Some notes on piracy
From a Kindle library to music, movies/TV shows and even video games, we don’t really own our media anymore. I have exactly four physical games for my Switch and I think two or three for the PS 4. The rest, adding up to a sickening amount of money, are all digital copies that I’m not guaranteed access to forever...permalink -->
The Internet Archive just lost its appeal over ebook lending
The Internet Archive has lost its appeal in a fight to lend out scanned ebooks without the approval of publishers. In a decision on Wednesday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that permitting the Internet Archive’s digital library would “allow for widescale copying that deprives creators of compensation and diminishes the incentive to produce new works.”
Honestly I’m a little surprised physical libraries haven’t been outright banned at this point 🤦
Labor Day is the dumbest holiday. Let’s honor the working class by making all of their checks a day late this week 😫
Thoughts on AI to help with little bits of code
I know AI in coding is a touchy subject, but I’ve been learning a lot using Claude to help do things I otherwise had no idea how to do. I still have to know what I’m trying to realistically accomplish and what code I need to change, and how to shoehorn it into the rest of the code it without breaking everything.
It's ok to disagree
I was talking to a coworker about his experience buying a car recently. Every time the salesman would suggest something, he’d push back like “eh I don’t like that color” or “yeah I don’t really like that brand.” Then the salesman would cave and agree like “oh yeah; that’s an ugly color. I hate Chevys too.”
He got annoyed and bought a car somewhere else. Don’t be a sycophant. It’s okay to have your own opinions, even if you’re a car salesman.
I thought I had this profound thought about picking the people in your life, etc then I realized it’s already a thing:
If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around you
Cheesy? Maybe. But I like it 😜
New VWs will answer some of your questions with ChatGPT
I was just reading about how people don’t want fancy tech packages in their car if it raises the price. Then I saw this article from The Verge:
Drivers in cars that support ChatGPT will need to be subscribed to VW’s Plus Speech with AI service to get it
…the company says when drivers ask for things like restaurant recommendations or for the chatbot to tell you a story, that will go to the cloud
It’s like onboard navigation. A shittier (paid) version of a free thing your phone can do and probably no one wants built into their car
From The Onion
I like Obsidian but I’m realizing I don’t use any of its unique features really. I only use it for post drafts and simple notes. I cancelled my sync subscription and I’m going to try using Strata instead for a while
Found an old promo copy of The Final Cut at a used record store the other day and I can’t stop listening to it 🫨🎵
NaNoWriMo Says Condemning AI Is ‘Classist and Ableist’
Daniel José Older, a lead story architect for Star Wars: The High Republic and author of multiple series including Outlaw Saints, posted his resignation from the NaNoWriMo writers board
I agree it’s dumb to allow AI in a writing contest but there’s been such an uproar from high profile writers on X. You can’t complain about how bad AI is for the planet and how it’s just a grift when you’re posting from Elon’s hellsite lmao it literally has a LLM built in and it’s ran by an actual supervillain. you’re directly supporting that if you use X
CD Projekt Says Cyberpunk 2077 Will Return to Animation
I’m not big on anime and I never played the Cyberpunk games but I was OBSESSED with the anime! Was really bummed out when they said it was one and done. Would be cool to see a spinoff or something like that
A hate hate relationship
I’m lucky in the relationship department. We rarely ever fight and when we do, we might avoid each other for the rest of the day or maybe a couple days if it’s a particularly bad argument but we always approach it in a diplomatic way once we’ve both gathered our bearings. We work through it and come out of the other side understanding each other a little better than before when it’s all said and done.
Former Riot Games employees leverage generative AI to power NPCs
Retail Mage is a roleplaying game that allows players to take on the role of a wizard working as a salesperson at a magical furniture store. The main goal of the game is to earn five-star reviews by helping customers. But it’s really up to the players to decide if they actually want to work or cause chaos. With AI NPCs as customers and human players being able to say and do almost whatever they want, the possible outcomes should vary widely.
Actually a really cool use for gen ai in games
AnandTech shuts down after 27 years
For the past several years it seems as if there has been a trend away from ultimate understanding in content online and towards the tenets of modern mainstream media (sensationalism and the general silliness you see on US cable TV news).
I never read AnandTech but I definitely feel where its founder was coming from when he said this in an interview with The Verge, all the way back in 2011
When I had covid I never lost my sense of smell or taste completely but now that I’m over it everything tastes… different. Never experienced anything like it before 😳
Walked up to the screen door and this little guy landed right in front of me! I hear that’s good luck 😏
