Wild take. Almost every single company of a certain size does outbound. Just like how almost every company sends endless marketing emails. Yeah its spammy. But it also converts some small percentage of users so they will continue to do it.
I'm of two minds about this. I get more done with LLMs. I find the work I do assisted by LLM less satisfying. I'm not sure if I actually enjoyed the work before, or if I just enjoyed accomplishing things. And now that I'm off loading a lot of the work, I'm also off loading a lot of the feeling of accomplishment.
Accomplishing things for me feels a lot like solving a good puzzle. Like a crossword.
I tried using an LLM to help with a small hardware project and ended up throwing out all the code halfway down the line and doing it myself. I don't have a good time with LLMs and mostly only use it for work.
Compared to everything else it feels pretty minor but I'm fairly worried about the handheld retro gaming market. I really enjoy it as a hobby but it seems like almost all of those devices will no longer be profitable / worth buying if the tariffs are enforced on them.
I've been really enjoying my recent Anbernic RG 406V and it can play pretty much all the systems I want it to so I guess I'll just stick to that if the handheld market collapses.
The "de minimis" exemption, which previously allowed low-value packages (under $800) from China to enter the U.S. duty-free, is being phased out. This change, announced by the White House, will impact popular e-commerce platforms like Temu and Shein, potentially leading to higher prices for consumers. The de minimis exemption is being ended because it's being seen as a trade loophole that allows low-value goods to enter the country without paying import duties. The change is expected to take effect on May 2, with a new system in place to collect duties on small-value packages.
Well you have until May 2nd to order tarrif free fyi. Most people dont realuze this.
You know this already but the reason nintendo doesnt release their games on other systems is so you have to buy the system.
I bought a switch. I didnt think I'd buy a switch 2 but damn it if I didnt just see the new mario kart and think, "Maybe I should get a switch 2". I would never buy another nintendo device if they released their games on other system. So they likely never will.
It's the same reason they will never put a mainline pokemon, a game that is basically made for mobile phones, onto ios or android.
You also probably know this, but they don't really care about the console per se. What you buying the console means is that Nintendo gets to stand on the bridge between your console and game developers and demand 30% or whatever it is.
Also getting a Switch 2, if nothing else than for all the first-party Switch 1 games I haven't had legal access to.
I toss "10OFF" into almost every promo box when I buy something. Works at least 25% of the time. When it does I try "20OFF" and that works as well like 5% of the time.
In another world of reviews... Copilot can now be added as a pr reviewer if a company allows/pays for it. I've started doing it right before adding any of my actual peers. It's only been a week or so and it did catch one small thing for me last week.
This type of llm use feels like spell check except for basic logic. As long as we stuff have people who know what they are doing reviewing stuff AFTER the AI review, I don't see any downsides.
For non-technical people, terms like Machine Learning, Algorithm, Automation, AI, Neural Networks and 'Magical Powers' are synonymous.. Journalists, marketing teams, and executives choose whichever term generates the most hype and clicks.
I like to describe my job as a software engineer as "wizardry" to people. With the way LLMs are writing code, it's only getting closer to writing actual spells.
> "Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic."
"Like a magic crystal mirror, My computer lets me know Of the other world within it Where my body cannot go / The computer is a gateway
To a world where magic rules
Where the only law is logic
Webs of words the only tools" https://mindstalk.net/filk/world.html
My understanding is that the original use of AI was to describe algorithms that solved complicated problems, but only sometimes, and usually through heuristics. As opposed to provably correct algorithms like Dijkstra's.
>While there are some pharmaceutical compounds detectable in crop tissue, the levels are extremely small–in the nanogram per gram (or parts per billion) range
I was somewhat skeptical about this given all the headline I've seen about birth control causing hormones to be in the water supply, but it checks out.
>This paper reviews the literature regarding various sources of estrogens, in surface, source and drinking water, with an emphasis on the active molecule that comes from OCs. It includes discussion of the various agricultural, industrial, and municipal sources and outlines the contributions of estrogenic chemicals to the estrogenicity of waterways and estimates that the risk of exposure to synthetic estrogens in drinking water on human health is negligible
It's spammy. It isnt scammy.
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