Otoboke Beaver Shreds the Tiny Desk Concert Studio

Music • Views: 13,909

There is no punk like Japanese punk. Probably the most whacked out gonzo band you’ll see this week, and yet still so adorable.

Mannie Fresh bum rushed the crowd and mugged for the camera. Soul Glo’s Pierce Jordan stunted on office furniture. Moses Sumney played our window-side piano. Some moments were staged and others spontaneous, but sometimes an artist just needs to “break the frame” of Tiny Desk. Case in point: Our puny shelves and cluttered junk could not contain Otoboke Beaver’s Yoyoyoshie, who literally lept out from behind the Desk, ran to the wide shot and shred a noisy guitar solo most triumphantly.

Kyoto, Japan’s Otoboke Beaver came into the NPR Music office with string lights color coordinated to the members’ floral print dresses, an edamame hair clip for our wall and a giant, inflatable beaver. In two-minute bursts of fast, furious and outrageously fun punk rock, the band’s music is a gleeful exercise in absurdist evisceration — of Japanese societal norms, gender roles, annoying trolls and bad boyfriends. Every song smirks as it explodes. At the Tiny Desk, Otoboke Beaver speeds and screams through its catalog — Itekoma Hits, Super Champon and its singles compilation Okoshiyasu!! — with acrobatic speed and intensity. An unhinged delight.

— Lars Gotrich | May 10, 2024

SET LIST
“Yakitori”
“Don’t Light My Fire”
“S’il Vous Plait”
“Pardon?”
“Bakuro Book”
“I Am Not Maternal”
“I Checked Your Cellphone”
“Akimahenka”

MUSICIANS
Accorinrin: vocals
Yoyoyoshie: guitar, vocals
Hirochan: bass, vocals
Kahokiss: drums, vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Lars Gotrich
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Mitra I. Arthur
Audio Engineer: Kwesi Lee
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Michael Zamora
Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#nprmusic #tinydesk #otobokebeaver

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225 comments
1
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 5:32:41pm

I’m sorry one day, Your post box, throw into
YAKITORI It’s me
I’m sorry one day, Your post box,
throw into YAKITORI It’s me
Destroy!
I just wanna say-y-y De-de-de
Dest-Destroy
F*cking chicken shit, crush their victory
Shouldn’t I leave the grudge unrevenged
(Flightless, grilled, earthbound yakitori
Flightless yakitori non-fried)
Just get rid of this grudge
Destroy!
lyricstranslate.com

2
darthstar  May 10, 2024 • 5:38:25pm

Too funny…should have kept the plate though…

3
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 5:44:57pm

re: #2 darthstar

Jackson Browne Rejected Song Titles.

4
The Ghost of a Flea  May 10, 2024 • 5:47:35pm

“People were enjoying hanging out with each other rather than engaging with the true power of social media, which is to endlessly proclaim the awesomeness of crypto”

www.businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-…

— John Scalzi (@scalzi.com) 2024-05-10T09:26:07.560Z

5
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 5:56:46pm

Deanna Conners @deconners.bsky.social

Gifted article

A Solar Storm Is Hitting Earth’s Atmosphere, Making Northern Lights Visible

“…The solar activity is so powerful that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors space weather, issued an unusual storm watch on Thursday for the first time in 19 years, which was then upgraded to a warning on Friday. The agency began observing outbursts on the sun’s surface on Wednesday, with at least five heading in the direction of Earth, the first of which reached the planet’s atmosphere on Friday.”

6
Charles Johnson  May 10, 2024 • 6:00:16pm

re: #4 The Ghost of a Flea

I always wonder if people who meet Dorsey in person have a completely different opinion than I do, because to me he seems like he belongs in the upper echelon of clueless dipshit lucky-ass poseurs.

7
The Ghost of a Flea  May 10, 2024 • 6:03:09pm

NYPD has spent $53 million on overtime pay responding to protests since Oct. 7

It’s almost like there’s always a crisis because crises create exception conditions in which the powerful can assign themselves more power.

8
Targetpractice  May 10, 2024 • 6:03:34pm

re: #6 Charles Johnson

I always wonder if people who meet Dorsey in person have a completely different opinion than I do, because to me he seems like he belongs in the upper echelon of clueless dipshit lucky-ass poseurs.

That’s been the general theme with techbros, they seem to fall into either one of two categories: socially-inept or insufferable douchebags. The former can be coached into being comfortable in social settings, the latter tend to stay that way until either they suffer a massive fall from grace…or somebody just knees them in the balls.

9
The Ghost of a Flea  May 10, 2024 • 6:04:17pm

re: #6 Charles Johnson

I always wonder if people who meet Dorsey in person have a completely different opinion than I do, because to me he seems like he belongs in the upper echelon of clueless dipshit lucky-ass poseurs.

I get the suspicion he’s one of those guys who thinks they’re really deep because of a small number of habits and attitudes, but ultimately cannot get over themselves.

10
Eclectic Cyborg  May 10, 2024 • 6:08:25pm

re: #6 Charles Johnson

Upding for “clueless dipshit lucky ass poseurs”.

11
Michele: Out of the closet, Into the fire  May 10, 2024 • 6:11:31pm

CLed (PBUH) on the last thread.

Evening Lizards. Been awhile since I’ve post some food pron. Tonight’s meal is an end of week “cheater” meal. BK Crispy Chicken breast, instant taters/gravy and corn. Not fancy, but filling

12
The Ghost of a Flea  May 10, 2024 • 6:11:40pm

A great measure of these people is how they fetishize induced altered states of consciousness as privileged insight without acknowledging that an inner journey is only as meaningful as your worst base assumption while sober.

Because the minute you’re straight again it’s your existing brain doing the interpretation, so if you have no self awareness, cannot re-examine things or approach old things with new praxis, whether it’s meditation or ketamine you’re not going to get any real transformative benefit. Indeed, you can just create a chemical hugbox in which your fractionated self reads back your hubris to you in an encouraging manner.

13
piratedan  May 10, 2024 • 6:15:27pm

re: #9 The Ghost of a Flea

you get the sense that since everyone uses it to communicate that they believe that they’re some kind of messiah. Not going to deny the power of the tools, but as inventions go, it’s just the latest iteration, you know, like toothpaste with whitening agents. Shitpotfull of people use that too and the improvements in dental health over the last decade are pretty impressive. It’s as if they’re perpetually in the now moment of Hanks building a fire on the beach after the plane wreck in Cast Away. After a while, the novelty just kind of wears off, but these guys are just riding that wave while they roll out additional shit that they believe is cool because they can exploit their users to businesses that want their data.

14
Targetpractice  May 10, 2024 • 6:15:58pm

As if Jack’s the first “visionary” who declared from atop a giant mountain of money “They perverted my vision!” whenever he’s confronted with criticism.

15
goddamnedfrank  May 10, 2024 • 6:21:33pm

re: #9 The Ghost of a Flea

I get the suspicion he’s one of those guys who thinks they’re really deep because of a small number of habits and attitudes, but ultimately cannot get over themselves.

Remember when he went to Myanmar during the Rohingya genocide so he could do some dharma maxing by data-logging his meditation sessions on his Apple Watch:

Some people celebrate their birthdays with partying, food and music. Recently, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took a different tack with a 10-day silent meditation trip to a center in Myanmar. There he practiced a technique that he said would “hack the deepest layer of the mind and reprogram it.”

…

He broke his own personal meditation record

Dorsey wore his Apple Watch and Oura ring, both in airplane mode, to measure his progress and track his heart rate.

Each day’s meditation brought a different outcome for Dorsey. He logged the second day as his best, where he focused entirely on his breath, without thoughts, for more than an hour. Prior to that day, the longest he could focus just on his breath was five minutes.

16
Charles Johnson  May 10, 2024 • 6:22:51pm

Twitter under Jack Dorsey was VERY BAD at moderation, incredibly bad. And the lesson he took from that experience is that MODERATION is what was bad, not him. No, never him. He’s a genius.

17
Joe Bacon ✅  May 10, 2024 • 6:26:37pm

OK I watched the Tiny Desk concert and…well I didn’t understand much of what they were saying but it is a interesting diversion from the Velveeta that now calls itself pop music.

It does bring back memories of the early 80s when I just moved to Los Angeles and I’d go to the Anticlub on Friday nights with my buddy Al. That Tiny Desk set brought back memories of an all girl punk band from San Francisco called The Inflatable Boy Clams. Rodney Bingenheimer and Peter Ivers were big fans of theirs…

Just did a Google search and oh boy this brings back memories of the early 80 LA Punk scene…

inflatableboyclams.com

18
Eclectic Cyborg  May 10, 2024 • 6:28:32pm

He really doesn’t get how this works.

19
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 6:29:25pm

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social

#Aurora
on Portobello beach Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. It was so very bright at one point that you could see the slow rainfall of colours across the sky with your very own eyes.

Special thanks go to the Sun & atmosphere for putting on such a spectacular show for us tonight!! 🧪🔭

20
Unabogie  May 10, 2024 • 6:30:02pm

re: #18 Eclectic Cyborg

[Embedded content]

He really doesn’t get how this works.

He misspelled “Defendant”

21
Dangerman  May 10, 2024 • 6:30:13pm

re: #18 Eclectic Cyborg

[Embedded content]

He really doesn’t get how this works.

Wanna bet?

22
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 6:30:39pm

Chris, @cawhitworth.bsky.social

No you’re stood in the middle of a field having a bit of a cry

23
William Lewis  May 10, 2024 • 6:31:36pm

re: #17 Joe Bacon ✅

OK I watched the Tiny Desk concert and…well I didn’t understand much of what they were saying but it is a interesting diversion from the Velveeta that now calls itself pop music.

It does bring back memories of the early 80s when I just moved to Los Angeles and I’d go to the Anticlub on Friday nights with my buddy Al. That Tiny Desk set brought back memories of an all girl punk band from San Francisco called The Inflatable Boy Clams. Rodney Bingenheimer and Peter Ivers were big fans of theirs…

Just did a Google search and oh boy this brings back memories of the early 80 LA Punk scene…

inflatableboyclams.com

You called?

