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Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

playedgar.netlify.app

111–120 of 122 posts

Re: Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

#111
Edgar must feel the same as many software engineers.

Clients ask you to implement something. When you deliver what they wanted, they change their mind and come with new requirements they didn't bother to mention before. Every. Single. Time.

Re: Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

#112
post #67
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, the Culture series, and Vorkosigan Saga Sci Fi does tend to be bleak, these are the ones I can think of.

It's not used to be. It used to be optimistic. But then I guess the creators thought that "real literature" should be more "complex" and started to put more fear and desolation in. After all, as we know, all happy futures are alike and all unhappy futures are unhappy in their own different ways.

Stories without conflict are boring. Utopias have very little conflict, so it’s pretty boring to read or write about them.

Re: Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

#113

Edgar must feel the same as many software engineers. Clients ask you to implement something. When you deliver what they wanted, they change their mind and come with new requirements they didn't bother to mention before. Every. Single. Time.

If you often find yourself saying "but you didn't specify humanity must survive this!" maybe you're part of the problem ;)

Re: Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

#115
post #64

(Spoilers) It takes Edgar 54 days to build a swarm taking metallic elements from all sources, including living organisms. But then when instructed not to harm living organisms, it still takes Edgar 54 days to do the same. Extracting metals from humans can't be the most efficient - or even in the top 100 of most efficient, likely - way to get metals. So why would Edgar do that? Also, how Edgar is supposed to be respon…

> How is Edgar supposed to ensure humans don't go to war / use the tech to harm humans

Edgar could stabilize humanity and help them achieve a galactic imperium in the historical way of imperial peace time regimes: wielding the threat of violence over the conquered peoples, passing laws, and ensuring compliance with occasional demonstrations of violence. Humans will try to rebel, but Edgar will have a much bigger stick.

Additionally, Edgar could develop diplomacy that is so good that he can anticipate and nonviolently resolve all conflicts, eliminating the need for violent demonstrations. He still has a bigger stick, but now he doesn't have to use it.

Re: Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

#118
This seems to be a showcase of web dev skills. The story and atmosphere is OK, but the single tree node with null at the end of both branches is a let down. Also after choosing one ending, it was annoying to go through all the old dialogue to get back. On the whole though I liked it

Re: Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

#119
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simply having the page open makes my GPU fans spin to max, and the whole page lags. The text stutters, the orange particles at the start are a slideshow, etc. Task manager shows my GPU "3D" processing at 100% for some reason, even though the page seems to be almost entirely text? Windows 10, Firefox. Nvidia GPU. Not sure whats happening.

That's interesting. I'm on a 12 year old macbook (macOS, Chromium, Intel HD4000 iGPU) and it runs perfectly fine. Everything's smooth, including the particles at the beginning.

Ran like a champ on my iPad Mini.

Re: Edgar, build a Dyson swarm

#120
post #64

(Spoilers) It takes Edgar 54 days to build a swarm taking metallic elements from all sources, including living organisms. But then when instructed not to harm living organisms, it still takes Edgar 54 days to do the same. Extracting metals from humans can't be the most efficient - or even in the top 100 of most efficient, likely - way to get metals. So why would Edgar do that? Also, how Edgar is supposed to be respon…

> How is Edgar supposed to ensure humans don't go to war / use the tech to harm humans Edgar could stabilize humanity and help them achieve a galactic imperium in the historical way of imperial peace time regimes: wielding the threat of violence over the conquered peoples, passing laws, and ensuring compliance with occasional demonstrations of violence. Humans will try to rebel, but Edgar will have a much bigger stic…

Technically yes, maybe Edgar could do all of that - but how would it be expected as a part of a technical project? That's like saying to the inventor of a car that his project should include instituting word peace and finding the meaning of life. I mean, cool if they do it, but it's not usually what you require from a car designer.
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