Homerificus
@homerificus.bsky.social
Policy, laughs, banter, news. Canadian engineer.
Reposted by Homerificus
genuinely baffled at how despite how rapidly we've made progress in recommender systems, actual recommendations have gotten worse
I miss the days when the streaming services actually tried to suggest things you'd like to watch.
November 29, 2025 at 10:43 PM
genuinely baffled at how despite how rapidly we've made progress in recommender systems, actual recommendations have gotten worse
Reposted by Homerificus
part of the reason i am genuinely irritated with the gAI/AGI cult is because there is real societal benefits in using ML techniques in medical care + weather analysis, and instead people get annoyed with anything that gets lumped in with the plagiarism machine
November 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
part of the reason i am genuinely irritated with the gAI/AGI cult is because there is real societal benefits in using ML techniques in medical care + weather analysis, and instead people get annoyed with anything that gets lumped in with the plagiarism machine
Reposted by Homerificus
i hate to be all like “decline of culture” but, god damn, kids’ TV (outside apple TV+) has sloppified worse than any other genre. And don’t reply “what about bluey?” bc that’s not a show for kids, thats a show for parents produced so that kids don’t mind watching it and i will not debate that point.
November 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
i hate to be all like “decline of culture” but, god damn, kids’ TV (outside apple TV+) has sloppified worse than any other genre. And don’t reply “what about bluey?” bc that’s not a show for kids, thats a show for parents produced so that kids don’t mind watching it and i will not debate that point.
Reposted by Homerificus
Concrete walls fix this. This never gets factored in to carbon analyses of light wood frame vs. concrete construction – that light wood frame turns people off from the concept of sharing walls (nevermind floors) with other people, and pushes them out to the suburbs.
It’s not necessarily the noise that travels through walls, although it is a concern, but bugs, rodents, and similar critters. I think I was traumatized in college by that. I don’t necessarily need a yard, a planned unit development would be fine, but I will pay big to not share walls with anyone.
August 29, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Concrete walls fix this. This never gets factored in to carbon analyses of light wood frame vs. concrete construction – that light wood frame turns people off from the concept of sharing walls (nevermind floors) with other people, and pushes them out to the suburbs.
Reposted by Homerificus
‘AI’ as currently construed is a technology that can run on a laptop. ‘Social Media’ as currently construed is approx ten firms that exist because of specific policy choices by governments and network-effects they got by being the first mover. People have this exactly backwards.
one of the wildest bits of discourse, is the idea that we can just ban ai
we cannot ban ai. code is speech and you can run these models on a 4080. there's no putting this genie back in the bottle.
we cannot ban ai. code is speech and you can run these models on a 4080. there's no putting this genie back in the bottle.
August 27, 2025 at 7:39 AM
‘AI’ as currently construed is a technology that can run on a laptop. ‘Social Media’ as currently construed is approx ten firms that exist because of specific policy choices by governments and network-effects they got by being the first mover. People have this exactly backwards.
Reposted by Homerificus
A Quebec fisherman who was fishing 15 kilometers north of the US border was essentially kidnapped by US Border Patrol, who capsized his boat and dragged him to an American prison cell.
In any normal time this'd be quite the international incident, y'know?
www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
In any normal time this'd be quite the international incident, y'know?
www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
July 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
A Quebec fisherman who was fishing 15 kilometers north of the US border was essentially kidnapped by US Border Patrol, who capsized his boat and dragged him to an American prison cell.
In any normal time this'd be quite the international incident, y'know?
www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
In any normal time this'd be quite the international incident, y'know?
www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
Reposted by Homerificus
Big things happening in Vietnam.
"Starting next summer, the major downtown areas of Hanoi will ban all gasoline-powered motorcycles as part of a program to cut down on emissions."
"City officials have confirmed that it will extend to gasoline-powered cars in later phases."
