graemep's comments

On: Astra for Coding: Why Are We Doing This Again?

[graemep]

I have noticed that when asking LLMs to work with existing code, their output reflects the existing codebase: the better the existing code, the better the LLM code.

On: The Deathray: A simple way for an untrusted site to freeze a Mac

[graemep]

It really ought to be something you can enable or disable per site. I was surprised to find its not.

[pmontra → graemep]

Maybe a browser extension could inject JS in a tab to redefine all the WebGPU API into a noop.

[graemep → pmontra]

I just remembered and checked. Noscript does allow blocking webgl on a per site basis.

On: Who People Talk to When They're Struggling

[graemep]

its not a signficant difference though. 22% vs 23% for total reporting isolation.

On: Hitachi launches CO2 heat pump water heaters with solar-friendly tariff controls

[graemep]

It is used to mean a schedule of fees. Its a common usage in the UK and some other countries.

On: Automattic's board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence

[graemep]

People change. A change may or may not be the result of mental illness.

I know many people who have changed greatly for the better because of life experiences or their own choices, and many people who have changed for the worse. We all do it to some extent, though maybe not dramatically or publicly.

On: DeepSeek v4.1 Flash

[graemep]

> Lawyers and diplomats and politicians and bureaucrats are humans, that only generate text.

You think they have no lives outside their work? You think even their work has no interactions that are not written?

On: The UN challenges five centuries of cartography

[graemep]

Why does the size of a county's territory matter so much? Russia is much bigger than the US or China, is it more important? Australia has about three quarters of the land area of the US, is it as significant?

[dekervin → graemep]

Humans live in a world made of symbols. A sign, in this case a map, carries much more than its literal meaning. It is loaded with context, connotation, and even myths.

Maps are extremely powerful signs because they implicitly claim to organize the physical world. Consider, for example, the reference viewpoint of a map regardless of other features.

The first time you see a map centered on another continent makes you realize that your vision of the world, where some parts are peripheral, is relative. Even if that fact is obvious.

I don't know exactly what the effects of a change of projection are, but I know they exist.

[xyzelement → graemep]

If it doesn't matter why did Africa make such a push for this projection?

[graemep → xyzelement]

Some people think it matters, mostly politicians and political activists. That does not mean its actually important.

[xyzelement → graemep]

Either the vote doesn't matter and don't have it, or it matters and you vote for your people.

On: The UN challenges five centuries of cartography

[graemep]

Yes, if virtually all countries sign a treaty.

[marcus_holmes → graemep]

Right. Isn't this just a more efficient version of that?

On: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

[graemep]

I think the problem is that some people do genuinely have a great childhood, or another phase of life (university is another one), while others have a terrible childhood or another phase of life, and people who have one fail to understand those who have the other.

To add to that I think people can have a rose-tinted view and deny what they felt at the time.

On: Automattic's board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence

[graemep]

That lead me to a number of good sources, especially this:

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/09/24/automattic-vs-wp-engine/

which links to a lot more

I already knew Matt was throwing a tantrum and refusing to address conflicts of interest. However WP Engine also do not come out of it looking good. Nor do a lot of people in the WP community. Matt is a problem, but it does not look like he is the only problem.

[toyg → graemep]

The Wordpress community got so big, that inevitably it attracted leeches. Unfortunately, Matt chose to address a home-infestation problem with a firethrower.

[graemep → toyg]

Great way to put it. Ignoring collateral damage too.