papasquat's recent activity
-
Comment on Bringing back the battleship? - Railguns, US shipbuilding and a 35,000 ton bad idea? in ~engineering
-
Comment on I feel that Destin (SmarterEveryDay on Youtube) is straying from the path in ~talk
papasquat (edited )LinkEh, I don't share his beliefs, but I don't have any issues with people who believe in God, or are religious, even devoutly so, as long as they're not using it to promote harm, or being overly...- Exemplary
Eh, I don't share his beliefs, but I don't have any issues with people who believe in God, or are religious, even devoutly so, as long as they're not using it to promote harm, or being overly preachy/prostheletizing.
I don't see Destin as ever doing any of those things. He's obviously a Christian, and it's an important part of his life, so I'd expect that his channel, which is largely based on him as a person, would share a little bit of that. I don't think he's a creationist or anti science at all. I don't see any problem with saying "this thing is cool and I want to thank God that things like this exist"
I have similar feelings as an atheist when I'm excited about something; not about God obviously, but I get thankful that things exist the way they do, and I'm certain if I were religious, I'd be specifically thanking God about it.
About the Sir thing, yes, it's 100% a cultural southern US thing. I live here and moved down from the northeast when I was a kid, and it was very jarring to me back then too. A lot of my friends called their parents sir/ma'am growing up, and I even got in trouble a few times for not also calling them sir/ma'am. It's not explicitly a religious thing, even though there is a strong correlation. I agree that it also makes me uncomfortable, but I'd chalk that up more to a me problem than a them problem; it's definitely very common down here, if not a norm. It's not only radical Christians that do it, although most of them definitely do.
Overall, no, I don't have any issues with him. He's a southerner, and very much is part of southern culture, but he's never been racist, ignorant, mean spirited, abusive, or overzealous as far as I know, so he's a ok in my book. He also seems like a very nice guy.
-
Comment on Help me enjoy Baldur's Gate 3 in ~games
papasquat LinkBG3 is an RPG, and it's a CRPG in the classic meaning of the word. You are playing a role, just like if you were roleplaying in the pen and paper version of dungeons and dragons. As such, there...BG3 is an RPG, and it's a CRPG in the classic meaning of the word. You are playing a role, just like if you were roleplaying in the pen and paper version of dungeons and dragons.
As such, there are literally thousands of ways the game can progress, just like there are in real life. As such, there will always be content on a given playthrough that you will never see.
There will always be outcomes based on decisions you made that are unexpected. That doesn't mean you made the wrong decision, or you need to restart the game.
Restarting the game and making a different decision based on outside knowledge you now have sort of goes against the spirit of the genre. In a pen and paper RPG, it would be considered metagaming, and the DM would most likely forbid it, because the whole point is to make choices that you then see the outcomes of, and you live with those choices.
I'd encourage you to just choose the type of character you want to be, and make choices that you think that character would make, and just live with them. Don't look up "optimal" choices, or try to min max the game, because doing that just exposed the gamey mechanical parts and ruins some of the magic behind why roleplaying games are interesting in the first place.
So in summary, just chill out, make your decisions boldly, and live with the consequences.
-
Comment on Toll roads are spreading in America in ~transport
papasquat Link ParentI kind of doubt it actually. It's more likely it's the result of buerocratic disorganization. These projects are often rushed and underfunded. There were probably a series of errors that had no QA...I assume they crafted this bullshit intentionally to extract additional fees from people as it is likely a significant revenue boost.
I kind of doubt it actually. It's more likely it's the result of buerocratic disorganization. These projects are often rushed and underfunded. There were probably a series of errors that had no QA process in place to catch them, and they have no remediation process in place to fix it. There's definitely someone within their billing process with enough power and knowledge to understand your problem and fix it, but good luck getting through the call center to actually get to that person. This kind of thing is ridiculously common in government, but it's usually not on purpose. It's just incompetence.
-
Comment on Toll roads are spreading in America in ~transport
papasquat Link ParentHonestly, the real solution to rural poverty, long term, is to make cities more affordable. Being poor in a rural area is really, really hard. The difference is that unlike being poor in a city,...Honestly, the real solution to rural poverty, long term, is to make cities more affordable.
Being poor in a rural area is really, really hard. The difference is that unlike being poor in a city, which is also really hard, being poor in a rural area is hard because of of the nature of the world, rather than because of deliberate political choices.
