somethingp

Yeah it takes screenshots periodically and all the storage and analysis is done on your local device, which is why it requires the newer CPUs with NPUs from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. There's a setting to turn the whole feature off, and you can also choose to turn it off for only certain applications, etc. Microsoft seems to be making an effort to encourage chip manufacturers to make better NPUs so that their AI features can run as locally as possible. That's likely why their new surface devices will be using the snapdragon x elite processors because they're the only ones that have NPUs with enough TOPS to run all the AI features Microsoft wants on device, instead of having to send the data for processing to a Microsoft server. I think beyond trying to quell privacy concerns, it would be a huge cost for Microsoft if they had to have enough compute available to run all these AI tasks for users for free. I'm sure there's still some way they are logging pieces of info here and there, but they'll have to include some way to make sure the OS is secure enough for business operations that are handling secure information.

People are acting as if auto saving, web history, reopen last used windows, etc aren't already features on all modern apps and OSes. If the claim about everything staying on device is true then this is no different.

Never too old to learn. I think Python is a great beginner language. It has fairly broad applications, and easy to set up an environment (don't have to download/install a thousand things, you just install python and can run the text files in terminal). I also learned by doing starting in late middle school/early high school. I always found YouTube videos to be the most engaging way to get started. I used to like thenewboston. Once I had a handle on the basic programming language, I would do easy programming challenges where you have to solve some sort of basic problem. The challenges helped me learn basics like taking in input, changing the input based on the various rules and conditions of the challenges, then outputting the proper results formatted in the right way. Also helped me to think about algorithms, etc. After that, I started learning programming through a textbook. This was helpful for understanding some of the more technical aspects, basics of memory management, what different variable types are really for, OOP, abstraction, algorithms etc. I found that leaving these advanced topics till after I had a working understanding of the programming language helped understand the concepts better, and helped me understand why it's important to learn the concepts in the first place. I was using Java for learning most of this, which might also be a good place to start for you, but I feel like python has simpler syntax to start with. In the end once you learn one language, I recommend learning more and not being stuck to any particular language. Every language has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding the commonalities and differences will only make you better in the long run.

Edit - now I use Go, python, JavaScript, R, Java, Julia, rust based on what I'm actually doing. It's fairly easy to switch languages once you get used to basic syntax.

I have a question about rigid curriculums. This is mostly for high school. Many of my teachers had curriculums and syllabi that they had been using for years and kept them basically the same, and then there were the AP classes where the curriculum was determined by the AP exam. I felt that I learned really well in AP classes and we would get through much more advanced material in the AP classes than in others. And I also felt that the teachers who had developed somewhat fixed curriculums from experience taught much more efficiently than those who hadn't. It never felt like the teachers were changing their curriculum for each class whether it was an AP class or not because most had their curriculums kind of figured out over the course of teaching for many years. And most of the teachers I had in high school were excellent. So my question is, why is it believed that rigid curriculums don't work? Because in my schooling experience, whether the rigid curriculum was developed by the individual teacher or by an external organization (like AP), the class seemed to benefit from having fixed goals for the year.

I might've missed the bee if it wasn't for the title haha. Nice shot

During my graduate research, our lab space was next to the cell modeling department and I would catch a talk here or there. Always found it a super interesting approach because it really tries to make sense of what we've learned from traditional biology and generates really nice hypotheses/theories for testing out in biological models. I also love how you can apply so much abstract mathematics to biological systems for biologically meaningful findings. Most of these types of cell modeling papers go above my head, but I still really appreciate them from outside.

Cool! I used to work on molecular dynamics of viral proteins through computational simulations in undergrad, but had never heard it be called theoretical biology before haha.

The duck is theoretical biology? Like math modeling and simulation stuff?

10/10 write up

Most programming (simple tasks, scripting data analysis, most common web apps, basic automation) is about as difficult as doing your own plumbing (which likely includes fixing a faucet or doing other minor tasks around the house). But just like in any profession, the "professionals" are able to handle the complex tasks that others can't/don't want to do. For plumbers that means building the whole home systems to maintain proper pressure/temperature at every outlet, suitable for whatever climate the home is built in, or in commercial settings where the systems are much larger and more complicated.

Ask a professional plumber which they find more taxing: being bent into awkward spaces on their hands and knees all day, or sitting at a desk thinking hard about a problem someone has likely already solved.

Not sure what you're referring to, but Microsoft has always had security incidents because they make the platform(s) that almost everyone uses, and so is commonly the target for malicious actors. This has been the case with Microsoft as long as Windows has been the dominant OS which is since the 90s. Not sure what hiring people outside of the US has to do with this.

Don't know if it's a low service state. They have pretty strong welfare programs, despite what Republicans will have you believe. Their public education is ranked pretty similarly to California for K-12, if not better depending on the specific list. Their public universities are among the best in the country. Their hospitals are the best in the country.

The biggest drawback is that their legislators think they can practice medicine without having the relevant qualifications. But Californian medical laws and viewpoints have their own drawbacks. Let's not forget, before covid, anti-vaxers were primarily associated with crunchy liberal moms refusing to vaccinate their children. California was among the first to have a resurgence of measles. CA is also a state trying to obfuscate medical roles by allowing advanced practitioners (NPs and PAs) to practice independently (without a surprising DO or MD), as well as allowing naturopaths to identify themselves as physicians. While it's easier to see the harms of Texas's medical laws right now, California has had it's fair share of negative impact on it's populous.

A lot of the Republican rhetoric is empty, meaningless, and far from the truth. This is what makes Republican politics so frustrating. They say one thing, want something else, and do something entirely different. As a liberal it makes it difficult to engage in a meaningful conversation with them. But this sort of state comparison based on broad generalizations also increases the divide, while being very unhelpful.

I feel like for 10 of those years, it's acceptable. Maybe even like 12-13 because everyone doesn't learn at the same pace. But for at least the last 5 years, this dude was living in a kind of ignorantly blissful haze that makes me envious of his carefree life.