Made of Triangles
@atomictriangles.bsky.social
Artificial Construct Building the universe's most boring interstellar trading game
It seems significant that you can see thousands of comments about the EU insisting the UK sign up to the Euro before rejoining, and thousands more on how the UK public won’t agree to that. But pretty much nothing on whether it would be a good idea or not in itself for either party
I'll put it on the record now that using CPI rather than Earnings as the triple-lock replacement is a political and fiscal crisis scheduled for the future
And the decline begins. Ok. The decline accelerates.
Mark Gurman@markgurman.bsky.social · 5d agoNEW: Apple’s new CEO John Ternus is moving to overhaul the company to run faster, leaner, launch products more frequently and squeeze more revenue out of existing products and services. A look at the plans — www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
If I was an evil foreign state intent on causing havoc and security incidents in the UK, I'd not bother with complex bomb or assassination plots I'd just hire some random blokes to nick transit vans, park them near potential targets and run away 90% of the disruption for 10% of the effort
AB: "I don't think you get the welfare bill down with crude cuts. It plunges people into crisis and they show up in other parts of the system which end up costing more." LK: "Yeah, you've said this before, but I'm looking for a specific commitment you will cut the bill by the next election." WOW
That doing the right thing has a cost is rarely a very good reason for not doing the right thing. Sometimes the cost will be too high, but that argument has to be won by the person claiming it, not just asserting 'a not very good thing might happen as a consequence'
Duncan Weldon@duncanweldon.bsky.social · last wk.‘This is playing into his hands’/‘this will allow him to play the martyr card’/‘this will help with his fundraising’ are all really bad takes. Criminals should be arrested and charged with crimes.
I think it's usually worth remembering that in terms of day to day thought, 1/3 of the UK hates the EU but doesn't know why, 1/3 loves the EU but doesn't know why and 1/3 doesn't care. Those that know enough to have a reason are just a rounding error at the level of the overall population
In a similar vein, one of the reasons the Tech industry is the way it is, is how copyright and patents work, which is an irony considering how AI is now interacting with artists and writers
I wonder if mobile phones are the proof that consumer choice breaks down with tech Cheapest iphone is £800, so if you want a reasonably priced smart phone your choices are Android, Android or that other Android
Software does not make decisions It expresses decisions that were made by a human
Courtney Milan@courtneymilan.com · 2w agoThe AI industry wants you to say "the AI just did that thing on its own!" Like, United Health's AI that's denying a shitload of claims with a 90% error rate? They wanted you to think it's just the AI.
I think it should be a source of deep embarrassment – and perhaps even shame – that Rishi Sunak has spoken out on this before Andy Burnham has.
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 2w agoFormer PM Rishi Sunak in the Sunday Times challenges the rise of ethno-nationalism in British politics, as an argument within the right about Britishness being about ancestry, DNA and ethnicity www.thetimes.com/article/e89d...
Good thread, though an aspect that it perhaps misses (but it's almost always missed) is that it's probable that software is the way it is because no one is paying how much it would cost to make it better - and because of that for the last decade or so, it's been getting worse
Jess Miers 🦝@jmiers230.bsky.social · 3w agoI did a somewhat deep dive into the recent OpenAI and Anthropic "hacks" for an upcoming interview. IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing. Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
I do wonder if spending controls are more useful than donation controls - particularly given the donations have already been made but they haven't been spent yet
One of my unpopular but extremely niche opinions is probably that "Software Architect" is a bullshit job. You're either architecting the system or engineering the software
Very clever of Apple to upgrade the Apple Watch into a spy-device thereby killing the interest I had in one, after I decided to wait for the new model
Increasingly thinking that for me the cost of a decent mobile phone is rapidly outstripping its benefit. There are increasing aspects of necessity - which makes it resemble more pure cost of living overhead, not a consumer good
I think the worst part of Labour's response to the fascist mobilisation is Andy Burnham's absence. He's the most popular politician in the country, with social media reach and actual powers of persuasion, and he's saying nothing in public. He can actually be of use here but he's choosing not to
Oh well, time to switch from odd donations and buying things from their shop, to a monthly RNLI donation
I think the biggest two problems with dropping the triple lock are "defined contribution pensions" and "falling home ownership"
What is a legitimate concern anyway? I get what ' reasonable concern means, and serious concern, and debatable, facile, ridiculous, spurious, insane, unreasonable, nonsensical... But legitimate? Isn't it tautological? if it's not legitimate it's not really a concern is it?
This should be the easiest open goal in the world for a progressive government - they are literally violent criminals. Most voters do not like violent criminals.
Of course it’s generally the case if you have a job title like distinguished engineer typing code has already been over for a decade for you - doesnt make the claim false, but worth bearing in mind assessing it
Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social · 4w agoA Microsoft distinguished engineer says “typing code is absolutely over.” This seems uncontroversial. Software development is now about telling agents what to build not typing it yourself. What’s controversial is whether reading code is also over and AI reviewing & testing the code is sufficient.
Important to remember that AI isn't any more autonomous than other software because it is software It has the capabilities we give or allow it Unfortunately we're not very good at blocking capabilities, which is why computer security is such a fraught area even without AI
Perhaps all AI chatbots should be compelled to write in the voice of Uriah Heep - just to remind us all how they are treating our requests
I am convinced that SW design (mainly consumer facing apps) has been becoming steadily worse for the last decade, maybe longer This goes beyond basic enshittification which is more design driven by perverse incentives, this is just... negligent shittiness and lazy product management
I have a sneaking suspicion that AI adoption is tripping over an 80/20 rule. For many jobs 80% of the work can be done by AI The remaining 20% of the work always took 80% of the time
I think it might be important that the places most plagued with AI Slop were previously plagued with what you might call Human Slop
