text_garden's recent activity
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Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech
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Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentIn that context, her presenting them as describing "AI as exclusively foisted upon us by corporate overlords" is misleading and dishonest, and her bringing them up at all as though they're...Jasmine Sun's article is about chatbots. Her criticism of other articles has to be understood in that context.
In that context, her presenting them as describing "AI as exclusively foisted upon us by corporate overlords" is misleading and dishonest, and her bringing them up at all as though they're relevant to her point about chatbots is misguided and irrelevant.
Maybe those other articles aren't so bad in some other context.
While it's true that they probably don't seem so bad in the context of the points they're actually making and how they actually argue for those points as they do in the context of what Jasmine Sun incorrectly and dishonestly presents them as being about, that's irrelevant to the quality of the articles.
If you write an article about manatees and clearly present it as such, and I foolishly criticize it on the basis that it's an article about golden retrievers, it doesn't reflect on the article itself at all. It just means that I made an error that utterly invalidates my criticism.
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Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentThat might have been a relevant, critical observation if the author had also claimed that, but they didn't.That might have been a relevant, critical observation if the author had also claimed that, but they didn't.
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Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentHow is "How big tech is force-feeding us AI" not a fair title for an article about how big tech is force-feeding us AI? I don't understand your criticism at all. Even if you stopped reading after...How is "How big tech is force-feeding us AI" not a fair title for an article about how big tech is force-feeding us AI? I don't understand your criticism at all. Even if you stopped reading after the lead paragraph it would be very clear, if the title somehow wasn't enough.
The rest of the body of the article then gives very clear examples of how, indeed, "big tech is force-feeding us AI".
I could understand your criticism if you'd only read the title, and through a mistake on your part misread it as to imply that all applications of AI are force-fed to us. But that's not what the title says, and if you misread the title the article would very much clear that up. So given that you've made your way to the paragraph you're quoting I think your criticism is invalid on more than the basis of a simple mistake.
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Comment on What video games would you say have the best stories? Feel free to suggest more than one. in ~games
text_garden LinkI've played games that people around me say have great stories, but I rarely find myself agreeing, so I tend to avoid story-driven games. Maybe the most controversial example of this is Red Dead...I've played games that people around me say have great stories, but I rarely find myself agreeing, so I tend to avoid story-driven games.
Maybe the most controversial example of this is Red Dead Redemption 2. The game was so obviously divided into either barely (or non-) interactive "characters talking and advancing the narrative" sections or action sections where there's this constant, meandering, trivial and absolutely boring expositional background dialog. All connected by an open world where none of that seemed to practically matter much. This made it feel like the pacing was always off, and like nothing was actually at stake even when the cutscenes or dialogue would imply otherwise.
Then there's the natural difference between how the game portrays player characters and how I actually play them. I can go on an absolute rampage, lassoing people in and throwing them of cliffs or offering them to the alligators, and then in the next cutscene my character will be a kind of gentleman robber with moral standards again. I can't take that seriously. Going on a rampage and fleeing is some of the most fun I had with this game, but neither the writers nor the mission designers seem to have agreed, or don't seem to care about the incongruity. It's like the game couldn't decide whether it's an awesome open world cowboy asshole sim or four seasons of an HBO show that should only have lasted for one.
I was also extremely put off by the voice acting at times. In particular, Jack Marston as a kid is very obviously played by an adult woman talking in a squeaky voice. If the game ever immersed me in its story that would have taken it away immediately.
I think RPGs are better suited for me, at least in theory, since they make player choice meaningful in the narrative sense and can adapt the narrative to your play style, but RPGs also tend to be filled with cliches that bore or annoy me. They seem especially obsessed with creating archetypal characters that all have a very overt, obvious dispositions or attitudes towards everything, which makes them not seem like people, and they employ saturday morning cartoon tropes to make sure you know what it is within a minute of hearing them.
That said, I started playing Disco Elysium this year and the first impressions were very promising. I haven't gotten very far yet, though, but I particularly like that it seems to accommodate a lot of styles of approach while rewarding you for leaning into your character
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Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentGoogle Search suddenly placing an "AI mode" item to the left of the "All" item which has always been the leftmost item for the obvious reason that it's the default mode...Google Search suddenly placing an "AI mode" item to the left of the "All" item which has always been the leftmost item for the obvious reason that it's the default mode...
