Posts by James Butler

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  • Hard News: Deep Dream: Looking at clouds,

    Vice’s Motherboard channel was quick to answer that question

    So this is what porn images look like through mostly animal-trained networks; what I haven't seen yet is a porn-trained network looking at non-porn pics. Cocks everywhere! I'm sure there are legions of volunteers who'd be willing to sit for hours teaching a neural net what is porn and what isn't...

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: Whakamomori: Raw, open and honest, in reply to llew40,

    Understanding something and being able to talk about that something and share your experiences is surely the first steps towards being able to cope/deal with it?

    Exactly - by being too scared of normalising suicidal behaviour perhaps we make it harder to normalise suicidal feelings. If you can't put your own despair into the context of others who have had the same experiences then surely it's that much harder to deal with.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: This Anzac Day,

    People use the word 'sacrifice' a lot to refer to the war dead. The defining feature of true sacrifices, to me, is that they achieve nothing. No one says that though.

    (I've spent yesterday and today sitting through rehearsals for tomorrow's ceremonies in Wellington. If I'd known how cartoonish parts of it would be, well, I still might have come - I'm comfortable with my own remembrance - but I would have been more prepared for the cognitive dissonance.)

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: The other kind of phone tapping,

    IIRC there's a working, cutaway electromechanical pulse exchange at MOTAT where you can dial a number on a phone and watch the workings clunk away selecting the correct line. I could watch that for hours.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: Never mind the quality ..., in reply to James George,

    fuckin racist as all get up

    I'm wondering what her clients think of all this. Because, you know, if it causes them to lose face...</sarc>

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: The silence of the public square, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    twock

    What's the sign for "twock"? Inquiring minds want to know.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: Auckland's future: Keep calm,…,

    CONGESTION PRICING

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: Going solar?, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Would it make any sense to wait for PV? Would that be a better long-term investment than buying into solar water-heating now?

    I heard once that it's becoming cheaper to install PV and use regular electric hot water than it is to use direct thermal solar hot water, just because plumbing is more expensive than wiring. Depends on your use-case though. If you want maximum utilization of your roof area, then mixing PV and direct thermal will give you more bang because direct thermal is more efficient.

    Mind you I've never run the numbers because I rent, which makes the whole thing a bit academic |:

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: Good news for self-powered travellers, in reply to Kevin McCready,

    Also:

    As a responsible person, when I take younger people riding I insist they were helmets (as it appears does the lecturer in your vid), so why shouldn’t we do the same as a society?

    Because adults are not children.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

  • Hard News: Good news for self-powered travellers, in reply to Kevin McCready,

    Yes I know the arguments that if x number of people cycle there will be y reduction in fat and heart attacks.

    I think the more salient argument is that if x number more people cycle, then there will be y reduction in the sum total of road accident injuries. I've never seen any other proposed explanation for the greater safety of cycling in countries where cycling is common.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2009 • 856 posts Report

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