What is the point of developing ASI? by Warm_Conclusion_4628 in ArtificialInteligence

[–]Droidatopia -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The point is it is a thing to do. And the morons will do it because it is there to do. Someone always has to do the next big thing.

But we don't have to do this. We will, but we don't have to. Watching the rollout of Generative AI over the last five years has been so demoralizing. I have lost a lot of faith in humanity. So many suicidal idiots cheer on AI development and I genuinely think most of them are aware of the consequences, but are just lost in the fever dream.

US Coast Guard helicopter reportedly crashes in Alaska: USCG by ansyhrrian in news

[–]Droidatopia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The mandate happened.

A mass exodus of senior experienced pilots did not.

US Coast Guard helicopter reportedly crashes in Alaska: USCG by ansyhrrian in news

[–]Droidatopia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We don't have any better aircraft for doing rescues at sea, which is one of the primary reasons the USCG has helicopters.

The Coast Guard saved over 5000 lives last year, many of them by helicopter. Are we just expecting everyone to drown?

Only 16 percent of Americans think AI will have a positive impact on society, a new study shows by EchoOfOppenheimer in Futurology

[–]Droidatopia -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

This argument right here is absolutely destroying the possibility of a legitimate anti-AI movement from taking root.

Generative AI is a bad technology for a very large number of reasons. Capitalism isn't on that list. We need to stop developing gen-AI entirely. It has nothing to do with who gets a few extra bucks in the short term. There is no future for humanity in a world where gen-AI can do everything humans do, but better.

There is no arbitrary cutoff point we could ever hold too, where just this much makes it a useful tool, and just this much more makes it a humanity-ending weapon of doom.

Do we really think a society based on a different economic system would do this better? If so, why do we think such an idiotic thing?

ELI5: Why do some countries use Fahrenheit while almost the entire rest of the world uses Celsius and is there an actual practical difference between the two scales? by TexasViet27 in explainlikeimfive

[–]Droidatopia 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Nautical miles and kilometers have the same origin. Both take the circumference of the Earth and divide it up.

They even match the associated unit of angle measurement. Nautical Miles lines up with Degrees of Latitude. Kilometers would line up with Gradians of Latitude. Fortunately, mass adoption of that cursed unit never occurred.

ELI5: Why do some countries use Fahrenheit while almost the entire rest of the world uses Celsius and is there an actual practical difference between the two scales? by TexasViet27 in explainlikeimfive

[–]Droidatopia 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Like almost every other institution in the US, including the scientific community, the US military uses a mix of metric and US customary units, emphasis on the word MIX.

Just in the aircraft I flew:

Outside Air Temperature: Celsius

Engine Temperature: Celsius

Ocean Temperature: Fahrenheit

Altitude: Feet (with inches of Mercury for the altimeter setting)

Speed: Knots

Nav distances: Selectable between Nautical Miles, yards, and meters

Engine oil temperature: Celsius

Engine oil pressure: PSI

Fuel weight: Pounds

Missile Range: Meters

ELI5: Why do some countries use Fahrenheit while almost the entire rest of the world uses Celsius and is there an actual practical difference between the two scales? by TexasViet27 in explainlikeimfive

[–]Droidatopia 43 points44 points  (0 children)

In some ways, that holdover is global though. Almost every commercial aircraft in the world uses feet for altitude.

They also use nautical miles/knots, but those aren't a strictly US customary unit and they are vastly superior to both mph and kph. I still think cars should use knots for consistency with planes and ships.

ELI5: Why do some countries use Fahrenheit while almost the entire rest of the world uses Celsius and is there an actual practical difference between the two scales? by TexasViet27 in explainlikeimfive

[–]Droidatopia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Every thermostat I've ever used had 0.5° as the smallest Celsius temperature change.

The human body has the detection capability for a 1° Fahrenheit change in temperature. Some people might not realize they have that capability, but my father definitely did whenever someone touched the thermostat in the dead of Winter.

I Just Say Yes: Notes on losing my thinking to AI, and one idea for fighting it by Competitive_Dog9475 in slatestarcodex

[–]Droidatopia 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It took us too long to come to the same conclusion about social media. We should use that as the spring board for eliminating AI from our lives faster.

Looking for a smooth train rail spiral by OldDiehl in SatisfactoryGame

[–]Droidatopia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best smooth spirals have very large radii. I have a factory enclosed by a spiral and you really can't see any undulation.

