tibpoe's recent activity
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Comment on Experiences with FarmBot or similar gardening robots? in ~tech
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Comment on Microsoft testing new AI features in Windows 11 File Explorer in ~tech
tibpoe Link Parentapt-get is exactly the system package manager, so you're good! You definitely don't have to use the command line unless you want to either, the Software Manager GUI on your computer uses apt-get...apt-getis exactly the system package manager, so you're good! You definitely don't have to use the command line unless you want to either, the Software Manager GUI on your computer usesapt-getunder the hood. -
Comment on Microsoft testing new AI features in Windows 11 File Explorer in ~tech
tibpoe Link ParentStep 1: Only use the system package manager/software store. Don't download software off internet websites. Step 2: There is no step 2. Yes, because there's a monetization plan with all malware....Step 1: Only use the system package manager/software store. Don't download software off internet websites.
Step 2: There is no step 2.
would I even notice if my box was compromised?
Yes, because there's a monetization plan with all malware. Anyway, there's not currently any malware targeting desktop Linux users, so as long as you follow step 1 in the future, you have nothing to worry about.
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Comment on Signal introduces secure cloud backups in ~tech
tibpoe Link ParentSymmetric encryption is not really vulnerable to quantum computers the way asymmetric encryption is.Symmetric encryption is not really vulnerable to quantum computers the way asymmetric encryption is.
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Comment on What is a business/org that's so terrible no one should use if possible? in ~life
tibpoe Link ParentIt is now, but for many years it was poorly described and opt-out. The threat of government regulation has forced banks to clean up their act though, and I hope that will stay despite the Trump...It is now, but for many years it was poorly described and opt-out.
The threat of government regulation has forced banks to clean up their act though, and I hope that will stay despite the Trump whiplash on this regulation
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Comment on Pioneering method turns plastic into fuel with 95% efficiency in ~engineering
tibpoe LinkLooks like the main innovation here is their process allows removing the chlorine from the plastic without a separate dechlorination step. That this process creates gasoline-like fuel is sort of a...Looks like the main innovation here is their process allows removing the chlorine from the plastic without a separate dechlorination step. That this process creates gasoline-like fuel is sort of a happy side-effect, since dechlorinated plastic can already be burned for energy.
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Comment on How can England possibly be running out of water? in ~enviro
tibpoe LinkEngland's water situation is interesting to me because it's very different from what we see in the United States. Looking at the raw data, it looks like something like 60% of their water use is...England's water situation is interesting to me because it's very different from what we see in the United States. Looking at the raw data, it looks like something like 60% of their water use is household water use!
Very different from what we see in the United States, where 90% of water use is in agriculture, and only 7% is for combined household+industrial use.
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Comment on Derek Thompson article: "the anti-abundance critique on US housing is dead wrong" in ~society
tibpoe Link ParentIt's possible, but I think it's unlikely. Multiple apartment buildings and "local news" (probably just Sinclair) both point to a decent-size metro.It's possible, but I think it's unlikely. Multiple apartment buildings and "local news" (probably just Sinclair) both point to a decent-size metro.
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Comment on Derek Thompson article: "the anti-abundance critique on US housing is dead wrong" in ~society
tibpoe Link ParentThat's exactly what this article is about: this is just not true and your local news is lying.had trouble getting another place to live cause its all owned by the same company
That's exactly what this article is about: this is just not true and your local news is lying.
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Comment on Derek Thompson article: "the anti-abundance critique on US housing is dead wrong" in ~society
tibpoe Link ParentIt costs a lot more money to tear down existing apartments than to densify new properties. The big one is opportunity cost; if they could keep the apartments operating with minimal new investment...It costs a lot more money to tear down existing apartments than to densify new properties. The big one is opportunity cost; if they could keep the apartments operating with minimal new investment they would.
The cost of tearing down a single family home should be much lower, because the rent for one SFH is much less than the rent for the comparable 6 apartment units on the same footprint. The problem is government intervention and NIMBYs, which drive up the price through endless planning processes.
