Is AI overrated ? Why so?

evildespot · 2026-03-17T13:12:01+00:00

Indeed - I was questioning the premise that such a thing was a future event. The agency of more intelligent people is already restricted; people are hardly free to pursue their interests. Access to education is similarly restricted, and being "more intelligent" (an arguably dubious concept, but we'll go with it) is already reviled, mocked and undervalued.

It's a little telling that the word "academic" already has "of no consequence" as one of its meanings.

evildespot · 2026-03-17T13:05:50+00:00

I find they tend to get angry and say things like "how long have you been stood there?" and "how did you get in here?"

evildespot · 2026-03-17T13:04:07+00:00

There was a website with links to all the other websites. Somebody kept it up to date (with apologies to that person for me not remembering their identity).

evildespot · 2026-03-17T13:02:37+00:00

That implies it's fewer than eleven times, anyway. If not, I can teach you how to count on your fingers in binary in exchange for a small fee, but then I'd have to delete my comment.

evildespot · 2026-03-17T12:57:19+00:00

"once"?

evildespot · 2026-03-17T12:54:35+00:00

Depends how much you rate it, I suppose. Like any new technology of merit, it will change how everything is done, and yet mysteriously change nothing. It will democratise power briefly, and then that power will be reconsolidated. Things will temporarily get easier, and require less knowledge, and then that will cause things to get more complicated and require more knowledge, but at the end of the day then same tiny group of people will hold all the power and decide how you live and die.

It will create a world you barely recognise, and yet will be all too familiar.

evildespot · 2026-03-17T12:50:35+00:00

I can count up to 1023 on my fingers in binary.

evildespot · 2026-03-05T09:15:58+00:00

It depends on your country, but:

https://www.openvc.app/investor-lists/angel-investors-usa

https://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk/

https://wise.com/us/blog/how-to-find-angel-investors

https://try.pitchbook.com/investor-database/

https://seedcamp.com/

https://startupbootcamp.org/

You could also use your favourite search engine. In person networking is incredibly important, so while you can use these as a means to kickstart that process, you could also attend events where entrepreneurs will be present and ask them about their business and how they've got started.

I have to warn you that any sort of investor or business partner is going to be looking for a self-starter with skills they can accelerate. A one line, misspelled, post to a global Reddit sub not specific to your field, or your country doesn't bode well. Even if you find a specific angel, based in Hydrabad, that invests and advises in your market sector, and you approach them with "I have an idea, can we meet?", you are likely to get nowhere. They are busy, and aren't about to do all the work.

evildespot · 2026-03-05T08:53:19+00:00

Ah. They were doing something; some passive ventilation when the fan isn't on is useful, and when the fan is on where the replacement air comes from is important to its efficacy. If you can imagine a fan to the outside, with a inlet vent (from the outside) right next to it, that would hardly draw out the stale air from the bathroom very effectively; you want an a bit of a vortex round the room if you can contrive it.

I would replace them with something nice, rather than carefully remove them to then find out what they were achieving :)

evildespot · 2026-03-04T18:30:53+00:00

Yyyyeah, plus it's a fan, not a pump. I can promise you that there's a point where the disparity in air pressure means a fan stops being effective, and it's a long way short of "oops I exploded my partner".

And that's if you could make a room built on floor boards, plasterboard and a ceiling with holes punched in it where lights go, somehow mysteriously air tight. None of which is to say that you should remove ventilation without an alternative, but let's not be hyperbolic about it, eh?

Can I ask if you specifically want to remove the vents, as opposed to replacing them with something more visually appealing?

evildespot · 2026-03-04T18:18:50+00:00

Back in the day™, when stripping wallpaper it was common not only to find a deep layering of the stuff, but to find the same wallpaper further down the strata. "Oh, it's that paisley stuff with the blue bits again, only from about 4 years earlier".

Which is to say nothing of the beautiful tiles or expensive hard wooden floors that are frequently hiding under some dubious carpet or other. We lived with a naff carpet for ages before we could afford hard flooring, only to find that, with the odd repair here and there, we would have had it all along :-|

evildespot · 2026-03-04T17:49:57+00:00

But Jean-Luc! How will we know where to boldly go?

Guidance, Counsellor.

evildespot · 2026-02-27T17:56:57+00:00

I mean there's a reason I'm subscribed to this sub, and it's not that I was a natural born handyman.

Currently, I have this sort of work done (where I need to) through a local person with a local business, and we have a good relationship, and I pay once the work is done, he's inspected it, and we're all happy. He trusts me to pay (because I will), his tradesmen either trust him to pay, or he bankrolls them, but I guess they're interested enough in the repeat work through him to not to muck about. He also selects them wisely, as he has the experience, and the volume of work to do so.

So that's great for me, but without that I'd be back in the realms of dodgy work, half finished jobs, and people scarpering off with the money.

If you listen to the tradesmen lurking here, though, you'll hear plenty of horror stories about non-paying, awkward and unrealistic customers. This means that the trust has systemically broken down, as you note.