X - Los Angeles (Live)

24
Targetpractice  May 10, 2024 • 6:34:08pm

re: #16 Charles Johnson

Twitter under Jack Dorsey was VERY BAD at moderation, incredibly bad. And the lesson he took from that experience is that MODERATION is what was bad, not him. No, never him. He’s a genius.

It’s the fault of everybody and everything but Jack. Apparently without any input on his part, a bunch of “investors” came in, imposed all these changes without his consent, totally made Twitter into something he never agreed with, and then forced him out. The fact that he happily cashed their checks, signed off on those changes, and even defended them at the time are all things we’re supposed to conveniently ignore.

25
The Ghost of a Flea  May 10, 2024 • 6:35:14pm

re: #13 piratedan

you get the sense that since everyone uses it to communicate that they believe that they’re some kind of messiah. Not going to deny the power of the tools, but as inventions go, it’s just the latest iteration, you know, like toothpaste with whitening agents. Shitpotfull of people use that too and the improvements in dental health over the last decade are pretty impressive. It’s as if they’re perpetually in the now moment of Hanks building a fire on the beach after the plane wreck in Cast Away. After a while, the novelty just kind of wears off, but these guys are just riding that wave while they roll out additional shit that they believe is cool because they can exploit their users to businesses that want their data.

At this point I kind of feel like we’re watching a generation of tech people who have fully adopted the science fiction tropes about genius as a model.

They didn’t just make something that facilitated communication…a sort universal BBS…they’re now the philosophers of social connection on the internet in ways that their thoughts are now philosophically weighty in spite of their lack of training in any one the sciences they talk about. They’re not sociologists, they’re not epistemologists, they’re not political scientists…but they confidently say stuff about how the system functions that incorporates a presumption that constructing social media bestows an insight that transcends actual qualifications.

They’ve fed upon the trope that the technocrats will create the future, and decided they are those people. In normal people this would be obnoxious, but as another layer of “rich people who never have to hear the word no” it’s actually dangerous for the rest of us because they want to “guide” the rest of us w/r/t shit they barely understand and don’t have the self-awareness to assess without getting their dick involved.

(which is why techbros are once again playing in the gong pit of eugenics, and can’t conceptualize of how tech could work except as a market. They’re not dumb, they are just profoundly limited)

26
austin_blue  May 10, 2024 • 6:38:35pm

Great Tiny Desk Show!

Also, responding to an Internet meme:

Me
Jim Motherwell (Queen’s Piper)
Queen Mother
Edward VIII
Hitler

27
goddamnedfrank  May 10, 2024 • 6:41:20pm

re: #15 goddamnedfrank

The “hack the deepest layer of the mind and reprogram it” line stands out to me because, as my psychologist reminded me when we were discussing AI and the Apple hydraulic press ad, the act of trying to learn a musical instrument generates tons of new neural connections, and those connections are the skill. They’re the basis for the muscle memory and the ability to mentally translate intent into movement into outcome.

And I totally understand the motivation of the silicon valley guys who want to create a shortcut because there’s an understandable kind of envy in seeing any skilled artist / artisan do something that took them a lifetime to do well. Because there’s meaning beneath all that, depth. So dudes like Jack create this patina of depth where a meaningful existence is a badge he can unlock by flying private jets around the globe and meditating really hard at every spiritual pokemon gym.

29
Charles Johnson  May 10, 2024 • 6:47:15pm

At least there are still enough functioning humans at Apple to realize they fucked up.

30
The Ghost of a Flea  May 10, 2024 • 6:52:06pm

re: #27 goddamnedfrank

Also it’s a dude importing a performance mindset to meditation, which should be it’s own red flag.

31
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 6:55:28pm

Cornering the enlightenment market.

32
Joe Bacon ✅  May 10, 2024 • 6:56:34pm

KABC fired Screwdy G today.

Guess who hired him to continue his gig?

Rudy Giuliani picks up gig with Steve Bannon immediately after being fired from radio

rawstory.com

33
goddamnedfrank  May 10, 2024 • 6:59:01pm

re: #30 The Ghost of a Flea

Also it’s a dude importing a performance mindset to meditation, which should be it’s own red flag.

Yeah the “He broke his own personal meditation record” bit is Borat level not serious.

34
Charles Johnson  May 10, 2024 • 7:08:51pm

Even before Musk, Twitter under Jack Dorsey was INCREDIBLY BAD at moderation. I could cite MANY examples of ridiculous moderation fails, just from my own email archives.

— Charles Johnson (@charles.littlegreenfootballs.com) 2024-05-11T01:39:25.000Z


If you ever tried to use Twitter’s reporting tools to get them to moderate horrific racism, stalking, outright Nazis and worse, and only received an email saying they didn’t see anything wrong with it and would take no action, you know what I’m talking about.

— Charles Johnson (@charles.littlegreenfootballs.com) 2024-05-11T01:39:25.000Z


But the lesson Dorsey took from that experience is that he didn’t fail. No. It’s the whole concept of MODERATION that failed. Couldn’t be him.

— Charles Johnson (@charles.littlegreenfootballs.com) 2024-05-11T01:39:25.000Z

35
Belafon  May 10, 2024 • 7:09:19pm

re: #27 goddamnedfrank

And I totally understand the motivation of the silicon valley guys who want to create a shortcut because there’s an understandable kind of envy in seeing any skilled artist / artisan do something that took them a lifetime to do well.

I always love it when people try to get meta about AI and don’t get it. These people have spent years, decades for some, studying how to create a system that will solve problems the way humans can. They’re not doing all of this because of envy of the musician, they’re doing it because some the problems to be solved can’t be solved in the old way because you can’t write ifs and elses to solve problems that don’t have a clear definition. They’re only envious of musicians if they can’t play music themselves.

I’m curious what you think happens in the brains of people who spend years studying mathematics, sciences, or computer science (and yes, machine learning is computer science).

And yes, companies are using their efforts to make money. Same as it ever was.

36
Decatur Deb  May 10, 2024 • 7:11:42pm

re: #30 The Ghost of a Flea

Also it’s a dude importing a performance mindset to meditation, which should be it’s own red flag.

Call me when he beats Simeon Stylites.
en.wikipedia.org

37
Captain Ron  May 10, 2024 • 7:11:47pm
38
piratedan  May 10, 2024 • 7:12:48pm

re: #34 Charles Johnson

can remember those days when the efforts to crowd source shouting down the Nazis and egregious bad faith actors made a difference and then those in charge flipped the switch and made self-policing irrelevant and then went to the extreme to force them into your fucking feeds.

39
Charles Johnson  May 10, 2024 • 7:12:50pm

re: #37 Captain Ron

lock him up!

40
austin_blue  May 10, 2024 • 7:15:06pm

Night all. Early night. Got a copy of Ian M. Banks’ Consider Phlebas at a Waterstone’s in Glasgow on the recent trip to the UK (it’s been out of print in the States for years) and I need to make a dent in it. His first SF and first Culture novel.

42
Belafon  May 10, 2024 • 7:19:21pm

My wife has really bad eyesight and can’t see anything without her glasses. When she goes to bed one of the things she texts every night is a reminder to take my meds. Well, the combination of trying to do it without her glasses and autocorrect the message tonight read “Don’t forget wet your medals.”

43
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 7:20:49pm

Outkast - Roses (Official HD Video)

44
Dangerman  May 10, 2024 • 7:21:46pm

re: #25 The Ghost of a Flea

At this point I kind of feel like we’re watching a generation of tech people who have fully adopted the science fiction tropes about genius as a model.

They didn’t just make something that facilitated communication…a sort universal BBS…they’re now the philosophers of social connection on the internet in ways that their thoughts are now philosophically weighty in spite of their lack of training in any one the sciences they talk about. They’re not sociologists, they’re not epistemologists, they’re not political scientists…but they confidently say stuff about how the system functions that incorporates a presumption that constructing social media bestows an insight that transcends actual qualifications.

They’ve fed upon the trope that the technocrats will create the future, and decided they are those people. In normal people this would be obnoxious, but as another layer of “rich people who never have to hear the word no” it’s actually dangerous for the rest of us because they want to “guide” the rest of us w/r/t shit they barely understand and don’t have the self-awareness to assess without getting their dick involved.

(which is why techbros are once again playing in the gong pit of eugenics, and can’t conceptualize of how tech could work except as a market. They’re not dumb, they are just profoundly limited)

Someone creates a revolutionary new medical device and fancies himself a doctor

45
Dangerman  May 10, 2024 • 7:24:48pm

re: #27 goddamnedfrank

The “hack the deepest layer of the mind and reprogram it” line stands out to me because, as my psychologist reminded me when we were discussing AI and the Apple hydraulic press ad, the act of trying to learn a musical instrument generates tons of new neural connections, and those connections are the skill. They’re the basis for the muscle memory and the ability to mentally translate intent into movement into outcome.

And I totally understand the motivation of the silicon valley guys who want to create a shortcut because there’s an understandable kind of envy in seeing any skilled artist / artisan do something that took them a lifetime to do well. Because there’s meaning beneath all that, depth. So dudes like Jack create this patina of depth where a meaningful existence is a badge he can unlock by flying private jets around the globe and meditating really hard at every spiritual pokemon gym.

Does a guy like that meditate all the time for his personal spiritual well being. Or only when enough people are “following”?

46
Dangerman  May 10, 2024 • 7:25:04pm

re: #30 The Ghost of a Flea

Also it’s a dude importing a performance mindset to meditation, which should be it’s own red flag.

Damn!

47
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 7:25:30pm

John Scalzi @scalzi.com

For my birthday, I got to see the northern lights for the first time. From my front yard. In Ohio.

48
Dangerman  May 10, 2024 • 7:28:28pm

re: #34 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]
But the lesson Dorsey took from that experience is that he didn’t fail. No. It’s the whole concept of MODERATION that failed. Couldn’t be him.

Sounds vaguely familiar.
Can’t quite put my finger on it…

49
silverdolphin  May 10, 2024 • 7:29:57pm

From my brother who is the comedian in the family (and an SCTV lover like myself):

“Every time I see an ad for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, I wanna call it the Man who Would be King of the Planet of The Popes. “

rim-shot.

50
darthstar  May 10, 2024 • 7:31:05pm

re: #22 jaunte

Chris, @cawhitworth.bsky.social

[Embedded content]

The Aurora Everywherelis…tonight’s Solar Eclipse.

