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bena

3,913 karma · joined October 24, 2008

http://twitter.com/bentoast
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bena··on Jaron Lanier: there is no AI (2023)
And I don't disagree, but the posting of the article feels more like bait of a sort.

But I've noticed that if you mention anything that could be seen as slightly critical of LLMs, you'll get people out of the woodwork suggesting that the state of the art has made your criticism invalid.

bena··on Mythologizing AI makes it more likely that we’ll fail to operate it well (2023)
I think the biggest pushback this article will get here is the date.

Although all he's saying is basically, "It's a tool, not a silver bullet". But the article is 3 years old and people will note that the models have been updated since then.

bena··on Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
Do you know how often is the score keeping system replaced or requires repairs?

You could potentially have a decent side gig replacing scoring systems for a fraction of others

bena··on How Has Roman Concrete Lasted for Millennia? 1,900-Year-Old Latrine Offers Clues
Not just the UK, labor is usually the dominant cost of anything.

Our house flooded about half a foot a year or two ago. I had to replace all the baseboards. The damage was assessed at $40k. I tried to contact contractors to do the work, but the job was so insignificant compared to other jobs in the area, and we were in the middle of getting our house raised, that it was taking forever.

Including tools I did not have prior, material costs ran about $5k - $7k. I did the work around my job and other obligations, so about one day a week for a couple of months. If I were to honestly guess, it probably took me about two weeks. And that's measuring, cutting, installing, caulking, and painting. And there were some inefficiencies in my process.

bena··on When A.I. is a member of the family
Not just no, but fuck no.

Intimacy does not scale. No single entity can intimately care about even hundreds of people. So these chatbots are the property of an entity that does not care about you. This is different from people you would interact with in person. A therapist can form a bond with you. Can protect your privacy. These chatbots, by their nature, share with their owners. Who is not you.

bena··on Punk, or why I don't stream anymore
He was looking for a sugar baby?
bena··on Punk, or why I don't stream anymore
Oh man, the past was fucking wild, because you would do this. You'd just show up to the theater and look at what was playing. Or, if you were close to a store, you'd go and buy a newspaper that had the movie listings for your local theaters.
bena··on Punk, or why I don't stream anymore
I think you're being accused of being a sockpuppet.
bena··on Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made
Proud 2.2%er

But I also have had it installed via Crossover at some points to check out a Windows-only game.

Which I just realize also skews the statistic because Crossover basically creates a Windows VM.

bena··on How Donkey Kong Toppled Atari
While the Famicom was decent, the NES had mechanical problems.

The Famicom was a top-loading console, like the SNES, but had hard-wired controllers that came out of the back of the console. There was a controller port on the front that was used for the light gun peripheral.

The NES had pluggable controllers, but the cartridge was front-loaded. The cartridge would plug into the bus in the back, then the whole thing was pushed down, which allowed the contacts on the bus to touch the contacts on the board.

Those contacts often became worn and lost their elasticity over many uses, basically becoming more curled over time. These would then not make full contact with the board, causing games to not load.

They eventually redesigned the system to be a top-loader like the original Famicom. They also introduced this design to Japan so they would gain swappable controllers.

Also, the Famicom cartridges were smaller, just large enough to contain the board. NES cartridges were much larger with a lot of empty space. Didn't cause any issues technially, but it was a choice.

bena··on Biohacker seeking immortality afflicted with incurable 'stomach eating' disease
Hilariously, his self-scans did not catch this.

It's also not cancer. AIG makes him more susceptible to certain cancers, but he does not have cancer yet.

And looking at what he's done compared to the symptoms, it's possible he's been inadvertently self-medicating his condition for a bit.

He's currently blaming his lifestyle before his "biohacking" for his condition.

bena··on Odin, Wikipedia and engagement farming
He’s not saying that’s why the article was deleted.

He’s saying that to say that’s why Bill is acting like he is. Saying he doesn’t care while making a lot of noise like he cares. Complaining about rules he hasn’t looked up. Then accusing the mods of bias simply due to their deletion of the article, despite the mod nominating being more ideologically aligned than not.

bena··on Costco is the anti-Amazon
That tracks. I wouldn't trust e-gas either.

