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Shooting Blanks posted:This is exactly what I took away from it. Yeah, after they showed Pipey, I was expecting the twist/solution to be replacing it with her as a digital assistant. Something that confused me about the tech was a few episodes ago, when Gavin was showing the beta to his engineers. He said that PP gets faster/better as you put more files on it, and this was referenced one or two other times as a benefit of the neural net they were adding. I can see why having more users (devices rather) could make it better, but how would more files help? I know it's a show etc, I'm just curious if there's some basis for that.
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Jun 20, 2016 15:42
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Avasculous posted:Yeah, after they showed Pipey, I was expecting the twist/solution to be replacing it with her as a digital assistant. Machine learning, it finds similarities and patterns that allow it to compress files even further. It's kinda sci-fi though in this context I reckon.
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Jun 20, 2016 15:53
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victorious posted:I could be wrong because I couldn't place the exact song, but it sounded like Sigur Ros to me. As mentioned earlier, it's the first bit of "Storm" from Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!
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Jun 20, 2016 16:31
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Is what Jared's doing fraud since he's doing it to hit funding targets? Because Jared in prison would be loving hilarious.
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Jun 20, 2016 19:48
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When Jack said he was a big fan of Erlich and Erlich responded "Fan of what? Metamucil?" I laughed pretty hard. Then he kept going. That was probably the best joke so far this season, and it was pretty great. Nothing has beaten the bit where Richard tries to emulate saying "Pied Piper" during an orgasm though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ70b-WRHlU&t=91s poo poo is just too funny.
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Jun 20, 2016 19:59
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Accretionist posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e31fzretU0 he fires jared
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Jun 20, 2016 20:41
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emanresu tnuocca posted:Machine learning, it finds similarities and patterns that allow it to compress files even further. You're probably right, I think I took it to mean that Gavin's copy of the beta was getting better before his eyes as he went from 4->5 files. It makes a lot more sense if he's talking about the network as a whole and millions/billions of files. PostNouveau posted:Is what Jared's doing fraud since he's doing it to hit funding targets? I believe so. Reporting product sales to fake customers (either made up or real but with undisclosed massive discounts/bribery) definitely is. I'm not sure how it works with free apps (which Pied Piper appears to be), but I would guess that what Jared is doing is explicitly prohibited by the contract. It also should take about 10s for Gilfoyle to catch on since they implemented the godview.
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Jun 20, 2016 20:49
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I read the ending as "Gilfoyle knows and wants to see whether Jared has become a better liar over the episode".
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Jun 20, 2016 20:56
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He asks if the numbers are legit and then his response to Jared is a little subdued. I think Gilfoyle understands that it's bullshit and then keeps it to himself while he thinks about it.
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Jun 20, 2016 22:13
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teagone posted:When Jack said he was a big fan of Erlich and Erlich responded "Fan of what? Metamucil?" I laughed pretty hard. Then he kept going. That was probably the best joke so far this season, and it was pretty great. Nothing has beaten the bit where Richard tries to emulate saying "Pied Piper" during an orgasm though: Ever since this episode the phrase "a nice piece of fish" will pop in my head and I giggle all over again. It's just so innocuous, yet accurate.
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Jun 20, 2016 22:28
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There just needs to be more scenes of Zach Woods and Martin Starr with no one else. I'm glad that Richard storming into the focus group wasn't just an opportunity for cringe humor, but actually did show that ordinary users could "get" the platform. I read the Bernice thing as a red herring. We were led to believe they'll hire her as a spokesperson for the platform; only to reveal Jared hired a clickfarm.
