skybrian's recent activity
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Comment on OpenAI releases findings on 377 math problems, further roiling field in ~science
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
skybrian LinkI used a coding agent to build a website that I plan to use instead of GitHub gists. I'm using it mostly as a way to post charts and images. The motivation is that I got tired of using cut and...I used a coding agent to build a website that I plan to use instead of GitHub gists. I'm using it mostly as a way to post charts and images. The motivation is that I got tired of using cut and paste to copy HTML from ChatGPT to a gist, so now the AI can do a push instead.
It's a static website on Netlify, which automatically deploys updates when the git repo changes. I have a preview website in a Linux VM on exe.com and ask the AI to push to GitHub when a new page is ready.
It's boring technology and an overly-elaborate way to publish five web pages. I wouldn't have bothered if it weren't easy to do with AI.
Maybe it will evolve into a blog or something.
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Comment on OpenAI releases findings on 377 math problems, further roiling field in ~science
skybrian (edited )Link ParentThis math is beyond any of us. They are problems we’ve never heard of before and we’re trusting mathematicians to tell us their significance. The results haven’t been verified but mathematicians...This math is beyond any of us. They are problems we’ve never heard of before and we’re trusting mathematicians to tell us their significance. The results haven’t been verified but mathematicians are taking them seriously.
So this “oh they’re stealing it” just seems like cope. It’s time to admit that AI is better at grinding out theorems than people are. Certainly better than all of us, probably better than nearly all mathematicians, and if it’s not quite better than every mathematician, it’s just a matter of time. Compare with what happened with chess and Go.
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Comment on OpenAI releases findings on 377 math problems, further roiling field in ~science
skybrian LinkApparently the most important result is a proof of the "Unique Games Conjecture." Here's a 2011 article about it. To me it sounds like a good name for a band, but what do I know?Apparently the most important result is a proof of the "Unique Games Conjecture." Here's a 2011 article about it.
To me it sounds like a good name for a band, but what do I know?
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Comment on OpenAI releases findings on 377 math problems, further roiling field in ~science
skybrian LinkFrom the article: [...]From the article:
On Tuesday, OpenAI deluged mathematicians with hundreds of new findings that span a wide swath of topics including algebra, number theory, theoretical computer science, mathematical logic and topology.
The 377 results follow OpenAI’s announcement last month that it had succeeded in cracking the Navier-Stokes equation — one of the so-called Millennium Problems, which were considered so challenging that a $1 million reward was offered for each solution.
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Like the Navier-Stokes result, the new mathematical solutions used a more advanced A.I. model that has not been released publicly.
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OpenAI releases findings on 377 math problems, further roiling field
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Comment on Hackers obtain counterfeit TLS certificates for Google and other large services in ~tech
skybrian LinkFrom the article: [...] [...]From the article:
The attackers launched a series of attacks on the .gh, .sl, and .as country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and then modified authoritative DNS records for selected domains within those namespaces. By controlling those DNS records, the attackers were able to pass automated domain control validation checks and obtain unauthorized certificates for “several Google domains” and “several leading global brands and widely used online services.” Google said it updated Chrome to block all certificates it identified as unauthorized, and worked with the issuing certification authorities to ensure the unauthorized certificates for Google properties were revoked.
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Google didn’t identify the affected domains it owns or name any of the other organizations whose domains were affected. While noting that Chrome users do not need to take any action to be protected, Google cautioned domain owners not to rely solely on browser-side interventions to protect their users. The company is advising domain owners to monitor certificate transparency logs for unexpected certificate issuance across their domains and to publish restrictive Certification Authority Authorization DNS records to prevent attackers from reusing cached validation data after DNS control is restored.
“While Chrome took steps during these incidents to identify and block suspected unauthorized certificates across the affected ccTLDs, browser-side intervention should not be relied on to protect your users,” Google said. “Due to the complexity of DNS hijacks, we cannot guarantee that our analysis identified every affected domain, nor do Chrome interventions reliably protect non-Chrome users.”
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Google noted that the incident didn’t involve the compromise of the infrastructure of any of the affected domain owners and that certificate authorities followed all requirements. With control of the three ccTLDs, the attackers were able to change the IP addresses of a selected list of websites. With the ability to send and receive traffic on those sites, the attackers were able to modify authoritative DNS records and nameserver delegations for selected domains, allowing them to pass industry validation checks requiring an applicant to prove control of the domain.
