andrewrgross

@andrewrgross@slrpnk.net

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why do seemingly all politicians (and no one else) do that hand gesture when they talk, the one where it looks like they're holding an invisible fishing rod?⁩ ⁨⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah. You kinda had to be there for it to make sense, but after Obama became president the right wing media went absolutely bonkers creating a five-alarm fire every day over any and everything. One of these was that one day he didn’t wear a standard boring white-guy suit in dark blue: en.wikipedia.org/…/Barack_Obama_tan_suit_controve…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why do seemingly all politicians (and no one else) do that hand gesture when they talk, the one where it looks like they're holding an invisible fishing rod?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  Oh that’s right!

  And now I’m remembering his scandalous tan suit!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why do seemingly all politicians (and no one else) do that hand gesture when they talk, the one where it looks like they're holding an invisible fishing rod?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah.

  Although I recently heard him on Marc Maron’s podcast, and was rather disappointed.

  He’s still far, far more lucid than most other politicians, but he came off as wildly out of touch, which I didn’t recall him being 10 years ago.

  Oh well, that’s the match of time for you.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Foggy Nelson was wrong in most of the arguments with Matt Murdock in Daredevil⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  This is an interesting observation, but I watched Daredevil like a decade ago and I’ve never seen Superman & Lois so I don’t really know what you’re talking about.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨OpenAI valued at $500B in new deal with Microsoft — too big to fail?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Deal removes constraint on OpenAI’s ability to raise capital

  I think they mean “raze”…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨how do you deal with those characters fully convinced a job is something you have to enjoy?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I think the question is easier to answer if you remove the specific reason this coworker is annoying.

  How do you deal with someone who bothers you with annoying, unwanted conversation about job satisfaction? The same way you deal with someone who bothers you with annoying, unwanted conversation about CrossFit or astrology. You answer every question with some version of ‘Huh, I don’t really know. I’m really busy, though, so I can’t talk. Have a good day.’

  The whole careerism element seems largely immaterial.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Luke Cage is way to overpowerd to be a "street level" hero⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t think his strength is within an order of magnitude of theirs. I don’t think his durability is either.

  Granted, I wouldn’t be surprised if you showed me a comic showing otherwise. There’s probably a comic where he goes inside a star or something stupid, because there are always those kinds of writers. But based on his typical portrayal, I think he’s more of a brush off a car crash and pick it up guy than a survive a nuke and crush coal into diamonds guy.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Luke Cage is way to overpowerd to be a "street level" hero⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  You know, sometimes when the Avengers announce a new inductee I’m like, ‘Really?! You think that’s a good strategic addition?? This feels more like a popularity contest!’

  Their choices kind of look to me more like a publisher’s idea of what will sell books & toys than a cooperative of gifted public servants. But I’m probably just being silly.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Sam Altman Says If Jobs Gets Wiped Out, Maybe They Weren’t Even “Real Work” to Start With⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Agreed. His comments are so bizarrely stupid on so many levels.

  They’re not just “wrong”: they’re half-right-half-wrong. And the half that is wrong is idiotic in the extreme, while the half that is right casually acknowledges a civilizational crisis like someone watching their neighbors screaming in a house fire while sipping a cup of coffee.

  Like this farmer analogy: the farmers were right! Their way of life and all that mattered to them was largely exterminated by these changes, and we’re living in their worst nightmare! And he even goes so far as acknowledging this, and acknowledging that we’ll likely experience the same thing. We’re all basically cart horses at the dawn of the automobile, and we might actually hate where this is going. But… It’ll probably be great.

  He just has a hunch that even though all evidence suggests that this will lead to the opposite of the greatest good for the greatest number of people, for some reason his brain can’t shake the sense that it’s going to be good anyway. I mean, it has to be, otherwise that would make him a monster! And that simply can’t be the case. So there you have it.

  It’ll be terrible great.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Sam Altman Says If Jobs Gets Wiped Out, Maybe They Weren’t Even “Real Work” to Start With⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  100%.