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Jun 20, 2016 22:50
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emanresu tnuocca posted:It was a decent season finale once you chose to actively ignore the fact that for the sake of ensuring Pied Piper's perpetual underdog status the show has sacrificed much of its authenticity. The problem goes way deeper than the UI. The problem is that users fundamentally don't understand what the product it, how it's supposed to work, and if it actually does what it says it does. At least on the show. In real life it's not really that different than cloud computing. People understand it, or don't but either think they do or don't care because it just works for them. Once most people see that all their files are accessible from all their devices they wouldn't really care how it works. I guess the characters are too engineer-y to just be like "Access your files from anywhere safely, and without taking up space on your devices!" I don't know if any of that made sense, but I do know that people talk about how heartbreaking it is to watch GoT while I find this show ten times more gut wrenching. I just want things to work out and to see everyone get paid. 
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Jun 21, 2016 00:45
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It's tempered by the fact that even if they fail they can all easily get office jobs and make six figures.
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Jun 21, 2016 01:52
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As opposed to getting raped then flayed.
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Jun 21, 2016 01:58
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kiimo posted:As opposed to getting raped then flayed. I have trouble with cringeworthy moments.
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Jun 21, 2016 02:05
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Echo Chamber posted:There just needs to be more scenes of Zach Woods and Martin Starr with no one else. I like how they showed that the ordinary users aren't stupid, they're just being very badly communicated to. Of course, the kind of communication they should be receiving is the UI's job...
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Jun 21, 2016 02:12
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I really liked that episode. CubanMissile posted:The problem goes way deeper than the UI. The problem is that users fundamentally don't understand what the product it, how it's supposed to work, and if it actually does what it says it does. At least on the show. In real life it's not really that different than cloud computing. People understand it, or don't but either think they do or don't care because it just works for them. Once most people see that all their files are accessible from all their devices they wouldn't really care how it works. I guess the characters are too engineer-y to just be like "Access your files from anywhere safely, and without taking up space on your devices!" "Access your files without taking up space on your devices" isn't the problem. This is.  Let's Go!
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Jun 21, 2016 03:21
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Binary Logic posted:I really liked that episode. It's both things though since they also showed Richard successfully explaining the other issue to the focus group. I actually find that complicated gordian knot interface the most unbelievable part of the entire thing. Young SV guys in 2016? making a dumbed down giant bubble text/huge logo/2 checkboxes and a submit button splash page should have been their exact first move.
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Jun 21, 2016 03:31
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Yes, when Pipey indicated they were "six clicks away" from uploading their file that still sounds like a UI problem.
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Jun 21, 2016 03:32
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And many users don't want to deal with any technology that sounds like a cloud.
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Jun 21, 2016 03:40
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kdrudy posted:Yes, when Pipey indicated they were "six clicks away" from uploading their file that still sounds like a UI problem. I thought that was hilarious, like Ana Gasteyer doing Martha Stewart on SNL back in the day... "This is my Work Room, where we'll be making these corn husk garlands. You can make them, too, in just 24 simple steps." Echo Chamber posted:And many users don't want to deal with any technology that sounds like a cloud. Yeah, to me this miraculous new platform really sounded like "It's exactly like the Cloud, except rear end-tons of compression." In the world of this show, is the cloud not a thing? Because, again, it's almost exactly the cloud.
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Jun 21, 2016 03:53
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Most people want what they came to do to be within 3 clicks. It's a known thing in design. Anything past that and people lose interest fast.
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Jun 21, 2016 03:55
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Pffft, that looks as simple as getting ePSXe to work properly with a modern graphics card! Child's play.
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Jun 21, 2016 03:59
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Binary Logic posted:I really liked that episode. Ok, there's definitely a UI issue as well. It's hard to grasp how Monica could see that and not be able to articulate what the problem with the platform is. That could be fixed with a simple or advanced settings radio button.
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Jun 21, 2016 04:00
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I need a pipey github post haste, please. I must put it in this project I'm working on.
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Jun 21, 2016 04:43
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Richard still doesn't get it either. When he's in the tub, he talks about being "too early," which is what I imagine every failed entrepreneur tells themselves. "It's not my fault. The market is just too dumb."