Seriously though, I was thinking on how I had to stop and get cat litter, milk, and cereal on my way home today when I read what you posted. While I get some consumables online; pet food, filters for my odd-sized vent, and until recently Hello Fresh; I mostly buy consumables in person.

bena··on Costco is the anti-Amazon
I'm surprised e-commerce is still under 17 percent.

It makes me want to check my purchasing habits to see if I'm around that mark.

bena··on I Wasn't Allowed Prompting ChatGPT During My Chalk Talk: This Is Discrimination (2025)
I think that's what the satire is trying to warn against.
bena··on Big Banana Car
However, the distraction car is breaking the law in Smokey and the Bandit. It’s not incorrect for them to try and pull it over.
bena··on TREX: An AI code reviewer that runs your code
To be fair, Leetcode/Hackerrank also runs arbitrary code.
bena··on Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity
I think it's because he retired relatively early. He was 37 when he ended Calvin and Hobbes. And he's always been relatively private.

He published a book not too long ago.

bena··on Calvin and Hobbes and the price of integrity
Yeah. He's not dead. He could have gone into webcomics if he had wanted.
bena··on Anthropic flies staff to D.C. to clean up White House fight
And they were banned. What’s the real problem here. Spell it out for us.
bena··on Why does paper fold so well?
This is actually a tool used in construction. A chamber filled with chalk and a coiled line. You hook the line to one end of your item, pull the chamber across, make it tight, snap the line.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-100-ft-Bold-Line-Chalk...

bena··on Bricks and Minifigs Stole a Man's $200k Lego Collection
This set is expensive mostly due to rarity.
bena··on Bricks and Minifigs Stole a Man's $200k Lego Collection
I assume they were talking about 75159 right before it retired.

I think that was when Lego speculation was just becoming a bigger thing.

Now, I don't think something like that could retire with stock being on the shelf.

I grabbed Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) from my local Lego Store after it retired because they still had one in stock. I don't think I'll get that lucky again.

Especially with the push for exclusive Gift With Purchase (GWP) sets. It's become slightly ridiculous.

But I'm not a speculator, I'm just a dude who likes assembling plastic bricks.

bena··on Bricks and Minifigs Stole a Man's $200k Lego Collection
Cloud City 10123 is 698 pieces. That would've retailed for around $70-$90 new.

It is worth roughly $10,000 sealed in box.

I have some of the original Lego Star Wars sets. All opened and built and etc.

Including this one which I purchased for like $5 or $10

https://www.ebay.com/itm/198386156944

I also have the only Deadpool figure Lego ever put in a set that goes for $75 or $100 by itself. It was in a $20 set.

So the amount they spent could be somewhere in the thousands, but probably below $100,000.

bena··on Bricks and Minifigs Stole a Man's $200k Lego Collection
It can also be used to mean "kicked out and told they can't come back".
bena··on My new obsession: A horse-racing board game of pure luck
We have an even simpler version of this called "Derby Dash". It's basically just the race portion of the board with dice.

It gets used a fair bit, but mostly because it is zero-player. Not to get too much into it, but since neither of us can influence the outcome, it's a good way to imitate a fictional competition fairly.

bena··on Spain blocks prediction markets Polymarket, Kalshi over lack of gambling licence
Fire insurance doesn't do anything for your house regarding it being on fire.

Fire departments are good for the community at large as well so the fire at your house doesn't become the fire at my house.

bena··on Spain blocks prediction markets Polymarket, Kalshi over lack of gambling licence
That's not collateral, that's the thing being wagered.
bena··on A case against Boolean logic
Boolean algebra is like a NAND gate. It’s simple, but it can construct any other system you want.

You can reduce any statement to a series of true/false statements. Now, it may take a lot of statements, but that’s not the point. The point is to have the base be as simple as possible

bena··on Shunning AI is the human choice
Which is why anthropologists published a book containing a bunch of essays that basically said, "No, this guy is wrong".
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