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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: November 2nd, 2023

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  • One of the articles linked by this one goes into detail how automation has impacted union workers at ports.

    An estimated 572 full-time jobs at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were lost in 2020 and 2021 to automation. Meanwhile, profits for the global shipping industry soared during the pandemic to over $190 billion in 2021, as the rate to ship a 40-foot container increased from less than $2,000 in 2019 to as much as $20,000 in 2021

    The union is demanding that “no automated or semi-automated” systems be introduced. This will be an interesting strike to watch out for.


  • Unfortunately this is a product not many care for nor know about, and I had a personal working relationship with this vendor, so even if it were “leaked anonymously” they could point back at me and make things a living hell.

    At this point it’s been almost five years. They made their stance known. The exploit isn’t one that can be done completely remote without some internal knowledge to the setup of the equipment. It’s old news and they’re better off fading away in obscurity. I just won’t bother to try helping them make their products better and more secure.



  • Was it rude? I was genuinely curious as I could see a myriad of valid reasons why the introduction or use of these drones are worrisome. I myself am torn over certain aspects of their use and design that drives me to wonder whether or not they may inflict unnecessary suffering. I cannot argue against their efficiency (nor their need), and I believe that Ukraine has every right to defend itself and repel Russia as an invading force, but they brought up a valid point about what the future could hold in using this technology for warfare. I just wanted to understand them, personally, and the reservations that drove their stance on it.



  • I don’t disagree with your argument, but I am curious. Where does your difficulty with the video primarily reside at?

    • The ability to delay the explosion to guarantee success (intelligent/controllable)?
    • The low-yield explosion, somewhere between hand-grenade and 40mm, which may be more likely to maim than kill on impact?
    • The low cost and ease of operation which threatens uncovered infantry?

    I can’t imagine the trauma of surviving an attack from one of these. The fear that something might fly in at any moment to chase you around to kill you would be more terrifying than being shot at. Maybe you could defend against it with a shotgun, but if the lower cost meant an adversary can send multiple at each soldier, then it becomes a game of numbers where the soldier is likely to be overwhelmed. Not a future I’d want to witness.






  • I was talking to a Tesla owner about this and they argued that if the window is electric then there’s no difference making the door electric. They couldn’t understand that the door itself can be operated independently of the rest of the vehicle.

    Making windows electric causes a safety tradeoff. You get ease of operation while losing the ability to open the window in the event of an accident (where power cannot be supplied). However you can still unlock and open the door manually as an alternative escape option. This also applies in non-accident scenarios (dead battery).

    Making doors electric is nothing more than a safety risk. From the inside you might have access to a manual release latch, but some doors require you to unscrew things first. Any emergency situation where you need to exit as soon as possible and the power is lost almost guarantees that you’ll be unable to safely escape.





  • I’m worried about the security of this. However looking past that and simply observing it as an implementation of AI, this is an idea that I think is actually a beneficial use. Protecting the elderly against fraud/scams is a major issue which gets increasingly complex as scammers improve their methods. Using AI to detect scams in calls could be helpful in protecting the elderly.

    But before rolling it out, I would want to see proof of its efficiency through careful studies. Hell, incentivize Google to share the model with the government and other businesses so it can be improved upon. Fund it as a grant/program so smaller teams/companies can contribute and innovate.