turmacar's recent activity
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Comment on TV series suggestions in ~tv
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Comment on Android to debut "advanced flow" for sideloading unverified applications in ~tech
turmacar Link ParentIt's frustrating that it's a technological solution to a legal problem. This is a reasonable enough middle ground to try and combat fraud while also allowing people to install whatever programs...It's frustrating that it's a technological solution to a legal problem.
This is a reasonable enough middle ground to try and combat fraud while also allowing people to install whatever programs they want on devices they own. Still not a fan of 'sideloading' as the framing but that battle was lost at least a decade ago. So, fine.
But in large part it's a band-aid in order for Google / telecom companies to "do something" so there won't be any actual legal pressure to fix the problem. (Basically?) Every western country has an aging population, scams are going to become more of a problem, not less of one. There needs to be a legal framework to meaningfully punish the companies enabling the scams.
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Comment on BYD claims five-minute electric vehicle charging with new battery tech in ~transport
turmacar Link ParentI'm just very on-board the Technology Connections et. al. argument of: if you can get ~100+ miles of charge overnight and rarely travel more than 50 miles a day, that really is good enough. For my...I'm just very on-board the Technology Connections et. al. argument of: if you can get ~100+ miles of charge overnight and rarely travel more than 50 miles a day, that really is good enough. For my use case an EV having 300+ mile range or charging in 5 minutes is firmly in "nice to have" territory. Even with my daily ICE car that I love I'll rent a vehicle for a long trip because it'll be more comfortable and I won't have to worry about maintenance or not having a vehicle to get to work because I was in a collision out-of-town.
The infrastructure we have for refueling ICE cars probably shouldn't be the goal infrastructure we have for refueling EVs, they're different tech with different pros/cons. Modern gas stations are a long way from the service stations earlier generations of cars required with mechanics on call. Future charging stations will also probably look pretty different than modern gas stations. If nothing else, electricity is a lot easier to transport and the distribution networks far more built out than daily/weekly tanker trucks of fuel. (Excluding rant about the US's lacking investment in the electric grid) A central distribution node isn't needed in the same way you do with a liquid fuel. It would be handy for some use cases. But for most it would be more space and time efficient to have trickle charging in places the vehicle is already parked for 8+ hours a day.
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Comment on BYD claims five-minute electric vehicle charging with new battery tech in ~transport
turmacar LinkAssuming the claims actually hold up in the real world and it doesn't impact longevity too much this is pretty exciting tech. Fast charging isn't useful unless you're doing a road trip or can't...Assuming the claims actually hold up in the real world and it doesn't impact longevity too much this is pretty exciting tech. Fast charging isn't useful unless you're doing a road trip or can't charge overnight but it's a big hangup for people who haven't looked into EVs that much.
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Comment on Hackers expose the massive surveillance stack hiding inside your “age verification” check in ~tech
turmacar Link ParentIt can be both. Which they're more concerned about probably varies by company sure.It can be both.
Which they're more concerned about probably varies by company sure.
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Comment on Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair | Official trailer in ~tv
turmacar Link ParentPrior to home video it was done a lot. It's why Gone with the Wind's box office record was untouchable for so long, it was put into theaters several times over several decades.Prior to home video it was done a lot. It's why Gone with the Wind's box office record was untouchable for so long, it was put into theaters several times over several decades.
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Comment on US Pentagon leverages AI in Iran strikes amid feud with Anthropic in ~society
turmacar Link ParentI think the discussion below is probably right that "explainable" is probably a better word than deterministic. Mostly it comes down to how much trust is placed in the system. The second you slap...I think the discussion below is probably right that "explainable" is probably a better word than deterministic.
Mostly it comes down to how much trust is placed in the system. The second you slap "AI" on it, or it starts responding in sentences, there seems to be an over-sized amount of trust paced in the system regardless of how it performs in real world conditions.
