williams_482's recent activity
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Comment on A day in the life of an ensh*ttificator in ~tech
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Comment on I made a word game - and it has come a long way in ~games
williams_482 Link ParentI'm not sure how I would add this while keeping the clean, simple feel of the UI, but I wish there were a visual indicator of what direction the letters would be rotated in. I keep thinking that...I'm not sure how I would add this while keeping the clean, simple feel of the UI, but I wish there were a visual indicator of what direction the letters would be rotated in. I keep thinking that it's going to turn in the other direction for some reason, even though clockwise feels like it should be the intuitive direction.
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Comment on Opta removes all advanced statistical data from fbref.com in ~sports.football
williams_482 LinkThis is a terrible blow to statistically inclined football fans and amateur analysts. It also looks like a terrible decision by Opta, who made a lot of money off of selling fan interest in sports...This is a terrible blow to statistically inclined football fans and amateur analysts.
It also looks like a terrible decision by Opta, who made a lot of money off of selling fan interest in sports statistics to broadcasters and other media companies. Cutting off access to regular people just as football statistics are starting to become mainstream is clearly not going to help the long term standing of their industry, nor their reputation within it.
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Opta removes all advanced statistical data from fbref.com
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Comment on Star Wars shake-up: Kathleen Kennedy steps down as George Lucas protégé Dave Filoni, exec Lynwen Brennan take over Lucasfilm in ~movies
williams_482 Link ParentI liked Clone Wars, and to a lesser extent Rebels, but what I've seen of Filoni's projects since then has been extremely disappointing. He seems to be far too invested in all the weakest parts of...I liked Clone Wars, and to a lesser extent Rebels, but what I've seen of Filoni's projects since then has been extremely disappointing. He seems to be far too invested in all the weakest parts of his early works, especially an insistence on repeatedly returning to old characters and tying so many seemingly disparate things together that the stories feel repetitive and incestuous.
In retrospect, Clone Wars was a very favorable project for Filoni to take on. He had Lucas's guidance and massive financial backing, plus a pretty good set of story bookends he was beholden to. He also had a bunch of preexisting characters that his audience either liked or wanted to like, and his primary job was to rehabilitate some (mostly Anakin) and flesh out a host of others who were mostly cardboard cutouts in the prequels. Clone Wars' meandering setting meant that random drop ins on mostly irrelevant legacy characters were mostly harmless fun. Further, his one really whacky choice that could easily have been awful (bringing back Darth Maul) was actually executed really well, rehabbing yet another cardboard character into a somewhat complicated yet clearly evil villain. The actual plots are limited in scope by the setting, and compress nicely into satisfying 1-4 episode arcs.
Rebels gave him more freedom to create a full story arc himself, and forced him to create his main characters whole cloth. The later mostly worked, the former was a bit of a mess held together by those characters. Nearly everything after that has been very disappointing.
Filoni's early works succeed at creating interesting characters, either new or from woefully underdeveloped existing characters. Which makes it really ridiculous how his later works mostly just want to check in on those characters, or others from original films, and run them through new-ish grandiose stories that just don't hold up very well. It reads to me as a failure to identify what he's good at, buoyed by portions of the fanbase who really do just want to see their favorite characters doing more things, and have as many references as possible crammed in for them to notice.
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Comment on Are cooperatives more virtuous than corporations? in ~society
williams_482 Link ParentWhat is this in reference to?I dread the day another East Asian moves into the community and they try to give them my money or vice versa
What is this in reference to?
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Comment on What makes a game, a game? in ~games
williams_482 Link ParentCalvinball should count as a game, and fails that criteria completely."someone separate from the participant sets the rules", and even though I ultimately agreed, I'm still not truly sure.
Calvinball should count as a game, and fails that criteria completely.
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Comment on Why language models hallucinate in ~tech
williams_482 Link ParentThis is an ironic example, because LLMs recommending sketchy food choices is a genuine danger. We've seen them recommend putting Elmers glue in pizza cheese, and worse, make lethally wrong...In some contexts, like cooking, guessing is harmless: worst case scenario you ruin a meal.
This is an ironic example, because LLMs recommending sketchy food choices is a genuine danger. We've seen them recommend putting Elmers glue in pizza cheese, and worse, make lethally wrong recommendations about what forageable mushrooms are safe to eat.
Guessing becomes dangerous in a much wider range of situations when the guesser lacks the "sanity check" guardrails that most most adult humans have.
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Comment on US Federal court strikes down Donald Trump’s April 2 tariffs in ~society
williams_482 Link ParentI believe the idea assumes that the government is willing and able to accurately value the cost savings companies are getting specifically for dodging United States environmental regulations. I'm...I believe the idea assumes that the government is willing and able to accurately value the cost savings companies are getting specifically for dodging United States environmental regulations.
I'm not sure if it's practical, but that information is out there and if it can be applied consistently, I'm for it. Not unlike the idea (which I believe I first encountered around here) of the federal government levying a 100% tax on local tax breaks to corporations, to stop municipalities from engaging in their own race to the bottom looking to lure undecided companies to build on their land.
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Comment on Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news in ~news
williams_482 Link ParentStraight out of Ozymandias.Straight out of Ozymandias.
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Comment on If you could travel back in time and bring one thing back to the modern day, what would it be? in ~talk
williams_482 LinkI'd try to grab some histories. The first specific target that comes to mind would be complete copies of Livy and Polybius, both of which we have in part but with significant portions missing....I'd try to grab some histories.
