nfultz

Backgammon is "easier" than chess or go, but it has dice, so it not (yet) been completely solved like checkers. I think only the endgame ("bearing off") has been solved. The SOTA backgammon AI using NNs is better than expert humans but you can still beat it if you get lucky. XG is notable because if you ever watch high stakes backgammon on youtube, they will run XG side by side to show when human players make blunders. That's how I learned about it anyway.

This had slipped under the radar for me

https://www.reddit.com/r/backgammon/comments/1k8nlay/new_chapter_for_extreme_gammon/

After 25 years, it is time for us to pass the torch to someone else. Travis Kalanick, yes the Uber founder, has purchased Gammonsite and eXtreme Gammon and will take over our backgammon products (he has a message to the community below)

:(

Why is WSJ rehashing six month old whitepapers? Slow news week /s

Anything new vs the last time it popped up? https://www.anthropic.com/research/project-vend-1

EDIT:

In mid-November, I agreed to an experiment. Anthropic had tested a vending machine powered by its Claude AI model in its own offices and asked whether we’d like to be the first outsiders to try a newer, supposedly smarter version.

Whats that word for doing the same thing and expecting different results?

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/can-ucla-replace-teaching-assistants-ai

Miller’s team also recently used software from startup StackAI to develop an AI-powered app that writes letters of recommendation, saving faculty members time. Faculty type basic details about a student who has requested a letter, such as their grades and accomplishments, and the app writes a draft of the full letter.

AI is “one of those things that you might worry could dehumanize the process of writing recommendation letters, but faculty also say that process [of manually writing the letters] is very labor intensive,” Miller said. “So far they’ve gotten a lot out of” the new app.

Anyone using this thing should be required to serve on the admissions committee. LoRs aren't for generic B+ students that you don't even remember, just say no.

I googled stackai, saw their screenshots and had ptsd flashbacks of mid 2000s alteryx. why do we keep reinventing no-code drag-and-drop box-and-arrow crap.

I went down a punch-card history rabbit hole today on the empirical software engineering discord. TIL:

• IBM leased machines, didn't sell them
  • Lease required using IBM branded punchcard (Razor and Blade Model)
• Until "The Consent Decree of 1956" forced them to unbundle https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/09/business/ibm-and-the-limits-of-a-consent-decree.html
• The competing punch card standard of the time had 90 columns

We have been living in a world 10 columns too short. Think of all the HN headlines we could have had instead...

I imagine it was like VHS vs Beta only with pocket protectors.

new polemics.md: The Crypto Lotus Mystery feat. Sam Bankman-Fried

Purdue mandating AI to graduate: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/2025/Q4/purdue-unveils-comprehensive-ai-strategy-trustees-approve-ai-working-competency-graduation-requirement/

I'm looking for the actual curricula / docs signed off by the trustees. Looks like another domino falls.

https://kevinmd.com/2025/12/why-ai-in-medicine-elevates-humanity-instead-of-replacing-it.html h/t naked capitalism

Throughout my nearly three decades in family medicine across a busy rural region, I watched the system become increasingly burdened by administrative requirements and workflow friction. The profession I loved was losing time and attention to tasks that did not require a medical degree. That tension created a realization that has guided my work ever since: If physicians do not lead the integration of AI into clinical practice, someone else will. And if they do, the result will be a weaker version of care.

I feel for him, but MAYBE this isn't a technical issue but a labor one; maybe 30 years ago doctors should have "led" on admin and workflow issues directly, and then they wouldn't need to "lead" on AI now? I'm sorry Cerner / Epic sucks but adding AI won't make it better. But, of course, class consciousness evaporates about the same time as those $200k student loans come due.

https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNOME-Extensions-Block-AI

Now they just need to add a slider for touchpad scroll speed.

I've worked on LAPD ADSB data for a couple years and then some dude goes an posts this right before thanksgiving:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46009591

Flying Moneybags!

fuck, why didn't we think of that.

I did it, I went and made a Official Public Comment IRL:

In UCLA's Strategic Plan, Goal 1 is to "Deepen our engagement with Los Angeles" and Goal 5 is to "Become a more effective institution". By engaging with Los Angeles businesses, UCLA can get both better terms, prices, and services, and support the local economy. Buy Local, Spend Local.

The federal government encourages this with Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants, among other things. Furthermore, the State of California requires a portion of its spending go toward certified Small Businesses.

And yet, the University apparently awarded a contract reportedly worth hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to OpenAI. I have not found any documentation of an open Request for Proposals or competitive process for that award.

My question is:

If there was an RFP, where was it publicly posted, and if there was no RFP, why not, and were Los Angeles vendors or small businesses evaluated as alternatives, as recommended by UC policy and state law?

Given the scale of this spending and the context of a budget crisis, transparency, compliance, and small-business participation are critical to our effectiveness and engagement.

I’m asking for clarity on how this decision was made, how it aligns with procurement guidelines and University goals, and how DTS plans to ensure that local and small businesses are meaningfully included moving forward.

Thank you.

My college used the green Russell Norvig text, which had (checking...) 12 pages on neutral nets out of 1000 pages. I liked the class well enough, but we used Java 1.3 and lisp would have been better.