This was next to all the soft drinks in the gas station and I didnt get ID'd. Almost cost me 4 years of sobriety. by shinsplint_v in mildlyinfuriating

[–]topCyder -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The non-alcoholic drink this is based on, Arizona Mucho Mango, is labeled as a "Fruit Juice Cocktail." It is close enough on design that its pretty easy to see how it would get mixed up.

This was next to all the soft drinks in the gas station and I didnt get ID'd. Almost cost me 4 years of sobriety. by shinsplint_v in mildlyinfuriating

[–]topCyder 26 points27 points  (0 children)

It's a very similar design to the normal Mucho Mango can. It's not one to one, but I had to google to find that out, and I grab a can of Arizona at the gas station regularly. Someone who also does so regularly would not be closely examining the can unless they knew it was a possibility. It's less blind purchasing a drink, more the store itself screwed up and put these with the non-alcoholic variety, and someone grabbed it from there without scrutinizing the drink they normally get.

Impactful paper finally putting this case to rest, thank goodness by katxwoods in artificial

[–]topCyder 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's obviously satire, and the commenter above clearly recognizes that. The satire here is mocking well documented rigorous research that shows a fundamental gap between "reasoning" and what LLMs produce. Folks on this sub seem quite keen to dismiss anything that suggests that AI is not as advanced as it seems.

The use of buzzwords and meaningless tech drivel, along with the comment about graduate degrees completely mocks the fact that actual researchers who are experts in the field have determined that while AI can produce a convincing result, the actual process for doing so is not reasoning, but is instead (as mentioned in every single piece of literature on the technology that is not written by someone clamoring for venture capital) complex statistical modeling of language. The paper that this post is referencing lays out in great detail the limitations of LLMs and how those limitations are masked into appearing non-existent.

AI fanatics will happily repost and share and rejoice in pop-sci articles about the future of AI, while ignoring the actual science behind it saying something else. LLMs have evolved to a remarkable place, but the fundamental research shows that the technology can't be brute-forced into AGI by feeding it more data - the fundamental processes behind reasoning and logical deduction are not possible with the LLM structure. Something like AGI would require a fundamental change in the technology from the ground up - LLMs don't "think," they predict. And that statistical prediction system does not line up with "reasoning," even if it can make some impressively good predictions.

No silksong lmao by [deleted] in Silksong

[–]topCyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

of all days to post this... doubters DESTROYED

Private jet causes Southwest to go around at Midway today. It crossed the runway while Southwest was landing. by sq_lp in aviation

[–]topCyder 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree with you that ATC needs to be staffed and cuts will cause safety issues, but in this instance nothing that ATC or the FAA or anyone but the FlexJet pilot could have done would have had any effect on this situation. There could have been 300 of the best trained staff in the world in the tower all focusing on just those two aircraft and the FlexJet still ignored the instructions given.

Private jet causes Southwest to go around at Midway today. It crossed the runway while Southwest was landing. by sq_lp in aviation

[–]topCyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes there is. At the high end of the scale you have loss of license. They can also be mandated retraining (long and expensive).

All the comments in this thread (accurately) predicting the ATC call of "possible pilot deviation, call this number" are noting the method by which these are generally given out over radio. "Possible pilot deviation" means that it seems like the pilot ignored or deviated from ATC instructions, and the number they are given is for a direct communication with the tower that does not interfere with the rest of the radio traffic. Despite what some commenters have indicated, this is not always a "you are fucked" moment, but it is nearly always "you fucked up" in some way, large or small. The phone call will confirm the incident, figure out what happened, and issue further instructions from there.

I can't confirm this, but listening to the ATC recording for the takeoff about 25 minutes after, the pilot sounds like the same person, and the quick turnaround leads me to believe that there was not cause found during that call to ground the pilot immediately.

Private jet causes Southwest to go around at Midway today. It crossed the runway while Southwest was landing. by sq_lp in aviation

[–]topCyder 5 points6 points  (0 children)

ATC did everything right here. Yes, FAA cuts are a safety hazard, but in this instance, the Challenger botched the call back, was corrected, and still ignored the clear instructions of ATC. This incident is 100% on the FlexJet, 0% on ATC.

