djoldman

22 ms·

511.
by djoldman 1y ago
Here's the uncomfortable fact: If the US Federal Government spent ZERO money on anything except: 1. Social Security 2. Medicare & Medicaid 3. National Defense 4. Net Interest on the Public Debt 5. Income Security 6. Veterans Benefi
512.
by djoldman 1y ago
> So why do people open small shops? For any number of reasons, but my favorite is: They have a strong opinion about how some aspect of a business should be run, and they want to double down on it....That singular thing can drive an init
513.
Underwater turbine spinning for 6 years off Scotland's coast is a breakthrough(apnews.com)
261 points by djoldman 1y ago|222 comments
514.
by djoldman 1y ago
Well the counter example is when you have a program you know runs correctly but has to run many times. If all you have to do is run it through gnu parallel, that's a close to zero development cost.
515.
by djoldman 1y ago
> The students were menaces, given to drunkenness, gambling, dueling, and chronically skipping class. I came across this awhile ago and thought it pretty incredible and interesting: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St
516.
Second Variety, by Philip K. Dick (1953)(gutenberg.org)
90 points by djoldman 1y ago|27 comments
517.
by djoldman 1y ago
> Simple means getting rid of extra words. Don’t write, “He was very happy” when you can write “He was happy.” You think the word “very” adds something. It doesn’t. Prune your sentences. Yes. (Hemingway).
518.
by djoldman 1y ago
If someone takes someone else's property without anyone seeing the act except a video camera, the video may be admitted as evidence. Moving something into evidence that isn't testimony from a living breathing human is commonplace.
519.
by djoldman 1y ago
Technology is not the roadblock here. People don't want automated ticketing, so governments don't implement it. In addition, there are many laws that aren't enforced and would generate instant outcry if they were. For example
520.
by djoldman 1y ago
> An AI (a computer program) that is better at [almost] any task than 5% of the human specialists in that field has achieved AGI. Let's say you have a candidate AI and assert that it indeed has passed the above benchmark. How do you
521.
by djoldman 1y ago
I like where this is going. However, it's not sufficient. The actual tasks have to be written down, tests constructed, and the specialists tested. A subset of this has been done with some rigor and AI/computers have surpassed this
522.
by djoldman 1y ago
The part that seems to be lost in all this is that there's really no purpose to learning/exploring/explaining unless it points to action. Knowing you have ADHD, childhood trauma, attachment issues, etc. is useless if that kno
523.
by djoldman 1y ago
It's sarcasm.
524.
by djoldman 1y ago
Let's skip to the punchline. Using TFA's analogy: essentially folks are saying not that this is a set of dice rolling around making words. It's a set of dice rolling around where someone attaches those dice to the real world
525.
by djoldman 1y ago
Is this true given all the chips modern cars have, all the programming that must be done, and all the complex testing and QA required for the multitude of extra function? I would gladly gladly keep my AC, heat, hazards, blinkers, wipers, ma
526.
by djoldman 1y ago
https://archive.ph/ThMlo
527.
by djoldman 1y ago
Regardless of what one thinks about Amazon, one's actions have approximately zero effect on it. Even if one controlled, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, or 100,000 people and commanded them to not use Amazon, it would have little effect. If som
528.
by djoldman 1y ago
There's a LOT here. I feel this applies to a lot of decisions. For instance, if you want to make a product that requires a database and you like building database stuff, do the database stuff last. Do what is difficult first - fail fas
529.
by djoldman 1y ago
? This applied to salaries, it wasn't a capital expenditure as "capital expenditure" has traditionally been defined. This was an operational expense.
530.
by djoldman 1y ago
Many well-trusted and reasonable tech folks who are known for sober takes on subjects have reported substantial improvements in their programming work by using various forms of generative AI. What does substantial mean? Somewhere between 5%
531.
by djoldman 1y ago
Fair enough. Sounds like legislation may be a good way to enforce internet filtering on school computers . Schools have traditionally been ground zero for culture war in the USA, so this fits.
532.
by djoldman 1y ago
Wow, what is Carrollton like? Highest prevalence of Korean Restaurants: Carrollton, Texas 14.67% Federal Way, Washington 12.45% Santa Clara, California 8.74% Garden Grove, California 8.20% Irvine, California 7.75% Fullerton, California
533.
by djoldman 1y ago
What's the right kind of parent?
534.
by djoldman 1y ago
> Isn’t that the same argument as “Parents should keep kids away from cigarettes” by tobacco companies who were simultaneously marketing to children? I think most would agree that there's a significant difference between a physical
535.
by djoldman 1y ago
For kids with a guardian, the answer is enabling and empowering the guardian to control what the child can access. Somehow we've inappropriately shifted responsibility away from parents/guardians in some areas like internet access
536.
by djoldman 1y ago
It's time we acknowledge that the purpose of most UI "progress" or "change" is sales. An entity like Apple introduces UI "enhancement" to attract prospective users and persuade existing users that the fun
537.
Build Systems à la Carte (2018) [pdf](microsoft.com)
84 points by djoldman 1y ago|20 comments
538.
by djoldman 1y ago
The most interesting stat to me is: > The number of packages that Amazon ships itself per employee each year has also steadily increased since at least 2015 to about 3,870 from about 175...
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by djoldman 1y ago
I always turn off every feature on every router I don't own and use it in pass through mode.
540.
"Fuck the algorithm"?: What to learn from the UK's A-level grading fiasco (2020)(blogs.lse.ac.uk)
2 points by djoldman 1y ago|0 comments

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