vektor's recent activity
-
Comment on I'm tired of dismissive anti-AI bias in ~tech
-
Comment on An engineer says he’s found a way to overcome Earth’s gravity in ~space
vektor Link ParentOh, for sure. I don't mean to imply that photon rockets are viable as they exist right now. Their TWR will be low regardless of how you do it, so even solar cells won't make them unviable as of...Oh, for sure. I don't mean to imply that photon rockets are viable as they exist right now. Their TWR will be low regardless of how you do it, so even solar cells won't make them unviable as of now. I guess what I was trying to convey is some nitpickery about "propellant" vs "reaction mass". Like, in any reasonable definition, are those photons actually propellant? They weren't on board when your rocket is fuelled up (though of course their mass was). Yet they act as reaction mass. You can also "refuel" in some unusual ways compared to regular rocket engines, even Hall effect thrusters. So can you really call them propellant? Hence "propellantless, but photons as reaction mass".
-
Comment on An engineer says he’s found a way to overcome Earth’s gravity in ~space
vektor Link ParentThat quoted bit sounds really quite close to the EmDrive. "With this one weird geometry hack, we built a shape that produces a net force in a lab. We think this might be the next spacecraft...That quoted bit sounds really quite close to the EmDrive. "With this one weird geometry hack, we built a shape that produces a net force in a lab. We think this might be the next spacecraft drive." - until it cleanly reproduces in other labs, I don't buy it.
On the topic of reproducibility, anyone remember that high-temperature super conductor craze? Yeah, me neither. Not sure why I brought it up.... /s
-
Comment on An engineer says he’s found a way to overcome Earth’s gravity in ~space
vektor Link ParentThe most likely "propellant-less" drive would be one that uses the planet as reaction mass. If you can build a device that uses electrostatic forces to propel away from the earth, even while...The most likely "propellant-less" drive would be one that uses the planet as reaction mass. If you can build a device that uses electrostatic forces to propel away from the earth, even while you're outside the atmosphere, that's actually groundbreaking. It's not necessarily fundamentally new science. But boy does it have engineering implications. It also seems virtually impossible for reasons of, well, engineering implications.
Alternatively, you could conceivably call photon rockets propellant-less. The reaction mass is photons, which means it's trivial to refuel in space via just solar panels. It's functionally propellant-less, but it doesn't mean it violates physics. Though, a photon rocket with enough juice to overcome gravity sounds an awful lot like a weapon of mass destruction.
-
Comment on Norwegian man has filed a complaint with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority after ChatGPT falsely told him he had killed two of his sons and been jailed in ~tech
vektor Link ParentI dunno about you, but last I checked, they do have those huge disclaimers that it makes up crap. It's kinda hard to miss. It's still a useful product for other applications. And, as Turtle...I dunno about you, but last I checked, they do have those huge disclaimers that it makes up crap. It's kinda hard to miss.
It's still a useful product for other applications.
And, as Turtle pointed out, we have no way of knowing the prompt that led to this. I could easily tell chatGPT a few things about myself, such as that I killed my children, then talk about the weather for a bit, and later ask the model what it knows about me. When the model then inevitably tells me the only detail it can reliably infer, does that make it defamation? Hell, is it even defamation if I didn't directly try to cause it? After all, all I can show is that I was shown this information. I can't even credibly assert the existence, much less the identity, of any other person who I was defamed to. The statements also weren't made publicly.
There's so many unknowns in this story that would need to be plugged for it to hold water. As it is, it's pretty much "man yelling at cloud".
-
Comment on Please stop externalizing your costs directly into my face in ~tech
vektor Link ParentSo, if it's so close to legitimate behavior, how are you sure it isn't legitimate?So, if it's so close to legitimate behavior, how are you sure it isn't legitimate?
-
Comment on Please stop externalizing your costs directly into my face in ~tech
vektor Link ParentHell, even tangentially involved. I'd make his list of mortal enemies on multiple counts: Working on developing adjecent tech, using Copilot , and legitimizing them. My research would probably...That's an interesting and important conversation to have, but once again he's gone with two giant middle fingers to everyone involved instead.
Hell, even tangentially involved. I'd make his list of mortal enemies on multiple counts: Working on developing adjecent tech, using Copilot , and legitimizing them. My research would probably make most of the problems he's talking about a lot better (less data and energy hungry models), but apparently I'm still on the list.
I'm not sure how I feel about the body of the article, but the last two paragraphs are the only ones I have confidence in my assessment, and my assessment is poor.