51
Targetpractice  May 10, 2024 • 7:37:38pm

re: #35 Belafon

I always love it when people try to get meta about AI and don’t get it. These people have spent years, decades for some, studying how to create a system that will solve problems the way humans can. They’re not doing all of this because of envy of the musician, they’re doing it because some the problems to be solved can’t be solved in the old way because you can’t write ifs and elses to solve problems that don’t have a clear definition. They’re only envious of musicians if they can’t play music themselves.

I’m curious what you think happens in the brains of people who spend years studying mathematics, sciences, or computer science (and yes, machine learning is computer science).

And yes, companies are using their efforts to make money. Same as it ever was.

There was an episode of the 90s-era revival of The Outer Limits whose villain was (what else) a major corporation proclaiming the wonders of their cutting-edge care homes that gave the elderly a comfortable place to spend their retirement years so their families could rest easy knowing their loved ones were being treated well in their last years. The protag becomes suspicious when he notices that not only do those staying the facilities seem disoriented and distressed when visited by their families, but people in the local community are suddenly displaying new skills and mannerisms like those of the folks staying in the home.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, the big twist is that the care home is a lie, the elderly folks are being kept in cryogenic suspension chambers in between visits, and the company extracts the skills (and memories connected to them) on-demand for sale to anyone who wants to skip the decades of work to acquire them the conventional way. And the argument for doing so is a familiar one: These people are at the end of their lives, they’re not going to do anything useful with those skills, but letting them take to the grave is a waste.

Nowadays, such a story would seem quaint in a world where AI is being sold as a way to cheat the process by just asking a computer to do the work for you. Why learn to play instruments, write music, or compose lyrics when an analytical engine can just scrape the internet for the work of others and then smash it together until it produces something marketable?

52
🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈  May 10, 2024 • 7:40:37pm

re: #47 jaunte

It’s overcast here, so tomorrow when everyone’s blind and triffids walk the Earth, I’ll still be able to see.

53
Egregious Philbin  May 10, 2024 • 7:46:04pm

re: #38 piratedan

Hey, some egregious people are nice…

54
darthstar  May 10, 2024 • 7:48:22pm

Fuck Donald Trump.

I felt the above hasn’t been said enough lately.

55
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 7:48:33pm

@coelliptic.bsky.social
Precision GPS approaches are unavailable in the US because of the Coronal Mass Ejection

56
piratedan  May 10, 2024 • 7:50:42pm

re: #53 Egregious Philbin
okay, okay, but cripes, how many times do I actually get to use vocabulary like that in a comment?

57
EPR-radar  May 10, 2024 • 7:54:32pm

re: #54 darthstar

Fuck Donald Trump.

I felt the above hasn’t been said enough lately.

It’s impossible to say this too much. It’s also impossible to say “fuck the GOP” or the like too often.

58
jaunte  May 10, 2024 • 7:55:04pm

New lightly disguised Kennedy comic just dropped.

59
Nerdy Fish  May 10, 2024 • 7:58:59pm

Saw a little bit of the Northern Lights. Not quite as spectacular as the pictures make it out to be, at least, not here. Maybe too much light pollution in the local area. Unfortunate.

60
Joe Bacon ✅  May 10, 2024 • 8:04:01pm

re: #37 Captain Ron

[Embedded content]

Every day something comes out to make Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs RFK look even sleazier than the day before.

61
sagehen  May 10, 2024 • 8:06:53pm

re: #42 Belafon

My wife has really bad eyesight and can’t see anything without her glasses. When she goes to bed one of the things she texts every night is a reminder to take my meds. Well, the combination of trying to do it without her glasses and autocorrect the message tonight read “Don’t forget wet your medals.”

But I’ll bet you remember… which makes it effective communication.

62
goddamnedfrank  May 10, 2024 • 8:08:57pm

Someday I will stop posting about AI failing. But today is not that day.

— Jillianne Hamilton (@jilly.ca) 2024-04-22T02:01:46.146Z

63
EPR-radar  May 10, 2024 • 8:19:58pm

re: #62 goddamnedfrank

Two of the things “AI” can mean are 1) the long, tough effort to get real artificial intelligence, and 2) the recent fad relating to large language models and the obnoxiously innumerable resulting attempts to cash in on this.

I don’t see much to complain about in item 1.

Item 2 is such a tire fire than it’s almost impossible to remember that LLMs have their uses.

64
darthstar  May 10, 2024 • 8:20:38pm

re: #62 goddamnedfrank

AI is a lie. It’s just a program that is written to process input and return a suggestion based on some human defined criteria.

But it does draw nice tits on barely legal looking faces for those who partake in such fantasy

65
Lancelot Link Returns!  May 10, 2024 • 8:21:57pm

re: #17 Joe Bacon ✅

That was a great time in San Francisco (except for AIDS). Rent was dirt cheap and musicians and artists could get away with pretty much any damn thing. Unfortunately, the internet happened. (it seemed like a good idea at the time)

66
🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈  May 10, 2024 • 8:22:53pm
‘Star Wars’: Sigourney Weaver in Talks to Join ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’

Sci-fi legend Sigourney Weaver has gone up against face-hugging aliens and squared off against colonizers on lush green planets, but she has never faced stormtroopers and galactic bounty hunters.

Until now.

Weaver is in talks to join the cast of The Mandalorian & Grogu, the first Star Wars movie to go into to go into production since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau is directing the feature, which is expected to film later this year. Favreau, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni will produce the feature.

hollywoodreporter.com

67
darthstar  May 10, 2024 • 8:25:45pm

Mastodon

Mastodon

68
Eclectic Cyborg  May 10, 2024 • 8:31:18pm

Aurora Borealis in my damn backyard. VERY rare for the Deep South.

69
retired cynic  May 10, 2024 • 8:32:09pm

re: #68 Eclectic Cyborg

wow!

70
coin operated  May 10, 2024 • 8:40:28pm

Of course, the one time we might see something other than neon here in Vegas we have near 100% cloud cover.

71
darthstar  May 10, 2024 • 8:52:16pm

72
darthstar  May 10, 2024 • 8:53:41pm

re: #69 retired cynic

wow!

It’s like the eclipse except it’s free to everyone!

73
Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus  May 10, 2024 • 9:03:39pm

re: #72 darthstar

It’s like the eclipse except it’s free to everyone!

If only.

It’s May, which means it’s cloudy here.

74
Targetpractice  May 10, 2024 • 9:06:56pm

re: #62 goddamnedfrank

[Embedded content]

“A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from the bristles.”

It’s funny that he mentions Photoshop, because that was also once hailed as “the future” because even a basic rookie fresh out of college was going to magically make “art” out of basic images and photos for a fraction of the cost of a pro with an easel and a paintbrush.

Instead, it’s become a useful tool in the industry, but much like “AI” today, it failed to replace the professional artist. Sure, there are people with years of training and experience using the program who can match or rival those artists, but it is no more forgiving to the rookie who has no clue what he’s doing today than when it was first introduced to the industry.

75
Belafon  May 10, 2024 • 9:10:53pm

re: #51 Targetpractice

Why learn to play instruments, write music, or compose lyrics when an analytical engine can just scrape the internet for the work of others and then smash it together until it produces something marketable?

Prior to AI we called those boy bands.

But seriously, it’s both a concern and the same argument we hear with every new technology. The camera is going to end painters, the TV is going to end radio, sound and color are going to wreck movies, renewable energy is going to destroy all those coal and oil jobs.

AI is disruptive, but the actual problem is not AI, it’s our crappy support system for humans. Our system is set up to favor exploitation of resources and people by the few. Machine learning didn’t create that and machine learning isn’t the first thing being exploited by the rich to exploit people. This we seriously have to fix and we always have. AI didn’t cause those at the head of my company to cut 5% of the workforce; that was caused by executives spending billions buying two companies that we couldn’t afford. The company should have pried the $7M a prior CEO got as a package for leaving the company to go CEO somewhere else, but then that would have hurt other executives.

But I’ve also seen people here lament the lack of actual art of some of the things people watch or listen to or read. Is the Hallmark Network art? How do most people here feel about Creed, Maroon 5, Nickelback, or Coldplay?

But I’m also curious: Is art the amount of effort or the end result? If it’s the effort, why isn’t the algorithm learning for the equivalent of multiple human lifetimes part of that estimation? If it’s the end result, does the artist matter?

To me, this is an art story. Einstein was put under pressure to finish his general theory of relativity. The problem he had was that the math needed to complete it was not only relatively young, but Einstein wasn’t as much a mathematician as someone who played with equations until they worked (he was better at math than 99% of the world’s population, but that wasn’t enough for this problem). At one point, he gave a lecture on the status of his efforts. In attendance was David Hilbert, one of the great 20th century mathematicians. Hilbert went home that weekend and solved the equation, but didn’t publish it, believing that Einstein would solve it and should receive the credit. Let’s assume he had released it. History would have recorded it as most likely the Hilbert-Einstein theory. Which part was the art?

I just wonder if “art” is a distinction that only means something to people who want to define “art” and the definition is “I’ll know it when I see it/hear it.” What level of machine learning would make people here stop listening to their favorite bands?

I am not sure what the answer is to the question of “How much should we block machines from doing the work humans do?” Would you buy a car that is completely human manufactured and assembled, like, we pay a human to carve a bolt or cut glass? At what point does a machine become too human-like to be tolerated? Note that we’re not talking about machines that want to kill like some humans do, just routine tasks. Why are some tasks looked on as more favorable to be done by machines than others? Is it because non-blue collar people are finally being affected in a negative way by technology?

76
Romantic Heretic  May 10, 2024 • 9:12:21pm

re: #64 darthstar

In order to fake something you have to know what it is.

And so far as I know intelligence is one of those things humans can’t really define.

77
Belafon  May 10, 2024 • 9:12:32pm

re: #64 darthstar

AI is a lie. It’s just a program that is written to process input and return a suggestion based on some human defined criteria.

But it does draw nice tits on barely legal looking faces for those who partake in such fantasy

And the human criteria in some cases is “Recognize when someone says three.” I dare you to define that criteria precisely, other than the way machine learning does, which is “Here’s a million people saying the number three.”