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Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentI thought I already addressed that sufficiently in my comment, but I'll elaborate. If that alone is the subset of uses of AI she's concerned with, it's either disingenuous or ignorant of her to...I think she’s more right than wrong. While it’s true that Google’s AI search summaries are foisted on us, along with other AI integrations, when we talk about the people with AI companions, that’s largely ChatGPT or Character.AI. These are websites you have to visit.
I thought I already addressed that sufficiently in my comment, but I'll elaborate.
If that alone is the subset of uses of AI she's concerned with, it's either disingenuous or ignorant of her to refer to Brian Merchant, Ted Gioia and Cory Doctorow as though they're opposed to entirely voluntary and explicit use of non-intrusive AI chat bots rather those applications of AI which we're given less choice to engage with.
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Comment on AI friends too cheap to meter in ~tech
text_garden LinkNotions like that of AI is being "crammed down our throats" don't hinge on the illusion that there are no happy users of ChatGPT. It can simultaneously be true that there are 700 million happy...Arguments like this are empirically false: they fail to consider the existence of “organic user demand.”
Notions like that of AI is being "crammed down our throats" don't hinge on the illusion that there are no happy users of ChatGPT. It can simultaneously be true that there are 700 million happy users of ChatGPT, a very non-intrusive application of a LLM (for the end user) and that AI is being "shoved down our throats".
Most people use AI because they like it.
Ignoring the dubious content of the statement itself, this is an answer to entirely the wrong question IMO. The question should be how much of our AI use is both voluntary and helpful, and how much is either or both involuntary and detrimental to our experience, health and so on. That is, if we want to know whether the idea that "AI is being crammed down our throats" is valid in some sense or "empirically false".
It's no surprise that some subset of use of AI that's entirely voluntary and explicit can be a pleasant and useful experience to us, but I'm spending more time interacting with AI through platforms where its introduction represents a general degradation of quality. Worse quality discourse, worse quality entertainment, worse quality support, worse quality reading.
I would give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume that maybe they're just discussing AI chat bots, but in that case they are making a very dishonest argument by referring to criticism that very obviously concerns AI in general, not just its use in chat bots.
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Comment on Half way through the 2020's. What's your favorite games so far? in ~games
text_garden Link ParentI had a similar realization after binging Factorio for like 12 hours straight and haven't played it since :D Shapez was more manageable to me; an idea can be realized much more quickly so it's...I had a similar realization after binging Factorio for like 12 hours straight and haven't played it since :D
Shapez was more manageable to me; an idea can be realized much more quickly so it's more immediately satisfying. But of course, there's seemingly no end to it.
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Comment on Half way through the 2020's. What's your favorite games so far? in ~games
text_garden LinkA few from this decade that left good impressions: Shapez: think Factorio but boiled down to its essence. I feel like it's more respectful of my time. A Hand With Many Fingers: a first-person...A few from this decade that left good impressions:
- Shapez: think Factorio but boiled down to its essence. I feel like it's more respectful of my time.
- A Hand With Many Fingers: a first-person "journalistic research simulator" spent in an archive where you are tasked with unraveling a conspiracy. I was skeptical of the concept but ended up loving it.
- The Battle of Polytopia: streamlined, simple 4X game with PBEM-style cross-platform multiplayer. Great for playing a few minutes at a time.
- Ultrakill: challenging and addictive movement shooter that rewards close range combat by making the blood of your enemies replenish your health.
- Sailwind: a relaxing sailing sim wrapped in a trade/upgrade/maintenance game loop. It's committed to not having any features like automaps or HUD tools for navigation. Instead, you have to navigate using sight, chronometer, stars and compass.
- Animal Well: weird, animal-themed, puzzle-focused metroidvania. Very atmospheric and relaxing.
- Echo Point Nova: very fast-paced, open world movement shooter. The movement mechanics are extremely satisfying.
- Desecrators: Descent- and Forsaken-like with procedurally generated levels and an upgrade system. The combat in this is so very frantic and well-designed, and it's kind of hard to go back to playing "normal" first person shooters after it.