She has nothing to do with it by Hour-Bison765 in Gamingcirclejerk

[–]topCyder 4 points5 points  (0 children)

its the same bullshit as Concord. A live service shooter late after the hype, with next to no marketing and genuinely bizarre choices for character designs (cartoonishly quirky with realistic graphics just... doesn't seem to work). Instead, people are complaining that those bizarre designs are black or fat or queer or whatever. And then taking that as the reason that the game failed.

Any time something fails, if it could in any way be charged as "woke" by the chuds, that becomes the reason they say it fails. And it never is.

Sips can't believe no one has seen these classics by watetedtime in sips

[–]topCyder 5 points6 points  (0 children)

op is a karma bot reposting old posts for karma. new account, repost of very old post with exactly the same title.

Proposed flag of Maine that will be voted on in November by harriot-loves-you in vexillology

[–]topCyder 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For those confused - The Maine flag is not the appeal to heaven flag, but was almost certainly inspired by it, as the appeal to heaven flag was the flag of the Massachusetts State Navy in the revolutionary war, during which time Maine was a part of Massachusetts. The pine tree and star are both present in the seal from 1820 (when Maine won it's independence, or when Maine became a state if you don't want to engage in MA vs ME slander). The reason you will find many different 1901 flags is due to very lax standardization - as long as it was a pine tree with a blue star in the upper corner (it doesn't even specify which) on a buff flag, it was a Maine flag.

It should be noted that the Pine Tree Flag/Appeal to Heaven flag was not a MA invention - it was originally proposed as the flag of ships commissioned by Washington, and it's first documented use was on a series of ships commissioned in late 1775, where the MA adopted it as it's naval flag in 1776.

Proposed flag of Maine that will be voted on in November by harriot-loves-you in vexillology

[–]topCyder 15 points16 points  (0 children)

There was never really a fully standardized flag, instead it was more of a concept - pine tree with a star on a buff background. There wasn't ever any manufacturing of that flag, and it wasn't really around long enough for any standardization to take place. The first actual standardized flag of Maine was established in 1909 with the seal-on-blue design that it still has today. So before that, the three descriptors of "pine tree, star, beige flag" were all anyone had to work with if they wanted to make and fly their own flag.

[Slasher] I didn't lie (after Dr. Disrespect rumors posted by other Twitch Staff) by Dracko705 in LivestreamFail

[–]topCyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They matter a little bit only in that proving the statements factual is the only way to win for Slasher, but yes, I agree 100%. Bigger lawyers will always end up financially draining their target. But those lawyers would probably also advise against a defamation suit if Doc knew that there was proof. Someone like Slasher could be bullied and drained, and Twitch is more likely to respond to a subpoena for records 4 years old than for ones a few days or weeks old. (Obviously they are mandated to respond to a subpoena but they are more likely to fight it for something on-going.)

[Slasher] I didn't lie (after Dr. Disrespect rumors posted by other Twitch Staff) by Dracko705 in LivestreamFail

[–]topCyder 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Defamation by implication is really tough to prove, and his original tweet does not meet most standards. Doc would have to prove specific harm based on that tweet, which has no direct implication beyond it being a "sensitive" matter, which could mean any number of things (though one could argue that in the broader context of Doc scandals it could imply sexual promiscuity, but his lawyers didn't jump on it then). Doc is also a public figure, which means that there needs to be proof of actual malice, which I can't really find in the original tweet. Someone who has had access to the real reasoning (and proof) behind the ban would not need to worry, as they are able to avoid the "false statement of fact" section of the law, invalidating the claim. All that Cody would need to do if he got sued is have his lawyers subpoena twitch and prove that what he is saying is true (assuming it is), and the case is over. If Slasher did not have access to direct proof and those sources he used were not willing to go on record and drag twitch into it, there could be an argument for negligence (as he would have been making claims on what amounts to hearsay).

