todfox

The Write with Siri button that shows up whenever I select text is so obnoxious that I want to trash this fucking machine after 30+ years on the platform.

This unification is garbage. Chats that are about topics other than programming projects are relegated to a tiny, unsearchable popup window. Renaming the old app "ChatGPT Classic" implies that it will be discontinued at some point. This is a serious regression. What existed before worked fine.

I would expect the mode switcher to include a Chat mode, which would recreate the old, chat-focused UI, for asking about random topics. So, that's basically gone now. Technically, it's hidden and severely castrated.

I hope someone from OpenAI reads this. You guys have made a serious design mistake. I suspect you'll be getting a lot of support requests along the lines of "Where did all my chats go?"

He was a pedophile sex trafficker. Epstein and his clients deserve zero privacy.

Even if I wanted to see that movie, I would refuse to watch it purely because I received an unsolicited ad in the Wallet app.

To be replaced with crackpots like RFK Jr.

4°C global average temperature increase above preindustrial levels.

I once had an insurance plan with a grossly inaccurate provider directory. This cost me a bit as the doctor they suggested to me, verbally on the phone, turned out to be out of network. They later told me it was the doctor’s responsibility to remove themselves from the directories and they often fail to do that. If they’re so incapable of maintaining an accurate list of providers on their own, how did the insurance company know to reject that claim so quickly? They are simply liars and fraudsters.

I began calling random doctors in the directory and one even told me he tried to get his name removed for three years. Anybody at the insurance company could clean up the directory once a quarter. They know the directories are inaccurate. It makes their network look bigger.

Health insurance middlemen need to be eliminated already.

Absolutely nothin'!

The developer destroyed millions of dollars of their own value by cutting corners and now they have to suffer the consequences. That is reasonable.

It does not because it only counts as a skydive if you exit an aircraft. If you're jumping off of land, it's BASE.

Nutjobs have already been proven to exist and are in ample supply. Odds are it's not aliens.

It amazes me that humans continue to have this perverse desire to fix what isn't broken.

This doesn't help people like me who just want to stargaze. How about, empty city streets don't need to be lit up at 2 am. And what lighting there is, is too bright, too intrusive, and overused.

One day you will find yourself a sanctimonious old man who desires to pass on his "wisdom" to all those callow youngsters. Don't bother. You will still die having had no discernible effect on the world. You would have been better off trying to enjoy what time you have left than teach us your forgettable little lessons.

And yet...

>One day you’ll find yourself wearing shorts. Fair enough, it’s probably hot out. One day you’ll also find yourself wearing a t-shirt. Again, fair enough. Unless you’re playing a sport, however, you will not be wearing the two together because you’re also no longer a ten-year-old boy.

Fucking boomer hypocrite. btw I am wearing shorts as I type this.

I agree with you, but any time I've attempted it I just feel sick to my stomach.

I'm sure the Lessons so Far list really does work, but it seems like mental illness to me. Trying to be entertaining to get followers, tailoring your work so that it gets attention, talking to the right people on social media and being sure to take their side or promote them. It's sickening.

This is why every YouTube thumbnail has a face with bugged out eyes and huge fonts. This is why all news is sensationalism now. It's all about grabbing attention and getting revenue over making or doing something worthwhile.

Why do humans have to seek status? Wouldn't we all be happier and healthier if we stopped caring about where we are in the social pecking order?

Sexual loneliness and frustration is strange to me. I accept that it is real and painful for many people. But I just don't understand how the desire for sex drives people to take risks with their health and safety, or how the lack of it causes despair or violence.

What is the big deal about sex anyway? Why do some guys go crazy if they can't have sexual intimacy? A lot of time and effort for what, ten minutes of pleasure? But a deep (non-sexual) friendship can last all your life.

I don't think we should restructure society and become more traditional and conservative (whether de jure or de facto) just to cater to the very few who may become violent when they can't get laid. I think the not getting laid part is just an excuse. Prior to the sexual revolution, when people married young and divorce was rare, violence inside marriages was very common.

Overall I think I'm lucky that I'm asexual. There is a whole class of problems that I have never had to think about. I have no desire to exercise power over others or to allow them to exercise power over me.

Only 60% of Americans drink? I routinely get astonished looks when I tell people that I've never in my life even tried a drop of alcohol. It seems like way more than 60% have had alcohol.

Why should anyone care? Let them tough it out.

Billions of people are not that smart.

Thanks for your feedback. I agree it needs visual improvements. I chose not to spend money on an artist -- just had too much in the project already. The trailer should have been done by a 3rd party. I don't grasp what is going to appeal to someone anyway.