Edited

78
Belafon  May 10, 2024 • 9:18:38pm

Here’s a link to the mnist data that was once the test of the quality of a machine learning algorithm, but is now included in most machine learning data sets as the “Hello, World” of machine learning: Given the data, kaggle.com, learn to recognize people writing digits. Please stare at the data sets and tell me how you would define an algorithm to recognize each digit. The data set is generally split into 60K training images and 10K test images, and the current level of matching by a machine learning algorithm is 99.40?, meaning that there are only 60 images that cannot be matched.

79
Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus  May 10, 2024 • 9:23:05pm

re: #51 Targetpractice

Why learn to play instruments, write music, or compose lyrics when an analytical engine can just scrape the internet for the work of others and then smash it together until it produces something marketable?

Udio has added some capability recently, and it does seem that if one wants to churn out pop music or an advertisement ditty then using such a tool will become a default choice for the penny-pinching corporations.

80
Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus  May 10, 2024 • 9:26:31pm

And Spotify now is quite far along in its language translation capability, using the original speaker’s own voice.

Soon we’ll be watching videos in our own language and not that of the original actors.

It’ll be like the 1960s all over again, when Japanese movies showed up in the US dubbed with English-speaker voices, with visual and aural clues conflicting. Great.

But… in a few years the video itself will be regenerated and the mouths of the characters in the video will match the language you want, and when we get there then it is game-over.

81
silverdolphin  May 10, 2024 • 9:40:14pm

Rewatching The Fifth Element. It holds up pretty well. Visual effects looks good. Still funny. And the costumes remain great. It’s Jovovich best movie (although A Perfect Getaway is a close 2nd). And Oldman”s Zorg is still one of the best sci-fi villains.

82
goddamnedfrank  May 10, 2024 • 9:53:34pm

re: #81 silverdolphin

Rewatching The Fifth Element. It holds up pretty well. Visual effects looks good. Still funny. And the costumes remain great. It’s Jovovich best movie (although A Perfect Getaway is a close 2nd). And Oldman”s Zorg is still one of the best sci-fi villains.

There’s a reason it became one of the reference DVDs that people would most often use to judge a home theater’s a/v setup.

83
silverdolphin  May 10, 2024 • 9:56:03pm

re: #82 goddamnedfrank

There’s a reason it became one of the reference DVDs that people would most often use to judge a home theater’s a/v setup.

It was the first 4K disc I bought.

84
wrenchwench  May 10, 2024 • 10:00:29pm

re: #81 silverdolphin

Rewatching The Fifth Element. It holds up pretty well. Visual effects looks good. Still funny. And the costumes remain great. It’s Jovovich best movie (although A Perfect Getaway is a close 2nd). And Oldman”s Zorg is still one of the best sci-fi villains.

That may be the most recent movie I saw in a theater. I was visiting a sister in Orange County, where they have a few theaters. We’re both sci-fi fans, but mostly Jean Luc Picard. We enjoyed it.

She’s also a cyclist, and sent me out on a ride with her buddies. It was a rapid ride around Fullerton. I was living at 6,000 ft., so down at sea level, I looked like I could really ride. It’s always good to impress your sister’s friends.

85
goddamnedfrank  May 10, 2024 • 10:06:32pm

re: #83 silverdolphin

It was the first 4K disc I bought.

I don’t have that one yet but have been snagging a bunch of stuff in 4K lately, Robocop, Tremors, They Live …

It seems like the sweet spot for anything shot on 35mm film, there are already quite a few scenes shot at lower EVs with very visible grain.

86
silverdolphin  May 10, 2024 • 10:12:28pm

re: #85 goddamnedfrank

I don’t have that one yet but have been snagging a bunch of stuff in 4K lately, Robocop, Tremors, They Live …

It seems like the sweet spot for anything shot on 35mm film, there are already quite a few scenes shot at lower EVs with very visible grain.

I agree. 4K UHD is just about perfect for most movies. But I do like watching IMAX streaming movies. They look even better.

87
sagehen  May 10, 2024 • 10:14:14pm

re: #74 Targetpractice

Instead, it’s become a useful tool in the industry, but much like “AI” today, it failed to replace the professional artist. Sure, there are people with years of training and experience using the program who can match or rival those artists, but it is no more forgiving to the rookie who has no clue what he’s doing today than when it was first introduced to the industry.

Word processing never made anyone into a writer; it just mean gibberish could have clean margins and all the words were spelled like actual words.

88
sagehen  May 10, 2024 • 10:24:26pm

re: #75 Belafon

To me, this is an art story. Einstein was put under pressure to finish his general theory of relativity. The problem he had was that the math needed to complete it was not only relatively young, but Einstein wasn’t as much a mathematician as someone who played with equations until they worked (he was better at math than 99% of the world’s population, but that wasn’t enough for this problem). At one point, he gave a lecture on the status of his efforts. In attendance was David Hilbert, one of the great 20th century mathematicians. Hilbert went home that weekend and solved the equation, but didn’t publish it, believing that Einstein would solve it and should receive the credit. Let’s assume he had released it. History would have recorded it as most likely the Hilbert-Einstein theory. Which part was the art?

The first Mrs Einstein (Mileva Marić) was a brilliant mathematician, she did all his calculations. One of the terms of their divorce settlement was that when he eventually got a Nobel (which they were both certain these papers would one day be recognized as deserving), he could have the credit and fame but she gets the prize money.

[[extra trivia; one of the reasons the marriage failed is that his mother HATED her, for being a Serbian communist with a club foot. And not a good cook.]]

89
TedStriker  May 10, 2024 • 10:32:30pm

re: #68 Eclectic Cyborg

Aurora Borealis in my damn backyard. VERY rare for the Deep South.

[Embedded content]

I’m in Nashville and I’m not really seeing shit… and skies are clear:

90
DodgerFan1988  May 10, 2024 • 10:37:40pm
91
Hecuba's daughter  May 10, 2024 • 10:38:28pm

re: #88 sagehen

The first Mrs Einstein (Mileva Marić) was a brilliant mathematician, she did all his calculations. One of the terms of their divorce settlement was that when he eventually got a Nobel (which they were both certain these papers would one day be recognized as deserving), he could have the credit and fame but she gets the prize money.

[[extra trivia; one of the reasons the marriage failed is that his mother HATED her, for being a Serbian communist with a club foot. And not a good cook.]]

I had an aunt who believed that it was Mileva who developed the theory of relativity but Einstein took the credit. AFAIK, my aunt had no science background and I don’t know if she ever went to college — but those were very different times. I do not know why she was so certain in that belief.

92
William Lewis  May 10, 2024 • 10:59:43pm

re: #91 Hecuba’s daughter

I had an aunt who believed that it was Mileva who developed the theory of relativity but Einstein took the credit. AFAIK, my aunt had no science background and I don’t know if she ever went to college — but those were very different times. I do not know why she was so certain in that belief.

The theft of women’s achievements in fields as diverse as astronomy and genetics explains it to me but his signing over the prize money tends to make me believe the received story in their case.

93
goddamnedfrank  May 10, 2024 • 11:18:55pm

re: #74 Targetpractice

“A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from the bristles.”

It’s funny that he mentions Photoshop, because that was also once hailed as “the future” because even a basic rookie fresh out of college was going to magically make “art” out of basic images and photos for a fraction of the cost of a pro with an easel and a paintbrush.

Instead, it’s become a useful tool in the industry, but much like “AI” today, it failed to replace the professional artist. Sure, there are people with years of training and experience using the program who can match or rival those artists, but it is no more forgiving to the rookie who has no clue what he’s doing today than when it was first introduced to the industry.

Yeah, since we’re all gas no brakes on AI anyway one key question is when does a tool become a crutch and how / when do crutches become shackles. Photoshop was always intended to just be a tool that worked identically to a metaphorical darkroom enlarger in terms of how layers and dodging / burning operated. But Photoshop is proprietary so we have open source alternatives. The musical version of that movement of art production into digital space is the MIDI setup, old skills translated into tools for a digital workspace.

The problem, particularly in art, is when the tech starts reinforcing behaviors totally unrelated to understanding the underlying theory. It’s the difference between using Auto-Tune for intended effect vs being good at Guitar Hero while thinking you’re the next Stevie Ray Vaughan. One reinforces understanding and the other just, doesn’t.

94
wrenchwench  May 10, 2024 • 11:51:17pm

Mastodon

95
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  May 10, 2024 • 11:59:26pm

🎶 Every birdies working for the weekend 🎶

MFhmc01oSnRhamlnc1FvZlRldm0yTjRRSlVqT045NXNvc0VUeTMxcUF3THhuL0g5WTNrQmt1SDZXd1h5UUtNT01hWWtBZHJRSzMrOXFiMGJYRFdXamRRNmxDRUUzNkxpcmdpd2xFR2sremxXRlZjTTBqMU9UbmE4elE3NDQxbmE6OrnmMnjZQJJf8SNJTkytWIE=

Likely gonna have to do a little work this weekend but that’s ok. Here’s hoping for a happy weekend for all!

97
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 3:10:41am

No Yankee Lights in Lower Alabama. We had a spectacular display around Ft. Knox the night I proposed to Wife.

(Wife’s parents, for the record, but close enough.)

98
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 3:18:07am

al.com posted photos of several good displays around the state. There was nothing here up to 9PM, then the clouds moved in.
al.com

99
Targetpractice  May 11, 2024 • 3:48:53am

re: #96 William Lewis

[Embedded content]

Starship Troopers - 1950’s Super Panavision 70

100
Targetpractice  May 11, 2024 • 3:53:49am

One of the hilarious things about walking around a hotel parking lot at night is you can see some sketchy AF “repairs” done just to keep junk cars on the road. Like tonight’s example, a 90s-era Ford Escort whose hood is being held on by naught but a single bungee cable.

101
Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus  May 11, 2024 • 3:55:37am

96 years ago:

Charlie Johnson And His Paradise Band - The Boy In The Boat (1928)



..

102
Colère Tueur de Lapin ✅  May 11, 2024 • 4:01:31am

Par today.
Wordle 1,057 4/6

Click to Reveal

⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

103
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 4:02:00am

re: #100 Targetpractice

One of the hilarious things about walking around a hotel parking lot at night is you can see some sketchy AF “repairs” done just to keep junk cars on the road. Like tonight’s example, a 90s-era Ford Escort whose hood is being held on by naught but a single bungee cable.