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Comment on What are your predictions for 2026? in ~talk
text_garden Link ParentDrunk in the back of my carillion, coming home from the barillion. -
Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
text_garden Linkvs. So will it evolve into an "AI browser" or will it in fact remain a web browser where AI features are inconsequential to its primary function and can easily be turned off? Sounds like another...AI should always be a choice — something people can easily turn off.
vs.
It will evolve into a modern AI browser and support a portfolio of new and trusted software additions.
So will it evolve into an "AI browser" or will it in fact remain a web browser where AI features are inconsequential to its primary function and can easily be turned off?
Sounds like another set of additions to the growing multitude of settings I have to adjust when I choose to install Firefox on a new system. Will be looking at Waterfox or Librewolf henceforth.
My tip for anyone else too curious not to read the article is to mentally replace "AI" with "smurf".
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Comment on Twenty years of digital life, gone in an instant, thanks to Apple in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentI'm replying to you, as you can already tell. You said that you 'don't think it's ever really fair to tell people "this is why you shouldn't put all your data in the trust of apple" without a...Who are you writing this for?
I'm replying to you, as you can already tell. You said that you 'don't think it's ever really fair to tell people "this is why you shouldn't put all your data in the trust of apple" without a reasonable alternative to the question'. I responded to you both to argue that
- it is fair regardless of whether I can present reasonable alternatives
- that there are reasonable alternatives
- that the author if anyone should have known better than to trust Apple with their data
Each of these points stand on their own.
You’re not writing it for me or people like me
No, I'm not responding to "people like you", but to you specifically. I struggle to interpret this as anything but a deliberate attempt to muddy the waters and further misrepresent the argument that I've already stated clearly. Please stay on track: "who I am writing this for" is irrelevant to the content and validity of my argument.
I’m trying to put a modicum of reality checks in this conversation.
Reality check: you shouldn't put your data in the trust of Apple, because stuff like this can happen. This is fair, because it's evidently true. It's true regardless of whether I can present alternatives, and regardless of whether you agree that the alternatives I present are available or immediately obvious to "MOST PEOPLE". It doesn't somehow become less true because some users may not have considered the implications of trusting Apple with all their data. Consequently, it doesn't become less fair to say it.
Nevertheless, I have presented simple alternatives (i.e. maintaining local copies of your important documents and not using Apple for all of a bunch of services they provide for which there is no shortage of alternatives), none of which require you to become a "digital prepper" in any sense I can reasonably interpret that term. I further argue that the author's ignorance can't be excused by general incompetence.
What's difficult for a novice user, if anything, is to consider the possibility of being locked out at all. WIthout having considered that, there are few incentives to use alternatives to Apple's walled garden. With that in mind, it's not only fair to say that you shouldn't put all your data in the trust of Apple, but helpful and constructive.
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Comment on Twenty years of digital life, gone in an instant, thanks to Apple in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentNo, this misrepresentation of my argument, which doesn't mention photos at all. It's immaterial to my argument whether the data is photos or anything else. 6 TB of data is 6 TB of data, whatever...You and everyone else is responding to me like the guy actually just lost some photos. This is clearly not the case.
No, this misrepresentation of my argument, which doesn't mention photos at all. It's immaterial to my argument whether the data is photos or anything else. 6 TB of data is 6 TB of data, whatever its content and wherever you keep it. A 6 TB platter disk costs < $300.
Yeah it’s easy to back up photos and email once. It’s not TERRIBLY difficult to set up a cronjob to do it regularly (though you won’t know if that one stops working because some access token expired and you didn’t set up lifecycle alerts … oops my backups stopped three years ago guess I’m fucked).
You're overthinking it. Copying files is basic computer literacy. Doing it automatically is a minor convenience on top of that. Doing it using a globally accessible network service is another inconvenience on top of that. If for a lack of technical know-how you have to pick either access to "20 years of digital life" or slighly more convenient means of copying files, what is the wise choice?
But then you still don’t have access to your damn email address anymore do you?
Why not? I don't see how trying to redeem a gift card for buying music and software should render my email account inaccessible. Then again, my email provider is an email provider, not a massively integrated everything-service.
What about apple’s password manager?
Don't use it? Why should your phone manufacturer be your OS developer, your cloud backup provider, your email provider, your software store, your music store, your file sharing application, your software publisher, your authentication provider and the arbiter of whether you have access to your passwords?