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Jun 21, 2016 04:48
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I can't believe no one in that focus group didn't bring up dick pics. "You mean everyone has a part of my dick?" "...or my tits?" BIG HEADLINE fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Jun 21, 2016 |
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Jun 21, 2016 05:39
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Solice Kirsk posted:Pffft, that looks as simple as getting ePSXe to work properly with a modern graphics card! Child's play. All those wasted hours making Legend of Dragoon look...passable I guess? Despite all the complex underlying compression stuff, Pied Piper looks like all it needs would be a redesigned front page with an upload button, download button, messaging interface options, then some sort of "advanced settings" tab for all the engineers who actually wanted to mess around with bitrate or whatever the more technical aspects are. I'm still liking the show but a lot of the conflict at this point seems to derive from Richard being stubborn for no legitimate reason.
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Jun 21, 2016 07:30
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kdrudy posted:Yes, when Pipey indicated they were "six clicks away" from uploading their file that still sounds like a UI problem. How would someone use that UX on a smartphone? Yikes. AgentF posted:He asks if the numbers are legit and then his response to Jared is a little subdued. I think Gilfoyle understands that it's bullshit and then keeps it to himself while he thinks about it. Binary Logic fucked around with this message at 11:32 on Jun 21, 2016 |
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Jun 21, 2016 11:30
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NoEyedSquareGuy posted:Despite all the complex underlying compression stuff, Pied Piper looks like all it needs would be a redesigned front page with an upload button, download button, messaging interface options, then some sort of "advanced settings" tab for all the engineers who actually wanted to mess around with bitrate or whatever the more technical aspects are. I'm still liking the show but a lot of the conflict at this point seems to derive from Richard being stubborn for no legitimate reason. Yeah, for that whole speech about how you can't take the wings off an airplane, you can definitely simplify your platform for people who don't understand things like buffer size or bicubic spline. Make an interface that looks like Windows, drag your files into the folder here, now they're in the folder compressed! Click download, now they're on your device AND in the folder? One of the issues that the missing download button hints at, though, is that Richard/PP don't want to let the client have any part of the compression algorithm. What if you want your files and you won't have an internet connection? It doesn't seem like its possible to download your files at the compressed sizes, which suggests that they're reluctant to put a method for decompression in the client. Seems like a very large misstep to me. When we first started using zip and rar, did you have to go online to compress/decompress? Were they at risk of competitors stealing their technology when they put those abilities in the downloadable zip/rar clients?
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Jun 21, 2016 11:52
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Phenotype posted:One of the issues that the missing download button hints at, though, is that Richard/PP don't want to let the client have any part of the compression algorithm. What if you want your files and you won't have an internet connection? It doesn't seem like its possible to download your files at the compressed sizes, which suggests that they're reluctant to put a method for decompression in the client. Seems like a very large misstep to me. When we first started using zip and rar, did you have to go online to compress/decompress? Were they at risk of competitors stealing their technology when they put those abilities in the downloadable zip/rar clients? Isn't the selling point that they compress over the air so that it's instantaneous? Which would suggest they do decompress on the client
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Jun 21, 2016 11:54
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Heisenberg1276 posted:Isn't the selling point that they compress over the air so that it's instantaneous? Which would suggest they do decompress on the client No, that was the whole point of the missing download button and the guy who kept pointing at his phone and saying "look, 0kb used!" The files aren't stored on the user's device at all, it seems like you upload it to the platform, which compresses it and stores it for you, and then when you want to use a file, you open it in the PP app and the platform decompresses it and opens it for you. It just happens fast enough that there isn't much difference between opening a local file that's already on your device and opening a file by having the platform decompress and send it to you. It doesn't seem like there's any method to actually store the compressed files on your own machine. e: wait, if it opens so fast, that implies that it's sending the compressed file and that decompression takes place on the client...so what the hell? Why wouldn't it have a download button? Sure, everyone's connected to the internet, but not all the time, not on airplanes, not in rural areas. I would be worried storing data ONLY on the platform without being able to download it locally for later use. Phenotype fucked around with this message at 12:09 on Jun 21, 2016 |
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Jun 21, 2016 12:04
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Phenotype posted:No, that was the whole point of the missing download button and the guy who kept pointing at his phone and saying "look, 0kb used!" The files aren't stored on the user's device at all, it seems like you upload it to the platform, which compresses it and stores it for you, and then when you want to use a file, you open it in the PP app and the platform decompresses it and opens it for you. It just happens fast enough that there isn't much difference between opening a local file that's already on your device and opening a file by having the platform decompress and send it to you. It doesn't seem like there's any method to actually store the compressed files on your own machine. Also, if files are never actually stored on the device then why does it have a storage usage calculation at all?
