal price point. Its not the absolute most that a single customer is willing to pay. Its the price that most people are willing to pay that causes you to make the most profit over time.
If you price your big macs at 20 dollars, sure, some people are going to keep buying them, but most people won't, and you'll lose money. If you nudge the price up by only a little bit, you'll make more profit, but people will come less often. Finding the sweet spot where those two lines intersect is the whole point.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
papasquat Link ParentHealth insurance, abstracted, is a mechanism for the allocation of where medical care goes. That mechanism will exist regardless of how healthcare is doled out, because healthcare is extremely...Health insurance, abstracted, is a mechanism for the allocation of where medical care goes. That mechanism will exist regardless of how healthcare is doled out, because healthcare is extremely resource intensive and demand will always exceed supply. You can argue that the determining factors of who currently gets that healthcare are unjust (primarily, who has the best health insurance plan, and by proxy who has the most money), but you can't really argue that the act of making the determination itself is immoral.
Going back to the trolley problem referenced elsewhere in these comments, this would be akin to calling someone immoral for signing up to be guy who operates the trolley switch. The trolley is going to kill people regardless of what you do. Someone has to pull the switch. The switch right now is pulled by people who make sure the trolley only runs over poor people wherever possible, but even if the system was replaced by something more just, someone would still have to pull the switch. The switch pulling itself isn't the immoral part.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
papasquat Link ParentI agree, but I think a lot of people aren't just understanding the reasoning behind the killing, or empathetic to Luigi's suffering. The reason why I think that is is because even when they're not...There's a difference between saying that someone should have been killed and saying that you understand someone's reasoning for killing them, or are empathetic to their suffering, or think they shouldn't be punished to an extreme for it.
I agree, but I think a lot of people aren't just understanding the reasoning behind the killing, or empathetic to Luigi's suffering. The reason why I think that is is because even when they're not cheering for what luigi did (a lot of that is ironic meme fodder, I get it), they're bringing up the reasoning behind it a lot.
When I watch the news about murders, I understand the reason behind most of them, to be honest. If I were a gang member, and my entire income and reputation came from being able to defend my turf, and a rival gang stepped on it, I would be understandability motivated to kill them to make a point. If I walked in on my wife cheating on me with my best friend, I would be understandably motivated to kill him. If I were in a marriage to a rich guy who I no longer loved, and in fact detested, but had no skills of my own with which could support my current lifestyle, I would understandably be motivated to hire someone to kill him.
Like, I get the reasonings behind all of these things. I don't ever bring them up, because I think everyone understands why most people kill other people. Motivation is a big factor in finding a suspect for a crime after all. I don't actually support any of those killings though. I understand them, but don't condone them.
With Luigi, (and this happens a lot with "justified", legally wrong violence), people bring up understanding his motivation over and over. Why the difference between that behavior Luigi and gang violence or passion killings? I think it has a lot to do with people having adopted a rigid ethical framework (murder is wrong) that doesn't actually mirror their own personal morality (murder is actually ok if the person being murdered is a piece of shit). That is, they actually do condone the killing, they just won't outright say that because murder is wrong.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
papasquat Link ParentAnyone in a leadership position at any large healthcare company has killed people for profit, (more accurately, let people die for profit). The US has a for-profit healthcare system. Its a...Anyone in a leadership position at any large healthcare company has killed people for profit, (more accurately, let people die for profit). The US has a for-profit healthcare system. Its a requirement of the job.
The key nuance here though is that it doesn't matter how healthcare is doled out, if you're in a leadership position in a place where there's more need for healthcare than resources to give that healthcare (literally everywhere on earth), you will have to make decisions that will result in people dying.
If a 95 year old man needs MRIs to detect tumors on a biweekly basis, and a 20 year old comes in from a car accident and needs an MRI to save his life, and there's only one spot left on the MRI machines schedule, a choice needs to be made. If you only have three trauma doctors on duty and 5 people come in with life threatening injuries, a choice has to be made.
