R3qn65's recent activity
-
Comment on Do you think you're special? in ~talk
-
Comment on In fighting for every black child, did I forget my own? in ~life
R3qn65 Link ParentFor the sake of discussion, I share your general horror but I think you're being a bit unfair to Hannah-Jones. She wrote fairly extensively about wanting to live up to the legacy of Brown, about...They talk about how they could donate to the school because they are rich. Guess what: you can donate to any school you want, even if your kids aren’t suffering there.
For the sake of discussion, I share your general horror but I think you're being a bit unfair to Hannah-Jones. She wrote fairly extensively about wanting to live up to the legacy of Brown, about how it's just different when you're advocating for your own kid rather than advocating for faceless children, about how she couldn't face herself in the mirror if she spent her entire career trying to convince parents with choice not to flee bad schools and then did exactly that when she had skin in the game.
Her ideals ran into the cold hardness of reality, that's true. But she's not the first to face that and won't be the last. And frankly, I admire idealists as much as or more than I pity them.
I don't know if you're a black American, but I'm not, and I think that plays a role that I really can't understand too.
-
Comment on Gemini AI hacked three companies in a testing breakout, Google says in ~tech
-
Comment on Gemini AI hacked three companies in a testing breakout, Google says in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentThe revenue backlog is not included in or part of reported growth. I know that seems pedantic, but it's the crux of what we're talking about. Also... 40% isn't even most, let alone all, let alone...The revenue backlog is not included in or part of reported growth. I know that seems pedantic, but it's the crux of what we're talking about. Also... 40% isn't even most, let alone all, let alone "without which it's shrinking."
I get that there's wiggle room on specifics when we're just conversing like this rather than writing thinkpieces or whatever, but still.
-
Comment on Gemini AI hacked three companies in a testing breakout, Google says in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentThat's not really how that works though, no? If I give you 50% of my company, that doesn't affect our profits. You just now own 50% of them. I certainly agree that the odd mutual financing cycle...I'm pretty sure Anthropic isn't profitable this year due to stock/equity regardless.
That's not really how that works though, no? If I give you 50% of my company, that doesn't affect our profits. You just now own 50% of them.
I certainly agree that the odd mutual financing cycle is a big risk factor.
For me, I'd say the biggest issue is the cost of training new models -- particularly given that all 4 of the major players have strong incentives to burn all of their cash on training to compete with one another. I think they're all going to start racing to build walled gardens, even more than they have already.
-
Comment on Gemini AI hacked three companies in a testing breakout, Google says in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentHappy to discuss this -- why do you think profitability is temporary?Happy to discuss this -- why do you think profitability is temporary?
-
Comment on Gemini AI hacked three companies in a testing breakout, Google says in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentDo you have any sources for this statement? I did some Googling (ha) and could only find indicators in the opposite direction. Google's cloud business is expanding rapidly, and anthropic is...However, all of its cloud growth is Anthropic. Without Anthropic, Google's cloud has been shrinking.
Do you have any sources for this statement? I did some Googling (ha) and could only find indicators in the opposite direction. Google's cloud business is expanding rapidly, and anthropic is certainly part of that, but they don't publish specific revenue breakdowns by customer.
Their playbook is basically "Enron, but with lessons learned from Enron so nothing is technically illegal, especially since we're a private company for now."
If you're thinking about the circular financing deals, those are mostly between openAI and Nvidia, not anthropic. But also, even if that's what you're thinking of, an Enron comparison is a bit silly. The whole point of the Enron scams was that they were secret. I can find 37,000 articles on the financing deals right now.
-
Comment on Gemini AI hacked three companies in a testing breakout, Google says in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentAnthropic is currently profitable. Google is (obviously) very profitable. OpenAI is not.These companies go under the (relative) instant that they go public and have to reign in the subsided subscriptions to turn a profit.
Anthropic is currently profitable. Google is (obviously) very profitable. OpenAI is not.