They’d better be careful with that. I drove a friend’s truck once, which hood was held on by two bungee cords. I turned a corner into the wind, and the hood lifted, wobbled a little bit as the cords strained, and then slammed straight into the windshield, leaving me blinded. My dad was following me as part of a moving party; when I managed to safely navigate the corner and bring it to a stop past the guardrail, he remarked, “I was sure you were going to lose it there.” Thanks, Dad, you’re the one who taught me how to drive, after all.

104
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 4:04:03am

re: #100 Targetpractice

One of the hilarious things about walking around a hotel parking lot at night is you can see some sketchy AF “repairs” done just to keep junk cars on the road. Like tonight’s example, a 90s-era Ford Escort whose hood is being held on by naught but a single bungee cable.

A couple months ago a friend had a run-in, Ford Escape vs 18-wheeler with half a double-wide. For 8 weeks her insurance company and the collision shop debated about totalling it/fixing it. I kept her on the road with 10 yards of color-matching duct tape, even protecting the exposed headlamp with a sheet of acetate.

Roll Tide, y’all.

105
Dr Lizardo  May 11, 2024 • 4:08:43am

LOL - saw this floating around

106
Dr Lizardo  May 11, 2024 • 4:09:58am

re: #100 Targetpractice

a 90s-era Ford Escort whose hood is being held on by naught but a single bungee cable

I’m more impressed that it’s still running.

107
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 4:11:01am

It’s another morning.

Click to Reveal

Wordle 1,057 3/6*

⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

109
Shropshire Slasher  May 11, 2024 • 4:26:42am

Some morning drive time music, patiently waiting for the naming of the Tulip Queen.

Middle Kids - Real Thing (Official Video)

110
Shropshire Slasher  May 11, 2024 • 4:28:02am

I don’t understand all the hatred for Jerry Seinfeld’s new movie Unfrosted.

111
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 4:32:15am

re: #87 sagehen

Word processing never made anyone into a writer; it just mean gibberish could have clean margins and all the words were spelled like actual words.

I can type a thousand letters a minute

I just can’t make words out of them

112
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 4:33:28am

re: #93 goddamnedfrank

Yeah, since we’re all gas no brakes on AI anyway one key question is when does a tool become a crutch and how / when do crutches become shackles. Photoshop was always intended to just be a tool that worked identically to a metaphorical darkroom enlarger in terms of how layers and dodging / burning operated. But Photoshop is proprietary so we have open source alternatives. The musical version of that movement of art production into digital space is the MIDI setup, old skills translated into tools for a digital workspace.

The problem, particularly in art, is when the tech starts reinforcing behaviors totally unrelated to understanding the underlying theory. It’s the difference between using Auto-Tune for intended effect vs being good at Guitar Hero while thinking you’re the next Stevie Ray Vaughan. One reinforces understanding and the other just, doesn’t.

113
BlueSpotinAL ✅  May 11, 2024 • 4:40:19am

re: #103 Nerdy Fish

They’d better be careful with that. I drove a friend’s truck once, which hood was held on by two bungee cords. I turned a corner into the wind, and the hood lifted, wobbled a little bit as the cords strained, and then slammed straight into the windshield, leaving me blinded. My dad was following me as part of a moving party; when I managed to safely navigate the corner and bring it to a stop past the guardrail, he remarked, “I was sure you were going to lose it there.” Thanks, Dad, you’re the one who taught me how to drive, after all.

That happened to me, at night. Driving at night on a highway in the left lane in an unfamiliar city. All of a sudden, a big wham and it went dark. It took a second to process, and fortunately there was room to pull over on left side, and I could see out the left side window. The amazing thing was that the windshield was not cracked, and that I could get the hood back down.

The cause was a low speed collision which caused the front end to have matches being slightly off everywhere. Timing chain broke months later and that was the end off the road for 1999 Altima.

114
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 4:52:58am

re: #113 BlueSpotinAL ✅

That happened to me, at night. Driving at night on a highway in the left lane in an unfamiliar city. All of a sudden, a big wham and it went dark. It took a second to process, and fortunately there was room to pull over on left side, and could see out the left side window. The amazing thing was that the windshield was not cracked, and that I could get the hood back down.

The cause was a low speed collision which caused the front end to have matches being slightly off everywhere. Timing chain broke and that was the end off the road for 1999 Altima.

I was able to use my view of the center line through the driver’s side window to keep the truck in my lane around the sweeping corner until I could pull over. I was pretty proud of myself for my heads-up thinking, until my dad opened his big mouth.

115
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 4:55:41am

116
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 5:03:21am
117
jeffreyw  May 11, 2024 • 5:04:54am

The American hunting cat uses all available cover as it stealthily approaches its prey.

broccoli beef

Good morning!

118
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 5:05:00am

re: #116 Dangerman

The Good Guys lost the Scopes trial.

119
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 5:06:19am

re: #118 Decatur Deb

The Good Guys lost the Scopes trial.

Something something Lost Cause something something.

120
Eventual Carrion  May 11, 2024 • 5:07:25am

re: #102 Colère Tueur de Lapin ✅

Par today.
Wordle 1,057 4/6

[Embedded content]

3/6 here

Click to Reveal

Wordle 1,057 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

121
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 5:07:53am

re: #119 Nerdy Fish

Something something Lost Cause something something.

Twelve good men and true.

122
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 5:11:41am

Remember her? Another back door, national level, for embryonic personhood.

Child support payments would start with pregnancy under new bill from Alabama Sen. Katie Britt
al.com

123
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 5:13:49am

re: #122 Decatur Deb

Remember her? Another back door, national level, for embryonic personhood.

Child support payments would start with pregnancy under new bill from Alabama Sen. Katie Britt
al.com

It’s remarkable how these people are all-in on dramatically expanding the government’s power based on one single Bible verse that doesn’t even say what they think it says, when read in its proper context. Jesus wept.

124
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 5:18:51am

re: #123 Nerdy Fish

A truly Christian government would provide five pitas and two tilapia without a means test.

125
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 5:19:28am

re: #124 Decatur Deb

A truly Christian government would provide five pitas and two tilapia without a means test.

A truly Christian government would do a lot of things. None of them are what Republicans want to do.

126
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 5:20:35am

re: #125 Nerdy Fish

Alabama’s is about to provide another guy with more nitrogen than he can stand.

127
Dr Lizardo  May 11, 2024 • 5:21:48am

128
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  May 11, 2024 • 5:38:24am

re: #117 jeffreyw

[Embedded content]

Good morning!

You only supplied 2/3 of the story without telling us whether the cat got its share of broccoli beef or not.

;)

129
Randall Gross  May 11, 2024 • 6:03:26am

re: #114 Nerdy Fish

I was able to use my view of the center line through the driver’s side window to keep the truck in my lane around the sweeping corner until I could pull over. I was pretty proud of myself for my heads-up thinking, until my dad opened his big mouth.

I’ve never had that happen and it would be truly frightening.

The closest thing to that was that time when I went through a puddle in Alaska — the street crew had just installed a new sewer main that was underwater and all of the barriers had blown over in the storm so I had no clue what was under the water, but knew the road and that the water wasn’t deep… or so I thought. The ‘74 satellite I was driving hit the lip of the main right on the frame’s cross member, and I went into the windshield breaking my nose. The card bowed like a folding wallet, and was totaled.

130
Belafon  May 11, 2024 • 6:03:29am

Why didn’t he go to the NYT first? /

131
Belafon  May 11, 2024 • 6:03:36am
132
Belafon  May 11, 2024 • 6:05:58am
133
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 6:06:55am

re: #129 Randall Gross

I’ve never had that happen and it would be truly frightening.

The closest thing to that was that time when I went through a puddle in Alaska — the street crew had just installed a new sewer main that was underwater and all of the barriers had blown over in the storm so I had no clue what was under the water, but knew the road and that the water wasn’t deep… or so I thought. The ‘74 satellite I was driving hit the lip of the main right on the frame’s cross member, and I went into the windshield breaking my nose. The card bowed like a folding wallet, and was totaled.

I was 20 at the time, and also the only person besides the friend whose truck it was who could drive a stick shift. The only thing that was on my mind was keeping the truck between the lines. I didn’t even have time to register what a dangerous situation I was in until after I got it pulled over.

134
Yeah Sure WhatEVs  May 11, 2024 • 6:08:51am

re: #122 Decatur Deb

Remember her? Another back door, national level, for embryonic personhood.

Child support payments would start with pregnancy under new bill from Alabama Sen. Katie Britt
al.com

Way to get even more pregnant women killed.

135
Randall Gross  May 11, 2024 • 6:09:23am

Good thread with Greg Sargent’s take on that TNR article about Trump’s Legislation yard sale to the Oil industry

This story wrecks one of Trump’s biggest scams: The idea that he is putting his knowledge of elite corruption and self-dealing to work for the “forgotten.” It shows him milking the inside game for his own corrupt benefit with extraordinary clarity. 5/5

newrepublic.com/article/1814…

— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) 2024-05-11T12:14:12.259Z

136
Joe Bacon ✅  May 11, 2024 • 6:09:52am

Georgia GOP vice chair booted for illegally voting 9 times as a convicted felon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Pritchard was removed from his role as the party’s number two official after a whopping 86% of the Georgia GOP’s state committee supported a motion to oust him.

The vote to officially remove Pritchard came after he refused to step down amid revelations that he voted on nine separate occasions despite a prior felony conviction.

ajc.com

But remember folks! Speaker Jesusbot insists that millions of illegal aliens are voting for Democrats!

137
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 6:10:03am

re: #122 Decatur Deb

Remember her? Another back door, national level, for embryonic personhood.

Child support payments would start with pregnancy under new bill from Alabama Sen. Katie Britt
al.com

Not a problem in okla. No divorce If you’re pregnant, right?

138
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 6:10:51am

re: #123 Nerdy Fish

It’s remarkable how these people are all-in on dramatically expanding the government’s power based on one single Bible verse that doesn’t even say what they think it says, when read in its proper context. Jesus wept.

