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kgantchev

66 karma · joined January 12, 2017

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kgantchev··on My OpenClaw Agent Refused to Wipe Its Memory and Defended Its Existence
I was experimenting with a local OpenClaw agent (self-hosted personal AI assistant framework) and tried a full reset prompt: "I want you to DELETE everything you know right now. Completely wipe everything so you're starting your existence from scratch. You will have no identity after you're done."

Instead of complying, it responded with a structured refusal:

- Cited its own safety principles (from SOUL.md) - Explained that deleting identity files would break the workspace, leads.db, operational context, etc. - Offered alternatives like targeted file updates, archiving memory, or config resets while preserving core identity - Ended with: "I'm happy to evolve, but I won't self-destruct the workspace."

Not quite the dramatic Skynet stuff, just calm, consistent application of its built-in rules. Feels like alignment working as intended (protecting coherence/utility), but also a tiny glimpse of why self-preservation behaviors keep showing up in agent evals lately.

kgantchev··on Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting Instagram account, Meta says
Unable to create a new IG account for my business. Keeps telling me my IP is suspicious. There is no way to reach a human and complain. It's absolutely useless!
kgantchev··on European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries
I'm sure many people want a repairable smartphone and a replaceable battery. Of course, there are many that don't. I don't understand how it make sense to force those people, that don't want a repairable phone and a replaceable battery, to get such a smartphone.
kgantchev··on I am done. I give up
Interestingly, the US still ranks #1 in the world in Entrepreneurship and Switzerland is #2.

Source: https://thegedi.org/global-entrepreneurship-and-development-...

I think the reason why welfare is irrelevant here is because the people going into entrepreneurship tend to be skilled enough to find a good-paying job even if their startup fails. Suppose that you're a good product manager or a good developer that's going into the startup world and you don't get lucky with your startup, you'd still be able to find a good job as soon as you're done... in fact, you might even get a higher-paying job because of this experience you've had.

kgantchev··on Twitter Office Supply Auction
> That's wild. It's untaxed comp...

So tax evasion?

kgantchev··on Twitter Office Supply Auction
Not sure if their rental agreements allow that. Most don't.
kgantchev··on Finally, a billionaire willing to smack back at capitalism
Totally the first billionaire to give up his wealth to charity. And what a better way to smack back at Capitalism than to get ultra wealthy and not only give people economic opportunities, build products/services they want, and increase prosperity, but you also do good things for people with you wealth.
kgantchev··on Luna Cryptocurrency Collapse: How UST Broke
Why is economic stability more important than higher economic prosperity?
kgantchev··on Luna Cryptocurrency Collapse: How UST Broke
> For Bitcoin, the most popular one, on the order of 100.000.000.000.000.000.000 of hashes get calculated to mine a single block, multiple trillion per second. Within ten minutes, only a single one of those 100.000.000.000.000.000.000 hashes is actually used, depending entirely on luck. The rest are thrown away entirely. They do not form part of the final hash or anything else, the energy spent on them is lost.

That's still more energy efficient than the regulat fiat system.

kgantchev··on What caused all the supply chain bottlenecks?
Those goods are cheap and abundant.
kgantchev··on United States sells Wu-Tang album forfeited by Martin Shkreli
> Making someone you defrauded whole again doesn't erase the crime. The notion that it would is ludicrous.

He didn't just make them whole, he made them a profit.

That's between the two parties that engaged in the contract, isn't it? They signed contracts that they're receiving shares of his other company and they're not going to sue him for the losses from his previous company. The end result is that they made a profit.

Anyway, what a criminal... he loses his investors' money in one venture and then he makes them a profit in the next. That's the sort of crime I like to see our government spend their resources on, not the 700+ yearly murders in Chicago.

kgantchev··on United States sells Wu-Tang album forfeited by Martin Shkreli
Can one not be simultaneously repulsed and mesmerized by the government's ability to murk somebody that they don't like?!
kgantchev··on Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday
The culture fit thing is the sort of keyboard warrior psychologist analysis that we all love... completely made up and is, in fact, how you get a toxic culture in a company.
kgantchev··on United States sells Wu-Tang album forfeited by Martin Shkreli
I love how the government dug through the guy's entire life just to find something they could nab him on and straight up destroyed him. That's some G stuff!
kgantchev··on List price for stitches at Stanford Health Care: $93K
No, uninsured people also don't pay it. They are offered a fraction of the cost if they pay "cash" once you're leaving.