It's pretty cheap to provide services to people when there are lots of them in a small geographical region. It's really expensive when they're spread out.
Like, most people need a fire truck at their house maybe once, or even less in their entire lives on average. To provide someone with fire services though, you need to put a fire truck close to them, whether they use it or not. That means you need lots of rural fire departments with a truck that just sits there doing nothing 99% of the time.
It's a massively expensive endeavor that rural counties don't have the tax base to pay for, so they're always bankrupt, require federal dollars to subsidize them, and slash services.
If cities didn't have reputations of being dirty, crime ridden, expensive, and difficult to find housing in (all the result of political choices), it would be a lot more attractive to live in the type of place where public services could be provided without requiring massive taxation, and rural areas could be primarily inhabited by people who absolutely need to live there because they work in agriculture, instead of the current situation where it's the only affordable place to live for many people.
-
Comment on Toll roads are spreading in America in ~transport
papasquat Link ParentA pretty sizable number of states don't have vehicle inspections. You'd have to implement that first in many places.A pretty sizable number of states don't have vehicle inspections. You'd have to implement that first in many places.
-
Comment on King Air autolands in Colorado in ~transport
papasquat Link ParentMuch like self driving cars, 80% of flight time is pretty easily automated. Autopilots have been around for over a hundred years, and in widespread use for almost that long also. A fully automated...t’s always seemed to me that autonomous passenger aircraft are likely an easier nut to crack than self-driving cars.
Much like self driving cars, 80% of flight time is pretty easily automated. Autopilots have been around for over a hundred years, and in widespread use for almost that long also. A fully automated transatlantic flight, including landing and takeoff, was first made in the 40s.
The issue is that the last 20% is pretty difficult. The last 1% is almost impossibly difficult.
Flying is mostly boring until it isn't, and modern aircraft have literally tens of thousands of things that can go wrong with them, which right now require an experienced and capable human being to think on their feet to solve.
An autopilot to fully replace a human would need a human pilots experience, and the human ability to visualize complex, novel situations and think on their feet to solve them.
We're already there for situations where the risk to human life is smaller when a human isn't onboard, like when operating large military drones from bases and remote airfields in warzones. We're not there for operating large cargo or passenger jets, and for the latter, I'm kind of doubtful we ever will be.
An airline is responsible for the lives of half a thousand people on a transcontinental flight. It would be grossly negligent to not have experienced pilots on board to monitor the plane, even if you had utmost faith in autopilots. Besides that, crew costs aren't even in the top 10 of the costs airlines have to pay to get a plane in the air. Even ignoring the safety implications, eliminating pilots wouldn't be a significant cost savings for the airline when weighed against the negative public sentiment that would come with paying for a ticket on an uncrewed drone.
For small, personal air transport, yes I could definitely see autopilots taking over the whole job within the next 25 years. For airliners, I would be shocked if it ever happened. The risk calculus is totally different for the two.
-
Comment on Avengers: Doomsday | Teaser in ~movies
papasquat Link ParentI think there is a world where the MCU continues to churn out great movies with interesting new directions that attracted new fans. The world where that happens seems way less likely than the one...I think there is a world where the MCU continues to churn out great movies with interesting new directions that attracted new fans. The world where that happens seems way less likely than the one we currently live in though.
The first phase of the MCU was lightning in a bottle. I can't think of any other franchise that had a. such strong movies, b. Such a devoted fan base, and more importantly, c. So much output. The only comparable franchise I can think of is James Bond, but that was 29 films over 60+ years. The MCU has released almost 40 in a third of that time.
It doesn't seem feasible to have it continually to be successful, especially when the studio that owns it is publicly traded and demands bigger and bigger budgets with bigger and bigger returns.
Could it have been done? Maybe. It would have been really, really hard though.
-
Comment on She fell in love with ChatGPT. Then she ghosted it. in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentIt's an innate need, but that need is loneliness. That means that the hole people feel is missing in their lives doesn't need to be filled with a romantic partner, but with some sort of intimate...It's an innate need, but that need is loneliness. That means that the hole people feel is missing in their lives doesn't need to be filled with a romantic partner, but with some sort of intimate human connection. Western society has gotten increasingly isolated, and the remedy for that is commonly accepted to be a romantic partner who you share everything with. That's the expectation part. There's no reason you can't be perfectly happy and content with close friendships, family connections, and so on. Most people just need something.
