Readit News logoReadit News
ironmanszombie commented on AbsenceBench: Language models can't tell what's missing   arxiv.org/abs/2506.11440... · Posted by u/JnBrymn
yorwba · 2 months ago
There are keys to attend to, they're just in the original text instead of the modified one. Since the model receives both as input, it could theoretically attend to those keys.

For the attention mechanism, there isn't much difference between

  Original: {shared prefix} {removed part} {shared suffix} Modified: {shared prefix} {shared suffix}
And

  Original: {shared prefix} {shared suffix} Modified: {shared prefix} {added part} {shared suffix}
I think you could implement an algorithm for this in RASP (a language for manually programming transformers) roughly like this:

1. The first layer uses attention to the "Original:" and "Modified:" tokens to determine whether the current token is in the original or modified parts.

2. The second layer has one head attend equally to all original tokens, which averages their values, and another head attends equally to all modified tokens, averaging them as well. The averages are combined by computing their difference.

3. The third layer attends to tokens that are similar to this difference, which would be the ones in the {removed part}/{added part}.

The only ordering-dependent part is whether you compute the difference as original_average - modified_average or the other way around.

If a model can detect additions but not removal, that would show that it is capable of learning this or a similar algorithm in principle, but wasn't trained on enough removal-style data to develop the necessary circuitry.

ironmanszombie · 2 months ago
Thanks for the breakdown. I am far from knowledgeable on AI but was wondering why can't a simple comparison work? They can definitely be coded, as you have beautifully demonstrated.
ironmanszombie commented on Show HN: Free, in-browser PDF editor   breezepdf.com... · Posted by u/philjohnson
chfritz · 4 months ago
Love the idea. However, there is no guarantee that the no-upload will not change. Which begs a question: wouldn't it be great if browsers provided a guaranteed "offline only" mode? Since they don't, I personally would prefer downloading this app as a standalone electron (or similar) app, or a docker container where I could disable Internet access.
ironmanszombie · 4 months ago
It's a great idea indeed. But the paranoid _like myself?_ would probably not recommend it as it runs on...well...a browser. I'm not at ease with the chance that a code change someday would / could allow a copy of my file to be uploaded anywhere.

As for having the browsers run in "offline mode" (proxy equal 127.0.0 1?)...neat but I would vote against it. My fridge just needs to keep stuff cold, my toaster should serve bread, my Internet browser should not be an app.

ironmanszombie commented on Breaking computers taught me to build them   danielsada.tech/blog/carr... · Posted by u/dshacker
noufalibrahim · 5 months ago
This is very true and sadly missing in this era of getting things that "just work". I must have lost several dozen hours trying to get audio working on an ancient RH Linux installation in the late 90s but all the stuff I did set me up for troubleshooting and working things out in a way that no "just works" setup could ever have.

I think it's very useful to work with barely working outdated systems early in ones education. They can teach you a lot which and the knowledge will compound very quickly.

ironmanszombie · 5 months ago
Isn't that some form of "accidental learning"? All you wanted was to get the audio working not to pick up troubleshooting. Maybe you're meant to be a musician and perhaps we all missed out on the next Mozart / Kanye. IMHO, if one wanted to know how computers work, they should take them apart and build them back up, modifying them here and there. Just my 2 cents.
ironmanszombie commented on Breaking computers taught me to build them   danielsada.tech/blog/carr... · Posted by u/dshacker
whatevergoes · 5 months ago
So lucky. My wife graduated in 2013 in computer science and the only computer she had access to was the computer in her university lab between the hours 13:00 to 15:00 on Thursdays and Fridays.
ironmanszombie · 5 months ago
Great for her. It sounds like she didn't have a lot, especially in 2013 when computers were easily available even in 3rd world countries.
ironmanszombie commented on The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done   add.org/the-body-double/... · Posted by u/rzk
jvanderbot · 5 months ago
I would love an offline only work environment. Just a small cadre of tech obsessed smart folks working in a room and talking when they need to.

