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owenfromcanada

@ owenfromcanada @lemmy.ca

Posts
24
Comments
936
Joined
11 mo. ago

  • Lemmy Algorithm

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  • In the context of social media, it's safe to say most people use the word "algorithm" to refer to the latter rather than the former. Sorting/visibility is technically an algorithm, but it's transparent and can be controlled by the user.

  • Lemmy Algorithm

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  • Technically, but the algorithm consists of which communities you're viewing and what order you sort posts. Generally when people talk about an "algorithm" in social media, they mean an opaque self-tuning selection process based on your usage patterns (and whoever is paying them the most). And Lemmy doesn't have any of that.

    If you're selecting sort-by-new and you're noticing problems with getting old posts mixed in, that would be a problem. But seeing the same posts when you're viewing the same communities and sorting the same way isn't a problem, it's showing you what you asked for. Why blame the "algorithm"?

  • House of cards stopped because of the sexual allegations while in real life presidents have sexual allegations and nothing happened to them

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  • It's the bad kind of method acting

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    it's literally just rocks what is so funny about rocks

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  • Rocks are the shit, all my homies love rocks

  • Lemmy Algorithm

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  • What algorithm? You can subscribe to whichever communities you want, and posts from them show up on your feed organized by whatever you pick. If you want to constantly see fresh content, view all communities and sort by new.

  • What is up with the trend of naming pets after food?

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  • To be fair, food is their #1 priority for most of their life. Also, Potato is a great name for a dog (especially a rotund one).

  • Help learning low-level dev

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  • No problem! I love chatting about this stuff, questions are always welcome!

    Not sure what online retailers are available or what you have access to in Vemezuela, but something like this starter kit would be ideal. But anything you can get your hands on can be fun.

    In general, you need:

    • a microcontroller
    • a way to program it
    • hardware to control and usually some sort of input or sensor

    Even if you can't find a starter kit, finding a USB UART interface lets you hack into all sorts of devices (did that to reprogram a router a while back), as long as you're handy with a soldering iron. And like another commenter said, hardware emulators would let you get started writing and running code if you can't get hardware right away.

    Hope it's fun! Feel free to DM with questions if you'd like.

  • Help learning low-level dev

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  • You're looking for what's called Embedded Programming, which is that low-level stuff where the software you create makes things happen in real life outside of just a computer screen. There are lots of hobby beginner kits that come with things like motors, lights, etc. That's probably your best bet for actually getting some hands-on experience.

    If you want something a little higher-level, go for something like a Raspberry Pi (a Single Board Computer or SBC). On these, you'll have a full-fledged Linux kernel and operating system, but still have ways of interacting with hardware like lights and such. If you want to get lower level, try Arduino or something based on ESP32 (the key word here is microcontroller). On these, you'll either use a smaller OS or go "bare-metal". Though note that Raspberry Pi makes things at this level as well (their "Pico" line).

    For making that connection between computer theory and programming, I recommend experimenting with microcontrollers. You can even do some projects in assembly and understand what all the key registers are doing. I started on PIC micros, which was a great beginner thing. Not sure if they're still around.

    If you want recommendations on a starter kit, let me know your budget and what country you're in, and I can send some suggestions.

    Source: embedded programming for 20+ years.

  • Sending someone LLM output in response to a question they ask is the intellectual equivalent of sending an unsolicited dick pic.

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  • They're both garbage, sure, but I wouldn't call it an equivalent. Especially in severity--one is insulting, the other is sexual harassment.

    The key word is "unsolicited." An LLM response to a question you ask is garbage, but it's solicited garbage. Like asking someone in Home Depot where the hammers are, and having them take 10 minutes for them to look it up on their phone. It's a stupid response, but it was solicited. It's at least a lazy attempt to respond relevantly, however insulting.

  • 'Fake it till you make it' insinuates fakers stop being fake, once they make it; reality seems to suggest otherwise

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  • Ah, but that is the great reality--those who "make it" are themselves still faking it, and the real question is: are they really faking anymore, or is this who they really are?

    Relevant xkcd

  • Sending someone LLM output in response to a question they ask is the intellectual equivalent of sending an unsolicited dick pic.

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  • I don't quite get the equivalence there. I'd say an LLM response is more on par with responding with a link to lmgtfy.com or something.

    The intellectual equivalent of sending someone a dick pic would be a cold contact with LLM-generated text promoting or pushing something that you didn't otherwise show interest in. Or like, that friend from highschool who messages you out of the blue and you realize after a few messages that they're trying to sell you their MLM garbage.

