Zoe: What's that, sir? Mal: Freedom, is what. Zoe: No, I meant what's that? Mal: Oh. Yeah. Just step around it. I think something must've been living in here.

'Out Of Gas'


Natter 78: I might need to watch some Buffy for inspiration

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


P.M. Marc - Apr 19, 2025 10:17:12 am PDT #6863 of 7136
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

(Tragically, BTW, figuring out how to get to retirement age with a job = having Doctor Strangelove the damn tech.)


DavidS - Apr 19, 2025 10:18:33 am PDT #6864 of 7136
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Perhaps safeguards can be imposed

It just feels like our gerontocracy in Congress didn't understand this technological shift at all, and now it's far too late to put any safeguard on it. The Tech companies already scraped all the books and data they needed to get started and there was no check on them.

I definitely think that just on the cultural side there will be AI generated pop hits (I've already heard perfectly credible contemporary country songs done by AI), children's shows and romances within a year or two. Because a lot of people consume culture because they want their tropes served up to them with no surprises.

That's the whole model of Spotify which is already working AI songs into particular mood playlists.


DavidS - Apr 19, 2025 10:26:35 am PDT #6865 of 7136
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

but I'm mostly just trying to figure out how to get to retirement age without it replacing me.

I have so many friends who've had careers which are just going to disappear. I know a few people who've supported themselves writing ad copy for catalogs. That's definitely going away.

Book and magazine layout. Menu design. Signage. Background music. Curriculum. Project management, Captioning. Copyediting, book blurbs, marketing.

All the administrative work I used to do as a secretary. Lots of programming (as noted by Sophia at the beginning of this discussion).


Steph L. - Apr 19, 2025 11:34:21 am PDT #6866 of 7136
I look more rad than Lutheranism

I just read this morning that the DOJ has started sending letters to medical journals demanding to know if the journals are accepting articles with “competing viewpoints.” I can’t even wrap my brain around that. The “competing viewpoints” are nonscientific, dangerous, and potentially deadly because they are INCORRECT. Science is about facts, not viewpoints.


DavidS - Apr 19, 2025 12:03:39 pm PDT #6867 of 7136
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Science is about facts, not viewpoints.

Surely anti-vax pseudoscience needs mainstreaming!


Laura - Apr 19, 2025 12:10:12 pm PDT #6868 of 7136
Our wings are not tired.

That could be in response to my article proposing that a diet of ice cream, pizza, and beer leads to guaranteed longevity. About time my competing viewpoint was recognized.

Joke or tremble in fear, it's a constant battle here.


Steph L. - Apr 19, 2025 3:12:21 pm PDT #6869 of 7136
I look more rad than Lutheranism

my article proposing that a diet of ice cream, pizza, and beer leads to guaranteed longevity.

I would use all of my power to get that article published!


Calli - Apr 19, 2025 3:49:20 pm PDT #6870 of 7136
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

We’re trying AI at work because we need to help our instructors understand it better. One thing we’re trying is using the AI assistant to take notes in our Zoom meetings. It has been hilariously inaccurate—frequently putting the exact opposite of what we said. I.e., we said “Tool 1 is a great substitute for tool 2. We’ll explore tool 1’s ability to do x, y, and z.” And then 20 minutes talking about tool 1. And the summary substitutes the name of tool 2 everywhere we discussed tool 1.

I gave up most sweets for Lent, except for when I was visiting others (my great nephew’s first birthday cake was not to be missed). Most of my sweet indulgences come from home baking anyway. I made a cheesecake for Easter dinner tomorrow and I’ll be making a walnut coffee cake for breakfast, and i am so looking forward to both.


Steph L. - Apr 19, 2025 4:12:27 pm PDT #6871 of 7136
I look more rad than Lutheranism

I have a cinnamon roll cake for tomorrow in the oven right now!


DavidS - Apr 19, 2025 5:02:35 pm PDT #6872 of 7136
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

My house had been invaded by shit-flies, so I had to go to the hardware store for insecticide

"Where do you keep insecticide?"
"What for?
"Shit-flies.
"The ones that go zig zag zig? I hate those."
"Me too."
"Well, this is the strong stuff but you've got to be careful where you use it. This stuff is safer."
"Is the safe stuff effective?"
"Well...they don't like it."
"Gimme the toxic shit. I gotta kill 'em."

So now I've killed a bunch of them plus a cache of spiders that would have sent Matilda into a screaming frenzy, but my house is a little toxic and I've got dead flies everywhere.