To get out from under the SEC regulations then they are going to be buying a presidential election for anyone. Elon Musk dropped a quarter billion just on Trump's last election and he's going to spend the same amount of money getting the Republicans the midterms. Maybe some more.

Years ago I saw an interview with a multi-millionaire woman who was complaining that she couldn't get the time of day from congressman anymore because the billionaires could outspend her. That's the level we're at.

It's not just that you and I don't matter. If you've only got a few hundred million to spend that's not enough anymore to buy an election. That's how much money and power we have given the billionaires. Or should I save the trillionaires...

Punches very obviously not connecting suggests it's been trained on Hollywood fight scenes. The other giveaway is rapid hard cuts and shaky camera so you can't see how badly the punches are not connecting. Everything feels weightless and fake.

There is a lot of AI slop, but I wouldn't discount it being able to do something decent with the right person at the helm.

I use Linux specifically because of the license. Linux succeeded because of the license. If Ubuntu wants to change what made Linux successful then the obvious thing to do is to change to not using Ubuntu.

Yes that is what it is supposed to do. You opened a pipe to a file destructively, it did what you asked. Don't ask for that if you don't want it. Once you do that the original file is gone. Either append with >> or write to a temp file next time.

Most entertainment has always been slop, this is nothing new at all. A decade ago it was reality TV, before that it was gameshows and daytime soap operas.

The interesting story here is how this demonstrates the basic different in attitude between the US and China when it comes to new technology. In the US the established players are very concerned that new tech will affect their business model, so they try to hold it back as much as possible. In China it gets embraced and there is a rush to adopt it.

In deflagration, LFP batteries produce craptons more hydrogen compared to NMC that had to be vented properly or continuously sparker ignited.

It's until they burn down like the Moss Landing Vistra battery fire.

You mean Murphy's Law.

Because they know the next county over will hire them in a heartbeat to avoid paying the money to train another cop. We made it stupidly expensive to train police because we made it the corrupt mess like we do with everything...

So they will just pick a case that's open and tie it to that and move on.

If you want to make them accountable you have to change how you vote. The lack of police accountability is a political problem. You can't solve it with a few minor policy tweeks

Dole whip is not frozen non-dairy dessert. The term Frozen non-dairy dessert means a very specific and very unpleasant thing when you are out shopping. It's how you spot fake ice cream. Dole whip is pureed Frozen pineapple. Well yeah that's technically Frozen non-dairy dessert the term is not used in marketing Dole whip. It doesn't have to be because you don't make Dole whip with palm oil...

If you see those magic words on a bucket of something pretending to be ice cream turn and walk away. I miss Klondike bars too....

It's not that they really enjoy it it's that they have some health or ethical reason that makes them settle for what they don't actually want.

And that market isn't really all that big. If you look up the current state of the impossible burger and beyond meat both companies are struggling...

As for AI yeah there's a market for people who just want slop in endless supply. But it's usually people with nothing going on who just need limitless content to fill a day. Like a lot of old farts I've got a bad back and I'll admit that I consume a lot of garbage while doing a ton of physical therapy. Crap I never would have bothered with if I wasn't spending a couple hours a day doing PT and I needed something to listen to to get my mind off the misery of it.

But that's not really a big enough market for anything but niche producers. Right now they can survive because AI companies are burning through cash giving away free service but that's going to stop pretty soon.

And marketers have already looked into it. Those folks have absolutely no morals whatsoever and they don't care what they sell as long as it sells. And AI slop doesn't sell. The only thing that's useful for is scams and it's only useful for that right at the moment because the lower quality is a good thing Nigerian prince style and again it's being heavily subsidized by venture capital.

I think it's more a quality difference. China's film industry is much smaller so anything that needs special effects of any kind doesn't have the kind of budget to make it to the point where a casual viewer is going to be turned off by AI at the level you can currently get it at.

China does have some big budget films but I suspect those aren't going to use AI much or at all.

Here in America even TV shows have ridiculously high budgets. Some of that is the actors but a lot of it is the cost of doing and redoing CGI with human beings modeling everything. And even that was a cost-cutting measure over practical effects because CGI companies are non-union.

For a smaller studio with a lower budget and an audience that's used to your output at that level you can probably get away with a bit more. If they tried that in one of those big period pieces China does every now and then though I bet it would stand out like a sore thumb and people would hate it. Like I don't think they would get away with that in The Forbidden Kingdom.

You ever had that Frozen non-dairy dessert crap?

Every now and then I accidentally buy a tub of it by mistake. I take a few bites and start eating it and it doesn't taste right but I take a few more bites before I really can convince myself something is wrong.

Every time I just assumed that I bought a bad tub of ice cream somehow. So I look at the expiration date and the stuff should be good I didn't buy something that just got stuck in the back for 10 years or something. And inevitably I noticed that what I bought was the ice cream. It was oil made the taste a little bit like ice cream.

It's the one and only time that I will take the effort and time needed to return something to a grocery store.

AI is like that. I might take a bite or two before I realize something is off meaning I might watch a few minutes of a TV program or play a few minutes of a game. But I quickly realize and if I have time you can bet I will be refunding that game on steam. You usually get stuck with any DVDs or Blu-Rays you buy though. As for streaming yeah I just cut it off and move on.

So you can fool me for a little bit and you can sometimes get a purchase out of me but not for very long.

AI slop will get better but it's never going to not feel a little bit off just like how fake ice cream is never going to taste right. It's The uncanny Valley effect where the closer you get the worse it gets.

So you're saying your family is made up of liars? Neato.

You get hard for corporal punishment. Hard man. Soft brain.

You, sir, are mentally incompetent.

It broke specifically because it was overloaded, much like your pathetic little brain. Please seek help.