The pet peeve thread

[gehringer_2]

7 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

AWS is currently their big profit maker. 

So they say. I always take statements about where a diversified enterprise *says* they make their profit with a grain of salt though. It's in Amazon's PR interest for people think margins are lousy in retail and that they are a great hi-tech cloud player. While I don't strongly doubt those things are true, they are so much in Amazon's interest for us to think that way that even if it weren't, they'd be moving numbers around to make us believe it. That's just a sad truth about standard US corporate ethics.

Edited Thursday at 07:30 PM by gehringer_2

[Deleterious]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

So they say. I always take statements about where a diversified enterprise *says* they make their profit with a grain of salt though. It's in Amazon's PR interest for people think margins are lousy in retail and that they are a great hi-tech cloud player. While I don't strongly doubt those things are true, they are so much in Amazon's interest for us to think that way that even if it weren't, they'd be moving numbers around to make us believe it. That's just a sad truth about standard US corporate ethics.

All the data is there for anyone to view, compliant with GAAP and audited. 

That doesn't mean you won't get the occasional Enron here and there. 

[oblong]

I have an old external Western Digital HD that crapped out.  My son left it plugged in over the break and I think it burned up.  I took it out and got a SATA cable and tried that, didn't work. Ordered another one from Amazon, the kind that looks more like a cartridge, still nothing.  No spinning or anything like i hear on another HDD from my laptop that quit working years ago.  I ordered that second SATA from Amazon a few weeks ago knowing it probably wouldn't work but they make returns so dang easy I had to do it.  TOok it back to staples, she just tossed it in this giant box behind her with other crap.  I don't know where that stuff goes, maybe Marhsall's or Big Lots?

The drive thing is a pet peeeve for sure.  Nothing on there I really need but I know there's some old VHS transfers that I forgot to copy over to my "real" backup drive.  I thought I did.  So who knows what else is on there I forgot.  I can't assume the mantra I tell my wife "If you aren't looking for it then you dont need it". 

I haven't looked in it in years. My son is autistic like and insists on having it plugged in to look at photos, that are already on the hard drive of his laptop, but what are you gonna do... and yeah, that laptop has had it's hard drive replaced as even he gets frustrated with wait time!  Hence the "Don't hit Computer" label on it.  

 

[gehringer_2]

25 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

All the data is there for anyone to view, compliant with GAAP and audited. 

That doesn't mean you won't get the occasional Enron here and there. 

Diversified companies have a lot of leeway in where and how they book expenses and overhead, what divisions carry debt and admin, real estate, investments, etc. If they are honest, they play straight, but it's naive to think they can't present a skewed picture if they want to and still be close enough within the rules. Just as an example the F100 I worked for for a while forced all their profitable divisions to carry expenses for top management pet project acquisitions. They had some very Milquetoast terms for it in the financial reports but it was basically a large interest expense shift.

Edited Thursday at 08:11 PM by gehringer_2

[LaceyLou]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

A few summers ago, the family went to Niagara Falls and Toronto.  While we were in Niagara Falls, we took a trek up to Niagara on the Lake, which is right on Lake Ontario where the Niagara River flows into it, right across the border from New York State (I forget that town’s name).  It’s a little touristy, but there’s a pretty nice walkable Main Street downtown area with small shops, a nice sized common park area, horse carriage rides, small town stuff like that.  And the town is walkable with lots of nice houses.  Lots of grape vineyards along the way from the Falls to the Lake.

The weather was clear enough where we could see across the lake and make out silhouettes of the Toronto skyline.  I think we were told that was around 30 miles across the lake?  I don’t know.  Maybe someone was yanking our chain a little on the distance.  But it took somewheres around an hour from the Falls to downtown Toronto when we made that drive.

There are a lot of towns in NY and New England that were built to be walkable and they were-until a lot of the stores were moved into shopping centers outside of downtown. Many of them could still be walkable since many of the structures are still there-but sadly it's not a priority. I'm just old enough to remember whole families going downtown not only to shop, but to meet up with friends and family. It's nice when you can get all of your errands and socializing done in a small area.

[Deleterious]

19 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Diversified companies have a lot of leeway in where and how they book expenses and overhead, what divisions carry debt and admin, real estate, investments, etc. If they are honest, they play straight, but it's naive to think they can't present a skewed picture if they want to and still be close enough within the rules. Just as an example the F100 I worked for for a while forced all their profitable divisions to carry expenses for top management pet project acquisitions. They had some very Milquetoast terms for it in the financial reports but it was basically a large interest expense shift.

I am not arguing it doesn't happen.  I'm arguing it's almost impossible to hide it from Wall Street.  Especially at the scale Amazon would have to do it to move the needle. 

