underscoremark

It looks like a company that wants to capitalize on "your genius" to feed next generation AIs. The pitch claims to pay $150-$350 USD per task, with tasks averaging 3-5 hours to submit.

"The data goes into training frontier models for the major labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, GDM and others)."

Kleenex-Script

No sarcasm. Thanks for asking (no sarcasm, again).

You asked the right questions, IMO, and I think they are self evident.

> do they fill the exact same space?

No.

> is Blender adopted by different types of companies?

Yes.

A company or institution that has money to burn will opt for more "professional" suites (Maya, Microsoft, ...). Smaller entities will use the cheaper alternatives (Blender, Linux, ...).

I think the questions you ask demonstrate that you already understand the issue completely.

If you had multiple shows in production, I would expect that standards be set to use the same platforms and versions across the board.

If the company is more than a boutique shop, I would expect them to have a somewhat competent CTO to manage this kind of problem - one that isn't specific to Blender, even!

Also, if the company is more than a boutique shop, I would hope it would be at a level and budget that the Python performance bottlenecks would be well addressed with competent internal pipeline and production engineering teams.

But then again, if the company is more than a boutique shop, they would just pay for the Maya licensing. :-)

Small timers, boutique shops, and humble folks like me just try to get by with the tools we can afford.

On a related note, though: I built a Blender plugin with version 2.93 and recently learned it still works fine on Blender 4. The "constantly changing API" isn't the beast some claim it is.

> constantly changing API that doesn’t allow for the extensibility

You pick a (stable) version, and use that API. It doesn't change if you don't. If it truly is a _major_ project, then constantly "upgrading" to the latest release is a big no-no (or should be)!

And these "most people" who are scared of a Python API? Weak! It should have been a low level C API! ;-)

It's a hardware issue. Blender 3.0+ requires a graphics card and drivers with OpenGL 4.3 support. I don't have that hardware.

I have used Blender for 3D printing, though. Architectural design, as well.

The interface is a rub at first, and then again after you get used to it and have to use something else. :-)

Blender is the go-to for struggling artists/developers, and industry outsiders, like me. I'm stuck at Blender 2.93.18 because I don't have the budget for better hardware, let alone a Maya license! However, even that version of Blender still gets it done for me.

And also, how can you say Blender is not battle-proven? I mean, the big studios use Maya like fortune 500 companies use Microsoft Windows - doesn't mean Linux isn't battle proven.

I hosted Canvas Clash in Firefox on Windows 10, with myself, on a Samsung phone, and two AIs.

Trivia games are great for bars - finding/creating quality trivia content, and lots of it, may be the greater challenge.

It would be especially saleable if the UI theme can be customized to the establishment - even just a custom background. The market would be for smaller, independent (non-chain) places that won't pay for, or have access to, the more expensive companies that provide this kind of application to bars.

Anyway, I wish you success!

Nice. The game I was hosting kept dying with "Oh no, Something went wrong :(". However, I like the concept. These are good for personal social gatherings, but has great potential for more public places, too (like pubs/bars).

My batches turn out excellent. Some tips, if you'd like to try again:

- Harvest the younger leaves, remove the stems.

- Harvest before they go to seed, or remove all seeds.

- Make a tea from the leaves by soaking in hot water. Do not let the water boil or simmer with the leaves!

- Add a healthy portion of lemon juice. I'll use 1/2 to 1 cup for a 20L batch.

- Use brewing sugar, or invert your sugar.

- Choose a yeast that doesn't impart too much of its own flavour (I like ale yeasts, like for ciders).

  For me, the choice of yeast was key.

Yes. :-)

I know what the acronym AGI is, and how that acronym can mean whatever is convenient for that bunch of autistic "smart" internet people (hence, the "whatever that means" part).

I would add that the path that AI is going down right now isn't really focused on true AGI (whatever that is), but only the metric set by those who would profit the most by being able to make that claim.

You'll waste your life chasing dreams of changing the world. You have presented yourself as a solution looking for a problem.