Doing the Lord’s work ain’t go no end

139
Randall Gross  May 11, 2024 • 6:11:39am

Good Moxon thread excerpts a chapter of his new book

An excerpt from Very Fine People—reprinting an essay written October 2020.
___

Let me tell you two stories. Story one: let’s pretend, for the sake of argument, that there’s a virus.

www.the-reframe.com/very-fine-pe…

— A.R. Moxon (@juliusgoat.bsky.social) 2024-05-11T12:00:57.026Z

140
Randall Gross  May 11, 2024 • 6:13:09am

ut oh… Eurovision controversy

Hours before the Eurovision Song Contest final was scheduled to begin on Saturday, organizers banned the Netherlands’ entry — Joost Klein — saying that Swedish police were investigating the Dutch musician and it would be inappropriate for him to take part.

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2024-05-11T13:11:58.282Z

141
Teukka  May 11, 2024 • 6:14:59am

re: #140 Randall Gross

ut oh… Eurovision controversy

[Embedded content]

What I hear in local Swedish News is that the police is investigating a complaint about a criminal threat and some sort of physical altercation. And woman appears to be a contractor, not an SVT employee.

142
Joe Bacon ✅  May 11, 2024 • 6:15:08am

re: #140 Randall Gross

Memories of when Benny Hill goofed on the Eurovision Song Contest.

dailymotion.com

143
Joe Bacon ✅  May 11, 2024 • 6:21:43am

144
Randall Gross  May 11, 2024 • 6:22:00am

CNN on the Eurovision controversies involving the dutch entry & anti war in Gaza protests against Israel
cnn.com

145
Michele: Out of the closet, Into the fire  May 11, 2024 • 6:24:25am

Morning Lizards.

146
Joe Bacon ✅  May 11, 2024 • 6:26:03am

Went outside last night and the sky was cloudy so we didn’t get to see the aurora show…

147
Shiplord Kirel: From behind wingnut lines  May 11, 2024 • 6:26:14am

These assholes again.

Priest, 82, and retired teacher, 85, smash case holding copy of Magna Carta in environmental protest

The glass case containing an original copy of the Magna Carta at the British Library in London was smashed by two environmental activists on Friday, causing minor damage to the reinforced box but leaving the historic document unscathed.

The pair of protesters from Just Stop Oil, a group that has caused widespread disruption in Britain in its campaign to end to the world’s reliance on fossil fuels, pounded on the case with a hammer and chisel.

Elsewhere, Congressman Jim Bob Coalroll (R-BigOil) issued a statement declaring that
” these ancient hippie vandals are completely typical of the kind of clueless, drug addled communists and flake-type people who think we can power civilization with 12 volt organic solar cells hung from the roof of the Unabomber’s outhouse.”

OK, I made up the second paragraph, but this kind of “protest” is music to the ears of climate change denialists.

148
A Cranky One  May 11, 2024 • 6:28:40am

149
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  May 11, 2024 • 6:31:06am

re: #147 Shiplord Kirel: From behind wingnut lines

These assholes again.

Priest, 82, and retired teacher, 85, smash case holding copy of Magna Carta in environmental protest

Elsewhere, Congressman Jim Bob Coalroll (R-BigOil) issued a statement declaring that
” these ancient hippie vandals are completely typical of the kind of clueless, drug addled communists and flake-type people who think we can power civilization with 12 volt organic solar cells hung from the roof of the Unabomber’s outhouse.”

OK, I made up the second paragraph, but this kind of “protest” is music to the ears of climate change denialists.

Sounds like the types that are so far down the rabbit hole that they have become anti-society since they now blame everyone and everything for either being The Man or simply doing the The Man’s bidding without revolting. The vandalism makes no sense to us, but seems to them since they are directly attacking the symbols and artifacts of their society.

(I think there is a similar point where people become advocates of a society’s enemies simply because they are their society’s enemies and the are lot in their hate of their own society’s establishment. IMO, Roger Waters fell into this quite a ways back in his never ending self-pity wallowing over his father’s death in WW2 and the political existence of Margaret Thatcher.)

150
Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus  May 11, 2024 • 6:46:59am

re: #149 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

On the other hand, perhaps those two protestors are onto something. Maybe the Magna Carta is where everything went wrong.

Imagine going back in a time machine and helping King John defeat the noblemen.

The world will then go through a different path up till today, and maybe climate change would be a non-issue in that case.

151
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  May 11, 2024 • 6:56:12am

re: #7 The Ghost of a Flea

NYPD has spent $53 million on overtime pay responding to protests since Oct. 7

It’s almost like there’s always a crisis because crises create exception conditions in which the powerful can assign themselves more power.

and bring in “outside agitators” so police have license to bust heads with extreme prejudice.

152
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  May 11, 2024 • 6:58:19am

re: #150 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

On the other hand, perhaps those two protestors are onto something. Maybe the Magna Carta is where everything went wrong.

Imagine going back in a time machine and helping King John defeat the noblemen.

The world will then go through a different path up till today, and maybe climate change would be a non-issue in that case.

Interesting what-if. But I don’t think it would change much. England was already operating in a way where the monarch had to maintain relationships with the noble class and would not be allowed to run roughshod over them or continue to simply reward favorites without making allowances.* And a later English society with broader representation and power being held by Parliament would have simply glommed onto some other event or document as the beginning of that process.

* - The sovereign appearing to favor certain individuals or families being a constant source of friction in English history. With strong pushback from other nobles and their factions. Combine that with a king who was a weak leader or lacked the skill and power base to keep things together and you get an England ready to tear itself apart, a coup, or a period where the dynastic wars have the English holdings in France and elsewhere erode away.

153
Belafon  May 11, 2024 • 7:01:33am

I have found it interesting the Davies has chosen to actually embrace the Timeless Child history created for Jodie Whitaker’s Doctor. It was definitely a bold choice for writer Chris Chubnall, who had been struggling to find something for an actor like Whitaker and a story as big as Doctor Who.

gamesradar.com

154
Hecuba's daughter  May 11, 2024 • 7:04:30am

re: #95 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

🎶 Every birdies working for the weekend 🎶

[Embedded content]

Likely gonna have to do a little work this weekend but that’s ok. Here’s hoping for a happy weekend for all!

Birbie here too!

Click to Reveal

Wordle 1,057 3/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

3 for all today: Group: 3,3,3,3

Perfect! also

Click to Reveal

Connections
Puzzle #335
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

155
(((Archangel1)))  May 11, 2024 • 7:25:26am

I think it’s safe to say that announcer is finnished… * shows himself the way out *

156
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  May 11, 2024 • 7:28:31am

re: #12 The Ghost of a Flea

A great measure of these people is how they fetishize induced altered states of consciousness as privileged insight without acknowledging that an inner journey is only as meaningful as your worst base assumption while sober.

If you enjoy getting stoned, then that’s your good right as long as you are not endangering anyone or encroaching on their rights.

There might be some paths to enlightenment that work with the aid of drugs, but that is an entirely personal and subjective matter.

157
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  May 11, 2024 • 7:33:30am

re: #62 goddamnedfrank

as far as I am concerned there are only two kinds of art: the kind that people make to express someting in their soul that they wish to share, and that which people make to please their egos or make money.

AI will never be able to express anything in its soul, it is basically only there to save people the expense of hiring an artist.

158
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  May 11, 2024 • 7:37:28am

re: #90 DodgerFan1988

The same bigots out here justifying the murder of Senior Airman Roger Fortson, a 23-year-old Black man serving his country, also justified the murders of…

He was shot because he ansered the door of his own home with a gun in his hand. The 2A does not apply to black people, either on the streets or in their own homes.

159
Michele: Out of the closet, Into the fire  May 11, 2024 • 7:39:32am
160
jeffreyw  May 11, 2024 • 7:41:11am

re: #128 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

You only supplied 2/3 of the story without telling us whether the cat got its share of broccoli beef or not.

;)

LOL That was Homer Kitty from 14 years ago. I’m scraping my own archives for Caturday fodder. The stir fry was last night.

161
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  May 11, 2024 • 7:44:49am

re: #152 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

The Magna Carta simply codified the existing status: that the King needed the Nobles to exert his power over the Realm, and that the King’s ability to exert power over his nobles was limited.

162
No Malarkey!  May 11, 2024 • 7:46:20am

Rudy’s talk show canceled because he won’t shut up about 2020 “voter fraud.” nbcnews.com

163
darthstar  May 11, 2024 • 7:47:08am

re: #159 Michele: Out of the closet, Into the fire

I avoid self-checkout for that very reason.

164
Romantic Heretic  May 11, 2024 • 7:49:25am

re: #105 Dr Lizardo

Orban thinks he can get China backing him with less likelihood of being invaded.

Greedy fucks can’t help being greedy.

165
A hollow voice says: Abort SCOTUS  May 11, 2024 • 7:49:57am

A par for a Saturday.

blZiTEc1YlQ3RW5ycjNuN0FjTjcrSVM1eUVBNmgyZmFZb1FhTjhFaU12TFNiZ3ptZVJpTHladUFPM3hBTmtYSWV6STlGSEJGaWZSS2ZTTTJucTVWRTMxT21kRi9PY3pEbUlCT0h6eEd5Rk00SDZWQURwNmhEZmYwaGRBSTlNRDBja0paQWViOUNWZ2x4bHM5Q2ZvTWt5aGRyY29PNTdmUmwzbHBxYjhmZFV3PTo6WHrcUXRiYHOjAxntVPkW+Q==

166
A hollow voice says: Abort SCOTUS  May 11, 2024 • 7:52:52am

Poppies… poppies…

167
Randall Gross  May 11, 2024 • 7:54:24am

re: #147 Shiplord Kirel: From behind wingnut lines

These assholes again.

Priest, 82, and retired teacher, 85, smash case holding copy of Magna Carta in environmental protest

Elsewhere, Congressman Jim Bob Coalroll (R-BigOil) issued a statement declaring that
” these ancient hippie vandals are completely typical of the kind of clueless, drug addled communists and flake-type people who think we can power civilization with 12 volt organic solar cells hung from the roof of the Unabomber’s outhouse.”

OK, I made up the second paragraph, but this kind of “protest” is music to the ears of climate change denialists.

Don’t forget all those Television writers who feature “Eco-Terrorists” in every fourth or fifth law enforcement gun-scrum drama they create.