  Peter Frase deconstructed this in an article a decade ago (and subsequent book) “Four Futures”.

  It’s really not complicated. Saying 'the rich want to make us all obsolete and then kill us off ’ sounds paranoid and reactionary, but if you actually study these dynamics critically that’s a pretty good distillation of what they’d like to do, and they’re not really concealing it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Uh… @DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ?

  I think it sounds like you might be a danger to yourself.

  I don’t know your situation, but I just want to point out two things:

  1. The belief that those around a depressed person secretly don’t want them around or would appreciate them more when they’re gone is wildly untrue. It kind of sounds like your brain is trying to convince you of this, and you should know that your brain is almost certainly lying. Lots of people know folks who are depressed that we love very much and are grateful to have in our lives.

  2. People who survive suicide attempts consistently express regret and a sense of terror during the act that felt like someone else was trying to kill them.

  I know that during depression, negative thoughts can make a convincing case that you cannot expect anything to get better, but there are A LOT of people alive today who enjoy their lives who felt the same way at some time in the past. I hope that with support you can perhaps be one of these people.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Move Fast and Break Nothing | Waymo’s robotaxis are probably safer than ChatGPT.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I love buses too, but a van pool is materially different. Buses travel fixed routes. A van pool can act as a shared taxi that shuttles people directly between points of immediate departure, transit stations, and final destinations.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Move Fast and Break Nothing | Waymo’s robotaxis are probably safer than ChatGPT.⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This article is a little light on thesis, but legit.

  Personally, I’d like to tie a vision of autonomous vehicles to a broad rethinking of transit and public ownership. What if training data was shared, so instead of allowing Google to create another monopoly we deliberately cultivated a diverse market? What if we designed roads to accommodate autonomous van pools and also bikes and more light vehicles?

  We can dream better than this.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Jobs AI Is Replacing the Fastest⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Researchers following the adoption of AI predict around 92 million jobs are projected to disappear by 2030, even as roughly 170 million new roles are expected to emerge, McKinsey & Company has found.

  What in the fuck does this mean?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨95% of Companies See ‘Zero Return’ on $30 Billion Generative AI Spend, MIT Report Finds⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Return? /s

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Also: from a practical perspective, how on earth does one keep this a secret?

  ‘Alright sweetie. Dinner is on the counter. If you need anything Becca next door said to just knock. Promise me you won’t stay up to late, okay?’

  ‘Sure Mom. But where are you going?’

  ‘I’ve told you sweetie: don’t ask questions. Bye!’

  That makes no sense.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Most people tend to overestimate how universal their own experiences and reactions are.

  And to clarify, this applies to you AND to the people you’re disagreeing with (and myself as well!).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Good advice is context-aware. Is often about offering guidance to help someone assess their situation from a third-party view.

  For instance, if you asked me how to give good advice to a stranger I wouldn’t say “tell them to get more sleep and exercise”. I’d say to focus on helping them figure out what their goal is and what their options are. You see the difference?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Growing up, my mom owned a women’s lingerie store on the main commercial street in the heart of our neighborhood. My teachers and classmates bought their bras and panties from my mom, and everyone knew this. Obviously, this isn’t exactly the same as sex work, but I can tell you I was served well by the fact that I never grew up inheriting want awkwardness or discomfort.

  Live a truth you’re not ashamed of and share that truth with your kids at an age appropriate level. You don’t need to be graphic, but tell your kids you work at a club. Tell them you’re a stage performer. If they say, “do you strip?” You can say yes or you can say that stage performances are for an adult audience and you would rather not discuss the details. But of you acted ashamed, you’re giving your kid that shame. As a parent, one of the most important things is that we be the kind of people we want them to be. If you don’t want your kid to be brave/confident/proud/kind/patient/etc. you gotta try and live it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Do you mind me asking if you’re a parent or caregiver and if so what age you interact with?

  I think your take is pretty moderate and reasonable, but as a dad to a five year old I feel that trying to preserve a child’s “innocence” feels misaligned with trying to preserve lifelong hope and faith in goodness. I feel like preservation of innocence implies growing up is an inevitable process of disillusionment. Does that make sense?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  What’s your point, though?

