slade's recent activity
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
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Comment on Drunk raccoon found passed out in Virginia liquor store in ~news
slade LinkPoor critter. I was happy to read that it sobered up and was released. I am intrigued.Poor critter. I was happy to read that it sobered up and was released.
In Turkey, an obviously intoxicated brown bear cub was rescued from a forest by people after eating “mad honey”, or deli bal in Turkish – a substance produced in small quantities by beekeepers in the Kaçkar mountains above the Black Sea, where rhododendrons produce a potent neurotoxin and the honey that bees produce from it can induce a mildly hallucinogenic or euphoric state.
I am intrigued.
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Comment on r/art subreddit under new management after an artist was banned for mentioning their art prints in ~arts
slade Link ParentIs it? Reddit is full of stories about power mods ruining or reshaping communities on a whim. I don't miss it at all. We deserve better places to commune and share.it's just wild to see this chaos was largely the result of one person going unchecked for so long
Is it? Reddit is full of stories about power mods ruining or reshaping communities on a whim.
I don't miss it at all. We deserve better places to commune and share.
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Comment on r/art subreddit under new management after an artist was banned for mentioning their art prints in ~arts
slade Link ParentThey should just add a rule: "Must be art" (sarcasm)They should just add a rule: "Must be art"
(sarcasm)
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Comment on What even is a ‘box office flop’ anymore? in ~movies
slade LinkWhenever I look to a movie on Wikipedia, I like to look at the reception section. The first thing I do is scroll past the endless paragraphs of budgets, costs, revenue, global markets. I look at...Whenever I look to a movie on Wikipedia, I like to look at the reception section. The first thing I do is scroll past the endless paragraphs of budgets, costs, revenue, global markets. I look at what viewers said, because to me a movie is an artistic experience and the financial transactions that necessitate it are outside of that. I understand that this is an article about the economics of making and selling a movie, so my comment is largely sidestepping the content.
I guess I'm taking a shot at the word flop meaning financial loser, but that might be me making up definitions for words. I just have a hard time calling a much-loved movie a flop, which I think the author touches on when discussing Waterworld and its legacy.
Just being a good creative and leaving the rest to chance is not good enough anymore because we live in an environment where everything has to be good.
I understand the definition of "good" here to be financially marketable, not all people want to watch.
It should be a given too that not all studios are created equal. Whereas Disney and Warner Bros. may need an event each quarter to generate value for shareholders, A24 and Neon can afford to take more swings and let the value and appreciation for these films grow over time.
To me, this reads as Disney/WB being in the business of making money, and A24/Neon in the business of making art with the hope that it brings money. If a business has cornered itself into a Sisyphean task of always producing massive budget blockbusters, doesn't that force them to eschew risk (like recreating movies from a few years ago, or squeezing IP for sequels) and limit their capacity to produce art?
I don't know what I'm adding to the article, if anything. If a flop is truly just about the money, then I guess I mostly don't care (no shade to people who do). If it's open for discussion, then I want a flop to be a movie with high expectations that people didn't enjoy at release. If it was a major value loss for the company, but much loved, I'd call it a gamble that paid off for the everyone except the investors/producers.
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Comment on The easiest way to build a type checker in ~comp
slade Link ParentWow - one thing I never would've accused type checking of being was simple. I'm interested in digging into this.Wow - one thing I never would've accused type checking of being was simple. I'm interested in digging into this.
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Comment on 81-year-old wins "Best Technique" at San Francisco lesbian pie-eating contest in ~lgbt
slade LinkThis is pretty great. "a crush of pie-eating lesbians" might be by new favorite phrase.This is pretty great. "a crush of pie-eating lesbians" might be by new favorite phrase.
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Comment on Japan unveils human washing machine, now you can get washed like laundry in ~tech
slade Link ParentFor me, I needed those two years as a ramp up period for what I was about to get into. Like the click click click part at the beginning of a roller coaster. I could not have handled a two year old...For me, I needed those two years as a ramp up period for what I was about to get into. Like the click click click part at the beginning of a roller coaster. I could not have handled a two year old terrorist without the extra time.
