UrLogicFails

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They were a lot of work, but I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

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I finally finished all my Christmas cards and got them sent out today.

I always forget how much work it is to use the vinyl cutter and how annoying my printer is, but I think they turned out well in spite of several technical issues.

UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I wish I could say I was surprised to see Disney pulling such a transphobic and cowardly move, but it's certainly not the first time they've done it.

I hope negative backlash can effect some change within Disney, but seeing as they didn't learn their lesson with Moon Girl, I wouldn't hold my breath...

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UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

That's a pretty big question, with a couple of different interpretations. If you are asking how I handle thinking about the passage of time, the easiest answer is to make it tomorrow's problem. This is probably not the healthiest answer; but it doesn't pay to stress over inevitabilities, so I just do my best to put them out of my mind.

If you are asking the best way to utilize your time, my recommendation is to start focusing on yourself immediately. It's very easy to prioritize work by staying late or overworking yourself to make your bosses happy, but no amount of overwork will ever satiate your company; it will only serve to drain the life from your body. It's very important to set firm boundaries with your job. I, personally, will not even look at my work phone or computer the minute I leave the office (on Mon-WFH days) and have a hard stop every day at 5PM unless agreed upon well in advance. You lose so much time and energy to your job that just standing firm on your boundaries can be a huge QoL boost.

Please also do your best to cultivate a creative outlet as a hobby. A lot of people don't think they are/can be creative, but anyone can be creative if they find the right outlet. It could be art, sewing, crochet, music, writing, or even creative programming. The important thing is to find a way to explore your feelings and do something productive with them. In my experience, I am often the most vivacious are when I am making art in one form or another; I highly recommend it.

UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

The concept of banning books has always been ridiculous to me. Even if you don't agree with what's in the book, just... don't read it...?

Banning books only serves to control the actions of others, so I applaud this law for protecting Californians from bigots looking to control them.

It is also worth noting that this article points out that half the censored books had marginalized communities as their subjects. If you really want to piss off one of these book banning bigots, be sure to read books from marginalized authors; and make sure your legislature knows you don't approve of book bans.

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UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I've seen some interesting takes on this elsewhere as well. If Twitter is making the legal argument that all the accounts belong to them explicitly, would that make them responsible for all the content they host as well?

They basically get away with all the hate speech and copyright infringement because they are considered a "safe harbor," not the owners of the content themselves; but if they're the owner of the content, the safe harbor status might not apply...

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UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

While the fact that Twitter is run by a flagrant right-wing fascist who would do anything to help other major right-wing fascists is nothing new, I did think this was an interesting look at the state of social media.

The idea that you can never own your own account (and likely, by extension, anything you post on said account) really drives home the point that the Internet as it is now is basically wholly owned by a handful of corporations.

I don't know if we'll ever be able to reach the point of everyone making their own silly little sites again. It seems like social media is now required to drive views, so the artists who need views for sales will always need to be on social media.

Luckily, decentralized social media is on the rise. Lemmy, while still comparatively small, has a fairly active user base; and while Mastodon has not (and likely will not) ever be mainstream, even Bluesky is technically decentralized as well (I think).

Having said all that, I would very much like to see people making their own sites just for things they enjoy. It's surprisingly not that hard to do as long as you don't need it very polished.

UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

That is really the term. Of course, every time a new wave of users join, they always say they'll never call them "skeets," but they usually change their mind in time.

In my personal opinion, I actually really appreciate them being called "skeets." It kind of serves as a reminder that they are not to be taken seriously. I also appreciate that calling them "skeets" will help deter large corporations from joining for some time. (What company wants to be associated with a social media site where the posts are a tongue-in-cheek reference to ejaculate?)

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UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I think (/hope) trolls are going to have a pretty hard time gaining traction on Bluesky. As you've mentioned, the block lists are quite effective; but also the lack of algorithm helps too. No matter how many likes/reskeets an offensive skeet gets, I will never see it unless someone I follow specifically reskeets it themselves.

With this in mind, most people seeing the trolls' posts will likely only be the trolls themselves. Of course they can hop into the comments of a popular skeet; but once they are blocked by the original poster, their skeet becomes removed for everybody.

