Sometimes I feel sorry for myself when I read articles like this. At the end of the page, I usually start asking myself, "Why was I even curious about this?" Anyway, I will probably use this knowledge in 10 years. Hopefully (so far, that’s how things have been going for me).
I mean, sometimes it's edifying to just find out cool stuff about the world and the ways it feels a little magical. We have a local power company here that has a trailer with a set of power wires and a transformer on it, and at their events, a TRAINED linesman will do tricks with it. They spend the first half of the presentation doing safety instructions ("don't touch the wire because you'll get fried", "here's how squirrels can cause shorts") and the other half doing magic tricks like making pinwheels spin, metal film levitate, etc. Fun stuff to see.
> Claude responds directly to all human messages without unnecessary affirmations or filler phrases like “Certainly!”, “Of course!”, “Absolutely!”, “Great!”, “Sure!”, etc. Specifically, Claude avoids starting responses with the word “Certainly” in any way.
Meanwhile my every respond from Claude:
> Certainly! [...]
Same goes with
> It avoids starting its responses with “I’m sorry” or “I apologize”
and every time I spot an issue with Claude here it goes:
I suspect this is a case of the system prompt actually making things worse. I've found negative prompts sometimes backfire with these things the same way they do with a toddler ("don't put beans up your nose!"). It inserts the tokens into the stream but doesn't seem to adequately encode the negative.
I know, I suspect that too. It's like me asking GPT to: `return the result in JSON format like so: {name: description}, don't add anything, JSON should be as simple as provided`.
I believe that the system prompt offers a way to fix up alignment issues that could not be resolved during training. The model could train forever, but at some point, they have to release it.
It's worth knowing that some of those effects can also be achived (of course much much more simplified) in all modern browsers using the Web Audio API.
I created mobbler[0] using that, and I also wrote a small tutorial on how some of the effects can be achieved using simple modules (it might seem too complex at first glance, but you can just look at the pictures)[1].
Given the number of connections/nodes in my design, I'd be interested to know what the performance is.
For Web Audio, there's an increasing trend of compiling WASM and running it in an AudioWorkletProcessor, which is maybe 2-3x slower than native. It's actually how I do a lot of my prototyping now, because the Emscripten build times are faster than a full plugin, and I can send it to people without them having to install anything.
Such a breeze! I love to remind myself that some things I take for granted require extraordinary skills that I just don't have the time or willingness to process and understand.
I think that's the reason why I love to watch Real Engineering/Practical Engineering channels on YouTube. I watch what seems like a "simple" task, such as pouring concrete, and then suddenly realize that it's actually not that easy. Or "How It's Made" - Chips? Easy, right? Well, no, lol!
pictures from internet mostly don't represent an accurate reality (in Indonesia is even more true than everywhere else). The other thing about Sulawesi is that the trasportation there is horrible and very time consuming. It's also not really touristic so better to bring your local friend with you.
I'm not that older than you, but I decided to do stuff that I want instead of doing stuff that are good for me.
> what makes you happy the most looking back?
Saving money, "retiring" at the age of 30, traveling for 2 years, entering a monastery, leaving the monastery, and then starting to think about work again for real, not just as a way to escape the system.
BTW. After 3.5 years of retirement, I finally grow up to start something myself, which is an idea that was hunting me since teen years.
I started vipassana meditation which is similar to a religional practice. "which is an idea that was hunting me since teen years." things like this unveils during the practice.
And I'm also kinda on a "retirement" to explore both the inner world and something I'm interested in.
Modern history of Indonesia is also brutal, strange and very hard to grasp and accept. Just 6 months ago, a new generation choose a murderer, linked with previous coup as their new president because he was looking cute and post dancing videos on tiktok.
As an Indonesian, I have to admit that most of our people are susceptible to cheap but clever personal branding. Before running on 2024 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto (the elected president) was imaged as a firm and authoritative former general. But, when he run on the presidential election, he changed his personal image to be a "gemoy" (a slang for chubby and cute kid/baby) and even dancing around with his supporter, something that he never do on his past election.
His pairing with Gibran (the son of Joko Widodo, the current president of Indonesia) also gave some factor to his winning the election.
"I have to admit that most of our people are susceptible to cheap but clever personal branding"
Just saw this in Wikipedia: "When a UN delegation arrived in Jakarta on 8 September, they were told by Habibie that reports of bloodshed in East Timor were "fantasies" and "lies". General Wiranto of the Indonesian military insisted that his soldiers had the situation under control, and later expressed his emotion for East Timor by singing the 1975 hit song "Feelings" at an event for military wives."
Well, it is just my opinion, but I am sure the reality is not that far off. I think the majority are voting based on the popularity of the candidate. Some people I know choose candidates based on which candidate has the most support in the surrounding community. They just follow the people's choices without finding out about the programs promoted by the candidates they choose.
That would be Prabowo Subianto, formed US-trained special forces commander implicated with a whole bunch of murder in East Timor, Papua and in the final days of Suharto's regime.
To be fair, Indonesia is hardly alone as a republic to have elected an appalling character for a leader. If anything, they're somewhat late to this past decade's wave.
But that someone is wrong. Pointing out past strongmen (which both Suharto- and Sukarno, really, were) have led Indonesia in the distant past is not the same as Subianto being democratically elected into office and replacing the mainstream Widodo and ending the Era Reformasi. Subianto exists in the same company as Duterte, Modi, Erdogan, Bolsonaro, Meloni, Milei; 2010s and onwards figures.
Berlusconi is a perfect precursor to this type of character. But I'd say Conte and the Five Star Movement is far more populist and part of a global wave than Bunga-Bunga was.
my disclaimer was supposed to mean: I live here, I am interested in the current and past history of this country, I am involved, I have an Indonesian partner and Indonesian friends, but you have your right to seek the truth for yourself, which I strongly encourage you to do.
