Robert Prior

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• Commented on Made of lies (and more lies)
  The problem is how do I, as a high school physics teacher, know that the simplifications are indeed factually accurate? Maybe it's a failure of imagination on my part, but I can't see trusting any LLM output without doing my...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  I'll be honest I rather like them, mostly because as implemented locally there is a single queue for all the self-checkouts, so you never get stuck in a line behind someone who takes forever while you watch other lines race...
• Commented on Made of lies (and more lies)
  I did not know that David Brin ever said this, but I had the same thought. It's shown up in a number of his short stories and at least one novel....
• Commented on Made of lies (and more lies)
  For a long time I have been convinced that if general AI is possible, which is a very big "if", it will have to involve a robotic body (more likely, multiple robotic bodies) and a prolonged interaction with the physical...
• Commented on Made of lies (and more lies)
  Take it seriously on the level of "Centers of power that are immune to protest can act unreasonably without consequences.". AIs can (eventually) be such a center of power. That's been happening for years, with 'expert systems'. Cathy O'Neil...
• Commented on Made of lies (and more lies)
  Given who scientifically illiterate our politicians are, what happens when we get policy formulation by LLM output? Would that be any worse than the current model, which seems to be policy formulation by whoever has the most money?...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  aren't stair lifts a thing in the US? They're a thing in Canada, but not terribly common. I was thinking about this when I screwed my knee up last year. I'm not terribly attached to my house, but I...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  I still want to leave the world a better place for my having been here. Doesn't matter if the inheritors are genetically related to me or not. None of my grandniblings carry my genetic material. Doesn't matter — family is...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  For those workers who were still covered by "defined benefit" pensions, dumping them BEFORE their pensions were vested allowed corporate raiders to loot the pension funds. A couple of decades ago I remember reading about how a big indicator for...
• Commented on Made of lies (and more lies)
  I'm trying to imagine the non-fiction mathematics version of "Rule 34" and my mind keeps boggling. I would be more worried about the non-fiction mathematics version of any of the Laundry books… :-)...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Among other things, I don't want an actual mansion. Too much upkeep. I still want the library. In one of the Wasted Talent comics, Jam is arguing with her husband about buying more books (their apartment is full) and...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Is this the site, or is there a better one? https://en.boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=daybreak...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Should countries (corps) rethink their retirement strategies? How about easing their employees into retirement instead of completely axing them out of their job/career? I remember having a conversation about that with my father three decades ago. Nothing seems to...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  nobody keeps all blueprints for all buildings, never mind what the regulations call for A few years ago we had heating problems at my school, which was built over 100 years ago and then modified in five major renovations....
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Learning a new house, new neighbourhood, new routines… it all gets harder as you get older. Leaving a familiar place is tough, especially if one is beginning to slide into dementia....
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  And as long as I'm recommending games with a solo mode, there's Hegemony — a product of marrying game design with political theory. The economy is failing, and a heavy political resignation is paralyzing the country. In these troubling times,...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  A while ago someone was looking for a good game that can be played solo. As well, I suspect that most of us could use a game that has a bit of hope rather than grimdark gloom. Last week I...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  You can't automate changing an 80 year old's diaper or dusting the window blinds. Nor can you make these processes more efficient. Years ago as a relatively new homeowner I picked up a book on cleaning, by a chap who...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  nothing to do with the brief US/British skirmish In reference to which I recommend a song that was delisted in America after 9/11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0I6hBokUsw ("The War of 1812" by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie.) Interestingly, in most American...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  My source was a Turkish-American friend in 2016 -- who discovered the Turkish embassy wouldn't issue her with a visa to visit (for the first time), they wanted her to apply for a passport. Well, if they consider her a...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Your initial wave of Texan and Floridan immigrants will mostly be LGBT+ and their families, atheists, socialists, non-Christians in general, people who don't get on with religious extremists and gun nuts, and anyone else who the lunatics are unfriendly towards....
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  German citizenship has (or had until recently) a Catch-22 whereby it's exclusive: if you want it you have to renounce/revoke/jettison any previous citizenship in order to be eligible. How does that interact with Israel's right-of-return? As I understand it (and...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  I have no doubt that our racist compatriots will be slightly less hostile towards 'white' Floridian and Texan refugees, but there will be many others and we should be preparing to welcome them. The thought of large numbers of...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Something like 22% of Canadians were born somewhere else, and 17% are second generation. I was born elsewhere, but I'm not the target of anti-immigrant attacks — while my nieces, who were born here, grew up with them. The...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  Politics, in its best role, is about keeping the kludge working as well as possible. It’s laborious, not glorious, which is why I respect the reasonably ethical politicians I’ve had the fortune to meet, even when I don’t agree...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  The idea of having a super soldier in the ranks is a tantalizing prospect for any military. I'm reminded of the short story "Collateral" by Peter Watts: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/collateral/ Well worth the read....
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  If you’ve ever read Old Man’s War, you’d be familiar with the concept of using an older part of the populace to be future soldiers,” they continued. Not to mention the concept of using purpose-built child soldiers (the Ghost...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  It's bad enough when various leaders claim their have hot daughters (Tony Abbott has four!) but I am not really keen on other people pointing them out. You're right, and I apologize for what now seems like a 'creepy...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  And does he have a relatively hot daughter From the pictures I've seen his daughter is a cute teenager who will almost certainly grow up to be a stunning woman. Certainly a lot easier on the eyes than Trump's...
• Commented on We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus
  when questioned about his (expensive) social interactions with Singer he cited '"personal hospitality", i.e., he was not required to disclose private air transport for social trips' When I was a child my father hosted some scientists from the USSR...