papasquat's recent activity
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Comment on What are the genuinely worst films of all time? in ~movies
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Comment on What are the genuinely worst films of all time? in ~movies
papasquat Link ParentDamn, I forgot about all of those movies. Every one that came out seemed to be worse than the ones before it. The jokes were more and more surface level and stupid as they went on. The only...Damn, I forgot about all of those movies. Every one that came out seemed to be worse than the ones before it. The jokes were more and more surface level and stupid as they went on.
The only somewhat decent gag I remember from meet the Spartans was the fat Spartan getting his six-pack makeup applied, but I remember it was so heavily promoted as part of the movie, and I'm pretty sure that exact same bit had been done in multiple places by then that by the time the movie came out, it was sort of meh.
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Comment on What are the genuinely worst films of all time? in ~movies
papasquat Link ParentI very much disagree. The lightsaber duel was tedious, and every time I've seen it I've gotten bored halfway through. It's just way too long. Also, I think Hayden Christensen gets a bad rap in...I very much disagree. The lightsaber duel was tedious, and every time I've seen it I've gotten bored halfway through. It's just way too long. Also, I think Hayden Christensen gets a bad rap in those movies. I don't actually know if he's a good actor or not because those movies sort of killed his burgeoning career and I've never seen him in anything else, but Ewan McGregor and Natalie portman are both excellent actors who were awful in those movies too, because they were given a terrible script, and their direction consisted of George lucas half assing it in front of a green screen.
How much can you really do with "I hate sand", and "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!". Yes George, we know this opinion is from his point of view, because... he's the one that said it.
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Comment on What are the genuinely worst films of all time? in ~movies
papasquat Link ParentYeah, the prequels are kind of watchable even though they're bad. They're bad in a single man's dumb vision kind of way. I can appreciate that kind of bad. I can't appreciate corporate slop full...Yeah, the prequels are kind of watchable even though they're bad. They're bad in a single man's dumb vision kind of way. I can appreciate that kind of bad.
I can't appreciate corporate slop full of executive meddling and with creative decisions driven by ROI calculations.
Also, I hate that the Disney sequels have given the zoomers that grew up with the prequels and are blind to how bad they are cover to hide behind.
I always hear from star wars fans that are between 20 and 30, things like "the prequels were amazing, not like the terrible Disney movies". They're both bad. Multiple things can be bad at the same time, to different degrees. The prequels don't have to be good for the Disney movies to be bad.
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Comment on What are the genuinely worst films of all time? in ~movies
papasquat LinkThe Rise of Skywalker might not be the technically worst movie ever made, like there are obviously hundreds of talented people that did a good job on it, but as far as money spent to quality, and...The Rise of Skywalker might not be the technically worst movie ever made, like there are obviously hundreds of talented people that did a good job on it, but as far as money spent to quality, and my own personal level of disgust, it absolutely takes the cake.
It's such a complete dog shit movie. I loved Star Wars as a kid, was really into the books, and I was a teenager when the prequels came out. Attack of the Clones was when I was old enough to realize that the prequels weren't very good movies, and I kinda stopped being a Star Wars fan after that, although I still really liked the original movies and playing some of the games.
With all that said, I wasn't particularly excited for new Star Wars. I watched the force awakens and thought it was a pretty forgettable, whatever movie. Not good, and not interesting, and the plot was stupid, but it kept what you'd expect to happen in a Star Wars movie more or less.
I saw The Last Jedi in theaters and really hated it, so I decided I wasn't going to give Disney any more money related to Star Wars. For one, I don't think it's really that interesting of a setting, and two, they clearly had no idea what they were doing.
I saw the rise of Skywalker on a plane, and whoever was sitting next to me was probably getting annoyed at all the groans of disgust.
Basically everything about it was bad. The plot was stupid and contrived, the characters were unlikable and made no sense, and there was a shoehorned love story smashed into the end of it with a sledgehammer for no reason. I hated almost everything about it, and if I paid money for it and wasn't stuck on an airplane, I would have left the theater halfway through and asked for my money back.
