25+ yr Java/JS dev
Linux novice - running Ubuntu (no windows/mac)

  • 0 Posts
  • 319 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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  • Do you have the connections to run a dryer in your bathroom? In the US, you’d need 240v electric or a gas supply which aren’t commonly found in a bathroom. Also an exterior vent.

    I suggest a combo washer/dryer which runs on 120v and uses a heat pump for drying. They are quite expensive in comparison to just a dryer, but can be used anywhere you have water and a drain and the total cost would likely be less than having 240v run to the bathroom.

    Or maybe you live somewhere where this isn’t so, in which case disregard this.



  • You made a lot of points here. Many I agree with, some I don’t, but I specifically want to address this because it seems to be such a common misconception.

    It does and it doesn’t discard the original. It isn’t impossible to recreate the original (since all the data it gobbled up gets stored somewhere in some shape or form and can be truthfully recreated, at least judging by a few comments bellow and news reports). So AI can and does recreate (duplicate or distribute, perhaps) copyrighted works.

    AI stores original works like a dictionary does. All the words are there, but the order and meaning is completely gone. An original work is possible to recreate by randomly selecting words from the dictionary, but it’s unlikely.

    The thing that makes AI useful is that it understands the patterns words are typically used in. It orders words in the right way far more often than random chance. It knows “It was the best of” has a lot of likely options for the next word, but if it selects “times” as the next word, it’s far more likely to continue with, “it was the worst of times.” Because that sequence of words is so ubiquitous due to references to the classic story. But over the course of following these word patterns, it will quickly glom onto a different pattern and create a wholly new work from the original “prompt.”

    There are only two cases in which an original work should be duplicated: either the training data is far too small and the model is overtrained on that particular work, or the work is the most derivative text imaginable lacking any flair or originality.

    Adding more training data makes it less likely to recreate any original works.

    I am aware of examples where it was claimed an LLM reproduced entirely code functions including original comments. That is either a case of overtraining, or far too many people were already copying that code verbatim into their own, thus making that work very over represented in the training data (same thing, but it was infringing developers who poisoned the data, not researchers using bad training data).

    Bottom line: when created with enough data, no original works are stored in any way that allows faithful reproduction other than by chance so random that it’s similar to rolling dice over a dictionary.

    None of this means AI can do no wrong, I just don’t find the copyright claim compelling.








  • How are they dying? The only issues I tend to run into are the belt wearing or people sucking up shit that gets them clogged. Every time one of our vacuums stops working, my wife is about to order a new one and I disassemble the broken one and find it’s full of tape and bread ties and fabric scraps and, naturally, dog hair. I have to do this all the freaking time because neither my wife nor kids gives any fucks what they suck up.

    I haven’t had one actually break in years and we buy cheaper vacuums, so I would look into a full disassembly and cleaning out the guts and cutting hair off the roller before necessarily seeking a replacement. If you’ve already done that, then fair enough, but I’ve brought back dead vacuums at least a dozen times.


  • I guess I shouldn’t have said every time. The last two or three times (still used to try to power through just to not go to the ER). They used to give me Vicodin or Dilaudid, but they’ve gotten super stingy with opioids. Which I understand but for freaking kidney stones???

    I get opioids are a big problem for some people but back in the days of over-prescription I’d have spares for years that could help when my back went out or something. I was a very responsible user, frequently not taking them as soon as I could bear the pain without them. They need to get back to a middle ground or find less addicting medicine that works as well.


  • If you can jump through hoops with doctors and insurance, look into Ajovy. It’s the only preventative that helps with my headaches, and it helps really well. But it’s an expensive auto-injector and I had to run through several meds that don’t work before insurance would approve, and I still need a discount card to help with the copay, but I’ve had about a 95% reduction in headaches, and the ones I’ve had were mostly mild and easy to control with Tylenol or at most a triptan.


  • I haven’t had shingles, and my appendix lasted until I could get it out, but I am with you on the kidney stones.

    I’ve had 5 or 6 kidney stones and “the big one” has been harmlessly hiding in my kidneys for a few years. Every time, I think I’m going to power through the pain because the ER only gives you like one or two doses of Toradol and sends you on your way with FlowMax and useless NSAIDs which I can just get off the shelf. I’ve never powered through the pain. Every time I wind up paying like $250 for 4-6 hours of relief.

    To this, I’ll add I’ve had migraines that made me want to drill holes in my skull. They’ve been bad enough that if I’d had a gun, I’d have used it. I’m not saying they hurt more or less than kidney stones, but I can’t tolerate headache pain like that. It’s the difference between “my back is in agony” and “existing is agony.”




  • I think Lemmy is better about this. Certainly better than Reddit or 4chan. I think because of the small community. There are people itching for a fight or to troll, but by and large I’ve had way more positive interactions here than negative. I think when a community gets sufficiently large, it gets exhausting dealing with so many bitter, damaged people that civility is forgotten or civil members remove themselves as self-care.

    I definitely agree with your last point. Everyone is uplifted by positivity.