Ideas on technology, culture and arts https://mstdn.social/@talapu...
We humans use analogies and metaphors to understand concepts. But it is important to know that they are only approximations, not the actual concept in itself. Saying LLM is like a new higher level of abstraction that compiles natural language into code is just an analogy . It is not the equivalent of a C compiler creating machine code. Natural language is ambiguous. This has been known for…
Some arguments offered for no types in a programming language are that types make a programming language too cumbersome or verbose, and the code less readable. Those arguments are kind of similar to those proferred during the height of NoSQL hype. But now that the hype has died, we know that schema for data is good. Data lives on for decades and it is better that as much of the schema as possible…
I came across this blogpost about headphones and amplifier impedance (via HN ). The basic idea seems to be that the amp's output impedance should be 1/8th of headphones impedance, or ideally close to zero. Otherwise you could be listening to distorted audio. My listening setup consists of Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm headphones and a Yamaha TSR-7850 AV Receiver. Out of curiosity I checked what…
I think fears over AGI are baseless. The more imminent threat is the one where AI automates bureaucracy. The successes of the technological revolution that we are living through are all too easy to see. What is harder to notice is things worsened by the same technological developments, things like customer support. Employing people to solve your customers' problems is expensive. It is far cheaper…
I like immersive video games, the kind of games that only big studios with big budgets can build. But I rarely play such games anymore because of the insane grinding that these games require. I just want to lose myself in a world. I don't have the time to just keep mashing buttons, performing repetitive tasks. So it was with such misgivings that I played Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The…
Of late Youtube seems to be filled with what I'd call talking slideshows where the video is just a series of pictures with the narrator talking about the pictures along with other stuff. Videos like this are better off being blog posts which can be consumed in far less time than it takes to watch a video. But in the times we live in, it is far harder to monetize blogs than it is for video content.…
When we think of feudalism, we think of a tiny ruling class which owned all the land and had people work the land in exchange for “protection”. We also think modern day developed societies are about as far removed from feudalism as they can be. We are, after all, free and we elect our own governments. We bow to no lord. Technically this is true and our lives aren’t like those under feudalism. But…