-
Comment on On US Democrats who cave in response to anti-trans attack ads in ~lgbt
R3qn65 Link ParentI don't really get this. Sports already has all kinds of discriminatory bars that are not reflected in broader society. For what it's worth, I do agree with this, strongly -- But I think it...if people are barred from participating in sports based on genetic tests, that sports will not be the end of that segregation.
I don't really get this. Sports already has all kinds of discriminatory bars that are not reflected in broader society. For what it's worth, I do agree with this, strongly --
Once laws have been passed for the "protection" of a group of people, based on the villainization and dehumanization of another, I think it creates momentum to continue to segregate the villainized group in new ways.
But I think it applies way more logically to things like bathroom bans than sports.
-
Comment on Independents/freelancers: how do you find new business? in ~finance
R3qn65 Link ParentNo way :) it's dependent on the business, of course, but generally for a salesperson in a position where you're cold calling, you'd want to see upwards of 20 calls/day, with something more like 50...I also guess that the pace she has isn't strictly necessary, maybe it would be enough to do 5 and 5 over the course of a week.
No way :) it's dependent on the business, of course, but generally for a salesperson in a position where you're cold calling, you'd want to see upwards of 20 calls/day, with something more like 50 being typical. She may have meant that she has 5 actual conversations with cold leads a day, which is indeed a good pace -- but it's about right, not something she could slack off from.
-
Comment on The age of wonders and terrors in ~science
R3qn65 LinkThanks for posting this. I think we've discussed this article on "The Fall of the Theorem Economy" on tildes before but it's extremely relevant here and well worth a read.Thanks for posting this. I think we've discussed this article on "The Fall of the Theorem Economy" on tildes before but it's extremely relevant here and well worth a read.
-
Comment on Zack Snyder's ‘The Last Photograph’ is getting destroyed at TIFF: “Unabashedly sh*t on every level” in ~movies
R3qn65 Link ParentI feel bad for him. I agree with the consensus here that his movies have gotten worse and worse as he's gotten more control, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy and it has to be awful for him to...I feel bad for him. I agree with the consensus here that his movies have gotten worse and worse as he's gotten more control, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy and it has to be awful for him to read this sort of vitriol.
-
Comment on Irish, Scottish and Welsh leaders meet to plan break-up of United Kingdom in ~society
R3qn65 Link ParentDoes the IRA still exist as a paramilitary force?And when the referendum doesn't pass in NI, the IRA will make it pass
Does the IRA still exist as a paramilitary force?
-
Comment on Deciding whether (or not) to have a child in ~life
R3qn65 Link ParentI stand corrected, but does that really change my core point? From the very section you quoted isI stand corrected, but does that really change my core point? From the very section you quoted is
... but now scientists say that even their best case scenario still shoots past that signature temperature mark. On the other end, those same new scenarios no longer include the coal-heavy future that would lead to 4.5 degrees Celsius (8.1 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming by 2100, a scary scenario that many scientific studies used in their future projections.
-
Comment on Deciding whether (or not) to have a child in ~life
R3qn65 Link ParentAs someone with the ability to choose whether to have kids (e.g. with access to reliable birth control), you're already part of a global elite. At least half the planet lives in circumstances...Can someone be faced with circumstances worse than ours and still find their life worthwhile and fulfilling?
As someone with the ability to choose whether to have kids (e.g. with access to reliable birth control), you're already part of a global elite. At least half the planet lives in circumstances worse than yours. I'm sure you wouldn't argue that none of those people live fulfilling lives.
I think you have a bit of a perspective problem, honestly.
-
Comment on Deciding whether (or not) to have a child in ~life
R3qn65 Link ParentWe've already missed the most catastrophic projections, though. We're on track for 2-2.2 degrees of warming instead of 4.5.We've already missed the most catastrophic projections, though. We're on track for 2-2.2 degrees of warming instead of 4.5.
