dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
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User ID: 583
Rewrites are something LLMs appear to excel at. I've done a few already and the results have been amazing. Simple stuff like rewrite one off Python scripts in C++ so they use 1/10th the space and time to larger 'port this ancient codebase to Rust' stuff have all been fruitful. The fact that there's no library for whatever doesn't matter, the LLM can just bang one out in any other language.
They work well when there's an existing battery of unit tests but even in spots where the coverage has been weak, sitting down with the LLM and contriving tests to gain confidence has been a real unlock.
It begins to suggest the code itself is not really the value. The value is in the specs, the protocols, the tests, the API. Everything in between can get conjured up as needed.
I've seen some really obnoxious slop submitted to open source projects and I get the kneejerk backlash, but as a maintainer myself I start to get annoyed when people open issues that an LLM could have solved immediately.
"Temporary self-control" implies it gives me discipline or something. It doesn't. The best way I can describe it is it's 9:30am and I just finished my morning standup meeting or whatever and although the idea of going out for a latte and having a croissant may pop into my head just the same, but there's no hit of dopamine that makes me put my shoes on and head out the front door unless I exert an enormous amount of willpower to stop it. Instead the thought is just an idea with no urgency.
It's not even a struggle. Quite the opposite. It would actually be a struggle to go out and eat despite, since the thought of eating when I'm not actively hungry is so boring.
I would love to believe this is reprogramming me, but I wouldn't be surprised if missing a few weeks of doses brings the urgency behind those intrusive food thoughts back.
I'm just going to say it, I think the interest in "peptides" is a category error.
"Peptide" is a chemical class, not a mechanism. Insulin is a peptide, so is vancomycin. Saying "I'm on peptides" is about as informative as saying "I'm on molecules".
I'm not only complaining about semantics though.
You almost certainly mean "exciting peptides synthesized in China sold on gray market sites" that appeal to bro scientists, which, fine.
The one case where the bro scientists are genuinely ahead of orthodoxy is Retatrutide: real phase 3 data, ~28% weight loss, and the only way to get it is by constituting your own freeze dried vials you ordered for "research purposes only" from a gray market supplier.
But that's the exception. The rest of the peptides being sold on gray market (that aren't already FDA approved drugs available cheaper than pharma out of pocket/gatekept by insurance) are very unfounded. They're coasting off the legitimacy of GLP-1s.
Sorry to be a negative nancy but the clinical evidence for BPC-157 is eyebrow raising in a bad way. The best that can be said about it is that it's apparently harmless and that some athletic associations are concerned enough about it to ban it.
But the evidence base for it comes entirely from one lab which also happens to hold the patent on it, and the only pre-registered trial for BPC-157 that was actually done has never published results. This is an extremely low bar of evidence and may as well be interpreted as anti-evidence. They've been investigating BPC-157 since at least 1989!
On the other hand, peptides like Semaglutide, Tirzepatide and Retatrutide have FDA trials that prove their efficacy (though Reta is not officially approved yet). But the gray market sites will sell you a bunch of other peptides while you're there and the rest of them are not nearly as well established.
dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
4d ago
Keep in mind that I'm only going off of second-hand forum posting, but from what I've read, people whom have been taking GLP-1 agonists have had to, for whatever reason, stop taking them for a month or so - and when they got back on, they noticed they started loosing more weight compared to before.
Interesting. I wonder what mechanism could explain that.
dr_analog
top 1% of underdog fetishists
5d ago
Agreed! Anyone who has actually lost weight through diet and or exercise knows full. well you also regain the weight when you stop doing it. So I don't consider this a knock against the drugs either, they are miracle drugs because they are infinitely easier to tolerate and, I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I've lost substantial amounts of weight from dieting and exercise, I feel fucking hungry all the time and really tired and miserable. There's no "maintaining" that isn't suffering. whereas I just don't on GLPs
What do you mean by letting their body rest from taking semaglutide? Is that a real thing or what.
I'm on tirzepatide and expect to be on it for the rest of my life, or until something better and more permanent comes along. Which is totally fine with me because the results have been a godsend.
I understand a non-trivial number of people don't regain 100% of their weight when they discontinue, but I have so much anxiety over my weight (and associated worsening health indicators that correlate with higher weight) that I do not want to fuck around with the thing that's actually, finally working.
My own progression on tirzepatide was that running and lifting was harder to do while I was actively losing weight but once I stabilized at certain weight at a certain dose I was able to rack up PR again. That seems under-observed and it makes me wonder if people worry that the bit of sluggishness that comes from going on them will be a permanent thing.
I came across a "Keyport" at DEFCON a few years ago and have been fully converted.
It's a customizable Swiss army knife.
The way I use it is to turn my handful of house keys, a Yubikey, and a Moca tool (all purpose low profile bottle/box opener/measure that gets through airport security) into a compact carry. I've also added a slim USB thumb drive that I can use to boot a Linux live image or show anyone a DVD rip of Hackers in a clutch situation.
They have a wide variety of fun attachments.
I just think of mine as a kind of universal access device.
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