Columbia City

@yishan I read this many years ago. I had little of the context we have today. Dense with ideas and world-building, it blew my mind like few other books have. For me, the first book was the best. I don't know why it isn't talked about more. I look forward to a re-read.

If you want a piece of sci-fi that is remarkably well-suited to extrapolating from the present day experience of AI and tech culture, I highly recommend (again) The Golden Age, by John C. Wright. The way people and society relate to ASI agents (and sub-agents, spawned to accomplish smaller tasks or self-hosted intelligences designed to be transmitted long distances to represent their principals), the interplay between commerce and politics, even cancelation, and the internet analog of the future - it made for a great book a decade ago, but it feels VERY much like how things are becoming today. It's one of the pieces of modern sci-fi that is aging extremely well.

@VedantRajKabra @emollick I'm sorry, a software engineer is not "most of us."

The AI labs have actually done a bad job explaining what the future they are building towards will actually look like for most of us. Even “Machines of Loving Grace” has very few well-articulated visions of what Anthropic hopes life will be like if they succeed at their goals.

@thisweekinai_ @AndrewCurran_ S.L.O. P.

Mythos is a new tier, bigger than Opus, and more capable. It will be beyond the current state of the art by a wide margin, a dramatic jump in intelligence. Things have been accelerating under the surface since December. Capabilities are increasing faster, the time between model releases is getting shorter. I think OpenAI's recent decisions and refocus have been driven by the fact that it is increasingly obvious to some people working in the industry that we are beginning to take off. I think there have been multiple unannounced breakthroughs over the last few months, in more than one lab. I think there have been advances in capabilities, in alignment, and in architecture. The loop that started in December has begun to bear fruit. This model will be huge, very expensive to serve, and incredibly powerful. It has already finished training, and is in early rollout to some enterprise partners so they can prepare for what's about to arrive. Once we get benchmarks I think it will become clearer where we are; we are already inside the singularity.

@roguecaliber Whitehack 4e

What is your go to OSR system?

@roguecaliber The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson came out the same year as The Fellowship of the Ring, 1954. The Broken Sword is taut and gripping.

Apart from novels by Tolkien and Howard what are your favorite fantasy novels?

@Stretchedwiener These are likely employees of Origin Systems located in Austin, TX. They have just taken delivery of their newest videogame, Caverns of Callisto. It's for the Apple II microcomputer. The year is 1983.

@columbiacity JC Penneys? In the 80s? Sorry Richard.

When you hire a 12 year old wearing a fake mustache he bought out of a comic book. I will follow anyone who can explain this photo.

A few thoughts from the conversations I’ve been having and hearing over the last week: The hard question isn’t the 2 points that would’ve decided the election. It’s how to build a Democratic Party that isn’t always 2 points away from losing to Donald Trump — or worse. The Democratic Party is supposed to represent the working class. If it isn’t doing that, it is failing. That’s true even even if it can still win elections. Democrats don’t need to build a new informational ecosystem. Dems need to show up in the informational ecosystems that already exist. They need to be natural and enthusiastic participants in these cultures. Harris should’ve gone on Rogan, but the damage here was done over years and wouldn’t have been reversed in one October appearance. Building a media ecosystem isn’t something you do through nonprofit grants or rich donors (remember Air America?). Joe Rogan and Theo Von aren’t a Koch-funded psy-op. What makes these spaces matter is that they aren’t built on politics. (Democrats already win voters who pay close attention to politics.) That there’s more affinity between Democrats and the Cheneys than Democrats and the Rogans and Theo Vons of the world says a lot. Economic populism is not just about making your economic policy more and more redistributive. People care about fairness. They admire success. People have economic identities in addition to material needs. Trump — and in a different way, Musk — understand the identity side of this. What they share isn’t that they are rich and successful, it’s that they made themselves into the public’s idea of what it means to be rich and successful. Policy matters, but it has to be real to the candidate. Policy is a way candidates tell voters who they are. But people can tell what politicians really care about and what they’re mouthing because it polls well. Governing matters. If housing is more affordable, and homelessness far less of a crisis, in Texas and Florida than California and New York, that’s a *huge* problem. If people are leaving California and New York for Texas and Florida, that’s a *huge* problem. Democrats need to take seriously how much scarcity harms them. Housing scarcity became a core Trump-Vance argument against immigrants. Too little clean energy becomes the argument for rapidly building out more fossil fuels. A successful liberalism needs to believe in *and deliver* abundance of the things people need most. That Democrats aren’t trusted on the cost of living harmed them much more than any ad. If Dems want to “Sister Soulja” some part of their coalition, start with the parts that have made it so much more expensive to build and live where Democrats govern. More than a “Sister Soulja” moment, Democrats need to rebuild a culture of saying no inside their own coalition. Democrats don’t just have to move right or left. They need to better reflect the texture of worlds they’ve lost touch with and those worlds are complex and contradictory. The most important question in politics isn’t whether a politician is well liked. It’s whether voters think a politician — or a political coalition — likes them.