I couldn't believe that a big studio would allow that to be released
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Comment on Deciding whether (or not) to have a child in ~life
papasquat Link ParentEvery parent throughout all of history has thought the same thought. My parents thought it due to AIDS, the drug epidemic and the rising crime that came along with it, along with the looming...have you ever felt bitter about inheriting the world we're presently in?
Every parent throughout all of history has thought the same thought. My parents thought it due to AIDS, the drug epidemic and the rising crime that came along with it, along with the looming threat of nuclear war. Their parents thought it during the height of the cold war and what seemed like communists infiltrating every aspect of the government, their parents thought it due to the total collapse of the world's monetary systems and so on.
Every generation has extreme challenges and they find a way to cope with it. Life overall gets better or worse, but it hasn't yet ended. Human society will adapt and people will manage to find bits of joy no matter what the world looks like.
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Comment on Anthropic's Dario Amodei calls for AI oversight, joined by Sam Altman and Elon Musk in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI'm not so sure it's a moat they're after as much as recognizing they're in a prisoners dilemma. Realistically, no one is close to anthropic, openai and Google when it comes to frontier AI...I'm not so sure it's a moat they're after as much as recognizing they're in a prisoners dilemma.
Realistically, no one is close to anthropic, openai and Google when it comes to frontier AI research. They have such a massive competitive advantage, and the only way to bridge that advantage for an outside firm is to 1. Hire the most valuable, expensive and sought after labor force the world has ever seen and 2. Make capital investments in infrastructure that dwarfs most countries.
There's basically no danger of some random startup taking the crown from these three, at least not outside of China.
I think they recognize that they're in an unsusrainable competitive arms race that only stops when 1. The technology hits a ceiling where scaling stops returning performance gains, 2. The scaling required to see notable performance gains requires more capital than exists on earth, or 3. The AI becomes smart enough to fully escape their control and dooms us all.
None of those options is really a position that any of these companies want to be in, but by letting up off the gas, they know they'll be ruined and the future of this technology will be dictated by one of the other two, so they're all careening towards certain destruction (either financially or literally, depending on how this goes). Option 1 is realistically the best case scenario for everyone, but no one knows how likely it is.
The only way out of that logical, game theory trap is for some outside entity with more power than any of them to step in and put and end to it, and the US government is the only organization that fits the bill. They've become victims of their own success, and they're not stupid, they know how this ride ends.
Personally, I think this may be one of the few times the interests of multi billionaires may align with he interests of the general public.
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Comment on What is your "when I found out about 9/11" story? in ~talk
papasquat LinkI was a sophomore in highschool, in my JROTC class. I may have even been wearing a uniform at the time. I had no desire to join the military at the time, it was just a class my parents made me...I was a sophomore in highschool, in my JROTC class. I may have even been wearing a uniform at the time. I had no desire to join the military at the time, it was just a class my parents made me take for some reason.
I don't remember much about the day to be honest, just where I was when Id heard the news. We must've watched the broadcast on TV in the classroom, but I don't remember if we went home early, or if classes were suspended or anything like that. I do know that I did end up joining the military a few years later though, and the US military post 9/11 was so different than it was before 9/11 that its almost like talking ahout two completely different organizations when I talked to people who were in back then.
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Comment on New app: Sheets - Manage Ghostty/Kitty/Alacritty themes easily! in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentNah, not really. If just implies that something is writing code. Kinda like when you load the dishwasher and turn it on, you say "I washed the dishes", because "I intiated the process resulting in...Nah, not really. If just implies that something is writing code. Kinda like when you load the dishwasher and turn it on, you say "I washed the dishes", because "I intiated the process resulting in a machine washing the dishes" is kind of unweildy.
I'm just happy there's a term for it at all, and people recognize that vibecoding isn't the same thing as actually programming.
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Comment on Software for humans in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentYeah, I think I'm pretty aligned with you on my feelings around this stuff. I don't mind when other people use AI to help them do personal projects, or when people use it at work to help with...Yeah, I think I'm pretty aligned with you on my feelings around this stuff. I don't mind when other people use AI to help them do personal projects, or when people use it at work to help with work, as long as the quality is still good (big qualifier, I know).