I am sorry if that seems harsh, but you asked.

From my experiences, positive impacts have never been top-down, or from a place of "addressing societal problems".

Innovation (and motivation) comes from laziness, need, and greed. Instead of solving society's problems, in this regard, just look to your own. Then, the question of "worth" is self evident.

Reminds me of one of Isaac Arthur's recent videos, "The Paperclip Maximizer": https://youtu.be/3mk7NVFz_88

The thermodynamics of this rarely matches peoples' optimism about it.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thunderf00t+wat...

$0.06

Its not just for other developers (when I revisit something I've written months/years ago). But yeah, when I have to review code with Testing/QA, who aren't full time developers, it makes it much easier to step them through what is being done.

-- ps: especially since I'm always sparse on comments...

Location: Ottawa, Canada

Remote: Yes

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Technologies:

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Résumé/CV: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/crwedman

I'm self motivated and very passionate about continuous improvement. Capable of seeing the big picture, providing a careful plan in the interim, you can rest easy knowing I'm on the case. I care deeply about quality and performance; I want to be proud of what is delivered. Please, let me know what opportunities await and how we'll create something magnificent!

A (perhaps) related discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5686139

Just so it's clear, I think this guy is out to lunch:

> "Don’t be in the game industry if you can’t love all 80 hours/week of it — you’re taking a job from somebody who would really value it."

IDSIA : http://people.idsia.ch/~juergen/

I wish I could ad-block YouTube ads that don't let me "skip" in 5 seconds (that seems to be a good measure of my tolerance). The ads I do remember, and maybe the most effective, are the ones that only run for 5 seconds. "Tropicana" ran a 5 seconds ad for it's juice: very effective; I still remember it, I like their juice. There is a lot of content I'll not even bother to watch because I can't stand the pre-advertisement.

I love YouTube for catching up on the late night talk shows, checking out the latest Cyanide and Happiness shorts, or watching cool documentary; I used to spend hours watching content. Lately, however, I can't stand to stay for one or two videos, because the ads are so offensive. I'll close the app/website and find something else to do.

A few years ago I cut my satellite service, and now I refuse to subscribe to cable/satellite again. I have local, over-the-air channels, but I don't watch them anymore either. After being a few years without that kind of TV advertising, I realise how obnoxious advertising really is. It's a total assault on the senses! Advertising on the Internet is heading this way, and I'm equally disgusted.

Anyway... You asked how I feel. Yay ad-blockers!

Did you call the front desk for assistance?

I used to work as a network analyst for a company providing high speed Internet for hotels across North and South America. The default network policies were quite aggressive (to limit network (ab)use). Other than opening up specific ports for various VPNs, the greatest number of calls received was to enable network access for gaming consoles.

Next time, give the front desk a call and ask. In an industry where customer satisfaction _really_ is a concern, they should be more than happy to forward your call to someone like me to help. :)

Location: Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

Remote: Yes

Willing to relocate: No

Technologies: DevOps, Continuous Integration, Jenkins, Trac, Automation, HTML5, REST, JSON, Python, Javascript, Node.js, Dojo, C, Scheme, OCaml, Erlang/Elixir, PostgreSQL, Windows, Linux, Bash, Telephony, ...

Resume: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/crwedman

Email: crwedman (at) gmail

Not at all! A welcome distraction for a Friday afternoon.

I think that GPS would be accurate enough, in many cases, like traffic accidents. However, GPS capabilities require Wireless Phase II, which is not always available. Otherwise, the location being presented to the PSAP is that of the cell phone tower.

Speaking on the disappearance of land-lines, another issue is the increase of VoIP subscribers. Keeping address information up-to-date is the responsibility of the subscriber. If they take their VoIP service to the cottage, and call 911, emergency service could be dispatched to their home residence instead.

How about a system that ranks the "popularity" and activity on all the forks, and simply lists/suggests these forks when a repository is considered inactive? The community will figure it out ("this fork is the suggested source"), and no action is required on behalf of the owner of the original repository.