@bmac I loved it for the vibes but I’m desperately trying not to think about how any of it worked, because it seems fairly arbitrary. Hopefully a subsequent story fills in some of the bits that were lacking here.
Late 2022: I first started hearing about LLMs. "This may become a problem."
Feb 2023: I got laid off. I wasn't replaced by an LLM, but they thought about it.
Summer 2023: I got asked about "AI" at some talks I gave. I took a "kill it with fire" attitude, because it was expected.
Late 2023: I started hearing about possible beneficial uses. I consider modifying my position.
Early 2024: Copyright crisis, dangerous hallucinations, massive power and water use.
I have a few "blind spots" in my mental architecture. Things I can't remember no matter how much I try. The strangest of these is Coldplay.
I know that there is a band called Coldplay, but nothing more. Don't know who's in it, where they're from, or any songs of theirs. You can play a Coldplay song, even one I've heard before, and I won't know who it is.
I was doing a trivia thing this morning, and the clue was "Band who recorded 'Clocks,' starts with a C." And I had nothing.
Effective yesterday, I am no longer the parent of a college student. I am now the parent of a young adult human, who is now supposed to venture out into the world and be a productive member of society, with a basis of the skills and values that I taught him.
Bag 15 of the Lego Dungeons & Dragons set adds quite a bit more bulk to this section...mostly in the form of stairs. Also rocks. Not exactly super exciting, but you get what you get. Fortunately, the stairs aren't intricate this time, just the standard spiral staircase parts that have been around since Harry Potter sets from 2001. Still effective, though.
For bag 20 of the Lego Dungeons & Dragons set...to quote the Fourth Doctor in Destiny of the Daleks: "Oh look -- rocks!"
That's pretty much what we've got here. More rocks building up an already rocky exterior. Can't deny that it looks craggy, though. There's also an irregular rocky staircase that's a definite tripping hazard.
Well. Got my Adult ADHD diagnosis today. Like a lot of folks, I assumed ADHD didn't apply to me because I'm not especially fidgety, and I got good grades in school, so no problem?
But this post put things in a different light for me, I made an appointment with my doc, and she said "Oh yeah, you meet the criteria."
@bmac welcome. Following the #ADHD hashtag is a good start.
I was late diagnosed and the more you learn about it and accept the realities of it that you’ve been beating your head against, or berating yourself for, the better life becomes. Also.. drugs help ;)
I filed to create an LLC last week (more about that later), and I've received two letters now telling me about more forms I need to fill out, with associated fees.
They're scams, as it happens, but they're damned good scams. They look very official, and I've already filled out a bunch of forms and paid fees, so what's one more?
It was the second one that tipped me off that something was wrong. If I'd only gotten one, I might have paid it. Damned insidious, and so fast, too.
Well, this is a new type of Captcha I hadn't seen before. Problem is, in their attempt to defeat the bots, they also defeated me. I see two fish, an elephant, a horse, and two...blobby things? I'd guess one of the blobby things is the correct answer to the "created by humans" question, but darned if I know which. So I guess there's a 50% chance I'm not human. No surprise there.
Because I'm a Coaster Nerd, I made a list of the parks that are in totality for Monday's eclipse. Parks with a * are open and having events. The others are closed.
SeaWorld San Antonio
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Six Flags Over Texas
Magic Springs Arkansas
Holiday World, IN
Stricker's Grove, OH
Cedar Point, OH
Conneaut Lake Park, PA
Waldameer, PA
Six Flags Darien Lake, NY
Niagara Amusement Park, NY
Marine World, ON
A couple of parks, like Holiday World and Waldameer, are allowing the public into the parking lot to eclipse-watch, but the parks themselves aren't open.
I also note that Kings Island, OH, and Canada's Wonderland, two huge parks, are just outside the path of totality, but neither of them are open either.
Basically, the Texas parks that are normally open year-round are open. And Cedar Point is partially open, but that's it.
People of the Fediverse, I must confess to a relapse. I am a Coaster Enthusiast. The Coaster Enthusiast community is still on Twitter. One of my favorite enthusiasts has been running his annual Coaster Madness competition in March, so I've been going over there to vote. Which means I see posts from people I like and miss, so I started to read.
And then I clicked on items in Trending, felt disgusted with myself, and left again. I'm left with a deep sense of shame.
Inn needs an upstairs, right? That's what bag 3 provides. Well, part of an upstairs, anyway. In the last few steps, I saw some things that could be regarded as spoilers. Now, I've found something that would definitely be a spoiler if I ever play the adventure. I've been trying to find out if you're supposed to build this in advance, or only reveal each section as the players come to it, or if the players are supposed to build it while adventuring, or what.
I overheard a couple of strangers discussing the bridge collapse in Baltimore.
One guy said he didn't believe a bridge could just collapse from being hit by a boat. The other guy explained it to him in painstaking detail.
Then the guy didn't understand how they could block the traffic but couldn't get the construction workers off the bridge. The other guy had more trouble with that one.
By the time the first guy was on to his third conspiracy, I had to actively tune out to protect myself.
Basically, the first guy was spilling random conspiratorial bullshit out of ignorance. The second guy, with supernatural patience, was explaining all the details that the first guy could have found for himself in five minutes on his phone. I would've just walked off, but I feel like the second guy probably does this routine a lot.
@bmac This is why I just ignore the people saying “if you had explained it nicely you would have gotten further.” They haven’t seen (or just ignored) the 100 other times before that used up all the nice.
If you had an employee who worked amazingly fast, but who sometimes produced wildly incorrect answers, including fabricating "facts" out of thin air, and was incapable of self-reflection, or even recognizing their own mistakes, how far would you trust that employee?
AIs aren't people. Stop treating them like they are.
Periodic reminder that I'm a technical editor and writer looking to #GetFediHired
I found out today that I failed to get a gig where I had gotten to the last round of interviews, and I thought would be a really good fit. That's twice in two months.
At the same time, I'm doing some contract editing, and the author is replying to queries with "Great point!" and "I didn't think of that" and "Nice catch!" Which reminds me that I'm actually pretty good at this. Not sure if that helps or not.