There are a lot of issues with how the US doles out healthcare, but any other system requires that similar choices are made. I don't think it's fair that rich people get better care than poor people in the US, but blaming insurance companies for finding ways to make money is pointless. They exist to make money. That's how the system is set up.
If we had public healthcare, it would be policy boards and administrators making decisions about who gets care. If we had anarcho capitalist city states, it would be the Lord chancellor CEO of the city making those decisions or whoever.
Someone would still have to make them, so the idea that this guy deserved to be murdered for being the guy that did it doesn't really square that well. He might have deserved to be punished for how he made those decisions, but deciding who gets lifesaving care and who doesn't isn't inherently morally wrong. Its necessary for someone to do.
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Comment on Hayden Panettiere dies at 36 in ~movies
papasquat Link ParentYeah I agree with you, it's definitely the natural instinct to speculate and be curious. it's not quite the speculation I find off-putting, it's the immediate trawling through memoirs, interviews,...Yeah I agree with you, it's definitely the natural instinct to speculate and be curious. it's not quite the speculation I find off-putting, it's the immediate trawling through memoirs, interviews, or whatever to try to find answers.
That's what I'd do if I were a family member and someone close to me died, but I wouldn't want the media or the public doing it, even if it's understandable why they would.
Like, I just imagine if my wife or my sister were famous, got into a car accident or had a heart attack and died, and the media immediately went "in an Instagram post six months ago she said she was feeling sad, and in her book, she said that she felt isolated and depressed as a teenager, and she mentioned she had a bad relationship with her father in this interview" implying it may have been a suicide despite no evidence of that at all.
It would really piss me off and bother me that people were digging into her personal life just to satisfy their curiousity and impling that she was suicidal when she wasn't.
Not necessarily saying that's what happened here, but it still just doesn't sit well with me when that kind of thing happens.
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Comment on Ukraine attacks Russia with hundreds of drones - one of Kyiv’s largest aerial assaults of the conflict in ~society
papasquat Link ParentIf we're theoretically talking about an attack against the US, it would be really hard. If you flew from another country, drones that big would be picked up and destroyed by NORAD very quickly. If...If we're theoretically talking about an attack against the US, it would be really hard. If you flew from another country, drones that big would be picked up and destroyed by NORAD very quickly. If you flew from inside the US, you'd need to be able to snuggle absolutely massive military grade drone components and explosives inside and then launch them from somewhere. Much more doable, but still really hard.
9/11 worked because the bomb was already in the air and totally routine seeming traffic until about 20 minutes before the attack, which were totally unprecedented at the time.
It would be really hard for a large, unidentified aircraft to closely approach a heavily populated area without being challenged these days.
Drones small enough to fit in a car or backpack are a totally different story, but they obviously can't do as much damage.
If we're talking about a large nation state instead of a terrorist attack though, things are way different and there are so many variables involved that it would be hard to say what would happen at all.
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Comment on Ukraine attacks Russia with hundreds of drones - one of Kyiv’s largest aerial assaults of the conflict in ~society
papasquat Link ParentFrom my back of the napkin math: 11k gallons of Jet-A at 135 MJ of energy per gallon = 1,485,000 MJ = 1,485 GJ. For sanity check's sake, a 757 carries 76,968 lbs of fuel. It would be weird for it...From my back of the napkin math: 11k gallons of Jet-A at 135 MJ of energy per gallon = 1,485,000 MJ = 1,485 GJ.
For sanity check's sake, a 757 carries 76,968 lbs of fuel. It would be weird for it to have less energy than a bomb that only contains 19,000 lbs of explosives. (Fuel is also almost always a lot more energy dense than explosives).
You may have had a unit error somewhere?
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Comment on Ukraine attacks Russia with hundreds of drones - one of Kyiv’s largest aerial assaults of the conflict in ~society
papasquat Link ParentEhh... I don't know about that. I am actually pretty surprised that we haven't seen domestic terrorism in the US using drones, but something with the scale and impact of 9/11 isn't really possible...If there’s another 911 then it’s likely to be using drones.