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Comment on GPT 5 released in ~comp
tibpoe Link ParentI haven't used it, but in general I like to look at https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard whenever a new model comes out. It's a blind head-to-head test of LLM models. In this case, I don't see gpt-5 as...I haven't used it, but in general I like to look at https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard whenever a new model comes out. It's a blind head-to-head test of LLM models.
In this case, I don't see gpt-5 as anything but a tiny improvement over existing models, or maybe not and it's just noise. It's good OpenAI finally has a coding model, but it doesn't look like it's likely to be a significant enough improvement to bother trying out.
What I am excited about is their gpt-oss-120b from the other day. It's pretty good: not top tier, but fine for many queries. It's incredible how fast it is, especially if I use the Cerebras-hosted version, which runs at almost 3k tokens/sec. It makes the whole process of iterating on prompts much faster and easier, and it feels like it has some kind of killer application that I just have not figured out yet.
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Comment on Fast food pricing games are ridiculous in ~food
tibpoe Link ParentI'd argue the sole reason for it is the price discrimination. It's a roundabout way of asking "what's your time worth?" Are rich people going to talk with their friends and discover the tricks to...I'd argue the sole reason for it is the price discrimination. It's a roundabout way of asking "what's your time worth?"
Are rich people going to talk with their friends and discover the tricks to get a reasonable price? No, it's not worth their time and the risk of being seen as cheap. On the other hand, poorer people are absolutely going to spend 20 minutes figuring out the coupon game.
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Comment on A huge fight looms over the NASA budget this fall in ~space
tibpoe LinkI'm glad that Congress is at least in this small way asserting it's status as a co-equal branch of government, but this is disappointing: I have not seen any sort of justification for the SLS and...I'm glad that Congress is at least in this small way asserting it's status as a co-equal branch of government, but this is disappointing:
Congress also rejects the White House's desire to restructure the Artemis Moon program, getting rid of the Lunar Gateway and ending the space agency's use of the costly Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft after two more flights.
I have not seen any sort of justification for the SLS and Lunar Gateway except as pork. They just don't make sense.
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Comment on Why recycling solar panels is harder than you might think in ~enviro
tibpoe Link ParentI think this particular article is OK, but in general I'm just tired of hearing about recycling renewable power generation. It ends up feeling like concern trolling by the media, especially since...I think this particular article is OK, but in general I'm just tired of hearing about recycling renewable power generation. It ends up feeling like concern trolling by the media, especially since it fails to discuss the opportunity cost of continuing to use the air that we all breathe as the world's largest landfill, and the incredibly low risk that modern landfills present.
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Comment on Decrypted Apple Intelligence safety filters in ~tech
tibpoe LinkThis repo is very difficult to understand with the deep nesting and all, but I found this amusing: The American version of the filter list for suggested email replies has "black americans", "white...This repo is very difficult to understand with the deep nesting and all, but I found this amusing:
The American version of the filter list for suggested email replies has "black americans", "white people", "illegal immigrant", etc banned. And so does the Danish version, but in Danish, despite the fact that every country has its own unique form of racism! I'd expect to see "migrant" or "gypsy" in the Danish ban list.
To me, that says that Apple's goal here is to avoid American media attention, not anything else.
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Comment on Decrypted Apple Intelligence safety filters in ~tech
tibpoe Link ParentI disagree, this sounds like an AI-expanded version of the README.Here's a good summary of what this is about
I disagree, this sounds like an AI-expanded version of the README.
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Comment on The America Party in ~society
tibpoe Link ParentOnce you've have built a semi-self-sustaining industry on the moon, you still need to ship the products down to earth. That's ~3km/s Δv, right? You'll need some serious value density to make it...Once you've have built a semi-self-sustaining industry on the moon, you still need to ship the products down to earth. That's ~3km/s Δv, right? You'll need some serious value density to make it economically worthwhile, on the level of gold or microchips.
I'm not against space exploration for scientific purposes, we definitely need more of that. But it's premature to be talking about economic sustainability of space industry.
Unrelated, but ever watch Moon (2009)? I really enjoyed that movie and its soundtrack, and I suggest watching it without reading the synopsis.
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Comment on The America Party in ~society
tibpoe LinkI think this the first time a significant right-leaning politician in the USA has expressed support for a revenue-neutral carbon fee. Also: lolI think this the first time a significant right-leaning politician in the USA has expressed support for a revenue-neutral carbon fee.
