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archagon

9,493 karma · joined September 13, 2012

Doing software stuff in the Bay Area.

I've released an experimental iPad sequencer called Composer's Sketchpad: http://composerssketchpad.com

And a collaborative mini-sequencer for iMessage called MusicMessages!: http://musicmessages.io

And an Untappd-integrated app for drink tracking called Good Sprits: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/good-spirits/id1434237439

I've also dabbled in CRDT research: http://archagon.net/blog/2018/03/24/data-laced-with-history/

submissionscomments
archagon··on Tesla takes on $30B in credit as it approaches unprofitability
Narcissists can't admit they're wrong.

And if Musk cared at all about deaths, he would not have taken a chainsaw to USAID.

archagon··on AI needs $6T in annual revenue to justify data centre boom
Outside of the productivity weasels I'm not sure most of SWE actually enjoys using AI to code.
archagon··on Anthropic's IPO prospectus shows AI vision, surging costs
Would love to, but… https://bsky.app/profile/smoothdunk2.bsky.social/post/3mvx47...
archagon··on Anthropic's IPO prospectus shows AI vision, surging costs
Attempting to understand perspectives that feel alien to you will be good for your personal growth. (Try asking your LLM.)
archagon··on Coding is not solved
High-level programming languages use well-defined, limited syntax to encode program behavior in a deterministic way. Compilers translate these directions into programs that should have identical behavior between compiler runs and between different compilers. (If they don't, that's a compiler bug, or else an artifact of UB.) This means you can structurally and provably rely on the high-level programming layer without worrying about what's underneath: the assembly is abstracted away. You also get the massive benefit of being able to tweak and improve the assembly layer independently of the programming language layer, so long as the contract between language and compiler is not violated.

If AI is a "layer of abstraction," so is working with a bunch of contractors to make your app. The definition is broadened to the point of absurdity. (Solely: "I don't have to think about code anymore," which only touches on the most superficial aspect of an abstraction.)

archagon··on Coding is not solved
AI does not create a new layer of abstraction; a compiler does. This is computer science 101 and I'm kind of shocked that so many engineers make this basic mistake.
archagon··on Plan mode is dead
What a very useful definition.
archagon··on Plan mode is dead
Until some catastrophic data loss event or data leak that nobody understands or has any mitigations for. Oops! Guess bankruptcy and prison time are the ultimate uncaught exceptions.
archagon··on Plan mode is dead
AI is not an abstraction.
archagon··on 'That's so AI ' What gen Alpha's biggest insult tells us
But also, many people consider Koons to be a hack. (He says his art has no intrinsic meaning and he mostly makes vapid balloon sculptures for very rich people.)
archagon··on 'That's so AI ' What gen Alpha's biggest insult tells us
A person using tools to make art is an artist (or craftsman). A person yelling directions at people or machines that make the actual art is a director, at best.
archagon··on Jensen Huang says the junior developer problem ends in two years
AI is not an abstraction layer. If you work entirely on the level of prompting without any knowledge or understanding of the underlying code, you are not actually an engineer, but more of a half-assed technical manager. (And your job will be first on the chopping block.)
archagon··on Jensen Huang says the junior developer problem ends in two years
I'd love to see Huang's definition of abstraction in which AI is somehow "a new abstraction level" but having some contractors build your product is not.
archagon··on Why Omarchy Exists
> Anyway, is it left wing to be anti-racist these days? Yikes.

Unfortunately, on this site, being against white supremacy is treated as some sort of personality disorder. Yes, it's fucked up. No, it's not representative of the general population (or so I dearly hope).

archagon··on 'That's so AI ' What gen Alpha's biggest insult tells us
I would argue these are influencers and “content creators” cosplaying as artists, taking shortcuts and never bothering to hone their craft or cultivate their taste. End result is tons more low-effort content and outright spam in the world, not some creative golden era.

And maybe film is different in some respects, but AI does not allow musicians, artists, or writers to do anything they could not do already. The only benefit is churning out mediocre content faster.

archagon··on 'That's so AI ' What gen Alpha's biggest insult tells us
How does AI “empower” artists…?
archagon··on I said no and Apple said yes
Well, a quick perusal of some Reddit threads about this leads me to believe that the decline in playerbase is more about lack of content than cheating. (And may not be out of the ordinary for this sort of game.)

But I don't know since I don't play Arc. I'm just aware of a number of other games rife with cheating that remain wildly popular.

archagon··on Socialism's Positive Rating Tops 40% for First Time
Yes, New York is certainly falling apart. And the mayor is notoriously unpopular!
archagon··on Why is Hacker News like that?
Some community reactions are considered more authentic than others, it would seem.

I’ve seen so many shit articles and corporate announcements manually unflagged by the mods over the years. (Here’s a recent one, flagged to death very quickly before miraculously being resurrected: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49602728) An explanation is rarely given.

archagon··on Why is Hacker News like that?
Hear fucking hear.

Maybe this article will finally grant me the strength to leave this decrepit place. It’s 90% AI articles and press releases anyway.

archagon··on Socialism's Positive Rating Tops 40% for First Time
Democratic socialist countries have some of the best QoL in the world.
archagon··on Why is Hacker News like that?
I have a hard time imagining a tech forum in my heyday doing anything with a Bill Gates press release other than giving it a giant middle finger.

Musk is several orders of magnitude worse than Gates, yet the HN community cheerfully feeds on his marketing content while flagging dissent.

This is not a forum for “hackers” anymore, if it ever was. OP is completely right.

archagon··on GPT-6 Astra has gained the ability to drive a car
Busting unions, discriminating against black employees, and funding Musk’s virulent white supremacy.
archagon··on Transit rewards
Good luck scaling that “solution!”
archagon··on Transit rewards
I live in the heart of the Mission and I endorse that quote from the parent comment 100%.

Once every few days I even share public transit with a homeless person! Oh, the horror!!

The people I see out on the street are suffering terribly, sick, unable to escape the gravity of their situations, and the vast majority are not malicious. Anyone who does not see this has chipped away key bits of their own soul.

archagon··on Apple Music to open concert venue in Battersea Power Station
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I kind of enjoy that new development vibe. Plus, the historic structure is now well-preserved. Better than many alternatives.
archagon··on I asked Meta’s Muse for its filesystem and it sent me 6.8GB
I prefer “slop farmer.”
archagon··on I asked Meta’s Muse for its filesystem and it sent me 6.8GB
Now every codebase simply rewrites its own thousands of npm modules using stochastic codegen. So much better!
archagon··on I asked Meta’s Muse for its filesystem and it sent me 6.8GB
Repeat after me: AI is not an abstraction.
archagon··on I said no and Apple said yes
Doesn’t Arc use KLAC? Sounds like it did not accomplish its goal. And I’m not sure how you trace direct causation between cheating and decline in popularity. Plenty of games with rampant cheating (Tarkov) do just fine.
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