-
Comment on How can I prevent my work computers turning my home into an oven? in ~comp
vektor Link ParentTo be fair, you have customers willing to buy it. So whatever it is you're doing, there seems to be enough demand for it to justify what you're doing. I'm in the same general line of work, just...Oof, I knew I had a pretty ridiculous setup but that really brings home the scale here. Sure, I use a renewable electricity provider, but there's some real discomfort in this being the most viable way for me to make a living that's a whole other topic of its own...
To be fair, you have customers willing to buy it. So whatever it is you're doing, there seems to be enough demand for it to justify what you're doing. I'm in the same general line of work, just slightly different methods. Right now the AI space is a bit overrun with so many ventures and we haven't really figured out which ones deliver real value long-term, but there certainly is enough signal there in the noise, of projects that bring real benefit to real people. In the healthcare space, those benefits can be worth 10s of thousands of dollars per patient, so it's not like we're turning electricity into heat for shits and giggles. Even those of us not working in domains that so readily show their net benefit to society.
And to be fair, those KfW40 houses are quite efficient. Almost a solar array and a ventilation system away from passive houses. Buut, doing the math helped me square away how a seasonal heat store for you seems so unreasonably large, when it's doable for some low-energy homes. If you cut the yearly energy store by 10, triple the energy density because you're running your thermal battery from -1°C to 40°C, then you'd end up needing ~12 cubic meters of water to heat a KfW40 home through one winter, and in the summer that's your heatsink for AC. 12 cubic meters is still a lot, but it starts to get reasonable.
-
Comment on How can I prevent my work computers turning my home into an oven? in ~comp
vektor Link Parent5 Euros or so per day just for the water to cool the setup, and that's when we're willing to discharge at inletTemp+40°C. That's not nothing. I'm not liking those rates, but yes, it is kind of...5 Euros or so per day just for the water to cool the setup, and that's when we're willing to discharge at inletTemp+40°C. That's not nothing. I'm not liking those rates, but yes, it is kind of remarkable how cheap that actually is, considering the wasteful use of resources.
-
Comment on How can I prevent my work computers turning my home into an oven? in ~comp
vektor Link ParentWhy am I thinking of a nuclear power plant style cooling tower outdoors now? Not that you suggested it, but it might just work: Whatever water your heatsinks dump their heat into, you pump that...Why am I thinking of a nuclear power plant style cooling tower outdoors now? Not that you suggested it, but it might just work: Whatever water your heatsinks dump their heat into, you pump that stuff into a cooling tower. In there, you simply spray the water around, collect it back up, and pump it back inside. I hope your neighbors like their balconies humid...
I am, by the way, imagining the jankiest possible solution: Big plastic bucket for the tower structure, some plastic pan as a sump, aquarium pumps everywhere, and a shower head to produce the droplets.
Given Greg just took a very janky idea a bit too seriously, I'm afraid to submit this thought...
-
Comment on How can I prevent my work computers turning my home into an oven? in ~comp
vektor Link ParentOhh, I kinda like that. Cut out the middle man, makes the AC not have to work nearly as hard.Ohh, I kinda like that. Cut out the middle man, makes the AC not have to work nearly as hard.
-
Comment on How can I prevent my work computers turning my home into an oven? in ~comp
vektor (edited )Link ParentYeeeeah, ok. I was picturing a bigger home there, so most of my ideas are probably scrap. Most of those simply aren't an option. I've done some math. With 2kW, you'd actually need a fairly decent...Yeeeeah, ok. I was picturing a bigger home there, so most of my ideas are probably scrap. Most of those simply aren't an option.
I've done some math. With 2kW, you'd actually need a fairly decent tank to store it all. If you're just working with, say ~40°C deltaT, then you can expect a daily cubic meter of hot water. You'll get three times more mileage if you're also using the melting point of water (that alone is a cool 300kJ/l), but at that point the complexity of the system explodes. And with the amount of energy you'd need to store in a year, building a seasonal heat battery is out of the question, unless you want to convert the entire flat next door too.
(Edit: As a point of reference, Germany subsidizes low-energy homes. One class of low-energy housing, called KfW40, requires at max 15kWh/a/m^2. At 100m^2 of space, that's 170Watt. To heat a home. That's it. You're dealing with 10x as much heat, no wonder you're struggling to get rid of it.
Yeah, out the balcony it is I believe.
BTW, what you're doing right now, perpetually open window in the winter? I've heard that sarcastically called "heating for the air force".
