“We anthropomorphize because we do not want to be alone.” @lmsacasas https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-prompt-box-is-a-minefield-ai #ViaRSS
a large language model trained only on poetry.
@failedLyndonLaRouchite my intuition is also that construction should be much more prefab, but i’ve gathered that cost-of-transport really limits this, efficient scale of prefabrication wants a scale that requires a large geography. i’d like to see this overcome. i agree that so much on-site, rather ad hoc, framing and fabrication seems less than wonderful.
is there any seniors-focused Mastodon community?
“building codes in the US are often prescriptive, mandating specific building systems or materials, in ways that regulations in other industries aren’t, which might make it harder to adopt improved methods compared to other sectors of the economy.” #BrianPotter https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/on-klein-on-construction #ViaRSS
it’s not a twitter bot, it’s a mechanical jerk.
“Identity Politics vs. Identity Office Politics” by @adamkotsko https://itself.blog/2023/02/16/identity-politics-vs-identity-office-politics/ #ViaRSS
“replacing a lagging stat with an inaccurate stat doesn’t help all that much and can cause more confusion than clarity.” #MattBruenig on the “total fertility rate” https://mattbruenig.com/2023/02/16/the-total-fertility-rate-is-kind-of-a-nonsense-statistic/
the use of shame as a tool for social discipline renders shamelessness particularly adaptive.
"1.00 USD = 4.1060 Romanian New Leu (RON)" ~Western Union
Official exchange rate: 4.578 RON/USD
Despicable, but you use them anyway when sending to the most marginal and vulnerable people, those with no access directly or through friends/family to a bank account.
“Yellowstone Caldera Volcanic Power Generation Facility: A new engineering approach for harvesting emission-free green volcanic energy on a national scale” by Thomas F. Arciuolo and Miad Faezipour https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148122012290 via Alex Tabarrok
(edit: I initially credited Tyler Cowen, sorry Alex)
most mall stores are empty, middle of a weekday. the apple store is packed, has been for the 2+ hours i’ve awaited my appointment.
they say Mac is more tasteful than Windows and it’s true. on a Mac it’s stylishly the black screen of death.
Though one might argue with conservative Lyons’ description of where and by whom Schmitt-think is resurging in contemporary Western politics, this is a lively and useful review.
“The Temptations of Carl Schmitt”, by
N.S. Lyons https://theupheaval.substack.com/p/the-temptations-of-carl-schmitt
i don’t know if i feel good or bad about it, but yesterday when the kid needed valentine’s cards made for school today, where usually i would have searched for free clip art, i let stable diffusion (via the Diffusers Mac app) make some clip art for me. it took a lot of tries to get something not somehow creepy or inappropriate that would print okay on our crappy printer, but eventually we did.
not-quite-identifiable smiley-faced cartoon animal-ish figure holding up a heart.
people are gonna start tying strollers to balloons just to see if they can’t get fighter jets scrambled to shoot it down.
one worker’s full employment is another employer’s labor shortage.
off-color condiment
at a restaurant called “bacon bitch”, a bottle of syrup extravagantly labeled “sticky bitch”.
sync.com, good or terrible?