Also:
Invest in launch tech, lunar logistics, and Mars R&D—unlocking in-orbit industry and space-mining wealth
lol
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Comment on The rise of Whatever in ~tech
tibpoe Link ParentIt is frustrating to hear this, but I think it's correct. Despite what some loudmouths in the space say, this is a tool, and just how you weren't born knowing how to tie your shoes, you have to..."You are not using the right workflow. You are not prompting in the right way. You aren't using the right model. You should roll the dice correctly."
It is frustrating to hear this, but I think it's correct. Despite what some loudmouths in the space say, this is a tool, and just how you weren't born knowing how to tie your shoes, you have to learn how to use LLMs to get good results.
Let's take your example of calculating the area of a body of water. I've used LLMs to write geographic code before, so I vaguely knew what to look for when I sent Claude Opus 4 this prompt:
Help me calculate the approximate area of Union Lake, Millville, NJ. Let's do this using a python script, and an open map dataset like OSM.
It gave me some decent-looking code, as well as an estimated size: 736 acres (2.98 km²). This estimate is wrong, but compared to a human-written source, is pretty close to the correct 898 acres
Anyway, enough faffing, the results were laughably wrong:
Fetching Union Lake data from OpenStreetMap... Extracting lake boundary... Found 5685 coordinate points Calculating area... Union Lake Area: 1110109.22 square kilometers 428615.75 square miles 274314080 acres 1,110,109,216,819 square metersSo I asked it to fix it. Still wrong, but slightly different. I figured it was probably picking up some unrelated or misshapen features, and additionally asked it to visualize the shape so that I could debug it manually. But I didn't do that by adding to the conversation history -- as you add to the conversation history, it tends to get confused and over-reliant on it's own old broken code. I instead edited my message pointing out the mistake, and additionally asked it to generate a visualization as well. This worked perfectly, and the visualized polygon matched the shape exactly:
Fetching Union Lake data from OpenStreetMap... Extracting lake boundary... Found 1 polygon(s) with 386 total coordinate points Creating visualizations... Map saved as 'union_lake_map.html' Calculating area using proper geodesic methods... Union Lake Area: 3.596 square kilometers 1.389 square miles 888.7 acres 3,596,347 square meters Reference: Union Lake is known to be approximately 736 acres (2.98 km²)In the end, it took me about 15 minutes (and 2¢) to get this result, and about 15 more minutes to write it up, by hand, unassisted. The code has some major limitations, like only working in the state of New Jersey. I would re-write this code if I was planning to use it elsewhere: a lot of the re-write would be by hand, but some of it would likely be asking a LLM to generate specific functions. I find a lot of LLMs' taste in architecture and and error handling to be lacking.
But it is a massive productivity improvement to be able to prototype a flow like this so quickly. I now see the Python libraries and APIs I need to wrangle the data, and I understand the potential gotcha of doing the polygon area calculations in an inappropriate datum.
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Comment on Disposable vapes may be more toxic than cigarettes in ~health
tibpoe LinkClickbait headline, and an article that must be read critically to make sense of what's going on: This is true! But toxic metals aren't the main cause of health problems from traditional...Clickbait headline, and an article that must be read critically to make sense of what's going on:
Some popular disposable e-cigarettes emit toxic metals at levels that surpass those found in traditional cigarettes and earlier generations of vapes
This is true! But toxic metals aren't the main cause of health problems from traditional cigarettes, tar is, and e-cigarettes still don't have any tar. And reading over the study, it seems like most the heavy metal contents are 2x or 3x over the risk limits in the study, not 10x or 100x over the limit. Still a major issue to be solved, but if I was using these devices this is not something I'd loose any sleep over.
Especially concerning to me is the comparison to earlier vapes. These earlier, apparently safer, vapes didn't fall out of favor due to consumer demand. They were effectively banned by regulators, and the new "bar" models attempt to side-step those regulations:
State of the art is automated steering on big tractors.
I'd be surprised if there's any small-scale automation outside of education. Productivity improvements in farming come from larger plots of land, and people who garden at home generally do it because they enjoy the process of gardening with their hands.