this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2025
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.

This is not debate club. Unless it’s amusing debate.

For actually-good tech, you want our NotAwfulTech community

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Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this. Also, happy April Fool's in advance.)

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[–] corbin@awful.systems 8 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Today on the orange site, an AI bro is trying to reason through why people think he's weird for not disclosing his politics to people he's trying to be friendly with. Previously, he published a short guide on how to talk about politics, which — again, very weird, no possible explanation for this — nobody has adopted. Don't worry, he's well-read:

So far I've only read Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality, but can say it is an excellent place to start.

The thread is mostly centered around one or two pearl-clutching conservatives who don't want their beliefs examined:

I find it astonishing that anyone would ask, ["who did you vote for?"] … In my social circle, anyway, the taboo on this question is very strong.

To which the top reply is my choice sneer:

In my friend group it's clear as day: either you voted to kill and deport other people in the friend group or you didn't. Pretty obvious the group would like to know if you're secretly interested in their demise.

[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Wow, farriers are going crazy with these modern horseshoe designs!

Political propaganda graphic, transcription below

image transcriptionAbove: a single axis scatter plot. The ends of the axis are labeled "Left" and "Right". Data points are distributed similarly to normal distribution, the center being more concentrated than the extremes. Caption: "What people think the political spectrum is vs What it actually is".

Below: A two-dimensional scatter plot. The ends of the horizontal axis are labeled "Left" and "Right" and the vertical axis is labeled "Independent Thought" at the top and "Groupthink" at the bottom. The data points are evenly distributed inside a bell curve shape, with the peak of the hump at Independent Thought and between Left and Right, and the wide bottom of the bell spanning the whole Left-Right axis at maximum Groupthink.

Data points near the top of the bell (Independent-Center) labeled '"Un-intentional moderates" (from Paul Graham's The Two Kinds of Moderate)'. [Original image uses double quotes around the term Un-intentional moderates and single quotes around the title of Paul Graham's shitpost.]

Data points at the bottom center of the bell (Groupthink-Center) labeled "Intentional moderates".

In the bottom corner a watermark crediting the image to "@shw1nm".

I love the implication that being an independent thinker means agreeing with both the majority and other independent thinkers.

[–] maol@awful.systems 12 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

My University Keeps Sending Me Stupid Emails About AI, a continuing series:

A poster that reads "This house believes that AI is the future of climate resilient design". There is also a picture of a robot.

From the email:

The debate will be chaired by Michael Pike. Speaking for the motion are Prof. Gregory O'Hare (TCD), Maeve Hynes, Prof. Gary Boyd and Chatgpt assisted by Student Curator Ruan McCabe, all UCD. Speaking against the motion are David Capener (UU), Lucy O'Connell, Peter Cody and Meabh O'Leary, all UCD.

[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 2 points 2 hours ago

Artificial Intelligence is the future of climate resilient design in the same way that asian pseudo-medicinal ED treatments are the future of the white rhinoceros.

[–] istewart@awful.systems 2 points 2 hours ago

Notwithstanding the subject matter, I feel like I've always gotten limited value from these Oxford-style university debates. KQED used to run a series called Intelligence Squared US that crammed it into an hour, and I shudder to think what that's become in the era of Trump and AI. It seems like a format that was developed to be the intellectual equivalent of intramural sports, complete with a form of scoring. But that contrivance renders it devoid of nuance, and also means it can be used to platform and launder ugly bullshit, since each side has to be strictly pro- or anti-whatever.

Really, it strikes me as a forerunner of the false certainty and point-scoring inherent in Twitter-style short-form discourse. In some ways, the format was unconsciously pared down and plopped online, without any sort of inquiry into its weaknesses. I'd be interested to know if anyone feels any different.

[–] maol@awful.systems 5 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I would also like to complain that I have finally started getting AI summaries in Google, and I may have to switch to a different search engine. Neither wanted nor needed!

[–] Soyweiser@awful.systems 4 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

The url manipulation trick doesnt work for you?

E: this I mean, somebody even made a site for it. My own setup is weird and I have ancient strange habits so I just added it to my search bookmark.

[–] Soyweiser@awful.systems 6 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Elsevier doing some AI

"So, [Elsevier] added an AI question and answer to my article in Computer & Education.

The answers are wrong! They did not ask permission! The answers are WRONG!

How is this science?!"

[–] gerikson@awful.systems 7 points 11 hours ago

misread as Eliezer, semantic content unchanged

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 7 points 12 hours ago

AI-Powered Wi-Fi 7 Versatile Outdoor/Indoor Mesh AP

we're at the "the washing machine without a dateclock is marked millenium-bug safe in its marketing brochures" level of stupid

(that might seem like a stupid comparison but it's one of the things I most viscerally remember seeing from that time (when I was still a youngin who was still largely years away from computertouching))

[–] BlueMonday1984@awful.systems 4 points 13 hours ago

New video from Jessie Gender, providing one long sneer at gen-AI: How AI is Destroying our Dreams

[–] BlueMonday1984@awful.systems 8 points 15 hours ago

An AI faceswapper/nudifier's database got leaked thanks to its nonexistent security - unsurprisingly, its loaded with explicit images, including massive amounts child porn and almost certainly some revenge porn.

WIRED tried reaching out to the company behind the "imagery", but they nuked everything and closed their doors in response.

