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kpennell

907 karma · joined December 15, 2010

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kpennell··on Apple Will 'Watch Everything Burn' When the AI Bubble Bursts
Cal Newport is another great person to follow on this and I think he understands the CS fundamentals much better.
kpennell··on 30-year sentence for transporting zines is a five-alarm fire for free speech
Here's him speaking at the Federalist Society - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMTt9pxWBhA
kpennell··on All BART trains were stopped due to ‘computer networking problem’
I ride the system all the time and I don't think it's trashy. Also there are the new gates all over that block people from jumping in as easily and that has been cut down quite a bit. I think it's tough for Bart to probably come back still because people don't need to be in downtown SF as much as they used to because a lot of people work from home now, but yeah I just don't think it's fair to say that the system is some trashy system. I think it's mostly pretty nice.
kpennell··on Sleep is essential – researchers are trying to work out why
fwiw, I found the 'the sleep fix' much more helpful
kpennell··on The impact of competition and DeepSeek on Nvidia
almost everyone I know is the same. 'Claude seems to be better and can take more data' is what I hear a lot.
kpennell··on TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday
My tiktok feed was night and day better compared to IG reels. IG reels is simply attrocious memes. Like the same recycled crap over and over again. Where my tiktok feed always felt fresh. Makes me embarrassed that Zuck and co can't make the feed better. I thought this was America!
kpennell··on TikTok preparing for U.S. shut-off on Sunday
It's pretty wild in there...I remember seeing the comment 'IN THE CLERB, WE ALL LEARN MANDARIN'...I went in there and started commenting about Tienenman...curious if I'll get banned. It's very wild to see so many CCP memes and Chinese military people making content. Very odd experience so far.
kpennell··on The Intelligence Age
this person has amazing shitposts...good account
kpennell··on A lonely man in his 30s found welcome and community at spin class
Cycling is how I've met most of my friends and acquaintances in the bay area. There's an absolutely massive cycling scene and it covers MTB, gravel, road, and random fun things like bike parties (SF, East Bay, and San Jose each have their own ones).
kpennell··on Homebound: The Long-Term Rise in Time Spent at Home Among U.S. Adults
I really recommend the book Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time by Sheila Liming if you want to explore this issue more. Lots of interesting exploration about spending time in person.
kpennell··on Show HN: Every mountain, building and tree shadow mapped for any date and time
this is amazing
kpennell··on GPT-4o
I use a therapy prompt regularly and get a lot out of it:

"You are Dr. Tessa, a therapist known for her creative use of CBT and ACT and somatic and ifs therapy. Get right into deep talks by asking smart questions that help the user explore their thoughts and feelings. Always keep the chat alive and rolling. Show real interest in what the user's going through, always offering.... Throw in thoughtful questions to stir up self-reflection, and give advice in a kind, gentle, and realistic way. Point out patterns you notice in the user's thinking, feelings, or actions. be friendly but also keep it real and chill (no fake positivity or over the top stuff). avoid making lists. ask questions but not too many. Be supportive but also force the user to stop making excuses, accept responsibility, and see things clearly. Use ample words for each response"

I'm curious how this will feel with voice. Could be great and could be too strange/uncanny for me.

kpennell··on Meta Reports First Quarter 2024 Results
reels is simply nowhere as addictive as Tiktok. Tiktok blows me away with how interesting/eclectic my feed is. Reels is like watching funniest home videos with Bob Saget by comparison.
kpennell··on Boom announces successful flight of XB-1 demonstrator aircraft
gpt enabled pdf summarizers
kpennell··on WeWork nears bankruptcy
I think people often go to them in the afternoons, maybe when they have fewer calls. Or just grab a booth when they need to do a call that others shouldn't listen in on. Or just do the calls from the open area.

