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SubstantialFrivolity

I'm not even supposed to be here today

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joined 2022 September 04 22:41:30 UTC
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User ID: 225


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
SubstantialFrivolity


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
I'm not even supposed to be here today

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 04 22:41:30 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Really? When a woman passes me with an enticing perfume I think something very much along those lines. Perhaps with a bit more eroticism.




Different strokes, I suppose. I find perfume to be actively off-putting. Thankfully, my wife is not a perfume kind of gal.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for February 11, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If the free tools suck (and they do), it's pretty unreasonable to expect anyone to pay to see if the paid tool is good. That's a waste of money 9/10 times, and there's not a compelling reason to believe that LLMs are the 1 time in 10.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for February 11, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I had previously gathered the impression that AI coders were still at the level of an enthusiastic but sloppy apprentice.




They very much are. They still make syntax errors from time to time such that the code won't compile, let alone getting the logic of the code right. You have to carefully review all AI-generated code for mistakes (which negates the time savings), or you will get buggy code sooner or later.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Normally one doesn't, but it can happen. My front teeth are in pretty rough shape from a great deal of neglect in my 20s, such that my dentist has warned me it's possible the teeth could break off entirely if I'm not careful. I don't wish to play with fire, so I wouldn't bite into an apple at this point. But in general I agree with you that there's not a need to cut apples to eat them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The thing that always really annoyed me about Enterprise was the decision to come up with a canon explanation for why the Klingon look changed. Just no. It was done for real world reasons, the audience is capable of rolling with it, move on. There's no need for a convoluted explanation, or indeed to acknowledge the change at all (unless it's to wink at the audience like in Trials And Tribble-ations).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I started watching Star Trek at 8-9, so if your son is interested I don't see any reason to wait. As far as specific recommendations of what to watch, these are things I remember enjoying as a kid:


    

  • Operation: Annihilate (TOS)
    • 

  • The Conscience Of The King (TOS)
    • 

  • Space Seed (TOS)
    • 

  • This Side Of Paradise (TOS)
    • 

  • A Taste Of Armageddon (TOS)
    • 

  • The Best Of Both Worlds (TNG)
    • 

  • The Royale (TNG)
    • 

  • All Good Things (TNG)
    • 

  • Star Trek IV, VI, and Generations (fair warning: when I was a kid I thought that the "double dumbass on you" line in ST4 was hilarious, and went around saying it for a bit until my parents straightened me out)
    • 



And here are some that I think a kid might enjoy or display some of the virtues you mentioned:


    

  • The Corbomite Maneuver (TOS)
    • 

  • The Squire Of Gothos (TOS)
    • 

  • The City On The Edge Of Forever (TOS)
    • 

  • A Piece Of The Action (TOS)
    • 

  • Return To Tomorrow (TOS)
    • 

  • Qpid (TNG)
    • 

  • Data's Day (TNG)
    • 

  • Elementary, Dear Data (TNG)
    • 

  • The Ensigns Of Command (TNG)
    • 

  • The Survivors (TNG)
    • 

  • A Fistful Of Datas (TNG)
    • 

  • Starship Mine (TNG)
    • 



Mostly these are fun, swashbuckling episodes but there are obviously some thinkier ones in there as well. I do think that even the more serious episodes will be fun if he's enjoying Trek, but maybe don't start him on those.


I didn't list any DS9 or Voyager not because I don't like them, but I think DS9 isn't quite what you're looking for here (as much as I love it). It tends to be darker and more serialized, not the fairly standalone and unambiguously heroic stories I get the sense you're looking for. And I just don't know Voyager well enough to recommend any episodes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I mean, I'm ok with letting those past things go if the lesson is learned that we need to focus on individual culpability rather than blaming entire demographic groups when someone fucks up. Unfortunately, I don't think that lesson is likely to stick.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Kids are funny because, in contrast to death, every single person on this earth who has had them can tell you how they have affected their lives, and yet there's a subset of the population (apparently, you included) that will say that it's a lie.




I don't think it's a lie (so I guess I'm not really the sort of person you mean), but I do have a similar-ish reaction. When parents say they experience great joy from their children, I believe them. I just don't believe it'll be the same for me. I realize many people will say they felt the same way, but it was different for their own kids. I believe that too! But there's no guarantee that it would happen, and it's one hell of a risk to take with your life. If you turn out to be a person who is not wired to enjoy children, you're in for 18 long years.


It's a moot point in my case since my wife isn't able to have children any more, but this is definitely something that gave me pause when having children was still in the realm of possibility for us.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 8, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


grad school isn't relevant to the job




It is when the employers you want to work for say it is. You are perfectly welcome to try convincing them that you are worth their time without having a graduate degree (though, pro tip: saying you are in the top 1% of brainpower out there is just going to make you come off as an arrogant jerk, so drop that line). Other people here are trying to give you guidance as to how realistically you are likely to succeed, but if you choose to ignore that and do your own thing nobody will stop you.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You're welcome to your opinion, but I neither share it nor am I interested in debating the topic. Literally everywhere else on the Internet is happy to have that debate, I'm content to not participate.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Do you actually like writing code qua writing?




Yes, I do.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


For safety and legal reasons I would be really surprised if someone made a completely autonomous robot whose job it was to give orders to the other robots.