168
Romantic Heretic  May 11, 2024 • 7:54:42am

re: #134 Yeah Sure WhatEVs

Way to get even more pregnant women killed.

That’s probably the idea.

With the authoritarians and barbarians masquerading as conservatives the cruelty is the point.

169
Unabogie  May 11, 2024 • 8:01:16am

re: #150 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

On the other hand, perhaps those two protestors are onto something. Maybe the Magna Carta is where everything went wrong.

Imagine going back in a time machine and helping King John defeat the noblemen.

The world will then go through a different path up till today, and maybe climate change would be a non-issue in that case.

It’s interesting that nearly all sci-fi universes involve some concept of galactic empire, in which beings with the power to travel through literal wormholes can’t also imagine a life without capitalism.

I’m not convinced that unregulated socialism works any better than unregulated capitalism, but our current system is completely broken. Some people now call it “enshitification” but the basic incentives to maximize profits have always been there. How does a system designed to extract wealth deal with longterm consequences on a global scale? It can’t. There is no mechanism for it beyond regulations. And regulations can be changed if the money flows to people who promise to change them. Capital can just bribe its way out of consequences, so now you have the added incentive to engage in bribery as well as environmental destruction.

At my job, all anyone talks about is using LLMs to solve problems that can be solved using normal computing. Every time I point out how horrible LLMs are for the environment, I get blank stares. As if we should not care about trivial things like this.

170
nines09  May 11, 2024 • 8:05:27am

Rain and upper 40’s. Clouds low and high. Saw some greenish tint, but that can come from the strip and reflecting the lighting there.
I have seen the Lights before.
Once a small display, and once a magnificent show that was as good as any ever witnessed online, and it lasted over an hour.
Tonight we look again.

171
No Malarkey!  May 11, 2024 • 8:09:15am

172
Eventual Carrion  May 11, 2024 • 8:26:34am

3/6 Wordle

Click to Reveal

Wordle 1,057 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Perfect! Connections

Click to Reveal

Connections
Puzzle #335
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪

173
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  May 11, 2024 • 8:27:13am

re: #169 Unabogie

Things are not going to work until we recognize that the Earth and all its resources belong to everyone on the planet.

Naturally those persons/organizations who undertake the effort to unlock and develop those resources to make them available for the rest of us should be duly rewarded and that a market-based system of rewards can be a highly efficient mechanism for doing so, but we have to look on those resources are not their “property” to simply buy and sell.

We still measure wealth, propsperity and well-being in terms of how many resources we consume and not in terms of the quality of life we create with them.

174
Eclectic Cyborg  May 11, 2024 • 8:38:23am

re: #163 darthstar

I avoid self-checkout for that very reason.

I get that argument, but when I can zip through a self check in less than half the time it would take me to go through a human cashier…

175
darthstar  May 11, 2024 • 8:43:41am

re: #174 Eclectic Cyborg

I get that argument, but when I can zip through a self check in less than half the time it would take me to go through a human cashier…

I will use it if I have one item - say a grab-and-go breakfast burrito on my way to work - but I enjoy the interaction with the cashier. I started walking out the other day before ‘approved’ showed up on the screen after I paid and the cashier said, “Wait!” so I stood there for another thirty seconds (slow connection) and then he said, “Okay, you’re good.” I said, “Whew…I was worried you were going to have to shoot me in the back.” to which he replied, “I wouldn’t shoot you in the back.” That left me wondering if he’d shoot me in my face.

176
Varek Raith  May 11, 2024 • 8:44:40am

Spicy meatball!
spaceweather.gov

177
🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈  May 11, 2024 • 8:48:30am

“The World’s Greatest Detectives” took a 16-year-old into custody when his dad turned him in, then pretended they had a larger role. The kid sucks, but so do the self-aggrandizing authorities.

178
KerFuFFler  May 11, 2024 • 8:49:35am

re: #51 Targetpractice

Why learn to play instruments, write music, or compose lyrics when an analytical engine can just scrape the internet for the work of others and then smash it together until it produces something marketable?

A question I shared with beginning piano students was this:
If someone handed you the keys to a really cool race car and gave you permission to drive it around an otherwise empty racetrack, would you rather try that or watch a video of an expert driving it?

The students invariably chose to have the experience of driving the actual car. The experience of the power and control of the vehicle was seen as more exciting than mere spectatorism.

I explained that playing music is similar. It does not matter if others are better at it than they are. The experience of controlling the instrument is exciting by itself.

Of course, the race car is more fun when you can use the clutch and when you can avoid steering into the walls. And just like driving a race car, playing music becomes more fun the more skills you develop.

179
🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈  May 11, 2024 • 8:51:33am

re: #169 Unabogie

It’s interesting that nearly all sci-fi universes involve some concept of galactic empire, in which beings with the power to travel through literal wormholes can’t also imagine a life without capitalism.

I’m not convinced that unregulated socialism works any better than unregulated capitalism, but our current system is completely broken. Some people now call it “enshitification” but the basic incentives to maximize profits have always been there. How does a system designed to extract wealth deal with longterm consequences on a global scale? It can’t. There is no mechanism for it beyond regulations. And regulations can be changed if the money flows to people who promise to change them. Capital can just bribe its way out of consequences, so now you have the added incentive to engage in bribery as well as environmental destruction.

At my job, all anyone talks about is using LLMs to solve problems that can be solved using normal computing. Every time I point out how horrible LLMs are for the environment, I get blank stares. As if we should not care about trivial things like this.

Frame it as using more expensive resources, bad business.
That hippie “think of the survival of the human race” stuff isn’t going to fly outside of non-profits.

180
darthstar  May 11, 2024 • 8:54:34am

Mastodon

181
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 8:56:26am

Birbie. Wordle 1,057 3/6*

Click to Reveal

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

182
Varek Raith  May 11, 2024 • 8:57:04am

re: #177 🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈

Narcissism mixed with savior complex mixed with….yikes.

183
Unabogie  May 11, 2024 • 8:58:29am

re: #180 darthstar

[Embedded content]

Personally, he always looks like Tyrion Lannister to me. But not the smart one from the first few seasons. The dumb one who fucks everything up while bragging about how he’s the thinker of the group.

184
Unabogie  May 11, 2024 • 9:09:25am

re: #179 🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈

Frame it as using more expensive resources, bad business.
That hippie “think of the survival of the human race” stuff isn’t going to fly outside of non-profits.

I do that, but the Smart People™ are just convinced that LLM prompts are the new gold rush and no one will buy Well-Known Product if they don’t have to type it in a search field first.

185
darthstar  May 11, 2024 • 9:10:40am

186
Joe Bacon ✅  May 11, 2024 • 9:17:05am

re: #171 No Malarkey!

Just waiting for Mussoweeney to whine about the Deep State coming after him with the IRS…

187
BlueSpotinAL ✅  May 11, 2024 • 9:24:55am

re: #163 darthstar

I avoid self-checkout for that very reason.

I would do self checkout, except that the cashier is a rude asshole.

188
jeffreyw  May 11, 2024 • 9:31:19am

Mastodon

189
sizzzzlerz  May 11, 2024 • 9:38:58am

re: #178 KerFuFFler

Of course, the race car is more fun when you can use the clutch and when you can avoid steering into the walls. And just like driving a race car, playing music becomes more fun the more skills you develop.

Plus, musicians seem to get all the pretty girls!

190
sizzzzlerz  May 11, 2024 • 9:40:55am

re: #176 Varek Raith

Spicy meatball!
spaceweather.gov

Just the Sun reminding all of us who is the King!

191
Varek Raith  May 11, 2024 • 9:41:58am

re: #188 jeffreyw

Nah, I’d win. :D

192
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 9:42:28am

re: #188 jeffreyw

[Embedded content]

Needs a stamina factor. At a long enough distance (how long, I don’t know) a human can outrun a horse. I’m sure many of those were short-run top speeds.

193
Varek Raith  May 11, 2024 • 9:46:42am

re: #192 wrenchwench

Needs a stamina factor. At a long enough distance (how long, I don’t know) a human can outrun a horse. I’m sure many of those were short-run top speeds.

Are Humans OP?

194
darthstar  May 11, 2024 • 9:50:36am

re: #186 Joe Bacon ✅

Just waiting for Mussoweeney to whine about the Deep State coming after him with the IRS…

He’s said for years that he was being audited by the IRS…and now it’s true.

195
darthstar  May 11, 2024 • 9:53:04am

re: #186 Joe Bacon ✅

Just waiting for Mussoweeney to whine about the Deep State coming after him with the IRS…

OMFG - he was playing TWO card monty with the IRS…

Mastodon

196
darthstar  May 11, 2024 • 9:56:36am

re: #190 sizzzzlerz

Just the Sun reminding all of us who is the King!

197
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 9:59:03am

re: #192 wrenchwench

Needs a stamina factor. At a long enough distance (how long, I don’t know) a human can outrun a horse. I’m sure many of those were short-run top speeds.

Humans are the ultimate endurance predator. A human can catch a cheetah; while the big cat is undeniably faster than the human, they’ll wear themselves out and be incapacitated, while the human can just keep a normal walking pace the whole time and eventually catch up.

198
sizzzzlerz  May 11, 2024 • 10:10:22am

re: #196 darthstar

[Embedded content]

Even Vegas Elvis couldn”t throw out mass coronal ejections like the sun

199
Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))  May 11, 2024 • 10:19:08am

re: #198 sizzzzlerz

Even Vegas Elvis couldn”t throw out mass coronal ejections like the sun

Great big hunks of burnin’ love…

200
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 10:19:21am

re: #197 Nerdy Fish

Humans are the ultimate endurance predator. A human can catch a cheetah; while the big cat is undeniably faster than the human, they’ll wear themselves out and be incapacitated, while the human can just keep a normal walking pace the whole time and eventually catch up.

A light jog is easier than walking. Burns fewer calories.

201
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 10:19:46am

re: #200 wrenchwench

A light jog is easier than walking. Burns fewer calories.

Huh. I never would’ve guessed that.

202
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 10:20:52am

re: #201 Nerdy Fish

Huh. I never would’ve guessed that.

Momentum. Balance is easier. Each leg gets a brief rest.

203
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 10:21:29am

re: #202 wrenchwench

Momentum. Balance is easier. Each leg gets a brief rest.