 

 

 

[gehringer_2]

22 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

I am not arguing it doesn't happen.  I'm arguing it's almost impossible to hide it from Wall Street.  Especially at the scale Amazon would have to do it to move the needle. 

maybe. Hide is relative term. Especially a business with as much real estate as Amazon. You can shift profits or losses into real estate holding entities, You can manipulate who gets charged what on property expenses and which div leases to which till the cows come home. Again, I'm absolutely not making any claims about Amazon here except to defend my skepticism that they could get away with a lot before anyone caught it .  Standard reports and SEC filings just don't go into that level of detail at the individual facility or division level.  I'll hold  that almost any large corp can do a lot of things that no-one would notice or be able to figure out, and more to the point would be perfectly legal/acceptable but still obscure an accurate interdivisional reading. And in one important sense that's perfectly fair; an investor can only buy an interest in the whole company anyway.

Edited Thursday at 09:28 PM by gehringer_2

[Dan Gilmore]

Well, one thing we can all agree on is that regulation of corporate entities will be well funded, well staffed and rigorous. 😵‍💫

[chasfh]

Can I just tell you how completely underwhelmed I continue to be by AI and its capabilities?

I have a standing test for AI to see whether I feel I can use it reliably and trust its accuracy, and it's this: I have a softball league of eight teams. We play a seven-game season, with games times at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, and 9pm. Devise a seven-week schedule in which each team plays every other team once and only once, and every team plays no more than two games maximum scheduled for any one game time throughout the season. It's a simple math/logic test.

None of the AIs I've used can do this. Some of them will schedule one team against another four times while not even playing three other teams at all. And some teams will have five games scheduled for a particular time and no games scheduled for one or two others. If you tell me I am giving it an impossible task, that's fine, but before I accept that, you'll have to tell me exactly why it's impossible.

Now here's a new example of uselessness: I used Microsoft Word to develop  a set of questions for something my wife and I are exploring in which I mixed first person singular with first person plural. They should all be first person plural. Microsoft Word has their Copilot AI built into their 365 package. So I asked Copilot within Word: "change all first person singular to first person plural".

This was its reply: "It looks like you want to change all first-person singular pronouns to first-person plural pronouns in your document. Unfortunately, I can't make changes to your document directly. However, I can help you with other tasks such as summarizing documents, generating content, or answering questions. Would you like me to assist you with anything else? 😊"

Oh, come ON! Seriously? You really can't do even that?

I've never wanted to punch a smarmy useless smiley emoji in the face quite so much as when I saw this.

[Deleterious]

See if this works for ya.  I used ChatGPT but only used one prompt.

Quote

Here’s a proposed schedule for your 8-team softball league, with each team playing once per week for 7 weeks. Since each team should not play another team twice, we need to ensure that there are 7 unique matchups for each team.

Assumptions:

• Teams: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

• Games per week: 4 games at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, and 9pm

• Total games: 28 (7 weeks × 4 games/week)

• Each team plays one game per week

Week 1:

• 6:00pm - Team A vs Team B

• 7:00pm - Team C vs Team D

• 8:00pm - Team E vs Team F

• 9:00pm - Team G vs Team H

Week 2:

• 6:00pm - Team A vs Team C

• 7:00pm - Team B vs Team E

• 8:00pm - Team D vs Team G

• 9:00pm - Team F vs Team H

Week 3:

• 6:00pm - Team A vs Team D

• 7:00pm - Team B vs Team F

• 8:00pm - Team C vs Team G

• 9:00pm - Team E vs Team H

Week 4:

• 6:00pm - Team A vs Team E

• 7:00pm - Team B vs Team G

• 8:00pm - Team C vs Team F

• 9:00pm - Team D vs Team H

Week 5:

• 6:00pm - Team A vs Team F

• 7:00pm - Team B vs Team H

• 8:00pm - Team C vs Team E

• 9:00pm - Team D vs Team G

Week 6:

• 6:00pm - Team A vs Team G

• 7:00pm - Team B vs Team D

• 8:00pm - Team C vs Team H

• 9:00pm - Team E vs Team F

Week 7:

• 6:00pm - Team A vs Team H

• 7:00pm - Team B vs Team C

• 8:00pm - Team D vs Team F

• 9:00pm - Team E vs Team G

Key Points:

• Each team plays against every other team exactly once.

• There are 7 games per team, with no team playing another team twice.

• Games are spread out over the 7 weeks, with a consistent time slot each week.

Let me know if you'd like to make any adjustments!

 

[Deleterious]

Ooops.  I missed the part about game time.  Give me a minute.

[Deleterious]

I think this is it.

The no more than 2 times in a specific time slot really choked it for some reason.  I had to use about 5 or 6 more prompts to properly adjust it.

This was ChatGPT.

