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CamperBob2 · 2026-09-23T04:08:22

Neat, but "did it entirely on its own" is incongruous with "developing the necessary Python and C++ software for an Enigma simulator".

Turing and Flowers: "How do you think we did it?"

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-22T21:25:29

It's not a """free market""" when a company is able to use a government-granted and -enforced monopoly to keep people locked into the company's proprietary app store.

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-22T16:36:36

Engineering is the use of mathematics to turn science into technology. Statistics is mathematics, comp sci is science, and technology is the end product.

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-22T01:23:39

We are being A/B tested on and there is nothing you can do about it.

Oh, yes there is. DeepSeek 4.1 Flash on max thinking can simply be dropped into Claude Code. Close your eyes as the chain-of-thought traffic scrolls by and you can easily fool yourself into thinking you're still running Opus, in terms of both cognition and throughput.

To be fair, matching Opus's throughput costs about as much as a new car, but cars suck nowadays and you didn't want a new one anyway, right...? Failing that, rent a cloud server, one that you control.

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-21T23:30:33

Pretty awesome. I fed it to Astra Max and it took over 2 minutes ( https://chatgpt.com/share/6ab1bd98-7974-83e8-9734-8e10b5b3ef... ) so that's interesting in itself. If we knew how she did that, I wonder if the insight would be transferable to transformer-based ANNs.

Interesting character even aside from her mental-arithmetic abilities.

Edit: Deepseek 4.1 Flash running locally got it in 134 seconds. Beaten by Astra but not by much. Neither model seems to recognize the problem (at least it doesn't appear in DS4.1's chain of thought.)

ben_w · 2026-09-22T19:18:01

I saw a video at one point about how she probably did it, but I can't find it. I feel it was Numberphile or Computerphile or StandUpMaths, something in that general circle.

5.6 Luna on a free account took 56 seconds, and has some stuff I remember from that video: https://chatgpt.com/s/t_6ab2d40e145c81918a3abb288b4b99a8

(The extra stuff at the header is due to my custom prompt).

I suspect Astra Max took so long because it's the big model and doing the most thinking.

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-21T23:19:23

4.1 Flash is a horse of a very different color. It cooks. IMHO it's probably a preview of DS5, rather than a true DS4-series model.

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-21T23:18:44

Try DS4.1 Flash. It's another eye-opener. If you run it in Claude Code, it's easy to forget you're not actually talking to a high-end Opus model.

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-21T23:09:06

I mean, those costs are in the bill, they just don't itemize them. What difference would it make to you if they did?

flowerlad · 2026-09-22T00:27:14

It is not just a matter of whether it is itemized or not. It is a matter of deception. They advertise one price then charge you another. So in the AWS example, you think you agreed to pay $20 per month for the VM, but when you get the bill it is $37 because they added fees for employee health insurance, social security and medicare. Would you not be pissed?

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-21T17:47:55

And nightmare fuel is just what they'll be selling at the UN this week, for this very reason.

Sam's address will probably be more riveting, imaginative, and terrifying than the last couple of Terminator screenplays. Legislators will lobby him to write the laws for them, and the ghost of Harlan Ellison will threaten to sue him.

CamperBob2 · 2026-09-21T16:53:12

You forgot a stage or two:

1: "Our model will bring about the end of all things. Flee, flee for your lives"

2: "Our model is basically AGI"

3: "Our model will be available in limited release next week"

4: "Everybody who subscribes at the $200 level gets access now"

5: "Everybody who subscribes at the $20 level gets access now"

6, at least at Google: "Our model will be shoved down your throat every time you do a search, whether you want it or not"

artemonster · 2026-09-21T16:58:14

0. "our model is too dangerous to release to pubic"

dwaite · 2026-09-21T17:06:34

Google's search AI actually its too dangerous to release to the public. I have relatives routinely citing it as their source for medical advice.

I have quite strongly told them, in no uncertain terms, that they are going to kill themselves doing that.

Atreiden · 2026-09-21T17:31:07

Be sure to eat plenty of rocks in your daily diet, they are chock full of valuable minerals!