patrick.net

It's just the start and if I made it sound like autocomplete I failed... All of these are moving along like Moore's law. Primarily so far chatGPT is the most impressive.

I'm not really supposed to but I ask it all sort of other stuff, like issues I'm having with my saltwater coral marine tank. It does a bang up job. Like if I'm battling chrysophytes (which is something new spreading in the community and few real solutions) and I don't want to use GFO (because I want the phosphates) it will even recommend some products... It's clear it is skimming websites like reef2reef.com though. But it goes beyond that and makes logical extensions etc. So far it claims to not know who I am other than that I like terraform - which I don't. It probably thinks I'm the devops guy who set it up.

fwiw, I'm not exactly happy about this but it's clear where we are going.

I think it can do better, but this is the free version:

Can you summarize patrick.net?

Patrick.net is a website that primarily serves as an online forum and resource for discussions related to real estate, finance, and economics. It was originally created to critique the housing market, particularly during the 2008 financial crisis, and to provide a platform for discussions on topics like housing prices, market bubbles, investment strategies, and government policies.

The site includes a variety of forums and blog posts where users share their personal experiences, provide analysis, and discuss topics such as the state of the housing market, real estate speculation, and economic trends. Patrick.net also includes tools like calculators for home buyers and renters, and articles that critique mainstream media narratives around real estate and economics.

While it started as a niche site focusing on real estate, over time it has expanded to include broader financial and economic issues. The site tends to attract users who are skeptical of conventional economic wisdom and the housing market, often offering alternative perspectives on finance, investment, and real estate policy.

The version I am using at work is much much better. This is just 4o mini.

What can you tell me about the, "Sexy Picture Thread", at Patrick.net?

The "Sexy Picture Thread" on Patrick.net is one of the more informal and lighthearted threads on the site. It is a place where users can share and discuss pictures that are considered attractive, typically of a more playful or flirtatious nature. This kind of thread is common on many internet forums as a way to create a more relaxed, social space where users can bond over shared interests outside of the main topics, which for Patrick.net, often center on real estate, finance, and economics.

However, it's important to note that Patrick.net has specific community guidelines and expectations for user behavior. Threads like the "Sexy Picture Thread" are generally kept within the bounds of these guidelines, meaning they are expected to stay respectful and not cross into inappropriate or explicit content.

The "Sexy Picture Thread" tends to be a space where users can engage in lighter, more fun interactions, though it may not be the focus of the site, which is more centered around discussions of economics, housing, and finance.

As with any forum, it's a good idea for users to be aware of the community rules and ensure their posts contribute to maintaining a positive environment.

What happened to ApocolypseFuck at Patrick.net?

"ApocolypseFuck" was a notable and controversial user on Patrick.net who became known for their outspoken and often provocative posts. This user was very active on the forums, engaging in discussions on a wide range of topics, including real estate, economics, and broader societal issues. Over time, however, ApocolypseFuck’s posts began to generate more criticism, and the user became somewhat infamous for their combative and abrasive style.

At some point, ApocolypseFuck was banned or disappeared from the site. While the exact reasons for their departure aren't entirely clear, it’s common in online communities for users with highly contentious or disruptive behavior to be either banned by moderators or to leave voluntarily after facing backlash from other members.

Their exit from the site created some buzz within the community, as they had been a prominent and divisive figure. Some members missed their contributions, while others felt their behavior had been problematic. It’s worth noting that the tone and atmosphere on forums like Patrick.net can shift significantly with the departure of key users like this, as they often shape discussions and contribute to the overall dynamics of the community.

Haha that's cool. Btw. I agree on enhanced productivity, e.g. if you want to know a JS method to remove parts of an array while leaving the original array intact Gemini will directly point you to slice whereas prior you would have to click on at least one more link or more until you found a relevant thread with a solution. I just cannot see the replacement part atm. Also once you get a but deeper into the weeds such as optimizing/refactoring an existing db schema, you need original context and purpose, not just technical details

mell says

Apart from answering simple questions fairly precisely where you would have to sleuth through stackoverflow or other forums before and IDE code

Before Trump came along and Google decided to destroy itself compared to it's PreTrump glory.
Finding examples and snippets of code I needed was super easy. I usually needed a tip on how to use a library that 99% of the usecase out there didn't do. There were never examples of what I was looking for. So I would have to narrow my search just the task in the code I was trying to achieve. Where that bit of code was being used in another way than I was using it. The Google result would yield hundreds of hits. Now you're lucky if there is a hit, and it's one of those bots that took one answer, then decided it was the consensus way of doing it. Then they would plug it in to hundreds of pages that referenced the same answer, from defunct forums on a server farm somewhere. All of those referencing that one article from Stackoverflow or Codeplex.

Even on Stackoverflow and Codeplex, snippets you find one day, wont be there the next. I think as software companies use that bit of code or example, they lobby those sites to take it down.

Yeah, I mean you can't use it to teach you things after you understand and verify their suggestions, but it cannot code for you, just make you more productive.