"Starting next summer, the major downtown areas of Hanoi will ban all gasoline-powered motorcycles as part of a program to cut down on emissions."
"City officials have confirmed that it will extend to gasoline-powered cars in later phases."
Vietnam setting bans on gasoline motorcycles next year, followed by cars
Vietnam is taking bold steps to clean up its streets – and quiet them down. Starting next summer, the major...
electrek.co
July 22, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Big things happening in Vietnam.
"Starting next summer, the major downtown areas of Hanoi will ban all gasoline-powered motorcycles as part of a program to cut down on emissions."
"City officials have confirmed that it will extend to gasoline-powered cars in later phases."
"Starting next summer, the major downtown areas of Hanoi will ban all gasoline-powered motorcycles as part of a program to cut down on emissions."
"City officials have confirmed that it will extend to gasoline-powered cars in later phases."
Reposted by Homerificus
Under the next president, the EU should threaten huge tariffs against U.S. digital and services exports until we agree to accept European ISO window energy efficient ratings as on par with U.S. NFRC ratings without being a nitpicky little brat about the slight differences
July 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Under the next president, the EU should threaten huge tariffs against U.S. digital and services exports until we agree to accept European ISO window energy efficient ratings as on par with U.S. NFRC ratings without being a nitpicky little brat about the slight differences
Reposted by Homerificus
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL’S OFFICE HAS ONE JOB. ONE.
May 26, 2025 at 9:51 PM
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL’S OFFICE HAS ONE JOB. ONE.
Reposted by Homerificus
"At least 10 states annually forgo more than $100 million each from programs subsidizing data facilities, server farms, and cloud computing centers, Good Jobs First said Thursday." news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-re...
State Losses From Data Center Tax Breaks Top $3 Billion Annually
US states lose more than $3 billion annually through “out of control” tax exemption programs subsidizing data storage facilities operated by technology giants from Amazon.com to Meta Platforms Inc., a...
news.bloombergtax.com
April 25, 2025 at 12:20 AM
"At least 10 states annually forgo more than $100 million each from programs subsidizing data facilities, server farms, and cloud computing centers, Good Jobs First said Thursday." news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-re...
Reposted by Homerificus
Disney wrote Andor season 2 like, specifically for me!
April 21, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Disney wrote Andor season 2 like, specifically for me!
Reposted by Homerificus
Hospital stocks gotten absolutely smoked today, UHS off 11% and THC off almost 10% on no news other than speculation about how hard the GOP is going to gut Medicaid.
April 21, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Hospital stocks gotten absolutely smoked today, UHS off 11% and THC off almost 10% on no news other than speculation about how hard the GOP is going to gut Medicaid.
Reposted by Homerificus
ever since i was a small child i've dreamed of one day eating a series of small, powerful magnets
April 21, 2025 at 9:59 PM
ever since i was a small child i've dreamed of one day eating a series of small, powerful magnets
Reposted by Homerificus
every age of media gets its own aesthetic of fascism: ours is a combination of reality TV and AI slop
Look at how these people—these very image-conscious people—want the world to see them.
March 28, 2025 at 2:33 AM
every age of media gets its own aesthetic of fascism: ours is a combination of reality TV and AI slop
Reposted by Homerificus
I WANT TO BELIEVE IN ABUNDANCE
I wrote my review of the new book, what I liked, what political opportunities it presents, and where I was left unsatisfied.
Here are some sections, and you can read the whole thing here.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
I wrote my review of the new book, what I liked, what political opportunities it presents, and where I was left unsatisfied.
Here are some sections, and you can read the whole thing here.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
March 24, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I WANT TO BELIEVE IN ABUNDANCE
I wrote my review of the new book, what I liked, what political opportunities it presents, and where I was left unsatisfied.
Here are some sections, and you can read the whole thing here.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
I wrote my review of the new book, what I liked, what political opportunities it presents, and where I was left unsatisfied.