I do absolutely HATE when people diminish the work of other people by commenting that AI could do that, or that it wasn't actually that hard because they did the same thing with AI. It fills me with blinding rage, and it's very common amongst obnoxiously pro ai spaces.
When someone hand builds a complicated piece of software, shares it with the world, talks about the years they've spent on it, and someone comments that AI could do the same thing, I just want to slap them.
Even if it was the same quality, which is extremely dubious, imagine someone going up to a master blacksmith that created a hand forged masterpiece of a sword over months and going "I could get the same thing on temu for 10 dollars".
This unfortunately happens (very common in custom furniture especially), but I absolutely detest the idea.
Even if the results were the same (they basically never are). Someone hand crafted by a human being is special, and will always be more valuable than something mass produced and shitted out by a machine. Even if blacksmithing and furniture making is no longer a viable career in most places, the people those things create has way more intrinsic value to most people, and the same is true for software in my opinion.
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Comment on New app: Sheets - Manage Ghostty/Kitty/Alacritty themes easily! in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentVibes in the colloquial usage just means non specific emotions or unconscious observations. So when you're vibe coding, you're not thinking about specifics, like implementation details, control...I really don't see how getting an LLM to write code for you is in any way, shape or form related to the English word 'vibe'. :(
Vibes in the colloquial usage just means non specific emotions or unconscious observations.
So when you're vibe coding, you're not thinking about specifics, like implementation details, control flow, optimization or any of that. You just have a rough general idea of the shape you want the software you want to take, ie, coding entirely based on vibes. -
Comment on In search of the hypothetical iPhone Duo buyer in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI don't think it's a matter of someone forcing them to use phones, it's that they're more comfortable using them. A lot of young people just didn't grow up using computers. They've been able to...I don't think it's a matter of someone forcing them to use phones, it's that they're more comfortable using them.
A lot of young people just didn't grow up using computers. They've been able to theoretically do everything they needed to do on a smart phone their whole life, so they've never been really exposed to anything else. Makes sense that they wouldn't seek out a computer unless they were required to by a job or something. Even though doing any sort of long form input on a phone seems like torture to me, if it's all you've ever known, it probably feels normal.
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Comment on In search of the hypothetical iPhone Duo buyer in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentI think the requirements in a phone for users that do most of their computing on a computer (ie, older people) is much different than the use cases of users who do most of their computer related...I think the requirements in a phone for users that do most of their computing on a computer (ie, older people) is much different than the use cases of users who do most of their computer related tasks on a phone (increasingly, younger people).
If I need to fill out a resume, or pay a bill, or write an email longer than a couple of sentences, I'm not using my phone to do that. Touchscreens are a really terrible compromise that are a necessary tradeoff of input usability against screen real estate. I find them really frustrating to use, and I'm way more comfortable using a mouse and keyboard for anything requiring a lot of input.
There are a lot of people that don't feel that way, and it seems to be the case more as time goes on. There are a lot of people who don't own a computer of any kind except for their phone. They do everything on their phone, from reading news, to filling out job applications, paying bills, investing, writing and so on.
For those kinds of people, it might make sense to have a phone that can transition to having a gigantic screen.
For me, I just want something small that fits in my pocket, has decent battery life, and mostly gets out of my way.
I would never buy something like this in a million years. If I was forced to only use a phone for everything technology related though?
Maybe it becomes more appealing at that point. -
Comment on Apple announces iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentThey do, it's just more rare over the past few years since Apple became the iPhone company and stopped actually making new kinds of devices. I still encounter people to this day who insist that...They do, it's just more rare over the past few years since Apple became the iPhone company and stopped actually making new kinds of devices.
I still encounter people to this day who insist that Apple invented the smartphone, even though I knew people with them for years before the iPhone was released.
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Comment on UN says world will miss its climate target, warming must be reversed in ~enviro
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Comment on Apple announces iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone in ~tech
papasquat LinkNice, I can't wait for all the breathless reviews and comments online implying that Apple invented folding phones.Nice, I can't wait for all the breathless reviews and comments online implying that Apple invented folding phones.
