Recent posts

#1

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 08:21:23 AM

Too bad we can't ignore the US impact on climate change.

I saw an article the that claimed that more than 90% of the US' new energy capacity in 2025 was renewable, in spite of Trump's efforts.

To be able to understand whether that statistic is meaningful, I would need to know how much new energy was generated in proportion to the existing energy.

#2

Computer Affairs / Re: Alternative search engines

Last post by Josquius - Today at 07:50:02 AM

I think the "add 'fuck' to any google search" thing still works to remove ai bullshit and just deliver actual links and whatnot. 

Never heard of that so tried it. First result is the AI saying yes this works.

#3

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by PJL - Today at 07:33:56 AM

The higher the number of Russian dead the better.  Can't send corpses to the front

russians conquered 0.67% of Ukraine in 2025. Casualties estimate: 100 k dead, 200 k wounded.

It should be higher wounded and lower killed, but russians tend to just let their dudes bleed out instead of attempting a casevac.

Well, many of them are not ethnic Russians, as they're fighting Ukraine to the last Kazakh, Uzbek etc.

#4

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - Today at 07:31:24 AM

The higher the number of Russian dead the better.  Can't send corpses to the front

#5

Gaming HQ / Re: What are you playing? (Red...

Last post by Darth Wagtaros - Today at 06:08:04 AM

Eternal Sonata on the PS3. Was told it was a good RPG and I really felt like an old school RPG. It is...bizzare. Set in Chopin's head during his dying moments. No really. The classical music fanboyism you get in japan is strange stuff. Fairly fun so far though the plot seems pretty uninspiring- being told from the get go that anything you do will be meaningless as nothing is real....yeah.

King of Dragon Pass on the PC. Quite fun for a while but then suddenly foot shortages became regular and impossible to fix, my people starved. Which was a big anti-climax. Reading guides apparently you have to invest heavily into sacrificing to crops related gods. Shame I have to start again, was enjoying it.

I note Cities in Motion 2 was released recently. Don't have it yet though must investigate!

I got 3 quarters throuhg Eternal Sonata and then the damn game got corrupted.  Like something at that point on the disc just stopped. Ienjoyed it. Was weird. King of Dragon Pass was similar experience to yours.

What a belated reply
Makes me feel old.
I remember playing that.

Makes me think.
I wonder if I've grown out of JRPGs.
Used to love them. A favourite genre.

Not too long ago I finally got around to going through Eiyuden Chronicle. The only thing I ever kick started. From the maker of suikoden.
It was serviceable but.... Not brilliant. Just.... OK.

Recently started on Ni no kuni. A series that has passed me by largely though which is widely loved.
It's very pretty.... But just doesn't grip. Me. So very... Slow and simple.
Is it that it's too much of a game for little kids? But apparently no. Adults like it too.
But I'm not seeing it.

I did love Persona 5 a few years ago though. So... Hmm...

I played Eternal Sonata like 20 years ago, so something made me think of it not long ago and then I saw this post.

#6

Computer Affairs / Re: Alternative search engines

Last post by Sophie Scholl - Today at 04:21:07 AM

I think the "add 'fuck' to any google search" thing still works to remove ai bullshit and just deliver actual links and whatnot. 

#7

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Zoupa - Today at 04:08:27 AM

russians conquered 0.67% of Ukraine in 2025. Casualties estimate: 100 k dead, 200 k wounded.

It should be higher wounded and lower killed, but russians tend to just let their dudes bleed out instead of attempting a casevac.

#8

Off the Record / Re: The AI dooooooom thread

Last post by Josquius - Today at 03:48:08 AM

Away from the higher discussions about AI for a moment....
Seen a lot of chat on social media lately on the Vichy hellscape's new fucked up development.
Increasingly basically any picture a woman posts of herself gets the grok command to put them in a micro bikini. Which is promptly generated.

Oh did I say woman?
No no. Children too of course.

Quite a cross-over with the general musk is a shithead thread but jeez that place really needs legal action.

#9

Gaming HQ / Re: What are you playing? (Red...

Last post by Syt - Today at 02:22:29 AM

This holiday break I'm spending way too much time playing Brotato on my phone while watching shows/podcasts.

Essentially it's in the vein of Vampire Survivor - survive ever harder waves of enemies (your little potato bro fights automatically, so you "only" need to navigate him through the enemies) while collecting material/XP to level up and buy gear.

The fun comes from the dozens of different character classes with their special abilities and buffs/debuffs, plus the gear and items that can create great synergies (e.g. each weapon has one or two classes, equipping multiple of one class will give set bonuses) - it gives me the same kind of dopamine kick that running maps in Path of Exile does. Though your mileage my vary. The game and its Abyss expansion are free on Google Play Pass, or on sale on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1942280/Brotato/ (regular price is 4.99, currently 2.99 or 5.56 if you get the expansion which adds classes, new enemies, new equipment).

#10

Off the Record / Re: Are we in the opening scen...

Last post by Josquius - Today at 01:38:10 AM

I don't fear a nuclear armageddon from Trump/Putin...I think both are eager to avoid MAD.  Same from any of Trump's potential successors...all of them are likely to just bend over while stealing from the local monetary sources.  On the Russian side I am less sure...it feels like most of the public/media-facing Russian demagogues speak in apocalyptic tones worthy of the worst religious zealots (the line of "what good is the world if Russia is not in it" while talking casually of using nuclear weapons...).  It may be likely that whomever takes over after Putin will just be some similar grey figure with the necessary hold over the state security apparatus...but that is a big unknown as seen from here.

Meanwhile, China is not likely to just chill on Taiwan forever...but I suspect that if push came to shove, we'd just let them try and take it, and just muddle through any resulting consequences.

The danger doesn't come only from intentions, it also comes from dynamics that inherently can't be 100% predictable.  Sometimes events happen to play out even when everyone understands it's to everyone's collective detriment.  If a nuclear exchange does happen at some point, it would most likely be due to a brinkmanship gone wrong.

That said, we've been living with this fear for decades, so it's old hat at this point.  The new fear I have is that the world is locked on a course to become ever more centralized, and AI will unlock plenty of new ways of ensuring that any challenge to central authority gets identified and contained earlier than ever.  The entrenchment of central authority will lead a world that is very brittle, much like a forest that was never allowed to have brush fires.

Yeah I 100% agree with you on this. Just imagine the East German security state with modern tech. You wouldn't be able to piss without the government knowing when and where and how often.

This is concerning. Everyone going fascist at once with technology and trapping us in some horrid global 1984.
I also see concern in continued development of patterns we've had the past decade or two though.
Shit like brexit with priming ideas in people's minds over time then targeting them with ads based on things that will appeal to them. And in this way manipulate for outcomes that are against the best interest of these people.

It often gets over stated just how clever this was in 2016....but with AI and systems that know every single detail about you and actually can target just you?

There's plenty of more explainable surface reasons for trump winning again (depressing ones) but again a tinfoil hat theory could be around how this is all about making sure the worst people are in charge at a key moment in tech development.
I don't rationally believe in this "LLMs give us AGI in 2026!!" talk at all. But I cant dismiss it completely as there's so much I don't know of what is happening behind the scenes, stuff like deep seek shows surprises happen etc....
And if AGI were to come about we really don't want it at this moment. .