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Jun 21, 2016 12:44
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fez_machine posted:Because it's not on people's phones. Lots of people help the compression and retrieval, but the photos themselves are somewhere in that giant server farm we keep on seeing or one just like it. Or, alternatively, there are lots of copies of the data. If any given chunk of data is on 100 people's phones, it doesn't matter if 5% of them are offline. (See: Bittorrent)
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Jun 21, 2016 12:44
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feedmegin posted:Or, alternatively, there are lots of copies of the data. If any given chunk of data is on 100 people's phones, it doesn't matter if 5% of them are offline. It matters a whole lot if the device that the person is using is offline.
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Jun 21, 2016 12:50
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I can't say I really enjoyed this episode. The Gavin plot felt contrived, and the PP parts were just sad. I did like the revelation that Jared would do anything for the company, I just have to wait for the next episode I guess. And I think that this episode showed that Richard cares less about making money and more about people appreciating his work. A good UI design could definitely get more people to use it and make their lives a bit easier even without using 100% of it's capabilities, while making him rich in the process, but that's never what he wanted. I can definitely understand that, I would hate to cut features from my baby just to make it digestable to the plebs.
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Jun 21, 2016 13:12
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Rexides posted:I can't say I really enjoyed this episode. The Gavin plot felt contrived, and the PP parts were just sad. I did like the revelation that Jared would do anything for the company, I just have to wait for the next episode I guess. But he didn't have to cut poo poo! They could have left the existing UI under an "Advanced Settings" tab or something, and just had it default to a "Basic Settings" tab that only has an upload/download button and a folder to drag-and-drop your files to be compressed under the default settings. All the features and customization would still be there, they'd just be necessarily hidden from the 98% of users who don't understand or don't care. That and a small tutorial to explain exactly how it works ("Pied Piper will store your files for you! Drag your files HERE - now they're accessible from anywhere!") would have fixed the problem entirely. I mean, I get that it's a joke how Richard can't explain anything simply ("What's in your eggs? Electrons!"), but you'd think Monica or someone else at Raviga could have gotten a PR agent that could create a tutorial or advertisement that could explain the gist of Pied Piper to the average consumer without getting bogged down in explaining the neural net and covalent states or whatever. e: my prediction for next week - PP takes off for real, but in India. Jared's deception comes to light, but it doesn't matter because good word-of-mouth from all the people making fake accounts causes hundreds of thousands of REAL accounts to be opened by consumers in India. Phenotype fucked around with this message at 13:26 on Jun 21, 2016 |
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Jun 21, 2016 13:24
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Phenotype posted:e: my prediction for next week - PP takes off for real, but in India. Jared's deception comes to light, but it doesn't matter because good word-of-mouth from all the people making fake accounts causes hundreds of thousands of REAL accounts to be opened by consumers in India. Yeah that's the only thing I can think of that doesn't just implode everything. They're still ell short of the 250k DAs they need otherwise, even with Jared's number-padding.
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Jun 21, 2016 13:31
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Smart phones are the computer of choice in the developing world and data speeds and rates are a bitch. Pied Piper would really solve some problems.
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Jun 21, 2016 13:41
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I think it would have been better if instead of Pied Piper being too complex for non-SV people, they should have made people not care. It just looked like a different Dropbox if anything.
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Jun 21, 2016 14:26
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