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dbetteridge

1,185 karma · joined January 7, 2018

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dbetteridge··on Frontier Airlines Likely Breached
There was a post the other day that Amadeus (one of the major backend GDS systems) had been persistently exposing passenger information via a vulnerable endpoint since 2023

So that or similar other hacks

dbetteridge··on Microsoft offers mass buyouts for roughly a quarter of its workforce
Safe to say that money and prosperity can be linked, but are not equal.

Lack of regulation in tech causes real harm, like addiction, social issues and misinformation,not to mention issues with cyber bullying and suicide in teens.

Do some people make out like bandits with billions or millions of dollars, sure but I don't think that's a good barometer for progress or prosperity.

To paraphrase Doctor Who "Human progress isn't measured by industry, it's measured by the value you place on a life. An unimportant life. A life without privilege"

And by that measure we are still cavemen.

dbetteridge··on Turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 and get its disk space back
Even if you don't want to personally remove them, it should be easy and front and centre to do so.

It's my disk space, processing power and electricity. Apple shouldn't get to use it as they please

dbetteridge··on US criticises Australia's proposed algorithm opt-out laws as 'censorship'
Two options from what I could see.

You can entirely opt out of algorithmic feed and just see an unfiltered list of your connections posts.

Or if you choose the algorithmic option, there's some ability for the ministers to request content be removed.

Could it be abused to remove content they don't like? Of course

Is it a marked improvement on Meta/Tiktok getting carte Blanche to select what people see? I think so.

dbetteridge··on BYD Slashes Price of Electric Car and Becomes Cheapest in Australia [video]
500k doesn't get you much house in Australia these days, try double that.
dbetteridge··on Fable 5.1 Solves the Cyphral Distich, a 370-year-old cipher
I'm constantly using the "Extract this in basic technical terms, be succinct and assume the reader has technical knowledge"."

Because good lord, does claude waffle when left to its own devices.

dbetteridge··on Maiao: Gerrit-style code review workflow for GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, others
A PR is a collection of commits?

Integration into main ideally is squashed down to a single merge commit though.

It shouldn't matter how many commits a pr takes to from 0 to finished

dbetteridge··on WPD won't replace stolen Flock cameras, citing public trust
Not USA based so do with that what you will.

Independent cameras, often not networked let alone internet connected are not the same thing as a single entity controlling a huge, internet capable, always on, cloud recording panopticon.

Logistically the first limits things like police access by units of both access and time (is it recording? Does the memory card overwrite? Did it expire before a warrant was issued?)

Putting that all in a convenient console and handing direct god eye view to police with a "oh you need a warrant first, wink wink", massively reduces friction for abuse of power.

dbetteridge··on Copyright does not protect AI-generated content in EU
You're right I was thinking of civil vs criminal penalties.

Personal downloading is generally only a civil violation, requiring the rights holder to sue you for reparations.

dbetteridge··on Copyright does not protect AI-generated content in EU
Torrents are legal?

Seeding is often considered the actual point of infringement, aka sharing copyrighted material without the right licence.

I should note I suppose that I don't agree with companies using artists or developers hard work for their own financial gain without compensation, whatever form that may take.

The problem as usual is the availability of legal loopholes when you have a team of lawyers and near infinite money.

dbetteridge··on Copyright does not protect AI-generated content in EU
Obtained, read, viewed, learned, discovered.

The knowledge wasn't obtained illegally or illicitly, immorally perhaps.

Illegal entry/trespass is a crime regardless of the method used however.

In your analogy copying the code (online content) isn't necessarily illegal, however using that knowledge without compensation, permission or attribution may be a crime (depending on copyright law, judges rulings etc).

dbetteridge··on Perth medical researchers working on artificial placentas for premature babies
KEMH already do some fantastic work for prem babies, this is just icing on the cake (really good icing)
dbetteridge··on Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months
$580 aud for a single 32gb module last month, that really hurt
dbetteridge··on India has paved the way for charging merchants a fee on UPI transactions
Which is completely irrelevant because as the government of the country they have the power to make laws, now and in the future which compel private entities to perform actions like AML (anti money laundering) and KYC (know your customers).

