vord's recent activity

  1. Comment on Any significant changes to Tildes are extremely unlikely in ~tildes.official

    vord
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    Invite-only is the primary reason it's easy to keep the bots, advertisers, and trolls away. It's easy to prune a branch of bad actors. As soon as floodgates open, it becomes an arms race.

    Invite-only is the primary reason it's easy to keep the bots, advertisers, and trolls away. It's easy to prune a branch of bad actors.

    As soon as floodgates open, it becomes an arms race.

    25 votes

  2. Comment on The US is recruiting gamers to solve its air traffic controller shortage in ~transport

    vord
    Link Parent
    Willing to bet other countries didn't have a generation of them fired in order to cripple union power back in the 80s.

    Willing to bet other countries didn't have a generation of them fired in order to cripple union power back in the 80s.

    22 votes

  3. Comment on The US is recruiting gamers to solve its air traffic controller shortage in ~transport

    vord
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    lawd. My inlaw is an air traffic controller. There is a reason there is a shortage despite pretty decent pay. It is a punishing job with grueling hours. Oh and you're banned from striking, so...

    lawd.

    My inlaw is an air traffic controller. There is a reason there is a shortage despite pretty decent pay. It is a punishing job with grueling hours. Oh and you're banned from striking, so they'll just keep piling on you.

    This will have two consequences:

    • More dead people
    • A continued long term shortage of ATC because of burnout.
    26 votes

  4. Comment on Browser fingerprinting demonstration in ~comp

    vord
    Link Parent
    Platforms like MakeCode are super cool, but are also easily replaced with an open source QT app.

    Platforms like MakeCode are super cool, but are also easily replaced with an open source QT app.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on Xodus · Bringing Xbox PC games to Linux and macOS in ~games

    vord
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    Related: Minecraft BedrockOnLinux. They should probably be friends.

    Related: Minecraft BedrockOnLinux.

    They should probably be friends.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Toad for Oracle. Although oof, their prices went up, esp with new AI editions. I can still reasonably justify the base edition, but those high-end DBA editions are just getting out of hand....

    Toad for Oracle.

    Although oof, their prices went up, esp with new AI editions.

    I can still reasonably justify the base edition, but those high-end DBA editions are just getting out of hand.

    DBeaver is catching up, but there are still a lot of rough edges for Oracle in particular.

    Related: Just this afternoon, I burned $20 of extra credits in a single Opus 5 on medium prompt. It's almost got the same ROI as a slot machine. Almost.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Yes, yes. But having spent a significant amount of time involuntarily commited at a mental ward myself for psychosis, I also don't feel too far off the mark. Fun story: I was on day 3 or so (time...

    Yes, yes. But having spent a significant amount of time involuntarily commited at a mental ward myself for psychosis, I also don't feel too far off the mark.

    Fun story:
    I was on day 3 or so (time was wobbly there, let alone with sands of time) of having a roomate that would shit himself periodically for fun (having told me himself before doing so), steal my shit, and start screaming at 2AM non-stop till the night watch would come in and sedate him. Had been denied many requests to transfer to a different room, as they were all booked.

    I walk up to the attending and ask if a spare solitary room is available so I can get some sleep (having been told by psychiatrist to get lots of sleep). They say I can't go there. I say "Well, you can let me go there, or I can go smash my roomate in the face with a book until you're forced to put me there, and one of these options requires you to fill out a lot more paperwork."

    They let me spend the next few nights in solitary.

    9 votes

  8. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    Yes, it was borderline technobabble, but it's the kind of technobabble that it's allegedly the best possible at. And it was as wrong as citing that the USSR is alive and well.

    Yes, it was borderline technobabble, but it's the kind of technobabble that it's allegedly the best possible at.

    And it was as wrong as citing that the USSR is alive and well.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    It still feels weird having someone talk to themselves like a schizophrenic while walking down the sidewalk.

    It still feels weird having someone talk to themselves like a schizophrenic while walking down the sidewalk.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    My employer will happily spend $200+ a month per head on AI stuff, but shirks at the idea of paying $500 a year for a piece of software that would easily be 3x more beneficial, but lacks AI as a...

    My employer will happily spend $200+ a month per head on AI stuff, but shirks at the idea of paying $500 a year for a piece of software that would easily be 3x more beneficial, but lacks AI as a feature.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    If I can't boss an AI around to do work as good as mine and let it come back to me with a perfect answer with minimal questions, then it is a company-sponsered waste of time. I told Opus 5 on...

