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A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

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Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#201

Post by rossant »

jdsnape wrote: post #167
eru wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case, both fair and fare are words in English. Which shows that spell checking needs to know a lot about grammar and context to work in general. Basically you need an LLM. Or if not a 'large language model', perhaps at least a small language model.

I wonder how it does work, I remember MS Word having a fairly decent grammar checker when I was using it in school - which predated LLMs by many years! I suspect an LLM wouldn’t be the most optimal choice

farely decent?

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#202

Post by shakna »

kergonath wrote: post #77
runako wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not as much with spellcheckers because even when they started to get popular, it was apparent that many people cannot spell English. So it was very natural. People pushed back on the grammar checks when they landed in Word. Before that, people pushed back on calculators in secondary schools. This was a huge point of contention all classes except trigonometry, and calculators were definitely not allowed in the SAT/ACT…

> People pushed back on the grammar checks when they landed in Word. Word’s grammar checker has improved quite a lot. But I absolutely hate the style checker and its useless advice. Yes, I know how the passive voice works and yes, it is appropriate in this sentence. Also, it’s not really a problem in English but Word still can’t do spaces properly so it wants to put normal spaces everywhere and it’s fucking ugly. I w…

Word's style checker trying to enforce US norms, when the Australian dictionary is in use aggravates me.

Yes, we use the Oxford comma. We teach it in our schools. Stop trying to tell me its not necessary - the audience expects it!

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#203

Post by mrguyorama »

shakna wrote: post #202
kergonath wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People pushed back on the grammar checks when they landed in Word. Word’s grammar checker has improved quite a lot. But I absolutely hate the style checker and its useless advice. Yes, I know how the passive voice works and yes, it is appropriate in this sentence. Also, it’s not really a problem in English but Word still can’t do spaces properly so it wants to put normal spaces everywhere and it’s fucking ugly. I w…

Word's style checker trying to enforce US norms, when the Australian dictionary is in use aggravates me. Yes, we use the Oxford comma. We teach it in our schools. Stop trying to tell me its not necessary - the audience expects it!

It was just as useless here in the states:

"Sentence fragment, consider revising"

It's dialog in a story you ignorant clod.

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#204

Post by abullinan »

sixo wrote: post #196
abullinan wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes a village. Also to be successful in tech it takes an asshole. No way around it. At some point all successful companies share an overly aggressive visionary. The entire company doesn’t need to be toxic, but the apex does. If you don’t like it, don’t climb the ladder.

Skill issue. There are other ways to get those results, but being an asshole is the lowest-hanging, and is nearly free if the people around you don't have the self-respect to walk away.

I disagree. Point to a centibillion+ company that isn’t fronted by a toxic asshole.

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#205

Post by eru »

leoc wrote: post #185
eru wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure you need to restrict yourself to these. You can also look at eg political leaders. Lee Kuan Yew is one example that comes to mind immediately. Warren Buffett might be a good example from the world of business. (Your favourite search engine or chatbot is probably more than happy to give you a steady stream of other examples.)

I don't know, maybe he wouldn't raise his voice, but I can't imagine it would be fun to be a subordinate of LKY at the moment he decided you were wasting his time.

The original comment was:

> People will call someone who doesn't bend to the status quo an asshole.

That's very different from not suffering time wasters.

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#206

Post by abullinan »

eru wrote: post #153
qmr wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What founders / CEOs can you name described by those qualities?

I'm not sure you need to restrict yourself to these. You can also look at eg political leaders. Lee Kuan Yew is one example that comes to mind immediately. Warren Buffett might be a good example from the world of business. (Your favourite search engine or chatbot is probably more than happy to give you a steady stream of other examples.)

Warren Buffet is a very carefully crafted “aww shucks” persona. He’s spent megabucks inventing it and keeping it safe. And I lose the argument because I cannot find the article from a decade ago that really dug into it. Either SEO has vanished it or he has it removed.

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#207

Post by immibis »

psyonity wrote: post #173
netsharc wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you improve this product with a screwdriver (to open it up) and wire-snipper (to cut off the LED)?

There is a chance the led is also used as a important diode in the circuit, plainly removing it can greatly reduce the lifespan of the device. (more common in cheaper products) Adding a appropiate diode in it's place is advised.

that chance is very low

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#208

Post by eru »

abullinan wrote: post #206
eru wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure you need to restrict yourself to these. You can also look at eg political leaders. Lee Kuan Yew is one example that comes to mind immediately. Warren Buffett might be a good example from the world of business. (Your favourite search engine or chatbot is probably more than happy to give you a steady stream of other examples.)

Warren Buffet is a very carefully crafted “aww shucks” persona. He’s spent megabucks inventing it and keeping it safe. And I lose the argument because I cannot find the article from a decade ago that really dug into it. Either SEO has vanished it or he has it removed.

Many personas are carefully crafted. Including some of the jerks' personas.

As long as Warren Buffett keeps it up to his underlings and business partners..

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#209

Post by anuramat »

dsign wrote: post #150
anuramat wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how BERT is trained, masked language modeling

I've used BERT to do that sort of thing. It was a prototype and I was using Pytorch, also, I'm not an expert on Pytorch performance. I also tried with models that succeeded BERT for masked token. My issue with it is that it was slow :-( . My second issue with it is that it wasn't integrated in my favorite word editor. But definitively useful.

Did you try any diffusion models? They should be quick enough

Re: A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

#210

Post by 486sx33 »

Lio wrote: post #161
mathiaspoint wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good product development really does seem to require some sort of leader who demands quality and smacks people when they don't deliver. Linux is nice because of Torvalds for example.

Completely agree. I was given a small electric fan. It’s great in that it’s portable and I can use it in some of the crummy hotels I have to stay in. Unfortunately, it has a bright blue LED on it so it’s a pain to use at night when you’re trying to sleep. It’s so bright that even covered with tape it still shines through the thin plastic of the fan body. What really gets me is why they bothered putting an operating l…

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