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Category: Interesting or Cool

Difficult conversations

Difficult conversations

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As always, Adam Savage has a bunch of good observations about working together in creative teams.

Dealing with university students – some who can barely see outside their own personality while others are already racing to take on the world. I don’t know what it’s like to address so many different kinds of people.

Confrontation is an investment. If I tell you something isn’t working well, it’s because I’m investing in this relationship. If I don’t care, I just won’t say anything or move on. If the response to that confrontation is to lie, misrepresent, minimize, etc – then I realize how much they value and are investing in the relationship and I can then act accordingly.

I, Robot

I, Robot

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In 1983, Atari created one of the first 3D filled polygon games I, Robot. You play as a robot that gains sentience and rebel against big brother by turning red squares to blue and destroying big brother’s eye.

Fast forward, and Atari has paired with Jeff Minter to re-create this odd classic with Minter’s classic trippy style. I half wonder if the idea for this came when both Minter and many of the Atari folks were at Portland Retro Gaming Expo in 2024.

The scariest things

The scariest things

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In real life, the scariest things are not ghosts or ghouls – it’s running into other people alone and in a place where there is no help or law. The most horrible things can happen.

This urban explorer runs across a homeless guy in the depths of an abandoned factory at 22:00. To say he is extraordinarily lucky nothing happened is an understatement. When working with homeless, it is vitally important to understand that many suffer from serious mental health issues, could be on reality distorting drugs, and are so often assaulted that many have learned to aggressively defend themselves/attack others if someone approaches them at night. In this case, he simply backs off and leaves without incident.

Even more frightening is what he didn’t see at the time. Homeless often spend nights in groups as a safety measure. If you encounter one person, you may have just walked into a group of folks in the area. As it turns out, later in the video after he did analysis, at least one other person is seen behind a pillar he didn’t even notice and walked within 10 feet of them.

He could have very easily been robbed, assaulted, or killed. It’s a reminder that the dangers of an abandoned location are not just the mold, asbestos, toxic chemicals, and structural hazards – people can be some of the worst dangers.

25% of all new code at Google is AI generated

25% of all new code at Google is AI generated

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Google’s CEO revealed that AI systems now generate more than a quarter of new code for its products, with human programmers overseeing the computer-generated contributions. The statement, made during Google’s Q3 2024 earnings call, shows how AI tools are already having a sizable impact on software development.

Stack Overflow’s 2024 Developer Survey, over 76 percent of all respondents “are using or are planning to use AI tools in their development process this year,” with 62 percent actively using them. A 2023 GitHub survey found that 92 percent of US-based software developers are “already using AI coding tools both in and outside of work.”

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/10/google-ceo-says-over-25-of-new-google-code-is-generated-by-ai

Bigscreen Beyond 2 VR Headset

Bigscreen Beyond 2 VR Headset

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This new VR headset proports to fix a lot of common VR issues. It boasts 2560 x 2560 micro-OLED displays at 75hz native and a hugely wide 116º diagonal FOV that claims to have 100% edge-to-edge sharpness all in a much smaller package than current VR headsets. It comes in a dramatically lightweight 272 grams compared to 518 grames of a Quest 3.

Bigscreen Beyond 2 isn’t cheap – it costs $1019

This is a pretty good review. He’s most impressed with the groundbreakingly amazing lenses, comfort due to light weight, and using some methods that help reduce the jitter that normally makes quick left-right head turns disorienting.

The CEO is clearly a technically knowledgeable fellow who likes talking about the factors that make this device good – a wonderful change from Apple’s ‘magical’ marketing and Meta’s shotgun approach. He talks about the challenges and promises of newer approaches like foveated rendering.

Homeless cleanup

Homeless cleanup

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Ground Score puts homeless to work cleaning up downtown. They are ‘association of informal recyclers, waste pickers, canners, dumpster divers, and other environmental workers who create and fill low-barrier waste management jobs in Portland, Oregon.’

No word on how to hire them if your business or living complex has been trashed by homeless camps – they only seem to take donations on their website. I sure hope they are helping the city and these folks connect to their communities through solid work – and not part of the growing homeless-industrial complex of Portland.

AI shows you the faces of ‘average’ British cheaters

AI shows you the faces of ‘average’ British cheaters

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2,000 Brits recently took part in a study by online casino MrQ to see if AI could make a picture of the ‘average’ British cheater. They collected descriptions and then asked AI to make a composite image.

The average male cheater that seemed to be someone in his forties, with blue-grey eyes, small lips, short facial hair and little to no head hair. Someone who has a larger nose and visible frown lines.

The typical woman who cheats, apparently, has dark-haired and is in her early fifties. AI reckons that they are more likely to have a small nose and a medium-sized pout.

Links:

Portland’s financial state is ranked 73 out of 75

Portland’s financial state is ranked 73 out of 75

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In the recently published ‘Financial State of the Cities 2025’, Portland is ranked in the bottom five “Sinkhole Cities” along with Honolulu, New Orleans, Portland, Chicago and New York. Not surprising when you know Portland has the highest commercial vacancy rate in the country and has had a declining population for 3 years running.

https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/financial-state-of-the-cities-2025

Click to access Financial-State-of-the-Cities-2025.pdf