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SamBam commented on Minimum Viable Arduino Project: Aeropress Timer   netninja.com/2025/12/01/m... · Posted by u/surprisetalk
stephenhandley · 10 days ago
This is the first I'm hearing an aeropress 30 second plunge time, what's that about?
SamBam · 9 days ago
30 seconds is indeed the _original_ Aeropress recommended brew time. [1] You're supposed to mix the grounds and start plunging nearly immediately, finishing in about 30 seconds. So, indeed, much of the water passes through even before 30 seconds.

That was way too short. It looks like they've finally updated the instructions somewhat, now recommending 60 seconds before starting to plunge. [2]

It works because they also recommend a very fine grind, but that's still pretty short. It looks like Counter Culture recommends using regular pour-over grind and the inverted method and 2-3 minutes, [3] which happens to also be what I do. Though I'm not really particular, so long as it's somewhere between about 1.5 and 3.5 minutes. (Breakfast is a hectic time while also handling kids...)

1. https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/pages/product-resource/aer...

2. https://aeropress.com/pages/how-to-use

3. https://counterculturecoffee.com/blogs/counter-culture-coffe...

SamBam commented on Nano Banana Pro   blog.google/technology/ai... · Posted by u/meetpateltech
vunderba · a month ago
If it's just the API you're interested in, Fal.ai has put Nano-Banana-Pro up for both generative and editing. A great deal less annoying to sign up for them since they're a pretty generalized provider of lots of AI related models.

https://fal.ai/models/fal-ai/nano-banana-pro

SamBam · a month ago
Is there a model on Fal.ai that would make it easy to sharpen blurry video footage? I have found some websites, but apparently they are mostly scammy.
SamBam commented on AI World Clocks   clocks.brianmoore.com/... · Posted by u/waxpancake
BrandoElFollito · a month ago
I agree, I see the same even in simple code where they will bend backwards apologizing and generate very similar crap.

It is like they are sometimes stuck in a local energetic minimum and will just wobble around various similar (and incorrect) answers.

What was annoying in my attempt above is that the picture was identical for every attempt

SamBam · a month ago
The issue is the they always say "Here's the final, correct answer" before they've written the answer, so of course the LLM has no idea if it's going to be right before it starts, because it has no clue what it's going to say.

I wonder how it would do if instead it were told "Do not tell me at the start that the solution is going to be correct. Instead, tell me the solution, and at the end tell me if you think it's correct or not."

I have found that on certain logic puzzles that it simply cannot get right, it always tells me that it's going to get it quite "this last time," but if asked later it always recognizes its errors.

SamBam commented on You can't cURL a Border   drobinin.com/posts/you-ca... · Posted by u/valzevul
philipwhiuk · a month ago
> No, it sounds like the author is well aware of that, and is instead just trying to get a read on what the gov's various systems are saying about him, so he can stay well within buffers of that.

You don't need an app for that. You just behave like a normal person.

SamBam · a month ago
> You just behave like a normal person.

?? I'm a normal person, and I don't need to count my days in and out of a country, I just take vacations when I like.

If OP did that, they'd lose their visa.

It sounds like you've never known anyone on a green card, or waiting for citizenship, or on a visa that requires a certain number of days in the country.

> To apply for British citizenship, you need to prove you were physically in the UK on your application date but five years ago.

This is an insane bureaucratic requirement (to have been in the country exactly 5 years on the day prior), and not someone the vast majority of people need to worry about. How does "just behave like a normal person" help keep you on the right side of multiple overlapping Kafkaesque requirements?

SamBam commented on Solarpunk is happening in Africa   climatedrift.substack.com... · Posted by u/JoiDegn
FanaHOVA · a month ago
The structure of each section gives away that it's mostly AI even without having to read the actual words. I'm sure it was AI + writer, but there's something about ending each section with 3-4 short, question-like sentences that is strongly AI. This is the same format as the successful LinkedIn slop so maybe it's not AI and just algo-induced writing.
SamBam · a month ago
Yup. It's the colons after every paragraph's first sentence:

> It worked because it solved a real problem: Kenyans were already sending money through informal networks. M-PESA just made it cheaper and safer.

