Posts by pbloem@sigmoid.social
(DIR) Post #AlChhmdMjaoflST1W4 by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2024-08-21T21:17:38Z
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@futurebird @GottaLaff They A/B test their headlines in the online version. It could be that only some people saw this. This is a pretty nasty practice, especially for a supposedly reputable newspaper, since pretty much the only thing you can optimize for is "engagement". In other words, it just leads to blind clickbait.https://blog.tjcx.me/p/new-york-times-ab-testing
(DIR) Post #An4o2fU8bH2Q7a719c by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2024-10-16T21:35:13Z
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@futurebird This is half an answer, but if r is known, then you can take r! to the other side, and get ir! (with i your integer) which should be the product of successive integers starting at r+1, I think. If r doesn't work, just trying the multiplication should overshoot soon enough.Since r=1 is unsatisfying anyway, you might try this for a few rs near n/2, or look at the factors to find good candidates.
(DIR) Post #An84Al4vrwjmWi597I by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2024-10-18T11:19:56Z
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@futurebird Did you follow the OLPC project at the time? It was (among nerds) quite a hopeful project with a lot of driven people trying to make it work.Then Microsoft stuck their grubby fingers in, and it all sort of came apart. But for a brief time, a huge amount of effort was concentrated on building a really good, cheap laptop for children.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XO
(DIR) Post #AoXNutDHYZj1nwTKUK by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2024-11-29T14:21:11Z
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@futurebird I wouldn't say it to a young person, but modern music seems a little noiseless to me. All melodic and clean. So maybe we can be at least consistent olds.
(DIR) Post #AolYsoJccA8dkC5UWm by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2024-12-06T10:30:02Z
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@futurebird Have you read A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeinersmith)? It goes into this at some length, and the news isn't good (in the near term at least). It's not that we can't build them, but most of the supply chains for the replacement parts you'd need (say computer chips) are so gargantuan that's it's difficult to see how you'd keep them going without An Earth with a few billion people and loads of natural resources.
(DIR) Post #ApyTPqwUOxRBpzETcO by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-01-11T13:51:55Z
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@futurebird I'm involved with the development of policy at our university. To summarize:Teachers should be forced to learn about it. They don't need to like it, but they need to understand it. Students don't need to be incentivized, but they should taught the dangers. They need to experience the world without AI at least occasionally.Institutions should be held back from buying in to the hype uncritically. They need to understand their own values and how they relate to current AI products.
(DIR) Post #AqsIktRRIUDXePfubY by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-02-07T12:16:30Z
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@futurebird London has these too. One of them flows through a metro station, above the trains.https://metro.co.uk/2024/01/28/london-underground-station-secret-river-running-right-20185034/
(DIR) Post #Ara5t7aH3fU2dlIX20 by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-02-28T14:35:44Z
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Moving away from Firefox shows how much the rot has already set in. After dismissing the "set as default browser" dialog, and explicitly clicking "don't ask again", next time it shows me a different pop-up, that is much easier to accidentally click.All the dark patterns are there: high contrast easily-clickable default option. "No now" instead of "No" as low contrast alternative answer. Cute little cartoon.
(DIR) Post #Ara5tF9cucvC7QtMbg by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-02-28T14:39:36Z
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Is the cute cartoon a dark pattern? I like cute things (and this fox is well-drawn to be fair).But I think it's a deliberate attempt to infantilize the user and to put a harmless face on something insidious. @aral noted this more than ten years ago. Make big brother a cartoon dinosaur instead of a mustachioed man and suddenly we will swallow anything. https://ar.al/notes/spyware-2.0/
(DIR) Post #AsylsIOHCqpjB9wOQq by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-04-11T10:55:10Z
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@futurebird These are great. One of my bug bears:- Don't accept that students are worried about practicalities, like how to pass the test/course. Assume this implies a lazy and uninterested attitude.
(DIR) Post #At97U1OAuJbU4VK50S by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-04-16T10:44:28Z
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@futurebird @skynebula If this is going to work at all, it would presumably involve feeding all his clients' communication with him into GPT as a prompt, sending it all off to OpenAI.If I were his client (presumably also on LinkedIn) I would raise some eyebrows over that.
(DIR) Post #AtDzlYbnPIi2iInOGe by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-04-18T18:57:54Z
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@thekitmalone Boost often. Including your own posts. The custom is different here, since there's no algorithm. Think early Twitter (for those who were around back then).
(DIR) Post #AtHRMkw1oz4ZtV6L0C by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-04-20T11:04:57Z
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@futurebird @lnlyisol In the early days, there was a lot to do about "the long tail". How the internet made it worthwhile to cater to niche subjects because you could cast such a wide net.I felt this died when companies like Netflix became big. They started focusing on things with mass appeal. They could have broadened their catalog with lots of cheap, niche movies that a few people would like but they never bothered. I think it would still make them money. It just doesn't generate prestige.
(DIR) Post #AtYNFlaGbyvu5tD0TI by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-04-28T15:08:57Z
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@futurebird Obviously the theorist can dismiss any evidence, but in the interest of coming up with an argument, you could look at the sizes of national lottery jackpots vs country populations.This will be a very clean relation. What's more, you can show from basic math what the payout should be for any number of people n. The theorist can observe locally that this law is true based on small-scale sports betting etc.
(DIR) Post #AuCVGGuAQRz3iI6TvE by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-05-17T11:40:12Z
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Found in Naomi Klein's Doppelganger. The one lesson I wish the modern left would internalize more than anything.Use shared language.Don't use lefty jargon when the person you're talking to doesn't subscribe to these ideas. No white privilege, no colonial oppression, no intersectionality. Translate to a shared language, built on reasonable, common assumptions and do the work required to bring people on board.Because you can be damned sure the MAGA crowd are doing the work.
(DIR) Post #AuCVGOgdUduhqdpmwS by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-05-17T11:45:26Z
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This is not just about the alienating effect of jargon (like you normally get in science communication). It's also about sneaking unshared assumptions into the conversation.You can be talking about Gaza to somebody who is absolutely hoffirifed by Israel's actions, but if you frame the whole thing as colonial oppression you can still lose them. They will detach from the conversation because they don't share that particular perspective and you didn't make room discuss that assumption.
(DIR) Post #AxKuOt1bUOWol6gVSC by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-08-19T18:31:33Z
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Whoever is responsible for this should not have chosen a career in IT.Whoever is responsible for this should have had a career in staying out of the way.
(DIR) Post #AxKuOu7fPKyMACWrXk by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-08-19T18:32:17Z
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And yes, the spinner was stuck at 99%
(DIR) Post #AxKuOuzCCJn4qDZbyi by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-08-19T18:35:04Z
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The whole idea of detailed "cookie preferences" is an affront. I cannot express how presumptuous it is for you to think that I'll sit around and waste mental bandwidth thinking "hmm, let me decide in some detail how I'll let this website store their crap on my computer. For this website, I think I will go for the personalized experience, but not for the targeted advertising."Like I'm perusing a menu at a restaurant.
(DIR) Post #B064OWf6GI6JV1z7vE by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2025-11-08T11:44:31Z
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@futurebird The bees at Buckingham palace got some sad news quite recently. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/royal-beekeeper-bees-queen-death-b2164345.html