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i did enjoy looking at old thesis on my university. seing typewriter written thesis with hand drawn plots in graph papers, original gel images, glued in pictures...

those theses are adorable scrapbooks of stress, sweat and tears.

that are so precious

Not really relevant, but: word processors were just starting to be used when I went to college, but I still mostly preferred using my portable electric typewriter. During my junior year the G key broke off and disappeared, so all my papers from that point on have the Gs written in by hand. If they ever invent time travel, I'm going to assume that enough other people are going back to kill baby Hitler and I'll slap the shit out of 20-year-old me.

that's a gargantuan grind. go and get your garish young self.

[-] i_am_hiding@aussie.zone 5 points 2 days ago

And so damn infuriating when you need them forty years later lol. I'm currently in the middle of some really obscure maths at work and my only reference is a hand typed paper from 1983 with super critial plots on it, but it's all been scanned in and put online at the lowest possible resolution. It's torture!

[-] rirus@feddit.org 114 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It will be read by thousands of LLMs 😀 The knowledge will be just fingertips away. It won't be human knowledge tho but AI knowledge.

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 84 points 2 days ago

I dunno. I just read multiple papers from years to decades ago on the mechanical factors for popcorn because I kept burning kettle corn.

Who knows who will crack open the book someday and why. You either want to contribute or not. Don't focus on the perceived impact. It feels like modern culture has made any effort to try new things not seem worth it unless you get recognition but that's not why we did it originally.

[-] SupraMario@lemmy.world 75 points 2 days ago

I think you're missing the point here. This is about research being locked behind a paywall that causes it to not be used.

[-] makyo@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

Huh it's funny how I think to do research for some things but not others. I really enjoy making popcorn on the stove but only half the time does it turn out light and crunchy. I keep at it thinking I'll figure it out through trial and error but I should probably just look it up like you did.

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 points 2 days ago

Oh I am a scientist for everything I do. Make my hypothesis of and test stuff for how I think it would work but also so many people have done it already.

It's essentially what all recipes are. Someone else did the research and I am taking their effort for an easier time. The best ones even note what changes to make for slight differences.

Also higher heat than you think, 400°F/200°C oil works best but you can also go dry and you will get a more puffed size apparently. To much moisture when cooking makes them dense.
I have discovered a wok is a really great popcorn maker if you don't want to buy something niche. The high dome lid is double perfect for it and then shaking in the salt.

[-] makyo@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Ah my most recent assumptions seem to be wrong then. I thought I was unevenly heating the kernels and that's why they weren't popping fully, but maybe I'm not heating them fast enough actually.

Gonna try the wok thing, I've been looking for one more excuse to get one.

[-] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works -2 points 2 days ago

I agree.. I feel this way often especially now when an ai can write, make music and movies, and no one can actually tell the difference, there isn't much point to creating anymore. Unless it's solely for you and you don't want to show it to anyone else.

[-] Kyle_The_G@lemmy.world 104 points 3 days ago

I owe my thesis to scihub lol. I can't stand publishing companies, especially elsevier.

[-] Droggelbecher@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago

Is this the most boring episode of the twilight zone? I just made this 10 mins ago (was relevant in a convo):

[-] witty_username@feddit.nl 32 points 3 days ago

Elsevier is so bad

[-] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 73 points 3 days ago

Missing the frames where they shell out their own $$ to get it into that book that's locked away.

[-] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Not really accurate - publishers might put papers behind paywalls, but researchers themselves are usually glad to send them to anyone who requests them as long as they have time. And it's totally legal, not like they're pirating their own papers.

[-] i_am_hiding@aussie.zone 9 points 2 days ago

My paper was published in MDPI open access and then a whole heap of publishing companies came along, stole it, and now charge money for it. And they're the ones you get first if you search for it in Google Scholar.

I'm so mad. I was proud of that and wanted people to see it, but now 90% of people who come across it will incorrectly think its behind a paywall and not bother.

[-] Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

What was your paper on?

[-] fodor@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 days ago

And since a grad school thesis isn't published, there's definitely no restrictions on the author sharing it. Maybe it'll get a few citations in the future. Not many, of course, but anything more than zero is nice.

[-] ansiz@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

That's a great point, I've reached out to researchers a few times to ask about their research and they have all freely just shared the work with me.

[-] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 37 points 2 days ago

Open AI probably already has it in its training data.

[-] Donkter@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Nice, so someone might actually come across it when searching for something specific that they don't have the research skills to find normally instead of the research rotting in a closet as this comic indicates.

[-] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 3 points 2 days ago

70% chance the AI uses it to sound more confident, while being entirely incorrect.

[-] Ziglin@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

You sound awfully confident about that number.

[-] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 points 2 days ago

I'm 100% confident that there is a 30% chance that it is correct.

[-] emhl@feddit.org 39 points 2 days ago

Luckily everyone on my field publishes their papers (preprint) on arxiv as well

[-] borf@lemmynsfw.com 47 points 3 days ago
[-] dalakkin@lemmy.world 29 points 3 days ago

"This is it" I guess That he's finally done with his thesis.

[-] BodyBySisyphus@hexbear.net 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I feel like a more common reaction is "Finally I am rid of this terrible burden that I took on in my naivete. It is riddled with errors that the cruel arrow of time prevents me from rectifying. May I be lucky enough to get a publication or two out of it and then finally be rid of it forever" but maybe I'm speaking too closely to my own experience.

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 11 points 2 days ago

No, this is the way. PhD theses are probably like having an aggressive cancer and then submitting it is like a successful surgery.

[-] logicbomb@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago

The biggest joke here is that he thinks his thesis will be worth something to other people at the time he's writing it.

[-] nectar45@lemmy.zip 10 points 3 days ago

It will be used as a midly useful paperweight eventually, dont worry

[-] General_Effort@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

smh

That guy should be happy that no AI will ever be trained on their work. It's ok to contribute to progress, but only if it's progress the cool kids approve of. Know your place, nerds.

[-] linkshulkdoingit69@lemmy.nz 5 points 2 days ago

Y'know with the Wayback Machine, book scans and public science funding under threat in the USA this sadly isn't too far off base

Thanks, Robert Maxwell!

[-] loomy@lemy.lol 2 points 2 days ago
[-] jet@hackertalks.com 4 points 3 days ago

This is my shelf, there are many like it but this one is mine...

[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

piracy enters the chat

this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2025
1051 points (98.7% liked)

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