Thus you get a piece of software that no one really knows shit about the inner workings of. Sure you have a bunch of spec sheets but no one was there doing the grunt work so when something inevitably breaks during production there’s no one on the team saying “oh, that might be related to this system I set up over here.”
I do laugh at this. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes and all that.
That's a misrepresentation of what LLMs do. You feed them a fuckton of data and they, to oversimplify it a bit, put these concepts in a multi-dimensional map. Then based on input, it can give you an estimation of an output by referencing said map. It doesn't search for anything, it's just mathematics.
It's particularly easy to demonstrate with image models, where you could take two separate concepts, like say "eskimo dog" and "daisy" and add them together.
When you query ChatGPT for something and it "searches" for it, it's either fitted enough that it can reproduce a link directly, or it calls a script that performs a web search (likely using Bing) and compiles the result for you.
You could do the same, just using an actual search engine.
Hell, you could build your own "AI search engine" with an open weights model and a little bit of time.
There are people with prosthetic legs. Was expecting the chest to be cut open but they just did a leg. That proves nothing.
One I recall that rubbed me the wrong way was one of her videos on "is being trans a social fad?"
One the one side you have people claiming that it’s a socially contagious fad among the brainwashed woke who want to mutilate your innocent children. On the other side there are those saying that it’s saving the lives of minorities who’ve been forced to stay in the closet for too long. And then there are normal people, like you and I, who think both sides are crazy and could someone please summarise the facts in simple words, which is what I’m here for.
Not super fond of the "both sides are crazy" idea when one side is arguing "people should have equal access to medical care and be left to live in peace" and the other is trying to legislate the former people out of existence.
She further goes on to platform ideas like "rapid onset gender dysphoria" which is based on spurious data gathered on a "parents of trans children" forum. None of the actual studies on the subject have supported the idea at all. The science is against it, yet she's presenting it like it's some "other side of the coin" nuanced take, and not just utter nonsense. It's a bit like lending credence to the idea that the Earth is flat because there's a whole group of flat-earthers out there who believe it is.
Ultimately though, I think my main reason for avoiding her is that she just doesn't post sources. They're all hidden on her Patreon, and I just don't think that's how it should work. I know educational videos aren't exactly scientific papers, but hiding your sources just strikes me as bad manners. If the goal is to educate and nurture an interest in a subject, why obscure the path you took to get it? It just doesn't make sense to me, and most other channels like hers do publish their sources.
I'd not heard about this before. Admittedly I only knew him from his cute anecdotes about early Windows development. Did a cursory search and I found this thread on Reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/rb2xzk/dave_plummer_aka_daves_garage_former_microsoft/
There's a pretty interesting comment by a user called Kefim_Wod, I'll quote it here so you don't have to visit that shitty site unless you want to.
TL;DR I don't trust what that guy says anyway.
I really enjoyed his youtube channel until I found out about the business practices of his earlier company SoftwareOnline.com, Inc.
His company was sued by the Washington State Attorney General's office in 2006.
Here is an excerpt:
The defendants agreed to pay $400,000 in civil penalties, with $250,000 suspended on condition of compliance with all terms in the settlement. They must also refund consumers who have filed complaints and pay $40,000 in attorneys’ costs and fees. The settlement terms prohibit the defendants from engaging in the following practices:
- Inducing computer users to install software by misrepresenting that the user's computer is at risk for crashes or privacy and security invasions.
- Marketing its InternetShield software by means of a “free scan.”
- Using “buttons” in its advertisements that do not function as the user would expect them. For example, the X found in the corner of a window is normally associated with closing the window and should not open another ad.
- Installing software on a user’s computer that causes multiple pop-up advertisements when the user tries to close out of advertisements.
- Failing to provide a functional uninstall option for removing all software files.
- Failing to obtain a consumer’s explicit consent to purchase a product or a service.
Direct links to associated court documents: SoftwareOnline.com Complaint
SoftwareOnline.com Stipulated Judgment & Order
You can also find them at the bottom of the webpage I linked earlier.
Here is an article from 2009 that mentions it.
He greatly downplayed these events in his book but I'm taking his word with a grain of salt.
I freely admit that I developed a bias towards him after realizing he is a multimillionaire. Learning about that in combination with the information I detailed above really soured my perception of David.
I have the belief that more often than not very wealthy people are wealthy because they have taken advantage of other people to obtain that wealth.
I wanted to give David the benefit of the doubt because I really enjoyed watching his youtube channel but one google rabbit hole later and I felt like my belief was reaffirmed.
Also, the post includes this image, which... I mean it's certainly a take.
He seems like a M$ grifter. Big shocker.
You put water and white vinegar in a bowl and microwave it. The steam will make it easier to clean and everything will smell of white vinegar overpowering any other odour.
⚠️ Edit: I think it's worth mentioning that microwaving water can be dangerous and lead to serious burn injuries. There's a U.S. FDA article about it here.
What the fuck does ambient even mean in the context of an operating system? Is it going to be floating around in the atmosphere of my flat? Is the next version of windows gaseous? Is it sarin gas?
They're covering their arses, which is a good call. I wouldn't put it above the big corporations to use the fact that their models are trained on stolen data and then engage in spurious lawsuits against small projects and companies for infringing on their copyrights. That might be their best bet once this AI BS dies down.
This subject is very clearly a sore point for you. It might behove you to figure out why that is, rather than spontaneously attacking people that are essentially siding with you.
It all should have ended when he refused to rent to black people.
Dojan
joined 9 months ago
It’s not just a writing quirk — it’s a blatant signalling of poor ethics.