@abarker@mast.hpc.social
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

abarker

@abarker@mast.hpc.social

Small cog in a large machine.

At work, I try to make linear algebra routines faster.

At home, I have half-baked thoughts about transit and urbanism and stuff

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

ZachWeinersmith, to random
@ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

Offhand thoughts reading Michael Lewis's book on Bankman-Fried's downfall:

It's interesting the extent to which belief in Effective Altruism played a role in people doing bad things. I'm generally a believer that utilitarianism is ultimately what most ethics systems do, and perhaps what they should do. But, would a virtue ethics system have led to... greater overall happiness?

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@ZachWeinersmith I suspect that utilitarianism is the correct meta-ethics but that some kind of virtue ethics is the best available implementation on our very flawed human hardware.

vwbusguy, to Samsung
@vwbusguy@mastodon.online avatar

That's not good!

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@vwbusguy I'm quite happy with the pixel 7a I'm using to write this reply, for whatever that's worth

joel, to android
@joel@fosstodon.org avatar

What's the latest app you've installed on your desktop or phone, and why?

In my case it's #EasySSHFS, because it lets me mount remote directories on my phone, as if they were normal folder, no need for a special interface or anything

#Android #AndroidApps #AppRecommendation #AskFediverse

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@joel boring answer: antennapod, because they're killing google podcasts

timbray, to random
@timbray@cosocial.ca avatar

One of the things that seems insufficiently highlighted in the future-of-generative-AI discussions is how expensive this stuff is.

https://nelsonslog.wordpress.com/2023/08/22/some-random-home-scale-llm-facts/

I’ve been trying to imagine a scalable business model where you can make serious money given the costs of model building/hosting/running. Nothing leaping to mind so far.

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@timbray I think the assumption is that the price will rapidly decrease because of something like Moore's Law. Not sure that's right but it doesn't seem impossible.

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

This just came up again, so I'm reposting. A couple years ago I wrote up an overview of small faraday containers to isolate, e.g., phones, from being able to communicate with the outside world. I'm particularly focused on how to effectively test such a device.

Some people found my writeup useful, others found it enraging for some reason. For the benefit of both categories of people, here it is: https://www.mattblaze.org/blog/faraday/

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@mattblaze this is really great! My wannabe scientist brain immediately starts thinking about how to get reliable results with foil. Double or triple wrap with the seams on different sides? What about those single use foil catering containers? Anyway, thanks for sharing.

vwbusguy, to random
@vwbusguy@mastodon.online avatar

What did the RR and FF buttons on a VCR do?

Wrong answers only.

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@vwbusguy it was intended to be hooked up to a fridge/microwave combo, ff was "flash freeze" and rr was "rapid reheat"

joel, to CASIO
@joel@fosstodon.org avatar

As a request from @82mhz here's my current watch collection! :blobcatderpy:

cc: @kev

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@joel @82mhz @kev I am impressed with the synchronization.

Alon, to random
@Alon@mastodon.social avatar

Pedestrian Observations: Cost-Plus Contracting is Good https://pedestrianobservations.com/2023/12/29/cost-plus-contracting-is-good/

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@Alon how, practically, do you transition from fixed cost to itemized? Can agencies negotiate an itemized contract if they don't know what anything costs?

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

PSA: if anyone here (in or around North America) has not yet seen a total solar eclipse, the one coming up on April 8th may be the most convenient chance you’ll ever have. The zone of totality will pass through several major cities.

Absolutely unreal and unique phenomenon that's worth planning and going to some trouble to experience. The temperature suddenly drops. You are briefly in an area of night surrounded on all sides by day. The sun seems to drain the light out of the sky.

abarker,
@abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

@mattblaze already reserved and mostly planned! One question: what kind of place to actually be during the eclipse? Hill? Forest? City? Football stadium?

RM_Transit, to random
@RM_Transit@mstdn.social avatar

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    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @RM_Transit https://www.wired.com/story/nuclear-cargo-ships/

    simevidas, to random
    @simevidas@mastodon.social avatar

    Is there really no single economic metric that measures the financial well-being of the average family in a country over time? Something that takes inflation, wages, and everything else into account. So that you could pick two dates in the past and determine for which of these dates families were better off.

