Want to wade into the sandy surf of the abyss? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)

    • JFranek@awful.systemsEnglish
      0·
      1 day ago

      I have some thoughts about this goober (Simon Willison) that I need to get out of my head:

      First the positives:

      • I think he’s actually an experienced software engineer.
      • I think he care to check and test the LLM output.

      But, by his own admission:

      • He uses LLM for tasks he knows well (So easier to check and little negative impact on learning)
      • He works mostly on hobby projects (so no obligation to actually maintain the stuff)
      • He can choose to not use new libraries (which in a professional setting is not always a luxury you can afford)

      Tl;dr: an experienced dev who uses clankers to churn out tons of technically functional hobby software and thinks this gives him right to speak for all software engineers.

      • froztbyte@awful.systemsEnglish
        0·
        1 day ago

        i haven’t tried to spend thought on the why of his posting (I have better thoughts I can waste time on), but if you’re right about the points you guess on then I argue his position and actions are even more fucking dangerous (because those won’t shine through easily to those of lesser experience unless very specifically be made to show with care and forethought)

        either way, he remains muted in my feed. for being interminably tiresome and annoying as fuck.

        • JFranek@awful.systemsEnglish
          0·
          1 day ago

          I have better thoughts I can waste time on

          Me too. Unfortunately I don’t get to pick my intrusive thoughts.

          • o7___o7@awful.systemsEnglish
            0·
            1 day ago

            Me too. Unfortunately I don’t get to pick my intrusive thoughts.

            Heh

            there’s one for the comeback vault

      • gerikson@awful.systemsEnglish
        0·
        1 day ago

        He’s also found a lucrative niche being the “serious” AI booster. No doubt he gets something from it, if nothing else consulting work.