omg I'm reading this dumb twitter article but can't continue because I'm laughing too hard at this diagram.
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@bipolaron @ArchiteuthisFlux No worries - it sounds like a technical term, but I honestly forgot about chimneys for a second (need caffeine)
@MxVerda @bipolaron Or you need to open the flue on your fireplace because that'll fuck you up
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@MxVerda @bipolaron Or you need to open the flue on your fireplace because that'll fuck you up
@ArchiteuthisFlux @bipolaron We do have one, but we don't use it. Do we still need to open it? And how pls
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omg I'm reading this dumb twitter article but can't continue because I'm laughing too hard at this diagram. Like, using this as a definition of an intelligent system then crashing into the fucking rocks because you don't know wtf a lighthouse is.
@ArchiteuthisFlux SMASH INTO THE NAVIGATIONAL AID. DO IT. DO IT.
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@ArchiteuthisFlux @bipolaron We do have one, but we don't use it. Do we still need to open it? And how pls
@MxVerda @ArchiteuthisFlux if it's an open fireplace, the flue is a piece of metal fixed into the chimney and you can use a handle above the fireplace to open and close it.
if it is closed, smoke would pour into the house. if it is open your house is venting hot air. fireplaces aren't great.
a stove is fully enclosed and much more efficient, and you can limit the burn rate so that a log or two can go all night and is designed from the ground up to heat the house through the chimney.
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@MxVerda @ArchiteuthisFlux if it's an open fireplace, the flue is a piece of metal fixed into the chimney and you can use a handle above the fireplace to open and close it.
if it is closed, smoke would pour into the house. if it is open your house is venting hot air. fireplaces aren't great.
a stove is fully enclosed and much more efficient, and you can limit the burn rate so that a log or two can go all night and is designed from the ground up to heat the house through the chimney.
@bipolaron @ArchiteuthisFlux errr, it's gas? But like, there's a chimney with an electric (???) fireplace thingy in front of the tile facade on the wall...?
*confused bi noises* -
omg I'm reading this dumb twitter article but can't continue because I'm laughing too hard at this diagram. Like, using this as a definition of an intelligent system then crashing into the fucking rocks because you don't know wtf a lighthouse is.
@ArchiteuthisFlux This really reminds me of the old joke/story about the battleship captain who wanted the lighthouse to get out of his way.
(I also grew up on and around sailing vessels, and this image has made my brain itch.)
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@ArchiteuthisFlux the drawing is so confusing to me because if it's a sail boat that isn't what ERROR looks like that's just literally how sailing works
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@rune @ArchiteuthisFlux you're still not supposed to aim AT the lighthouse. You tack into the wind, but the goal is to be in the channel/deep water near the navigational aid.
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@7heo @ArchiteuthisFlux ok wait what?
I can't tell if running at relativistic speed would do anything notable or just be more 'cronch' at the end. -
omg I'm reading this dumb twitter article but can't continue because I'm laughing too hard at this diagram. Like, using this as a definition of an intelligent system then crashing into the fucking rocks because you don't know wtf a lighthouse is.
@ArchiteuthisFlux now this version i can get behind

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@lproven @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux show code
@MxVerda @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux
A 2-word comment is not very helpful. You want example code of a stimulus-seeking automaton, is that what you are asking?
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@MxVerda @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux
A 2-word comment is not very helpful. You want example code of a stimulus-seeking automaton, is that what you are asking?
@lproven @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux I meant as a joke like "show feet" but yes please if you're willing.
(No guarantees I'll understand any if, for, when, or in functions though.)
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@lproven @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux I meant as a joke like "show feet" but yes please if you're willing.
(No guarantees I'll understand any if, for, when, or in functions though.)
@MxVerda @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux Oh right!
Dear gods. When I said I'd done it in BASIC and Fortran, that's a clue to how long ago it was.
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@MxVerda @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux Oh right!
Dear gods. When I said I'd done it in BASIC and Fortran, that's a clue to how long ago it was.
@MxVerda @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux
Google failed me. Here is some pseudocode:
Variables
bug location x, y
food location x, y
100x100 gridBug location x = rnd * 100
Bug location y = rnd * 100Calculate distance from bug to food, using Pythagoras
https://byjus.com/maths/distance-formula/The faint smell excites the bug: the _more_ excited the bug, the _slower_ it moves. More excitement = shorter stride
Stride = 1/distance
Search:
Pick a random direction
Move 1 stride that direction
Sniff
Calculate new stride length: if the smell is stronger, move shorter
If bug(x,y) = food(x,y) exit
Otherwise, go search
End -
@MxVerda @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux
Google failed me. Here is some pseudocode:
Variables
bug location x, y
food location x, y
100x100 gridBug location x = rnd * 100
Bug location y = rnd * 100Calculate distance from bug to food, using Pythagoras
https://byjus.com/maths/distance-formula/The faint smell excites the bug: the _more_ excited the bug, the _slower_ it moves. More excitement = shorter stride
Stride = 1/distance
Search:
Pick a random direction
Move 1 stride that direction
Sniff
Calculate new stride length: if the smell is stronger, move shorter
If bug(x,y) = food(x,y) exit
Otherwise, go search
End@MxVerda @johnnythan @ArchiteuthisFlux
The result of this is that the bug, *which can't sense the direction of the food*, usually finds it in about 10 paces or so.
It's fascinating to watch, and it looks just like the lighthouse seeking run, which conservatively using an LLM in the cloud, would run several _trillions_ of lines of code to get there, counting Linux distros in VMs, an orchestrator, and some language models.
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@hypostase @_thegeoff @ArchiteuthisFlux the story is an urban legend (check Snopes), I have seen probably more than a dozen versions (differing in the name of US ship and nationality of lighthouse crew); however, with current trend in US policies, I wouldn't be at all surprised if one day it becomes reality.
@blotosmetek @hypostase @_thegeoff @ArchiteuthisFlux I think it has, but with Donald Trump in place of the Navy.
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omg I'm reading this dumb twitter article but can't continue because I'm laughing too hard at this diagram. Like, using this as a definition of an intelligent system then crashing into the fucking rocks because you don't know wtf a lighthouse is.
@ArchiteuthisFlux TIL that my thermostat is an intelligent system.
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omg I'm reading this dumb twitter article but can't continue because I'm laughing too hard at this diagram. Like, using this as a definition of an intelligent system then crashing into the fucking rocks because you don't know wtf a lighthouse is.
@ArchiteuthisFlux “HAAAAAAARRRRKKK!!!”
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@ArchiteuthisFlux I was in a company with a morale problem, and the HR team's response was to cover the walls with posters telling us "Be a lighthouse!" and stop complaining all the time.
I read a letter to the editor once where the writer was complaining about the "deer crossing" signs on the highway, and wanted them moved away from where she lived because there were too many deer on the road.
In tech school, these would have been marked "GCE" - gross conceptual errors.
@grumble209 @ArchiteuthisFlux Dig that acronym.
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omg I'm reading this dumb twitter article but can't continue because I'm laughing too hard at this diagram. Like, using this as a definition of an intelligent system then crashing into the fucking rocks because you don't know wtf a lighthouse is.
@ArchiteuthisFlux@leds.social trial and error is a thing but also if you're sailing by trial and error the only thing you'll learn is your grave mistake while you sink -
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