balooga's recent activity
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Comment on Apple names insider John Ternus as CEO, Tim Cook to become executive chairman in ~tech
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Comment on What is your go-to project for learning a new language? in ~comp
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Comment on What I learned about billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s private retreat in ~society
balooga LinkIt’s a great read and it’s definitely tugging at some truths… but I feel like something’s missing from the analysis. It explains why billionaires can do whatever they want, how money and cause and...It’s a great read and it’s definitely tugging at some truths… but I feel like something’s missing from the analysis. It explains why billionaires can do whatever they want, how money and cause and effect become meaningless, and how this leads billionaires to completely detach from their humanity and shared existence with the rest of the planet.
But it doesn’t explain why they become EVIL. Why they get into bed with corrupt politicians; go into the businesses of mass surveillance, war profiteering, propaganda, and data brokerage; buddy up with the rogues gallery of Russian oligarchs and Gulf state journalist-sawing royals. Particularly for the bootstrappy ones like Bezos that came up in America (or any western nation) where they personally benefited from the ideals of democracy, what drives them to undermine those values, to pull the ladder up behind themselves and actively use their wealth and influence to steer the world into an oppressive dystopic hellscape of a future? I get that they can do that, but why they fuck DO they?? They weren’t born supervillains, but at some point they had the thought: I can do literally anything, and what I choose to do… is this. Because reasons.
Why don’t they choose differently? Why isn’t there a single billionaire in the world leveraging the same degree of wealth and influence to actually end world poverty? I’m talking about earnest, big project energy, not PR philanthropy or shady self-enrichment schemes disguised as altruism. They could choose good… they just don’t.
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Comment on Warner Bros. shareholders: You’re being lied to (vote is Thursday) in ~movies
balooga LinkThe Drey Dossier's investigative journalism continues to impress (see Donald Trump isn't building a ballroom previously discussed on Tildes). I've been following her YouTube channel for some time...The Drey Dossier's investigative journalism continues to impress (see Donald Trump isn't building a ballroom previously discussed on Tildes). I've been following her YouTube channel for some time and I'm just constantly amazed by the way she exposes the machinations of Larry Ellison and friends, and brings receipts.
The shareholder vote to approve the merger is happening this Thursday. It would be prudent for anyone casting a vote to hear with Drey has to say, first. Knowledge is power!
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Warner Bros. shareholders: You’re being lied to (vote is Thursday)
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Comment on Tildes Survey #1: How old are you? in ~talk
balooga Link ParentIf people installed Tildes ReExtended they could just tag him (as I have done) so they can always remember who he is. Of course, he's also the guy who made Tildes ReExtended so I guess if you know...If people installed Tildes ReExtended they could just tag him (as I have done) so they can always remember who he is. Of course, he's also the guy who made Tildes ReExtended so I guess if you know about that he's probably already on your radar, lol.
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Comment on Traders placed over $1bn in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. What is going on? in ~society
balooga Link ParentAre we still acting like the people in Trump's circle have any qualms or reservations about using their power for self-enrichment? I've never seen a shred of evidence to the contrary. I don't...Are we still acting like the people in Trump's circle have any qualms or reservations about using their power for self-enrichment? I've never seen a shred of evidence to the contrary. I don't believe for a second that "place bets on Polymarket minutes before something happens" is an ethical line any one of them wouldn't cross.
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Comment on Traders placed over $1bn in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. What is going on? in ~society
balooga Link ParentI think it goes beyond "insider knowledge" when people are betting on decisions they themselves have already made, about actions they themselves are going to perform. When you're an ethically...I think it goes beyond "insider knowledge" when people are betting on decisions they themselves have already made, about actions they themselves are going to perform. When you're an ethically flexible person in a position of power, and you can get obscenely wealthy just by "gambling" about something you're already committed to doing, why wouldn't you do exactly that? It's not illegal, yet (though I doubt that would stop them anyway). There's literally no downside.
Well, except for the people getting hit by the missiles. There's a downside for them.
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Comment on Today I shipped twenty apps and a screensaver in ~tech
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Comment on Have you played with bubbles recently? in ~talk
balooga Link ParentNot a cat owner either, how does that work exactly? The cat jumps for the bubbles?Not a cat owner either, how does that work exactly? The cat jumps for the bubbles?
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Comment on “60s lounge” and Laufey in ~music
balooga Link ParentNice playlist! I love curating themed lists like this. I added it to my library and I'll undoubtedly be giving it many listens. I'm poking around your other playlists too and especially love how...Nice playlist! I love curating themed lists like this. I added it to my library and I'll undoubtedly be giving it many listens. I'm poking around your other playlists too and especially love how you've got an "Acceptable Christmas" one — that's a contentious category that let me to make my own "Listenable Christmas" list a few years ago. Of course my spouse flatly disagrees with most of my calls so that one was DOA in my household, haha.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of April 13 in ~society
balooga Link ParentThe Holy See has the power of 1.4 billion adherents to do whatever good it wants in the world. The United States federal government had better take its side.The Holy See has the power of 1.4 billion adherents to do whatever good it wants in the world. The United States federal government had better take its side.
