Yesterday, Zuck got on stage to announce Meta's ChatGPT killer, Llama 3, apparently making this bold claim:

Meta says that Llama 3 outperforms competing models of its class on key benchmarks and that it's better across the board at tasks like coding

Coding? You sure about that?

I've been pairing with ChatGPT (using GPT-4) every day for the last few months and it is demonstrably terrible 80% of the time, but 20% of the time it saves me an hour of headaches, so I put up with it anyway. Nevertheless, my experience with Llama 2 was so miserable, I figured Zuck's claim about Llama 3 outperforming GPT-4 was bullshit, so I put it to the test this morning.

TLDR: I asked three questions and Llama 3 whiffed. Badly.

Question 1

Here's the first question I asked, pondering a less messy way to generate URL paths (secretly knowing how hard this is, given that Rails models and controllers are intentionally decoupled):

Let's dive in and find out…

If you have any Rails models that define a custom table_name AND you load fixtures in your test database, then you're probably going to have a bad time. Maybe you're here from Google. If so, hi, hello! You're in the right place.

Here's the model I just ran into this issue with:

# app/models/build/program.rb
module Build
  class Program < ApplicationRecord
    self.table_name = "build_programs"
  end
end

And before you knew it…

As the post-launch hype has cooled, the Apple-watcher zeitgeist has started to turn against the platform—some are even bold enough to invoke the word "failure".

(Aside: if Apple considers Vision Pro a failure, it's not because of sluggish sales figures or a weak App Store lineup. It was clear from the jump that Apple is committed to a ten year roadmap for this thing, regardless what you or your favorite Youtuber thinks. Burback's video was hilarious, though.)

I've been using Apple Vision Pro for no purpose other than Mac Virtual Display for 4-8 hours a day, 7 days a week, since it launched on February 2nd. Meanwhile, my brand-spankin'-new M2 Ultra-equipped Mac Studio and 32" 6K monitor are collecting dust. More than that, I'm getting more done than at any point in my career. So I figured I'd share the Good News with y'all, in case it might sway anyone sitting on the fence into giving Vision Pro a shot.

First, I'll explain why my productivity shot through the roof once I strapped a computer to my face. Then, I'll show why such an expensive device is no more an irresponsible use of funds than other "Pro"-tier equipment in the Apple ecosystem.

But wait, there's more…

The co-founder of a nascent game studio learned of a significant internal leak when a reporter called him for comment. He notified his publishing partner who responded to the leak by cutting funding. Then, after breathing what I'm sure were a series of very deep, very audible sighs he decided to say, "fuck it," and close the whole damn studio:

As a result of the cancellation of the publishing relationship and after careful consideration, I am closing Possibility Space. Today is your last day of employment at Possibility Space and Prytania Media. Your final paycheck including pay for work through the end of today will be deposited to your account, along with any other required payments, as dictated by your work location.

And exit the industry while he's at it:

As of today I am stepping away from the game industry to focus on my family and care for Annie [Delisi Strain]. I wish all of you the best as you navigate this complex industry and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

In a recent episode of Breaking Change I talked at length about why the "AAA" gaming industry is falling apart before our eyes, so reactions like this don't seem so unreasonable to me. I've been wondering aloud for my entire career why the hell anyone gets into the gaming business when virtually everyone involved could make an order of magnitude more money working half as many hours doing literally anything else involving software. Now that the free money spigot has been shut off, investors are starting to realize the same thing and are looking for any plausible pretense to pull the plug.

I'm sure the journalist named in the piece (incidentally, by his own employer, via this article) doesn't feel awesome that his reporting indirectly led to his sources losing their jobs. And the fact he apparently never bothered to contact Annie Delisi Strain—the rare-for-the-industry woman CEO currently on medical leave—for comment is certainly a bad look. But he's probably got enough to worry about, considering that one of the few industries closer to the brink of collapse than games is games journalism.

Down for everyone because of me?

Spatial Personas are terrifyingly cool

Note that this App Store policy change is global, not only to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act.

You can read the updated policy directly, but The Verge breaks it down:

The move should allow the retro console emulators already on Android — at least those that are left — to bring their apps to the iPhone. Game emulators have long been banned from iOS, leaving iPhone owners in search of workarounds via jailbreaking or other workarounds. They're also one of the key reasons, so far, that iPhone owners in the European Union might check out third-party app stores now that they're allowed in the region. Apple's change today could head that off.

There goes the only reason I'd ever be interested in a third-party marketplace. I suspect I'm not alone in that.