improvingwetware.bsky.social

improvingwetware.bsky.social

@improvingwetware.bsky.social

Software developer, will code for money.

42 followers68 following264 posts

improvingwetware.bsky.social
@improvingwetware.bsky.social

It would be even better if they worked with architectural control so that on the southern exposure the roof was smooth so that it could be filled with panels.

🇨🇦Joe Vipond🇨🇦@jvipondmd.bsky.social

Mattamy Homes builds 1000 new AB homes with solar panels. #ABsolar

ca.news.yahoo.comMattamy Homes taps into sunny Alberta's solar energyTailoring energy-saving efficiencies to best match a given region is helping save homebuyers energy costs and reduce greenhouse gases.
improvingwetware.bsky.social
@improvingwetware.bsky.social

So much for Tokenmaxxing. Accenture seems to be saying that it now wants to make sure that all but basic usage of Claude is passed on to their billable clients. I'm wondering if the clients will balk at seeing the size of the Claude bill on their invoice...

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improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Jan Schaumann
@jschauma.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy

“just one more prompt, bro!” by @davidgerard nails how chatbots implement the typical patterns of addictive design, with their stochastic responses working beautifully as selective reinforcement. https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/06/05/generative-ai-runs-on-gambling-addiction-just-one-more-prompt-bro/

pivot-to-ai.compivot-to-ai.comYou’ll have noticed how previously normal people start acting like addicts to their favourite generative AI and shout at you like you’re trying to take their cocaine away. Matthias Döpmann is a software developer. He’s been trying out AI autocomplete for coding. He was very impressed at how good the tools are for the first 80% of the code. But that last 20% is the hard bit — where you have to stare into space and think for a bit, work out structure, and understand your problem properly: [_Revontulet.dev_] > For a good 12 hours, over the course of 1 1/2 days, I tried to prompt it such that it yields what we needed. Eventually, I noticed that my prompts converged more and more to be almost the code I wanted. After still not getting a working result, I ended up implementing it myself in less than 30 minutes. So he used the chatbot as a vastly more wasteful rubber duck. He adds: > … This experience is shared among peers, where AI traps you into the thinking “I am only one prompt away”, whilst clearly it just does not know the answer. That is: generative AI works the same way as gambling addiction. Spin the gacha! Just one more spin, bro, I can feel it! Large language models work the same way as a carnival psychic. Chatbots look smart by the Barnum Effect — which is where you read what’s actually a generic statement about people and you take it as being personally about you. The only intelligence there is yours. [_Out Of The Software Crisis_ _, 2023;__blog post_ _, 2023_] This is how people fall for chatbot girlfriends. They know it’s a bot, but they fall in love with the personality they’ve projected onto the generic statement generator. There’s a book on this — _Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products_ by Nir Eyal, from 2014. This is the how-to on getting people _addicted_ to your mobile app. [_Amazon UK_ _,__Amazon US_] Here’s Eyal’s “Hook Model”: * First, the trigger is what gets you in. _e.g._ , you see a chatbot prompt and it suggests you type in a question. * Second is the action — _e.g._ , you do ask the bot a question. * Third is the reward — and it’s got to be a _variable_ reward. Sometimes the chatbot comes up with a mediocre answer — but sometimes you love the answer! Eyal says: “Feedback loops are all around us, but predictable ones don’t create desire.” Intermittent rewards are the key tool to create an addiction. * Fourth is the investment — the user puts time, effort, or money into the process to get a better result next time. Skin in the game gives the user a sunk cost they’ve put in. * Then the user loops back to the beginning. The user will be more likely to follow an external trigger — or they’ll come to your site themselves looking for the dopamine rush from that variable reward. _Hooked_ builds on research papers about the mechanisms of gambling addiction — a life-destroying problem — to explain how you can use the same psychological manipulation techniques in your app. This book is on the bookshelf at every startup. Eyal said he wrote _Hooked_ to promote healthy habits, not addiction — but from the outside, you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference. Because the model is, literally, how to design a poker machine. Keep the lab rats pulling the lever. You’ll see the _Hooked_ model in every mobile game. You’ll see it in dating apps, where the business model is to string you along and _not_ connect with someone nice, but keep you spending money on the dating app. Before Duolingo went nuts with AI slop, it used the same techniques to get you to do your language practice every day! I sort of recommend you read _Hooked_ , though the book’s a bit disingenuous about what it says it’s doing, and it will make you angry. Because it explains so much about everything we deal with. With ChatGPT, Sam Altman hit upon a way to use the Hook Model with a text generator. The unreliability and hallucinations themselves are the hook — the intermittent reward, to keep the user running prompts and hoping they’ll get a win this time. This is why you see previously normal techies start evangelising AI coding on LinkedIn or Hacker News like they saw a glimpse of God and they’ll keep paying for the chatbot tokens until they can just see a glimpse of Him again. And you have to as well. This is why they act like they joined a cult. Send ’em a copy of this post. For addictive potential, Sergio Visinoni posted a few months ago: “Is GenAI digital cocaine?” He works through the analogy. [_blog post_] Coincidentally, Natalie Ponte on LinkedIn posted today: [_LinkedIn_] > try replacing “ai” with “cocaine” in all the posts you read about it. it’s pretty funny Let’s try it! * “My cocaine skeptic friends are all nuts, they’ll be left behind.” * “Cocaine isn’t going to replace you. Someone using cocaine is going to replace you.” Checks out. Cocaine doesn’t make you a business genius — it just makes you _think_ you’re a business genius. Same for AI. * _Video version_ ### Share this post: * Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit * Share on X (Opens in new window) X * Share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky * Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email * ### Like this: Like Loading… ### _Related_
improvingwetware.bsky.social
@improvingwetware.bsky.social

