megabase
@the-megabase.bsky.social
genetics guy, scientific integrity zealot, information enthusiast. flippantly earnest, cheerfully cynical
waow. i am certainly impressed by the rich materials and shimmering surfaces here
May 15, 2025 at 11:28 AM
waow. i am certainly impressed by the rich materials and shimmering surfaces here
another points out that bronze could not be painted, and that "chryselephantine" statues of ivory and gold were not especially lifelike in color - so (my reading) the ancients *did* create and appreciate form-first sculpture similar to the plain white marble works we grew to love in the renaissance
May 15, 2025 at 11:26 AM
another points out that bronze could not be painted, and that "chryselephantine" statues of ivory and gold were not especially lifelike in color - so (my reading) the ancients *did* create and appreciate form-first sculpture similar to the plain white marble works we grew to love in the renaissance
reasonably good askhistorians thread on this: www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
one explanation for reconstructions being flat: conservators being conservative
one explanation for reconstructions being flat: conservators being conservative
May 15, 2025 at 11:22 AM
reasonably good askhistorians thread on this: www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
one explanation for reconstructions being flat: conservators being conservative
one explanation for reconstructions being flat: conservators being conservative
cannot get over how goofy the "true-color" reconstructions of greek and roman marble statues look
am i really expected to believe that the sculptors achieved such mastery of form but the painters never progressed beyond slathering lumpy block-color paste over it all
am i really expected to believe that the sculptors achieved such mastery of form but the painters never progressed beyond slathering lumpy block-color paste over it all
May 15, 2025 at 11:08 AM
cannot get over how goofy the "true-color" reconstructions of greek and roman marble statues look
am i really expected to believe that the sculptors achieved such mastery of form but the painters never progressed beyond slathering lumpy block-color paste over it all
am i really expected to believe that the sculptors achieved such mastery of form but the painters never progressed beyond slathering lumpy block-color paste over it all
- siddis in pakistan and india. largely of east african descent and number over 1 million. brought by arab slave traders
(have another ~20 groups to add to this thread at a later date...)
(have another ~20 groups to add to this thread at a later date...)
May 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
- siddis in pakistan and india. largely of east african descent and number over 1 million. brought by arab slave traders
(have another ~20 groups to add to this thread at a later date...)
(have another ~20 groups to add to this thread at a later date...)
descendants of the "zanj" slave trade in east africa:
- afro-iraqis, afro-turks, afro-abkhazians. owe their present location to arab and ottoman slave traders. zanj rebellion of 869-883 AD in iraq involved probably 100k's of slaves
- afro-iraqis, afro-turks, afro-abkhazians. owe their present location to arab and ottoman slave traders. zanj rebellion of 869-883 AD in iraq involved probably 100k's of slaves
May 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
descendants of the "zanj" slave trade in east africa:
- afro-iraqis, afro-turks, afro-abkhazians. owe their present location to arab and ottoman slave traders. zanj rebellion of 869-883 AD in iraq involved probably 100k's of slaves
- afro-iraqis, afro-turks, afro-abkhazians. owe their present location to arab and ottoman slave traders. zanj rebellion of 869-883 AD in iraq involved probably 100k's of slaves
- swedish speakers in gammalsvenskby, ukraine. sweden -> (finland?) -> estonia -> se ukraine. may have been in estonia since 1300; in 1750 voluntarily settled land recently conquered from ottomans. some swedish speakers still remain. apparently kept alive ancient traditions like runic writing
May 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
- swedish speakers in gammalsvenskby, ukraine. sweden -> (finland?) -> estonia -> se ukraine. may have been in estonia since 1300; in 1750 voluntarily settled land recently conquered from ottomans. some swedish speakers still remain. apparently kept alive ancient traditions like runic writing
moving away from stalin-era resettlements, but staying in russia:
- russian mennonites. netherlands/north germany anabaptists -> ne poland -> west-to-central russia -> wide dispersal, including belize, bolivia; about half now "back" in germany. (some also affected by stalin-era resettlements)
- russian mennonites. netherlands/north germany anabaptists -> ne poland -> west-to-central russia -> wide dispersal, including belize, bolivia; about half now "back" in germany. (some also affected by stalin-era resettlements)
May 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
moving away from stalin-era resettlements, but staying in russia:
- russian mennonites. netherlands/north germany anabaptists -> ne poland -> west-to-central russia -> wide dispersal, including belize, bolivia; about half now "back" in germany. (some also affected by stalin-era resettlements)
- russian mennonites. netherlands/north germany anabaptists -> ne poland -> west-to-central russia -> wide dispersal, including belize, bolivia; about half now "back" in germany. (some also affected by stalin-era resettlements)
- "jewish autonomous oblast" in far east siberia. at its short-lived peak, 25% of population was jewish; now only 800 remain. only officially jewish administrative unit aside from israel.
