Comments

slowmovingtarget, 11 months ago to books in What are you reading this week? [7/09/23]

Close enough to Harry's age in the first book. Old enough that we can successfully contextualize the bad behavior depicted in the book.

slowmovingtarget, 11 months ago to showerthoughts in If we get an AI overlord, then i hope its free and open source

Because the resources required to run an overlord-level AI require a megacorp to fund them, and a megacorp to run the data centers (plural) needed to operate the neural models.

Open source models running on local hardware serve the needs of individuals and do what you want. But you're not going to be able to provide or gain access to much beyond what you can pay for. Megacorps like Microsoft, ABC, or Apple can pay for an awful lot.

slowmovingtarget, 11 months ago to scifi in Cheap energy from space or new 'Rods from the Gods' superweapon? You make the call - our phone lines are open

Cue Tim Curry shouting "SPACE!"

slowmovingtarget, 11 months ago to scifi in Cheap energy from space or new 'Rods from the Gods' superweapon? You make the call - our phone lines are open

Rods from God are actually... impractical. Controlling where the rods fall turns out to be much much harder than the idea makes it sound.

I suppose if you want non-nuclear ways to wipe out cities, sure. But it doesn't help if your target is much tighter, like military hardware or ships.

slowmovingtarget, 11 months ago to books in What are you reading this week? [7/09/23]

Personal reading: Models of the Mind by Grace Lindsay

Good take on the history and current state of modern neuroscience and its interconnectedness with modern machine learning and data science.

Reading to kiddo: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I have a sore throat already from doing all the voices, what with all the shouting from Uncle Vernon and Hagrid in the first few chapters.