It's all just getting super close to circumventing the reason behind having a human in the loop, because the human is blindly trusting the systems to the point that they're bored and pushing the 'kill' button is an annoyance keeping them from their other tasks.
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Comment on US Pentagon leverages AI in Iran strikes amid feud with Anthropic in ~society
turmacar Link ParentPersonally, an algorithm is (at least somewhat) deterministic and can be tested and debugged. With the current generation of AI, vision or LLM, the only OODA loop taking place is long after the...Personally, an algorithm is (at least somewhat) deterministic and can be tested and debugged.
With the current generation of AI, vision or LLM, the only OODA loop taking place is long after the automated system has made its determinations, if at all. Hopefully before their suggestions are being acted on but that doesn't seem to be the case. Seemingly there isn't any parallel process checking that it's suggestions are actually optimal, or are even based in reality.
As with a lot of AI projects we're running headlong into "any decision isn't as good as a correct decision". If a script or a legal argument or a social media post is generated 'good enough', that might actually be good enough. If the output of the automated system is killing someone it needs to have an audit trail.
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Comment on First look: Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves | Announcement trailer in ~games
turmacar LinkVaguely encouraged that they're continuing and expanding the transition to 3D. Can't help but feel like this is what I was hoping would come out on the GameCube after Pokemon Stadium though.Vaguely encouraged that they're continuing and expanding the transition to 3D. Can't help but feel like this is what I was hoping would come out on the GameCube after Pokemon Stadium though.
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Comment on California’s new bill requires Department of Justice-approved 3D printers that report on themselves in ~hobbies
turmacar Link ParentOh we're past that. There's usually some wiggle room in that claim, you need a processor and motors of some kind, but those are about the only off the shelf parts needed. There's plenty of open...Oh we're past that.
There's usually some wiggle room in that claim, you need a processor and motors of some kind, but those are about the only off the shelf parts needed. There's plenty of open source printer OSs.
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Comment on California’s new bill requires Department of Justice-approved 3D printers that report on themselves in ~hobbies
turmacar Link ParentLike they reference with Home Depot, a chain-link fence post with some screws in front of some explosive at the end is a single use firearm. Most of any firearm can be wood or plastic or epoxy...Like they reference with Home Depot, a chain-link fence post with some screws in front of some explosive at the end is a single use firearm. Most of any firearm can be wood or plastic or epoxy filled blue jeans.
The chamber of a firearm has to withstand some relatively intense pressures to function so it has to be some form of hardened metal. That would be the barrel, the breach face, and the firing pin and that's most of it. You probably want the parts around that to be metal too, partly because they're moving metal parts interfacing with other moving metal parts. But if longevity isn't necessary that's less necessary too. Manufacturing all that to a precision that produces a working firearm is a non-trivial issue, and it's metalworking, not 3D printing.
A paintball gun doesn't need to be hardened metal, it just has to be a tube.
That then runs into other issues, you can harden metal at home, but it's at least looking at the core of the problem. Banning unregistered 3D printing / CNC is like trying to control automobile deaths by banning aftermarket car parts. You would maybe approach single digit gains in safety figures, but you aren't looking at the actual problem. You're playing for votes by saying you're doing something.
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Comment on How do you remember? in ~tech
turmacar Link ParentAppreciate it, was disappointed with self-hosting AI previously but this seems like a good use case where it's just chugging away in the background.Appreciate it, was disappointed with self-hosting AI previously but this seems like a good use case where it's just chugging away in the background.
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Comment on How do you remember? in ~tech
turmacar Link ParentCan I ask what you use for tagging? I have an Unraid server that I play with stuff on, haven't heard of karakeep but sounds like something I'd play around with.Can I ask what you use for tagging? I have an Unraid server that I play with stuff on, haven't heard of karakeep but sounds like something I'd play around with.
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Comment on ABC's 'The Rookie' to crossover with Dropout's 'Game Changer' in March episode in ~tv
turmacar Link ParentI view The Rookie as spiritually connected to Sam Vimes's Watch (not the show, fuck that show). It avoids most of the tropes of CSI et. al. where cops are infallible and anything they do is...I view The Rookie as spiritually connected to Sam Vimes's Watch (not the show, fuck that show).
