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thewebguyd commented on New Kindle feature uses AI to answer questions about books   reactormag.com/new-kindle... · Posted by u/mindracer
Mouvelie · 2 days ago
"Amazon DID NOT answer PubLunch’s questions about “what rights the company was relying upon to execute the new feature was not answered, nor did they elaborate on the technical details of the service and any protections involved (whether to prevent against hallucinations, or to protect the text from AI training).”
thewebguyd · 2 days ago
> protect the text from AI training

Hasn't training been already ruled to be fair use in the recent lawsuits against Meta, Antrhopic? Ruled that works must be legally acquired, yes, but training was fair use.

thewebguyd commented on Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices   office365itpros.com/2025/... · Posted by u/taubek
zelphirkalt · 5 days ago
No one has developed a full alternative in one package. That's because some of the practices are really bad and shouldn't be solved the way the GP describes they are solved. Data stored in SharePoint, the worst MS tool ever maybe, is one example. O e wouldn't build another SharePoint, because why make something that sucks so much and then store data in it? It is moronic to do that.

And the GP is right in that the more moronic stuff people do, the harder it gets for them to no longer do that and somehow extract all their data into usable and useful form. Microsoft will happily go on making bad products, if that keeps its users prisoners.

thewebguyd · 3 days ago
No one uses sharepoint because it's good or was ever good, everyone knows it sucks. They use it precisely because it's a) bundled with 365 already and b) already very well integrated into the rest of the entire ecosystem. No developer time is needed to get automations, external sharing with encryption, and any other numerous features.

So sure, one wouldn't build another SharePoint on its own, but there's still room to build an entire package like M365 and do it right, and integrate solutions that don't suck.

But no one does, because it's expensive as hell. Good luck building something just as comprehensive and integrated and selling it for a measly $22/user/month.

thewebguyd commented on CachyOS: Fast and Customizable Linux Distribution   cachyos.org/... · Posted by u/doener
dabockster · 13 days ago
> In my experience, distributions changing the defaults and customizations seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

Which makes each and every one of those totally different operating systems that can run similar code to each other. We need to stop thinking of these as Linux "distros" and start thinking of these as totally separate and distinct operating systems that are based around the Linux kernel. Sort of like a business cooperative model.

thewebguyd · 3 days ago
I agree, doubly so when you consider different packaging formats and package managers also, along with different release models.

I've been preaching for a long time that "distro" is the wrong term. Each "distro" is absolutely it's own, standalone operating system. There is no universal "Linux OS" outside of the kernel. Even userland can be swapped out.

thewebguyd commented on The highest quality codebase   gricha.dev/blog/the-highe... · Posted by u/Gricha
loloquwowndueo · 3 days ago
“I want my AI to do laundry and dishes so I can code, not for my AI to code so I can do laundry and dishes”
thewebguyd · 3 days ago
This sums up my feelings almost exactly.

I don't want LLMs, AI, and eventually Robots to take over the fun stuff. I want them to do the mundane, physical tasks like laundry and dishes, leave me to the fun creative stuff.

But as we progress right now, the hype machine is pushing AI to take over art, photography, video, coding, etc. All the stuff I would rather be doing. Where's my house cleaning robot?

thewebguyd commented on The highest quality codebase   gricha.dev/blog/the-highe... · Posted by u/Gricha
hombre_fatal · 3 days ago
Maybe I didn't make it clear, but I didn't build the software in my comment. A clanker did.

Vibe-coding is a claude code <-> QA loop on the end result that anyone can do (the non-experts in his claim).

An example of a cycle looks like "now add an Options tab that let's me customize the global hotkey" where I'm only an end-user.

Once again, where do my 20 years of software experience come up in a process where I don't even read code?

thewebguyd · 3 days ago
> An example of a cycle looks like "now add an Options tab that let's me customize the global hotkey" where I'm only an end-user

Which is a prompt that someone with experience would write. Your average, non-technical person isn't going to prompt something like that, they are going to say "make it so I can change the settings" or something else super vague and struggle. We all know how difficult it is to define software requirements.

Just because an LLM wrote the actual code doesn't mean your prompts weren't more effective because of your experience and expertise in building software.

Sit someone down in front of an LLM with zero development or UI experience at all and they will get very different results. Chances are they won't even specify "macOS menu bar app" in the prompt and the LLM will end up trying to make them a webapp.

