rayckeith

rayckeith, 21 hours ago to random

finished watching #Upload season 3 and it has something of a clifhanger ending.

almost muted a commercial that was part of the show.

hopefully it gets a new season but I'm not hearing any buzz about it.

rayckeith, 21 hours ago to random

"Here in Boston, we call such incidents “Storrowings”, after the crosstown route where they most frequently occur. In the years since my previous post, neither the design of Storrow Drive nor the bridges that span it have changed, so it’s not surprising that the calamities have continued unabated.

"Local brewery Trillium even has a beer called “Storrowed”, named for the phenomenon."

https://onefoottsunami.com/2024/05/17/maximizing-those-marketing-dollars/

rayckeith, 21 hours ago to random

"Google quietly added something else to its results—a “Web” filter that presents what Google used to look like a decade ago, no extra junk. While Google made its AI-focused changes known on its biggest stage—during its Google I/O event—the Web filter was curiously announced on Twitter by Search Liaison Danny Sullivan."

https://tedium.co/2024/05/17/google-web-search-make-default/

rayckeith, 22 hours ago to random

A given call might contain information about a suspicious figure’s identity (“hawk!” “coyote!”), speed of approach, and size—or, if they happen to be a nosy researcher, their height and the color of their shirt. These messages are responded to with the appropriate behavior—craning a neck for a wheeling falcon, diving into a burrow for a close-by dog. By hanging cutout shapes above a prairie dog colony, UFO-style, Slobodchikoff and his colleagues learned that the rodents can even differentiate between circles and triangles (although not, for whatever reason, between circles and squares).

“It has been unfashionable in scientific circles to refer to animal communication systems as language,” says Slobodchikoff. Plenty of people consider language to be unique to our own species. But to him, the prairie dogs clear the bar, exhibiting “all the elements that linguists say you have to find,” from sounds that carry distinct meanings to the capacity for expressing new combinations of thoughts.

rayckeith, 22 hours ago to random

Review: Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup - Noah Chinn Books
https://www.noahchinnbooks.com/2024/05/17/review-just-stab-me-now-by-jill-bearup/

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

Sony Music opts out of AI training for its entire catalog | Ars Technica

"Sony Music is sending warning letters to more than 700 artificial intelligence developers and music streaming services globally in the latest salvo in the music industry’s battle against tech groups ripping off artists.

The Sony Music letter, which has been seen by the Financial Times, expressly prohibits AI developers from using its music—which includes artists such as Harry Styles, Adele and Beyoncé—and opts out of any text and data mining of any of its content for any purposes such as training, developing or commercializing any AI system.

Sony Music is sending the letter to companies developing AI systems including OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Suno and Udio, according to those close to the group."
https://www.ft.com/content/c5b93b23-9f26-4e6b-9780-a5d3e5e7a409

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

Dealing with Rejection – Marie Vibbert, author

"… So I simply sigh and think, “Ah, good, more fodder for my backstory, proving I Paid My Dues. Bring it on, slush readers. Mama needs to not engender seething envy after her fourth movie deal!”

5. The Fools, the FOOLS! They shall rue the day!

It started out as a joke, but I find occassionally it helps to pretend I’m a supervillain when I get rejections.

Also, I have gone over some of my past rejections just now for this article and there IS something very validating seeing all the form rejections for stories that got long-listed for the Hugo or won other awards.…"
https://www.marievibbert.com/dealing-with-rejection/

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

A lot of adults have lost their immunity to whooping cough. It won't kill adults (usually), but it will kill babies and children. Update your vaccinations, please! https://mastodon.world/@shonin/112454680051500375

rayckeith, 1 day ago (edited 1 day ago) to random

Thread by @SethAbramson https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1791200413749817367.html

long explanation why Trump's defense doesn't seem to make sense (it's designed to confuse the jury.)

"Suffice to say, for now, that every single way this case has been handled so far benefits Donald Trump.

Literally every single way.

And I need to briefly cover that.

"13/ This case can be termed Trump’s Falsifying Business Records case (the misdemeanor statute that led to the 34 charges thereafter quite appropriately elevated to felonies for the reason cited above) or his Election Fraud Conspiracy case (the statutory basis for elevation).

