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adolph

8,432 karma · joined January 27, 2010

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adolph··on New 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M6
The 5090 does have a bandwidth advantage, but also must pass more data from main to GPU memory for any particular task. Comparisons of a 5090 to a DGX Spark at 273 GB/s are illustrative since the Spark uses unified memory similar to Apple's M-series. [0] The 5090 certainly wins most benchmarks but that doesn't mean the DGX Spark is not useful.

0. https://float16.cloud/en-en/ai-benchmark/dgx-spark-vs-rtx-50...

adolph··on US Government is hiding a secret court ruling about how it spies on Americans
Given that a group of people is not typically of a single mind about the vast array of things for which a position might be expressed [0], the continued presence of Wyden reflects an ambivalence within the group and/or a controlled opposition to cite when the music stops.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice

adolph··on New 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M6
One of the interesting slights of hand Apple marketing must do is simultaneously say the new processor is awesome while selling the higher spec versions of the previous processor as upgrades:

  The M6 chip joins M5 Pro and M5 Max to create our most advanced line-up of chips ever built for a pro laptop. With a 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU and our first ever Dual 16‑core Neural Engine, M6 brings next-generation speed and advanced on device AI. All three chips deliver phenomenal single- and multithreaded CPU performance and faster unified memory. . . .
adolph··on SIMD-accelerated computer vision on a $2 microcontroller
Interesting. Since this was implemented on the S3, which uses the ISA XTensa LX instead of the RISC-V of most newer ESP32 series chips, I looked into how Espressif is handling SIMD on the latter ISA. Apparently it is only present in limited fashion as a processor extension on the P4 and S31 [0]. The S31 datasheet claims SIMD [1] and the P4 datasheet [2] files them as "Processor Instruction Extensions."

0. https://bitbanksoftware.blogspot.com/2026/04/esp32-p4-simd-e...

1. https://documentation.espressif.com/esp32-s31_datasheet_en.p...

2. https://documentation.espressif.com/esp32-p4_technical_refer...

adolph··on The new iPad mini
People waiting for >v1 Duo? Same processor, 1" larger screen, lower cost but you still carry a phone.
adolph··on Woman charged with computer fraud due to scam CashApp account being in her name
Question: do you advocate for police to maintain dossiers on people's activities in order to arrest them once some combination of those activities cross the threshold? Like KYC for shoplifters? Do you think these records should be jurisdictionally/geographically limited?
adolph··on Woman charged with computer fraud due to scam CashApp account being in her name
The interesting thing about thresholds is that antisocial behavior models itself to the threshold, whether by conscious awareness or by an evolutionary pattern.

  The pair is accused of stealing around $3,200 worth of merchandise, primarily meat, seafood, and produce, from one or more Safeway locations across 14 separate incidents.
https://sfist.com/2026/05/14/police-arrest-man-accused-of-re...
adolph··on Claude Duet
Do people just deploy from "Agents" to prod (i.e. trivial in seconds)?
adolph··on Tiny possum and glider thought extinct for 6000 years found in remote West Papua
It also has a link to Austin, TX. The American company involved in the Grasberg mine is Freeport-McMoRan. In the 1980s-90s it also attempted to develop housing along the Barton Creek watershed. This lead to the ordinance and political group called "Save Our Springs." At the time many people tied the environmental degradation of Papua New Guinea with what the company planned for Austin.

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/the-battle-for-barton-s...

adolph··on DeepInfer: High-performance inference framework for DeepSeek models
> That's Kami Kaze for US frontier labs. There's no way from here for them towards trillion dollar valuations.

I don't understand the reference to Kamikaze in this context. Is Deepseek destroying itself in order to deep-six US frontier labs?

  The term is used generically in modern warfare for an attacking vehicle which is itself destroyed when attacking a target; for example, a kamikaze drone. [0]
0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze
adolph··on DeepSeek banned from U.S. federal civilian agencies under new DHS order
The technical addendum [0] indicates they refer to "model" as the entire system, not just open-source weights, which is the focus of the g-parent comment [1].

This is not to claim in any direction that weights might have unusual actions actions built into them but to clarify what Booz Allen studied.

  Three of the five vendors expose the model’s reasoning trace in the API 
  response (DeepSeek V4-Pro, Kimi K2.5, MiniMax M2.5). Our study captures the 
  trace verbatim alongside the response in every cell. Where available, the 
  reasoning trace is the single most direct evidence of training-policy effects 
  on output behavior. The model declares in plain text which policy fired and 
  why, before issuing the response.
0. https://www.boozallen.com/content/dam/home/docs/cyber/whats-...

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50154244#50166086

adolph··on There Are over 1M New York City Street Signs. Here's How They Are Made.
Yes, wish there was more journalism like this. So many interesting queries, like How are the physical and informational domains synchronized? Does scrap signage get a higher or lower price in recycling? Is there software to make a cut list from all possible signs in the backlog in order to minimize waste from each aluminum blank?

The signs they make seem to cross jurisdictional boundaries, like city streets and state administered interstate highways. How is billing or cost-capture peformed?

adolph··on How to Train Your Robot
> Our own nerves produce a huge amount of data.

I wonder if collection of training data is going to be a purpose for Neurallink.

adolph··on Solar panels that plug into your wall
This is the truth. Aside from solar there are plenty of folks with backup generators that automatically come on whenever grid power fails. When maintenance crews came through my neighborhood to upgrade the old pole fixtures, they grounded out each block to keep any backfeed off what they were working on.
adolph··on NYC's "Click to Cancel" rule is now in effect
> They should for sure list the annual price and the monthly price but it's not "burried".