-
Comment on How can I prevent my work computers turning my home into an oven? in ~comp
vektor LinkPerhaps a few more details are in order about your home: Anything to do with heat/cold is potentially relevant. How is your hot water prepared? Is there a substantial heat store there, e.g. a hot...Perhaps a few more details are in order about your home: Anything to do with heat/cold is potentially relevant. How is your hot water prepared? Is there a substantial heat store there, e.g. a hot water tank? How your home is heated is, I believe, mostly irrelevant for the question of how to cool it down, but might not hurt for completeness' sake. How is your home cooled? And most importantly (IMO): Is it a necessity to sit your sweaty ass right next to your multi-GPU workstation, or could you put it in a server rack in the utilities room, interacting either via remote-ssh or via periphery cables run through the walls? Also, just how many watts of compute are we talking about here? Also also, what's your home like? Single family house? Any utility spaces that you could use and/or pollute with the extra heat?
Counter-questions aside, here's the high-effort, high-reward solution. I don't think most of this exists as off-the-shelf components, but who knows.
Put your machine next to wherever your hot water is made. Suppose you have a storage tank for hot water next to the rig. Whenever you run your rig, cold water from the utilities is brought in, cools your machine (should only really be at a trickle; water can soak up a lot of heat.) and is thereafter stored in a tank. That tank is either your primary hot water storage tank, or is used as the primary source of fresh water for your actual hot water storage tank. Yaaay, your hot water in the summers is now completely free. Did you want to take a hot bath?
Admittedly, this solution makes the eco-nerd in me very happy, but I don't think it's very plausible. One, depending on your compute needs, you might struggle to use up as much heat during the day in the summer. Running a few GPUs hard might get you into the 1-2 kW range, at which point we're talking about the electric power of a kettle that can boil a liter of water in a few minutes. Kinda hard to use up that much hot water during a hot day. If you end up going for something like this, I'd say you definitely need to talk to a plumber.
Perhaps a bit more realistic is to find a more passive heatsink. Fewer moving parts and such. Maybe a concrete floor in the garage or something... But I can't quite put that together without a bit too extensive renovations. Give your garage underfloor heating, and hope that it soaks into the ground mostly? Seems a bit too high-effort for the problem.
I guess if I want you to take anything away from my ramblings here, is that there might be space for a good solution if you move your machine away from your desk, but keep it under your roof. Even if it means that you let it heat your garage up to slightly-uncomfortable temps.
-
Comment on My sixteen-month theanine self-experiment in ~health
vektor Link ParentYeah, prime reasons for this being unpublishable is self-study (which opens the door for various biases that are easier avoided than cleaned up), questions about blinding, and what's technically...Yeah, prime reasons for this being unpublishable is self-study (which opens the door for various biases that are easier avoided than cleaned up), questions about blinding, and what's technically called "a sample size of bullshit".
Even for the simple task of randomizing/blinding I think I could've come up with something slightly better with the help of one reliable assistant for some one-time menial set up work: Repackage the pills, and give them a random ID in the process. Assistant records the ID-group mapping (i.e. #1 is control, #2 is intervention, ..) and holds on to the mapping for later analysis. Principal Investigator and today's D-class subject of the day in personal union then proceeds to grab a random packaged pill, records the ID and proceeds with any other recorded variables.
Similar for the issue of deliberately sampling low-mood points, which the author later addressed by sticking to a schedule.
That said, the analysis of the result is fairly decent. Not that I'm in the relevant field, but if I were reviewing this work in the right venue, I'd actually not be completely put off. That said, if you're committing to a 16 month study, and you want to publish it, better make sure your methodology is cromulent before you start, ideally with the help of the kind of people who'd end up reviewing your work.
-
Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
vektor Link ParentThis so much. Say you rock up on friday on your third day of being sick. Your doctor might tell you to stay home all of next week, if they think that's the amount of rest you need to get better....you can spend a few days concentrating on getting better rather than worrying about whether you should be going back already.
This so much. Say you rock up on friday on your third day of being sick. Your doctor might tell you to stay home all of next week, if they think that's the amount of rest you need to get better. Which is miles better than a more informal "oh, just stay as long as you need to get better", because then every morning you play the inevitable game of "am I fine yet?", and you think you're fine, only to feel like dog shit come 5 PM. Whenever I have the pressure to actually get work in, I tend to play this oscillatory game of "I'm fine", "lol you're not, get back to bed" for a few days at the tail end of any infection. When I don't have that pressure, I think recovery actually goes significantly faster.