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @simevidas I would start with this. It's probably missing something you care about, but it is a good start. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N

    ianbetteridge, to random
    @ianbetteridge@writing.exchange avatar

    Let me rewrite this for you Jason. “I, as CEO, made a major strategic error, taking the decision to increase headcount too rapidly. I take personal responsibility for the decision I made, and am working with the board to appoint new leadership.”

    https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/11/24034705/discord-layoffs-17-percent-employees

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @ianbetteridge @zdl what's an example where you saw this outside of tech?

    litherum, to random
    @litherum@masto.ai avatar

    The only successful closed-source compiler I can think of, for any language, is MSVC

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @litherum nvcc?

    dangoodin, to random

    47% of San Franciscans who were victims of crime in the past year didn't report it to police.

    https://main--new-grow-sf.netlify.app/pulse/growsf-pulse-september-2023/

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @dangoodin I do not doubt the result is basically true, but I'm not sure a "growsf push poll" is systematically representative of the San Francisco population

    drahardja, to random
    @drahardja@sfba.social avatar

    Remember this when governments try to mandate .

    tl;dr: it’s about commercial real estate investments.

    “Real estate owners saddled with half-empty office buildings as hybrid work trend continues”

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/real-estate-owners-saddled-with-half-empty-offices-as-hybrid-work-continues-60-minutes-transcript/

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @drahardja I hear this so much, and I don't really doubt it, but I'm not sure I understand the mechanism. Why does my employer want to bail out their landlord?

    hpcnotes, to hpc

    Experiment comparing reactions across social media platforms ...

    One or more of or or will be obsolete by 2030.

    Ignoring this message counts as agreeing :-)

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @hpcnotes C will be obsolete before Fortran, but neither will be obsolete by 2030.

    litherum, to random
    @litherum@masto.ai avatar

    I’m actually kind of surprised Khronos hasn’t tried to cash in on the AI hype by standardizing an API that runs on AI accelerators

    (AFAIK, OpenCL doesn’t run on AI accelerators…)

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @litherum what is the difference between an "AI accelerator" and a "GPU"?

    kevbob, to random
    @kevbob@xoxo.zone avatar

    I seriously don't know what to do with all these data breach letters I get. I'm kinda giving up.

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @kevbob I gave up a long time ago. Not saying that's the correct response, but I've got other stuff to worry about.

    acdha, (edited ) to random
    @acdha@code4lib.social avatar

    Out of curiosity, who still sees emoji reactions to SMS messages as a separate message (❤️ to “previous message”)?

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @acdha but if I only see them some of the time, how do I know that?

    1dalm, to random
    @1dalm@deacon.social avatar

    All musical instruments are useful for expressing love, hope, anger, fear and a host of other emotions. Only one is used for war. The drum.

    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @1dalm Is this, like, true? Bugles? Horns? Bagpipes? Fifes?

    kevbob, to random
    @kevbob@xoxo.zone avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @kevbob you celebrate that holiday much earlier than I do

    kevbob, to random
    @kevbob@xoxo.zone avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @kevbob Saving that heading for my next performance review.

    kevbob, (edited ) to random
    @kevbob@xoxo.zone avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    abarker,
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    @kevbob how do you know what's going in there? I like to follow that kind of stuff but I have no sources...

    abarker, to random
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    Let's say I'm looking at a project with a huge pile of source code files, targeting different points in the stack, written at different times, in a variety of different languages. And let's say I'm compelled to rewrite exactly one of them in Rust. Which one should I pick?

    abarker, to random
    @abarker@mast.hpc.social avatar

    I realize it's a lot of fun to make fun of Boeing, and sure, they may deserve a bit of it, but they make what is genuinely (still!) one of the safest products in the history of humanity. If you want to criticize some engineers who make things that are actually dangerous, maybe talk to your local traffic engineer?

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