  • Why or how do people become sex traffikers like Epstein? Did he and his wife wake up one day after work and say hey lets traffik teens? Or was he or she forced into it? or something else?

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  • Money does weird things to your brain.

    Nobody wants to believe they're the "bad guy". And some people end up with excessive wealth, more than a person could reasonably spend in a lifetime (think billionaire). And these people have to make a choice: do they keep it all for themselves, or give most of it away?

    Those who hoard their wealth have to justify internally why they have so much and others are starving. To do this, they either deify themselves, or demonize the poor, or both. They truly believe the poor are morally inferior to them, and the rich are morally superior.

    In addition, when you have this type of wealth, nothing is off-limits anymore. And humans seem to have a deep-seated need to strive for something that is out of reach. If you want to see this for yourself, turn on a favorite video game and enable cheats like infinite money or "god mode". Chances are, it'll be fun for a bit, but it'll soon lose your attention. Because whether we realize it or not, our brains want some things to be difficult to obtain.

    Being a billionaire is an IRL infinite money hack. There's pretty much nothing you can't do with that kind of money. Except... illegal stuff. Like drugs, and raping minors. These activities bring a spark of excitement to people who are decresingly finding that feeling in anything else in life.

    When you consider both of these things together, stuff like sex trafficking starts to make morbid sense. They see trafficking people much the same as trafficking animals. And it's one of the very few things that scratches that human itch of wanting something we can't have.

    Excessive concentrated wealth is bad for everyone, including the wealthy.

  • marriges rule

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  • You don't gotta tell on yourself like that, ma'am.

  • The obvious criticism of Newton that everyone avoids

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  • Linux Mint isn't the answer for Windows refugees anymore

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  • why not just skip the middleman

    Because many people take for granted their advanced understanding of Unix systems that allows them to get into the "meat".

    If you're the type of person that is excited by a terminal display and prepared to read a whole pile of documentation, then sure--go straight to Arch, or Alpine if you're insane. But most people want something that's familiar, easy to set up, and will never force you to open a terminal. That's Mint (plus a number of other beginner-friendly distros). And most average people are perfectly happy to stay there. And that's perfectly fine.

  • Linux Mint isn't the answer for Windows refugees anymore

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  • You're not missing anything. Mint is perfectly good for the vast majority of users.

    Linux distros are a bit like vehicles. For most people, a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla will do everything they need. But if you go onto forums of car-enthusiasts, you can probably find thousands of voices that say those vehicles have such low horsepower, or they're not perfectly streamlined, or arguing about the buttons on the seat belts. Things that the average user doesn't care much about.

    I started 20 years ago with Slackware, tried out FreeBSD, and a number of others. I switched to Mint as a daily driver years ago. These days I found what I like (CachyOS), but I'm fairly knowledgable and quite comfortable on the command line, which is definitely not the case for most newer folks.

    Mint is a great distro. When I put it on my wife's laptop, literally everything worked right away. Have fun!

  • Why is Minecraft able to be forced to put restrictions on online servers, but web browsers aren't held accountable for providing access to the web?

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  • In reality, it's likely that it's because Minecraft is largely targeted to kids. The primary presented idea of Minecraft is a game that is appropriate for kids. Web browsers don't make the same kind of presentation--their purpose is to render websites, but don't otherwise promise anything regarding the content viewed.

    It would be a bit similar to a department store that stocked knives in the kids' toy section. Selling knives isn't really problematic, it's where they're located and the implied intent of that section.

  • Removed

    Baldur's Gate 3

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  • Galdur's Bate 3rd

  • This Trump claim is so absurd it deserves only absurdity in reply

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  • Any school district not complying with the executive order will lose all federal funding

    They're going to lose that 10% or so under this administration anyway, might as well teach actual science.

    and not be allowed to name any school after President Trump.

    Don't threaten me with a good time.

  • memes @lemmy.world
    owenfromcanada @lemmy.ca

    Here I go lamping again

  • Linux Gaming @lemmy.world
    owenfromcanada @lemmy.ca

    Any controllers that have both joysticks in the "upwards" position?

  • Memes @lemmy.ml
    owenfromcanada @lemmy.ca

    Based on a recent text exchange with my wife

  • Dad Jokes @lemmy.world
    owenfromcanada @lemmy.ca

    On average, humans have more bones in their neck than giraffes