-
Comment on Repeatedly upvoting violent content on Reddit can now get you flagged in ~tech
vektor Link ParentWell, I think kej's intention was to treat it more or less as a shadow ban. And shadow bans aren't exactly being announced to the user. And while shadow banning is easily detected if you go...The change was unannounced originally, but it got some visibility when users started sharing their warnings
Well, I think kej's intention was to treat it more or less as a shadow ban. And shadow bans aren't exactly being announced to the user. And while shadow banning is easily detected if you go looking for it, having your own votes just routed to nirvana would be undetectable because of vote fuzzing. They could've gone completely undetected on this. As undetected as a certain green plumber if it weren't for some McD employee.
-
Comment on German tourist held indefinitely in San Diego area immigrant detention facility in ~society
vektor Link ParentMy understanding is that the crime of lying to an immigration official was actually completed, assuming you find the evidence of her actual intentions credible. We're only hearing one side here;...My understanding is that the crime of lying to an immigration official was actually completed, assuming you find the evidence of her actual intentions credible.
We're only hearing one side here; ICE hasn't commented on the matter AFAICT. But supposedly she had her gear on her and was offering appointment bookings in the US. If she then proceeded to say that she did not intend to work in the US, then the crime is already completed. A crime that the US threatens with up to 10 years.
The question in my mind is more, does the punishment fit the crime (no, not until the US penalizes tax evasion of a few thousand dollars by 10 years in prison) and whether her treatment was justifiable. (hell to the no, if we believe what we're hearing, it was/is essentially torture.)
-
Comment on German tourist held indefinitely in San Diego area immigrant detention facility in ~society
vektor (edited )Link ParentI think the problem is more that in order to guarantee their due process rights, you'd have to either (1) deport them now, but allow them to reenter later; (2) allow them free entry in the...I think the problem is more that in order to guarantee their due process rights, you'd have to either (1) deport them now, but allow them to reenter later; (2) allow them free entry in the country, in the hopes that they appear for the proceedings and then deport them or (3) detain them or (4) do not prosecute, just send them home but allow them reentry.
Both 1 and 2 sound just a little insane. 4 is routinely applied to less severe cases.
I guess the best thing I could come up with is to allow foreigners to waive their rights to be present at the hearing, then deport them and hold the trial in absentia. Whether waiving your own rights like this is even constitutionally legal in the US I can't say.
-
Comment on German tourist held indefinitely in San Diego area immigrant detention facility in ~society
vektor Link ParentThe reason I've heard for this is that they want to have a judge determine all this, so they can permanently bar her from entry. That's impossible when she's home, because her constitutional...It's crazy that they're spending money detaining when they could have held her until her flight date or just sent her home same day at her own cost.
The reason I've heard for this is that they want to have a judge determine all this, so they can permanently bar her from entry. That's impossible when she's home, because her constitutional rights guarantees her the right to attend her own trial, so you can't kick her out before the trial, hence this detention....? Also, this whole lying under penalty of perjury is a pretty big deal - max 10 years of prison, so if she ends up detained for a few months and then deported without option of ever reentering the country, that's, for some definition of the word, going easy on her already.
-
Comment on German tourist held indefinitely in San Diego area immigrant detention facility in ~society
vektor (edited )LinkRead that one elsewhere the other day. Two key things to keep in mind: (1): The methods of her detention are absolutely barbaric. I suspect this got a lot worse during the last, oh, 1.5 months....Read that one elsewhere the other day. Two key things to keep in mind:
(1): The methods of her detention are absolutely barbaric. I suspect this got a lot worse during the last, oh, 1.5 months.
(2): The framing of the victim as tourist is... tenuous. Supposedly, her Instagram indicated she planned to do actual work for customers in the US. On a tourist visa. So, looks a whole lot like a legit visa violation.
(3): In spite of (2), (1) bears repeating.
Even if the first is actually commercial use, it's still fine. The line isn't whether it's commercial use or not (copyright cares precious little for that), the line is whether it's a Derivative Work (technical term) or not. Most AI artwork is not derivative work. Studio Ghibli's style isn't copyrighted, their individual works are. So unless you can point to a specific work and provide specific, concrete elements that were straight up copied with minor adaptation, ripping off Studio Ghibli's style isn't infringement. That'd certainly be easy to argue if you prompted the AI using copyrighted material, but not at all easy if it's just a bunch of training data.