From what I can tell, the enhanced moderation tools combined with the followed-only feed should make being a troll on Bluesky much harder...

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UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

It seems like Twitter may have passed the thermocline and now seems to be hemorrhaging left leaning users.

What I found interesting about this article was how the right leaning users are likely to follow them because they need the left leaning users for engagement. I suppose on some level it's common sense. Truth Social and Gab never took off for a reason; but it's still interesting to think about.

UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I encourage every American reading this article to call their district representative and let them know that you do not approve of this bill. It's hateful and cruel; and I fear that if it passes, it will pave the way for similar, wider reaching, legislation.

I called my Representative earlier today and their intern was able to tell me the bill number: H.Res.1579. Knowing the number should hopefully make it easier to voice your disgust in this abhorrent bill.

While on the phone (or email) with your Representative, I encourage everyone to voice their displeasure with H.R.9495 as well. H.R.9495 will allow the executive branch to unilaterally declare non-profits as terrorist organizations and strip them of their non-profit status. This would functionally give the executive branch authority to end any non-profit that is engaging in activities they don't approve of, which would likely result in the destruction of any non-profit engaging in harm reduction.

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UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I don't know the actual budget, but I think it probably cost much more than 1kUSD, though probably still less than real human work would cost.

It's important to note that no shit could last more than a second or two because after that the generated video starts to much more noticably have errors. So at minimum you still need editors (plus the music needed to be composited, etc). Also, as the article notes, all the logos needed to be added in post as well because GenAI cannot reliably do text or logos. With that in mind, I'd guess there was probably a significant amount of "cleaning up" that had to be done in post as well.

With all that said and done, I'm sure the commercial was not exactly dirt cheap, but it WAS probably still cheaper than having dignity and paying humans.

What's actually kind of wild, though, is a lot of these shots just look like bland stock imagery. And since they couldn't have any cohesion between shots because of GenAI's own limitations, the majority of these shots could have been replaced with stock footage and they probably would have only needed to CGI a few different shots...

UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

There are so many celebrities that turn out to be jerks in real life that I try not to put any on a pedestal (so if they turn out to be jerks later, I'm not disappointed).

Dolly Parton is one of the few celebrities that seem so genuine and cool that I can't help but believe she's truly a good person.

UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I highly recommend it. I think it gets a specific negative geeky reputation associated with it, but I found that reputation to be unfounded.

For most Star Trek series, it is a very forward thinking show that deals with a wide array of morality topics. Even cinematography/ effects wise, pretty much all of them other than TOS feel very modern.

I don't think I could recommend a good way to get into it, but I will say I started with Lower Decks, and the obvious love the writers had for the franchise encouraged me to look at the more traditional series as well.

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UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I recently started watching Star Trek and have finished every series other than TOS (and Prodigy).

I had been putting TOS off since it initially seemed pretty cheesy so I had planned to skip it entirely. After finishing everything else, though, I decided to give it another try.

Now I'm about two thirds of the way through, and I've actually found it quite enjoyable. Also Bill Shatner is a better actor than I gave him credit for. I had always expected a very hammy performance based off the way people talk about him; but considering he was being watched on like a 12 inch screen, I would say his acting was actually rather subtle.

Also the practical effects look surprisingly good. It really goes to show how much better they can age. There are some shots of the ship('s model) that look comparable to modern CGI in my opinion.

I would not say TOS is my favorite Star Trek series so far, but I would put it in the top 5 for sure.

UrLogicFails @beehaw.org 1y ago

I understand your sentiment, and I've certainly gone to the library far less since becoming far more comfortable with the Internet.

Having said that, the Internet is a dangerous place to people who don't know what they're doing. Think about how many people don't even use ad-blockers; and that is a bare-minimum from a safety perspective.

With that in mind, the library is a powerful resource to people who can't navigate the shadier parts of the Internet.

It's also worth noting some people have atrocious Internet speeds. For people with slow Internet, it could take an unfathomably long time to download/ stream something versus instantly being able to watch/ read/ play it as soon as you get home

Plus, as I said, it offers more than just books and TV/ movies. You can borrow equipment, have a place to work, have someone knowledgeable point you in the right direction. These are valuable services offered that I don't think the Internet will ever be able to truly replace, and that's not even getting into the value of building up your local community.