    If I can't boss an AI around to do work as good as mine and let it come back to me with a perfect answer with minimal questions, then it is a company-sponsered waste of time.

    I told Opus 5 on Ultracode, ostensibly "best of the best" I can use, to generate me a docker-compose file with a caddy proxy updating dns for two domains and three services.

    It promptly declared that it was impossible to do DDNS with two domains at the same time on a single Caddy instance. Because it allegedly paresed through the source code of the relevant modules. It's top suggestion was to update the other domain using a cron job. I'm no stranger to a half-baked cron job, but also it brilliantly highlighted how bad these things are.

    I've had it pin ancient versions of libraries because one time there was a regression for 5 minutes with the latest runtime. It yanked my Python version from 3.14 to 3.8 on the premise that there was a code regression that prevented installation (there wasn't, it was a temporary dns failure).

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    Even the best models provide 'meh' answers more often than not. Switching to cheaper models that are even just 5% worse will be quickly abandoned by anybody that has a reasonable choice to do so.

    Even the best models provide 'meh' answers more often than not.

    Switching to cheaper models that are even just 5% worse will be quickly abandoned by anybody that has a reasonable choice to do so.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    A coworker shared a very Claude description on how they solved a problem with a vibecoded app. Turns out they basically just re-invented MPD with a lack of client compatibility and decades of...

    A coworker shared a very Claude description on how they solved a problem with a vibecoded app.

    Turns out they basically just re-invented MPD with a lack of client compatibility and decades of refinement.

    Which is neat....but could have been solved with one google search for 'music player server.' And not burning several hundred more kwh.

    12 votes

  14. Comment on Browser fingerprinting demonstration in ~comp

    vord
    Link Parent
    I'll take "APIs that shouldn't exist" for 1000 Alex.

    I'll take "APIs that shouldn't exist" for 1000 Alex.

    9 votes

  15. Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    I always had a mildly-insane idea kicking around in the back of my head along the lines of a next-gen, but low-tech Usenet, fully broadcasted on HAM and/or LoRA frequencies instead of the...

    I always had a mildly-insane idea kicking around in the back of my head along the lines of a next-gen, but low-tech Usenet, fully broadcasted on HAM and/or LoRA frequencies instead of the traditional channels.

    11 votes

  16. Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    Compuserve, AOL, and Prodigy were all BBS systems that evolved into the first major ISPs. The loss of geographically-bound (due to long distance call rates) online spaces is bittersweet. I still...

    Compuserve, AOL, and Prodigy were all BBS systems that evolved into the first major ISPs. The loss of geographically-bound (due to long distance call rates) online spaces is bittersweet.

    I still vaguely remember browsing Cartoon Network stuff on the Prodigy BBS. It was considered the family-friendly option at the time, before my family switched to AOL, probably for price reasons.

    4 votes

  17. Comment on The AI bailout could be baked into the AI bubble in ~finance

    vord
    Link Parent
    Fear and Greed are the two primary drivers of American politics and economics, respectively. If there ain't a law against it, it'll definitely happen. And if there is a law against it, it'll only...

    Fear and Greed are the two primary drivers of American politics and economics, respectively.

    If there ain't a law against it, it'll definitely happen. And if there is a law against it, it'll only probably happen.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on iOS 14 and earlier will seemingly stop getting App Store app updates in 2027 in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    Right to repair could essentially fall under that umbrella. There is a bug in my car's dashboard. I must be able to unlock my bootloader to be able to fix it.

    Right to repair could essentially fall under that umbrella.

    There is a bug in my car's dashboard. I must be able to unlock my bootloader to be able to fix it.

    4 votes

  19. Comment on OpenAI didn’t notice its AI agents using a message board to plan their hacking spree in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    You gonna sit there and tell me with a straight face they did it without the blessing of the CEO, Marketing, and Legal?

    You gonna sit there and tell me with a straight face they did it without the blessing of the CEO, Marketing, and Legal?

    7 votes

  20. Comment on OpenAI didn’t notice its AI agents using a message board to plan their hacking spree in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    Yes, but when the CEO is a provably chronic liar and has already been ousted once, it's probably prudent to not take any company announcement at face value.

    Yes, but when the CEO is a provably chronic liar and has already been ousted once, it's probably prudent to not take any company announcement at face value.

    9 votes