unkz's recent activity
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Comment on What to snack on (other than slices of parmesan) in ~food
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Comment on Researchers say an AI-powered transcription tool Whisper used in hospitals invents things no one ever said in ~health
unkz (edited )LinkI do wonder if they were using the model correctly. It’s pretty important to pay attention to the silence detection and confidence levels — I’ve transcribed thousands of hours of audio using...I do wonder if they were using the model correctly. It’s pretty important to pay attention to the silence detection and confidence levels — I’ve transcribed thousands of hours of audio using whisper, and before I got it tuned properly it was indeed prone to outputting crazy nonsense from its training corpus, but I haven’t had any trouble since with outright hallucinations.
In a medical context, I would probably be flagging low to medium confidence segments for human review also, which I’m absolutely sure they weren’t doing.
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Comment on Paper: Feminism in Programming Language Design in ~comp
unkz Link ParentAs an aside, I think it's actively harmful to talk about quantitative and qualitative reasoning as being masculine and feminine. My daughter's computer science teacher is constantly going off on...It goes hand in hand with the “masculine” quantitative analysis when studying PL design, where the community is more focused on rigid and formal structure than a “feminine” qualitative evaluation.
As an aside, I think it's actively harmful to talk about quantitative and qualitative reasoning as being masculine and feminine. My daughter's computer science teacher is constantly going off on this and it's not just very irritating to her, but I think that sort of thing is part of why the class has only two girls in it.
I don’t think that feminism in this paper means inclusivity, but thinking critically about what assumptions or biases led to inclusivity not being appreciated or considered in PL design.
Alright, I don't think that's really feminism either. What this paper reads like is, someone has a really strong interest in feminism, and has come to the not unsurprising realization that there are parallels in feminist thought that resonate with inequality and disparity in other areas of life.
However, one could do this from any other critique of society and do the same thing and it would read identically, but be identically wrong. This could equally have been written as "decolonization in programming language design" or "class consciousness in programming language design" or any other similar angle, and they'd be equally shallow.
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Comment on Paper: Feminism in Programming Language Design in ~comp
unkz Link ParentI wouldn’t say feminism has a negative connotation for me. I would say that I’m highly skeptical that programming language design is male biased, based on my pretty extensive experience with a...I wouldn’t say feminism has a negative connotation for me. I would say that I’m highly skeptical that programming language design is male biased, based on my pretty extensive experience with a wide range of programming languages. This is akin to saying that, for example, mathematics or physics notation has a male bias.
So that’s my initial reaction and why I was skeptical going into it. I think from the lens of feminism as a meaningful word in a shared vocabulary, my skepticism is justified — they do not make a case that there is any male bias in programming language design.
After reading the paper, I could see that the author has conflated feminism with the larger concept of inclusivity. From this new, and in my mind unreasonable, definition, I can sort of see where they are going with it.
I do agree with the author that programming language design does, in some cases, have some linguistic inclusivity issues. I still reject the idea that Anglocentrism also falls under the purview of feminism though.
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Comment on Paper: Feminism in Programming Language Design in ~comp
unkz LinkI would say the paper has overloaded the word “feminism” to the point of no longer being useful. We already have a perfectly good word for what the paper is actually talking about: inclusivity....I would say the paper has overloaded the word “feminism” to the point of no longer being useful. We already have a perfectly good word for what the paper is actually talking about: inclusivity.
Which is not to say the paper doesn’t have good points, but it’s really struggling to coerce the terminology.
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Comment on A proposal for fixing the US healthcare system - discussion in ~health
unkz Link ParentIt seems like the whole issue in this discussion is the disconnect between doctors and insurers. You don't want doctors to be concerned with the cost of procedures, but aren't doctors the ones...It seems like the whole issue in this discussion is the disconnect between doctors and insurers. You don't want doctors to be concerned with the cost of procedures, but aren't doctors the ones most familiar with the relative benefits of a procedure for a given patient, and therefore the ones most qualified to perform that cost benefit analysis? The alternative is kicking that function down the line to an insurer who is not directly involved in the case.
It seems to me that what we really need is to remove insurers completely, and add epidemiologists at the hospital level who consult with doctors on individual cases to determine what procedures will qualify based on their specific circumstances.
Of course now that would be labelled a "death panel" and would be DOA.
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Comment on Character.AI faces US lawsuit after teen's suicide in ~tech
unkz Link ParentI’m not sure what you take issue with here? It sounds like they are going to look for and respond to people talking about suicide. How is this negative? Or, what is the alternative? Not looking...I’m not sure what you take issue with here? It sounds like they are going to look for and respond to people talking about suicide. How is this negative? Or, what is the alternative? Not looking for it or not responding to it?