I’ve hesitated to say this at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, but with last week’s big GDP revisions, there is no denying it: This is among the best performing economies in my 35+ years as an economist. Economic growth is rip-roaring, with real GDP up 3% over the past year. Unemployment is low at near 4%, consistent with full employment. Inflation is fast closing in on Fed’s 2% target - grocery prices, rents and gas prices are flat to down over the past more than a year. Households’ financial obligations are light, and set to get lighter with the Fed cutting rates. House prices have never been higher, and most homeowners have more equity in their homes than ever. Corporate profits are robust, and the stock market is hitting a record high on a seemingly daily basis. Of course there are blemishes, as lower-income households are struggling financially, there is a severe shortage of affordable homes, and the government is running large budget deficits. And things could change quickly. There are plenty of threats. But in my time as an economist, the economy has rarely looked better.

Public transit is my favorite 3rd place in Seattle. I’ve made 1000 friends on it. When I’m sad about the world, I go on transit to make small talk, eavesdrop on funny conversations, see hot ppl, smile at babies, and feel happy. I feel so sorry for people who don’t know this joy

@JamesFallows Some very rural parts of Vietnam. I remember seeing a couple of signs as our mini-van crossed the countryside in the 90s.

@the_transit_guy What's the crime?

@WADeptHealth um x.com/KSeattleWeathe…

When you think about health risks from high temperatures, you usually don’t think about mental health. But heat does affect our emotions and our ability to think clearly. Read more in our latest blog post: wadoh.info/3X3Rany

@DJClicheDarknes @JamesUrbaniak Same!

@JamesUrbaniak I'm a giant bladerunner fan. I think of this scene a lot. This post just absolutely made my day! lolol

@alrodz @JamesUrbaniak lmao

@BrynnTannehill In my village the minimum wage for restaurant workers is $17.25 and will soon be higher. As tipped wages reach parity, do I need to continue tipping servers? If so, should I tip for counter service or just for seated service? Should I add a tip for take out? Thanks.

@torchnpitchf0rk @umichvoter Brother, think for a minute who the audience for this TikTok is. Think for just a minute.

🚨 WE HAVE A NEW EDIT

@AnnieAndrewsMD In case you don't already have them, here are the coordinates : 11°22.4′N 142°35.5′E

The party that elevates Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 yr old killer, & tears down Gus Walz, a 17 yr old with special needs who loves his dad, is a party that needs to be lit on fire & thrown in the dumpster & plunged into the deepest depths of the ocean never to be seen again.

@WajahatAli You were a decent ride for awhile. Ciao.

I've lost a lot of followers and subscribers this week and that's perfectly fine. I will never treat politicians as emperors, kings or queens. I'll always criticize to push them to do better. People jump on, they jump off, it's all part of the ride. All good. Hope to see you again down the line.

@marcthiessen @kevinroberts @Heritage .@marcthiessen, the term of art in the comics is "monologuing." Didn't you know? The villains just can't help themselves.

No think tank president has ever given the left more ammunition than @kevinroberts. His catastrophic leadership of @Heritage could cost Republicans the White House.