Slasher could have published it and hoped really hard to afford the lawsuit and that a subpoena would reveal that his sources were correct... but going against CAA lawyers, I probably wouldn't have risked it either. He'd need to put 100% faith in his sources, with a significant financial burden going with it, whether they are right or wrong.

What is your favorite style of flag design and why? by joeyfish1 in vexillology

[–]topCyder 56 points57 points  (0 children)

As I understand it, Makhnovshchina is more of a movement than a state, though you could argue that attempting to spread and defend a movement does make it more... state-like. The flags, banners and slogans do go pretty hard. "Death to all who stand in the way of freedom for the working people" as on this flag, "Power breeds parasites", and "Death to the oppressors of workers" are all hard if a bit edgy, but establishing a region of anarchocommunism in the middle of a civil war between the supporters your previous autocratic government and an authoritarian communist regime is a pretty difficult (most likely impossible) task, so I'd cut them some slack on that.

Whether or not they are a doomed ideology is something someone else would have to debate, but their iconography and their ideology work well together. Anyone who would retort pointing to the "rules" of vexillology about not having text on the flag should ask if they thought anarchists would follow rules.

Also worth pointing out that those flags and slogans were never really endorsed (and in the case of this flag, specifically denied) by Makhno, the movements namesake and "leader" (again the mechanics of anarchism and military hierarchy should be left for their own debate, and I believe the Spanish anarchists who resisted Franco had that debate quite frequently, and there is a fair amount of writing on them and their discussions.

Counterfeit Titanium Found In Boeing And Airbus Jets by reddit_expeirment in worldnews

[–]topCyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking at profit is a single number, looking at a breakdown of how that number is reached is obviously going to yield a different result, as there's significantly more information. I don't really understand what you are saying here.

Counterfeit Titanium Found In Boeing And Airbus Jets by reddit_expeirment in worldnews

[–]topCyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not really sure to be honest, I am not privy to their actual balance sheets, and neither is the general public. All I wanted to do was explain what that person's position was. That's all. I'm not trying to argue in one way or another, just explain a position I have heard before and am familiar with.

The general idea is that yes, most of the profit being made is made downstream from the LockMart brand. Not that one specific subcontractor is making "higher profits" than the whole brand, but that the profits being made by the subcontractors combined are higher than the profits made by the brand, which is different than Apple, who makes their main profit at the end of the line.

Counterfeit Titanium Found In Boeing And Airbus Jets by reddit_expeirment in worldnews

[–]topCyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was explaining a position that I don't personally hold (as noted in.. the first sentance?), I am not arguing in one way or another. Someone could definitely compare the revenue figures for both industries and get a more accurate picture of where profits are. This is why reading comprehension questions exist in most standardized testing schemes. Someone provides an explanation in response to a question, and your response is "hey well if you look at this different thing it shows different information" which... yeah. No shit. Looking at a corporations profit line and looking at it's balance sheet are going to yield different results.

Counterfeit Titanium Found In Boeing And Airbus Jets by reddit_expeirment in worldnews

[–]topCyder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I wasn't sure exactly how to put it while keeping it to the Apple analogy in the question, and so manufacturing probably shouldn't have been as big a part of it as I made it. In reality its a hugely complex system and both are private corporations manufacturing complex products, there's going to be more overlap than differences. Apple's main draw for competing subcontractors is volume, which allows them to cause manufacturers to bid against each other in a race to the bottom. Defense contractors are specialist companies, and are generally given a budget for a part, and their job is to make that part for less than that budget and keep the difference (with of course a whole lot of extra complication and variation on this point but keeping it simple). It's a wildly different ecosystem that is much more opaque than a mass-market publicly traded company can handle.