Updated 7-Week Schedule:

---

Week 1:

• 6:00pm: Team A vs Team B

• 7:00pm: Team C vs Team D

• 8:00pm: Team E vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team G vs Team H

---

Week 2:

• 6:00pm: Team C vs Team E

• 7:00pm: Team A vs Team D

• 8:00pm: Team B vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team G vs Team H

---

Week 3:

• 6:00pm: Team D vs Team G

• 7:00pm: Team A vs Team F

• 8:00pm: Team B vs Team H

• 9:00pm: Team C vs Team E

---

Week 4:

• 6:00pm: Team A vs Team G

• 7:00pm: Team B vs Team D

• 8:00pm: Team C vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team E vs Team H

---

Week 5:

• 6:00pm: Team A vs Team H

• 7:00pm: Team B vs Team C

• 8:00pm: Team D vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team E vs Team G

---

Week 6:

• 6:00pm: Team B vs Team G

• 7:00pm: Team A vs Team E

• 8:00pm: Team C vs Team D

• 9:00pm: Team F vs Team H

---

Week 7:

• 6:00pm: Team B vs Team F

• 7:00pm: Team C vs Team H

• 8:00pm: Team A vs Team D

• 9:00pm: Team E vs Team G

[Deleterious]

**** that is wrong too.  Oh well, I give up.

[chasfh]

Just now, Deleterious said:

I think this is it.

The no more than 2 times in a specific time slot really choked it for some reason.  I had to use about 5 or 6 more prompts to properly adjust it.

This was ChatGPT.

Updated 7-Week Schedule:

---

Week 1:

• 6:00pm: Team A vs Team B

• 7:00pm: Team C vs Team D

• 8:00pm: Team E vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team G vs Team H

---

Week 2:

• 6:00pm: Team C vs Team E

• 7:00pm: Team A vs Team D

• 8:00pm: Team B vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team G vs Team H

---

Week 3:

• 6:00pm: Team D vs Team G

• 7:00pm: Team A vs Team F

• 8:00pm: Team B vs Team H

• 9:00pm: Team C vs Team E

---

Week 4:

• 6:00pm: Team A vs Team G

• 7:00pm: Team B vs Team D

• 8:00pm: Team C vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team E vs Team H

---

Week 5:

• 6:00pm: Team A vs Team H

• 7:00pm: Team B vs Team C

• 8:00pm: Team D vs Team F

• 9:00pm: Team E vs Team G

---

Week 6:

• 6:00pm: Team B vs Team G

• 7:00pm: Team A vs Team E

• 8:00pm: Team C vs Team D

• 9:00pm: Team F vs Team H

---

Week 7:

• 6:00pm: Team B vs Team F

• 7:00pm: Team C vs Team H

• 8:00pm: Team A vs Team D

• 9:00pm: Team E vs Team G

Exactly. ChatGPT can't do it, either. Is it really impossible to do?

I should sit down and try it myself to see whether I am smarter than an AI.

[Deleterious]

2 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Exactly. ChatGPT can't do it, either. Is it really impossible to do?

I should sit down and try it myself to see whether I am smarter than an AI.

Well, ChatGPT is an LLM and not necessarily designed to make decisions like this.  We would be better using an LLM Agent. They are built on top of LLM's like ChatGPT and are designed to think and make decisions.

 

 

[Deleterious]

Not even sure I should show you this.  I think I got it to work but you wont like the model I used.  Please don't key it or firebomb it.

Quote

Final Schedule

Here’s the complete schedule with teams numbered 1–8 (you can replace these with your team names):

• Week 1
  • 6pm: Team 1 vs Team 2
  • 7pm: Team 3 vs Team 4
  • 8pm: Team 5 vs Team 6
  • 9pm: Team 7 vs Team 8
• Week 2
  • 6pm: Team 4 vs Team 7
  • 7pm: Team 1 vs Team 3
  • 8pm: Team 2 vs Team 5
  • 9pm: Team 6 vs Team 8
• Week 3
  • 6pm: Team 5 vs Team 7
  • 7pm: Team 2 vs Team 6
  • 8pm: Team 1 vs Team 4
  • 9pm: Team 3 vs Team 8
• Week 4
  • 6pm: Team 3 vs Team 6
  • 7pm: Team 4 vs Team 8
  • 8pm: Team 1 vs Team 5
  • 9pm: Team 2 vs Team 7
• Week 5
  • 6pm: Team 2 vs Team 8
  • 7pm: Team 5 vs Team 3
  • 8pm: Team 4 vs Team 7
  • 9pm: Team 1 vs Team 6
• Week 6
  • 6pm: Team 5 vs Team 8
  • 7pm: Team 1 vs Team 7
  • 8pm: Team 2 vs Team 3
  • 9pm: Team 4 vs Team 6
• Week 7
  • 6pm: Team 3 vs Team 7
  • 7pm: Team 5 vs Team 6
  • 8pm: Team 2 vs Team 4
  • 9pm: Team 1 vs Team 8

This schedule ensures:

• Each team plays 7 games against 7 different opponents.
• No team plays another team twice.
• No team plays in any time slot (6pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm) more than twice.