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Comment on As Deep As The Grave | Official trailer (AI Val Kilmer movie) in ~movies
balooga LinkI want to see the uncompressed trailer at full resolution. This looks like smeared, blocky garbage. Conspiracy theory me says they prefer it to be viewed this way because the MPEG artifacts mask...I want to see the uncompressed trailer at full resolution. This looks like smeared, blocky garbage. Conspiracy theory me says they prefer it to be viewed this way because the MPEG artifacts mask the low fidelity of the AI renders.
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Comment on “60s lounge” and Laufey in ~music
balooga Link Parent"New wave" is going to lead to a lot of '80s synthpop. I mean, there are worse destinations, but that's not exactly what OP is going for."New wave" is going to lead to a lot of '80s synthpop.
I mean, there are worse destinations, but that's not exactly what OP is going for.
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Comment on “60s lounge” and Laufey in ~music
balooga LinkOthers have dropped some good terms but here are a few more that have been overlooked: space-age pop, bachelor-pad music, and cocktail music might steer things in the right direction. Here's a...Others have dropped some good terms but here are a few more that have been overlooked: space-age pop, bachelor-pad music, and cocktail music might steer things in the right direction. Here's a niche fan site with a bunch of detail about those.
There's definitely a strong bossa nova vibe in that Laufey song but I'm also hearing some overlap with exotica, a weird (and frequently racist) subgenre originating in the '50s, marked by orchestration that included things like bongos, vibraphone, theremin, and Hammond organ, a mishmash of sci-fi futurism and appropriated Latin, Arabic, and Polynesian motifs. More examples.
Also some have been saying that it's a distinctly American sound but I think it shares a throughline with Italian Jazz from the '60s and '70s. Consider composers like Stelvio Cipriani and Piero Piccioni. We're circling the Eurospy film soundtrack subgenre, which is pretty great(!!) and of course borrows heavily from the O.G. Eurospy — James Bond — which is where I link to Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra, and Matt Monro. If this music is your cup of tea, I'm pleasantly surprised to see that SomaFM is still online and broadcasting the same great themed radio stations that I enjoyed 20 years ago, including (but definitely not limited to) Secret Agent.
If you're interested in more recent styles influenced by this sound, you might enjoy some trip hop / downtempo from musicians like Hooverphonic, Bitter:Sweet, Portishead, Moodorama, and Airlock.
Oh, I was looking into other, newer artists that are drawing from this sound and just discovered Lana Del Rey released a new official Bond theme for the upcoming video game 007 First Light, literally as I was putting this comment together. It's a good song, not really a fit for this theme but I thought the timing of the announcement was relevant.
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Comment on Inside Doug Liman’s $70 million AI-made movie starring Casey Affleck and Gal Gadot in ~movies
balooga Link ParentThis feels in many ways like the 2026 version of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.This feels in many ways like the 2026 version of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
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Comment on Income tax will be dead within five years as AI jobs crisis grows, says Monzo founder in ~tech
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Comment on Hungary’s new leader reveals Viktor Orbán diverted Hungarian taxpayer funds toward bankrolling CPAC in ~society
balooga LinkAssuming it was an actual crime, is this something Orbán could be prosecuted for? Bolsonaro‘s in prison. I am 100% in favor of locking up fascist criminal ex-presidents. I know who I’d like to see...Assuming it was an actual crime, is this something Orbán could be prosecuted for? Bolsonaro‘s in prison. I am 100% in favor of locking up fascist criminal ex-presidents. I know who I’d like to see next on that list too.
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Comment on Inside Doug Liman’s $70 million AI-made movie starring Casey Affleck and Gal Gadot in ~movies
balooga LinkSounds like they’re doing something similar to an I2I (image2image) or v2v (video2video) workflow plus inpainting. If I’m understanding right, they’re shooting the raw footage then pre-processing...“AI is part of our process, but the process starts with human intent and human direction,” Scholl said. “Whether that’s modeling or reference searches. And then we get something back. The big difference is that you go on ChatGPT and ask for a generation of an image, you just put a text prompt in and you accept what you get. In this case, what goes in the prompt is already an image that’s previously generated by us. It’s much more specific.”
Sounds like they’re doing something similar to an I2I (image2image) or v2v (video2video) workflow plus inpainting. If I’m understanding right, they’re shooting the raw footage then pre-processing it with “traditional” VFX, but probably at a deliberately crude level of detail. Then that is being fed into a diffusion model with the live-action parts they want to keep (the actors’ performances) masked out so everything else is replaced. The model will match the composition of the VFX background and retain awareness of the masked portion within the scene so it blends naturally. They can steer it in certain directions with text prompts too. My guess is they’ve got a beefy GPU cluster generating hundreds or thousands of these per shot and they’re manually picking the best results.