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Comment on Advice request: potentially adopting a cat in ~life.pets
slade Link ParentYeah, my late friend Brodie was like that. The only surface he insisted on was laps and his cat tower. Some cats just want to vibe and let vibe.Yeah, my late friend Brodie was like that. The only surface he insisted on was laps and his cat tower. Some cats just want to vibe and let vibe.
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Comment on Can we maybe have an informal agreement to avoid posting articles that require you to sell your firstborn child to the devil just to read them? in ~tildes
slade Link ParentI'd argue that everyday browsing was never the value prop of securing your personal data. Privacy and security will always be less convenient. Privacy is one of those things you don't need until...there has been basically zero negative changes in my everyday browsing experience and a few positives
I'd argue that everyday browsing was never the value prop of securing your personal data. Privacy and security will always be less convenient. Privacy is one of those things you don't need until you do, but you can't get back once you've given it up. That goes extra hard at the system level when dealing with entire populations and policies that broadly take away privacy.
I also wouldn't call interspersing my content with non sequiturs about anything to be a positive, but that's just my personal preference. I do see the positive of "if I'm required to look at things I don't want, I'd rather they be things I usually enjoy", but it's very slim to me.
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Comment on A new take on Colombia’s cocaine hippos in ~enviro
slade LinkI mostly read because I was curious what a cocaine hippo is. I'm relieved to learn that it has nothing to do with cocaine, but it does leave the title feeling baity to me.I mostly read because I was curious what a cocaine hippo is. I'm relieved to learn that it has nothing to do with cocaine, but it does leave the title feeling baity to me.
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Comment on GPT-5 has come a long way in mathematics in ~tech
slade Link ParentI say that I only use AI when I already know the answer or don't care if it's right.I say that I only use AI when I already know the answer or don't care if it's right.
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Comment on How to Make a Killing | Official trailer in ~movies
slade LinkMan. Pretty much everything I see coming out of A24 looks exciting to me, despite the genres being all over the place. This might be the first time I've recognized a studio for consistency. Still...Man. Pretty much everything I see coming out of A24 looks exciting to me, despite the genres being all over the place. This might be the first time I've recognized a studio for consistency. Still champing at the bit for the Kane Pixels movie.
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Comment on GPT-5 has come a long way in mathematics in ~tech
slade Link ParentAnother way to look at it is AI doesn't have to be accurate to give you a list of reasons why an idea is bad. You're the smart one and can easily tell which of those reasons are valid. So in...Another way to look at it is AI doesn't have to be accurate to give you a list of reasons why an idea is bad. You're the smart one and can easily tell which of those reasons are valid. So in certain domains and situations, you don't care if AI gives you bad answers. It's the variety you want, so you can find any hidden good answers that you yourself overlooked.
I do this now in software. I'll write code, then bias the AI with a question like "what did I do wrong?" Or "why is this sometimes not working?"
It'll always answer as if the code is bad and explain why I'm seeing bugs. Most of the time it's hallucinating in order to agree with me, and the critique makes no sense. I can easily tell that and throw it away. Other times it'll surprise me with a bug that it predicted and I didn't, which I can easily tell is legit.
When I'm asking about things I don't know as much about, I'm a lot more careful to all for background and citations. I try (increasingly hard) to back up what I'm told with human sources.
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Comment on Poets are now cybersecurity threats: Researchers used 'adversarial poetry' to trick AI into ignoring its safety guard rails and it frequently worked in ~tech
slade LinkRoses are red Violets are blue Here's hoping they fix this And other bugs tooRoses are red
Violets are blue
Here's hoping they fix this
And other bugs too -
Comment on The DoorDash problem: How AI browsers are a huge threat to Amazon in ~tech
slade Link ParentAmazon made their success taking competitors (small mom and pop shops moving online) to court over any of their ridiculous early patents. Amazon have never been about playing a fair game, and have...Amazon made their success taking competitors (small mom and pop shops moving online) to court over any of their ridiculous early patents. Amazon have never been about playing a fair game, and have never prioritized the consumer, which is arguably why they're the winner of capitalism.