In grad school we did this. Everyone was heads down, except when they were stumped they'd go to the whiteboard, which was open invitation to discuss a problem, if you had time.

That kind of "opt in" / volunteering help was way more trust building and low pressure than pulling someone from their flow to ask for help. And otherwise being around a bunch of hard workers helped build motivation.

It just doesn't translate though. No work environment I've experienced recreated that spirit of autonomy and esprit de corps. Instead you get open offices and a ton of "calls" and meetings subdividing time. Add in some boss standing over your shoulder and you bet I'll take my basement office over that any time.

ironmanszombie · 5 months ago
"Opt in" is exactly what I expect of people when I need help. The closest implementation of your white board is me using Teams to DM people for help - when they have time. The expectation is they'd reply once they're free instead of instantly replying with a meeting invite.
ironmanszombie commented on MS Paint IDE   ms-paint-i.de/... · Posted by u/smusamashah
jtwaleson · 6 months ago
If I ever become filthy rich, I would like to start companies around nonsensical products. Just to see how long you can make it last until potential customers and applicants are like "but this doesn't make any sense". This project is a perfect fit! Other ideas I had were things like wifi for servers.
ironmanszombie · 6 months ago
That was very funny. You should start a blog. If you already do, give out the link.
ironmanszombie commented on 1972 Unix V2 "Beta" Resurrected   tuhs.org/pipermail/tuhs/2... · Posted by u/henry_flower
xattt · 6 months ago
I’m wondering what the process was for the early UNIX developers to attain this level of productivity.

Did they treat this as a 9-5 effort, or did they go into a “goblin mode” just to get it done while neglecting other aspects of their lives?

ironmanszombie · 6 months ago
Back in my early career, the company I worked for needed an inventory system tailored to their unique process flow. Such system was already in development and was scheduled to launch "soon". A few months went by and I got fed up with the toil. Sat down one weekend and implemented the whole thing in Django. I'm no genius and I managed to have a solution that my team used for a few years until the company had theirs launched. In a weekend. Amazing what you can do when you want to Get Shit Done!

Dead Comment

ironmanszombie commented on When children become caregivers, who cares for them?   csmonitor.com/World/Makin... · Posted by u/Tomte
entropi · a year ago
Kudos to you if you appreciate the moves your parents made in their lives and you have achieved a working relationship with your parents.

But I don't think this is a fair expectation from the parents' side, at all. As a child, you did not ask to be burdened with this. If this is a contract, it was signed not by you, but by your parents unilaterally.

ironmanszombie · a year ago
Until a few years ago, I thought the same. They made that decision, not me. I shouldn't have to burden myself with any obligations and should get to just reap the benefits for me and my children alone.

But something changed somewhere. I now see my parents in a whole new light.

There is a book "Factfulness", in which the author lists a matrix for four income levels. My parents started at level 2. I still remember their parents houses: the makeshift kitchen with dim lighting, the four walls and the hole they named a bathroom, the leaky faucets at the ends of pipes ran across the house and exterior to the uneven, unpainted walls.

The sacrifices they must have took to change their socioeconomic standing and subsequently my own can never be requited. I now fit somewhere along the fourth level. I can't help but feel immense gratitude when I see them now. I now try to give them all that I can so they enjoy the time they have left. And I wish I had the foresight in my earlier years to tell them how I appreciate their efforts but then again, those stubborn bastards loved to argue then.

I don't know what I wanted to communicate saying all this so excuse me while I text my mother.

ironmanszombie commented on The Myth of the Second Chance   ft.pressreader.com/articl... · Posted by u/bookofjoe
ironmanszombie · a year ago
After reading many comments in this thread: I wonder if we could emulate this problem digitally. To have a digital recording of the decision we'd made and can change the pivotal moments and have the program follow through with decisions we could be making...etc.

I don't know, I'm a bit tipsy. But this could be fun.

u/ironmanszombie

KarmaCake day27February 3, 2024View Original