May 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
- "jewish autonomous oblast" in far east siberia. at its short-lived peak, 25% of population was jewish; now only 800 remain. only officially jewish administrative unit aside from israel.
thread of surprising diaspora communities
starting with some who owe their origin to stalin-era resettlement:
- (volga) germans of kazakhstan. peaked at 1 million just before fall of berlin wall, largely migrated to germany
- koreans in central asia, originally far east russia. around 500k today
starting with some who owe their origin to stalin-era resettlement:
- (volga) germans of kazakhstan. peaked at 1 million just before fall of berlin wall, largely migrated to germany
- koreans in central asia, originally far east russia. around 500k today
May 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
thread of surprising diaspora communities
starting with some who owe their origin to stalin-era resettlement:
- (volga) germans of kazakhstan. peaked at 1 million just before fall of berlin wall, largely migrated to germany
- koreans in central asia, originally far east russia. around 500k today
starting with some who owe their origin to stalin-era resettlement:
- (volga) germans of kazakhstan. peaked at 1 million just before fall of berlin wall, largely migrated to germany
- koreans in central asia, originally far east russia. around 500k today
another funny thing is that o3 gives a pretty plausible account of why it failed at this task, some (probably accurate) pointers on how to prompt it better, and the kinds of changes future models would need to improve
May 13, 2025 at 2:06 PM
another funny thing is that o3 gives a pretty plausible account of why it failed at this task, some (probably accurate) pointers on how to prompt it better, and the kinds of changes future models would need to improve
during this ordeal, o3 gaslit me with the following image. left is a bastardized version of a sketch i sent it with the "problematic rise" circled, right is the proposed fix. come on man!
May 13, 2025 at 1:58 PM
during this ordeal, o3 gaslit me with the following image. left is a bastardized version of a sketch i sent it with the "problematic rise" circled, right is the proposed fix. come on man!
- *one* subject
- who massively under-reported her sleep
- only looked at exome variants
this genuinely is like if i had written a particularly mean-spirited parody of this genre of paper. mind-boggling
- who massively under-reported her sleep
- only looked at exome variants
this genuinely is like if i had written a particularly mean-spirited parody of this genre of paper. mind-boggling
May 8, 2025 at 12:07 PM
- *one* subject
- who massively under-reported her sleep
- only looked at exome variants
this genuinely is like if i had written a particularly mean-spirited parody of this genre of paper. mind-boggling
- who massively under-reported her sleep
- only looked at exome variants
this genuinely is like if i had written a particularly mean-spirited parody of this genre of paper. mind-boggling
reminds me of attached
nearly everybody is just reading off a social script. few people are willing to look weird even when the only observer is themselves. which by and large is a good thing, but maybe the world could do with more altruistically minded unilateralists on the margin
nearly everybody is just reading off a social script. few people are willing to look weird even when the only observer is themselves. which by and large is a good thing, but maybe the world could do with more altruistically minded unilateralists on the margin
May 8, 2025 at 11:58 AM
reminds me of attached
nearly everybody is just reading off a social script. few people are willing to look weird even when the only observer is themselves. which by and large is a good thing, but maybe the world could do with more altruistically minded unilateralists on the margin
nearly everybody is just reading off a social script. few people are willing to look weird even when the only observer is themselves. which by and large is a good thing, but maybe the world could do with more altruistically minded unilateralists on the margin
the greater honeyguide doesn't just lead humans to beehives so it can feed on the post-harvest scraps - it's a ruthless brood parasite to boot. has to be one of the most devious bird species going.