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Comment on A proposal for fixing the US healthcare system - discussion in ~health
unkz Link ParentI’m not sure I agree. It’s not always clear what medically necessary means, there isn’t an unlimited supply of care, and there are diminishing returns from testing unlikely conditions. Somebody in...I’m not sure I agree. It’s not always clear what medically necessary means, there isn’t an unlimited supply of care, and there are diminishing returns from testing unlikely conditions. Somebody in the process needs to be able to do a cost benefit analysis for a proposed procedure.
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Comment on Hiring in tech is harder than ever. AI isn’t helping. in ~tech
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Comment on Meta fires staff for abusing $25 meal credits in ~tech
unkz Link ParentI give a specific number of vacation days, and unlimited paid sick days. I think it’s abusive to simply start taking paid days off for no reason but some people just see employment as a game where...I give a specific number of vacation days, and unlimited paid sick days. I think it’s abusive to simply start taking paid days off for no reason but some people just see employment as a game where their objective is to extract as much money from a company as they can while doing the bare minimum to avoid getting fired.
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Comment on Meta fires staff for abusing $25 meal credits in ~tech
unkz Link ParentThis is also how we get irritating policies like requiring doctor’s notes for sick days.is how you lose that benefit for everyone.
This is also how we get irritating policies like requiring doctor’s notes for sick days.
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Comment on Meta fires staff for abusing $25 meal credits in ~tech
unkz LinkSame energy as people who think sick days are just a kind of special vacation day that requires a lie in order to use.“On days where I would not be eating at the office, like if my husband was cooking or if I was grabbing dinner with friends, I figured I ought not to waste the dinner credit.”
Same energy as people who think sick days are just a kind of special vacation day that requires a lie in order to use.
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Comment on The Stallman report in ~tech
unkz Link ParentThat’s great criticism, and the only sort that I feel is valid.That’s great criticism, and the only sort that I feel is valid.
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Comment on The Stallman report in ~tech
unkz Link ParentSeeing as he personally founded the FSF and has been an asshole for the entire 39 years of its existence yet is still unfortunately an enormously influential force in the open source world, I’m...Being an asshole seems to be an impediment to that.
Seeing as he personally founded the FSF and has been an asshole for the entire 39 years of its existence yet is still unfortunately an enormously influential force in the open source world, I’m not sure if that’s true.
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Comment on The Stallman report in ~tech
unkz Link ParentKinda my point. What does it have to do with what RMS does for the FSF? Which is basically the GPL.Kinda my point. What does it have to do with what RMS does for the FSF? Which is basically the GPL.
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Comment on The Stallman report in ~tech
unkz Link ParentI guess I see his work on architecting and enforcing the GPL to be a technical process. Law as code, in a sense. In any event, I don’t see how what this document alleges has to do with his job in...I guess I see his work on architecting and enforcing the GPL to be a technical process. Law as code, in a sense.
In any event, I don’t see how what this document alleges has to do with his job in architecting and enforcing the GPL.
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Comment on The Stallman report in ~tech
unkz LinkI don’t agree with Stallman about much, but I find it irritating that his technical role should be coming under review based on anything other than his technical behaviour.I don’t agree with Stallman about much, but I find it irritating that his technical role should be coming under review based on anything other than his technical behaviour.
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Comment on The editors protecting Wikipedia from AI hoaxes in ~tech
unkz LinkI suspect a more scalable solution will be LLMs that read sources and confirm the article contents. That way injecting fake content will require making fake off-site sources which will at least be...I suspect a more scalable solution will be LLMs that read sources and confirm the article contents. That way injecting fake content will require making fake off-site sources which will at least be more work.
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Comment on Washington state woman calls 911 after being hounded by up to 100 raccoons in ~life.pets
unkz Link ParentIgnore the naysayers, build your army. I’ve got 4-5 crows that drop by my balcony for a few minutes every day. They’re delightful.Ignore the naysayers, build your army. I’ve got 4-5 crows that drop by my balcony for a few minutes every day. They’re delightful.
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Comment on Samsung's profit apology in ~tech
unkz LinkI hadn’t really thought about how that works in Korea, but I guess I’m not surprised that their hierarchy is/was encoded into their IT systems. I wonder what kind of real world effects that has on...Mandating the use of honorific language regardless of position or seniority
Removing rank and seniority information from internal systems
I hadn’t really thought about how that works in Korea, but I guess I’m not surprised that their hierarchy is/was encoded into their IT systems. I wonder what kind of real world effects that has on collaboration.
Have you considered non-cheese options? Sometimes I eat teaspoons of miso paste for much the same reasons. There are a wide range of miso variants too, so if the first one you try doesn’t hit quite right, there’s a lot of space to explore.