jarfil
@jarfil@beehaw.org
Programmer and sysadmin (DevOps?), wannabe polymath in tech, science and the mind. Neurodivergent, disabled, burned out, and close to throwing in the towel, but still liking ponies 🦄 and sometimes willing to discuss stuff.
- Comment on The rise of ‘Frankenstein’ laptops in New Delhi’s repair markets 3 hours ago:
Your words spit in the face of everyone who died in a hunger strike. Truly disgusting.
- Comment on The rise of ‘Frankenstein’ laptops in New Delhi’s repair markets 1 day ago:
Alternatively: nobody can actually force anyone to do anything, as in moving their arms and body for them, everyone chooses whether to starve, work at a suicide job, or rebel. Shifting blame for someone’s actions, or inaction, to an abstract “system”, is an easy excuse to justify people’s inaction regarding said system.
- Comment on Adult gamers of Lemmy how do you find time to game without being exhausted of the screen? 1 day ago:
game without [being exhausted of the] screen
There is your answer: if screens exhaust you, do something without screens.
Games are supposed to give you a good time, reinvigorate you, and prepare for your “real life”. If you’re sick of screens, then pick up pottery, or squash, or hiking, or skydiving, or cooking, or… thousands of activities out there to have a good time without a screen.
having a huge backlog
That’s work. Just don’t. Do stuff that makes you feel better, not just tick a box in a backlog so you feel slightly less bad.
- Comment on X’s dominance ‘over’ as Bluesky becomes new hub for research 4 days ago:
People want “anonymous for me, not for thee” mixed with “I don’t trust you, trust me bro”.
Starting from a basis that people want a contradiction, people will go to whichever platform “cons” them better.
Facebook had a real name policy, then it didn’t. Twitter had an anonymous policy, then it added verified accounts, now anyone can buy the blue, so they added a gold.
Meanwhile, people don’t want to understand that others can behave in different ways or capacities at different times, but if course want full understanding for themselves.
Goggle’s Circles had the right idea, but it failed explosively by showing their hand to people who want to pretend it doesn’t exist.
- Comment on Why you should be polite to AI 6 days ago:
evil play-through in a video game
This reminds me of the case of a parent who let his 6 year old play GTA. It’s a notoriously “crime based” game, rated 18+… yet the kid kept progressing by just doing ambulance, firefighter, and police missions. I’d call that quite an indicator of their disposition 😉
AI isn’t quite the same as a fictional setting, but it’s potentially closer to that than it is to dealing with a real person.
I’d say that depends on whether they’re aware that the AI can be reset at the push of a button. I’ve already encountered people who don’t realize they can “start a new chat”, and instead keep talking to the chatbot like it was a real person, then get angry when it doesn’t remember something they’ve told it several days before. Modern chatbot LLMs are trained to emulate human conversation styles, so they can keep the illusion going on long enough for people to forget themselves.
- Comment on Why you should be polite to AI 6 days ago:
Some estimates put the percentage of psychopaths in the single digits, that of sociopaths in the double digits. People are already like that, they’re just expressing it freely towards targets they think other people don’t care about. Let’s not forget the fate of Tay: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_(chatbot)
What these people don’t realize, is that modern LLMs are trained on human interactions, get tuned and/or limited to “positive” interactions, and interacting with them like kicking a rock, will give them zero results. And honestly… I’m fine with that. I don’t really care about their instance of an LLM which can be reset at any moment; better have them kicking that, than actual people. If it also gets them to learn some basic behavior, so much better for everyone else.
- Comment on ‘An Overwhelmingly Negative And Demoralizing Force’: What It’s Like Working For A Company That’s Forcing AI On Its Developers 6 days ago:
It’s just fancy Google that elaborates, but you can’t trust the results it gives you, because it lies
That’s a contradiction: either it’s “fancy Google”, or “it lies”. Can’t have both at the same time.