It avoids most of the tropes of CSI et. al. where cops are infallible and anything they do is justified to get the "bad guy". The first season is rougher, like most are. Among other things the show drops the romance angle between Fillion and his significantly younger co-star after the first season. Like Brooklyn 99 they did some concentrated reworking after BLM.
And Fillion and the rest of the cast are fun.
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Comment on Hot take: movies suck because there is no rental market in ~movies
turmacar Link ParentTheir objection is less the cost of the rental and more that the purchase cost and rental cost are identical. The cost of "permanent" and "temporary" ownership of a license to view a thing being...Their objection is less the cost of the rental and more that the purchase cost and rental cost are identical.
The cost of "permanent" and "temporary" ownership of a license to view a thing being identical is silly at best.
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Comment on Hot take: movies suck because there is no rental market in ~movies
turmacar Link ParentI vaguely agree that this is probably the most healthy approach to avoid streaming subscriptions while also not going the piracy route. I do feel like you're logic is optimistic here though: I'm...I vaguely agree that this is probably the most healthy approach to avoid streaming subscriptions while also not going the piracy route.
I do feel like you're logic is optimistic here though:
For example, if a digital movie is made available anywhere by a studio, then any past purchasers of that digital movie should be allowed to watch it for free. Why should Warner be allowed to sell Harry Potter, remove it, then sell the license again elsewhere without offering it to past purchasers?
I'm sure if this happened rapidly several times in a row there might be a class action lawsuit of some kind, but I'm not sure what the grounds would be really. They are explicitly selling you a license to watch a piece of media on <platform>. If that platform goes the way of VHS or DC Universe or Crackle, the only thing motivating a company to honor past license purchases of media is the hope for positive PR. And no one really seems all that concerned with backwards compatibility at the moment. Maybe this is the hypothetical use case for blockchain or something but there would have to be a pretty big sea change in politics when the end goal is "less money for IP holders".
Weirdly as much as I hate the current trends and capability of the streaming/media market at the moment. I think SaaS does kind of make sense for it. Storage and bandwidth have maintenance costs if nothing else. And I like self hosting stuff and/or having shelves of physical media but most of my extended family simply has no interest.
It just really really sucks that (like so much else) they're so rich that they're able to compete based on what they own, not the product they provide. Bezos aside, I would choose to watch a movie on Amazon over Netflix because of the functionality where they show the IMDB of the actors on screen and other info when you pause. That's simply an additional feature that I feel is nice, but they've added nothing else in the decade or so since that started. Half the streaming services barely have functional UI. They don't iterate on their product because they don't have to. If you want to watch X, you have to subscribe to their service.
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Comment on ‘Avatar’s’ costly sequels are getting harder to justify. Will James Cameron make two more? in ~movies
turmacar (edited )Link ParentIt's true that steaming doesn't bring in as much as physical releases, which are basically a niche enthusiast market at this point. But how much of Avatar 3's budget could just be counted as the...It's true that steaming doesn't bring in as much as physical releases, which are basically a niche enthusiast market at this point. But how much of Avatar 3's budget could just be counted as the marketing budget for the Pandora part of Disney World?
Hollywood accounting has always been borderline if not actually criminal. A big theatrical number is an easy thing to point at. Avatar 3 is on track to make less in it's theatrical run than one and two. I get all that.
A movie made almost $1.5 billion, 4 times it's budget and the theatrical run is just the start of it's cross-platform revenue generation. They'll probably make back half the film's budget from plushies worldwide. Saying sequels are becoming harder to justify seems bonkers.
I get that it's a proxy for consumer interest, but asking the Avatar sequels not to drop off at all from the first one seems like a misunderstanding of how franchise interest works. Not everything can sustain exponential growth, everyone knows what Avatar is at this point. And it simultaneously feels something like a car company complaining that some small but critical component of a model is only a 400% profit so they're going to close the factory.
