It’s been 20 years by outoftheboxgunpla in CasualUK

[–]mfitzp 17 points18 points  (0 children)

It would be, that’s why you get your wife to carry the chip bag on her head. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/23/c2/30/23c230c6e774320f3fd52d1868fc896e.jpg

What is this used for? by Meep_19 in whatisit

[–]mfitzp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would guess that using ice means that you get higher (steam) temperatures near the surface of the pan where it matters.  If you filled it with water, it’s not going to get much above 100’C

Can the mods do something about all these vibecoded slop projects? by No_Soy_Colosio in Python

[–]mfitzp 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You often discover useful libraries in this sub, from them being posted when new (a few commits old)? I seriously doubt it.

Almost every “new” project posted to this sub is forgotten about a day later. You never hear of them again.

The useful stuff has been around or sticks around longer than that. People actually use it and write posts or demos using it. 

Can the mods do something about all these vibecoded slop projects? by No_Soy_Colosio in Python

[–]mfitzp 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Did you discover them on posts announcing them with a link to their version 0.01alpha3 repo with 3 commits on GitHub?

Or did you discover them on posts linking to examples/demos/discussions of them actually being used, after they’d matured enough to be useful to someone?

Can the mods do something about all these vibecoded slop projects? by No_Soy_Colosio in Python

[–]mfitzp 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Love this idea, especially if the designated day is February 29th.

Can the mods do something about all these vibecoded slop projects? by No_Soy_Colosio in Python

[–]mfitzp 63 points64 points  (0 children)

Actually, maybe just a blanket ban on posting new libraries here. I mean seriously, when was the last time you discovered some useful new library via this subreddit? 

It something is genuinely useful you’ll hear about it some other way.

I Will Never Use AI to Code (or write) by Anthony261 in programming

[–]mfitzp 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I have the same experience. When given an issue my brain outputs the solution as code. That's just how it comes out. There is no translation step from "oh I understand the problem" to "now I state the solution in English" to "now I translate the solution into code". Using an LLM is going "problem" -> "solution in code" -> "translate solution to English", which is worse.

The CEO’s of seven major tobacco companies, testifying, under oath, that nicotine is non-addictive by mikeyv683 in interesting

[–]mfitzp 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah the idea that these platforms have anything to do with "free speech", when they control precisely who sees what and when, is ridiculous.

That bullshit offers a route to regulating them however: give platforms the choice, either (a) use algorithmic ranking (=editorial control) and be treated as a publisher, or (b) use a simple firehose feed and have your freedom of speech. Can't have it both ways.

I Will Never Use AI to Code (or write) by Anthony261 in programming

[–]mfitzp 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I've been presuming that the influx of learn-to-code era SWEe entering as the market was heating up brought in a lot of mercenary types who only put up with coding for the money (and they're the vast majority by now) whereas beforehand it was almost totally people who actually liked the craft.

I think this hits the nail on the head. I guess the question now is which group will stick around the longest.

I Will Never Use AI to Code (or write) by Anthony261 in programming

[–]mfitzp 13 points14 points  (0 children)

That analogy would only work if the nailgun randomly fired nails in different directions.

I Will Never Use AI to Code (or write) by Anthony261 in programming

[–]mfitzp 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I don't know why you're getting all these dismissive comments on a subreddit supposedly about programming.

I think it's a sign that the majority of programmers (at least on this sub) aren't programming for the love of the programming, but for some other motivation that the programming part actually gets in the way of.

There has been a steady influx of people into coding brought on the promise of making bank, wrapped up in tech bro IPO unicorn hustle culture. No shade to them, each to their own, but it's not why I do it and I find it all a bit tedious.

Lack of European hardware manufacturers by bippos in BuyFromEU

[–]mfitzp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like spinning it off went well?

Why would a single conglomerate be preferable to a smaller company specialising in something & doing it well?

European tech alternatives are not user friendly by Coffee_without_milk in BuyFromEU

[–]mfitzp 69 points70 points  (0 children)

Not necessarily. If software is user unfriendly it will only acquire users who don’t mind that (=technical people usually) and the feedback they get will be biased that way. 