They probably iterate on the specific text prompts they use, and maybe on the rough BG renders too, to guide the model toward the director’s vision but it’s an inexact science. I imagine they also feed completed shots within the same scene back into it to preserve continuity across multiple shots.
I’m curious what issues they hit with chroma key (green/blue screens). I’m guessing there were colored reflections or shadows casting a tint that inpainting was trying to match, but I figured that was a solved problem decades ago. Maybe it’s because of the cheaper lights they’re using? It does make me wonder if that complicates the VFX rough pass, forcing them to rotoscope instead. But I think there might be new methods of auto-rotoscoping which are less precise but the inpainting pass will correct anyway so they can be sloppy about it.
Another thing I want to know is what kind of resolution they’re able to generate at, and what compromises they have to make to get there. In my experience today’s models are decent for displaying on a cellphone or computer screen. But if you're targeting 4K and higher movie theater resolutions, the limitations are going to show. Of course I’m not familiar with the proprietary models being marketed to studios; they’re probably custom-trained for that. But I’d very much like to know more about that corpus and what its blind spots are.
From the link @BlindCarpenter posted:
The film’s producer, Ryan Kavanagh, is attempting to calm the inevitable industry firestorm, stressing that the film will not replace real actors with AI-generated performers. “We will not have any AI-generated actors that do not exist,” he told Variety, emphasizing that AI is being used as a tool to make filmmaking more efficient while protecting jobs.
I suspect he’s leaning on a technicality of how “actor” is defined in union rules. I’d be shocked if there were no AI-generated background characters (extras) in the film.
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Comment on Project Hail Mary - Discussion thread in ~movies
balooga LinkBumping this topic because I finally saw the movie last night and wanted to talk about it. I think it was an especially great adaptation! I was nervous about how they were going to compress the...Bumping this topic because I finally saw the movie last night and wanted to talk about it. I think it was an especially great adaptation! I was nervous about how they were going to compress the story for time but I think they made the right tradeoffs. As much as I loved the experimentation and science of the novel, it was the right call to thin that part out for the movie. I wish they had spent a bit more time showing how Grace and Rocky learned to communicate — that was already hard to swallow in the book and felt really glossed-over on screen. That’s a nitpick. I love that the ending was preserved I really expected a Hollywood rewrite there.
The cinematography was beautiful, though there were some parts that I felt overdid the shaky cam or that artistic blurry-field-of-colors effect. I mean, it was all gorgeous. There was one shot, a macro close-up of Grace recording a video journal, awash in harsh red light and darkness, viewed as though a low-resolution screen… the whole frame was just elongated pixels where you could barely make out the talking face. Visually I loved it but it pulled me out of the moment when I started to question why the lighting was like that. I don’t think there was a story reason for it, it was just because it looked cool. Which is fine. There are many moments like that, however. It’s a very stylish film and the music suits it very well.
I thought Ryan Gosling did a terrific job as Grace, and Rocky was practically perfect too. I was impressed with the way microgravity looked in the movie… I realized I don’t know how they do that in movies these days. Old movies like Apollo 13 constructed sets in the cabin of a vomit comet aircraft and recorded takes during ~30s periods of freefall in nosedives. Is that technique still used or is it all VFX now? It looked good either way.
I still don’t understand the geometry of Rocky’s ship. It looked like a bunch of rods with empty space between them? I couldn’t really tell how it had an “inside” or an “outside”. This is one area where I think the movie’s style worked against it; sometimes I wished the camera would just linger on the details so I could make sense of what I was looking at. I feel like my overall takeaway (of that ship in particular) is mostly impressionistic.
All in all I think I’d give the movie 8.5 or 9 out of 10. I enjoyed it a lot and my criticisms are mostly superficial. I felt like it was one of the most intelligent, well-made films in recent memory. Kudos to Lord and Miller, and of course Andy Weir, and the whole cast and crew for a really solid production.
Apple’s hardware has been incredible in recent years, thanks in no small part to Ternus. That gives me hope. What hasn’t been great is software (including but not limited to Siri and Apple Intelligence), and “services revenue” aka letting more and more ads creep into their UIs. I’m not sure what to expect from him in those areas but we are long overdue for a Snow Leopard style house-cleaning and maybe some appeals to the classic Jobs way of not tolerating rough-edged user experiences.
I didn’t mention Apple’s fantastic security modeling, privacy posture, and environmental policies. Really hoping Ternus will be able to keep marching those forward as well as or better than Cook did. Of course I’d very much like to see some significant improvements in the “kowtowing to autocrats” department as well.