> Here’s why this matters: M-PESA created a payment rail with near-zero transaction costs.

> The magic is this: You’re not buying a $1,200 solar system.

> It gets even better: there are people who will pay for credits beforehand.

It's just again and again and again. It's sounds 100% ChatGPT.

Maybe this is 100% written by hand by someone who reads too many ChatGPT-generated articles. Possibly the author just spends a ton of time chatting with ChatGPT and have picked up its style. Or it's just more AI-written than OP wants to admit.

SamBam commented on You can't cURL a Border   drobinin.com/posts/you-ca... · Posted by u/valzevul
philipwhiuk · a month ago
If you're trying to engineer loopholes out of citizenship laws, you're going to get yourself pulled aside.

The whole point of these arbitrary rules is entirely to make this sort of shenanigans impossible but to let in people who are using the system for the purpose it was designed.

That's why the rule about 'relevant to your travel' is vague. So that you can't weasel your way through it.

People who write this sort of app think border entry is two doors, allowed and denied. But there's also the guard who stabs people who ask awkward questions and their name is 'National Security'.

SamBam · a month ago
No, it sounds like the author is well aware of that, and is instead just trying to get a read on what the gov's various systems are saying about him, so he can stay well within buffers of that.

He explicitly says that none of his data on the app would convince an official.

SamBam commented on Why "everyone dies" gets AGI all wrong   bengoertzel.substack.com/... · Posted by u/danans
CamperBob2 · 2 months ago

    Yudkowsky and Soares’s “everybody dies” 
    narrative, while well-intentioned and 
    deeply felt (I have no doubt he believes 
    his message in his heart as well as 
    his eccentrically rational mind), isn’t 
    just wrong — it’s profoundly counterproductive.
Should I be more or less receptive to this argument that AI isn't going to kill us all, given that it's evidently being advanced by an AI?

SamBam · 2 months ago
While "isn’t just wrong — it’s profoundly counterproductive" does sound pretty AI-ish, "his eccentrically rational mind" definitely does not. So either an AI was used to help write this, or we try to remember that AI has this tone (and uses emdashes) precisely because real people also write like this.
SamBam commented on Trump pardons convicted Binance founder   wsj.com/finance/currencie... · Posted by u/cowboyscott
whatsupdog · 2 months ago
He sicced Letitia James on Trump.
SamBam · 2 months ago
What evidence do you have that the administration requested the DOJ to initiate that investigation?
SamBam commented on Trump pardons convicted Binance founder   wsj.com/finance/currencie... · Posted by u/cowboyscott
uh_uh · 2 months ago
I will help: people don't like it when the presidential pardon is used for self-serving shit.
SamBam · 2 months ago
How is pardoning people like Fauci, or even Hunter, that Trump was clearly going to target as part of an "enemies" list, more "self-serving" than literally pardoning anyone that makes you/give you millions of dollars?

(Changpenh Zhao - made him billions; Trevor Milton - donated $1.8 million; Walczak - his mom donated millions)

SamBam commented on Trump pardons convicted Binance founder   wsj.com/finance/currencie... · Posted by u/cowboyscott
munk-a · 2 months ago
It protected one individual - there have been a rash of politically motivated moves by the justice department that have targeted plenty of others. I can understand the pardon but the fact that so many other people were left out to dry just reinforces our multi-tiered justice system.
SamBam · 2 months ago
That's why it was not just one individual -- he also pardoned Fauci, members of Congress who served on the J6 investigations, and Gen. Milley for the same reason.

It's clear that he was correct that Trump was going to target his political enemies, but it sounds like he can't win here -- if he pardons everyone including Comey, people would say he's abusing the power by pardoning everyone. If he only pardons a few then he's accused of leaving others "high and dry."

u/SamBam

KarmaCake day11926September 29, 2015View Original