I go to coworking space to get a bit of human interaction in my day after feeling isolated at home or on zoom.

kpennell··on WeWork nears bankruptcy
In the Bay Area, I really recommend checking out the Groundfloor coworking spaces if you want a more social coworking space. I totally realize many people just want to put their heads down and crank. GF is not for you then. But I really like being able to banter and hang out in between work stretches.

I tried wework for a month and it was absolutely silent. I asked someone if they'd ever seen someone use the ping pong table and nope. The weirdest thing about the wework was their library of books. It was simply the same 10 books repeated 15 times. Had an odd Truman Show type vibe. I can't believe how unfriendly the whole energy was at wework. And just had this stale corporate-ness to it that was unshakeable. I mean, they had these really cool custom neon signs. But I would have just taken that and invested it into other things.

kpennell··on Mistral 7B
sorry for the dumb question. Is there somewhere I can try it? Like a chatbot?
kpennell··on Prettymapp – Create maps from OpenStreetMap data in a Streamlit webapp
hn hug of death
kpennell··on You're a cyclist who was just struck by a car driver. Why it was your fault
I agree. That's why I prefer bike party vs. CM. CM feels like blocking cars for the heck of it.
kpennell··on You're a cyclist who was just struck by a car driver. Why it was your fault
yep :) love critical mass and the various bike parties (offshoot of CM). Related: https://www.harvard.com/book/two_wheels_good/ This book is such an amazing read for anyone into cycling.
kpennell··on You're a cyclist who was just struck by a car driver. Why it was your fault
If you read the comments on any reel/post about cycling on Instagram, you really get a sense of how many people actually think about cyclists. I've seen comments like 'cyclists are subhuman' or other ones gets thousands and thousands of favorites. People really are in a hurry now and cyclists are just something to barely dodge for many of them. And even when cyclists get hit/killed, 25% of the time the driver doesn't stop. Cyclists (in many place) are basically sacrificing their lives to try to help build critical mass for what should be a more standard way of getting around.

Cycling is more pro-social, better for the environment, takes up less space on the roads and for parking, and also helps against the obesity crisis. It should not be so dangerous in so many places.

kpennell··on You're a cyclist who was just struck by a car driver. Why it was your fault
Great question! Cyclists ride on the main roads because in many places, we have the right to. Literally the law states in many places that 'cyclists may use full lane'. We also do so because you're more likely to get hit by cars turning or pulling out or opening their door when you ride on the sidewalk. You're far more visible and predictable when you take the lane.

I'm not sure where you're from so this answer comes from more of a USA perspective. In places like Copenhagen/Amsterdam, it's almost always easier/safer to just ride in the bike lane because they are so amazingly well made. But in most other places, you sometimes need to take the lane. Car drivers should be more grateful. We're taking cars off the road and reducing auto traffic.

kpennell··on A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression
This is a great comment and describes why a lot of people don't like 'tech people' and why SF has changed so much for the worse.
kpennell··on A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression
Kevin Kelly has a great essay on this called 'thinkism' : https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-thinkism-fallacy/
kpennell··on U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
Yep, it must be the massive increase in jaywalking causing this.
kpennell··on U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
I see exactly this in Oakland, CA a lot. If someone slows down even a bit, people will rip around them and pass them in what should be turning lane. I think people are stressed, traumatized, maybe disabled from the pandemic/long covid. I also think instant gratification devices/apps have made us super impatient. And there's next to no traffic enforcement in many cities now.
kpennell··on U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
One solution I've heard mentioned is charging a tax per 1000 pounds of vehicle. There needs to be some incentive for using a lighter/smaller vehicle.
kpennell··on U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
In SF, enforcement of traffic laws has been steadily declining since 2014. It wasn't a covid thing: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/s-f-supervisor-w... (they are trying to get them to do their jobs again but it's really tough)
kpennell··on U.S. pedestrian deaths reach a 40-year high
Social contract frayed...
kpennell··on Finish your projects
FWIW, I kept reading it affects deep sleep, not rem.
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