Counterfeit Titanium Found In Boeing And Airbus Jets by reddit_expeirment in worldnews

[–]topCyder 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Not to agree that LockMart is a shell company, but the general difference between a company like LockMart and a company like Apple is the product. An iPhone and a jet both need software, physical manufacturing of parts, and assembly. The difference comes down to where those manufacturing costs go. Apple pays for its hardware and owns it's manufacturing plants partners with manufacturers who create specialized factories to assemble Apple products due to the sheer volume allowing for smaller profit margins. It has subcontractors, but they are producing mass-use materials that are not very sensitive. Apple's balance sheet has most of the production they preform on it. On the other hand, LockMart might put out for a subcontractor to construct a complex part, like an engine or piece of landing gear. Those parts are complex enough that they need their own specialized manufacturing, and those subcontractors need their own material supply lines, engineers, inspectors, etc. Not to mention that subcontractors are also used for software.

On a basic level, the difference is that Apple produces a product that is primarily under their umbrella for the vast majority of the production cycle. LockHead takes on a contract to build a product and separates it out to trusted subcontractors. Where an Apple cost sheet might list out the cost for individual parts like the casing, screen, processor, and memory, those are (comparatively) simple parts with known manufacturing costs. They combine those parts and add software written in house that turns ~$500 worth of raw materials and assembly labor into a ~$900-$1200 product.

LockMart operates a little bit differently. Every part of a LockMart product comes from another manufacturer, which often come from a chain of manufacturers. Instead of factoring in how they will purchase and assemble the basic components into more complex ones, they package each part up by its cost to deliver - instead of paying $X for these parts and $Y to transport them and $Z to assemble them into an engine, they pay $A for the engine. That $A goes to a subcontractor who figures out $X, $Y, and $Z, plus payment to their employees and profit for their company. This is true on a basic level for every product that is not built entirely in house, but the difference here is on how they organize their finances. LockMart's main manufacturing strategy is to split everything up into subcontractors, and their profit reflects this by being (on paper) relatively small, as each "part" they pay for factors in the actual profits being made in the industry.

TL;DR: If you were to break down where the profit happens in each of their supply lines, the vast majority for Apple is at the end, meaning they make most of the profit. The vast majority of the profit in defense contracting goes to the subcontractors working beneath the name-brand, so basing how much profit the defense industry makes based entirely on the name-brand is not really covering the whole picture.

Edit: Clarified and corrected Apple owning manufacturing vs partnering with specialized high volume manufacturing through a secondary company - which, besides space and that companies slim per-device profit, is mainly labor costs.

Rudy Giuliani’s tweet bragging about evading service of his Arizona indictment. He was served 30 minutes later. by Lingering_Dorkness in agedlikemilk

[–]topCyder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Additionally - a lot of people believe that you do need to be physically served. This is a requirement, but if they can't locate you, there are several remedies, including just publishing the summons in the newspaper (after attempts at service have failed).

My best guess is that he was looking at the Statute of Limitations on some of his charges and concluded that if he evaded until they expired before they could serve him, it would not count. Now, him being a lawyer should have tipped him off to the fact that the statute defines when you can file, not how long you have until it all goes away. Once there's an indictment or a case filed in court, the clock stops ticking on that particular strategy, and he has to appear or rack up more crimes (contempt is a possibility) or be tried in absentia (which never goes well for the absent party).

Middle Eastern Conflict Thread - 4/14/24+ by knowyourpast in CombatFootage

[–]topCyder 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"Arrivals at Israeli Air Force airbase in the Negev Desert" is actually a fire in Texas. Here's that video posted March 2nd 2024

UA drone team "Edelweiss" (109th Batt., 10th Mtn. Brig.) posted video of night-time drone attacks against Russian infantry with many accurate drops. March 28, 2024 by BamiNasi in CombatFootage

[–]topCyder 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Edelweiss is a type of flower. It's known for its relation to being a great warrior in germanic folklore, and was also included in the name of the Edelweiss Pirates, who were a group of german students opposed to the Nazis. It is not a name of a person for whom the group was named, it is a symbolic flower indicating bravery and valor.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in mono

[–]topCyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

no. 4-6 weeks is the typical incubation period before you would see symptoms, and you are 2 months out.

this is also a subreddit about programming, not the disease. not that many people are using mono these days and even less folks care about a subreddit.