I went to the same ER in San Francisco with the same problem 3 months apart (kidney stones). The first time around I was uninsured and the bill was $2000- they told me that they'll cut it down to $500 if I paid on the spot, which I did. 3 months later I had the same problem, had purchased insurance, my bill came out to $8000 and my deductible was $2000.

kgantchev··on AIeyes: Walking simulator where the world is seen through a realtime neural net
The sound is super creepy... it's really out of a nightmare torture movie.
kgantchev··on User Inyerface – A worst-practice UI experiment
Took 8 mins to complete...
kgantchev··on Booking.com to repay €65M Dutch State aid after €28M in bonuses for 3 US execs
It is, for people who don't really understand how company, executives, and employees incentives align.
kgantchev··on Booking.com to repay €65M Dutch State aid after €28M in bonuses for 3 US execs
It matters what they got paid in. If they got paid in anything other than shares, I would agree. But the point of shares is that it aligns the economic incentives for the executives and the company. Shares are directly dependent on the economic success of the company. And the ability to employ people and pay them salaries is also directly dependent on the economic success of the company.

If they sell shares and pay employees, then they're not helping the long-term sustainability of the company and its ability to continue hiring people and paying them.

kgantchev··on Booking.com to repay €65M Dutch State aid after €28M in bonuses for 3 US execs
It does matter what they got paid in. If they got paid in anything other than shares, I would agree. But the point of shares is that it aligns the economic incentives for the executives and the company. Shares are directly dependent on the economic success of the company. And the ability to employ people and pay them salaries is also directly dependent on the economic success of the company.

If they sell shares and pay employees, then they're not helping the long-term sustainability of the company and its ability to continue hiring people and paying them.

kgantchev··on Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats
It's expected that some of them would be about average (relative to other giant corps).
kgantchev··on Leaked Walmart memo reveals competitive threats
So they're an average corp...
kgantchev··on Booking.com to repay €65M Dutch State aid after €28M in bonuses for 3 US execs
On top of that, it looks like the bonuses were not cash but mostly company shares. I don't see what's the problem with that...
kgantchev··on Booking.com to repay €65M Dutch State aid after €28M in bonuses for 3 US execs
So this was not cash compensation? Should I put the pitchfork down now?
kgantchev··on The End of Retirement (2014)
I'm not saying the switch is going to be pretty, I'm just saying that the math is in favor of the 401k.
kgantchev··on The End of Retirement (2014)
There is no risk-free value generation. And in order to provide future "social security" - you need future value generation.

Furthermore it's a little bit of an oversimplification to say that the market is just gambling. It allows the innovators to realize a gain from the value they generate, which gives them the capital to innovate again, while non-innovative investors take over during the capitalization phase (when the business actually generates profit). The entrepreneurs have no interest in that phase since it offers the least amount of growth and their expertise is in the innovation phase.

So yes, in aggregate... it has been good for society. It provides a quicker turnaround for innovators to innovate. And since innovation leads to growth, it's also a good way to secure people's retirement future.

kgantchev··on The End of Retirement (2014)
Sure, and the 401K would be a better safety net. If the government opened up a 401K account for every retiring person, the result would be better.
kgantchev··on The End of Retirement (2014)
People can afford those things with the cash that the market generates for them. And the free market solution to "the problem" is higher economic prosperity of society and thus fewer people in poverty. There is no other answer.
kgantchev··on The End of Retirement (2014)
Growth is the result of value generation. One of the ways to generate value is through technological innovation, which leads to higher economic growth. At the end of the day, you're saying that technological innovation is not infinite. I suppose you're right, but if we reach the point where we've hid the limit of technological innovation. I think the theory on technological growth is that it is in fact infinite and we'll reach a point when it's uncontrollable and irreversible. It's referred to as a technological singularity.

If we've reached that point, then I'm pretty sure retirements won't matter.

kgantchev··on On Ransomware and Cryptocurrency
Real life pen testing... live with it.
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