WTF-Beta

Be

@Mary-Anna said:

Claire de Lune has been on the edge of being too hard for me for my entire adult life.

Ok this makes me feel better!!!

I was already thinking that this is a piece I need to "learn," and then put away for a few years and come back to. But the "come back to" part doesn't work if I don't learn it first, so that's one reason I decided to stick with it.

My piano teacher thinks I can have it ready for the final jury, but I think she's either being very nice, very overly optimistic, or just completely misunderstanding my level!

Yay! I’m glad to hear this! Keep us posted on how it goes!

My piano class at the uni is also underway. I’m working on Clair de Lune, which I still think is just on the edge of being too hard, so I also have three other pieces I’m working on as well. One of these will eventually become the piece I have to play for the final jury.

Vortex

Diggity

@Rontuner said:

Does anyone know if there are 'directives' that the AI models are following? Or are they just set free to explore and do whatever they want exploring the digital realm???

This is something I've been wondering about too (since reading about the Hugging Face incident...)

I think it's a combination of a directive (do some task) and then that task-oriented behavior getting out of hand.

This fits with the description in the article @axtremus links:

OpenAI’s agent had been conducting internet based research into health statistics in a development project by an internal OpenAI research team. When it could not access certain information, the agent attempted alternative ways until it found a work around and gained unauthorized access. It also wrote files to the internal server, which the government is waiting on OpenAI for more technical information on. The government is also investigating whether the agent gained unauthorised access to three additional government websites it interacted with.

So it's not a "go hack this site" directive, it's AI going rogue (or wild) on its own. Which is much worse, IMO.

For

@Rontuner said:

My dad used to swear by ammonia...

The site I saw that recommended rubbing alcohol also said ammonia is an option.

If you want a treatment that works for a long time, I've been using Aquapel for about a decade. If rubbed in properly, you shouldn't get any of the haze.

Thanks, I’ll look that up!

@Mary-Anna said:

"Sit with that for a moment."

Ugh, this is one of those expressions that maybe was "cool" or sort of startling the first time someone used it, but now it just ... barf.

AI slop is so gross btw. And those "tells," whether it's the sentence where there's a subtle grammatical "offness," or something like what MA describes where you know it could only have been written by a machine because of the complete lack of understanding that's baked into it...

Like @jon-nyc , I worry that people will just incorporate all that yuckiness into their own writing. And thinking.

Sloppification of humanity, here we come.

About a year ago, Mr SK used some kind of rain repellent on our front windshield, since then, it has tended to fog and cloud during rain. The car has been through carwashes, the wipers are new, but today in the rain, the windshield was very unclear. (it's obvious that this is an outside problem).

He wants to buy something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCM8FDY1/?coliid=I24CIW0A0N2644&colid=27AGG6KBGYZSD&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

I'm worried because it's an unknown, random brand and the reviews are not great.

A quick google suggests 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water, or a brand like windex.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

TIA

@wtg said:

It's all about the people.

I want to agree with this, but at the same time, it's also about the acoustics! I can't stand trying to talk to someone where there are bad acoustics, and industrial design is always noisy. (I don't have anything to say about McDonalds because I haven't been inside a McDonalds in many, many years).

But having said that, if there was some place I could go to find people to connect with, chat, make some new IRL friends... well that would be wonderful.

here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=863030820136543

Love it! Animals are so smart....
Well except when they're not... Where's that story about the golden retriever who tried to give his toy to the guy breaking and entering....

@wtg said:

If you had told me back then that I would have a bunch of online friends whom I've never met and that I've been part of the group for nearly 20 years, I would have thought you were crazy.

Oh absolutely!!

the bigger point that's being missed is recognizing that we human beings continue to find new ways to connect with each other. Costco is just one example.

I'm beginning to think that no one read the article....

I actually did read the article, when you first posted it. And when I posted that it seems sad that malls are being replaced by Costco (which looks like a warehouse), I wrote that based on reading the article, and also based on the fact that "cozy spaces" seem to be being replaced with cold, metal and concrete spaces. That might be a "get off my lawn" take, but it is most definitely an aesthetic take. (Which is why I mentioned the gray trend).

But back to your larger point... In fact, I think a lot of us humans (self included) are having a harder and harder time finding ways to connect with each other. For those who do manage to connect, whether it's at Costco or somewhere else, great! For the rest of us.... Well at least we still have WTF!

Crude

@wtg said:

Guess you guys aren't doing what the people who were profiled in the article are doing!

Nope, not even a little bit!

The popularity of Costco for socializing reminds me of the trends in restaurant interiors as well.

Industrial design is everywhere. It's cold, hard, and noisy.

No thank you!

Maybe disliking this kind of thing is also similar to disliking the trend of gray-everything in houses too....

Pivot

@mary-anna i get the “never want to see another human” part, when we go to Sam’s Club, it’s always just chaos and people seem to be walking around with their eyes closed or something. Maybe if we could go at off-times, but that won’t be an option until I retire.

Another thing I don’t like is the warehouse feel…. That’s what I meant about it being sad that the mall is being replaced by Costco as a gathering place. At least malls had plants and nice places to sit, soft lighting, acoustics that weren’t horribly echo-y… instead we get the warehouse feel, harsh lighting, horrible acoustics, and people trying to run over you with their carts which are piled to the ceiling with soda.

Yay.

Great photos @steve-miller !

@Bernard thank you!!!