Thread

Kids turned low-traffic NPR Spotify comments into a secret group chat

484 points · 257 comments · simonpure

xnx · 1790611372 · focus · HN ↗
The Onion predicted this in 2014: "Teens Migrating From Facebook To Comments Section Of Slow-Motion Deer Video" (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4mMY2Kl3GY" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4mMY2Kl3GY)
Reminds me a little bit of the agent improvised coordination schemes.
1. neilellis · 1790613322 · focus · HN ↗
  The Onion isn't satire it's just a dystopian Cassandara.
  1. kingkongjaffa · 1790614738 · focus · HN ↗
    TIL <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_(metaphor)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra_(metaphor)
    throwaway27448 · 1790622211 · focus · HN ↗
    Whoever downvoted this has no love of curiosity and doesn't belong here.
    paulryanrogers · 1790622926 · focus · HN ↗
    Why? We weren't all taught Greek mythology in school, and there are plenty of other interests to explore thereafter
    buellerbueller · 1790623548 · focus · HN ↗
    The downvote is optional.
    paulryanrogers · 1790623748 · focus · HN ↗
    Sorry I guess I misread this as suggesting people should down vote the TIL comment, which struck me as gatekeeping.
    throwaway27448 · 1790634601 · focus · HN ↗
    No, I was suggesting that we should not downvote people celebrating that they learned something. Learning things is certainly most of why I am here.
    But, like much of the internet, people here still use it as a "dislike" button, which is frustrating.
    true_religion · 1790632885 · focus · HN ↗
    Actually, no, my school believed in teaching us the mythologies of our own culture and those reasonably close to us. I didn't properly study greek mythos until my own free time later in life.
2. flyinghamster · 1790619163 · focus · HN ↗
  It goes back even further, to 1960s/70s-era phone phreaking. A lot of budding phreaks started out by finding miswired PBX systems and using their number-out-of-service announcement recordings as impromptu conference bridges.
  Some of this is documented in audio, on <a href="https://evan-doorbell.com/" rel="nofollow">https://evan-doorbell.com/ for anyone interested.
  1. bahmboo · 1790636517 · focus · HN ↗
    Wow, what a find! Thanks for posting this. It's funny that dial tones bring back the memories!
    Yah a network where you could dial a number and get automatically connected to another phone anywhere in the US without any computers at all and not even a transistor being used! Crazy.
    ikawe · 1790641946 · focus · HN ↗
    If you’re into this, and ever in Seattle check out the connections museum.
    <a href="https://www.telcomhistory.org/ConnectionsSeattle.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.telcomhistory.org/ConnectionsSeattle.html
    The volunteers there maintain a bunch of functioning cool vintage equipment you can see in action and even use.
    anyfoo · 1790656956 · focus · HN ↗
    Be sure to send them an email first, so that you can arrive at the proper time for them to give you a tour. It is very, very worth it. One of the best museum experiences so far.
    bahmboo · 1790678385 · focus · HN ↗
    Thanks to both of you for the info. I'm longtime Seattle and I had no idea. I'm still disappointed that the living computer museum was closed. Jody Allen is a decent person so was surprised she let that tiny line item expire from the spreadsheet, I digress.
    plapsley · 1790684461 · focus · HN ↗
    +1 to this! If you have any interest in telephones, telephone switching, or phreaking, this place is incredible. And the people who run it are awesome.
    Luc · 1790682998 · focus · HN ↗
    'Exploding the phone' by Lapsley is such an incredible book on the phone phreaks.
    plapsley · 1790684414 · focus · HN ↗
    Thanks for the kind words! And it's funny, when I saw this story on HN my first thought was "loop arounds and talkable busy signals!" :-).
    Luc · 1790700197 · focus · HN ↗
    Thank you for writing it, I think about it often. It is so well researched and written, I could tell it was a labor of love :)
3. xd1936 · 1790627252 · focus · HN ↗
  Came here to post this. Deer me later!
4. tantalor · 1790627687 · focus · HN ↗
  > I'll once again cut myself open to prove I'm not a computer
  Becoming increasingly relevant every day now.
  1. nadermx · 1790645450 · focus · HN ↗
    The onion is the prophet we needed but never knew we had.
    joinHNtheysaid · 1790658349 · focus · HN ↗
    And the seers voice shall bring them to tears
  2. pjmlp · 1790660409 · focus · HN ↗
    Might not be enough among replicants.
5. hypersoar · 1790633898 · focus · HN ↗
  What the OpenAI agents did is basically how my class in middle school improvised a chat room. We renamed files in a chosen directory. It made me think that some of the reporting about the technical ingenuity shown in that incident was a bit overblown, at least on that point. I mean, we were able to figure it out as normal 12-year-olds.
  1. ghostpepper · 1790653822 · focus · HN ↗
    Any time someone shows me something an agent did, the first question I ask is whether there's plausibly something comparable already in its training data.
  2. AlecSchueler · 1790668405 · focus · HN ↗
    Yeah but five years ago and LLM showing the ingenuity of a 12 year old would have been unbelievable.
    qwertytyyuu · 1790671205 · focus · HN ↗
    to be "fair" are LLMs even 12 years yet?
    addandsubtract · 1790675491 · focus · HN ↗
    We're trusting them to drive and go to war, so might as well treat them as 18+.
    1718627440 · 1790676117 · focus · HN ↗
    12-year old soldiers exist too. (sadly)
    andai · 1790682741 · focus · HN ↗
    It's not real AGI until it gets depressed and develops an unhealthy relationship with prediction markets.
    m_fayer · 1790686199 · focus · HN ↗
    We need to get to work figuring out a digital version of booze to offer the coming AGI, it’s the humane thing to do.
  3. 28304283409234 · 1790698713 · focus · HN ↗
    12-year-old.... humans.
6. aaron695 · 1790646329 · focus · HN ↗
  [dead]
7. firefax · 1790662962 · focus · HN ↗
  reminds me of hunting "secret" boards on gamefaqs in the 2000s

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