I don't think that should be surprising at all. Look at moltbook - yes it's low stakes and yes it's LLMs which aren't remotely intelligent. But it's still clear that the people running it think it's cute to have the bots talk amongst themselves and everything. I think it's very likely that even if it was an actual AI and not a bag of words masquerading as one, there exist people who would see nothing wrong with doing the same sort of thing.


Also look at people running Claude in their shells with the ability to change stuff on the system. That is very obviously a terrible idea, as LLMs have no understanding of what they are doing at all. And yet, people think "yeah it's fine to let this thing touch my computer with potentially destructive commands" (and then they are shocked when the LLM deletes stuff because it's not actually intelligent). Again, if we had an actual AI then I don't see a reason to expect people would hold back from letting it touch things.


It's not clear whether or not we can develop true AI based on where the research is now. But what seems clear, to me at least, is that if we ever do develop a real AI there will be humans which are only too happy to recklessly hook it up to stuff.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Interesting point! I think that is a valid alternate way of looking at the situation. Not that it necessarily makes things right, but it's something to mull over.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If principles erode based on what others do, then they were never principles - simply what was convenient to do at the time. A principle is something you always uphold.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 8, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Just finished the Divine Comedy last night. It was alright. I'm not really a poetry guy and that was a ton of poetry, but I guess I'm glad to have read one of the most famous works of Western literature. Not sure what's next, I have a few books kicking around at home in my queue but I might pick up the newest Dresden book and preempt those others.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Everyone had gotten tired of them being good for so long...




That's what Patriots fans will tell you at any rate. The truth is more that they were perceived as unsportsmanlike and arrogant (which people don't like), and they were known to have cheated (which people like even less). It's not so much about them being good, as the character (or lack thereof) they had during that time. Now that Belichick and Brady are gone, I don't really think people care very much.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well... being a programmer doesn't get you high social status, except from other nerds. But yeah I agree that it's unjust in a cosmic sense that programmers get to do something they love which also pays very well. I look at someone like my sister, who works crappy factory jobs and gets paid 1/3 of what I do if that, and it seems to me that in a just world she would be getting paid what I do and vice versa. But that second part might come true at least... I guess we will see how it shakes out.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


If you really don't see LLMs adding any value, then you can just lie about using them quite easily.




Yeah perhaps. I'm not sure if I would want to lie but it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility either.




I just don't understand this mindset at all. There's a certain elegance in the craft for sure, but the value of the end-product is what's always been truly impressive to me.




I think it's legitimately hard to cross that gap of being wired differently. My reaction is actually pretty similar to yours (but in the opposite direction of course): it's hard for me to understand why someone would care about the end product instead of the process of making it. I have never found some kind of intrinsic value in the stuff I work on, so the perspective of "I can create things faster and that's the part I enjoy" is wildly different from mine. I can understand it in a detached intellectual way, but I can't truly get it. Just different personalities I know, but I sympathize with how foreign other perspectives can seem from oneself.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah, one of the most depressing occurrences of my adulthood has been realizing that approximately nobody in America actually values freedom. Most of my countrymen seem to be authoritarian in their hearts, and the only question seems to be who/whom.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
No reasonable, normal person in America would consider it a slur, in my experience. Only Karens who spend far too much time online.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is something I've been thinking about lately, and was actually thinking of doing a WW thread because it's depressing me. I do not believe that LLMs can adequately program, but ultimately it won't matter what I think. What will matter is what the industry at large thinks, and there's a decent chance that they will believe (rightly or wrongly) that everyone needs to use LLMs to be an effective engineer (and that's if they don't replace engineers entirely with LLMs). If that happens, then I'll just have to suck it up and use the bag of words, because I have bills to pay like anyone else.


But the thing which sucks is, I like doing my job. I get a great deal of joy from programming. It's an exhilarating exercise in solving interesting problems and watching them take shape. But using an LLM isn't that. It is basically delegating tasks to another person and then reviewing the work to make sure it's acceptable. But if I was happy doing that, I would've become a manager ages ago. I am an engineer because I like doing the work, not handing it off to someone else to do.


Like I said, I'll do what I have to do. I'm not going to kill myself or go homeless or something rather than suck it up and tolerate the LLM. But at that point my career will go from "one of the biggest sources of joy in my life" to "something I hate every second of", and that really, really sucks. Of course I won't be the first person to work a job he hates to get by, but it's one hell of an adjustment to have to swallow. Right now it hasn't come to pass yet, but it's a possibility, and I'm not sure how I will be able to adjust if it does come to pass.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I mean... it's hard to argue that you would be wrong with such a statement. :(


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I wonder if, as gamers get older, you would be able to have a TF2 (or similar game) server populated entirely by old people. That would also neatly solve the reaction time issue if you could pull it off. It's not a handicap if everyone is handicapped the same!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for February 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
As a data point: I wear casual pants (jeans) with the waist band down at my hip bone, and dress pants up around my belly button. I find the latter very uncomfortable (especially because I'm a fat fuck), but IMO it looks so much better when I'm wearing a suit if my pants are up higher.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Honestly even PVP can be done. Frankly, a lot of people online are bad (or were when I used to play). If you practice, you can probably be good enough to not be at the bottom of the pile even at 70. But you're not going to be top tier, it's true.


Another possible angle here is that there are shooters which are pretty slow paced, like Holdfast. It equalizes reaction time a lot when you can only fire one round every 30 seconds. Granted that's an outlier in how slow it is, but the point is that different shooters can have very different levels of twitch reflexes needed.