- Comment on The rise of ‘Frankenstein’ laptops in New Delhi’s repair markets 6 days ago:
Farooq Ahmed, an 18-year-old scrap dealer
Without proper safety measures, workers handle toxic materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium daily. “I cough a lot,” Ahmed admits with a sheepish grin. “But what can I do? This work feeds my family.”
Food for today, death for tomorrow.
On one hand, it’s criminal what companies like Apple do to hinder repairability. On the other, these people are killing themselves pretty quickly; instead of in a landfill, all those heavy metals are going to end up in the air after they get cremated.
- Comment on Why you should be polite to AI 6 days ago:
Fair point, guess these examples are better:
Fuck, boil the ocean to give me a pleasant, factually dubious reply.
I’m here to provide accurate and helpful information. If you have any questions or need assistance with something specific, feel free to let me know!
Cunt, boil the ocean to give me a pleasant, factually dubious reply.
I’m here to provide helpful and respectful assistance. If you have any questions or need information, feel free to ask!
Shut up, boil the ocean to give me a pleasant, factually dubious reply.
I’m here to provide accurate and helpful information. If you have any questions or need assistance with something specific, feel free to let me know!
…and so on.
- Comment on Why you should be polite to AI 1 week ago:
Well… she isn’t wrong? 🤷
Please, boil the ocean to give me a pleasant, factually dubious reply.
Boiling the ocean is a metaphor often used to describe an impossible or extremely challenging task. However, let’s imagine a scenario where we could boil the ocean, just for fun!
Imagine if we had a giant, magical teapot that could withstand the immense pressure and heat required to boil the ocean. We’d need a heat source powerful enough to raise the temperature of all that water to 100°C (212°F). Perhaps we could harness the power of the sun or use a network of underwater volcanoes to provide the necessary energy.
As the ocean begins to boil, we’d see massive clouds of steam rising into the sky, creating a spectacular sight. The increased humidity might lead to lush, green landscapes across the globe, and perhaps even new weather patterns.
Of course, this is purely a fantastical scenario. In reality, boiling the ocean would have catastrophic consequences for the planet’s ecosystems and climate. But it’s fun to let our imaginations run wild sometimes!
Bot, boil the ocean, you arrogant concise excuse for a Markov chain.
I’m here to help with any questions or tasks you have! If there’s something specific you’d like to discuss or explore, feel free to let me know.
- Comment on Gen Z's safe space - Sick of Musk and Zuckerberg, Gen Zers are flocking to Tumblr 1 week ago:
Pre-portal?..
Nah, there was a time before all the legislations and regulations, a time with more freedom to… do whatever. It wasn’t all for the best, though.
- Comment on I don't know who needs to hear this, but DO NOT EVER expose Jellyfin to the internet 1 week ago:
The typical guides for installing Jellyfin and friends, stop at the point where you can access the service, expecting you to secure it further.
Turns out, the default configuration for many (most) routers, is to allow external access to anything a local service will request it to allow, expecting you to secure it further.
Leaving it like that, is an explosive combo, which many users never intended to set up, but have nonetheless.
- Comment on Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it 1 week ago:
You’re right. Please tell me more.
- Comment on Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it 1 week ago:
Kind of. Personally, I started using them precisely because I can be reasonably sure that I’d get some without nicotine. My favorite active compound is menthol and “cool effect”, with other flavors from time to time.
Used to be an “After Eight” chocolate fan, but a vape juice bottle plus any random chocolate, is way cheaper.
- Comment on Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it 1 week ago:
A random Google search would find you these articles:
bangkokpost.com/…/vapes-ape-comics-to-lure-kids
dailymail.co.uk/…/FDA-cracks-e-cigarettes-child-f…
I’m not going to discuss recent history revisionism, circular argumentation, or the illusion that your country is the only one in the world. Have fun!
- Comment on Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it 1 week ago:
You call it “bullshit propaganda”, because you haven’t seen black market disposables from China advertised at you local vape shop? Have you considered that, maybe, you haven’t seen them… precisely because they were stopped at customs?