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Hackers obtain counterfeit TLS certificates for Google and other large services
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Comment on Protests spread across France, growing from school demonstrations (gifted link) in ~society
skybrian Link ParentI don't know how much this will help, but it seems relevant that as the result of running a trade surplus for many years, Japanese investors own a lot of foreign assets, and as the yen drops, they...I don't know how much this will help, but it seems relevant that as the result of running a trade surplus for many years, Japanese investors own a lot of foreign assets, and as the yen drops, they become more valuable (in yen):
https://pages.skybrian.com/2026/japanese-financial-assets-abroad/
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Comment on Protests spread across France, growing from school demonstrations (gifted link) in ~society
skybrian Link ParentSome of the demands don't sound very expensive, though. A government website that works? I've read that there has been an impressive build-out of public transportation near Paris. Is that winding...Some of the demands don't sound very expensive, though. A government website that works?
I've read that there has been an impressive build-out of public transportation near Paris. Is that winding down?
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Comment on Productivity tools on MacOS in ~tech
skybrian LinkMacs come with a lot of pretty decent apps, so I wouldn’t say there’s anything that’s a must-have. I install Chrome first thing because it’s what I’m used to, but Safari is decent. Since there’s...Macs come with a lot of pretty decent apps, so I wouldn’t say there’s anything that’s a must-have. I install Chrome first thing because it’s what I’m used to, but Safari is decent.
Since there’s more horizontal than vertical space, I move the dock to the right side.
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Comment on Do you know the effects of using clickbait to combat misinformation? in ~science
skybrian LinkIt’s a narrow finding: some kinds of headlines get more clicks. From the article:It’s a narrow finding: some kinds of headlines get more clicks. From the article:
Our findings suggest communication style can help attract attention to reliable information.
They don’t show that we changed anyone’s mind. We don’t know whether people read the linked pages, and Facebook’s delivery system influenced who saw each advertisement.
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Comment on Blue-collar effective altruism in ~society
skybrian Link ParentI think there can be good reasons to get personally involved in local causes, such as being better connected to a local community you care about. There is more to life than being an absentee...I think there can be good reasons to get personally involved in local causes, such as being better connected to a local community you care about. There is more to life than being an absentee source of funding.
The way I plan to resolve that is by having a budget for disinterested global giving (helping people on the basis that everyone is equal) and doing other things, too.
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Comment on Blue-collar effective altruism in ~society
skybrian (edited )LinkGiveWell is fine if global public health is what you care about. It’s what I use. It’s old school EA before people got distracted by animal welfare and AI. If you don’t care who in the world...GiveWell is fine if global public health is what you care about. It’s what I use. It’s old school EA before people got distracted by animal welfare and AI.
If you don’t care who in the world benefits because all people are equal (all strangers are the same), public health in Africa is going to win for cost-efficiency reasons. A lot of people can be helped for relatively little money. It can save lives. What local organization could do that cheaply?
But the benefits are rather abstract. When people benefit from not getting a disease, they won’t know it. It’s a line on a graph going down, and your contribution is too small to see on the graph, but you can do a calculation to get a rough idea of lives saved. So, it’s a matter of trusting the science. Which I do, but… it’s a rather abstract reason to spend your money.
If you want something a bit less abstract, you could try GiveDirectly. This is just giving money to people in need. A nice thing about it is that people will definitely know they got the money, and it empowers them to spend it on what they like. There are studies showing they mostly spend it on beneficial things. It’s not as efficient as public health, but it’s a good baseline. GiveDirectly also lets you choose to donate to help people in the US if that’s what you prefer.
Neither of these is helping a particular cause, though. I’m interested in that too, but don’t have anything to recommend.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
skybrian Link ParentIf you distrust the official reasons, that's certainly understandable. But it doesn't follow that whatever alternative reasons you or other people make up are what they're thinking. It means their...If you distrust the official reasons, that's certainly understandable. But it doesn't follow that whatever alternative reasons you or other people make up are what they're thinking. It means their true motivations are a mystery. To do better than that, we would need some other way of knowing what they're really thinking, like maybe a leak to the press. Anything else is just speculation.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
skybrian Link ParentI'm reminded of how Bluesky is setting up an independent Swiss organization (blog), that will maintain a public directory of AT Proto users. It's deliberately narrow-scoped, though. It's a...I'm reminded of how Bluesky is setting up an independent Swiss organization (blog), that will maintain a public directory of AT Proto users.
It's deliberately narrow-scoped, though. It's a distribution mechanism that doesn't hold any user keys.
Such a thing might, in principle, be done for Android developers, but Google is doing more work there, by actually checking government IDs. By contrast, there's essentially no barrier to creating as many alt accounts you want on Bluesky.
