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rudolph9

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The idea is that performance isn’t a reason not to do it. Other considerations may cause you to choose inline, but performance shouldn’t be one of them.

Gemini 3.1 Pro 5 months ago

If I was building an application using massive amounts of calls to the api, I’d probably go with Gemini. For a Copilot, definitely Opus.

I would think Venus, since it has the second smallest orbit. If that’s the case, I’m wondering if there’s some mathematical theorem that proves the “closest” planet is always the one with the next smallest orbit, regardless of speed or how closely the two objects’ orbits align in size.

Best I can tell, it’s resulting in less churn, which isn’t the same as work getting done faster. Maybe it’s a phenomenon unique to engineering, but what I’m observing isn’t necessarily work getting done faster — it’s that a smaller number of people are able to manage a much larger footprint because AI tools have gotten really good at relaying existing knowledge.

Little things that historically would get me stuck as I switch between database work, front-end, and infrastructure are no longer impeding me, because the AI tools are so good at conveying the existing knowledge of each discipline. So now, with a flat org, things just get done — there’s no need for sprint masters, knowledge-sharing sessions, or waiting on PR reviews. More people means more coordination, which ultimately takes time. In some situations that’s unavoidable, but in software engineering, most of the patterns, tools, and practices are well established; it’s just a matter of using them effectively without making your head explode.

I think this relay of knowledge is especially evident when I can’t tell an AI comment from a human one in a technical discussion — a kind of modern Turing Test, or Imitation Game.

I can’t help but think a lot of these comments are actually written by AI — and that, in itself, showcases the value of AI. The fact that all of these comments could realistically have been written by AI with what’s available today is mind-blowing.

I use AI on a day-to-day basis, and by my best estimates, I’m doing the work of three to four people as a result of AI — not because I necessarily write code faster, but because I cover more breadth (front end, back end, DevOps, security) and make better engineering decisions with a smaller team. I think the true value of AI, at least in the immediate future, lies in helping us solve common problems faster. Though it’s not yet independently doing much, the most relevant expression I can think of is: “Those who cannot do, teach.” And AI is definitely good at relaying existing knowledge.

There are notable similarities between a wartime economy and one continually adapting to global warming. While perhaps not sustainable long-term, we may observe short-term economic growth driven by government spending, followed by extended inflationary periods. We might currently be experiencing the first cycle of this kind, with more likely to follow.

Don’t choose Mongo. It does everything and nothing well. It’s a weird bastard of a database—easily adopted, yet hard to get rid of. One day, you look in the mirror and ask yourself: why am I forking over hundreds of thousands of dollars for tens of thousands' worth of compute and storage to a company with a great business operation but a terrible engineering operation, continually weighed down by the unachievable business requirement of being everything to everyone?

The weird thing to me is how little concern there is for sale of data by any social media company. Very intimate details about many Americans lives can easily be purchased by US adversaries. That’s reportedly the motivation for the bill but effectively it really only change who is profiting from the data by forcing a bargain price for a foreign company and directing the ongoing revenue to us company vs a Chinese company.

I suppose it would be easier to regulate a us based company should the rules around user data sale change but this bill alone effectively does nothing to advance the security principles the bill is sold on beside make it slightly more expensive for the Chinese government to use the data.

It seems like this thread has sparked a lot nuclear vs solar debate, but both have the potential to be net zero energy sources and most fault tolerant grids are powered by a multitude of sources. We should be aggressively building solar, wind, battery, and nuclear along with anything else that can reasonably be part of a net zero supply chain that produces electricity in the not too distant. They all have different tradeoffs and we shouldn’t be debating which is better than the other. Rather we should focus on what percent of each fit best balancing safety/resiliency/cost of adoption/long term operating costs. And this varies widely from region and changing over time. What’s need are formulas and frameworks for helping make these wildly complex decisions more straightforward.

Have you installed the firmware updates to the AMD board? I had similar issues but the latest set of firmware updates seems to have fixed them.