All of them.

Sure. America has its slimy tendrils in everyone else’s business, so it’s only fair that you have a say.

USA sux

“Gradient descent” ≈ on a “hilly” (mathematical) surface, try to find the lowest point by finding the lowest point near an initial guess. “Gradient” is basically the steepness, or rate that the thing you’re trying to optimize changes as you move through “space”. The gradient tells you mathematically which direction you need to go to reach the bottom. “Descent” means “try to find the minimum”.

I’m glossing over a lot of details, particularly what a “surface” actually means in the high dimensional spaces that AI uses, but a lot of problems in mathematical optimization are solved like this. And one of the steps in training an AI agent is to do an optimization, which often does use a gradient descent algorithm. That being said, not every process that uses gradient descent is necessarily AI or even machine learning. I’m actually taking a course this semester where a bunch of my professor’s research is in optimization algorithms that don’t use a gradient descent!

They created a good product so people used it and there were no alternatives when it got shit.

They created an inherently centralizing implementation of a video sharing platform. Even if it was done with good intentions (which it wasn’t, it was some capitalist’s hustle, and its social importance is a side effect), we should basically always condemn centralizing implementations of a given technology because they reinforce existing power structures regardless of the intentions of their creators.

It’s their fault because they’re a corporation that does what corporations do. Even when corporations try to do right by the world (which is an extremely generous appraisal of YouTube’s existence), they still manage to create centralizing technologies that ultimately serve to reinforce their existing power, because that’s all they can do. Otherwise, they would have set themselves up as a non-profit or some other type of organization. I refuse to accept the notion of a good corporation.

There’s no lock in. They don’t force you off the platform if you post elsewhere (like twitch did).

That’s a good point, but while there isn’t a de jure lock-in for creators, there is a de facto lock-in that prevents them from migrating elsewhere. Namely, that YouTube is a centralized, proprietary service, which can’t be accessed from other services.

Also: model trains. I was into model trains for a few years, but I realized that I didn’t really have the life experience to make a fulfilling model trainset. Like I did the thing, I made a (really childish) layout with some crappy blocks and streets, and I got the trains to move and stuff, but it didn’t…say much? It was “I’m a child and I like trains”, which is great! Probably wouldn’t have become interested in trains at all otherwise!

But I want more…I always want more. I need to go more hardcore into the few things I can actually tolerate doing…

And as a child, I saw some really cool trainsets built by adults that told stories, made me laugh, made my parents laugh, made me feel awe at the storytelling and creativity of the craft. Even my cousin, who built a trainset in his basement in his early twenties, had a much more inspired trainset than mine (when I was much younger, like 10 or 12). His trainset was cool. He studied how trains worked, how to make a realistic line with realistic scenery and infrastructure. His trainset reflected who he was, and ultimately forecasted what he became. He literally works for a rail company now designing the train tracks.

So I’m kinda “saving” that hobby for when I’m in my 60’s after I integrate enough life experience (and hopefully some capital) to build a trainset that really reflects the person I ultimately became.

My trainset is gonna have a sick, functioning roller coaster, some overly complicated automated control circuits, some heavy metal references, some intentionally goofy shit, serious shit, an anarcho-communist bent, a layout that at least is informed by modern infrastructure design, etc., because that’s at least partially the person I will have become.

Roller coasters. I’m too heavy to go on them, too poor to afford to ride them, too busy to simulate them.

Literally every corporation does or attempts to do the same thing.

Exactly. Every single corporation is evil and should be dismantled 🔥🔥🔥. This is just one of a thousand reasons to do so.

“Absolute evil” is a bit of a stretch, but it’s YouTube/Google’s fault (by closing off and centralizing their video platform) that it is impossible to go elsewhere for videos.

“We are a free speech university. But to intentionally break the rules … now you’re in the world of civil disobedience and we’re going to think about consequences.”

“Decorum is more important than the human lives you’re protesting on behalf of.”

What a bunch of clowns openly railing against civil disobedience.

Haha, that and the two running box fans I have on full blast pointing at my head and pillow are my greatest sources of comfort.

Yes I like being really really cold.

Not really? Although I’m probably way more tolerant to (wideband!) noise than others because I sleep literally inches from two box fans.

But you don’t need to run it while you’re sleeping. It goes from room temperature to ice in under 10 minutes (20 minutes for the “good” ice after the insides have had a bit of time to cool down).

To be clear, what I have is a Frigidaire portable ice maker. Here’s its Walmart product page, although I can’t vouch for Walmart’s website respecting your privacy.

I actually bought a knockoff of this a couple years ago off Amazon, and it worked for about a year, but:

1. The infrared sensor was crap from day 1, so I always had to manually override the machine’s decision that the ice was full, even when it was completely empty.
2. The water where I was living (dorm room in city) was much…harder I think? It was safe to drink, I even tested it myself, but whatever minerals were in it very quickly fucked up my machine’s internals. I’m living at my parents house with better water.

So far, the Frigidaire is a much better unit, and I use it tremendously more often because I don’t have to babysit the thing and constantly override the infrared sensor.

The water supply is just an ordinary tank. Basically just open the lid, dump a Super Big Gulp of water into the tank every few hours and you’re set. Everything is self contained.

It doesn’t keep the ice cool for you, i.e. it’s not a freezer. Once the ice gets dumped in the bucket, you’re on your own.

So if you go down this route, I recommend getting a decent version of it. Mine cost about $87 in store from Walmart but I really bought this unit as an impulse buy, so I imagine you can get it cheaper if you do some shopping.

Very nearly! I have desk that I scrounged from the garbage literally right up against the bed and a nightstand right next to it. It’s on the desk since the nightstand holds my TV.

So it’s not literally on a nightstand, but it is literally bedside, i.e. I can use it without getting out of bed.

With just the information provided, not weird at all. Good luck with your program 🙂.

No I don’t like myself

Ice machine

Infinite bedside ice

Yes

Yes

Yes

💵