I… unironically enjoy this
One of the things I love about the internet is it lowered the barrier to entry for people to do cool stuff and make a living at it. I spent a few very enjoyable years as a music major in college, and one of the highlights was the composition majors getting an interesting/humorous idea and then having us performance majors execute it. But that sort of thing was confined to the college, or very rarely you’d get things like George Lucas in Love or Southpark where a combination of luck and a wealthy patron would let people run with their idea for a while. The world-wide cyberinformsuperwebnetway brought us Postmodern Jukebox and Forgotten Weapons. Now those composition majors/Scott Bradlee only could ever get to hear their stuff played by having other people play it for them, but AI is getting to be good enough to remove that barrier to entry for the creative types. I love custom stuff. During my years as a (mostly part-time) Rennie, I had almost all my clothing/jewelry/weapons made for me to my design…as interpreted through the craftsman I was working with. I had signets, seals and embossers designed with the help of a graphic artist… with only as many iterations as my budget and social relationship with them could withstand. I was not happy with the way my bookbinder decorated the cover, but what was I going to do about it? I couldn’t do it myself and I wasn’t going to stiff the guy or get a reputation around the faire as a difficult customer. So I have zero problem with people using AI to get the product they want, at the quality level they want. If you’re a craftsperson “losing out” how many of the people avoiding you ’cause AI could afford your work in the first place? What I really want is a system that combines image generation with CAD/CNC to create custom furniture. This will displace exactly zero of the craftsmen working for the design studios and English aristocracy, but it would make life better.
Oh yeah, the horoscope. Any astrologers still working for newspapers will be AI’d out of existence, and nothing of value will be lost. Saturday is probably going to be terrible with a much higher chance than normal of a country collapsing. Hopefully not mine. Next Sunday is looking very interesting, especially in light of that.
More “really music” than the above?
A lot of really big cards this week. That plays very nicely with that MERCURY RETROGRADE and Jupiter retrograde opposition on Saturday.
Scorpio: Knight of Wands reversed – Rupture, division, interruption, discord.
Sagittarius: Page of Swords reversed – Backstabbing, betrayal, the failure of something trusted.
Capricorn: 8 of Swords – being hemmed in by bad choices.
Aquarius: The Emperor – Stability, power, protection, realization, a great person, aid, reason, conviction; also authority and will.
Pisces: The Tower – The worst possible card. Worse than The Devil, which is below. Complete failure.
Aries: Knight of Coins reversed – Inertia, idleness, stagnation; also placidity, discouragement, carelessness.
Taurus: 5 of Wands – This is the gayest of all possible cards, in the “male homosexual” sense. For straight people it’s about playing games, training, but not actually doing anything worthwhile.
Gemini: Death reversed – There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.
Cancer: Strength – The absolute best card, the opposite of The Tower. Specifically refers to success from your abilities, not luck.
Leo: 4 of Cups reversed – Not falling for the bullshit
Virgo: The Devil – Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality.
Libra: Page of Cups – Message, application, reflection, meditation, subordinate, abuse target.
I was going to post the Cash cover of Hurt here as another example of countrifying metal, but that’s not fair because JC’s a genius. And also because it makes me sad for hours after listening to it. So how about an AI cover of music that was originally already autotuned and synth’d to hell and back?
Sagittarius: Page of Swords reversed – Backstabbing, betrayal, the failure of something trusted.
I finally give Caesar what’s coming to him.
Great, back to this shit again.
being hemmed in by bad choices. and Inertia, idleness, stagnation; also placidity, discouragement, carelessness.
A week of ennui for House Imprudent.
Cash’s cover of Hurt is more like Disturbed’s cover of The Sounds of Silence – fully appropriate to the song’s nature.
I love both of those covers.
Both are sooooo good.
Hurt
Not falling for the bullshit
Because it is not sufficiently bullshitty? Or because it is actually horse shit?
Another missed opportunity to establish a world socialist dictatorship
This year’s U.N. climate conference in Brazil had many unique aspects that could have been part of an historic outcome.
COP30, as it’s called, was hosted in Belem, a city on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, a crucial regulator of climate and home to many Indigenous peoples who are both hit hard by climate change and are part of the solution. It had the heft of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an influential and charismatic leader on the international stage known for his ability to bring people together. And encouraged by Lula’s rousing speeches in the summit’s beginning days, more than 80 nations called for a detailed road map for the world to sharply reduce the use of gas, oil and coal, the main drivers of climate change.
In the end, none of that mattered.
I say we turn the COP into an artificial intelligence poetry slam.
“a detailed road map for the world to sharply reduce the use of gas, oil and coal, the main drivers of climate change”
After a careful examination of North Korea’s economy 79 nations decided to wait. “You first” they shouted in unison.