The first specific target that comes to mind would be complete copies of Livy and Polybius, both of which we have in part but with significant portions missing. These two are generally seen as the best available sources for the periods they cover, and for much of the period where they overlap, Polybius would be preferred were his not missing.
With that said, there are surely more interesting documents that failed to survive to us which could tell us a lot about something less well explored than republican Rome.
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Comment on Some ChatGPT users are developing delusional beliefs that are reinforced by the large language model in ~tech
williams_482 Link ParentI am not a therapist, and wouldn't say I'm particularly good at identifying subtle undertones in written communication, but that conversation was absolutely ringing alarm bells for me. The...I am not a therapist, and wouldn't say I'm particularly good at identifying subtle undertones in written communication, but that conversation was absolutely ringing alarm bells for me. The combination of actively seeking approval for doing "something" about another person, but no elaboration whatsoever on what that something is, is really creepy.
I'm confident that most people would at least come out of that conversation feeling something was wrong, and would probably ask the obvious "what are you planning to do?" questions.
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Comment on The epicenter of conspiracy belief: the economically left-leaning and culturally regressive spot in the political landscape in ~society
williams_482 Link ParentOne of the things that struck me watching the original Twilight Zone (1959-1964) episodes is that when they wanted to harken back to "the good old days", they tended to show a heavily whitewashed...This attitude profile yearns for a concrete model of society that of post-war European societies, where economic inequalities were comparatively low and society was not yet plagued by unsettling modernization processes and cultural diversity.
One of the things that struck me watching the original Twilight Zone (1959-1964) episodes is that when they wanted to harken back to "the good old days", they tended to show a heavily whitewashed version of the post-reconstruction era south. One of the more blatant examples is A Stop at Willoughby, featuring the following description of an imaginary town:
Willoughby. July. Summer. It's 1888. Really a lovely village. You ought to try it sometime. Peaceful, restful.Where a man can slow down to a walk and live his life full-measure.
This stuck out to me because that usage of the 1880s to fill in as the idyllic past is extremely similar to the way modern Americans tend to look back at the 1950s and 60s, the same period in which those Twilight Zone episodes were originally created. Both the 1960s and 1880s were roughly two decades after the end of a horrifically destructive war; they are also ~70 years from "the present", a time the vast majority of living adults did not experience but likely heard charming stories about from their own parents or grandparents. And they are periods in which major societal changes were happening, but which can in retelling be easily pushed up to the later years in which their effects became more obvious.
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Comment on Minecraft’s problems aren’t just the new features in ~games
williams_482 Link ParentIt does look really cool, and priced very reasonably as well ($22). Now I know where I'll go next time I have the urge for this sort of thing.It does look really cool, and priced very reasonably as well ($22). Now I know where I'll go next time I have the urge for this sort of thing.
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Comment on Minecraft’s problems aren’t just the new features in ~games
williams_482 Link ParentIt's 8:1, but yeah it's a major time saver for traveling. And there are ways to get up onto the roof of the nether, which is completely safe from the usual nether dangers and completely...It's 8:1, but yeah it's a major time saver for traveling. And there are ways to get up onto the roof of the nether, which is completely safe from the usual nether dangers and completely featureless, easy to mark paths between portals however you please.
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Comment on What's an atypical thing you do that you'd recommend to others? in ~talk
williams_482 Link ParentApparently imgur doesn't like hotlinks any more. It goes to a Calvin and Hobbes comic, which I am otherwise unable to link. That is excellent.Apparently imgur doesn't like hotlinks any more. It goes to a Calvin and Hobbes comic, which I am otherwise unable to link.
I learned this from a story my father, who was a captain in the army at the time, tells about doing it once to avoid sneezing on the Colonel's wife.
That is excellent.
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Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society
williams_482 Link ParentUnfortunately there's more than "a bit" of toxic masculinity to this one. It is also, historically speaking, bogus, drawing heavily from some wildly incorrect things people believe about the fall...Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.
Unfortunately there's more than "a bit" of toxic masculinity to this one. It is also, historically speaking, bogus, drawing heavily from some wildly incorrect things people believe about the fall of the Roman empire.
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Comment on What's an atypical thing you do that you'd recommend to others? in ~talk
williams_482 Link ParentDo you live close to the equator? In the Northeastern United States, I'd be waking up to 90 minutes of darkness for a decent chunk of the year. That part sounds miserable.Do you live close to the equator?
In the Northeastern United States, I'd be waking up to 90 minutes of darkness for a decent chunk of the year. That part sounds miserable.
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Comment on What's an atypical thing you do that you'd recommend to others? in ~talk
williams_482 Link ParentThis seems simultaneously practical and really gross. Do you ever have problems with snot getting stuck under your shirt?Sometimes if I am in very close quarters, I will sneeze down the neck opening of my undershirt.
This seems simultaneously practical and really gross. Do you ever have problems with snot getting stuck under your shirt?
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Comment on What's an atypical thing you do that you'd recommend to others? in ~talk
williams_482 Link ParentI remember that too, from health class in probably 7th grade. It certainly made an impression, and instilled the clearly correct way to sneeze.(...a formal party of well-dressed people with "sneezing sleeves" on one arm).
I remember that too, from health class in probably 7th grade. It certainly made an impression, and instilled the clearly correct way to sneeze.
Having new designs purely for the sake of having new designs is mostly neutral, although the fast fashion culture fed by these choices is clearly a blight on society.
Artificially hampering designs of practical products so they can be easily changed every year and give sales something useless but different to hype up about the latest generation? Yes, that's also clearly terrible.