-
Comment on Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg put on 'leave of absence' in ~tech
R3qn65 Link ParentHonestly, that message is sufficient to show why someone would want him out. "Petulant child" is not a good look on a CEO.Honestly, that message is sufficient to show why someone would want him out. "Petulant child" is not a good look on a CEO.
-
Comment on Farmers turn to perennial grains as one solution to extreme weather in ~enviro
R3qn65 Link ParentIs a lot of raw food imported across hemispheres? I'm not sure I've ever seen anything imported from another hemisphere other than specialty goods.Is a lot of raw food imported across hemispheres? I'm not sure I've ever seen anything imported from another hemisphere other than specialty goods.
-
Comment on Farmers turn to perennial grains as one solution to extreme weather in ~enviro
R3qn65 Link ParentI mean you did say "no more bringing out of season foods in from abroad," which takes a lot of modern staple foods (e.g. bananas) completely off the table for basically everyone in Canada and the...though some people sure seem to have made the assumption that when I said “as much as possible” that I meant strictly eat from like I guess the same neighborhood or something?
I mean you did say "no more bringing out of season foods in from abroad," which takes a lot of modern staple foods (e.g. bananas) completely off the table for basically everyone in Canada and the US. :)
But in general, yes, I'm sympathetic to your aims.
-
Comment on Farmers turn to perennial grains as one solution to extreme weather in ~enviro
R3qn65 Link ParentI'm all about this as long as it's more of a "eat more local foods" thing and not a "eat only local foods" thing. The latter sounds a lot better in theory than it ends up being in practice. Most...I'm all about this as long as it's more of a "eat more local foods" thing and not a "eat only local foods" thing. The latter sounds a lot better in theory than it ends up being in practice. Most of the global poor, for example, eat only local foods -- meaning the staple carbohydrate, maybe a few relishes, and not much else. And indeed that's how it's been for almost all humans since we first domesticated maize and wheat (or it domesticated us, depending on your point of view).
Even the more agricultural native American tribes on the eastern American seaboard, who were way ahead of most others with the trinity of beans/corn/squash thing, ended up eating pretty much just that, fish, and perhaps some foraged additions. It's just extremely difficult to grow a lot of different crops in the same place at scale. Like, what is Canada to do, you know? The growing season is maybe 6 months, and you're not growing citrus or rice.
You can fix some of that with refrigeration, canning, and just modern processing in general, but even so eating only local would be a massive downgrade in quality of life for almost all people.
I like lemons.
Really interesting post. I'm going to riff on what you said a little bit.
You talked about how your own feelings of being special came from observing or being told that you were more intelligent than other people throughout early and middle school, and that you then lost that feeling because you kept running into people more intelligent than you. (To paraphrase poorly.)
I have a very similar start but a different end. Throughout the early and middle stages of my life, I kept being sorted into increasingly differentiated groups, frequently with a warning that this next time, I would be outclassed. That never happened. I have, of course, at this point in my life met multiple individuals who clearly had more g than I do -- typically but not always people from elite academia -- but the relative rarity of that means that rather than taking it as a sign that I'm not special, it's more like a sign that I belong in that club.
So I do feel special. Professionally administered IQ tests, standardized testing, etc., puts me in the top 99.xxx% of the population. At a certain point, to claim that I didn't feel special because of that would be much closer to self-denigration than to humility. However: yes, I am very bright, but that doesn't mean that I'm inherently good at everything, not even everything relying purely on intelligence. We often think in terms of raw processing power for everything when that's really not how the brain works at all. Studies have consistently shown that people vary enormously at discrete skills, even people within the same band of overall intelligence. So yes, I feel special -- and even superior, frankly -- but so what? There's more to life, and more to being a good person, than being smart.
This is not something I discuss very often because it's unnecessarily arrogant (whereas this way, it's only necessarily arrogant). I mention it now to provide a foil to your view.