There isn’t an anti-COP mandating those countries continue to use fossil fuels.
“Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an influential and charismatic leader on the international stage known for his ability to bring people together”
I hope the author wiped the cum off their chin after writing that.
I enjoyed the cover by Amos.
I will listen to her sing almost anything.
South Park’s rotting shambling zombie corpse needs to be destroyed. Enough is enough.
Huzzah! I strongly second the motion.
[the zombie corpse of The Simpsons shambles into the chat]
Simpsons did it!
I suppose it would be rude to nominate the most likely (or desirable) country to suffer this fate…or to place wagers?
I’d nominate China, but higher probability would be Iran.
I wouldn’t mind it being China…except for the potential of wide collateral damage. 😳
The governments of Germany and especially England are hanging on by their toenails.
Can’t argue with that, but it would be a hell of a note if one or both collapsed before a truly broke country like Greece.
Scorpio: Knight of Wands reversed – Rupture, division, interruption, discord.
Well Thanksgiving is coming up this week.
Frau ZWAK: “Whose
Edgar BergenScott Bradlee?”ZWAK: “Don’t start with me…”
KISS, I was made for loving you, baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujFZ7Bhwwc&list=RD1ujFZ7Bhwwc&start_radio=1
I thought you were made for dancing….
I prefer this:
Earth, Kiss, and Fire – “I Was Made for Boogie Wonderland”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZIg0btqMU&list=RDqMZIg0btqMU&start_radio=1
Virgo: The Devil – Ravage, violence, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, force, fatality.
Yeah, after I got my new property tax bill yesterday I have ran a few scenarios through my head.
Did one or more involve a Komatsu D355A?
I have a D5.
Sadly mine is a military model and has a winch instead of a ripper.
There are a few roundabouts locally I would like to fix.
I’d probably need a D8 because the concrete in those damn thing is at least a foot thick.
Man, all three states in the PNW have gone nuts over round-a-bouts. Giant pain in the ass.
I like roundabouts. So there.
Out of curiosity, kinnath, are there a lot of Round-a-bouts in your state?
Also, not surpised, as they really are an engineers solution. And I am not saying that in a bad way.
Well, I am an engineer.
I have driven roundabouts in England, Ireland, and France.
They have been putting quite a few in around here.
So far, they are primarily used to remove traffic lights at edge-of-town, light to moderate traffic interchanges. I think they work well in this case.
They have not been stupid enough to put them in high-traffic, in-town locations. Mostly, I think, because they would be force to condemn a lot of commercial properties to put them into the high-traffic areas.
Roundabouts are driver infuriators. They serve no beneficial purpose but to discourage the use of vehicles.
*no beneficial purpose. They are intended only to discourage the use of vehicles.
I am indifferent to them in theory, and, like you, enjoy them in England and Ireland. But that is because the population of those areas are used to them, as they became the standard there at the same time as the adoption of the automobile. In other words, they are as natural to the drivers of those areas as, well, driving. Introducing them here has been spotty, with poor impementation, abnormal trafic directions to use them, and drivers unsure of the way to handle them.
In other words, the social engineering aspect of them has not been handled in any good sense of the word. And that is what I don’t like about them. I have seen ones in Sacramento where they just plopped it in the middle of a residential intersection, a figure eight (two right next to each other) in Springfield Oregon, round-a-bouts that have dedicated lanes keeping you in the dark about were you have to turn out and to which street you need exit too until you are turning through it. I have also seen drivers cut right out in front of me when they are pulling a trailer which doubles there length thinking that no matter what the get to cut in. I have also seen cross walks put right at the street that meets the circle, which when used by pedestrians stops traffic in the round and negates the effect of it. None of those issues are the concepts fault, but all of them are implementations.
Which gets me to my final point. I don’t think they work especially well with one of the core features of American traffic law: the pedestrian always has the right of way. Unless a way is made for walkers to be able to cross the intersection without slowing the flow, it will always be an issue that disrupts the the main benefit, the free flow of traffic.
+17%
The increase was more than I paid for my first house, a new brick 4 BR 2 BA, all electric
Just be glad you aren’t paying your current taxes in your first house’s dollars.
That buys plenty of ammo.
“ Cancer: Strength – The absolute best card, the opposite of The Tower. Specifically refers to success from your abilities, not luck”
Threesome!
Both hands?
unanticipated
Given the growing number of electric vehicles on our roads, infrastructure and the modernization of the nation’s roadway safety systems must advance simultaneously.
Electric vehicles are literally changing the physics of roadway safety. Their added weight accelerates damage to roadway pavement, increasing the risk of accidents.