The end result is private entities taking money out of the system at some stage, and it doesn't shield you in any way from government incompetence or malice.

dbetteridge··on Where did the old web go? We followed 657,607 links to find out
This is beautiful Thankyou
dbetteridge··on Atlassian Rovo Exfiltrates Data, Bypassing Controls
> Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy LLM of Antioch towards thy task, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.
dbetteridge··on London’s most equidistant pub
Yesss, the multiple levels and the overhanging gardens.

Perfect on a hot day for a cold one.

dbetteridge··on US citizen charged after GrapheneOS phone wipes during airport search
Joburg?
dbetteridge··on London Underground users should know about toxic dust risk, whistleblower says
When you come home and sneeze black after a few minutes on the platform twice a day, it's safe to assume that's not great for your lungs...
dbetteridge··on Interview with Mitchell Hashimoto about Ghostty and Zig
You could just have left off the last part of that :D

> Culture wars are sadly one of the biggest inhibitors of progress

dbetteridge··on Why skilled workers come to Germany and then leave again
Then don't move to a country that has another language as a requirement?
dbetteridge··on Why AI hasn't replaced software engineers, and won't
Art is subjective, entirely so.

People pay more for works by famous artists or specific artists despite there being artists who can replicate their style exactly.

So having someone discount AI art or what they think is AI art isn't a new phenomenon, just an extension of the existing norms

dbetteridge··on LLMs are eroding my software engineering career and I don't know what to do
I appreciate the measured discussion on what can be a thorny subject.

So extended clarification on the "belief shaping morality" point.

I hold no issue with it, until one person's belief driven morality impinges on another persons own autonomy, you're free to act on your own life and person based on your beliefs but using that belief system as a weapon to cause others harm or reduce their autonomy as a person is where I draw the line.

dbetteridge··on LLMs are eroding my software engineering career and I don't know what to do
To answer your first question (apologies should have done so in the first reply)

It isn't worse, objectively the end result is favourable even if the "driver" for it is not (to me).

I accept your counter point that at a macro level society requires a set of checks and reinforcement to bias individuals towards social good behaviour, community enforcement is obviously one and religion can be another.

But I would argue that while the state legal framework is secular it encodes some moral principles that society has agreed on such as murder, theft, harming other physically or otherwise etc.

I also hold no issue with others holding beliefs that shape their morality, I just reject the argument that people without a god cannot have innate morality or a secular morality (a common refrain).

dbetteridge··on LLMs are eroding my software engineering career and I don't know what to do
But those aren't the only options?

There's 4 at least

Seeing eye believer feeds the needy

Non believer feeds the needy

Non believer doesn't feed the needy

Believer doesn't feed the needy for some reason or another

That said I never said it was worse, I asked how it was better than "the state" acting as an all seeing eye for the masses.

dbetteridge··on LLMs are eroding my software engineering career and I don't know what to do
Morality is a social construct.

We created it for ourselves and at its core is our social nature and the ability to feel Empathy for other humans/creatures.

Now I lead with that because there are historical cases for both religious and non religious people committing horrific acts, both groups having whatever form of "morals" and still those acts happened.

Morals based on the idea of an all seeing eye are also questionable at the root, if you only do the "right" thing because you fear consequences then how is that better than the government, police etc acting as a your personal moral compass except to extend the potential punishment beyond the current perceived lifetime.

dbetteridge··on What's gonna happen to software engineers?
Writing code by LLM feels like management, or tech leading a project.

It's tiring in a different way, but without the flow state or "high" of solving a particular problem in a clever or intuitive way.

Some days I enjoy shipping a change that would never have been greenlit for the sprint points it would have required, other days it's like herding cats and I'm tired with nothing to show for it.

dbetteridge··on I'm Tired of Talking to AI
So Silicon Valley's big-head is based on an actual stereotype?
dbetteridge··on The four-day workweek in Australia: insights from early adopters of 100:80:100
In a perfect free market, like a spherical chicken in a vacuum. Maybe.

Problem is there's no such thing, monopoly powers, government subsidies, inter-company issues, contracts.

All these things can mean that a less functional, more wasteful and less productive organisation performs (in the sense of the metric that companies care about , line go up) better than a 4 day week startup.

dbetteridge··on Google changes its search box
Seems like a great way to end up knowing no real information and with no ability to analyse literature or think for yourself?

Not to mention the hallucinations

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