It's an idiotic concept. Even children intuitively understand the wisdom of not putting all eggs in one basket, but otherwise sensible adults just sort of forget this when it comes to online services. I don't expect everyone to be wise, but I vehemently disagree that it's "unfair" to point out that it is unwise.
It’s not enough to set up a NAS, you generally want something you want to share. If you used iCloud for this, congrats all your share links are gone forever and it’s not like there’s any backup of those.
Seems like a minor inconvenience on top of having lost access to your data yourself. They key difference here is that if you still had access to your own data, you could find some other way to share it, with no shortage of alternatives. With all eggs in Apple's basket it is of course only Apple that can provide that service, leaving you at their mercy.
Doesn’t sound like you eh?
No, it doesn't sound like me. It doesn't sound like my 80 year old uncle either. Understanding that your cloud backup server is not an alternative to having local copies of your files, but a safety measure in addition to that, is not rocket science. It's not beyond the grasp of an average person.
Your idea that in order to have redundant copy of 20 years of your digital life, you need to be a "systems engineer", set up and maintain a NAS, cronjobs, self-host keepass etc. sounds more like a inclination on your end to tinker with stuff like that for the sake of long-term convenience. I give you that it's less convenient to mind your own business than to let someone else do it for you unless you are technically inclined. That's how Google and Apple get people to make such bad decisions. But if you value "20 years of digital life" and 6 TB of data, maybe that slight inconvenience is worth it.
Regardless, the author isn't some computer illiterate schmuck, but a computer scientist, software developer and technical writer. Their problem is clearly an unhealthy level of trust in an amoral megacorporation, not a lack of a technical proficiency. He calls himself "effectively an evangelist", and it boggles the mind that it would not occur to him after putting it in those words that this isn't a normal relationship to have with an entity which is realistically incapable of caring about his existence.
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Comment on Twenty years of digital life, gone in an instant, thanks to Apple in ~tech
text_garden Link ParentThe domain name is just a name. What you're describing is of course still fully centralized. So I don't see how it strikes a balance at all. Evidently, liability is also a problem whether you...I think the best solution is to pay for a Google Workspace account to use with your own domain, which is what i do. It gives a good balance between centralization and liability.
The domain name is just a name. What you're describing is of course still fully centralized. So I don't see how it strikes a balance at all. Evidently, liability is also a problem whether you manage your own data or let some corporation do it for you.
I don't think it's ever really fair to tell people "this is why you shouldn't put all your data in the trust of apple" without a reasonable alternative to the question: "I have terabytes of life data to manage. This is impossible to handle it all by myself. What service will help me with this without turning this in a whole Project?"
How is it not fair? It is what it is; you either do the "whole Project" of buying e.g. a big mechanical disk and simply storing copies of your most important documents there (i.e. stuff that only requires very basic computer literacy), or you give yourself conditional access to "20 years of digital life" at the whims of the cloud ecosystem of some amoral megacorporation you have naively trusted with your life.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
text_garden LinkWorked some more on my Rogue port for gaming handhelds, but not much. I'm restructuring it all so that you can evaluate a single turn by passing a player command to a function. The function may...Worked some more on my Rogue port for gaming handhelds, but not much. I'm restructuring it all so that you can evaluate a single turn by passing a player command to a function. The function may return a prompt for more input, in which case you call it again with the original command but with the required input data as well. This means that all the keyboard input function calls and internal input-feedback loops using e.g.
getcharneed to be removed.Most of that is actually done now, and I have my own main loop with commands bound to buttons. There are a few y/n confirmation prompts in the game that I need to deal with, but other than that the input functions are gone from the code.
I also removed quite a few commands. For example, in my version you can't rename items, nor can you quick-fight with
forF, The former because I think it's rather pointless given that the game auto-renames items as you discover what they do, and the latter because it's a convenience function that would be less convenient when such things would only be accessible through menus.I've also wrapped all the Curses terminal output functions so I can eventually implement my own subset of Curses tailored for the game. The device I'm targeting (R36S) has a 640x480 screen which should fit the entire game screen nicely, but it's rather small, so I'd like to implement zooming and scrolling.