You can assign your actual team names to the numbers 1–8 and share this with your league! Let me know if you need further adjustments.

 

[oblong]

That's my probem with it... and with a lot of what a friend of mine called "Productivity porn" apps.  You spend more time figuring out how to make it do something than you could have spent just doing it.  

Obviously people are using it so what do I know.  I guess I'm one of those dinosaurs I made fun of 20 years ago when it comes to tech.

 

 

[chasfh]

On 3/28/2025 at 12:55 PM, oblong said:

That's my probem with it... and with a lot of what a friend of mine called "Productivity porn" apps.  You spend more time figuring out how to make it do something than you could have spent just doing it.  

Obviously people are using it so what do I know.  I guess I'm one of those dinosaurs I made fun of 20 years ago when it comes to tech.

 

 

My guess is that the most common thing people use it for is to write things for them because they themselves can’t write for ****.

I’ve tried inputting a few things a LLM to see whether it can improve on it on what I’ve written and they never can. I’m always hoping to see a dramatic improvement in clarity and style, but all l’ve ever seen them do is switch out my discretionary phrasing decisions for theirs. I assume I’m not a great writer as much as LLM is still in its toddlerhood.

[chasfh]

On 3/28/2025 at 11:44 AM, Deleterious said:

Not even sure I should show you this.  I think I got it to work but you wont like the model I used.  Please don't key it or firebomb it.

 

Team 8 still has four 9 o’clock games.

I think you’re right: AI LLMs are not cut out for logic.

[Screwball]

[lordstanley]

Not a pet peeve, but related to this current page of this thread. So I’m one paper away from completing my Master’s  degree in Theology and, believe it or not, the topic of my 50-pager is basically AI ethics through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. A dive into the Vatican’s recent document Antiqua et Nova.  Plus case studies of responsible AI - or not - in the financial sector (M&A advisor is my day job) https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20250128_antiqua-et-nova_en.html

Research papers don’t usually have cover photos but if they did, this one would be the most obvious one other. 

Edited yesterday at 06:31 AM by lordstanley

[gehringer_2]

6 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Not a pet peeve, but related to this current page of this thread. So I’m one paper away from completing my Master’s  degree in Theology and, believe it or not, the topic of my 50-pager is basically AI ethics through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. A dive into the Vatican’s recent document Antiqua et Nova.  Plus case studies of responsible AI - or not - in the financial sector (M&A advisor is my day job) https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20250128_antiqua-et-nova_en.html

Research papers don’t usually have cover photos but if they did, this one would be the most obvious one other. 

Does Michelin know that Bib is moonlighting as the Pope?

[oblong]

12 hours ago, chasfh said:

My guess is that the most common thing people use it for is to write things for them because they themselves can’t write for ****.

I’ve tried inputting a few things a LLM to see whether it can improve on it on what I’ve written and they never can. I’m always hoping to see a dramatic improvement in clarity and style, but all l’ve ever seen them do is switch out my discretionary phrasing decisions for theirs. I assume I’m not a great writer as much as LLM is still in its toddlerhood.

And I enjoy writing.  I have an attorney friend who uses it for briefs. But I still don’t trust it and I think for a creative element it’s good to be stuck and force yourself to figure it out.  In terms of art I think struggling is a positive.  
 

For that I will point out the Godfather movies.  For the first one Coppola was so stressed about proving himself that he made a masterpiece. For the second he was so stressed about proving it was his talent as much as Brando and Puzo and Pacino that he topped his masterpiece.  For the third one everyone was fat, happy, and rich and just did it for the money.  

[Hongbit]

12 hours ago, chasfh said:

My guess is that the most common thing people use it for is to write things for them because they themselves can’t write for ****.

I’ve tried inputting a few things a LLM to see whether it can improve on it on what I’ve written and they never can. I’m always hoping to see a dramatic improvement in clarity and style, but all l’ve ever seen them do is switch out my discretionary phrasing decisions for theirs. I assume I’m not a great writer as much as LLM is still in its toddlerhood.

I see so much content on LinkedIn that is so obviously ChatGPT generated.  Way too many paragraphs each starting with a emoji is a dead giveaway.    My thought goes from insightful to disingenuous very quick when I see it.  

AI is great for content ideas and a base for starting something but folks need to stop cut and paste posting straight from ChatGPT.  Take a second and tweak it and make it sound more like their voice (also use the make it shorter command a few times too).

 

[casimir]

8 hours ago, lordstanley said:

 

They couldn't get him an Angels' or a Saints' jacket from Starter?