It would be interesting to have a "classical AI model", trained on the contents of the Harvard libraries before 1926 and now out of copyright.
If you thought AI now had out-of-control racism...
Readit Newsmbg721 commented on X changes its terms to bar training of AI models using its content techcrunch.com/2025/06/05... · Posted by u/bundie
mbg721 commented on The impossible predicament of the death newts crookedtimber.org/2025/06... · Posted by u/bdr
I'm skeptical of any food that humans only started eating since the industrial revolution, including those that are derivatives of or isolated compounds of real food. Mostly the effects on our bodies are not well studied. I haven't specifically read studies on msg though.
I mean, foods like soy sauce and yogurt and sauerkraut predate industrialization, but are very processed. I wouldn't worry too much about MSG in particular, since it is also mostly made by fermentation:
mbg721 commented on Longevity Is Now a Factor When Picking an Embryo for IVF wsj.com/health/embryo-ivf... · Posted by u/Bluestein
I can't remember it's name because I didn't get around to reading it, but there was one sci-fi book where something like Gattaca happened but it happend in a very corporate way, meaning you could buy preset options (wealthy would do custom), everyone became mostly the same height and look etc, or they could tell which preset their parents chose etc, the problem was later on when diseases happened it was catastrophic since the genetics were too much the same.
We'll just switch to the Cavendish human.
mbg721 commented on The impossible predicament of the death newts crookedtimber.org/2025/06... · Posted by u/bdr
Mushrooms add to the umami flavour, before salt was easily accessible this was probably your best bet for easy flavour enhansement
Salt is more fundamental for the body than just flavoring. I'd hesitate even to call it a spice. That said, umami ingredients like mushrooms and seaweed are certainly used together with salt.
mbg721 commented on Betting on the Pope was the original prediction market nodumbideas.com/p/betting... · Posted by u/nodumbideas
I know nothing about this stuff. What kind of power a pope has that it is so competitive? I enjoyed the movie, but no idea what would be motivation of the people there.
The Pope directs the spiritual priorities of his Bishops and thereby all Catholics, a lot of people. He's not going to be able to say "Kill, fornicate, and steal now!" without losing all credibility, but he can say, "We're going to ask for contributions monthly for X good cause." There's also money and diplomatic effort to be directed to dioceses around the world.
mbg721 commented on Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more blog.plover.com/lang/etym... · Posted by u/JNRowe
A couple of years ago, in Argentina, my country, some idiot representative tried to create an actual law to force everyone to use the last name of both parents in strict alphabetical order.... and in the next generation, choose 2 out of 4 in strict alphabetical order, and in 10 generations everyone would have a couple of last names like aaaa aaab
10 generations is plenty of time to develop a caste system that discourages intermarriage.
mbg721 commented on Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now theverge.com/2024/11/6/24... · Posted by u/redbell
I use Notepad to stop Excel from thinking it's smarter than me. "Yes, those leading zeroes are important." This is something of a step backward.
mbg721 commented on Growing food instead of lawns in California front yards nytimes.com/2024/11/05/cl... · Posted by u/CrypticShift
> having fresh herbs
That's true - there's nothing in the world that tastes like fresh-cut cilantro (definitely not day old cilantro). Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to keep a cilantro plant from bolting.
I'm amazed that anyone pays supermarket prices for fresh mint. You can't stop it from spreading, it's essentially a weed.
mbg721 commented on Growing food instead of lawns in California front yards nytimes.com/2024/11/05/cl... · Posted by u/CrypticShift
Lawns are functional though, they aren't just a status symbol. They can be, but they can also be a social and recreational space. Can also be a piece of art - you may laugh sure but, what is art? What is something kept for its aesthetic value alone?
Also over the pond it's an invention much older than merely the 18th century.
The way homes are designed now, in places with basements, they also serve the function of hanging onto rainwater.
mbg721 commented on Trump wins presidency for second time thehill.com/homenews/camp... · Posted by u/koolba
The question is not why there was a swing, any number of reasons can be attributed ex post facto.
The point is no poll caught any of the swings at all. To win with this margin Trump the polls can hardly be tied and be called accurate.
The result is not a close at all, and it is not about swing states and electoral college swings. Trump is winning the popular vote by a large margin something he has never be able to do so before.
That's easy to explain--cultural and media institutions have disparaged Republican voters for so long that Trump voters inherently distrust pollsters. They might or might not turn out in a given election, but they have nothing to gain by telling anybody.