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Comment on A new era of intelligence with Gemini 3 in ~tech
slade Link ParentYour rant is appreciated and welcome. I particularly was nodding along to your final paragraph, because I have the same feelings. Being ignorant is not nearly as bad as being ignorant while under...Your rant is appreciated and welcome. I particularly was nodding along to your final paragraph, because I have the same feelings. Being ignorant is not nearly as bad as being ignorant while under the impression that you're not. I've been on the receiving end of people coming to me with AI logic about my area of expertise, and I have to explain how it's accurate and how it's not.
most people live based on employment income is itself a fairly modern concept which your prompt inadvertently biased
This is a good reminder about how easy it is to bias the question. It's obvious to me once you point it out, but until reading your comment I didn't realize how my question was flawed, and AI was not equipped to detect and correct that like you were able to.
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Comment on A lot at steak: US beef and cattle prices soar to record highs in ~food
slade Link ParentThat was an interesting read. The sizes of modern livestock cause them all kinds of health problems and suffering. Most of those problems don't impact the consumer beyond lower meat prices, so you...That was an interesting read.
“These conditions are linked to rapid growth rates in modern broilers,” Tuell says. “As the breast muscles rapidly grow, their blood supply is not able to keep up, leading to degeneration of the muscle tissue over time, along with excessive accumulation of fibrous connective tissue and fat.”
The sizes of modern livestock cause them all kinds of health problems and suffering. Most of those problems don't impact the consumer beyond lower meat prices, so you don't read news articles about them.
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Comment on Madison “Peg Leg” Blagden just became the first woman to hike 8,000 miles in a year — and she’s still going in ~hobbies
slade Link ParentThat's always something I think about. I wonder how many other people (not me) could accomplish this with the financial freedom to do so.That's always something I think about. I wonder how many other people (not me) could accomplish this with the financial freedom to do so.
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Comment on A new era of intelligence with Gemini 3 in ~tech
slade LinkHere's my single anecdotal experience with Gemini 3. I've been reading a lot of history lately, and I've always wondered when I read about people in past centuries making a living as writers and...Here's my single anecdotal experience with Gemini 3. I've been reading a lot of history lately, and I've always wondered when I read about people in past centuries making a living as writers and thinkers. How did they survive? So I asked Gemini 3. My prompt:
How did people back in past centuries make a living as historians, poets, and such?
The response: https://gemini.google.com/share/ee11c83eba36
The body content seems good to me (as far as I know; I'm asking because I don't know about these things). But I am very put off by the headings.
- The Patronage System (The "Sugar Daddy" Model)
- The "Day Job" (The Clark Kent Model)
- The Church and State (The "Corporate" Model)
- The Rise of "Grub Street" (The Hustler Model)
I can mostly write this off as a (very misguided) attempt to "help" me understand things by putting them in terms I can relate to with minimal thought.
My biggest issue is with #1, which I understand to be a very loaded term; loaded with things wholly unrelated to my question and the answer. Again, easy for me to ignore, but I'm looking at this through the lens of other people using Gemini 3 for learning and receiving similarly loaded "help". I don't relish the thought of my kids looking for the words to articulate patronage and coming up with "sugar daddy".
When I asked Gemini why it colored the answers this way, it acknowledged what I thought: that it was trying to "help" me understand the material. It also agreed that its choice of phrase for #1 was unnecessarily loaded and gendered -- but then, AI agrees with most of the things I accuse it of, so it's probably meaningless that it agreed.
I know this is just one example, so I'm not forming any conclusions, but it was not a good first impression for me. I will continue to test it out, but future conversations will be affected by Gemini's promise not to do this again. Which helps me, but doesn't help the affect of the systemic deployment of Gemini if this anecdote is in any way representative.
Nothing novel or interesting. I'm building a web based game engine. I'll probably never finish and could do more with existing frameworks, but it's the building I enjoy.
I realized years ago that every time I've learned new tech, I want to use it to build a video game. When I was younger I truly wanted to make a game, but along the way I realized that video game engines were really just my "todo app". A well understood problem that I could apply to whatever I was learning.
Last time around was building one in TypeScript. This time the technology I'm exploring is AI coding (something I do a lot at work, but here I'm doing it myself and how I want).