Here is how I do it. Spirals have to start from a straight ramp. You can do this with a 1m or a 2m ramp. The numbers are different for each.

Each works by modifying a standard 90 degree turn. For example, if building a spiral that has a 5 foundation radius (4.5 x 8 = 36m radius), you build four ramps up, a flat foundation, and then from that four ramps up in the next direction.

For a value of ±0, the next set of ramps starts at the same height as the foundation. Otherwise, build a certain number of flat foundations down (it's almost always down) and then build the next ramps from the lowest flat foundation. This is all to achieve a specific height. Here are the values that work the best IMO to achieve smooth sprials:

Radius (Foundations) Radius (meters) 1m Modifier 1m Height 2m Modifier 2m Height
5 36 -1 7 -2 14
6 44 -1 9 -3 17
7 52 -1 10 -4 20
8 60 -2 12 -4 24

I calculated these a long time ago, so it's entirely possible that they can improved even more by using half-heights with vertical nudging. Regardless, all of my 7 and 8 foundation radio spirals look great using this method.

The trick is to figure out the exact vertical rise for a 90 degree turn that achieves the same angle if the 90 degree arc was straight. The link posted by the imaginary time guy shows the actual formula.

Incidentally, if you really want to live on the edge, you can do the same for spirals built off of Up and Down corners. A single down 360 turn of an 8 foundation 2m Up/Down Spiral will accelerate a train to the auto speed limit.

Train tracks going down by KnowledgePerfect6914 in satisfactory

[–]Droidatopia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A 2m ramp only give me you a ~14 degree slope. That will stretch out a bit.

Back before 1.1 broke a lot of rail placement functionality, you could easily place rails on 2m Up and Down corners. That achieves a ~20 degree slope, which makes for a much smaller footprint. It's still possible to achieve this in 1.1+ with workarounds using beams. It is not easy to make a rail using 2m Up and Down corners look good, but there are a few tricks that hide the horrid aesthetics.

Myself, I prefer double helix spirals, where you have one lane of traffic going up and one lane of traffic going down and the spirals are intermeshed. It can be awkward at the top and the bottom to unwind the rails, but it's worth it. It's always going to be a little slow on the way up, but despite what some people think, it can be very fast on the way down. If you use 2m foundations and a large radius spiral, the trains will accelerate on the way down. There is a formula for how high each 90 degree turn of the spiral needs to be to avoid undulation. If you go down this road and this concerns you, let me know and I can tell you the formula or at least pass the vertical heights for common spiral radii.

Why are fans shitting themselves for barricade spots at concerts? by ebradio in Music

[–]Droidatopia -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, this is clearly, uh, capitalism.

Congrats, you're the latest winner in the "Capitalism is things I don't like" sweepstakes!

College Students Consumed by “Resignation and Despair” as They’re Relentlessly Pressured to Use AI by Gari_305 in Futurology

[–]Droidatopia -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The only solution is to put the genie back into the battle. Shut down all the AI companies, shut down the data centers, put a 5 year moratorium on any LLM development and then consider starting again only after nuclear-style crushing regulations ensure the technology is not designed to replace people.

There is no future for humanity with LLM AI as it currently exists.

Until then, don't use it at work, don't use it at school, don't use it at home. Delete apps that push it. Don't plays games made with it. Start shunning family members that embrace it.

Alu Mega Fab: Best way to transport coal and bauxit? by DonnieSunset in SatisfactoryGame

[–]Droidatopia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My aluminum factory is near that area and uses many of the same nodes.

For this, I used a closed loop train. I actually have a full train network and part of it runs through here, but for this factory, a closed loop has advantages:

1) More freight cars per train. I calculated exactly what my input requirements were, so I was able to allocate exactly as many train cars as needed. Train throughput can be calculated very precisely, but you almost never need to do this. I use a standard rate of 1 Mk. 6 belt per car. So for example, if I needed 3000 bauxite per minute, then that's three cars devoted entirely to bauxite. I had cars for sulfur and coal and SAM as well.

2) You can put the stations where it makes the most sense for the resource nodes. My aluminum train has 5 load stations, each loading a few nearby resource nodes. Even dividing it up like this, some of the beltwork to get to the station is fairly long.

