thehatfox

thehatfox , 9 days ago

I think it’s becoming fair to label a lot of commercial AI “scams” at this point, considering the huge gulf between the hype and the end results.

Open source projects are different due to their lack of commercialisation.

thehatfox , 11 days ago

I have a ThinkPad X220 that recently turned 13, with SSD and RAM upgrades, basic maintenance, and Linux it’s still running great for plenty of tasks.

Plus it’s so well built I could probably stick it in a plate carrier and use it as body armour. Doesn’t seem to matter how much it gets dropped or dropped onto, ol’ Thinky keeps on chugging.

thehatfox , 10 days ago

Might be worth looking into LoRa for longer range, it’s got quite cheap to play with now.

thehatfox , 18 days ago

Yet another reminder that “the cloud” is really just “someone else’s computer”. The end users of cloud based products are controlled by “someone else’s” rules and whims.

thehatfox , 19 days ago

Well it’s a step forward for efficiency at least. Now I can see the LLM generated crap straight it in the search page, rather than having to click through to an automated blogspam page.

If they are really going all-in on this, it almost feels like Google admitting defeat on search, having now been drown by the (partially self inflicted) deluges of SEO and now “AI”.

thehatfox , 19 days ago

Platforms like Facebook have an incredible hold on some people. I remember a few years ago when the "Momo" hoax happened, an older coworker arrived at the office and started warning us about the danger of "Momo" they'd seen on Facebook. I'd already heard about the hoax (and was aware of the original creepyasta origins), and brought up a few news articles explaining it, including an official statement from the police. Everyone seemed satisfied by the truth, except for the Facebook addict. They just gave me a blank stare, and a few hours later I heard them telling another group of colleagues to beware of "Momo" getting to their children.

I have family members and longstanding family friends who have succumbed to this. Interestingly almost all of them were decrying the internet as something that couldn't be trusted before the age of social media.

thehatfox , 19 days ago

2018 according to Wikipedia, so 6 years ago!

thehatfox , 22 days ago

There’s a lot of these in the UK, I can think of a bunch just in my own town. We seem to really dislike corners.

thehatfox , 26 days ago

This is how I take pictures, I take pictures of the things I am seeing so I can look back at those moments later. I don’t experience life in third person, observing myself from overhead like a video game, so why would I want myself in the pictures?

thehatfox , 29 days ago

There’s satisfaction to be found when labour results in a tangible and lasting result.

Some of the people I know who quit the IT industry did so because they felt all of the effort they put in never seemed to achieve anything. Too many jobs at startups who exist only to be bought and shut down by bigger fish for some IP etc.

For some work is not just about wages or challenges, it’s about building something useful and meaningful, whether figuratively or literally.

thehatfox , 30 days ago

I’ve still got a 3310 in a drawer, it still turns on, and if I had a SIM card for it would be fully working as the UK still operates a 2G network (for now at least).

There’s even removable fascia plates still for sale on eBay.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

Youtube has made similar changes a while back. YouTube recommendations feature small/tiny channels with few subscribers a lot more often.

It’s mixed results for viewers but it does help to good small channels to not be drowned out by the bigger players.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

All of the apps on the rabbit run in the cloud anyway, as well as the AI bits. Nothing is running locally on the device. There’s nothing the rabbit device does that couldn’t be done via an app or web portal to those cloud services instead.

At least with the Humane AI Pin it was an attempt to create a new class of device. The rabbit r1 however is effectively just an oddly shaped Android phone locked to running a single app. The only reason it seems to exist is to allow an existing hardware company to jump on the AI bandwagon.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

Regulatory hurdles kept crypto out of most mainstream products. There are no such barriers for AI, and any that are put up may come too late.

There are also more possible mainstream use cases for AI - if the technology works as promised. That’s the biggest for AI currently, and some products like the Humane Pin are already tripping over it.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

can also easily cause depression by constantly seeing (usually) fake people flaunting their (usually) fake life and wealth

That’s a problem with many social media platforms and the “influencer” culture they host. Instagram has been particularly criticised for this.

These heavily curated content posted on these platforms does not reflect the warts and all reality of real life. People who get too engrossed in it can quickly start to feel their lives are inadequate.

I’m not sure what the solution is for this, other than trying to better regulate the algorithms used by these platforms.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

It’s all vertical video as well. YouTube pushes Shorts fairly aggressively on the desktop website, and it’s a crappy experience.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

It’s not just about data and spying, it’s also about media and influence. The argument being made that it’s not a good idea to have a “hostile” nation effectively controlling one of the major/dominant social media platforms.

There is also the trade issue of reciprocity, China bans many if not most of the western platforms, while they have free rein to operate theirs in the west.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

Thing is with the iMessage argument is nobody is forced to use it. If green bubbles really are “ruining relationships” wouldn’t Americans be installing WhatsApp or another messenger like the rest of the world?

There are plenty of good reasons to criticise Apple’s behaviour. But I’m not convinced the popularity of iMessage is one of them.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

With how aggressive Microsoft is becoming with ads, services, and data collection they could at least make Windows itself free.