A true Laugh Out Loud Moment while reading Tim Curry's "Vagabond : a memoir", after listing all Tim's credits including Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the final page has the title "About the Author" No spoilers from me, but the text on that page in capitals was a true LOL read

improvingwetware.bsky.social
@improvingwetware.bsky.social

Canada should not be thinking about building new oil pipelines at a time when the oil companies do not want to fund those pipelines. Is it because they know that the demand for oil is going to drop over the coming years. improvingwetware.com/society/tech...

improvingwetware.com Looking to the Future · Improving Wetware The tarsands are an example of how bad we are at detecting slow changes with the inevitable slowdown in the demand for oil for combustion
improvingwetware.bsky.social
@improvingwetware.bsky.social

I was looking at EVs for a friend and found out that if you are in the market for a new car right now in Canada, an EV car is the cheaper option if you count in the cost of fuelling the car at 20,000km/year improvingwetware.com/tech/society...

improvingwetware.com Electric Vehicles are now mainstream · Improving Wetware The Electric Vehicle story is a great example of how bad we are at detecting slow changes, back in 2010 EVs were niche vehicles, by 2015 practical but expensive commuter vehicles were on the market an...

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Charlie Angus
@charlieangus104.bsky.social

This was posted by the US department of Interior. It shows the deranged viciousness of the administration on our border. We are staring down a klepto psychopath who is being egged on at every level by the power structure of the USA. They aren't joking. Canada we stand on guard for thee.

improvingwetware.bsky.social
@improvingwetware.bsky.social

I have been posting to my website (using various bits of software) for over 20 years and in that time I used multiple different social media sites that are no longer mainstream. improvingwetware.com/craftsmanshi...

improvingwetware.com Use Cases and User Stories · Improving Wetware Although not specifically about GenAI, it was prompted by a posting titled I’m done using AI, the key parts for me being I had a conversation with management about how a developer’s job is now is ...

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Paris Marx
@parismarx.com

Replying to @parismarx.com

It’s not Canadians that need to become more literate on AI; it’s Mark Carney. He needs to see the reality of the technology and the harms it’s causing to the people he’s supposed to serve, not just buying industry narratives based on hype instead of reality. disconnect.blog/ai-oppositio...

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦
@emmettmacfarlane.com

It won't be soon, but one day public opinion will catch on to just how many horrible decisions Mark Carney's government is making.

Toronto Star@thestar.com

The Department of National Defence quietly inked a $3.7-million contract last year with American data giant Palantir, newly released documents show. It’s the latest in what some experts see as the government’s deepening links to the controversial U.S. tech firm.

thestar.comOttawa’s latest deal with U.S. data giant Palantir raises warningsThe Department of National Defence quietly inked a $3.7-million contract last year with American data giant Palantir, newly released documents show.

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Robson Fletcher
@robsonfletcher.com

Of course, we *did* have a referendum on this. In 2021. Ordered by the UCP government. And Albertans voted 'No'. The website is still up. It says: "The results of the referendum are binding. Alberta will continue changing their clocks twice a year."

alberta.caDaylight saving time engagementGathered input on the future of time change in Alberta.
Courtney Theriault@ctheriault.bsky.social

Apparently, we don't need a referendum on this one. Alberta will now be on daylight saving time year-round, says Premier Smith calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

calgaryherald.comBell: Alberta will now be on daylight saving time year-round, says Premier SmithAlberta will now be on daylight time year-round, reveals Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in an exclusive interview.

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

🇨🇦Joe Vipond🇨🇦
@jvipondmd.bsky.social

"(Here in Canada) oil and gas, which is largely foreign-owned, largely U.S.-owned, aren’t doing their part. (Instead)...increasing our emissions and ...demanding that Canadian taxpayers pay the bill for cleaning up the pollution they cause and building pipelines they won’t risk their own money on.”

theglobeandmail.comOil industry leaders are putting economy, environment at risk, says former minister Catherine McKennaOil and gas production only sector in Canada to increase greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, inventory shows

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Eric Van Rythoven
@ericvanr.bsky.social

I have a short piece on how Canada should think about retaliation in the age of Trump. TLDR: the threat of retaliation is increasingly driving Canadian policy decisions, but we think about retaliation in overly simplistic ways. I offer some correctives. 1/ policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/04/cana...

policyoptions.irpp.orgThe threat of Trump retaliation: how Canada should respondU.S. leverage is real but uneven. Three guideposts help policymakers assess risk, timing and strategic trade-offs.