Most of the stuff I add on top of the game are written in Zig, and the main loop is written in Zig now as well. I've used Zig-C interop before, but this is a nice battle test for me. The ergonomics of that setup so far is great. I also replaced the original Makefile with the Zig build system.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
text_garden Link ParentThanks for the shoutout and I'm glad you like Acid Web! You're right that the music is generated, using a template-based system that generates compositions, and a drum machine and synthesizer that...Thanks for the shoutout and I'm glad you like Acid Web!
You're right that the music is generated, using a template-based system that generates compositions, and a drum machine and synthesizer that plays it back. The sound effects are also all generated. The only thing I'm using recordings for are the individual drum hit samples.
It's quite subtle, especially with some of the built-in synths, but the spider's position on-screen controls the music synthesizer, so the slow modulations you hear are always due to your own movement.
I've been meaing to play NOLF. How are you playing it? Does it work fine on modern operating systems or would I need to patch it? I did enjoy Shogo back in the day, but that's about the only Lithtech shooter I've played outside the Blood 2 demo. I can recommend that if you like the campy mecha anime theme and don't mind a few frustratingly difficult sections (which I'm guessing you don't if you're still enjoying Acid Web :))
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Comment on Suggestions for uses of old computer hardware? in ~comp
text_garden LinkRun a copyparty-based NAS!Run a copyparty-based NAS!
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
text_garden Link ParentThanks! It's only side loading for now, but once development slows down a bit I will try to get Portmaster to accept it. I'll give it maybe one or two more weeks depending on feature requests and...Thanks! It's only side loading for now, but once development slows down a bit I will try to get Portmaster to accept it. I'll give it maybe one or two more weeks depending on feature requests and bug reports. The release package follows all Portmaster convention so it shouldn't be too much work.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
text_garden (edited )LinkI released an initial (fully functional) version of Pocket Acid, my software groovebox for cheap Chinese gaming handhelds (which I last mentioned here). It's all written in Zig and works nicely on...I released an initial (fully functional) version of Pocket Acid, my software groovebox for cheap Chinese gaming handhelds (which I last mentioned here). It's all written in Zig and works nicely on a range of aarch64 devices as well as PCs. There have been some requests for new features, so I've been working through those. Here's a demo and here's the GitHub repository. It seems a success in terms of response and I am happy with the functionality myself, but eventually I want it to support multiple workspaces.
Meanwhile I've also started on my next project: adapting the Rogue clone found in e.g. NetBSD for gamepads and small screens. For those not familiar with the original game, it's a sort of minimal, turn-based, text-graphics dungeon crawler. It's the game which roguelikes are like, if that means anything to you. Verb actions on the environment and inventory are all bound to keyboard keys, making it utterly unsuitable for gamepad control as is. For example, to eat a piece of food, you press 'e' followed by a letter corresponding to an inventory slot. So there's a bunch of stuff that needs to be changed.
The game uses Curses and imperatively presents options and prompts for keyboard input as it goes. Mostly for directions (e.g. when throwing something) or inventory items (like in the eating example above). I'm currently rewriting it so that there is a single
runCmdfunction which accpepts a single command like eat, quaff, wield, move, drop etc. and may or may not return a request for input. It will only perform the action when all prerequisite requests are fulfilled. That way I get a lot of flexibility in terms of how the presentation layer is used to produce commands and fulfill requests, and I can drive the main loop myself instead.The next step is to replace Curses with my own implementation based on a virtual text screen. Rogue only uses some small subset of the full Curses functionality so it shouldn't be too hard.
Yes, I'm so sure of that. You yourself used one of the articles as an example, quoting a part that explicitly and beyond uncertainty reflects a position that is contrary to the position she attributes to it.
Please don't try to generalize the problem to the point of meaninglessness. Yes, the articles can be interpreted in different ways. Some of those interpretations have a reasonable basis in their content, some don't. The problem here is that she attributes a point to them that they aren't making by any stretch. One of the articles even explicitly refutes the point she attributes to them, which you know because you quoted that part yourself.
I don't disagree that someone can make that interpretation. Just as enough of a fool might interpret your article about manatees as being about golden retrievers. I just disagree that it's a reasonable interpretation that a literate and honest person would make after actually reading the articles, and I think that her interpretation reflects poorly on her, not somehow on the authors who are not making the idiotic point she attributes to them.