But no, you still have to pay £100+ per license to have the pleasure of putting up with this crap.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

Terrible products like this might end poisoning the well for genuinely useful AI projects further down the line. “AI” will loose it’s buzz and instead become synonymous with failure to consumers and investors alike.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

The 8th of The Ten Commandments, Thou Shalt Not Steal, seems the closest direct answer to our question but also raises an age-old piracy dispute – is copying theft?

I'm no theologian, but considering the writing of Exodus is dated around 500 BC, and based upon much older oral traditions, and any formal idea of intellectual property being a much more recent invention, I don't think the context of the 10 Commandments would consider copying theft.

The comparison to Jesus and the loaves and fishes also seems quite apt. Jesus seeds.

thehatfox , 1 month ago

The wording of the new App Store rules say developers are responsible for any software offered in an app, and there's been a bit of debate going on as to what that means in practice.

I haven't heard if any emulators have or haven't passed Apple's review process yet.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

I always keep Home Assistant as up to date as possible. Home Assistant keeps improving a lot. Month to month each update goes fairly seamlessly if HA is kept up to date, but the further it falls behind the harder it is to catch back up. Recent optimisation improvements have also made the update process faster.

If you can make the time it's worth the effort. Even if you have to "start over" somewhat there is probably a lot you have learned since that you can use to improve your setup.

thehatfox OP , 1 month ago

It's a real step up for managing Home Assistant. I was using it earlier to find some devices to reconfigure and it's a lot faster. The xtra panels in the UI feel a little cramped on smaller screens though.

I wish they would implement a proper permissions system next, the lack of control is the other admin bugbear of mine with Home Assistant.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

In the AI age we are going to need some way to have lasting likeness rights, in life and death.

There should be some sort of protection against having a persons appearance hijacked, especially for commercial purposes.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

Return to Castle Wolfenstein also had an official Linux port in 2002-ish.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

Quake 2 also had a Linux port, as did Return to Castle Wolfenstein. iD Software was one of the few early supporters of Linux for commercial games.

thehatfox OP , 2 months ago

Once bitten twice shy.

I would like to believe the pledges were positive news. But Affinity has already broken their promise on acquisition, so I’m having a hard time now taking their word on licensing.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

I’ve always been doubtful about these privacy “protection” services. Giving a bunch of personal data and money to a commercial entity making seemingly dubious claims it can compel other services to remove your data has never seemed like a great idea. Data is the new oil, it’s incredibly valuable, and there is too much incentive for companies like that to become just another data collector.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

In the UK the BBC are running their own instance social.bbc on trial basis, and I think the trial was recently extended.

Hopefully other public bodies will follow suit.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

Kids have been watching plenty of brain melting videos before AI came along too.

If you want kid’s brains to stay nice and firm don’t let them be raised by a tablet.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

Nice. They are all on sale too. Also includes the Populous sequels (The Beginning had destructible 3D environments, quite innovative for the time) and the Command and Conquer Ultimate Collection.

From the looks of the Steam pages they don’t require Origin either.

Looks like I’m not having a productive weekend this week!

thehatfox , 2 months ago

A nice as it would be to have, I don't get how the messaging interoperability is going to work in practice. The different platforms have many technical differences between them at the backend, and also mismatched user facing feature sets. Ironing all of the that out into some sort of common ground is going to be difficult, especially without it being very janky.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is kicked into the long grass eventually.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

There is still an enormous amount of C++ code still in use (and other unsafe languages for that matter). It is still an actively developed and used language, and likely will be for many years to come. Having at least a basic grounding in it is very valuable element of flexibility for any potential programmer, as well as an understanding of the underlying concepts.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

Not only does YouTube allow content like this to be monetised, they are often also actively promoting it. Alt-right videos regularly pop up in YouTube recommendations, even for users who never watch any political content.

All that matters is engagement, and apparently that kind of content is very effective in keeping people watching. Regardless of the broader consequences.

thehatfox , 2 months ago

Unfortunately it’s never-ending cat and mouse battle. The whole point of SEO is to game the search engines systems, so the spammers will now be adjusting their tactics.

I don’t think it’s just SEO that’s the problem with Google search either. They seem to put too much weight on e-commerce over information.

thehatfox , 3 months ago

I ordered a load of network patch cables recently. They all came packaged individually in sealed plastic bags.

thehatfox , 3 months ago

Many things didn’t used to be packaged at all, they were sold loose in bulk. The shop would put them in a paper bag at purchase.

thehatfox , 3 months ago

Google+ could have been successful to a degree, in terms of features it was an improvement over Facebook in several ways. The problem was the invite only launch.

The invite period worked for Gmail because it was still interoperable with other email services, and made getting a Gmail address seem exclusive and desirable. Making a walled garden social network invite only, however, just lead to it being empty. Most who did sign up looked around for a few minutes then went back to Facebook.

thehatfox , 3 months ago

The difficulties in monetisation is what had been slowly killing RSS support on websites. There have been services that have tried to solve this problem, one is mentioned in the article, but they don’t seem to have had wide adoption.

It’s not just inserting ads either, today it’s also the pervasive tracking that makes money.

RSS was great for things like personal blogs, but commercial sites came to see little value in it, and have been dropping it as a result.