"14/ Under no circumstances—ever—could a responsible media outlet operating under the journalistic ethics I taught for years as a journalism professor at University of New Hampshire call this a hush-money case."

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

Kirk: You're suffering from a Vulcan mind-meld, Doctor.

McCoy: That green-blooded son-of-a-bitch. It's his revenge for all those arguments he lost.

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/16/us/daniel-perry-texas-pardon-recommendation/index.html

cheribaker, 1 day ago to random

We rented a Kia Soul to go visit my FIL and it plays a musical flourish when you start the car. And sad, lonely chimes if you leave the door open.

It's like driving a Nintendo Wii.

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

if someone can publish (this dreck I just read), then I should be able publish my book.

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

The Double-Edged Sword of List Building Promotions | Jane Friedman

"I learned about list-building promotions the hard way and want other authors to avoid this potential pitfall. Many book promoters run these types of contests. When the prime attraction in their advertising is the shiny new ebook reader, they inevitably will attract entrants who are only after the grand prize. Despite checking the box to receive author emails, they may quickly turnaround and unsubscribe from author emails they receive (or worse, report them as spam).

Also, all email service providers set qualitative standards to prevent people from building email lists that deliver spam and clutter subscribers’ email boxes. I’ve discovered that other providers’ standards are less restrictive than my provider’s limits. It’s important that every author is aware of what their provider’s tolerance level is for unsubscribes, bounces, and spam reports."
https://janefriedman.com/the-double-edged-sword-of-list-building-promotions/

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

Quantum networks are closer to reality - The Verge

"Like the internet we know, quantum networks send information carried by light — in this case, quantum-entangled photons. But they need “repeaters” to prevent those photons from scattering across long distances, as light is wont to do, and the repeaters have to be able to send the photon without breaking its entanglement and modifying the information.

Harvard and AWS say the experimental nodes use cavities in diamonds that “trap light and force it to interact with quantum memories.” These nodes can be mass-produced with existing nanofabrication technology. During their experiments, the team took a qubit encoded into a photon and bounced it off a quantum memory in a Harvard lab."
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/16/24158365/quantum-computing-network-aws-amazon-harvard

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

Template-Based Development Then and Now – NeoPragma LLC

"There’s an old saying: There’s nothing new under the sun. Maybe there’s something to it. Details change, but the general patterns of things remain consistent. The wheel keeps turning, and if you live long enough you see the same spokes come around again and again.

James Shore, a well-respected figure in the software development field and the author of the highly-regarded book, The Art of Agile Development, has developed an approach to software development he has called a pattern language for testing without mocks."
https://neopragma.com/2024/05/template-based-development-then-and-now/

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

Wind farms can offset their emissions within two years | ScienceDaily

"After spinning for under two years, a wind farm can offset the carbon emissions generated across its entire 30-year lifespan, when compared to thermal power plants.

That's according to a new peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand -- which also shows within six months a turbine can generate all the energy consumed across its life-cycle."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/05/240516122608.htm

rayckeith, 1 day ago to random

How did sabre-toothed tigers acquire their long upper canine teeth? | ScienceDaily

"Despite the relatively recent extinction of sabre-toothed forms 'only' a few thousand years ago, feline predators have in fact been in decline since the Miocene epoch (between -23 and -5 million years ago). "Some of these feline predators, particularly the sabre-toothed species, rapidly occupied fairly specialised niches, which made them more susceptible to extinction," explains Dr Tamagnini. This phenomenon, known as 'ratchet' or macroevolutionary ratchet, has been proposed as a potential driver for the decline of certain groups."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/05/240516122644.htm

rayckeith, 2 days ago to scifi

Mars Express review: smart and stylish addition to the #scifi animated noir canon - The Verge
Andrew WebsterMay 3, 2024 at 7:00 AM PDT
https://www.theverge.com/24146379/mars-express-review-animated-sci-fi-gkids

rayckeith, 2 days ago to random

The best entertainment of 2024: movies, games, and more - The Verge

"we’ll be updating this page all year long as we continue to check out the latest in film, television, and gaming — so stay tuned."
https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/24090208/best-entertainment-2024-games-film-tv-streaming