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 10 points 23 hours ago (5 children)

NaNoWriMo? Na, No Mo'. Does this have anything to do with their bungled AI policy? Maybe, maybe not, but hey, the news article that I saw this announcement in thought that it was pertinent to mention.

[–] sc_griffith@awful.systems 9 points 10 hours ago

considering their endless history of scandal, good riddance

[–] Soyweiser@awful.systems 6 points 13 hours ago

Not dating your press releases on your own site is a choice. (Lot more places do this and it is driving me slowly mad) So, did they drop this yday? Some weird schrodingers april fools joke deflection attempt?

[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 14 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Why does NaNoWriMo need a nonprofit anyway? What's next, No Nut November LLC?

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 10 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

As funny as that is, I am sure that there are nonprofits that are aiming to stop fapping.

[–] sc_griffith@awful.systems 7 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

however they are exactly canceled out by nonprofits aiming to promote fapping

[–] sc_griffith@awful.systems 10 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

the Effective Onanism movement

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 8 points 10 hours ago

Refractorive Altruism

[–] V0ldek@awful.systems 10 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

There's a fucking for profit that does this and it's used by the god damn USA Speaker of the House so that his son can monitor his fondling

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 6 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)
[–] mii@awful.systems 12 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I am fairly certain that their stupid AI stance at least played a role. I’m part of a largish writing community, where at least several hundred people did NaNo each year, a good part of them donated too. Last year, no one partook, instead we did our own internal thing.

If this happened across other communities too, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did, they must have felt it financially.

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 6 points 20 hours ago

I'll believe it! I didn't want to make that claim since I had no evidence.

[–] gerikson@awful.systems 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Their dumb contraction should have doomed the project from the start...

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 10 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

It is a CIA psyop to prevent revolutionary thought from arising in written media, in that it's a self-inflicted PIP that makes you feel inadequate in your creative writing ability. CIA funding (obviously funneled through NGOs via CIA front USAID) is how it's survived so long with such a stupid name. Of course, now that government spending on the CIA is going down, so is NaNoWriMo. All that's left is for it to be supplanted by some benevolent Chinese competitor that people will say steals your data, or something.

/s /s /s

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 4 points 13 hours ago

I demand you prove your assertion! preferably using wallspaghetti and alphabet soup, of course. so's I know it's totes legit and original!

(/s ofc, and link too (incase anyone didn't see that))

[–] Soyweiser@awful.systems 4 points 13 hours ago

[This is what tankies actually believe!!2!one!!!]

[–] antifuchs@awful.systems 11 points 1 day ago

My favorite meme message board on the internet keeps putting out bangers, but this one is extra good and relevant http://www.b3ta.com/board/11416629

[–] dgerard@awful.systems 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

tip from a discord:

I've been doing some micro tasking to train LLM's the last few months to earn some extra cash, the last month it's all dried up, no tasks available. I can't help thinking that is a sign of a bubble deflating.

[–] MintyAnt@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

Please please please

[–] BlueMonday1984@awful.systems 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Gamers Nexus put out their April Fool's joke for this year, and became the first journalistic outlet to break Betteridge's law of headlines in the process.

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

they should’ve had an overlay tracking counter in that opening montage, goddamn

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 4 points 1 day ago

(just got to 4min:) “oh! it’s not just opening montage” ahahaha

[–] Architeuthis@awful.systems 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

SMBC using the ratsphere as comics fodder, part the manyeth:

transcriptionRetrofuturistic Looking Ghost: SCROOOOOGE! I am the ghost of christmas extreme future! Why! Why did you not find a way to indicate to humans 400 generation from now where toxic waste was storrrrrrrred! Look how Tiny Tim's cyborg descendant has to make costrly RNA repaaaaaaairs!

Byline: The Longtermist version of A Christmas Carol is way better.

bonus

spoiler transcription Scrooge: I tried, but no, no, I just don't give a shit. :::

Your mistake, distant future ghost, was in developing RNA repair nanites without creating universal healthcare.

[–] gerikson@awful.systems 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] gerikson@awful.systems 3 points 6 hours ago

Additional "points" for the commenting system using local times in the user's browser, thereby timestamping further unfunny AFJ at 2 Apr in my timezone.

[–] sailor_sega_saturn@awful.systems 4 points 22 hours ago

Hey wait a minute we already made that (obvious) joke here on Awful Systems!

[–] fullsquare@awful.systems 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Derek Lowe casually points to Yarvin and Thiel in his writeup on how trumpists are destroying american science, in part 7 specifically. nrx have fully broke containment

[–] o7___o7@awful.systems 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

On the bright side, Derek Lowe has also escaped containment, which is nice

[–] fullsquare@awful.systems 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] o7___o7@awful.systems 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Lots of politics outlets have been linking his recent work. He's done a great job documenting the consequences (and gravity) of the ongoing grant apocalypse for the AAAS journal Science. I've loved him for years for being the FOOF guy.

[–] BlueMonday1984@awful.systems 8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Jesus, fine, I'll watch it already, God.

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

OpenAI: Nah, I'd become profitable

[–] froztbyte@awful.systems 7 points 1 day ago

every so often I think of how Rat-brain is just bleach-dyed "the power of positive thinking" for nerds who don't get out in the world enough

[–] Soyweiser@awful.systems 6 points 1 day ago

Finally Tim Pool will get what is wrong with AI

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