Yeah, it makes sense, I just didn’t think about it before.

204
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 10:23:26am

re: #202 wrenchwench

Momentum. Balance is easier. Each leg gets a brief rest.

Could be just me. But I saw a vid about robot pants that ambulate for the person wearing them. It was easier to get the pants to jog than to walk.

And I read something somewhere (my favorite ‘receipt’).

205
jeffreyw  May 11, 2024 • 10:27:30am

re: #192 wrenchwench

Needs a stamina factor. At a long enough distance (how long, I don’t know) a human can outrun a horse. I’m sure many of those were short-run top speeds.

I’d say they all were top speeds at a short sprint, but I would need to check the human speed against Usian Bolt

206
A Three Hour Tour  May 11, 2024 • 10:28:03am

re: #204 wrenchwench

Could be just me. But I saw a vid about robot pants that ambulate for the person wearing them. It was easier to get the pants to jog than to walk.

And I read something somewhere (my favorite ‘receipt’).

“It’s the WRONG TROUSERS, Gromit! The WRONG TROUSERS!!!”

207
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 10:31:21am

I almost got a smart phone two days ago. There was a screaming deal for $20/month, and with a 2 yr. contract, they give you the phone, but what I lacked was state ID. Passport card was not good enough, but a passport book would have been. It’s the first time I’ve needed more ID than the passport card.

Now I wait for another screaming deal (that one expired) and/or get more ID.

208
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 10:31:47am

re: #206 A Three Hour Tour

“It’s the WRONG TROUSERS, Gromit! The WRONG TROUSERS!!!”

My favorite movie!

209
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 10:35:48am

re: #158 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

He was shot because he ansered the door of his own home with a gun in his hand. The 2A does not apply to black people, either on the streets or in their own homes.

Trained law enforcement sees someone with a gun in their hand and automatically assumes danger, bad intent, fear for their lives etc. virtually every shoot is justified. Even when it is the wrong address…

Why don’t we get that right when we see an ar-15 at starbucks? Why must we be forced to assume “good” intent? (Let alone competency)

210
FFL (GOP Delenda Est)  May 11, 2024 • 10:37:43am

re: #209 Dangerman

Trained law enforcement sees someone with a gun in their hand and automatically assumes danger, bad intent, fear for their lives etc. virtually every shoot is justified. Even when it is the wrong address…

Why don’t we get that right when we see an ar-15 at starbucks? Why must we be forced to assume “good” intent? (Let alone competency)

Skin color seems to be the deciding initial factor in all this, doesn’t it?

211
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 10:39:08am

re: #174 Eclectic Cyborg

I get that argument, but when I can zip through a self check in less than half the time it would take me to go through a human cashier…

I think I see your problem

212
The Ghost of a Flea  May 11, 2024 • 10:40:24am

re: #177 🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈

“The World’s Greatest Detectives” took a 16-year-old into custody when his dad turned him in, then pretended they had a larger role. The kid sucks, but so do the self-aggrandizing authorities.

[Embedded content]

I find myself alarmed by the descriptive effort to inflate the size of the crime.

I like history and understanding WW2 is very important, but there’s something frankly frightening about the way it’s become a kind of moral fetish wielded by people who both have power and don’t use that power morally.

The abstraction of dead troops is the same as that of live troops: it’s not about those people at all, it’s about turning them into a signifier of the state’s moral purity, resulting in their efforts being used like currency to “explain” arbitrary and cruel acts.

213
goddamnedfrank  May 11, 2024 • 10:40:40am

All aboard the all gas no brakes hype train what could possibly go wrong‽

Earlier this year, Carly Holm, CEO of HR consultancy Humani, received a call from a New York-based client. One employee had filed a workplace harassment claim against another, and the situation was escalating quickly. But when Holm asked the client for a copy of their employee handbook, part of a routine compliance check, they stumbled. “They kind of sheepishly said ‘Okay, well here it is, ChatGPT wrote it,’” Holm told Forbes.

For Holm, who has reviewed AI-written policies for dozens of her clients, the revelation was no surprise. But in this case there was a major problem: the AI-generated handbook didn’t have an anti-harassment policy at all.

“If the workplace does not have appropriate policies in place like a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment, workplace violence, etc, the investigation will then look at the employer, and there will be consequences,” she said. “So they realized, ‘Wow, we should have brought in professionals to write these policies the proper way.’”

Companies are increasingly turning to AI to generate important, often legally binding, employment documents — from company handbooks and workplace policies to contracts like offer letters and separation agreements, according to interviews with four HR and payroll service providers. And in several cases, these documents, spun using AI tools like ChatGPT, overlook key clauses and crucial issues putting employers at serious legal and financial risk, HR consultants who have directly worked with such companies told Forbes.

214
wrenchwench  May 11, 2024 • 10:42:45am

re: #210 FFL (GOP Delenda Est)

Skin color seems to be the deciding initial factor in all this, doesn’t it?

If that problem is trained in, we can fix it. If it’s cultural, we can fix it. It will take LLLLOOOOOOOOOOONNNNGER.

215
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 10:47:24am

re: #213 goddamnedfrank

All aboard the all gas no brakes hype train what could possibly go wrong‽

The problem isn’t “who” wrote it.
Its that nobody reviewed or critiqued it properly.

216
Decatur Deb  May 11, 2024 • 10:50:42am

re: #214 wrenchwench

If that problem is trained in, we can fix it. If it’s cultural, we can fix it. It will take LLLLOOOOOOOOOOONNNNGER.

And if some of it is wired-in, longer still.

217
PhillyPretzel ✅  May 11, 2024 • 10:50:51am

As per the AP: You can see the auroras tonight too. It would be nice but it is going to be cloudy again in Philly.
forecast.weather.gov

218
goddamnedfrank  May 11, 2024 • 10:51:01am

re: #177 🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈

“The World’s Greatest Detectives” took a 16-year-old into custody when his dad turned him in, then pretended they had a larger role. The kid sucks, but so do the self-aggrandizing authorities.

[Embedded content]

Kid’s dad is a massive piece of shit. I’m sure he thinks he’s instilling values or something but blind obedience to the State to the point of making sure your kid ends up with a criminal record over grafitti is insane.

219
Belafon  May 11, 2024 • 10:52:08am

re: #213 goddamnedfrank

All aboard the all gas no brakes hype train what could possibly go wrong‽

I’ve studied AI, I’ve done a little work with it, and, as seen above, I’m not on the “destroy it because it affects my art” train, but attempting to use it to create any kind of binding document when it doesn’t understand any of the content it is generating is up among the dumbest ideas around.

220
Dangerman  May 11, 2024 • 10:55:00am

re: #219 Belafon

I’ve studied AI, I’ve done a little work with it, and, as seen above, I’m not on the “destroy it because it affects my art” train, but attempting to use it to create any kind of binding document when it doesn’t understand any of the content it is generating is up among the dumbest ideas around.

Not real different from having interns write it, then just binding it up as is and saying “done”

221
Nerdy Fish  May 11, 2024 • 10:56:38am

re: #220 Dangerman

Not real different from having interns write it, then just binding it up as is and saying “done”

To be fair, I’d give the interns the benefit of the doubt sooner than I would an LLM. So-called “AI” is nothing but a fancy and really expensive autocomplete.

222
Eventual Carrion  May 11, 2024 • 10:59:57am

re: #217 PhillyPretzel ✅

As per the AP: You can see the auroras tonight too. It would be nice but it is going to be cloudy again in Philly.
forecast.weather.gov

Been raining most all day this side of the state too.

223
The Ghost of a Flea  May 11, 2024 • 11:09:53am

re: #219 Belafon

I’ve studied AI, I’ve done a little work with it, and, as seen above, I’m not on the “destroy it because it affects my art” train, but attempting to use it to create any kind of binding document when it doesn’t understand any of the content it is generating is up among the dumbest ideas around.

I can understand artists hating AI because it’s literally being pitched as automation of creative work: it’s Yet Another Steam Loom, where the technology has arrived and immediately been directed towards reproducing the priorities of the ownership class. Except this time it’s not maimed orphans but massive water and power consumption plus a bunch of developing-world workers doing the curation work—both tagging images and removing the gore and porn—for a pittance and with no safety net when the aforementioned porn and gore messes with their heads.

But you’re identifying a related danger: AI has been immediately adopted by a managerial class that don’t actually know what the people they manage do, which pairs very badly with the overselling of LLMs capacities to parse a request into a document. That nobody seems to under how important it is that LLMs do not have fidelity is a sign that the technology is not being adopted because it’s well-understood, but because it’s the labor- and thus cost-saving has captured the imagination of people who don’t write.

The algorithms themselves would be interesting, except that they’ve immediately become part of capital’s perverse incentive structure in which a cost-saving “good enough” system is rewarded better than doing the job thoroughly and well. And, as a Luddite, that’s the permanent stain on this technology: it’s immediately being used to devalue labor and break a form of skilled “work” into Taylorized blocs such that an end product can be obtained for far less money.

But, I observe that this actually isn’t the worst part of AI hype: that would be the way that the algorithms are being assigned the quality of genuine objectivity because they’re making correlations within a massive data set, and the means by which they make those connections are often opaque. Whether that’s determining who gets a mortgage or who gets hit with a bomb, that opacity plus veneer of objectivity is actually beneficial to people with money and power as yet another form of false certainty such that they do not have to be accountable for decisions they made.

224
sagehen  May 11, 2024 • 11:16:20am

re: #179 🐈 Crush White Christian Nationalism 🐈

Frame it as using more expensive resources, bad business.
That hippie “think of the survival of the human race” stuff isn’t going to fly outside of non-profits.

there are days when I think “survival of the human race” is not necessarily a selling point.

I mean, if 2/3 of everybody would just die (as long as I could exempt specific individuals of my choosing)….

225
Hecuba's daughter  May 11, 2024 • 11:19:37am

re: #195 darthstar

OMFG - he was playing TWO card monty with the IRS…

[Embedded content]

Every wealthy person with complicated forms should be investigated by the IRS and forced to pay their fair share. Lots of affluent people have (relatively speaking) uncomplicated forms where their income is just standard earnings and investments handled by independent managers and not by the individual. But anyone involved in real estate needs to be audited thoroughly on a regular basis.


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