adwf

21 ms·

151.
by adwf 10y ago
Yes, but much like a motorway, it's someone else's straight line, not mine. I still have to get to a station and then get to my destination afterwards, which could involve a lot of walking. Not to mention that not everybody want
152.
by adwf 10y ago
Yeah machine learning is no panacea, yet. I tend to classify a lot of learning computer problems as pre- or post-general AI. As in, would it essentially take a human equivalent AI to solve this problem or can we do it sooner with shortcuts
153.
by adwf 10y ago
Haha, completely unintentional. Very good point though. Personally I don't think flying cars will take off (ha, done it again...) for quite some time, if only for risk reasons. Think about just how many car accidents there are every
154.
by adwf 10y ago
Of course it would never happen. Standard British crab mentality. You can waste £10bn nationalising a money losing industry for the benefit of just 35,000. But if those 35,000 were to get the equivalent cash in hand, nooooo.... The cost i
155.
by adwf 10y ago
You have to take into account more than just the pure physical efficiency of rolling cars vs. flying. There is the practical efficiency too. When I drive my car to work, I have to take a big dogleg out to the motorway, sit in traffic for 5
156.
by adwf 10y ago
Not necessarily. If a car is twice as efficient, but has to travel three times as far because of the windy road system, the flying car will have it beat in a straight line.
157.
by adwf 10y ago
Good point, but I'd add that the defining difference that's taking over the software world at the moment is that we're finally working out ways of not needing the programmer to do everything . Machine learning lets the comp
158.
by adwf 10y ago
Manufacturing output didn't actually decline, it's at the highest levels ever, it just got fully automated. The real problem under Thatcher was that no-one put in place a decent plan for all the people losing their jobs. Take the
159.
by adwf 10y ago
The marginal cost of software is close to zero. You can't compete with free. That's why it's different to the old luddite fallacy. Machinery and robotic factories throughout the ages have cost millions to replace 100's
160.
by adwf 10y ago
There are a number of potential issues they solve: 1) Efficiency. A flying car can theoretically take a straight line to its destination instead of having to follow a complex road layout. It might be less efficient to fly per minute, but
161.
by adwf 10y ago
Ah I didn't know that they actually were using Chatham House, thanks. There still isn't much information released however ;)
162.
by adwf 10y ago
No-one except the invitees. The secrecy behind it generates lots of conspiracy theories, but to me it just sounds like a fancy high-flying networking event. It might be interesting if they released info under Chatham House rules, but that
163.
by adwf 10y ago
That's exactly my point. If you get excessively reductive about any business you essentially boil it down to "they make money". Saying Google is an "ad company" is almost as useless as saying they're a "c
164.
by adwf 10y ago
Well, as I stated above, I believe it unfair and misleadingly reductive to simplify a business down to its monetisation strategy. They are primarily a search company that makes money from ads. They could probably make money other ways, bu
165.
by adwf 10y ago
Email, maps, phones... They are tremendously successful in areas beyond search ads, but it's easier to remember the failures. Also, reducing their successes down to their monetisation strategy isn't exactly fair. Search is the pr
166.
by adwf 10y ago
Because lisp is an immensely flexible language/concept. Everyone has their own idea of what it should be/can be. Common Lisp was exactly what it says "Common". Just some sort of common ground between all the various li
167.
by adwf 10y ago
My priorities are: Reliability > Size ~= Price > Performance Reliability of a database is always no.1, without it, nothing else matters. So the customer must have enough access to the machine to setup replication and failover themsel
168.
by adwf 10y ago
Nope, original comment was nothing to do with stupidity or racism, just human nature that it's easier to lay the blame abroad rather than look inward. I know and have debated many people on differing sides of the UK/EU referendum
169.
by adwf 10y ago
Yes, those are very good points. Another is that the current refugee crisis is as much a crisis about quantity as about culture. We've had plenty of situations in the past where significant migration has occurred, Indians to Britain,
170.
by adwf 10y ago
Well, actually you were the one to call them "stupid racists", there was no mention of it in my original comment. I was pointing out that people are quick to blame the personal failings of others, "lazy welfare scroungers&qu
171.
by adwf 10y ago
Because the original comment I responded to was about globalism. My response assumed that talking about Trump and globalism was dog-whistling for the less pleasant elements of society and so touched on both racism and real economic issues.
172.
by adwf 10y ago
Yeah I agree with your second point. Society isn't ready for consenting multi-culturalism, the idea that someone might actually like something you find barbaric is a difficult one. As to your first point, calling out dog whistles ma
173.
by adwf 10y ago
They are absolutely valid concerns, but when people talk about the problems of globalisation or multi-culturalism, they usually follow it up with talk about building walls and pulling up drawbridges. Take the climate change induced migratio
174.
by adwf 10y ago
Not ironic at all, just coincidence. Of course there are situations out of our control like recession and war. But blaming others doesn't actually fix anything. All that anti-globalisation will do is massively raise prices on everyt
175.
by adwf 10y ago
I apologise if I took your words out context. I'm just so fed up with dog-whistle politics, of which anti-globalisation is one. ie. You mentioned Trump in the first sentence and then talked about globalisation being the problem, which
176.
by adwf 10y ago
I wouldn't say it's globalism per se. More that in a recession everyone looks for someone to blame. It's far easier to blame "those dirty foreigners" than it is to accept the vagaries of economics. Or that maybe
177.
by adwf 10y ago
Hmm, I wouldn't place Cameron as far-right. He's in charge of a right wing party with a large minority of far right members, but he's actually fighting his own party to stay in Europe. So Right, but not Far-Right. The far-r
178.
by adwf 10y ago
Yeah, it does lend the game a bit of a Moo2 feel. In other strategy games like Civ 5, or even in RPGs, it tends to be very straightforward to work out the "optimum" strategy. eg. You have to get this tech as quickly as possibl
179.
by adwf 10y ago
I have a feeling from looking at the patch notes and plans for the future, that they intended the ethics system to be a much more diversifying effect than it currently is. ie. You would have a lot more factions within your empire and secto
180.
by adwf 10y ago
Firstly, I'll say Stellaris is a great game, but I would also say that Stellaris isn't actually a pure 4X game if that's what you're looking for. Something like Gal Civ 3 or Star Ruler 2 would be better on that front.

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