@JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social

comments

• Thanks for all the suggestions and info. One thing to consider is that I’m physically disabled, and fooling around with swapping drives and whatnot is not something I really want to mess around with at this stage. (and yes, I used to be a tech, haha)

  You’re not a fan of the stick idea, I take it? It seems like it would be a good, low-energy way for me to give Mint a test drive…

  on Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening in c/technology@piefed.social · 10 Sep 2026

• Ah, nice idea! I do have a 128gb stick laying around that I haven’t used yet.

  So, you’re happy with “Mint”?

  on Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening in c/technology@piefed.social · 10 Sep 2026

• I actually did get a new Win11 mini-PC last year to beat the Win10 deadline, and intended to get Linux set up as a dual-boot, but still haven’t gotten around to it yet.

  The last time I tried to install Linux (loong time ago now) there were driver issues. I guess I’m scared that I’ll screw something up, and my backup PC is old and uncertain at this point.

  on Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening in c/technology@piefed.social · 10 Sep 2026

• Thanks for the extensive comment. I guess theoretically if I was going to get a Smart TV, I’d first look in to whatever surveillance it contained, and what my options were to disable such.

  Methinks it would be a shame to lose out on internet connectivity.

  on Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening in c/technology@piefed.social · 10 Sep 2026

• I haven’t had a TV in years, so I’m kinda hazy on what the main concern of Smart TV’s would be. Are they recording you via camera and speaker, is that it? If so, is there a way to block that?

  If it’s moreso that they’re gathering your watching habits, it’s hard for me to see that as alarming. Er, I think.

  on Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening in c/technology@piefed.social · 10 Sep 2026

• If I understand correctly, some (or most?) TV remotes now have mics built in. The stated aim is allegedly so that the user can quickly search something up without tediously typing, but the surveillance opportunity seems pretty glaring. A smaller extension of Smart TV’s, I guess.

  on Apple Watch's new AI features are normalizing the idea that technology is always listening in c/technology@piefed.social · 10 Sep 2026

• Probably more like the richest assholes who have the most influence in politics in the EU want more DC’s.

  Far as I know, no sensible person on Planet Erff wants more DC’s, both locally and remotely, due to their ~100% toxicity rate.

  on The EU is ready to bet billions on data centers. Not all countries want in. in c/europe@feddit.org · 2 Sep 2026

• Yeah I’m just kind of a rubbernecker here, but from the last couple articles I read, it sounds like group-wise they’re not remotely profitable yet. At the same time, in the States and I guess elsewhere, the data centers have been rammed through against local taxpayer objection, meaning that at least to some degree they and the state are going to be subsidizing the DC’s. Also being harmed by their irreplaceable aquifers being tapped.

  Far as I know, Nestle is a big player in pulling that shit, and is arguably a benefitee of regularity capture, which naturally means a certain degree of politicians enriching themselves, ultimately paid for by taxpayers & sustainability. My point is that similar things do seem to be happening with LLM’s and their DC’s. So probably all that moves the profitability needle somewhat.

  Btw, this particular chart of the author’s helped me understand some things:
  

  on There's no such thing as "Just a Tool" in c/technology@piefed.social · 30 Aug 2026

• Fascinating stuff, altho to me, like multiple articles all rolled in to one, which could easily double as a fairly high-level university course.

  My take is that tools & tech indeed get normalised over time, with all kinds of assumptions and expectations built-in as time progresses, which can… lead to some pretty interesting or even catastrophic results, eventually. Like the Bronze Age collapse, perhaps, in which the breakdown of trade rather suddenly crippled multiple city-states, reeling them back to tools & tech from centuries or more earlier. In short, any tool can become a dangerous thing IMO, for a multitude of reasons.

  I agree that calling an LLM ‘just a tool’ is both disingenuous and patently false. For me, it’s a kind of dream or fantasy tool that I never really thought would be developed to this extent, back when I was horsing around with stuff like Eliza and Racter. Later, when Deep Blue 2 beat Kasparov (debatably the greatest chess player of all time) almost 30yrs ago, things started to look a little different.

  At this point, I’m curious if anyone here feels like critiquing my primary LLM usage. Before explaining, I also want to add that I’m fully on board with the idea that AI will turn out to be a global disaster in the end, and that it’s already been pretty horrible, for example in terms of killing jobs and building massive abominations that we so delightfully call “data centers.”

  Personally, I use GPT on a near-daily basis to do complex searches and then pull the results together, saving me a load of time & effort. As someone with ME/CFS, that really is something super-valuable to me. Of course I’ve learned over time that GPT has its strengths and weaknesses, and loves to hallucinate and make fundamental errors when given the chance. To deal with that, I’ve built up something like ~20 global directives to help mitigate such behavior, and of course, sometimes GPT’s own baked-in programming will essentially ignore some of my directives. Still, part of the process as I see it of better understanding where it shines and where it’s most likely to crap the bed. TBH, I’m also pretty blown-away by how much better it’s gotten across only a year or two.

  Am I wrong? :P

  on There's no such thing as "Just a Tool" in c/technology@piefed.social · 30 Aug 2026