Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown • Hacker News Board

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#51

Post by nwallin » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 3:20 AM UTC

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #48

lisper wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simone made shitty robots in the same way that Rodney Dangerfield got no respect. Simone was never the Queen of the Shitty Robots, she was the person who created the Queen of the Shitty Robots. And in so doing, she showed how to make a success out of something that appeared on its surface to be a failure. Hell, she even took a fucking brain tumor (in her own brain!) and turned it into humor. It is hard for me to imag…

How is that similar to Rodney Dangerfield? I’m not very familiar with him, so I missed the analogy.

Dangerfield's shtick was being as shitty as possible in every possible way. He pretended to be a terrible human being, a terrible comedian, a terrible everything. It was hilarious.

A lot of people weren't in on it though. They thought he was washed up, not knowing that that was the joke.

Another good comparison would be heels in professional wrestling. Those people work hard to get as low as they are, and they suffer for it as much as the medium benefits from it.

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#52

Post by sgc » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 3:48 AM UTC

cptskippy wrote: post #26

bhouston wrote: post #4

My daughter, who is interested in science and engineering loved the shitty robot videos. It was a form of engineering comedy. I guess if she wasn't a women, creating shitty robots would be just funny and inventive way that she figured out how to make money. Comedians make people laugh using inventive and unexpected constructions, she was no different. A lot of comedians do things that are in one way or another demean…

> A lot of comedians do things that are in one way or another demeaning to themselves or showing a lack of self-respect, but they do it because they actually incredibly confident in themselves that they can stand up and make those jokes. Many struggle with anxiety and depression, and are self deprecating as a defense mechanism because the criticism of others is less harsh when you've already done it to yourself.

No doubt. Robin Williams, undoubtedly one of the great masters of our times, killed himself.

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#53

Post by exabrial » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 5:10 AM UTC

bdamm wrote: post #38

exabrial wrote: post #34

Side note: Why couldn't Tesla license her truck design instead of the Cybertruck. Sigh.

I don't think Tesla needs to license her design as there is no trademark or patent. They can start manufacturing mini-pickups any time they want to. They probably aren't because the market for small electric pickups with miniature beds is a small one. The direction they are going seems like the right one to me; big, powerful, featured, luxurious vehicles that absolutely out-class ICE vehicles and leave us wondering w…

Was a joke comment. I just wanted an electric El Camino

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#54

Post by jimmux » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 6:07 AM UTC

shrimp_emoji wrote: post #47

6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #45

>"There are so many things that are amazing that are not perfect. And there are so many things that are perfect that are fucking boring," [Giertz] says. "Perfect is a corset. It doesn't let you breathe. It doesn't let you roll around. It's a small pen to be in." Oof. That hits the perfectionist in me hard.

To achieve perfection is to sacrifice growth DuckerZ

"Perfect is the enemy of good"

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#55

Post by AareyBaba » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 7:29 AM UTC

marblar wrote: post #44

wvenable wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also depends on the last name. Short last names will be used more than long ones, male or female. Funny last names more than non-funny ones.

Did you vote for Donald or Hillary?

Bernie or Warren ?

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#56

Post by saberdancer » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 9:45 AM UTC

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #36

eshyong wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that a good thing, since they're getting more recognition (people learning their first name), or am I missing something more subtle here?

I had a female CS professor who noticed (and disliked) that students were a lot more likely to use her first name while calling male professors Dr. Whatever. A lot of men) tend to perceive women as warmer, more nurturing, more approachable than their male counterparts; their approach to them is less formal, less respectful, more chummy. There are situations where that approach is appropriate, but the tendency to use…

I always thought it happens because we tend to use the identifier that is the most unique. We had a CS professor (male) who had an unusual first name, everyone referred to him by using the first name. Obviously not in a formal way but when we discussed him.

Because women tend to be less numerous in CS and similar engineering professions, their name tends to be more unique than male counterparts. I know it's anecdotal but it seems to line up with my school years where depending on whether your first name or last name were often we fell back on one other other. A girl with a common first name was called by her last name, while a guy with common last name was called by his first name.

