Random Thoughts

[Scott5114]

I wasn't aware of the Twitter issue. Here is the same image but from a different URL. Can you see it now?

Yep!

[kurumi]

We're working with Rouge 1, a metric for working with LLMs.

Every single time I type out that term (including in the line above) goes like this:

Route 1

backspace backspace backspace backspace

ge 1

you know you're a roadgeek when...

[Hunty2022]

Today marks one year since I converted to taking horizontal road pictures.


This is the first one.

[jlam]

Today marks one year since I converted to taking horizontal road pictures.

The only way to take road pictures. There's typically much more to look at on the sides of the road than in the sky.

[ZLoth]

After doing some work around the house, I got this evil thought... why not have a TV series where we see these highly-paid/highly-visible celebrities and business leaders do some "menial" tasks like clean a pool, change the oil, change the sheets on their bed, do simple repairs, and so on. I wonder if they even still know how to do the ordinary things, or if they are left flummoxed.

Along the same lines, I would like to see the folks who design some of the newer vehicles actually try fixing some of the simpler stuff, like replace a headland on a car, change the oil, change the battery, or even change some of the turn signal or brake lights. This was brought about a few years ago on a previous vehicle when I was replacing the headlight on my car. Right headlight... no problem, but the left headlight required that I remove some parts to get to the bolts that held that headlight.

[Big John]

^^ The first paragraph was the premise of the TV show Undercover Boss.

[formulanone]

Today marks one year since I converted to taking horizontal road pictures.

The only way to take road pictures. There's typically much more to look at on the sides of the road than in the sky.

Sometimes horizontal works out, but it's a matter of personal taste...



...but maybe 1-of-500 of my road shots are taken in portrait orientation. Roadside signage is a mix; it depends on the height of the sign posts.

[Flint1979]

Why not just be open 24 hours?

[Scott5114]

Why not just be open 24 hours?

I worked at a 24-hour Burger King for a while, and there was about a 30 minute period each day where we had to go cash-only because the registers were doing an end-of-day reset which totally locked us out of them. It wasn't a huge deal because the location was inside a casino food court, so people usually had cash on them. But if we were in a normal situation where everyone wanted to pay with a card, it would probably make more sense to just close.

[JayhawkCO]

Why not just be open 24 hours?

I worked at a 24-hour Burger King for a while, and there was about a 30 minute period each day where we had to go cash-only because the registers were doing an end-of-day reset which totally locked us out of them. It wasn't a huge deal because the location was inside a casino food court, so people usually had cash on them. But if we were in a normal situation where everyone wanted to pay with a card, it would probably make more sense to just close.

In addition to just general end of night stuff, a break would be nice for general cleaning too.

[1995hoo]

[ZLoth]

Why not just be open 24 hours?

Staffing issues? The need to deep clean and sanitize the equipment?

[Scott5114]

I bet if you created a YouTube clone that paid a higher percentage of ad revenue to uploaders and wasn't so fascist about demonetizing videos, you could get enough of the big name creators to jump ship that YouTube would go under.

[LilianaUwU]

I bet if you created a YouTube clone that paid a higher percentage of ad revenue to uploaders and wasn't so fascist about demonetizing videos, you could get enough of the big name creators to jump ship that YouTube would go under.

I feel the need to mention Kick, which is more of an alternative to Twitch, being a racist hellhole because of its lax moderation. Not that lax moderation is bad, but there is a need for a middle ground between being lax and fascism, and as a result the alternatives that pop up don't get far because of that.

[Scott5114]

I bet if you created a YouTube clone that paid a higher percentage of ad revenue to uploaders and wasn't so fascist about demonetizing videos, you could get enough of the big name creators to jump ship that YouTube would go under.

I feel the need to mention Kick, which is more of an alternative to Twitch, being a racist hellhole because of its lax moderation. Not that lax moderation is bad, but there is a need for a middle ground between being lax and fascism, and as a result the alternatives that pop up don't get far because of that.