Ehh... I don't know about that. I am actually pretty surprised that we haven't seen domestic terrorism in the US using drones, but something with the scale and impact of 9/11 isn't really possible with the types of drones used here.
The reason 9/11 was such an effective attack is that international airliners are basically massive flying bombs. They carry more energy than even the largest conventional bombs ever built. The types of tactical drones used in the ukraine war are magnitudes smaller. You could kill a few people with them, but you couldn't pull off something as shocking and effective as 9/11 was.
Its still really scary though, and I think the first time someone kills people at a really public place like a sports game or something like that with a drone, it's going to be really bone chilling.
For what it's worth, there already are anti drone defenses at big public gatherings like that. Usually, the FAA publishes temporary flight restrictions a few days before and event, and local police, state law enforcement, and federal agencies maintain a counter UAS presence at them. How effective and well covered they are remains to be seen though.
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Comment on Hayden Panettiere dies at 36 in ~movies
papasquat LinkThis is really sad. I grew up watching her, I remember being really into heroes when it came out, and we're similar ages so I kinda grew up alongside her. She always seemed like a really nice...This is really sad. I grew up watching her, I remember being really into heroes when it came out, and we're similar ages so I kinda grew up alongside her. She always seemed like a really nice person in interviews.
Does anyone else find it a little gauche how when a celebrity dies, and the cause of death is unknown, media outlets pour over memoirs and interviews for clues about whether it could have been suicide, or drug related or whatever?
It could have been, or it could have been an accident, or a medical issue.
I understand the impulse to want answers, but it just feels kind of disrespectful to within 24 hours of death, search for clues that someone killed themselves. If it was me, I'd want to at least have a few weeks before people started openly speculating on whether I committed suicide, especially if I didn't.
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Comment on Hayden Panettiere dies at 36 in ~movies
papasquat Link ParentYeah, that's the part of the article that really struck me. How horrible would it be as a parent to lose one adult child, and then a few years later, lose the other. Sounds like the cause of death...Yeah, that's the part of the article that really struck me. How horrible would it be as a parent to lose one adult child, and then a few years later, lose the other. Sounds like the cause of death isn't released. All I can hope is that it was something quick and painless, and not related to pain she carried from the struggles she detailed in her memoir.
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Comment on US tax law is funding the AI infrastructure boom, not creating it in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentYou're technically right, but in the end, it's functionally equivalent. If you're giving a business a 1 million dollar grant versus a 1 million dollar tax break, it's virtually the same effect on...You're technically right, but in the end, it's functionally equivalent.
If you're giving a business a 1 million dollar grant versus a 1 million dollar tax break, it's virtually the same effect on both sides of the deal. The business gets more money, the citizens get less.
At the end of the day, taxes are a huge cost to all businesses when factoring in the profitability of their business model. There are few businesses that can't turn a profit if they didn't have to pay taxes, so by choosing which businesses to tax and which ones you don't, government is very much putting their thumbs on the scale of the types of business they attract to their region.
So even though they're not sending them money, they're allowing the use of their resources without actually charging them for it. "Funding" in the form of services and infrastructure rather than cash.
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Comment on AI data center developers begin suing local jurisdictions behind bans and moratoriums — claims range from officials exceeding authority to violations of due process and equal protection laws in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI don't understand on what grounds they would lose. Its pretty long established precident that local communities have the authority to pass ordinances about what can and cannot be built in their...I don't understand on what grounds they would lose. Its pretty long established precident that local communities have the authority to pass ordinances about what can and cannot be built in their jurisdiction. I don't see how you could argue they don't have the authority to ban a data center without invalidating the entire concept of zoning in general.
You may be right, and I'm guessing that's what all these companies tied to humanoid robots are hedging for, but I've had a really hard time thinking of even an industrial use case where humanoids would be better suited to a wheeled, tracked, or quadruped robot.
The human shape is mostly an evolutionary compromise based on using existing limbs and adapting two of them for tool use and fine motor manipulation instead of locomotion. It's really not beneficial for much except for being an exact stand-in for a human, like for crash testing, or testing chairs or something like that.