Few examples in popular culture: Hillary, Bernie (relatively unusual first name), Trump, Warren (I think no one calls you just Elizabeth, her first and last name are relatively generic so usually people use both)

In Formula 1: Lewis, Alonso, Vettel, Max (or Verstappen), Lando.

It seems mixed.

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#57

Post by jillesvangurp » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 11:29 AM UTC

exabrial wrote: post #34

Side note: Why couldn't Tesla license her truck design instead of the Cybertruck. Sigh.

They did invite her to the launch event but then told her not to bring the Truckla. She did a funny video looking a bit baffled at the event. They should have let her drive it on stage before the real thing. That would have been funny and I'm sure she'd have been up for a stunt like that.

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#58

Post by scandinavegan » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 3:20 PM UTC

bynkman wrote: post #49

DagAgren wrote: post #2

> For a long time, building shitty robots meant Giertz never had to face failure, even if the robots themselves failed. “One of the things that I've been trying to figure out is: Was building shitty robots in some way a method for me to minimize myself, to make myself smaller?” Giertz says. “Because that's what I notice—a lot of women being really scared to step up and be an expert.” This rings really true, and as fu…

Allowing ourselves to fail (and learn and have fun) is a powerful thing. I discovered this a few years back playing a (new to me) board game with friends. I didn't know it well enough to win, so took the point of view that I'd probably lose, but have fun at the same time, learning this new game. All too often we are told that we have to win, succeed, make a passing grade. This definitely puts in a level of not fun an…

> Allowing ourselves to fail (and learn and have fun) is a powerful thing.

I agree completely, and it changed my life to realize this as an adult. I try to teach my kids that it's OK to enter practice mode when they do things that are hard (video games, drawing, homework) and that it's OK to fail as long as they learn or at least have fun.

For me it was the video games Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne that taught me to fail and press on. I had a fixed mindset before, and would mostly do things that came easy to me. In DS3 the bosses, and even regular enemies, can kill you with a couple of blows, but if you figure out their movesets you can easily counter them.

The first time you meet a new boss you have to be prepared to die a couple of times (or 10 or 50) as you learn their attacks and how they're telegraphed, before you can defeat them. A common suggestion is to not at first even try to attack a difficult boss, but to just dodge and study their moves before they inevitable defeat you. Then you apply that knowledge the next time you try.

I've come to the point where I feel cheated if I beat a boss at the first attempt, because you don't get to experience the full range of the boss and you don't get the same high as when you finally beat them.

DS3 and Bloodborne has made me better at video games in general, and I think better at being persistent outside of games.

Another thing is watching people practice speedruns of video games. They fail over, and over, over again, and I greatly admire the players that can just restart that section of the game and practice over and over. I hate speedrunners that rage at the game, but absolutely love the calm ones that just keep trying until they can reliably beat a difficult stage.

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#59

Post by eshyong » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 11:27 PM UTC

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #36

eshyong wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that a good thing, since they're getting more recognition (people learning their first name), or am I missing something more subtle here?

I had a female CS professor who noticed (and disliked) that students were a lot more likely to use her first name while calling male professors Dr. Whatever. A lot of men) tend to perceive women as warmer, more nurturing, more approachable than their male counterparts; their approach to them is less formal, less respectful, more chummy. There are situations where that approach is appropriate, but the tendency to use…

Ahh, interesting insight. I hadn't considered that case before, but in that context it makes sense.

I'd definitely be annoyed if I was a professor/doctor and strangers were being overly familiar with me.

Re: Why the ‘Queen of Shitty Robots’ Renounced Her Crown

#60

Post by romwell » Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 11:46 PM UTC

lonelappde wrote: post #42

This is the story of most comedians. Good comedy is easier than good drama and deep art and invention. It's a young person's game. Good to move on to something bigger and better. Yes, Simone is a better robotocist than most of us. That's not a compliment to her , because her dreams aim higher. The sexist fear angle of the story is unfortunate, though. People shouldn't hold themselves back because of imagined differen…

>Good comedy is easier than good drama

I highly disagree. Good comedy, especially one that stands the test of time (and not just wit du jour) is hard.

>It's a young person's game.

I thought I couldn't disagree more, but I actually do.

From Leslie Nielsen to George Carlin, a lot of my favorite comedians were grey-haired, old people.