sudoshred (u/sudoshred)

sudoshred commented on What's the strongest AI model you can train on a laptop in five minutes? seangoedecke.com/model-on... · Posted by u/ingve

dekhn · 13 days ago

While I love cloud computing, you're comparing the cost of renting a GPU for a fixed amount of time to the purchase of an asset which can be used for years. Not a useful comparison IMHO.

sudoshred · 13 days ago

Disagree, equity of access matters a lot. Not everyone benefits from exposure to the entire hardware lifecycle, the same way that buying housing is not the best financial decision for everyone regardless of affordability. I might have unlimited budget but if I only need access to state of the art hardware intermittently or under irregular circumstances the cost of renting may be efficient for my needs. Also consider the costs of supporting hardware that is fully owned, if you own the hardware but underutilize it that is inefficiency and the owner bears that cost. The unusual way that silicon depreciates mean that the value of your “asset” is not static and rapidly depreciates as silicon manufacturing improves.

sudoshred commented on M5 MacBook Pro No Longer Coming in 2025 macrumors.com/2025/07/10/... · Posted by u/behnamoh

rowanG077 · 18 days ago

I don't see how that is a relevant distinction. Most PC and laptops have no Linux support if you view it like that. The point is Linux runs great on the ones it's available for.

sudoshred · 15 days ago

One caveat is battery life.

sudoshred commented on Tea app leak worsens with second database exposing user chats bleepingcomputer.com/news... · Posted by u/akyuu

darth_avocado · a month ago

I wonder why I learnt “deny by default is a good starting point” in an undergraduate computer science course decades ago.

sudoshred · a month ago

My naive understanding is that is the same approach taught in introductory law school.

sudoshred commented on Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children shaneosullivan.wordpress.... · Posted by u/shaneos

myaccountonhn · a month ago

Yeah, I don't really see the point in difficulty for difficulty's sake. But sometimes there is inherit difficulty: democracy requires us to be informed, and distilling complex topics to a 30 second short might not give the nuance a topic enough; exercise requires us to move, there is no magic pay-to-win.

Studies indicate that tech literacy is dropping, what does that entail for those moments where the more user respecting (as in more secure, preserves privacy, gives autonomy) software is inherently more complex than "user-friendly" alternatives?

sudoshred · a month ago

I don’t have a comprehensive answer to your question. I agree that “user-friendly” is often a euphemism for “non-technical” or “low code”. I don’t think that supposition is fair, but it is not escapable as an individual. That being said to the extent that the functionality available is useful regardless of the user’s expertise, I think that is valuable. Granted, you will never avoid inherent complexity, for example the task of being an informed citizen does not become easier with better tools, but the inefficiency can be reduced. The user still must participate, however the unnecessary impediments can be removed. I think the value here is not in reducing complexity, but in removing un-needed complexity so that essential complexity can be studied more efficiently. I appreciate your point that “studies have shown…” and that may be correct, however anecdotally studies rarely are relevant to the specific circumstances discussed, and when I hear that phrase I immediately discount the following advice as generic and ill-considered. Authority does not imbue value, and a study is not inherently valid in any other context. I think the most pressing challenge is that the sources with the resources required to publish their perspectives are, rarely, if ever, acting in the interest of their audience… they have an agenda. Realistically speaking, even if complex systems were made easier to use, the vast majority of people who could benefit from adopting them would choose not to do so simply because of their own lack of awareness of the “why” or justification to do so. Usability is necessary but not sufficient. Improving efficiency is only possible when the need for that improvement is firmly appreciated, which in IT is rare.

sudoshred commented on Simplify, then add delightness: On designing for children shaneosullivan.wordpress.... · Posted by u/shaneos

myaccountonhn · a month ago

It does feel like modern designs are treating everyone like children. UIs have immense spacing and big fonts, icons always accompany text, company branding tends to have strong bold contrasty colors. Adjacent stuff like music are ostensibly getting simpler.

It makes me think that if they designed adult books today, they would be like children's books. One sentence in a big font and one image per page.

Doesn't have to be bad, but I worry we lose discipline and our cognitive abilities decline when everything is spoon fed.

sudoshred · a month ago

I see your point but the implied perspective of this take is that being an adult means consistently interacting with systems that are designed explicitly to be difficult to use. I, as an adult, appreciate interfaces designed to be simple and easy to use, not because I need it, but because it is efficient and respectful of my time. Accepting the status quo that systems are expected to be explicitly difficult to use (in a way that does not reflect domain complexity) is in my opinion learned helplessness and complicity. I won’t comment on the cultural observation about music, except to say that might be a practical constraint of content designed for mass appeal. If you want high brow and sophisticated taste you have to accept that your audience shrinks, as a matter of practicality.

sudoshred commented on Risk of dementia following gabapentin prescription rapm.bmj.com/content/earl... · Posted by u/geox

jjgreen · 2 months ago

True, but tendency to dementia causes a fondness for a particular drug? Some 3rd effect causes both?

sudoshred · 2 months ago

Another plausible interpretation is that the profile of a patient who is commonly prescribed the drug substantially overlaps with the profile of a patient who one day develops dementia.

sudoshred commented on China's Clinical Trial Boom asimov.press/p/china-tria... · Posted by u/surprisetalk

DrAwdeOccarim · 4 months ago

Unsure if you’re genuine or trying to be edgy, but I’ll bite—-yes, most of them make significant profits currently.

sudoshred · 4 months ago

Sorry, I am not involved with biotech. Genuinely curious.

Edit. My impression of bio tech is that upfront costs are high and timeline for commercialization is long, and the only real biotech firm that I am aware of is Theranos. So I am probably coming from a place of ignorance.

sudoshred commented on China's Clinical Trial Boom asimov.press/p/china-tria... · Posted by u/surprisetalk

Loughla · 4 months ago

No. No. That no longer applies, and I would argue never applies to a publicly funded entity like the federal government. When you're spending public dollars there is zero difference between incompetence and malice.

This administration has shown that it absolutely isn't incompetent. It's getting stuff done. Which means it's malice. Guaranteed. We're watching a self made disaster where few will profit, but will profit ENORMOUSLY.

sudoshred · 4 months ago

The public officials have a vested interest in appearing incompetent, for legal reasons. Examine the incentives to understand the behavior.

sudoshred commented on China's Clinical Trial Boom asimov.press/p/china-tria... · Posted by u/surprisetalk

DrAwdeOccarim · 4 months ago

Not op, but I’m in the field and can give you some things to read about:

- CAR-T

- CRISPR

- PRIME editing

- Base editing

- Modified mRNA

- PD-1 inhibitors

- On the cusp of personalized cancer vaccines

- ADCs

- Structure correctors

- Targeted protein degraders

- siRNAs

These have all really hit their stride in the past 15 years. Guess where all of them initially came from? Random ass government-funded academic research. Sure, you can split hairs with me on the 15 years and NIH/NSF etc funding, but it’s basically true. We are killing the golden goose…

sudoshred · 4 months ago

Are any of these technologies profitable currently?