I only finally saw the movie last weekend and (other than the obligatory "good lord are those seamless effects") didn't even care for it that much. It's just crazy to see "Only billions of dollars in direct revenue" as something that might not be worth it to continue for the mountains more in indirect revenue and IP building. Reminds me of the Costco shareholder questioning the hotdogs and chicken, extremely shortsighted business thinking.
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Comment on ‘Avatar’s’ costly sequels are getting harder to justify. Will James Cameron make two more? in ~movies
turmacar LinkThis is probably skewed a bit because I just finished listening to Blank Check's run on John Carpenter, who had a really bad track record with theatrical success. It seems increasingly weird that...This is probably skewed a bit because I just finished listening to Blank Check's run on John Carpenter, who had a really bad track record with theatrical success.
It seems increasingly weird that a movie's success is determined almost solely by it's initial theatrical run. That hasn't been true since at least the VHS era, and arguably with TV broadcasts and theatrical re-releases long before that.
For Avatar 3 James Cameron went through a multi-year process that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. In a few months most of that cost has been recouped, including marketing and distribution costs. Presumably, they will make quite a bit of money from Blurays, merchandise, encouraging streaming subscriptions, and the entire zone of Disney World.
I realize most of that is, at best, difficult to directly attribute to Avatar 3 specifically. But acting like it doesn't exist either also seems to leave out a large part of the picture.
Especially from Disney. The animation company that made a permanent world's fair with rides and T-shirts.
Especially when most of the franchises they spent billions on seem to be having serious problems with "well what do we do now?"
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Comment on SpaceX is acquiring xAI in ~space
turmacar Link ParentIt could be something I guess, but the entire idea of space based data centers seems incredibly flawed. Data centers produce extreme amounts of heat. Getting rid of heat is a massive problem in...It could be something I guess, but the entire idea of space based data centers seems incredibly flawed.
Data centers produce extreme amounts of heat. Getting rid of heat is a massive problem in space. You can only radiate it away so fast. And that's before getting into shielding from cosmic rays and repairability. RAM is expensive enough before you have to put it on a rocket to get it to your server farm for replacement.
The entire idea seems like something that 'sounds sci-fi' so it makes for good sound bites of "maybe we could do this" to suggest alternatives to LLMs taking up power and water on Earth.
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
turmacar Link ParentThat phrasing is doing a lot of work. They're obviously regretting the discourse around Renee Good. But the videos I've seen are a lot of officers milling around, not rushing to render aid....immediately delivered medical aid
That phrasing is doing a lot of work. They're obviously regretting the discourse around Renee Good. But the videos I've seen are a lot of officers milling around, not rushing to render aid.
Granted... with that number of shots fired at that range it seems dubious that there would be any aid to render. But that just makes it feel even more like the opening salvo of the PR war over whether this man deserved to die because he had a weapon on his person in the presence of an officer.
Haven't seen a recommendation for Shrinking, which if you like Ted Lasso it's right up y'all's alley.
For All Mankind is a fun alt-history thing, though I'm a few seasons behind at this point. The first several at least are very well done.
Abbott Elementary is a fun school-based comedy similar to Parks and Rec or The Office. There's a couple crossover episodes with It's Always Sunny but that was more a promotional thing than an on going plot point.
The live action One Piece show is a lot of fun. Nails the fun anime spirit while being a much needed (IMO) editing pass that vastly compresses the pacing of the anime.
Primal is a fantastic wordless animated show. Maybe a little out there compared to the shows listed but it's at least an interesting art piece.
Your Friends and Neighbors with John Hamm is entertaining.
If you're watching LetterKenny, Shorsey is also a great series from the same people.
Honorable mention to everything Dropout TV does. I know you said you're probably not interested in gameshow stuff but theirs are mostly an excuse for improv comics to play not about winning, and it makes them really fun.