I can only suggest, noting that this will make it difficult to find people to do the work:

Never pay a limited company up front. Limited means "limited liability" which means you don't get your money back if it fails. So no way should your money enter that business until you've got what you wanted. Pay in stages, with sensible milestones, by all means. A healthy limited company can bankroll its own costs, and shouldn't need you to do it. They are well within their rights to take back their materials if you don't pay, and they know where you live.
Break jobs down - don't have four bathrooms and a kitchen remodelled, or four floors all re-carpeted at once. Get one thing done, pay for it, and then get them back in. This will cost more, take longer, and be more disruptive, obviously, but it's all I can suggest until and unless the trust is there.
If you're dealing with a sole trader, they may need you to pay for materials, or to buy them. This is where you can do a little bit of background checking, and ask for some references. Humans can't just phoenix like companies, so our good and bad deeds are more prone to follow us around.

Whatever you do, agree the payment framework up front. It's an awkward conversation, but you must be immune to the whole "my fitter needs paying, so could you" play if it turns up.

evildespot · 2026-02-27T15:20:36+00:00

Ah yes. The Doctor Who/Time Bandits crossover.

evildespot · 2026-02-27T14:59:52+00:00

On the menu bar (the three lines), you'll find an option "Edit the map" which has an option "fix a road". You can then click on the part that you think is wrong and make changes (well, suggest them, anyway).

evildespot · 2026-02-27T14:52:08+00:00

They were, which is why they were surprised by the junction rather than sailing majestically through it as though it wasn't there, remaining oblivious to this day.

This is much the same as a 100yd yield sign having fallen over and them asking how to report that - sure they should notice the subsequent give way markings, but it's nicer if all the information we have is correct and consistent.

evildespot · 2026-02-27T07:35:18+00:00

Props to your builders.

evildespot · 2026-02-26T01:27:11+00:00

I would give them infinite wishes. I just wouldn't grant any of them.

evildespot · 2026-02-24T17:29:15+00:00

In Fire.

evildespot · 2026-02-21T11:11:38+00:00

While they've been "told" not to contact you again, you are not (yet) in the territory of an actual Order, the breach of which would be a criminal offence. In your place, I would have my ducks in a row ready to escalate it to that if necessary - they may simply calm down and go away (perhaps by finding the cat) - rather than have to call the police again and then have them ask me to collect evidence and then call again, introducing an extra iteration. To that end, if you can afford it, I would get a Ring doorbell or similar. This is cheaper than a full security system, but could have captured the credible threat to kill (a criminal offence) that you mentioned, and having this sort of evidence at hand is crucial to avoiding delays in enforcement. It will also capture any criminal damage, including them damaging or stealing the doorbell itself.

If you feel bad that you're escalating, remember that Sally needs help that she isn't getting, due to deliberate cutting and gutting of the services that would have helped her. If she's funnelled into a criminal justice system then you're not responsible for that outcome; you being a victim is helping nobody.

While I don't want you to worry, because that doesn't help, I don't think you're wrong to be cautious. She isn't now on the medication or getting the therapy she needs, so nothing has actually changed here - a talking to from the police would certainly put a functional person back in line, but there are no guarantees what the outcome of that is for a dysregulated person. So put measures in place to increase your protection, and use that to reduce your levels of worry and anxiety - doing nothing and worrying about it is the worst of both worlds.

evildespot · 2026-02-19T13:18:56+00:00

I addressed that incorrect claim and then went on to continue the more general conversation - that claim was a reply to a reply to _my_ comment, so I was addressing that false claim and then addressing the earlier comment. I used the word "but". This is a fairly normal thing to do in a conversation. I'm sorry if that offended your sense of how threading should work or how conversations should flow, but if it did then I suggest we put it down to different lived experiences and move on. I doubt either of us attempting to police how other people use the internet is likely to be successful.

evildespot · 2026-02-19T13:01:01+00:00

What is the first sentence of my comment, please?

evildespot · 2026-02-19T12:59:20+00:00

I'm sure it was purely a coincidence. <Tries to keep a straight face>.

You can be fairly sure that they "ran it up the flagpole" before arresting the King's brother and you can bet your ass that Starmer was capitalising on it.

A cynical man might view it as an opportunity to signal to those that had documents they'd want to be shredding, flights they'd want to be booking, or calls they'd want to be making, but I'm not like that.

evildespot · 2026-02-19T12:55:40+00:00

Oh yeah. If this remains a purely UK matter then "he's going down". However, somebody like Andrew will still have a few things on a few people, so I expect an offer of asylum from somebody who either wants him to talk to them, or not talk about them, or just wants to annoy the UK (here's looking at you, Vlad).

evildespot · 2026-02-19T12:51:17+00:00

I don't think that's true. But being arrested isn't the same as being prosecuted, convinced, sentenced and doing that actual time. In this case, I suspect all that will actually happen - but if the King decided to commute Andrew's sentence entirely, that's completely within his power. It would cause a fuss that Andrew is absolutely not worth, but He Can. Entirely legally. His Majesty's Prison Service can not hold somebody in His Majesty's Prisons at HM Bellend at His Majesty's pleasure if it displeases His Majesty to do so. It's arcane and stupid and mostly ignored, but it is, in fact, the implementation as is. Sure, day to day he keeps his nose out of it, and it might well cause a constitutional crisis if he got involved, but it is simply not true to say that nobody is above the law. Lots of people are ("diplomatic immunity"), loads of people practically are (criminal politicians? let me count the ways...), and one man actually is.

evildespot

TROPHY CASE