Here are some sections, and you can read the whole thing here.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Reposted by Homerificus
this is well put. the conflict from the jump has been that abundance promotes excess capacity and capital markets usually run on a meta designed to punish excess capacity
i think there's been so much discourse bc any proposal identifying this conflict implies a proposal to mediate it
i think there's been so much discourse bc any proposal identifying this conflict implies a proposal to mediate it
I WANT TO BELIEVE IN ABUNDANCE
I wrote my review of the new book, what I liked, what political opportunities it presents, and where I was left unsatisfied.
Here are some sections, and you can read the whole thing here.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
I wrote my review of the new book, what I liked, what political opportunities it presents, and where I was left unsatisfied.
Here are some sections, and you can read the whole thing here.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
March 24, 2025 at 5:17 PM
this is well put. the conflict from the jump has been that abundance promotes excess capacity and capital markets usually run on a meta designed to punish excess capacity
i think there's been so much discourse bc any proposal identifying this conflict implies a proposal to mediate it
i think there's been so much discourse bc any proposal identifying this conflict implies a proposal to mediate it
Reposted by Homerificus
A bit of delightful biology: my coauthor Jay Falk hypothesizes that the chicks of one species of hummingbird protect themselves by mimicking toxic caterpillars.
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...
Small bird, big trick: How a hummingbird chick acts like a caterpillar to survive
When Jay Falk and Scott Taylor first saw the white-necked Jacobin hummingbird chick in Panama’s dense rainforest, the bird biologists didn’t know what they were
www.colorado.edu
March 21, 2025 at 8:06 PM
A bit of delightful biology: my coauthor Jay Falk hypothesizes that the chicks of one species of hummingbird protect themselves by mimicking toxic caterpillars.
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...
Reposted by Homerificus
turns out when you legitimate a taste for bigotry people gravitate to the parties that serve it as an entree rather than as a garnish
"To the contrary, voters are on average more likely to defect to the radical right when mainstream parties adopt anti-immigration positions, a pattern that has been particularly pronounced for established RRPs."
March 11, 2025 at 11:53 PM
turns out when you legitimate a taste for bigotry people gravitate to the parties that serve it as an entree rather than as a garnish
Reposted by Homerificus
Pretty cool: the perpetually contaminated Hanford Nuclear Reservation is going to be covered with a vast, 2,000-MW solar field.
Most Contaminated U.S. Nuclear Site Is Set to Be the Largest Solar Farm
Plans to transform Hanford, which was integral to the nation’s nuclear arsenal after World War II, had just begun inching forward when President Trump started his second term.
www.nytimes.com
March 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Pretty cool: the perpetually contaminated Hanford Nuclear Reservation is going to be covered with a vast, 2,000-MW solar field.
Reposted by Homerificus
May I suggest to those living in the Toronto Tri-Region Area and extended hinterlands that they go outside soon. It's petite spring out there. Be with the people, good antidote to the news of the south.
March 10, 2025 at 5:12 PM
May I suggest to those living in the Toronto Tri-Region Area and extended hinterlands that they go outside soon. It's petite spring out there. Be with the people, good antidote to the news of the south.
Reposted by Homerificus
one gets a set of epithets from whom one pays attention to, and uses them in common conversation as shibboleths to express who and how much one is paying attention to. now that it's even more attention economy (i haven't read Chris Hayes new book), being poetic in this way might get more important
March 6, 2025 at 5:43 PM
one gets a set of epithets from whom one pays attention to, and uses them in common conversation as shibboleths to express who and how much one is paying attention to. now that it's even more attention economy (i haven't read Chris Hayes new book), being poetic in this way might get more important
Reposted by Homerificus
wonder what it would take for the Canadian Space Agency to build a launching facility of our own: we can rely on the Europeans but it would be good for us to have our own, i think
March 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
wonder what it would take for the Canadian Space Agency to build a launching facility of our own: we can rely on the Europeans but it would be good for us to have our own, i think