You know what? I won't make any more. I think I'm done.

I'm not interested in learning what people like or adjusting to what's popular. Why on earth would I go through this again? Nothing I am interested in working on is ever going to be profitable. Simple as that.

This has nothing to do with your comment. I've had it with programming, I've had it with tech, I've had it with people. I will just scrape by doing the bare minimum to survive as a freelancer.

I wish I could throw my computer into a river.

It's a chicken and egg problem. If you post, nobody will see it because nobody knows who you are. So you have to spend a long time "engaging" or "networking" with a community you didn't really want to join in the first place just to make enough of a name for yourself so that someday when you have something to say, a few people will listen.

I'm too busy making stuff and hanging out with my real friends to go be fake with people just to market to them in the future.

I guess you could try to make as many games as possible, quickly, and hope that one hits just right, and then focus on it and make it better fast.

Hazmat Hijinks.

If you happen to visit the website and see the Nintendo Power-esque PDF, tell me, shouldn't that grab the attention of the right person? I know I don't have the best social understanding but I thought I nailed that one.

Marketing is just so opaque. I would rather write an OS from scratch. At least I know that can be solved given enough time.

After four years working on my retro game nearly full time, and several launches, I still don't understand marketing enough to understand what to do differently.

A lot of the advice out there is something like: "create a community" or "go join several communities" or "get to know other indie devs on Twitter". To me, this simply feels fake. I don't really participate in any online communities. I spend enough time in front of a computer for work and I prefer to socialize with my real life friends.

Besides, I simply have no idea how to get any kind of attention on social media. I created an eight-page booklet that recreates the first issue of Nintendo Power, except with my characters in place of Mario and Wart. It's an homage, because I developed a retro game. Somebody suggested that I post it on a retrogaming subreddit, where many others were posting fan art, and those people should recognize the magazine cover that I recreated. Well, I posted my PDF and it got about 4 upvotes. A simple photo, posted around the same time, of the very common TMNT NES cartridge got -- 800? 900? I stopped looking.

I understand that what I made is not going to be for everybody. I'm not expecting to be a millionaire. But damn if I can't figure out how to even get it in front of people. Everywhere I try just gets ignored.

The game is pretty substantial too. Mac, iOS, and Windows versions all done by me -- custom game engine -- 40+ hours of gameplay -- about a 5-6 hour minimum play time if you start from scratch and you know what you're doing (I was shooting for 3.5ish hours to equal Mario 3 or Mario World in "size" or "depth"). Lots of fun secrets. Nothing repeated. Challenging, but not as hard as Dwarf Fortress. Real life playtesters (not friends or family) asked me to reset the game so they could start all over again.

I just wish somebody else could do the social stuff. It all just makes me want to stop programming altogether. My brain just does not work along the lines of "how can I phrase this email to get this person's attention?" So I realize cold calling is a numbers game but I seem to be ignored no matter what I do.

I want to make great stuff, and I really don't care about attention/fame/money -- but what's the point of working so hard if nobody gets to enjoy it but me?

Most of what people are paid to do, doesn't need to be done in the first place.

This is my 30th year programming. I always hope it's my last. Programming for money destroyed the fun hobby long ago.

It's just reinventing the wheel year after year by this point. The last thing the world needs is more software.

The web is the crappiest platform ever conceived; I won't touch it. Social media is poison. Smartphones didn't impress me in 2007 and they don't impress me now. They're annoying and intrusive. I still like desktop software. I know, I'm a dinosaur.

I just don't care about computers any more. I don't care what direction the industry goes in. I'm not depressed and I don't need to learn a new language or work on a different project.

I love creative problem solving. What I do not love is solving whatever problems are handed to you without asking whether they truly need solutions, or whether it's good for the world. Much of what people want computers to do is a waste of time and of life. Whether it's bureaucratic corporate garbage or thought stopping entertainment.

I'm so tired of computers.

True, even attempts to avoid attention can paradoxically bring attention. I'm not really motivated by how others see me. My basic intent is to remove as many logos and commercial messages from my life as possible.

With the MacBook, it really depends on how the blocking is done. If I put more effort into it and cover the entire lid very carefully I could make it look very unassuming. I'm content to just slap a piece of tape over the logo and be done. It's a game to me. I get pleasure out of blocking or fighting even the tiniest examples of corporate persuasion in my life.

It's not for everyone. You do you.

You're allowed to do whatever you want. For myself, I am just beyond supporting or being part of any type of group or culture or signaling such.