Roblox has been banned in China since 2021. Perhaps it's something to do with nationalist governments not liking global corporate circumvention of their culture/power.
Readit NewsIntellectual work requires a bit of creativity (across all the domains I can think of), abuse, of any kind increases stress, stress decreases creativity, ability to problem solve, and resilience (or the ability to endure the difficulty of solving hard problems).
But even if that wasn't true. There's a significant difference between confronting the harshness of reality. And behaving in a way that makes reality suck more. Every human deserves to be treated with dignity, and a base level of respect.
Suggesting that someone is fragile and weak, because they object to being insulted, or object to the careless and needless stripping of dignity and humanity from people is a wild take.
I dont think porting everything over to React...making the site slower, bloated, & buggier is "creativity".
I agree that people should be treated with dignity...but groupthink & herd mentality often strips people of their humanity.
So the criticism is really about culture & abstract attractors...not the individual people who often act rationally within the context of the system.
briantakita commented on EPA says it will eliminate its scientific research arm nytimes.com/2025/07/18/cl... · Posted by u/anigbrowl
It is more than depressing. During my PhD/Postdoc, we had excellent collaboration with the EPA on stuff which then really improved the life of people in the US. These agencies need to do research to stay ahead of/keep up with the development.
Context: we developed chemicals toxicity prediction models. This was 20 years ago, this allowed the EPA to quality check applications made by chemical companies.
Yet we have Microplastics, PFAS, & a slew of other dangerous contamination across the planet. And the military industrial waste is rarely mentioned.
It seems the EPA cares more about enforcing CO2 production & making sure a homesteaders doesn't build a pond...than it does about extremely harmful & destructive chemicals dispersed across the planet by industrial & military waste.
So I suppose the research is good but the emphasis & enforcement is what really matters. And while there have been historical wins, the agency seems increasingly like a political revolving door to entrench industrial incumbants.
briantakita commented on Phrase origin: Why do we "call" functions? quuxplusone.github.io/blo... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti
> Calling a function is like calling for a servant — a summoning to perform a task.
So we renamed our git branches from master to main...because of colonialism.
So what's the correct non-colonial word? ask, request, plea?
Some people here seem to like the word "summon". tsk, tsk, tsk
In feudalism the taxes go into your lord's pockets. In democracy you get to vote on how taxes are spent.
In Democracy you get to vote on who gets to vote on how taxes are spent.
Climate advocates in general try to avoid implying that we've already crossed a threshold, as that breeds hopelessness.
They want decisive and ambitious action, you can't get that if we all turn to doomerism.
> They want decisive and ambitious action, you can't get that if we all turn to doomerism.
What if "doomerism" is a key component to demoralize people to accept "decisive and ambitious action"?
Note that most of the environmental policy talk is on a global level...blaming living people who aren't wealthy enough to benefit from financial capital. Making everyone who doesn't make their living off of financial assets have a worse quality of life...while those who benefit from financial assets even more wealthy.
Environmental policy talk is not on a local level. Never mind the water usage of the AI centers & how it affects communities. The farmers will have to sell their land so big capital to buy it on the cheap. The money pump always leads to accumulation of Capital.
It sure seems like the rhetoric goes one way. Making the rich richer...so they have all the carbon credits to do whatever they want...transcending the "tyranny of morality" while they fly in private jets to "save the climate". Making the working/middle-class poor..."you will own nothing & be happy". Making the poor radicalized & pointing their finger at each other.
This seems like a global scale psychological experiment more than anything. At some point the true believers in climate science will be disappointed by the contradictions of their heroes...because at the end of the day...it's about money & power. There is no "we". There is only "you will have to sacrifice so I can be more wealthy & hold more leverage over you".
briantakita commented on Libraries are under-used. LLMs make this problem worse makefizz.buzz/posts/libra... · Posted by u/kmdupree
”Dunning-Kruger effect leads us to understimate the complexity of the problem solved by the library we're considering.”
Invoking the smarter-than-thou effect is not a great starting point.
See e.g. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01602...
If we’re considering a library, it would be prudent of us to take a look at the source code to see what exactly we’re pulling in. In the process, we would learn about the lay of the land, the API and the internals, and get at least an overview of the complexity of the problem it solves.
I learned to consider that if one brings up Dunning-Kruger...projection/irony may be at play.
Anyways...I've had a few reoccurring issues with libraries. Note that the language is framed on a case by case basis...not general rules.
1. The essential implementation is a small amount of code...wrapped in structures just for packaging essential code. The wrapping code can be larger & more complex than the essential code.
2. There's small differences between what's needed & what's provided. Which requires workarounds for the desired outcome. These workarounds muddy the logic & can be pervasive at scale.
3. There can be dissonance between the app architecture & the library api.
4. Popular libraries in particular...create a culture of thinking in terms of the library/framework. Leading to resource inefficiencies...And outright dismissing solutions that are a better match for the domain. In short, the library/framework api frames the problem & solution...Which may not match the actual problem & optimal solution.
5. The library/framework authors are concerned about promoting the library/framework. Not solving the actual problem. Many problems need to be solved. The library/framework just be the "Golden Hammer" to pound in your screw.
With all that being said...there are many useful libraries that define & solve problems in their particular domain. Particularly with common, well defined, appropriately scoped requirements.
briantakita commented on RFK Jr.: HHS moves to restore public trust in vaccines wsj.com/opinion/rfk-jr-hh... · Posted by u/ceejayoz
To be replaced with people who will not approve vaccines regardless of safety, reducing our total health.
I can't wait to travel to Mexico or Canada to get a vaccine!
> reducing our total health
Because America has been the paragon of health over the past few decades...because America spends the most per capita on Health Care. What a super effective system. Obviously everything was working out so great before this JFK guy came.
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We can speculate all day, but we should try to analyse these sorts of things from a learning perspective. What can we learn from Russia, China, etc? How are they better?
Well, the last couple sentences is me paraphrasing. But one thing that many in the West boast about is the ability to criticize the systems to improve said systems. Let's see if actions match the rhetoric.