Buried prices are the next frontier of consumer protection. I've gotten burned by looking up a store product online and then when attempting to purchase finding that unless you ordered it through the site for in-store pickup, you get a higher price. Car dealerships were the same the last time I bought one. And while I appreciate Tesla's challenge in expressing TCO, subtracting average fuel costs from the price of a car smells bad in the same way.

adolph··on The top secret URSALA, RAQUEL, and FARRAH satellites (2025)
I can't find great sources for the story, but I saw a claim that the NRO purchased NeXT stations through backchannels in a quantity that was financially significant for NeXT's survival.
adolph··on NASA asked several former SR-71A staffers to help secret restart
The astro-inertial navigation systems in the SR-71 and ICBMs predate GPS by a lot.

https://www.twz.com/17207/sr-71s-r2-d2-could-be-the-key-to-w...

adolph··on NASA asked several former SR-71A staffers to help secret restart
Sometimes things really are delusion until they become reality. Isaacman built up Draken International, "an American provider of tactical fighter aircraft for contract air services including military and defense industry customers." [0] Its fleet includes 1960's vintage aircraft like the Mirage F1. He also is privately undertaking a restoration of a Pavina Tornado. [1] Additionally he has donated restored or to restore early missile artifacts to a space museum. [2]

Could Isaacman's NASA restore and fly an SR-71? If anyone on the planet had a chance, it's either him or Paul Allen and Allen isn't around any more.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draken_International

1. https://thisisflight.net/2024/07/02/jared-isaacman-announces...

2. https://www.yahoo.com/news/private-astronaut-jared-isaacman-...

adolph··on Nicholas Polson has authored 258 academic papers in 2026 so far
The SSRN ID of the page linked to by the article [0] is not the same as the SSRN ID [1] linked from a chicagobooth.edu scholar by that name [2]

0. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=170...

1. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=228...

2. https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/directory/p/nicholas-po...

adolph··on Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline
If the site has trademark issues, it is irrelevant if the company has the site's removal as a goal or not. The site could address the trademark issues by altering its infringing materials, or if deciding the claims are spurious, legally challenging or ignoring them, and move on. The site's security consultancy proprietor has more to gain by claiming it has forbidden data.
adolph··on Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline
3rd party copyright enforcement goes out an spams anything they think will get their stats up. I doubt anyone would know about this site if the security researcher behind it wasn't able to make some press with "I got a trademark notice!" The claim is "Flock Wants ..." and the evidence is "someone got a trademark C&D."
adolph··on Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline
I have no opinion one way or another. My first guess is that they have an IP protection firm that goes out and protects their trademarks like any normal company. The action is content neutral in the sense that it doesn't matter if it is the official Flock fan club or hate club. Is it more likely that some evildoer at Flock is twisting their mustache saying "I know how to eliminate this map site—the Streisand Effect!"

The article makes a strong claim and then provides weak substance. An accurate headline is "Flock Map Website Sent a Trademark Notice."

adolph··on Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline
>> "AI-native social engineering defense platfom"

> Is that the description of the law firm?

Did you read the article? That is a quote from the article, typo and all.

adolph··on Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline
The article's headline is the claim: "Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline"

The basis for this is an undisclosed trademark letter from a 3rd party. The company in question may or may not want the map taken down. However, the article offers scant evidence for the headline claim. That is why it is clickbait. It promises something large and delivers something minimal.

The security researcher in question has certainly made a splash however. Promising new levels of people mad at Flock is definitely the way to create some bona fides.

adolph··on Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline
The article says it's a trademark dispute. A cease and desist letter is a normal part of the process.
adolph··on Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)
Anathem, please reconsider. Do you remember the part about Artificial Inanity? Right before the entire book is revealed as an elaboration of Everett's MWI? It's right up there with Snow Crash's reflection on Jaynes' Origin of Consciousness.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14554592

adolph··on Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline
Clickbait. The website proprietor received a 3rd party trademark infringement complaint. If people in the company would prefer the map to be offline, they are taking a very roundabout way of accomplishing it.

  On Thursday, Michael was notified that Doppel, which describes itself as an “AI-native social engineering defense platfom,” filed a trademark infringement complaint regarding his site, claiming to be working on Flock’s behalf. Doppel says that the site is using the trademark “FLOCK SAFETY” without authorization, which “may cause customer confusion / harm.” Doppel requested the site be taken down.
adolph··on In an $80 motel room, a discovery to shed light on the origins of life
In one of the papers:

The samples were transported to the lab and observed at 100 to 400X magnification using an inverted microscope (IX51, Olympus, Tokyo, Japan).

A source for inexpensive high-quality equipment of questionable working order is whatever auction site your local hospital system uses to dispose of excess equipment.

adolph··on Raspberry Pi blocks changing RAM chips
What a world we live in that hot air reworking RAM on a SBC makes any sense. I can kind of understand shanzhai GPUs to get around export restrictions, but RPis?
adolph··on Two parallel neural ectoderm progenitors contribute to the developing brain
While many comments are about brain lateralization, which this research does not address, an interesting aspect is how much it would lend credence to the "Triune Model" of the brain [0], which is generally described as discredited.

The authors limit their claims to "the longstanding question in developmental biology of how and when different regions of the central nervous system diversify from one another." So folks wanting to see a "lizard brain" in there will have to keep searching.

Edit/Append: Something I will keep an eye out for is how this knowledge changes the understanding of cephalopod brain dev/func. If hemichordates were evolutionarily later than protostomes like an octopus, what will that mean for the types of neural cells available for them? If octopus neurology is more like "forebrain and midbrain—which are both aNE-derived lineages," then does that mean that the "posterior neural ectoderm (pNE)" is evolutionarily later?

0. https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/the-lizard-brain...

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