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Comment on GPS tracker for an interstate move in ~tech
papasquat LinkAs someone else mentioned, air tags are probably a much better solution for this. GPS trackers have a lot of limitations. Their battery life isn't that good because they require both a gps...As someone else mentioned, air tags are probably a much better solution for this.
GPS trackers have a lot of limitations. Their battery life isn't that good because they require both a gps receiver and some sort of cell radio to actually transmit their location info.
They also notably do not work well/at all indoors. Trucking/shipping companies typically take goods from trucks with metal roofs directly into warehouses with metal roofs. Its very difficult to get a gps signal through that. Usually, logistics companies put GPS and RFID trackers on the outside of shipping containers, or put antennas on the outside of vehicles to get around this.
The airtag sidesteps all of those limitations by just using the existing infrastructure of ios devices that exist worldwide.
I don't even have any apple devices and I'd still probably use an airtag for this.
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Comment on Software for humans in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentThe thing about the frontier models is that theres no real secret sauce. They advance mostly based on throwing raw compute power into training, which is why all of the frontier labs have similar...LLMs as they are right now (opaque closed-source models, tightly controlled and guarded by billionaire-owned corporations) are the complete antithesis to FOSS ideals
The thing about the frontier models is that theres no real secret sauce. They advance mostly based on throwing raw compute power into training, which is why all of the frontier labs have similar performance. Those models get distilled, and cheaper Chinese and open source models see similar performance within six months to a year. Openai, anthropic and Google are controlled by billionaire run corporations, LLMs as a whole aren't though.
One of two things is going to happen. We're going to see increasingly diminishing returns, where in order to get any improvement, more capital and power than exists on the planet is required, and open source competitors will close the gap and catch up. Or, these models will never stop getting significantly better, in which case we're likely fucked as the technology dominates the human race.
I think the former is the more realistic option, but I don't see anything besides harsh multilateral government enforcement of a total ban being feasible if it's the latter.
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentThat alone is baffling too, because cable was originally pitched as a premium, subscription based TV option that didn't require ads. No idea how long that lasted, but I don't think it was a while.where it's viewed just how our parents' generation viewed ads on cable.
That alone is baffling too, because cable was originally pitched as a premium, subscription based TV option that didn't require ads. No idea how long that lasted, but I don't think it was a while.
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
papasquat Link ParentYou do, I do, maybe even most people on this site do, but that's not a representative sample. The general populace at large doesn't care that much about this stuff. If they did, any company that...I mean I do, but what can you realistically do these days?
You do, I do, maybe even most people on this site do, but that's not a representative sample. The general populace at large doesn't care that much about this stuff. If they did, any company that was found to be violating people's privacy would very quickly go out of business, just like a TV manufacturer that doesn't make TVs bigger than 30", or refuses to... I don't know, put HDMI ports on their TVs would.
I do think that regulation is needed in situations like this where the free market isn't responding to harmful business models, but the reason the free market isn't responding to it is thet most people really just don't care that much. At least not compared to size, price, image quality and so on.
Honestly, even though in the grand overall plot of the series, Episode 1 is completely unimportant, and nothing that happens in that movie is really of consequence, and you could skip the whole thing and not miss much... Podracing was legitimately cool and interesting, and that sequence was very well done, and the sound design is some of the best ever done not only in Star Wars, but in any sci fi movie.
I think Episode 1 may be the most enjoyable of the prequels because of interesting set pieces like the pod race and the duel of the fates battle.
I don't remember quite as many bland walking and talking sequences in that movie, and even though it has the most Jar Jar compared to the other two movies, they kept the overboard, ridiculously dated looking CGI spectical to a (relative) minimum. You still have really stupid scenes like the Jar Jar Mr. Magoo land battle and the Anakin Mr. Magoo space battle, but the movie didn't take itself too seriously and wasn't up its own ass as much as the other two were.
It also could have been because I was 12 when I saw it in theaters for the first time and thought it was legitimately the greatest film ever made when I saw it and for a few months afterwards.