-
Comment on I traveled above the Arctic Circle to find out whether the town of Sommarøy really can live free from the clock in ~life
papasquat LinkInteresting article. I've often thought about similar ideas based on extended travel in places that are less... let's say punctual than typical American culture. I'm what the author would call an...Interesting article. I've often thought about similar ideas based on extended travel in places that are less... let's say punctual than typical American culture.
I'm what the author would call an event timer myself. I struggle to be on time for things, and often am stressed out because I get things planned for me back to back, and making all of those appointments is hard.
Places with more "laid back" cultures are often put on a pedestal as less stressful, more in tune with what really matters in life, and less preoccupied with the silly little ideas of punctuality and efficiency like most industrialized Western cultures are.
However, if you spend a lot of time in places where time is just sort of a suggestion instead of a rule, you quickly realize that especially as someone who has a hard time being on time, it causes you more stress, not less.
If you have a doctors appointment you need to get to, you show up to the train station, and the train is 40 minutes late, because whatever. That causes you to get to the Dr's office late, but he took off early to go to a festival, so you have to reschedule, so you get on the train back home which is late again. You just spent 3 hours doing essentially nothing. Then you have to take another day off of work and reschedule, this time you'll show up to the station two hours earlier for the earlier train and hope it arrives.
It's just an enormous waste of time, and the idea that "oh well, it's just time, you can do it another day" results in you just frivolously spending the one resource we have no way of getting back sitting around, waiting in lines, and rescheduling stuff instead of actually doing things you want to do.
I can see how a life like that is livable in a very rural area where you don't have to interact with other people much, but in a modern lifestyle where everyone depends on everyone else, it's just a constant exercise in frustration.
-
Comment on The truth about AI (specifically LLM powered AI) in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI'll just say that if I were a student, I would have been told over and over and over that getting an LLM to do my homework is cheating, unethical, and screwing myself out of an education. If I...I can imagine it being TA level competent at grading for example, especially with prior art as guidance.
I'll just say that if I were a student, I would have been told over and over and over that getting an LLM to do my homework is cheating, unethical, and screwing myself out of an education. If I then found out the university I was paying a lot of money to attend was feeding the work I slaved over for weeks into an LLM to be graded, it wouldn't only be hypocritical. It would feel like an absolute slap in the face.
You're asking students to do quite a lot of work to pass a class while taking quite a bit of their money. You should at least have a pair of human eyeballs look at it.
-
Comment on Leave the phone, take a camera in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentThere really is not a great reason to have a separate camera unless you're really, really serious about photography as a hobby. Flagship phones will take better pictures than basically any camera...There really is not a great reason to have a separate camera unless you're really, really serious about photography as a hobby.
Flagship phones will take better pictures than basically any camera unless you invest a lot of time into learning what you're doing, and even then, it will still take pretty damn good pictures.
I'm generally an advocate of owning fewer things, carrying fewer things, and having fewer things around me in general, so even if my phone can only do 90% of the quality of a reasonably priced camera, that's a fine price to pay for not owning an extra expensive thing.
-
Comment on PornHub extorted after hackers steal Premium member activity data in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentYeah true. But lets be real. The VAST majority of congress watches porn too.Yeah true. But lets be real. The VAST majority of congress watches porn too.
-
Comment on PornHub extorted after hackers steal Premium member activity data in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentSomething like 70% of Americans view porn. It's almost everyone you meet on a day to day basis. The issue is that almost everyone is ashamed of it to some degree, so we have these weird Mexican...Something like 70% of Americans view porn. It's almost everyone you meet on a day to day basis. The issue is that almost everyone is ashamed of it to some degree, so we have these weird Mexican standoffs regarding it, where everyone pretends they don't watch it, and thus are ok with legislation that puts porn users at risk.
It's a really weird situation where everyone votes to do things that hurt themselves, but they pretend they won't actually be effected by it.
-
Comment on Meet the biggest heat pumps in the world in ~engineering
papasquat Link ParentWell, the bigger a pipe is, the more efficient it is. As the diameter goes up, the volume increases far higher than the surface area of the pipe where you experience losses. Bigger heating systems...Well, the bigger a pipe is, the more efficient it is. As the diameter goes up, the volume increases far higher than the surface area of the pipe where you experience losses.
Bigger heating systems in general are a lot more efficient than smaller ones, so while you will lose some energy delivering heat to houses, in many cases you make up for that loss by having one big, efficient furnace that stores heat very well, and eliminate the need to go door to door to deliver fuel.
