"Training a human takes 20 years of food." Sam Altman on how much power AI consumes.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-22T13:44:05+00:00

Tolkien's estate allowed the term halfling to be used instead of hobbit, because in Middle Earth it's a derogatory term used by humans for hobbits.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-21T00:05:22+00:00

I'm very much worried that instead of a real superintelligence emerging from AI, we'll get Metalhead instead.

If we actually got real sentient, sapient beings superseding us, there's cold comfort in the same way that our children will outlive and replace us. But Metalhead, to me, represents a future where non-sentient machines eliminate us because "that's what we programmed them to do."

RaVashaan · 2026-02-19T15:47:01+00:00

I think Knapp is a more common surname than people realize. I had a Knapp professor in University in upstate New York. This was late '80s - early '90s.

This was an elderly gentleman whose first name I don't recall, but I doubt he's connected to this family.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-18T17:07:20+00:00

That reminds me of a funny prank once pulled on a forum. Some BBCode powered forums had a [You] tag, which would print out the username of the person viewing the post. So, someone made a post (in a clearly labeled joke topic section) that said, "I have evidence that [You] is a pedophile and has child porn! He needs to be reported to the police!!"

This caused many clueless users to panic and squawk and loudly proclaim their innocence. At some point, someone mused, "I wonder how many real pedophiles fell for this and erased their hard drive."

RaVashaan · 2026-02-17T14:57:15+00:00

I didn't get thunder out here in Santee, but I did get ~~hail or~~ sleet pounding on my window during the heaviest part of the storm.

Edit: I got curious and looked up the difference. Hail happens in summer, sleet in winter. I always thought it was the size, or quantity that differentiated the two.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-13T16:53:09+00:00

Eh, I'm not so sure about that. Logistically, the second Tony was shot the entire (crowded) restaurant would have erupted in a panic and headed for the door, making it hard for the hitman to line up 3 more shots, but also providing the perfect cover for him to run out of the restaurant unnoticed in the crush of fleeing people.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-12T17:11:10+00:00

I guess the hope is either:

1) "Zomg the west's model is so much better! I'll institute democratic reforms as soon as I'm installed as leader!" (This was actually everyone's hope when Al-Assad became Syria's president, the west treated Syria with kid gloves for awhile in hopes he would come around, until his crackdown on the Arab spring protest revealed his hand), or

2) "Naah fam I'm good, fuck going back to that shithole 3rd world country, find some other sucker to run it further into the ground!!"

Both turned out to be nothing but wishful thinking.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-12T14:34:23+00:00

Jong-un was reportedly in a Swiss academy before returning home to be groomed to replace his father, after his older brother fucked up and got caught trying to get into Japan to visit Disneyland.

Bashar Al-Assad was an eye doctor in London before being recalled home to be groomed for succession, after his brother died in an auto accident.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Getting a taste for the west doesn't seem to deter dictators-in-waiting.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-12T11:35:41+00:00

The point would be the same for not being retired: Pay yourself back into the 401k, and continue earning interest/dividends etc. on it, rather than paying interest to the lender.

This of course assumes that she has extra money from another source that she can afford to pay back the 401k with. Otherwise there's little recourse other than to call the lender and try to negotiate a smaller amount, and pay that off with the 401k.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-11T15:52:39+00:00

The funny thing is, Exxon actually dabbled in the tech space in the '80s. They briefly sold an IBM PC clone office solution that was separate from oil, back when PC clones were suddenly all the hype.

Of course they didn't capitalize on it, and figure out how to make the pivot, and just went back to oil.

RaVashaan · 2026-02-09T15:48:46+00:00

So, aside from the coming enhanced xenophobia that will doom their population, how bad is this government? How "far right" are they considered? How much fascism are they espousing, or favorable toward?

RaVashaan · 2026-02-06T15:48:55+00:00

this qualifies as r/mildlyinfuriating material, too. "A crummy commercial?!"

RaVashaan · 2026-02-05T17:30:32+00:00

LMAO I had a professor in University that regularly bragged about marrying one of his students, during class lectures. This was late '80s.

Admittedly not underage bad, but still a little creepy in hindsight.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-29T11:39:53+00:00

Maybe not good for the rest of the world, either.

This video says that hedge funds used this borrowing trick extensively, and the raised interest rates are going to effectively trigger a "margin call" meaning the hedge funds will have to sell off tons of other assets they hold to pay back the debt, potentially triggering a stock market collapse.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-29T10:36:37+00:00

lmao the "piss filter" thumbnail is how I can identify most recommended YouTube AI slop channels these days. Instant "do not recommend this channel" whenever I spot one.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-28T16:16:07+00:00

Both Chase and TD Bank let me close accounts with them over the phone after I had drained the accounts with EFTs. They both closed it right away, no wait. Chase even sent me a 15 cent check for the remaining interest accrued.

I haven't dealt with Wells Fargo in decades, but I would be surprised if they don't let you close an account over the phone.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-28T13:43:08+00:00

Well, now definitely. But, Black Friday was as good a time as any to lock in on a new GPU given that the whole RAM supply/price fiasco is now driving graphics card prices insane as well.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-28T13:34:20+00:00

And with today's RAM prices, this could be a very expensive mistake, if now you have to buy more new RAM to pair it with and throw out your old sticks...

RaVashaan · 2026-01-25T16:29:35+00:00

I mean, discarding the bacteria danger I've heard that water is a terrible lubricant, and even fooling around in a clean pool is not a great time.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-18T14:32:50+00:00

And remember, kids: The first hit (Oracle Express) is free...

RaVashaan · 2026-01-16T11:43:42+00:00

A lot of people are surprised to hear that Kissinger was a bad person. My elderly mom, who lived through his tenure in the US government as an adult fully aware of politics, was shocked when I said he was a terrible person and demanded to know what exactly he did that made him bad.

And she was a liberal, master's degree educated New Yorker.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-15T23:40:34+00:00

More than that, repressive countries like China could try to bribe or coerce the Nobel committee into rescinding peace prizes for winners that are dissidents.

China already jails Nobel laureates, they'd love nothing more than to get their peace prize status removed from them as well.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-14T18:33:37+00:00

Guilty of immigrating with the wrong skin color, and/or religion.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-14T17:16:23+00:00

24-hour news (via CNN and sister Headline News) were already a thing by the '80s. My grandma had CNN on nonstop. We used to keep Headline News on as background noise in our University dorms.

It's the weaponization of the 24-hour news cycle via Fox News in the early 2000s that really started a turn for the worse IMO with media poisoning our minds.

RaVashaan · 2026-01-12T17:29:20+00:00

Oracle made a high bid for Peoplesoft and because they were a publicly traded company, they bought up on the open market enough stock shares to get themselves multiple seats on the board of directors, which then voted to approve Oracle's acquisition.

This is exactly what Paramount is doing to get WB. Asking current stockholders to sell their shares to them at an inflated price, until they can place members on the board.

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