@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

ucblockhead

@ucblockhead@hulvr.com

I did not exist. Now I exist. At some point in the future I will not exist again.

Warning: I am very boring so follow at your own risk.

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

ucblockhead, to random
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

I have increasingly run across sites that do not let you select text.

This is especially infuriating when they are not in English and you are trying to copy to Google translate

The Web is rapidly losing all the basics of UI interaction.

ucblockhead, to random
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

Dear every business I interact with these days: My part of the deal is to give you money. It doesn’t include reviewing your product

gzt, to random
@gzt@hulvr.com avatar

with the boomers getting out of the way, i guess we'll have to start saying "okay Xer" instead.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@gzt whatever, nevermind

jimgon, to random
@jimgon@hulvr.com avatar

Last night I was talking to my wife and said “I think I’m down to my baseline level of stress.” Her response was that it’s sad I have a baseline level of stress.

Do other people not live with a constant baseline of stress? I thought this was normal.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@jimgon @Stacky When I stopped commuting, I was shocked how much stress I was under that I was completely oblivious to.

(I expect another drop on retirement.)

ucblockhead, to random
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

Did we learn nothing from Y2K?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wz7pvvjypo?utm_source=DamnInteresting

ucblockhead, to random
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

While LLMs and Chat-GPT are as much snake oil as they are useful, it is important to remember that the broader field of machine learning has many, many positive applications (unlike, say, bitcoin):

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/deciphered-herculaneum-papyrus-reveals-precise-burial-place-of-plato/

gzt, to random
@gzt@hulvr.com avatar

so uh has anybody seen what happens if you feed a cybertruck after midnight

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@gzt I am pretty sure you’re supposed to put it in “food mode” before putting any food or drink in it. You might brick it if you forget.

r343l, to random
@r343l@freeradical.zone avatar

I am reading The Spice Must Flow by Ryan Britt which is a kind of loving fan history of the Dune books and media. In it, I learn Herbert got $2,295 for the serialized first part of the first book published in Analog. That’s like $22k today and wow.

So many fun details about the two attempts to make the book into a film before Lynch’s — and before Star Wars. I only knew about Jodorowsky’s which sounds like it would have gone poorly even if visually amazing.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@wiredog @r343l I have a distinct memory of that. I was so incredibly excited going in and as things progressed, the sinking feeling got worse and worse. It was when I realized that Hollywood ruined everything.

Watching Villeneuve's 2nd Dune movie was weirdly cathartic because it was the movie that 18 year old me expected to see.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@r343l @wiredog I don't think anyone blames Lynch or his choices for the first one. As much as I disliked the first one, it looked right given the effects of the time. This is one reason it was such a letdown for me. Nothing in the trailers prepared me.

I liked the miniseries, but it definitely had a low budget SyFy feel.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@wiredog @r343l I looked for that recently but couldn’t find where to stream it

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@wiredog @r343l I’m not interested enough to shell out $45 for something I would probably see once

ucblockhead, to random
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

This is truly evil. Basing the decision to kill on AI with little or no human oversight. Deliberately waiting until your target is at home with his family to increase your chances, and using "dumb" weapons, which cause much higher collateral damage for "low value" targets.

https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

This is the deliberate usage of strategies and tactics that will lead to increased civilian casualties.

wiredog, to random
@wiredog@hulvr.com avatar

@briankrebs

This is interesting…

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@wiredog I’ve never regretted leaving that festering cesspool

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

When I post photos and discussion of them, I often get suggestions that I should be on some other instance. I don't understand this. The big strength of a federated network, as I understand it, that it doesn't really matter that much what instance I'm on - people from anywhere can follow me.

My current instance (which I support) doesn't seem to mind me posting photos, and most of my followers are on non-photo-centric instances. What would be the point of moving?

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@mattblaze Too many people on the fediverse are far too invested in telling other people that they are doing it wrong.

It's all very tedious and if there's one thing I wish were hidden behind a CW working, it's that.

ucblockhead, to random
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

Often when reading books written in the past we excuse all sorts of misogynist crap because the writers were "of their time".