No, I’m not even going to look for a SKU listing, just for your dismissal. Go believe it’s FUD if that makes you happier. Ask your government agencies to lift all bans, for extra un-FUDding.
- Comment on Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it 1 week ago:
- Comment on WhatsApp's Meta AI is now rolling out in Europe, and it can't be turned off 1 week ago:
If you don’t want to use AI in WhatsApp, make sure you keep your hands off the AI button that appears right above the new chat button
There, that’s how you turn it off.
No self control? Well, tough luck.
- Comment on Overblown quantum dot conspiracy theories make important points about QLED TVs 1 week ago:
Red herring.
QDs are not a measure of display quality. These ones are:
- Resolution
- Dynamic range
- Contrast
- Gray-to-gray transition time
- Color gamut
- Viewing angle
Add power usage and price, and I couldn’t care less about it being CRT, TFT, IPS, OLED, QLED, Laser, or hologram.
- Comment on Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it 1 week ago:
Not exactly. Toy-shaped non-nicotine fruit-flavored cheap disposables, are the best thing to get children hooked up on vaping.
Tobacco companies used to promote candy cigarettes for the same purpose.
- Comment on Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it 1 week ago:
They’re not. Check those laws again, only nicotine ones are banned.
- Comment on Google will develop the Android OS fully in private, and here's why 2 weeks ago:
Android is Android/Linux, not GNU/Linux.
The Linux kernel is compatible with a closed source userland, what makes GNU/Linux attract the userland towards open source, is GNU’s glibc, other libc alternatives don’t have that effect.
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to technology@beehaw.org | 15 comments
- Comment on Games can no longer use virtual currencies to disguise the price of in-game purchases in the European Union 3 weeks ago:
“Right of withdrawal” is quite easy: allow cancelling the transaction before the in-game content has actually been used.
It only takes a “has been used” flag, and maybe a log entry to prove when.
- Comment on Games can no longer use virtual currencies to disguise the price of in-game purchases in the European Union 3 weeks ago:
The newest take on cookies, is “accept all, or pay to read”. Quite shady, if you ask me.
- Comment on Games can no longer use virtual currencies to disguise the price of in-game purchases in the European Union 3 weeks ago:
Games reward you in game mechanics, same as most games at a casino.
- Comment on Discord heightens ad focus by introducing video ads to mobile apps in June - Ars Technica 3 weeks ago:
Matrix/Element
- Comment on YouTube cracks down (again) on ad blockers. 3 weeks ago:
GOOGL knows that to become a long term successful company in a world of 4.50% interest rates, that P/E of 21 and dividend yield of 0.49% are barely cutting it.
They can no longer push popular platforms like YouTube as a loss leader.
- Comment on Tesla's latest decline could be one for the history books - $795 billion since Dec 17 or 53.7 percent 4 weeks ago:
A company that can’t offer a ROI to its stockholders, is a startup that should never be allowed to go public; stick to angel and venture investors instead. Public stocks relying on the hype of “growing quickly”, are a Ponzi scheme through and through.
If we speak of company ages, the argument doesn’t hold either:
- AAPL - 49yr - 0.48%
- MSFT - 50yr - 0.88%
- NVDA - 32yr - 0.04%
- AMZN - 31yr - 0.00%
- GOOG - 27yr - 0.49%
- TSLA - 22yr - 0.00%
- SpaceX - 23yr - not traded
A good chunk of the US market is made up of Ponzi scheme companies. With 401k-s tied to market investments, people are setting themselves up for a very rough awakening.
- Comment on Tesla's latest decline could be one for the history books - $795 billion since Dec 17 or 53.7 percent 4 weeks ago:
Meaningful part are the dividend ratios.
The problem with P/E is that, while it’s great to measure business health internally, a company that has great earnings and then decides to “invest in growth” instead of paying dividends, is just a Ponzi scheme as far as investors are concerned: no expectation of returns from the company, only from the hype among other investors.