And, when crashes occur, that same weight can turn a collision with a guardrail into catastrophic failure. Immediate action is needed to reinforce highway safety systems across the country’s highways, where millions of Americans travel every day.
The obvious solution is to spend more money.
Our mom mobile weighs 6000 pounds without any meat, junk, or fuel in it.
My midrange trucks weigh 26000-34000.
Commercial trucks are around 7% of the vehicles on the road.
This author is not only stupid but knows little about what is actually in the road.
Tesla model 3, 4000 pounds.
According to AIAI-oh. A model 3 is 12lbs heavier than my 2001 Audi S4 wagon.
Tesla model 3, 4000 pounds.
My Scat Pack Challenger is heavier than that.
Not an AI cover
Too good not to
*Note drummer’s hate crime of a shirt.
Speaking of hate criminals, I got clickbaited into a youtube video about a prewar Auto Union grand prix car last night. It featured the usual bullshit about the evil German Reich using motor racing to develop military technology in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. At least that appeared to be where they were headed. When the clips of Hitler’s rabblerousing came on with his face blurred, I bailed. It was too triggering.
It is alleged that this is the most covered song.
Including this version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LtmZM0OWO8&list=RD3LtmZM0OWO8&start_radio=1
KPIG used to stream GRITS every hour with 2-3 different covers in a row. Reggae, hard rock, Yiddish, and other versions I have never heard again.
I would have guessed this is the most covered song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1PiJAeydLs
I thought it was this, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k
I might have thought it was this almost-Cash song.
And speaking of covers that flip the original on its head.
Like this?
I like these covers.
Commercial trucks are around 7% of the vehicles on the road.
First thing I thought of: if you think Teslas are hard on guardrails…
Yep.
And the top sellers are pickups, all in the 4000-6000 pound range. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g64457986/bestselling-cars-2025/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=dda_ga_cd_md_bm_prog_org_us_g64457986&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22500357520&gbraid=0AAAAACfH9Wg6BEjIAvp34fQyBE3mQO-4B&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8ZPwhfaIkQMVszStBh1d3icnEAAYASAAEgKr8fD_BwE
class 2A starts at 6,000 pounds
I think vehicle classes are just to charge you more for insurance.
Also- that Auto Union thing was obviously AI slop.
More and more of that crap is showing up. I wonder how much revenue it actually generates.
Lots.
You watched it.
I… unironically enjoy this – and you should feel ashamed for it. that is horrible.
De gustibus.
I liked that a lot.
It’s no Hallelujah / Baby Got Back mashup, but still good.
a different “mashup”
Cancer: Strength – The absolute best card, the opposite of The Tower. Specifically refers to success from your abilities, not luck.
i just bought a lottery ticket so I’ll take the luck thank you very much
Taurus: 5 of Wands – This is the gayest of all possible cards, in the “male homosexual” sense. For straight people it’s about playing games, training, but not actually doing anything worthwhile.
—
(Goddammit! *WHY* do these faggots keep suckin’ my cock?!?!?)
I was thinking about it the other day- I really don’t play any games and haven’t for a long, long time. I got the first XBOX when it came out in high school and did that. Halo was amazing. Damn. But now, I suppose I play Octordle every day. I used to play fun, practice no-money poker with humans online but haven’t this year.
I also don’t sit down and watch-watch movies or even TV. ADHD, thy name is me. Still upset how M̵E̵T̵H̵A̵M̵P̵H̵E̵T̵A̵M̵I̵N̵E̵ ̵S̵A̵L̵T̵S̵!̵@̵#̵!̵ Adderall is *also* an anti-convulsant used for seizure. So it’s pretty much a perfect drug for me. And yet… I can never get it. Fuck those fucking fuckers.
Last mow of the season accomplished. Ever shifting its a crap shoot if it will be rainy, sunny, cold or snowy on Thanksgiving.
There were a few flurries as I made another pass at cleaning leaves.
Did my last mow on Friday. Pulled the battery out of the mower. It’s fairly satisfying.
You watched it.
90 seconds or so. Somewhere I saw something about the “algo” dinging you if people bail on your videos.
Cancer: Strength – The absolute best card, the opposite of The Tower. Specifically refers to success from your abilities, not luck.
DOGE is just the name we give to the jizz I sprayed on Trump’s face along the way – Elon Musk
Gemini: Death reversed – There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.
what huh!? is Mamdani my daddy now? bin Salman? JD? Who will wipe me? It’s getting cold….dark….is it time to blow up some Venezuelan boats again?
That Eiffel 64 cover just makes me want to hear Powerman 5000 cover it, like We Got the Beat.
That’s awesome.
I had no idea that they did a cover of that. Last album of theirs I have is Builders of the Future which I love.