Of course. I would think that anything bigoted or illegal would still get demonetized or taken down, but you could probably afford to lighten up on things like sexual content. (The way that many of the big social media sites operate lately reminds me a lot of the ridiculous reaction to Janet Jackson's Super Bowl act. Most of this is because Apple is run by losers.)

[vdeane]

The trouble is, a lot of the reason why YouTube demonitizes/age gates/etc. videos is because of what advertisers want.  After all, the big companies selling ads don't want anything that would upset their business, so no ads on anything considered too controversial or which advocates for anything else that would cause profits to go down (hence why YouTube is more friendly to certain political positions over others).  Any other platform that relies on advertising will eventually become the exact same way because it would ultimately be the same companies paying for it.

[Scott5114]

This feeds into the problem of companies starting to realize that Internet advertising actually doesn't make them any money. (This was something that was very easy to realize when I was advertising my business—my sales were low enough that I would have noticed an increase, and there never was one.)

[Flint1979]

Why not just be open 24 hours?

I worked at a 24-hour Burger King for a while, and there was about a 30 minute period each day where we had to go cash-only because the registers were doing an end-of-day reset which totally locked us out of them. It wasn't a huge deal because the location was inside a casino food court, so people usually had cash on them. But if we were in a normal situation where everyone wanted to pay with a card, it would probably make more sense to just close.

I remember the McDonald's by my house that was open 24 hours in the drive thru and dining room (now just drive thru) and they would have a period of time where they were cash only because of the end of the day reset so I know about that. The local Denny's here in Saginaw used to run between 6am-4am and the two hours they were closed they were just closed to get the people out of the building, it was a spot where a lot of fights happened and a shoooting happened there as well. They are back to 24 hours now though.

[on_wisconsin]

The insect situation is way easier in Wisconsin compared to anywhere down south. A full on termite or fire ant infestation is mostly unheard of, and you can usually get away with leaving food out/ open overnight without worrying about bugs (other than an odd fly). It's not uncommon for people to leave butter or baked goods out on a counter or table.

[Max Rockatansky]

The insect situation in the Central Valley of California is just as bad if not worse than what i experienced in Florida.  I ponder over this every Spring since moving here from Orlando in 2016.

[JayhawkCO]

Sometimes I see an ant or spider. A couple of moths here and there. Otherwise, the Denver area doesn't have much.

[vdeane]

Today I learned that ABC's This Week is available as an audio podcast.  Now I'm wondering if I should cancel Hulu and save some money, since my mainstay is streaming that show on weeks I miss it due to being on the road (and sometimes movies that pass through for a month or two).  Seems like a lot to spend on just that use case, especially as I get 95% of what I do normally just listening to the audio.

[mgk920]

The insect situation is way easier in Wisconsin compared to anywhere down south. A full on termite or fire ant infestation is mostly unheard of, and you can usually get away with leaving food out/ open overnight without worrying about bugs (other than an odd fly). It's not uncommon for people to leave butter or baked goods out on a counter or table.

We don't have many insects that are 'native' in the deserts or tropics here, other than roaches in the really major cities, but they are normally not thick.  OTOH, we have OODLES.of water-based insects that spend their larval periods in lakes and rivers and are attracted to UV light when flying around as short-lived adults.  Thus spiders, especially orb web weaving ones, are über-common here in the downtown Appleton, WI area.

Mike

[formulanone]

The insect situation in the Central Valley of California is just as bad if not worse than what i experienced in Florida.  I ponder over this every Spring since moving here from Orlando in 2016.

When it comes to indoor pests, South Florida gets you into the habit of being a clean freak in kitchens and dining areas, or anywhere one eats. Bugs of all varieties, anytime. The Tennessee Valley is very forgiving in comparison, just more spiders.

Got that little reminder when leaving some food out in Kauai; the ant situation was just like being in Florida again, if you were careless about leftovers.

[Rothman]

My word, even in New England the ants are bad enough to not leave food out.

Leaving food out is pretty nasty, anyway.