May 7, 2025 at 10:59 PM
the greater honeyguide doesn't just lead humans to beehives so it can feed on the post-harvest scraps - it's a ruthless brood parasite to boot. has to be one of the most devious bird species going.
The De-Enlightenment was a political and social phenomenon of the early 21st century centered around anti-elitism and a return to pre-modern modes of thinking.
May 2, 2025 at 8:21 PM
The De-Enlightenment was a political and social phenomenon of the early 21st century centered around anti-elitism and a return to pre-modern modes of thinking.
took this for a quick spin (n=7). qwen 3 and deepseek r1 give inflated ratings to all poems (average ~7/10) and from the elaborations in the output + CoT seem pretty bad at poem-rating. maybe some other format of writing would be better.
April 30, 2025 at 4:00 PM
took this for a quick spin (n=7). qwen 3 and deepseek r1 give inflated ratings to all poems (average ~7/10) and from the elaborations in the output + CoT seem pretty bad at poem-rating. maybe some other format of writing would be better.
4o refused to generate the image when the prompt specified that he was "engorged and laying thousands of eggs"
April 30, 2025 at 12:25 AM
4o refused to generate the image when the prompt specified that he was "engorged and laying thousands of eggs"
(to the rhythm of "developers, developers"): "FORMICIDAE FORMICIDAE, FORMICIDAE, FORMICIDAE!"
April 30, 2025 at 12:11 AM
(to the rhythm of "developers, developers"): "FORMICIDAE FORMICIDAE, FORMICIDAE, FORMICIDAE!"
donald trump if you can hear us, please donald trump, please save me, please save me donald trump, please i'm asking you, please save me
April 29, 2025 at 4:48 PM
donald trump if you can hear us, please donald trump, please save me, please save me donald trump, please i'm asking you, please save me
someone who sat next to the_megabase at a bus stop recalls watching with awe as he spent nine minutes typing a ten-word reply before losing his nerve and deleting it
April 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
someone who sat next to the_megabase at a bus stop recalls watching with awe as he spent nine minutes typing a ten-word reply before losing his nerve and deleting it
yglesias thinks andreesen is cool? useful in this kind of case to spend a few seconds doing things like searching "from:mattyglesias andreesen" on xitter before rushing to vibe-based assumptions about people you dislike.
April 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM
yglesias thinks andreesen is cool? useful in this kind of case to spend a few seconds doing things like searching "from:mattyglesias andreesen" on xitter before rushing to vibe-based assumptions about people you dislike.
i guess there's a few things: probably subscribes to hanson-style signaling beliefs (people lie to themselves/others a lot); relatedly, probably has sympathy for idea that "woke mind viruses" take over (left-wing female) brains; doesn't want to admit his extreme bodybuilding identity has downsides
April 26, 2025 at 2:38 PM
i guess there's a few things: probably subscribes to hanson-style signaling beliefs (people lie to themselves/others a lot); relatedly, probably has sympathy for idea that "woke mind viruses" take over (left-wing female) brains; doesn't want to admit his extreme bodybuilding identity has downsides
i love how the web shows me such a marvelous diversity of minds. take michael druggan: world-class mathematician (putnam top 10), well-calibrated bettor; hugely roided out bodybuilder, trump voter, constantly arguing that women who dislike gym rat physiques are lying. very unexpected "type of guy"
April 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
i love how the web shows me such a marvelous diversity of minds. take michael druggan: world-class mathematician (putnam top 10), well-calibrated bettor; hugely roided out bodybuilder, trump voter, constantly arguing that women who dislike gym rat physiques are lying. very unexpected "type of guy"
i suspect that you are not very familiar with scott's writing. a major reason for his mass appeal is that he writes breezily with a light joke every 200 words. when tricky concepts arise they are typically spoonfed to the reader pop-sci style. his most recent post is written at an 8-9th grade level:
April 17, 2025 at 11:25 AM
i suspect that you are not very familiar with scott's writing. a major reason for his mass appeal is that he writes breezily with a light joke every 200 words. when tricky concepts arise they are typically spoonfed to the reader pop-sci style. his most recent post is written at an 8-9th grade level: