cobbzilla

wow, Applixware, what a blast from the past!

I think Applixware was the corporate standard office software at Sun Micro in the late 90’s. This was during the Sun-on-Sun initiative that “banned Windows” and had all employees running Solaris on Sparcstations. There was grumbling. Sales, admin staff, basically anyone not technical, well let’s say they were not pleased.

Sun switched the standard to StarOffice around ~2000 iirc, it was a nice improvement but still not great for folks who only knew MS Office.

Absolutely! You can communicate with without (or with minimal) creativity. It’s not required in most cases. So AI is definitely very useful, and it can ape creativity better and better, but it will always be “faking it”.

Not being 100% algorithmically or mathematically derived is a good start. I’m certain there’s more but to me this is a minimum bar.

no matter what you ask AI to do, it’s going to give you an “average“ answer. Even if you tell it to use a very distinct specific voice and write in a very specific tone, it’s going to give you the “average“ specific voice and tone you’ve asked for. AI is the antithesis of creativity and originality. This gives me hope.

Makes one wonder if there’s a hidden pre/system prompt for Imagen that’s interfering with optimal results.

It’s more than visual preferences — his image actually adheres to the specified requirements. it hasn’t been shown that Imagen can do that, which might be a showstopper for many people, regardless of aesthetics.

It’s like someone got really into “A Clockwork Orange” and then thought: No, this is woefully inefficient, just one person at a time. It’ll be slower but we can do everyone all at once!

Could anyone point to an example or git repo showing a simple implementation?

I’m fascinated by this, but am admittedly clueless about how to actually go about building any kind of recognizer or other system atop it.

I figured a late reply is better than none — I was able to get sourcebot running on my private Gitea repos, and it’s great! I appreciate the responsiveness from the devs!

No, I wouldn’t have had to pay him or the court if I lost. In fact my court costs were added to my award, so I didn’t even really pay those.

I paid with my time. If I was sour about it, I might say “that’s time I’ll never get back”, but I consider it a wonderful learning experience and time well spent.

You may have done the right thing.

There was a case before mine, an elderly couple swindled by a landscaper who took a bunch of money, did a tiny bit of crappy work, then disappeared.

Landscaper didn’t show up at trial and they won a default judgement; but good luck collecting from a ghost.

Really! What kind of an American am I if I don’t even know how to sue someone!?

I’ll admit enjoying my newfound knowledge. I’m not actively looking to be litigious, but it’s great to know I’m ready if it comes to that again.

On a more practical note, the whole process was lengthy, but very clear and fair. We have a justice system, someone committed fraud against me, so I turned the cranks on the machine and got some justice. fwiw, I was also mentally prepared to lose, and learn what I did wrong if that happened. Not being too emotionally attached to a legal situation is a very good policy.

The best outcome, if they’re going to strong-arm it from you anyway, is to sell it to them.

Talk to a lawyer about optimal pricing, then offer to sell them the trademark for a decent discount versus what their strong-arm tactic will cost them (they have to pay lawyers too!)

The company wants your trademark for the lowest price. Just be cheaper than what they have to pay to legally steal it.

I’m almost 100% in agreement, but context matters, and attitude matters.

If you’re up against a behemoth, figure out how to get out ASAP.

But I’ve learned that small claims lawsuits can actually be quite fun! Earlier this year I sued a former landlord in small claims court. He had entered my rented space while I was away (without notice, multiple times) and then refused to return my security deposit when I moved out.

I went into it with a “let’s have fun and learn” attitude. I had never sued someone and I’d never represented myself in court. I read a lot, had some good conversations with LLMs (and then fact-checked them!) about the laws and case history in my area, then filed my suit.

After he dodged the summons three times, I discovered I could file a motion for alternative service (post on his front door, post in a newspaper, etc). When I went to court to argue for that motion, he actually showed up in court! So I asked the judge if he could be served right there, and he was!

Our trial was highly entertaining, I caught him in a bald-faced lie, then looked at the judge and said I’m not sure how both of these things he said could be true, I can’t figure out how it adds up but maybe you can.

I won the case, the judge awarded me less than I was asking for, but more than I was actually owed.

I was kinda hoping he would not pay (that’s common) in which case I was looking forward to learning about how to garnish his wages or put a lien on his property. But he’s actually paying me in monthly installments for the next very many months. He could pay me all at once so he’s being a bit of a jerk, but at least he’s paying.

All-in-all, I knew I had a solid case, had fun along the way, and didn’t spend more than a few bucks on court fees. In that specific context, it made sense for me and I’m happy I did it.

There’s a section on renewals but no description of how it works. Is there a background thread/process? Or is it request-driven? If request-driven, what about some hostname that’s (somehow) not seen traffic in >90 days?

That’s a great name for a cheese shop!

I have a silly dream about a rogue Catholic priest holding mass using cheese instead of bread, and after the transubstantiation, declaring: “Cheese is Christ”

Searching for “foo” is humorous, it’s mostly restaurants with signs that say “food” but the “d” is cropped.

hands down, thread winner

I want an AI that will tell me when I have asked a stupid question. They all fail at this with no signs of improvement.

using a VPN adds some latency

I recently learned that the inverse of thirst is called hyponatremic craving. This is when you have too much water and your body craves salt.

It ought to have a better word! “I’m feeling salty” doesn’t work!

Somehow this rhymes with the US's "War on Drugs", and it makes me very afraid:

Similarities I see:

* In the years leading up to government action, a mass hysteria was well cultivated in the media (evil drug users committing abhorrent crimes).

* When launched, the public was overwhelmingly in favor of it (In 1971, 48% of the public said drugs were a serious problem in their community [1]).

That's where we are now. THEN:

* It got worse for decades (By 1986, 56% of Americans said that the government spent "too little" money fighting drugs [1]).

* Following many years of lobbying, some rights are slowly restored. (NORML and other groups fighting for legal medical, then recreational use; mushrooms are legal in few places, etc).

* It's still going on today. (Over 100,000 people currently serving prison sentences for drug-related offenses [2]).

[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/6331/decades-drug-use-data-from...

[2] https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2025.html

As I understood it, the AI company is trying to prevent itself and its customers from engaging in (probably unintentional, but any) criminal activity.

When the AI company is "policing" your agent by requiring a "human in the loop", it's just CYA (cover your ass) for the AI company.

If your agent goes off and does something illegal, the AI company would be liable unless they have some legal deniability. By requiring you the human account owner to sign-off on what your agent is doing, you become liable for any crimes your agent commits on your behalf. I haven't read their TOS but I can guarantee there is some clause like this in there.

You are still completely free to commit crimes with your agent and suffer whatever legal consequences follow!! You just have to be clear that you intentionally wanted those actions to occur which resulted in the crime. If you repeatedly allow your agents to take actions that could potentially be criminal without any human-in-the-loop, they're going to ban you because it exposes themselves to potential criminal charges.

If you’re in the right lane, great. If the natural flow of traffic is 15 miles over the limit, any car in the far left lane driving significantly slower than other vehicles invites needless risk. Absolute, inflexible rules frequently lead to disaster. Cars that have to pass on the right creates many disasters.

Loud low sounds can travel very far, especially at night when it’s quiet. I can hear freight trains at night that are over 5 miles away. It wouldn’t surprise me if the beam engine was louder than a freight train, and that nights were even quieter in the early 20th century. Hundreds of miles is a bit much though.

You might not like this example, but the relatively recent evolution of 2nd Amendment jurisprudence, significantly strengthening gun rights, is the result of many impassioned, dedicated groups, lobbying the public and the government for decades.

The lesson is: stay active, stay vocal, stay in the media, and prepare for a very long haul. And file lots of lawsuits challenging everything!

That said, it’s not all roses in the US. There are many backdoors the government uses like issuing subpoenas to tech companies to get their data. Sometimes (like the notorious NSLs, National Security Letters) the order is secret and the company can’t even talk about it. This is also why the Snowden revelations were significant— arguably what the NSA is doing (mass, untargeted surveillance) is illegal, but so far (iirc) courts have said nobody has standing to challenge it. Various groups are still trying.

The US, at least, has a Bill of Rights that would make this illegal, it would definitely violate the 4th Amendment and maybe the 1st too.

Is Europe sliding into feudalism? The impression is that the government/megacorp complex are the lords, everyone else should accept their place as a serf and do whatever they’re told.

I frankly didn’t know much about Kristi Noam until the most recent South Park piqued my curiosity. I found this fascinating gem of an article diving into a wikipedia rabbit hole.