the_af

8 ms·

151.
by the_af 4mo ago
This is something I've seen repeated time and time again as a criticism of (misused) abstraction and DRY, yet I've never seen ONCE -- and this is not hyperbole, I mean it literally -- a junior making an abstraction with any though
152.
by the_af 4mo ago
I think you're mistaken about this, because you're stuck in previous eras where the technological gap between "the people" and those in power was manageable; but now it's far wider, and will only get even greater. A
153.
by the_af 4mo ago
> there was an option to first download all the data which I've used and got the images back (there were just a few as I haven't used the service really), then I've closed the account. There was no need to subscribe. Doe
154.
by the_af 4mo ago
> In the USSR, Cuba, China, etc., where expropriation or nationalization happened, first they confiscated everyone’s firearms. I don't think this is strictly the order of how it went in any of those cases, even though, of course,
155.
by the_af 4mo ago
First, let me clarify my dystopian scenario is extreme. I'm aware of this, and I'm not saying it will necessarily come to pass. (edit: removed a wall of text that was repeating my previous comment). What I describe can start gradu
156.
by the_af 4mo ago
In an hypothetical future where society has completely broken down because of extreme concentration of wealth (and means of production and everything) I can see there not being any possibility for a human-based society. In such a doomsday s
157.
by the_af 4mo ago
Small nitpick (not of the neckbeard type): if you split the wood in slices then rotate it so the cut strikes perpendicular to the slices, it tends to split horizontal pieces of wood without touching the rest, even if it's "sandwic
158.
by the_af 4mo ago
I had a lot of fun with Sim Ant... but mostly playing as the spider :D (I'm talking about the classic, not sure if there's a remake).
159.
by the_af 4mo ago
What's the imperfection? The eyes are standard (and deliberate) cartoon animation. Or is there something else I missed?
160.
by the_af 4mo ago
In that case... I support you! :)
161.
by the_af 4mo ago
I agree with the sentiment and dislike Kissinger, but that quote is always paraphrased and out of context. The full quote makes it clear Kissinger was saying, in the context of the Vietnam War, that the US should come to the aid of their
162.
by the_af 4mo ago
It's not about cheap. It's about ordering vs building. If you tell an architect and a bunch of workers to build you a house, even if you pick some details and make some choices, it's them that are building the house, not you.
163.
by the_af 4mo ago
Agreed there are nuances, but in the context of this conversation about TFA, the suspicion is that this is mostly on the "100% AI" side of dial. There's also a "high volume, low quality" aspect to the PRs, as eviden
164.
by the_af 4mo ago
I get where you're coming from, but for completely non-technical people, it seems to me the more precise analogy is not "building" but "ordering online". Or hiring someone to do something for you. If you order a piz
165.
by the_af 4mo ago
Sure, but why buy from someone in HN? Amazon ships to my country. As I said, I'm not looking for help here. I do know where to buy the book and I can afford it. I just haven't decided to buy it (yet) for the myriad of reasons peop
166.
by the_af 4mo ago
I don't know whether to call it fetishism, which has a negative undertone to me. But I do love physical books. Even unimposing books, I like reading them but also touching them, their smell, their covers. And for art books, I think it
167.
by the_af 4mo ago
Thanks! I've no problem buying the Stripe Press book, as I've said I simply haven't pulled the trigger yet. I don't mind the price, it's just that most of it I've already read back when it was freely available
168.
by the_af 4mo ago
I really appreciate the offer. I live in South America, so this is a no-go. How come you didn't read it? Did you lose interest?
169.
by the_af 4mo ago
Like I suspect many here reading the story, I grew up with Prince of Persia and remember it fondly as one of my favorite games from my youth. It's very interesting to see the filming material used for rotoscoping the characters. I find
170.
by the_af 4mo ago
> My personal take is a pre-requisite of true human-like AI is physical feedback and a concept of emotions or something like it. Ted Chiang's recent article, which received a lot of pushback from HN'ers (but not from me, I
171.
by the_af 4mo ago
I think they've brought back a "personality" of sorts to ChatGPT 5.x. I've caught it more than once explaining something to me and saying "In my personal opinion", or "I personally enjoy <thing> the
172.
by the_af 4mo ago
> Same way 3D printing replaced all common goods, can be done by anyone. Why not just print it yourself? I don't think the analogy works. 3D printers are still fiddly, require a lot of know-how, take up space at home, resin printe
173.
by the_af 4mo ago
> It only puts 90% of developers out of a job if the demand for software stays flat. ...or if there's an increase of demand for software, but mostly of the kind that can be completely automated by AI, no need for developers.
174.
by the_af 4mo ago
> Now they're going to build their own software every time they think they need an app..? As others have said, this will be more like ordering food than "building". It's not there yet, but soon-ish it might be.
175.
by the_af 4mo ago
> “Less is better” is sort of… the position of the engineer who enjoys the craft of programming, right? I don’t think this is universally believed. I think it is (or should be) a goal & business-oriented concern as well, not just a
176.
by the_af 4mo ago
I think this is important: > When a company says “AI made everyone more productive, so we need fewer people”, I want to see the evidence - and I don’t believe it exists today. Show me that x% of your workforce is genuinely idle (or even
177.
by the_af 4mo ago
Well, for starters, ELIZA was much simpler than what you built ;) I don't think you're allowed to say your program is happy or sad. You just assigned labels to some numerical values out of a (possibly non-deterministic) procedure.
178.
by the_af 4mo ago
Your pedantic nitpick is duly noted and dismissed as a red herring. You know what I meant and you know there's a real scientific principle behind my use of "null hypothesis". Ted Chiang's is the only take that is honest
179.
by the_af 4mo ago
> Why would using math in certain fashion such that it mimics consciousness be considered unethical and comparable to human slavery? If it mimics consciousness it wouldn't be conscious ("mimics" implies faking, right?).
180.
by the_af 4mo ago
Anthropic is not a disinterested party here, and until their experiments can be replicated from an adversarial standpoint by people without a vested interest in hyping up the tech (i.e. one assuming the null hypothesis), I wouldn't con

More ›