Hacker News: EarlKing

New comment by EarlKing in "Prime Agent: A self-improving RLM agent"

EarlKing — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 01:25:10 +0000

Yeah, there's no question this one's over-the-top when it comes to trying to gross out the reader, but I'd like to think people can overlook that.

New comment by EarlKing in "Prime Agent: A self-improving RLM agent"

EarlKing — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 23:42:04 +0000

For everyone downvoting: It's literally a story about the creation of mankind's first artificial general intelligence, Prime Intellect, and the consequences of that discovery.

New comment by EarlKing in "GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2"

EarlKing — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 23:34:36 +0000

"I come here to code GNU Hurd and chew bubblegum, and I got a whole lotta bubblegum..."

New comment by EarlKing in "The title cards in Blade Runner are amazing"

EarlKing — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 23:33:39 +0000

Clearly the writers should be subject to a Voight-Kampff test just to be sure.

New comment by EarlKing in "GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2"

EarlKing — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 19:31:09 +0000

Fun fact: Duke Nukem Forever shipped before GNU Hurd.

New comment by EarlKing in "Stolen Buttons"

EarlKing — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 20:46:46 +0000

I suppose this is a healthier hobby than stealing hotel towels and ashtrays.

New comment by EarlKing in "The Economics of Recursive Self-Improvement [pdf]"

EarlKing — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 06:04:51 +0000

> How is this not obvious to everyone?

Because everyone's thinking around intelligence is incredibly muddled by a variety of factors, and no one is particularly motivated to actually correct anyone's mistaken notions on the matter.

New comment by EarlKing in "Chat Control 1.0 and 2.0 Explained"

EarlKing — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:54:39 +0000

> stopping child sexual abuse

> suddenly touches everyone

..............I see what you did there.

New comment by EarlKing in "The Wholesale Plagiarism of Obscure Sorrows"

EarlKing — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 18:48:00 +0000

Allow me to introduce everyone here to a new definition (original content, donut steel):

qontouria, n. The feeling of having your work passed off as someone else's.

New comment by EarlKing in "Stop Killing Games fails to secure EU law despite 1.3M signatures"

EarlKing — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 03:16:38 +0000

If only those 1.3 million signatories pledged to never buy from a company that Kills Games again...

New comment by EarlKing in "What the fuck happened to nerds"

EarlKing — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:32:12 +0000

Simple: These aren't nerds. These are grifters selling you a product using product packaging (nerdface) that you find appealing. Enjoy your purchase.

New comment by EarlKing in "A jacket that harvests drinking water from the air"

EarlKing — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 04:29:23 +0000

The deep desert. As far from the pyons as the sands go.

New comment by EarlKing in "A jacket that harvests drinking water from the air"

EarlKing — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 01:18:25 +0000

I don't know about the rest of you, but if somebody spots Shai-hulud out in the Sahara I'm outta here.

New comment by EarlKing in "Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?"

EarlKing — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:18:51 +0000

Attesting who is responsible is more of that "bullshit most of us didn't ask for". I'm not interested in identifying myself so some cretin can know whether I am, or am not, an AI... particularly when the vast majority of posters on any platform act like NPCs anyway.

New comment by EarlKing in "Bot vs human traffic"

EarlKing — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:14:27 +0000

If they were truly this accurate at identifying sources of bot traffic, you'd think they'd be better at blocking them without inconveniencing the rest of us.

New comment by EarlKing in "Meta repeatedly snubs EU body over Facebook and Instagram user bans"

EarlKing — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 05:24:55 +0000

Jacobsen v. Katzer established that source code, i.e. something other than money, could be used as valuable consideration for perfecting a license into a contract. The terms of service you agree to when you join Facebook, Twitter, or what have you, similarly involves an exchange of non-monetary consideration for services rendered. Both user and service provider are in a legally-binding contract. If a service provider then bans a user for no reason, or any reason, they open themselves to litigation. None of this is controversial. I really do recommend you talk to somebody who's familiar with contract law before continuing.

New comment by EarlKing in "Meta repeatedly snubs EU body over Facebook and Instagram user bans"

EarlKing — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 23:36:39 +0000

That's not rhetoric. It's well established that consideration does not have to consist of money. A prime example of this was in Jacobsen v. Katzer where the exchange of source code was deemed valuable consideration for purposes of perfecting a license into an enforceable contract. You might want to consult an attorney or at least read up on the basics of contract law before continuing.

New comment by EarlKing in "Meta repeatedly snubs EU body over Facebook and Instagram user bans"

EarlKing — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:32:11 +0000

The user and Service are bound by their terms of service which is perfected into a contract by the valuable exchange of their eyeballs against advertising for the provision of the service in question. Valuable consideration does not have to mean "money". So, no, they don't get to ban people on a whim.

New comment by EarlKing in "Meta repeatedly snubs EU body over Facebook and Instagram user bans"

EarlKing — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:20:37 +0000

It's not 'whataboutism' when you're impugning their authority while seemingly have none of your own... or, in the alternative, even if it is, it's quite valid in this instance.

New comment by EarlKing in "Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?"

EarlKing — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 03:42:47 +0000

Verification tells you that a human being is behind it, not that a human being made it.