  Do you think op is making up salacious posts for attention? Do you thick they’re overly sexual, and should curtail that?

  I’d like to know what you’re thinking specifically.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t believe you could really meaningfully deter their operations through casual poor performance. I think either you’d have to directly sabotage them or you’d have to be complicit.

  I do think everyone should flood their applications systems with time-wasting fake applications, but actually interviewing and getting hired is unlikely to be productive.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is wrong with being "Black Pilled"?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I want to set aside my skepticism that this philosophy can be separated from misogyny.

  Even if it could, it hurts the practitioner. This is a philosophy of nihilistic abandon and self-harm. If someone has adopted a radical belief in their own hopelessness and worthlessness, and the associated beliefs that life for them can hold nothing but suffering, that person is in crisis and needs help. There isn’t a healthy version of that, and we should consider those people at great risk and in need of assistance.

  It does hurt someone. It hurts the person who is adopting these views.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨‘The vehicle suddenly accelerated with our baby in it’: the terrifying truth about why Tesla’s cars keep crashing⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Also, not only do they rely on “just vision”, crucially they rely on real-time processing without any memory or persistent mapping.

  This, more than anything else is what bewilders me most.

  They could map an area, and when observing a construction hazard save that data and share it with other vehicles so they know when route setting or anticipate the object. Not they don’t. If it drives past a hazard and goes around the block it has to figure out how to navigate the hazard again with no familiarity. That’s so foolish.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨ICEBlock climbs to the top of the App Store charts after officials slam it⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This is a genuine concern that we should recognize.

  I’m about 99% confident it isn’t, but considering it is the kind of caution we should all be exercising these days.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Respectfully, this title gets under my skin.

  Why so doomer? He might veto it. It wouldn’t be surprising. But why are you declaring a loss prematurely?

  Don’t hope for things there’s no chance of. Fight to change the chances of things, and if you fail try and fight again and again until you win.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Germany Is Using AI to Erase Pro-Palestinian Speech⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This headline reads like 2025 news Mad-Libs:

  “<Proper noun> is using <Latest fad> to <Verb> <Ideological alignment adjective> <Conceptual noun>”

  Try it:

  “OpenAI is using Hydroflasks to destroy Catholic exceptionalism”

  “Mark Cuban is using cryptocurrency to monetize white supremacist hope”

  Good times./s

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Lara Croft games are the nightmare of any real archaeologist, biologist and paleontologist.⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Thanks, I think so too.

  I’m trying to expand on it a bit, because I think what’s still missing is a sense of stakes and grandeur.

  What if the backdrop is that Croft (or similar protagonist) is working with a team that is uncovering new and valuable discoveries that reveal the art and culture of ancient people that were largely absent from history. It’s showing that some earlier group had settled an ancient valley prior to the arrival of a group that is culturally significant to a current regime. And as they’re making these discoveries, it’s becoming increasingly contentious politically among some faschy nationalist government (a la Orban, Erdogan, etc.)

  Over time, they begin to face mounting pressure to secure the sites quickly before a rival team is sent in specifically with the goal of damaging them and stealing artifacts so that these finds aren’t able to be studied. And the protagonist, as the first person who the team relies on to safely document and preserve the site, is soon persued by a goon squad, allowing us some urban platforming levels as you work towards a final confrontation.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Lara Croft games are the nightmare of any real archaeologist, biologist and paleontologist.⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I wonder what it would look like to try and resolve some of these problems in a way that still provides a satisfying platformer experience.

  Like, what if instead of these ruins being a bunch of traps with some key magical artifact that she heavily disturbs while passing through, what if the game was a platformer where you had to essentially erect scaffolding and lay down tarps in advance of a bunch of the rest of a team? And the goal is to basically use climbing and athleticism to navigate the environment without disturbing an incredibly fragile environment?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Does noise from different nearby sources 'add up'? Or do the different sources cancel each other out? In any case, please provide a formula and an example⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Can you demonstrate how you would have composed the question?