The responsibility and fallout would be huge if someone non technical or noob would just take the code given and install it, people routinely get fired for deploying code they found somewhere and don't understand.

Also I predict AI will cause a lot of losses where people are trying to use it for financial advantage such as the stock market as it will frontrun each other and just a bit of deliberately introduced false info on the web could make it go haywire.

Lastly the tech bro isn't wrong about the copyright/patent violations. Don't know of any company that allows their employees to disseminate crucial info to chat gpt or take full code sequences unmodified/unassisted. Still can be a good tool to enhance productivity if used right

mell says

I just cannot see the replacement part atm.

Well, I hope I'm wrong. Also hopefully I don't sound like that dog rescue guy who claimed to write the API for EV chargers or whatever lol..

mell says

Don't know of any company that allows their employees to disseminate crucial info to chat gpt

Ours does. We had to do a training about NOT doing it with our our own or a public chatGPT and then right after that they signed us up and said go for it! When you pay for it they give you a copy with training turned off. So it doesn't steal any of your data.

Maga_Chaos_Monkey says

mell says

Don't know of any company that allows their employees to disseminate crucial info to chat gpt

Ours does. We had to do a training about NOT doing it with our our own or a public chatGPT and then right after that they signed us up and said go for it! When you pay for it they give you a copy with training turned off. So it doesn't steal any of your data.

That makes sense. Is it expensive? One thing I'm also not sure about is its energy use and hence pricing. Often it needs an enormous amount of data and computation to come a logical conclusion/decision a human can do with far less.

Maga_Chaos_Monkey says

mell says

I just cannot see the replacement part atm.

Well, I hope I'm wrong. Also hopefully I don't sound like that dog rescue guy who claimed to write the API for EV chargers or whatever lol..

Haha yeah we can hope. I think there will be some job loss where there is a lot of reliance on pattern recognition, like self driving cars, operations (even in IT), and simpler repetitive tasks.

mell says

Is it expensive?

Probably/hopefully not? We are not profitable yet.

https://x.com/prachyam7/status/1878686319679005016

Indian govt asking it citizens to not go to other countries and develop those countries. Instead stay back and develop India dream.

I guess US citizens now can work on those high paying jobs as there will be less competetion. @goofus. Good luck man.

indc says

https://x.com/prachyam7/status/1878686319679005016

Indian govt asking it citizens to not go to other countries and develop those countries. Instead stay back and develop India dream.

I guess US citizens now can work on those high paying jobs as there will be less competetion. goofus. Good luck man.

It would be a win win for both countries. Presuming we can get DEI declared unconstitutional, hiring could look more like the 70’s- 90’s. An era that brought us “Silicon Valley” in the first place.

It would also put pressure on American universities and primary/secondary to teach again. Rigor, problem sets, mastery. You wouldn’t believe the garbage my three schoolagers bring home, despite being in “GT” (we supplement, obviously).

None of this is to say there aren’t talented Indians, just that most made their way over here already. We might get one gem for every nine deadweight with H1B these last years.

h1b it h2b same fucking cancer.

NOVEMBER 1, 2025: In a letter sent Thursday, Representatives Jimmy Panetta, Ami Bera, Salud Carbajal, and Julie Johnson called on the president to suspend the September 19 order titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.” The measure introduced steep new fees and limits on H-1B petitions, a move lawmakers say will damage the country’s innovation ecosystem, according to PTI.

“As members of a recent delegation to India, we recognise the importance of the H-1B programme not just to the United States economy, national security, and competitive advantage, but also to our relationship with India,” the lawmakers wrote.

gabbar says

NOVEMBER 1, 2025: In a letter sent Thursday, Representatives Jimmy Panetta, Ami Bera, Salud Carbajal, and Julie Johnson called on the president to suspend the September 19 order titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.” The measure introduced steep new fees and limits on H-1B petitions, a move lawmakers say will damage the country’s innovation ecosystem, according to PTI.

“As members of a recent delegation to India, we recognise the importance of the H-1B programme not just to the United States economy, national security, and competitive advantage, but also to our relationship with India,” the lawmakers wrote.

Our relationship with India? Our President has asked them politely to stop buying Paper Tiger's blood oil and buy American instead but they said "fuck you, we NEED these couple of dollars of savings more, than we need you". But suddenly they start bleating about "our relashionship"?

gabbar says

“As members of a recent delegation to India, we recognise the importance of the H-1B programme

What American spells "program" with that extra me on the end?

President spoke in favor of H-1B visa program today, within the context of military missile design. I hope he realizes that only a handful of H-1B visa holders work in really niche jobs and these folks deserve the H-1B visas. Majority of H-1B visa holders are cheap slave labor for benefit of corporate America and hollowing of American middle class. This is what I expected from this billionaire administration...they are for corporate America, not the ordinary people. Fook it.

gabbar says

President spoke in favor of H-1B visa program today, within the context of military missile design. I hope he realizes that only a handful of H-1B visa holders work in really niche jobs and these folks deserve the H-1B visas. Majority of H-1B visa holders are cheap slave labor for benefit of corporate America and hollowing of American middle class. This is what I expected from this billionaire administration...they are for corporate America, not the ordinary people. Fook it.