-
Comment on EU drops 2035 combustion engine ban as global electric vehicle shift faces reset in ~transport
papasquat Link ParentThe thing that pisses me off about EVs is that they're considered "tech" at all. Auto makers act like electric motors and batteries are some new, cutting edge fancy technology that requires...- Exemplary
The thing that pisses me off about EVs is that they're considered "tech" at all. Auto makers act like electric motors and batteries are some new, cutting edge fancy technology that requires extremely expensive computer boards, an internet connection, constant software updates, and specially certified experts to maintain.
They're not. At all. They're far less complicated than an ICE engine. Wind some wire around a stator, slap some magnets on a rotor, apply voltage and you get locomotion.
It's dead simple technology that's been in use for literally over 200 years. We never needed to send golf carts back to their manufacturers to get fixed, or required always on internet connections or constant software updates, so why do we need them for EVs.
That's not at all inherit to the technology, it's just that any time "new" technology comes out, the manufacturers that make it get horny about requiring a companion app, ads, tracking, and all kinds of other garbage.
It makes me wonder what's going to happen when someone invents a warp drive. You're going to have to sign up for 10 years of a subscription account that beams ads directly into your brain to use it.
-
Comment on Jeffrey Epstein emails show close connection with MIT's Noam Chomsky in ~society
papasquat Link ParentIronically, I think Chomsky would say the same thing.Ironically, I think Chomsky would say the same thing.
-
Comment on Jeffrey Epstein emails show close connection with MIT's Noam Chomsky in ~society
papasquat Link ParentIt's slightly more complicated than that. His work as a linguist kind of inheritely bled into politics. He developed a lot of theories and research about how the human mind inheritely shaped the...It's slightly more complicated than that. His work as a linguist kind of inheritely bled into politics. He developed a lot of theories and research about how the human mind inheritely shaped the development of language based on its biological structure, and vice versa, how language shapes human perception. There's significant bleed over into politics there by default. He then wrote manufacturing consent, which introduces the propaganda model. That book posits that most democracy under capitalism is mostly just a way to get people to be ok by being ruled by corporate interests who use language to shape people's perceptions. A lot of his work since then has concerned those ideas surrounding mass media.
I think he'd be more accurately described as a political philosopher and cognitive scientist rather than just a linguist, especially towards the latter part of his career. After manufacturing consent, he's just "famous leftist guy" to most people though.
-
Comment on I don't care much for symbolism in ~creative
papasquat Link ParentIs that symbolism, or is that just leaving detail to the readers imagination? I remember in the empire strikes back, Lando tells Han that the millennium falcon used to be his ship. Neither of them...Is that symbolism, or is that just leaving detail to the readers imagination?
I remember in the empire strikes back, Lando tells Han that the millennium falcon used to be his ship. Neither of them expanded on this and it let you as a viewer imagine this wild and rich history between the two of them, colored by your own experiences (I guess Disney later walked everyone through this story letter by letter eventually, but that's besides the point). That's not really symbolism though, it's just the implication of a richer world.
-
Comment on Your phone is a fake house in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentHah, I came straight to the comment section to say the same thing. Halfway through the article where he compared phone=home versus computer=work was an instant giveaway that the author was very...Hah, I came straight to the comment section to say the same thing.
Halfway through the article where he compared phone=home versus computer=work was an instant giveaway that the author was very young.
The kind of relationship he has with his phone is the relationship techy millennials, and gen Xers had (have?) with their computers.
I use my phone as a tool in my pocket, nothing more. If it got destroyed, I'd get a new one and not miss this one, even if all of its settings went back to default.
When I sit down at my computer, it feels much more like coming home. There's more of a ritual involved, it's more immersive, I can do more engaging and entertaining things on it.
More importantly for me, my computer doesn't nag me every ten minutes because some horrible app decided I wasn't engaged enough.
Pretty much all of the domestic metaphors he cites in phones came from prior computing anyway. Unix had the concept of home directories long before anyone ever thought putting a computer many times more powerful than contemporary supercomputers in your pocket was possible.
The most offensive part of that to me is that it's a "Trump Class Battleship", of which the lead ship is the "USS Defiant"... But it's not a "Defiant Class Battleship" somehow.
Let's just break 350+ years of US navy class naming convention for no reason.