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Post by crowschmo on Oct 10, 2022 11:48:20 GMT -5
You know when they put ratings for movies or TV shows and put warnings about nudity, graphic violence, language, etc.? I think it's so stupid that they feel the need to include "smoking" in with all that for f*ck's sake. (I notice they don't put DRINKING, though, so I guess that's okay for the kiddies to think it's cool or whatever their weird reasoning is to include the smoking bit).
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Post by crowschmo on Feb 6, 2023 14:40:37 GMT -5
How cool is this? (And kinda scary). It's amazing what AI imagery comes up with looking all over the internet for ideas from a string of words. I would love to try MidJourney or some other AI generated art bot.
I don't know how they work completely, so I don't know what the uploader of this video had to put in. If the person just put the lyrics of the song only, or if they elaborated a bit, like what kind of style to use or whatever.
Anyway, really cool. Just looks like surrealist art. I hope AI doesn't need to dispense with us mangy humans altogether.
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Post by crowschmo on Feb 16, 2023 23:37:43 GMT -5
There's an AI generated "sitcom" that's constantly running 24/7 on Twitch. Or it WAS running - until it got suspended for transphobia type jokes. (I kid you not). Wow, even AI is getting cancelled these days, heh.
The AI program comes up with all the dialog and the characters and the voices. It's called "Nothing, Forever" and is based on Seinfeld. There are some clips of it on YouTube. It goes back and forth between the characters in the apartment, to the Jerry character (named Larry) doing stand-up, to the outside of the buildings with that popping/music sound that Seinfeld had in between scenes.
We've entered a new stage of reality.
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Post by crowschmo on May 15, 2023 9:50:41 GMT -5
The opportunity for abuse with this whole AI tech is pretty scary. One can put up pictures or videos or audio of voices and can use ones of real people in situations that they were never in, saying things they never said. It can be used for blackmail, or swinging votes or ruining lives or falsely imprisoning someone, or "disappearing" someone.
Most videos and pics at the moment are still a little off (though some people are still fooled by them), but the voices are pretty good already and it won't be long before the videos and pics catch up.
A lot of people already don't know fantasy from reality, I shudder to think how this tech is going to make our society even more f*cked up. Some will believe nothing they see, even if it's real, some will believe EVERYTHING they see that is in tune with their prejudices and slanted world view, no matter how outlandish it is. Everyone will live even more in their own little realities and be more paranoid and hateful and violent.
Our laws very quickly need to catch up to the tech that's coming out. There'll still be unscrupulous people out there willing to manipulate the tech to their own ends.
Very unsettling.
Edit: This is why we can't have nice things.
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Post by crowschmo on Jun 9, 2023 13:46:21 GMT -5
I'll take what Jeff Bezos makes in an HOUR for my whole life's earnings. He won't miss it.
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Post by crowschmo on Jun 28, 2023 12:22:42 GMT -5
I like to look at houses online that are for sale (and dream). There's a house in Greenwich (CT) that's for sale for $150,000,000!! I think it was like 13000 sq. ft. or something, and quite a few acres right on the water. But, sheesh. The taxes are around $340,000 annually. That's like buying a house every stinking year! OOf. I don't know why anyone needs a house that big. What does one do with oneself every day? Just wander around the rooms aimlessly? Think I'll take a shower in the EAST bathroom today. The one on the third floor. Does one just stick to one little corner of one room and leave the rest of the house to the dust bunnies? I can't imagine just "chillin'" or "hanging out" in a house like that. One would need to constantly be wearing coats and top hats and tails or ball gowns or something. That's a showplace, not a home. Give me a little cottage on a lake or something. I'll take the $150,000,000, though.
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Post by crowschmo on Oct 14, 2023 21:57:21 GMT -5
When I look online at houses, sometimes they'll have ones that someone bought to flip and they show the before and after photos. My heart always breaks when the before pictures were of a house with quirky charm and character (even if it needed some updating and repairs and whatnot) and the after pics show these overly "sleek and modern" homes that are cold and sterile-looking with cookie cutter finishes.
And I absolutely hate when all the paint jobs are all white or all gray and boring beyond belief.
I hate when people upcycle decor items also, like a nice wooden dresser or chest and the only thing they do is paint it all white and just "distress" the edges a bit. Enough with that look already.
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Post by crowschmo on Oct 21, 2023 13:27:05 GMT -5
This is a weird rant. Well, not exactly a rant. Just an observation. I know people who don't speak English as their native language sometimes get made fun of for their pronunciations when they speak English, but more often than not, it's just people saying something like "oh, I love that accent."
But for people whose native tongue IS English, whether it's American English or, well ENGLISH English (or with an Irish accent, Scottish, whatever) they always seem to get flack when THEY speak with an American or English or Irish accent when they try to speak French, say, or Italian or Spanish. I don't notice anyone ever saying, "oh, I love that accent", it's more like -- a derisive laugh and "oh, they can't pronounce that word at ALL." You know, like "how dare you butcher our tongue" or some such thing.
There was a video of Celtic Woman and they were singing something in Italian and a native Italian speaker commented "oh, their pronunciations are atrocious." Um - yeah, they're not native Italians and they're singing with a bit of an Irish accent on the Italian words. So what? When Italian singers sing something in English I never seem to see the same kind of criticisms about their English pronunciations, only people just acknowledging that they are singing with an Italian accent - usually nothing is said at all about it, it's just taken for granted. If someone mentions something, it's usually, again, just someone saying they love the accent or something.
Does anyone get what I'm saying? Does anyone else notice this? Why do only English speaking peoples need to try to speak or sing different languages the same way the natives do? Why do they seem to be the only ones to get flack for it?
Edit: Maybe the only exception to this is when Asian people try to speak English - they seem to get made fun of a lot.
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Post by crowschmo on Nov 13, 2023 0:38:59 GMT -5
This made me literally cry. Anyone thinking of getting a pet, please make sure you commit fully and don't buy one on a whim.
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Post by crowschmo on Feb 8, 2024 10:52:03 GMT -5
There are bajillions of things to look up on the internet, and I can never think what to look up.
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Post by crowschmo on Apr 5, 2024 10:21:23 GMT -5
Just had a little earthquake here in CT. I believe the brunt of it was in New York and New Jersey.
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Post by davidbeegah on Apr 6, 2024 8:57:57 GMT -5
I saw all of the coverage of the earthquake yesterday morning. I have to say as a U.S. Navy Veteran, who was stationed in Japan twice and Italy once. I would laugh at a 4.8 on the Richter scale shaker. No big deal, just another routine day of the Earth rumbling a bit.
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Post by crowschmo on Apr 9, 2024 21:59:50 GMT -5
Wish I could win some money. There's a house by the shore that was built in the '30's that I saw the pictures of on realtors' sites. Oooh. I wanted it so bad. I had it all fixed up and decorated in my mind.
I wanted to preserve the '30's vibe as much as possible. It had great wood floors and the wood doors inside looked all original, and some lighting, too. I just got sick to my stomach with the thought of some flipper modernizing it and making it into some cookie cutter clone of all the flipped houses I see in pictures these days.
Someone bought it and they've already ruined it. I'd a feeling some things were going to need updates, of course. But the windows were these six over six-paned windows and when I took a walk by today, I saw that they already replaced one of the windows with a stark white, single-paned vinyl window.
Errgghhh.
I don't know if whoever bought it is flipping it or is going to live there. I just know I'm dreading looking online in a few month's time and seeing it for sale again as some soulless box.
Heh, heh. I picked out my furniture and artwork and decor and everything for that old beauty.
Oh, well. Watcha gonna do?
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