I just reread "Dune" for the first time since my teen years. One thing that struck me was that the female characters were strong, and there was little male gaze.

Another similar work of SF from the same period that similarly would raise no eyebrows today was H Beam Piper's "Omnilingual".

gzt, to random
@gzt@hulvr.com avatar

Like, I think age-ism is bad, and that people are capable of quite a lot for longer than they are often given a chance to be in life. But your executive ability and energy levels do decrease as you age. And, well, there's a pipeline of talent that deserves opportunity. So it's a really hard sell to keep politicians and high government officials in office after, say, 75.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@gzt We've had way too many instances of people on both sides of the aisle of people who clearly were not cognitively capable of the job. Also, in this area of mass technological change, few people can actually keep up. Having people who have never sent an email without an aid helping are making decisions about technology.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

Pssst: the PR people pushing the Whisp ring—a pile of AI-infested garbage—are jerks.

(Pass it on.)

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@cstross Wait, a ring that features a built in microphone that connects to your smartphone, which probably came with headphones with a built in microphone?

gzt, to random
@gzt@hulvr.com avatar

seriously though both of those dudes should be retired. so many people in government should be retired. the refusal to hand over the reins has destroyed entire generations of politicians.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@gzt Yeah, this is why there was no way I was going to vote Barbara Lee for Senate to replace Feinstein.

thomasfuchs, to random
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io avatar

Why do I always have to add disclaimers on here to my posts so replyguys don’t start nitpicking and explaining things back to me?

This is purely a Mastodon problem, I’ve never seen this on other social networks.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@paninid @thomasfuchs This comment thread feels very meta.

jimgon, to random
@jimgon@hulvr.com avatar

We needed a new car. I’m processing through how fucking expensive these things are now.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@jimgon Not sure if you are looking EV, but I got a Hyundai Ionic recently, and I really like it.

(I mean, a Hyundai!? Who knew?)

carnage4life, to random
@carnage4life@mas.to avatar

Has there been a bigger mirage in tech than self driving cars?

Hundreds of billions spent chasing a dream based on compelling demos from over a decade ago with nothing to show for it besides slightly better cruise control and Waymo rides that are more curiosity than utility.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@carnage4life This is a classic case of a problem with an exponential difficulty curve, and tech people keep falling for the "assume it's linear" trap.

People need to stop assuming that the tech is "almost done" until there's a prototype that 100% works.

Pretty much every use case for AI is like this. If you need 100% to get value, it's worthless from a business point of view. Yet idiot VCs are spending billions at 90% projects

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@theogrin @carnage4life Yup, that's why I tell engineers as an engineering manager that they should always work on the parts of the project that are unknown, or that they have never done before.

Get a working prototype first. Only then worry about all the good practices stuff. That makes it easier to really know when you're 90% done. Then "90% done" means "I need to add unit tests and document"

(And don't let the suits see the prototype so it doesn't get shipped)

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

To those “parents” butthurt about their child “changing”: The problem is not that your child “changed” gender. The problem is that you weren’t safe and loving enough for them to be who they always were around you.

That means you failed as a parent.

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@Stacky @lilithsaintcrow Yeah, my kid plays the piano for enjoyment as an adult precisely because we never made him play the piano, just enabled his own desire to.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

I got a scam robocall earlier today from a premium rate number to tell me that Amazon had just debited my visa card for $714.thingummy, and to stay on line to talk to a Visa representative. So I hung up.

Clues it's a fraud: I'm a Brit: I have a Visa card, but I have never dealt with Visa directly. Visa is a franchise in the UK and my card is issued by my bank, who don't handle suspicious transactions that way.

(Also, it's easy to check my Amazon transactions: liar, liar, pants on fire!)

ucblockhead,
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

@cstross The first rule of scams is never "stay on the line". Always hang up and go through the website. Never click on emails from companies even if you deal from them. Make it a habit to always go to the website directly, and never through a link.

Cultivate habits that make it hard to be scammed.

ucblockhead, to random
@ucblockhead@hulvr.com avatar

Saying "we need to remove the bias from LLMs" is like saying "Make me a mirror that doesn't make me look old and overweight".

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