We used to train people to do these jobs. Now we import cheap foreigners instead.

FortWayneHatesRealtors says

We used to train people to do these jobs. Now we import cheap foreigners instead.

Human history is full of human greed for money and power.

gabbar says

FortWayneHatesRealtors says

We used to train people to do these jobs. Now we import cheap foreigners instead.

Human history is full of human greed for money and power.

Yep, nothing new. Nations often collapsed from their internal greed, sad to watch a train wreck coming and not being able to stop it.

indc says

It will slow down Americas growth with these isolation policies.

America is in decline and our advances are stagnating with a festering all eggs in the AI basket.
And I ask who is engineering AI? that's right!! Indians.
So it seems about 90% of all America's R&D is going into AI or some other techie preachie crap. Then what ever manufacturing we're doing, has been outsourced. So no, we as the nation citizens are not benefiting by all of the influx of immigrants, and exported labor. While the producers and investors are making money hand over fist, convincing the MSNBC and CNN watchers, that America doesn't have skilled labor to do anything from pick crops, to build AI flustered rocket ships.

We thought we were getting people to scrub our shorts, but what we got is a workforce replacement, and stagnating innovation.

Tenpoundbass says

And I ask who is engineering AI? that's right!! Indians.

No, that's a broad brush. We have enough Indians to do what needs to be done, we don't need them anymore. They should be shut out.

gabbar says

President spoke in favor of H-1B visa program today, within the context of military missile design. I hope he realizes that only a handful of H-1B visa holders work in really niche jobs and these folks deserve the H-1B visas. Majority of H-1B visa holders are cheap slave labor for benefit of corporate America and hollowing of American middle class. This is what I expected from this billionaire administration...they are for corporate America, not the ordinary people. Fook it.

indc says

Indian govt asking it citizens to not go to other countries and develop those countries. Instead stay back and develop India dream.

More like... shut out US citizens by taking over Silicon Valley and then take the ideas/code and replicate back in India to make knockoffs. China is sort of similar but with more emphasis of taking the code and somewhat less about taking over Silicon Valley.

Both countries have enough workforce to easily overwhelm a country 1/4 the size (and 1/10 the size if you are only counting young working-age people).

It should be, we the corporations

https://cis.org/Parsing-Immigration-Policy/Industrialized-Fraud-H1B-Visa-Program

‘Industrialized’ Fraud in the H-1B Visa Program
Parsing Immigration Policy, Episode 231

Summary: In the latest episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies, sits down with Mahvash Siddiqui, a U.S. Foreign Service officer, to discuss systemic fraud in the H-1B visa program. Speaking in her private capacity, Ms. Siddiqui shares firsthand experiences from her time as a consular officer in Chennai (Madras), India – one of the world’s largest H-1B visa-processing posts – where U.S. officials adjudicated thousands of nonimmigrant visas, including 220,000 H-1Bs and 140,000 H-4 visas for their family members in 2024 alone.

The episode highlights alarming patterns of fraud affecting the H-1B program, including forged degrees, falsified employment credentials, and the role of third-party staffing companies in bypassing the program’s original rationale of admitting skilled workers to meet temporary shortages. While the Trump administration implemented changes aimed at reorienting the program toward more qualified applicants, Siddiqui emphasizes that widespread political pressure and a very effective Indian lobby here in the U.S. have often undermined quality control.

The conversation provides insight into the challenges faced by consular officers attempting to curb visa fraud, including under-resourcing, bureaucratic obstacles, and pressure from both local and foreign political actors. The episode concludes with a discussion of potential reforms to ensure the program serves its intended purpose.

Host, Jessica Vaughan is the Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies
Guest, Mahvash Siddiqui is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer.

About 85,000 new H‑1Bs were issued for FY 2025, and over 600,000 H‑1B workers were present in the U.S. in January 2025.

The standard H‑1B cap is 65,000 visas per fiscal year.
An additional 20,000 visas are reserved for foreign nationals with U.S. advanced degrees.

Lottery System: Each year, USCIS receives far more registrations than available slots. For FY 2025, registrations were hundreds of thousands, but only ~85,000 were selected.
• Policy Changes: In 2025, new restrictions and higher fees ($100,000 per application under a presidential proclamation) reshaped employer participation.
• Employer Trends: Large U.S. tech companies dominate approvals, while Indian outsourcing firms saw a sharp decline

Total Population:
• As of early 2025, estimates show over 600,000 H‑1B workers in the U.S., including renewals and extensions.
• The majority are employed in technology, healthcare, engineering, and finance.

South Indians going tribal and launching personal attack against President Trump's wives. They roped in Vivek Ramaswamy too.

https://itserve.org/