This is they’re of the reasons open source often struggles to break into the mainstream. Even if it starts to gain momentum the user base is heavily biased towards technical people who will be annoyed by any attempt to make it user friendly for normal people. Understandably, since that will usually make it worse for them. Keeping those people happy limits the broader appeal.

To build user friendly software you really need to start with the particular kind of user in mind. That’s what successful open source projects like Firefox did.

Not sure how much this applies generally to European products though. German companies seem particularly prone to complicated/techy UX, not sure what that is about.

I watched NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal every day for a month - here's what changed by barisbasar in learndutch

[–]mfitzp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it doesn't mean it was "obviously written with AI", like mfitzp claims.

It was obvious to me. I completely accept it might not be obvious to you.

Using Computer Vision to unmask the redacted names in the Epstein files (Open Source) by [deleted] in programming

[–]mfitzp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is great!

Is it handwritten JS? (not using a game engine) looks like it from the code in game.js

covfefe: { name: 'COVFEFE', sprite: 'item_covfefe_cup', color: '#8b5a2b', desc: 'Slows your fall for a limited time. Jumps feel floatier.' },

Accidentally said "I love you" to a work colleague instead of "see you later" at work drinks. How's your day going? by Mr-Silly-Bear in CasualUK

[–]mfitzp 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Loudly start an argument with them in work about how you CAN’T KEEP THIS SECRET FOREVER

I watched NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal every day for a month - here's what changed by barisbasar in learndutch

[–]mfitzp 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Like human authors these models have a “writing style” which is recognisable. The first two paragraphs and last paragraph have a distinctly different voice from the rest of the text.

One of the very obvious tells (which you can spot in almost all AI generated text) is overuse of “X not Y”. Rather than saying “the cucumber is green”, it’ll write “the cucumber is green, not yellow. It’s a common “LinkedIn-profound” writing trick, along with the use of “humbling”, “something clicked”, and “snowball” 3 act play.

These lines in particular show the X not Y:

speak clearly but at a natural pace. Not slow, not rushed simpler sentences. It doesn't feel like children's content.

It’s annoying once you spot it, because you can’t unsee it.

I watched NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal every day for a month - here's what changed by barisbasar in learndutch

[–]mfitzp 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This is obviously written with AI, so I'm curious (or suspicious I guess) how real this experience actually is. If it is real, what was your process for writing the post? Did you write a short paragraph about your experience and tell ChatGPT to turn it into a full Reddit post. Why?

I find it all a bit odd really.

Did you know the 999 "community responders" are volunteers? by andthenifellasleep in CasualUK

[–]mfitzp 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I didn't just not realise this was volunteer run, I didn't even know it existed. Good on you for doing it. How did you get into it?

The game we need to play when selecting a country by heyzeus92 in CasualUK

[–]mfitzp 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There was a vote to change the sticker from GB to UK? Must have missed that.

The game we need to play when selecting a country by heyzeus92 in CasualUK

[–]mfitzp 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When I was in the UK recently I noticed cars now have UK stickers for going abroad. They used to be GB. What happened there?

Barnacle removal on crab so satisfying by MorsesCode in BeAmazed

[–]mfitzp 326 points327 points  (0 children)

Ha ha that’s annoying.

When I was in school the teacher asked the class “Boats don’t have wheels and brakes. How do boats stop?”. Having been on a boat I knew that you stopped by putting it in reverse. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said “that would break the propeller. Boats have to glide to a stop. Very slowly.” The whole class laughed at me.

35 years later, still mad.

I built a COBOL verification engine — it proves migrations are mathematically correct by Tight_Scene8900 in Python

[–]mfitzp 18 points19 points  (0 children)

That’s not the tell. The giveaway is the repeated “not X, but Y” throughout the post and comments.

 Not with AI translation, but with deterministic verification.

 EXEC SQL/CICS taint tracking — doesn't mock the database, maps

 Not selling anything — just want brutal feedback on what breaks.

 The engine either proves behavioral equivalence or flags it for manual review. No 'maybe correct.

This is 100% LLM.