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Nathan Kalman-Lamb
@nkalamb.bsky.social

Today in AI: Canada rejected the PR application of a McMaster postdoc from the Sorbonne who works in the immunology of aging because the generative AI being used to process applications (😱) entirely hallucinated her credentials. Everyone involved should be fired. archive.is/ELrCI#select...

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Robson Fletcher
@robsonfletcher.com

For those who missed my free Lunch & Learn session last week and asked if it was recorded ... it was! The video is now posted on my website:

robsonfletcher.comLunch & Learn Series: How to Think Critically About Data — Robson Fletcher: Data & Storytelling StrategistThe first in my ongoing (and free!) Lunch & Learn Series. This one is aimed at the "data-curious": non-experts interested in how to think more clearly — and critically — about facts & figures & charts...
Robson Fletcher@robsonfletcher.com

Thank you to the 30 folks who just spent an hour at my Lunch & Learn session on 'How To Think Critically About Data'. Given the turnout, I'll definitely do more in the future. I have some topics in mind but if there's anything in particular you'd be interested in hearing about, please let me know!

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Mark Ungrin
@mark-ungrin.bsky.social

You can tell our systems are broken when: - The greatest threat to democracy is an elected President - The biggest danger to public health comes from public health leaders - The worst enemies of those fighting to control and prevent infections are the people getting paid to do that job

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Tania J. Spencer
@taniaspencer.bsky.social

1/ We need a rigorous, independent review of 🇨🇦 Canada's COVID response, & hard scrutiny of what stopped the Government from implementing what is known. Because it's not for want of COVID data that all tiers of government mismanaged #COVID & continue to ignore #LongCOVID -

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improvingwetware.bsky.social
@improvingwetware.bsky.social

Interesting arguments arise when an existing project is copied via supplying the existing test cases to the GenAI LLM tools to re-implement the software (and then release under a different license) writings.hongminhee.org/2026/03/lega...

writings.hongminhee.orgIs legal the same as legitimate: AI reimplementation and the erosion of copyleftLast week, Dan Blanchard, the maintainer of chardet—a Python library for detecting text encodings used by roughly 130 million projects a month— released a new…

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦
@tryangregory.bsky.social

Carney and his Minister of Digital Asbestos Integration will do nothing about OpenAI, just like they did nothing with the child porn generating X.

Evan Solomon@evansolomon.bsky.social

Please see my statement. 🇨🇦 Veuillez consulter ma déclaration.

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Brandon Friedman
@brandonfriedman.bsky.social

There has never been a better argument for destroying capitalism than "if we can't make money off vaccines, then you don't get vaccines." Hear me out: Publicly-funded vaccine research and everyone gets the vaccines for free.

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improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Mehdi Hasan
@mehdirhasan.bsky.social

"There are plenty of reasons why Trump’s job performance is polling on par with the less glamorous STDs. One reason is thatthe Trump administration is committed to its increasingly unpopular programs of ethnic cleansing and murder. Also: it’s the economy, you stupid fascist." First Draft today:

zeteo.com📉 It’s The Economy, (You) Stupid (Fascist)One of Trump’s favorite pollsters warns he’d lose to Biden in an election held today. Plus, the DOJ is spying on lawmakers who search the Epstein files, and a balloon gets mistaken for... a drone.

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

🇨🇦Joe Vipond🇨🇦
@jvipondmd.bsky.social

Understatement of the year: That’s a big mismatch “Some are saying we’ll have a 10% GDP loss at between 3C and 4C degrees [of global heating], but the physical climate scientists are saying the economy and society will cease to function as we know it. That’s a big mismatch,”

theguardian.comFlawed economic models mean climate crisis could crash global economy, experts warnStates and financial bodies using modelling that ignores shocks from extreme weather and climate tipping points

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Avi Lewis
@avilewis.ca

Replying to @avilewis.ca

Income inequality is at an all-time high in Canada. Meanwhile, CEO pay keeps climbing. The top 1% richest families control almost a quarter of the country’s wealth. And the six biggest banks raked in $70 billion in profits last year alone. It’s time to tilt the scales back towards the 99%.

improvingwetware.bsky.social reposted

Charlie Angus
@charlieangus104.bsky.social

A recent article suggests that Canadians who question the purchase of the F-35 are emotional and driven by deep-seated anti-Americanism. Such is the view of those promoting the "interoperability" of our planes with US forces. What if the threat is from the US? My latest: substack.com/home/post/p-...

substack.comOn Gaslighting, Treason and the F-35In another life, I did freelance news reporting for both CBC and the provincial broadcaster, Studio 2.