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Comment on The 12th-century military disaster that forever changed global finance in ~humanities.history
skybrian LinkFrom the article: [...] [...] [...]From the article:
The birth of the bond market started with a ruthless multinational raid that sent shock waves through the Mediterranean. On the morning of March 12, 1171, the Byzantine emperor’s soldiers suddenly rounded up every Venetian man, woman, and child they could find throughout their lands, seized their shops, wares, and ships, and threw the owners in jail. Over 10,000 people in Constantinople alone were rounded up, and more than 20,000 overall — so many that monasteries were requisitioned to handle the overflow. The raids were a consequence of more than a century of rising tensions between Constantinople and its nominal vassal in northern Italy.
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The Italian statelets typically taxed modestly and covered larger expenditures with ad hoc loans. These were often backed by security in a specified state asset or revenue stream, such as toll receipts. For example, in 1164, Venice had borrowed about 270 kilograms of silver from a dozen of its wealthiest families, and in return granted them 11 years’ worth of its income from the Rialto market. But the scale of the navy needed to take its own sovereign down a peg meant that heading down to the Rialto market to hit up its moneylenders wouldn’t suffice.
The doge had a drastic solution. He divided the city into six districts, systematically assessed the wealth of its citizens, and forced them to hand over the money Venice needed for its fleet. But rather than a straightforward one-off war tax, it would be a loan, albeit an involuntary one. Venice promised to pay its citizens 5% a year until the debt could be repaid. Crucially, the receipts of the prestiti — the plural of prestito, or loan — were made tradable, so a citizen who needed to raise money could sell their claim to someone else at a discount if necessary.
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Then disaster struck. The moored Venetian fleet at Chios was hit by the plague, with more than a thousand men dying in just the first few days. It desperately started moving from one Greek island to the next, but remained just as blighted by disease. Then the Venetian ambassadors returned from Constantinople with bad news: The emperor had refused to even see them.
With his armada slowly dying and no longer a credible threat to Constantinople, Doge Vitale returned to Venice with what remained of the fleet in May 1172.
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Another oddity that persisted for a long time afterward was the loan that Venice had imposed on its citizens. Shut out from Byzantine ports — it would take almost two decades to reach a truce with Constantinople and get the prisoners released — and financially stricken by the failed venture, Venice did not have the wherewithal to repay the prestiti as planned. What was initially an involuntary emergency loan in practice became a permanent mountain of state debt.
Venice did maintain the 5% interest payments, setting aside tax revenue from the Rialto stalls to cover them. To reassure its anxious creditor-citizens, transparent records of all revenues and payments were maintained by Venice’s Procurator of Saint Mark — a kind of deputy-doge-cum-finance-minister. Eventually this job went to the city’s Great Council, reinforcing its importance. This body was dominated by the city’s wealthiest families, who as both creditors and citizens had an interest in ensuring that Venice did not simply abrogate its debts as many absolute monarchs around Europe often did, ruining many banking houses in the process. Whenever a new war or financial emergency broke out, the Great Council would mandate the issuance of new prestiti.
The credibility of the regular and fixed interest payment, coupled with the tradeability of the debt, transformed what was initially an annoying reminder of Venice’s humiliation into a monument to its commercial genius.
Now, anyone in Venice could take money they had saved up and convert it into a future cash flow — perhaps to secure some income for when they retired, endow a charity, or give away as a dowry. They could use the prestiti as collateral for other loans, or as surety for goods. And if they needed to get back their money — or were worried about the solvency of Venice — they could head down to the Rialto market and sell their claims to the bankers, speculators, and merchants who had started to actively trade the prestiti there.
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The 12th-century military disaster that forever changed global finance
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
skybrian Link ParentI largely agree with how you describe what's going on. But it depends what you mean by "Android." Yes, Google does control what OEM's do by making requirements on them in order to install the Play...I largely agree with how you describe what's going on. But it depends what you mean by "Android."
Yes, Google does control what OEM's do by making requirements on them in order to install the Play Store and Google apps on their devices. The EU has fined them for this when they go too far. But it seems like it still leaves quite a bit of freedom for OEM's to do their own thing? I haven't been all that interested in whatever Samsung is doing, but it's sounds like it's pretty far from the stock OS?
Also, that's different from controlling what other companies do with open source Android code. There are alternatives that don't have the Play Store (most often seen in China).
Your charactization of Google "[l]etting core AOSP apps wither and die" is kinda odd because AOSP doesn't have to be a complete OS for others to build on it, and the sample apps don't have to be very good to demonstrate how it works. If we want to see an Android OS not controlled by Google, shouldn't it be someone else building and maintaining those apps rather than being dependent on Google to do it for them?
Maybe the alternatives will improve now that AI makes it easier to do.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
skybrian Link ParentWho should do it if not Google, though? See my other post for how this currently works.Who should do it if not Google, though? See my other post for how this currently works.
I have no independent information. It's based on what actual mathematicians are saying. They are worried and expect that if mathematics survives, it will be entirely different.
Is AI the End of Math As We Know It?
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