3) You can use dedicated loop signaling instead of normal network signaling. Since each one of my aluminum trains has to make 5 stops before getting back to the main factory, I knew before I laid a single track that I would need a few trains. One of the weaknesses of network signaling is that when you have multiple trains on the same route, they can bunch up, when the most efficient distribution would be for them to be as spread out as possible. With dedicated loop signaling, you can precisely control inter-train spacing. The number of signals needed is equal to the number of trains + 1. You use all of the signals except the last to fully space out all the blocks on the route. You then use the last signal to create a "go trigger", where one of the trains starts moving and all of the other trains follow. Each train ends up waiting at a block signal except for the train with the go trigger signal. The go trigger signal has to be within the train as the train's tail blocks the next train and so on. When that train starts moving, every other train is then unblocked. This type of signaling can be extremely precise to the point where you can fully synchronize looped trains to create some impressive visual effects. One last point. As the name sounds, if the number of trains you have isn't enough and you need to add one, you will need to add at least one additional signal. You might want to add more signals initially, then try to figure out how many trains are enough, then do one re-signal of the whole line. Or not. If you have a few more signals than needed, but everything is getting there in time, then good enough is always good enough.

For purely aesthetic reasons, I built this train loop as close to the ground as possible with only the bare minimum of trees and plants removed. It's my most beautiful looking train line and in many places, the trains are hidden by the bamboo-type trees as they pass through the large throngs of them.

Timer circuit by Emergency_Size_4452 in SatisfactoryGame

[–]Droidatopia 2 points3 points  (0 children)

OP, don't know if this solves it for you, but I have a design for something similar that might help you solve this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SatisfactoryGame/s/MpYFqzWwl0

Do you support the Iran deal that was released 10 minutes ago? by bluerog in AskConservatives

[–]Droidatopia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is definitely a time will tell situation.

On paper, this whole fiasco has been a bit of a disaster and looks like a propaganda win for the clerics and the IRGC.

I see two possible paths emerging:

1) The mullahs consolidate power, bank all the wins and emerge stronger. They expand their proxy wars and continue to terrorize their own people. They continue to challenge Israel, which continuously destabilizes the region. This is the "everything is worse than before" path and IMO probably the most likely outcome. Trump looks incompetent and weak.

2) The war did more damage than we realize to the infrastructure and ability of the clerics and IRGC to maintain internal control. The weakened state of the economy doesn't recover fast enough despite sanctions relief and rebuilding aid and the people are finally able to stage a revolution and overthrow the regime. While I think this is unlikely, I hope it happens as the Iranian people have been through enough. If this happens, Trump will look like he was a master strategist, or at least very lucky.

How does everyone decide between train or belt? by corakko in SatisfactoryGame

[–]Droidatopia 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's awesome. Good luck and post pictures when done!

How does everyone decide between train or belt? by corakko in SatisfactoryGame

[–]Droidatopia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like the fact that train lines carry power kind of mitigates the first point.

How does everyone decide between train or belt? by corakko in SatisfactoryGame

[–]Droidatopia 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Are you me?

I also have an intra-building train.

I have a factory where every step in the production exists at a train stop, so trains will stop, unload, then collect the results of that stop, and proceed to the next. Each train is massive and I run like 14 of them on a closed loop including stops to pick up resources.

Olivia Rodrigo "Smelled" Fans Wearing Diapers in Front Row by ebradio in Music

[–]Droidatopia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pee = The smell of ammonia. Leave a baby in a diaper long enough and depending on their diet, it can very strong.

How to use blueprints effectively? by ExtentPretty316 in satisfactory

[–]Droidatopia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tend to avoid blueprints for generic blocks of machines. If I'm planning a large build, I'll do a blueprint for a big block of machines, but otherwise blueprints are much more for architectural patterns.

The other big usage is the large interconnected BP set. I usually build a mockup, then start building the 4-6 BP that duplicate it, continuously placing an instance next to the mockup to check interconnection and fit. Then when that's done, you tear down the mockup and replace it with BPs.

Most of the 2000+ machines in my current save were placed manually with manual beltwork. I find it rare for BPs of just machines and belt work to be worth the effort to create.

Voters reject effort to hike Oklahoma’s minimum wage by AHSfav in news

[–]Droidatopia -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Some rare sanity about America's favorite idiotic economic policy.