Your vibe coding experience just proves my initial point, that these tools are useful for those who already have experience and can lean on that to craft effective prompts. Someone non-technical isn't going to make effective use of an LLM to make software.

thewebguyd commented on The highest quality codebase   gricha.dev/blog/the-highe... · Posted by u/Gricha
james_marks · 3 days ago
This is a key part of the AI love/hate flame war.

Very easy to write it off when it spins out on the open-ended problems, without seeing just how effective it can be once you zoom in.

Of course, zooming in that far gives back some of the promised gains.

Edit: typo

thewebguyd · 3 days ago
> without seeing just how effective it can be once you zoom in.

The love/hate flame war continues because the LLM companies aren't selling you on this. The hype is all about "this tech will enable non-experts to do things they couldn't do before" not "this tech will help already existing experts with their specific niche," hence the disconnect between the sales hype and reality.

If OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc. were all honest and tempered their own hype and misleading marketing, I doubt there would even be a flame war. The marketing hype is "this will replace employees" without the required fine print of "this tool still needs to be operated by an expert in the field and not your average non technical manager."

thewebguyd commented on Framework Laptop 13 gets ARM processor with 12 cores via upgrade kit   notebookcheck.net/Framewo... · Posted by u/woodrowbarlow
philistine · 9 days ago
The problem is indeed Windows. Could you point me to where you can legally buy a Windows for ARM licence?
thewebguyd · 9 days ago
You can buy it from the Microsoft Store inside of windows once its installed. That's how it works with parallels, or any other Windows on Arm device (say, for upgrading from Home to Pro).
thewebguyd commented on Most technical problems are people problems   blog.joeschrag.com/2023/1... · Posted by u/mooreds
woodylondon · 9 days ago
100% agree. Sadly, I have realised fewer people actually give an F than you realise; for some, it's just a paycheck. I am not sure what has happened over the decades regarding actually being proud of the work you produce.

I also think they tend to be the older ones among us who have seen what happens when it all goes wrong, and the stack comes tumbling down, and so want to make sure you don't end up in that position again. Covers all areas of IT from Cyber, DR, not just software.

When I have moved between places, I always try to ensure we have a clear set of guidelines in my initial 90-day plan, but it all comes back to the team.

It's been 50/50: some teams are desperate for any change, and others will do everything possible to destroy what you're trying to do. Or you have a leader above who has no idea and goes with the quickest/cheapest option.

The trick is to work this out VERY quickly!

However, when it does go really wrong, I assume most have followed the UK Post Office saga in the UK around the software bug(s) that sent people to prison, suicides, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

I am pretty sure there would have been a small group (or at least one) of tech people in there who knew all of this and tried to get it fixed, but were blocked at every level. No idea - but suspect.

thewebguyd · 9 days ago
> for some, it's just a paycheck. I am not sure what has happened over the decades regarding actually being proud of the work you produce.

Hard to be proud of the work you produce when you have no ownership over it, and companies show less and less loyalty and investment in their employees. When, at any random time, you can be subject to the next round of layoffs no matter how much value you contributed, it's hard to care.

So yeah, for most it's just a paycheck unless you are working for yourself, or drank a gallon of the koolaid and seriously believe in whatever the company's mission is/what it's doing.

I'm proud of my own work and projects I do for myself, tech or otherwise, and put great care into it. At $dayjob I do exactly what I am paid to do, nothing more nothing less, to conserve my own mental energy for my own time. Not saying I output poor work, but more so I will just do exactly what's expected of me. The company isn't going to get anything extra without paying for it.

Didn't used to be that way, but I've been burned far too many times by going "above and beyond" for someone else.

If employees had more ownership and stake in the companies they work for, I think the attitudes would change. Likewise, if companies went back to investing in training and retention, loyalty could go both ways again.

thewebguyd commented on Wall Street races to protect itself from AI bubble   rollingout.com/2025/12/05... · Posted by u/zerosizedweasle
vb-8448 · 9 days ago
One thing it's not clear to me: the amount of money is colossal, where the one who are supposed to refund banks will get the money?
thewebguyd · 9 days ago
> where the one who are supposed to refund banks will get the money?

Liquidating other assets. The point of the banks using SRTs is to push the default risk off of the bank and onto investors.

So now, instead of banks failing, private credit gets to bear the risk of the bubble popping. Since they can't sell the (now bad) AI debt, they will need to liquidate all of their other assets to pay the banks.

That's why a potential AI bubble burst can cause the markets to enter a death spiral and bring down a bunch of other, unrelated markets.

If private credit can't cover the losses by liquidating everything else, well, then they fail, and we either let it all crumble or do bailouts again.

u/thewebguyd

KarmaCake day2775March 22, 2024View Original